All Things Isaac Asuma Recruitment Thread (Class of 2024, Minnesota's Top In-State Target)

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Bad Gopher said:
Great size and smoothness; plays under control. Hard to say how it translates from lower level HS to major college basketball,
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I think he’s shown his mettle on the AAU circuit.
Bad Gopher said:
but I can't wait to see. The one thing that pops--and will certainly translate well because it's universal--is his floor vision and decision making: his head is always up, and he's looking for opportunities for both himself and his teammates.
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Just one short set of HS highlights, but not very impressive athletically IYAM. No explosion, didn't seem faster than random HS competition.

Set shots?
 

BleedGopher said:
Isaac Asuma, who has signed to play basketball for the Gophers, scored 19 points on Saturday to surpass 3,000 points for his career.

The senior guard, ranked the No. 3 recruit in Minnesota by 247Sports, helped Cherry defeat Solon Springs (Wis.) 90-71 in the Minnesota/Wisconsin Border Battle at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School. Cherry, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, improved to 13-2.

Before signing with the Gophers, Asuma had received offers from multiple Division I programs, including Butler, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska and Xavier.

m.startribune.com

Cherry's Isaac Asuma passes 3,000 career points

The Gophers recruit scored 19 points in a victory over Solon Springs (Wis.).
m.startribune.com m.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
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No Wisconsin offer? Brb….oh
 


As it is now, I would lay odds of Freitag developing into a better player at Wisconsin than Asuma at Minnesota, because, you know, actual coaching, development, and using players in a way that puts them in their best situation to succeed.

The odds go to even if Johnson’s replacement starts in April of this year.
 


formerlybis said:
As it is now, I would lay odds of Freitag developing into a better player at Wisconsin than Asuma at Minnesota, because, you know, actual coaching, development, and using players in a way that puts them in their best situation to succeed.

The odds go to even if Johnson’s replacement starts in April of this year.
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2023 weakling wednesday wisconsin, that one. not sure connor's mom would agree with your assessment
 


USAF said:
Just one short set of HS highlights, but not very impressive athletically IYAM. No explosion, didn't seem faster than random HS competition.

Set shots?
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Maybe look for another highlight reel… I haven’t seen him take a single set shot.

 





GopherOhana said:
my opinion of gard is that he's a slight upgrade from CBJ so I'm of the opinion that freitag will have to develop himself
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He's coached for 9 seasons at Wisconsin and he's only had 2 seasons where they went under .500 in conference and one of those was a 20 win season.

He has more seasons over .500 in conference than Pitino, CBJ, Monson, and Tubby combined.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
He's coached for 9 seasons at Wisconsin and he's only had 2 seasons where they went under .500 in conference and one of those was a 20 win season.

He has more seasons over .500 in conference than Pitino, CBJ, Monson, and Tubby combined.
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8, current season is 9. His best success was his first two years. since then he's had two crappy years. Gard is no Bo.

Comparing Gard's success to gopher coaches is silly. The gophers have been bad at basketball for a long time. basically, gopher basketball is indefensible.
 




formerlybis said:
As it is now, I would lay odds of Freitag developing into a better player at Wisconsin than Asuma at Minnesota, because, you know, actual coaching, development, and using players in a way that puts them in their best situation to succeed.

The odds go to even if Johnson’s replacement starts in April of this year.
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Not many place odds on a happening, if they don’t even know who the participants are???
 

GopherOhana said:
8, current season is 9. His best success was his first two years. since then he's had two crappy years. Gard is no Bo.

Comparing Gard's success to gopher coaches is silly. The gophers have been bad at basketball for a long time. basically, gopher basketball is indefensible.
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You compared Gard to Ben Johnson, I was pointing out that it's a terrible comparison. One person has recruited and developed good teams and another has not.

As to your point about Gard's success, they won the Big 10 in his 5th and 7th seasons. He's had two seasons under .500 (year 3 and last year), if you're implying he only had success with Bo Ryan's players, you're dead wrong.

But yeah, I agree that he's no Bo Ryan, but he's no Ben Johnson either.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
You compared Gard to Ben Johnson, I was pointing out that it's a terrible comparison. One person has recruited and developed good teams and another has not.
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umm, that's why i typed a comparison was "silly".

as for me, i just think gard is the next chryst. started on third and is moonwalking his way to second. as for asuma and freitag player development. doubts it matters. don't think either coach will still be there in 4 years. Gophers because they take forever to recognize their mistakes. Badgers because they correct more quickly
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Well, not many are. Bo is in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Gard has done pretty well as a protege though.
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Bo has been on the list to be voted in, but he is not in yet.

GopherOhana said:
my opinion of gard is that he's a slight upgrade from CBJ so I'm of the opinion that freitag will have to develop himself
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Really? IMO, if Gard were coaching the Gophers he'd be the best coach MN has had since Haskins. But you could say that about roughly 2/3 of the coaches in this league.
 

formerlybis said:
Bo has been on the list to be voted in, but he is not in yet.


Really? IMO, if Gard were coaching the Gophers he'd be the best coach MN has had since Haskins. But you could say that about roughly 2/3 of the coaches in this league.
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Lol, the anti BJ crowd can turn any post into a rant! Lol. Not a lot of imagination, but you do gets points for persistency. 👍🏻👍🏻
 

formerlybis said:
As it is now, I would lay odds of Freitag developing into a better player at Wisconsin than Asuma at Minnesota, because, you know, actual coaching, development, and using players in a way that puts them in their best situation to succeed.

The odds go to even if Johnson’s replacement starts in April of this year.
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Such a poor and unfair analysis. What do you know about Ben Johnson’s ability to develop guards? He was a B1G guard. Greg G has had 4 years to develop Chucky Hepburn and he is by no measure one of the top point guards in the conference. Ben has not had a chance to start at square one with a guard. Until next year. BTW, how is Hawkins doing? Leading the nation in assists. I think the Gophers move the ball. That’s coaching.
 

Go4POV said:
Such a poor and unfair analysis. What do you know about Ben Johnson’s ability to develop guards? He was a B1G guard. Greg G has had 4 years to develop Chucky Hepburn and he is by no measure one of the top point guards in the conference. Ben has not had a chance to start at square one with a guard. Until next year. BTW, how is Hawkins doing? Leading the nation in assists. I think the Gophers move the ball. That’s coaching.
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Ummm Cooper had good assists numbers last year. But he also over dribbled all the time and the offsnese was constantly stagnant.

Im not saying thats Hawkins, hes much quicker than Cooper and moves everywhere on the court with a purpose. But no counting stat ever tells the whole story.

Also, if we are doing things in the honor of fairness look at Coopers stats with Ben compared to this year with SC. Not sure how hes doing defensively idk if any amount of coaching can fix his lead feet. But offensively hes night and day.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Ummm Cooper had good assists numbers last year. But he also over dribbled all the time and the offsnese was constantly stagnant.

Im not saying thats Hawkins, hes much quicker than Cooper and moves everywhere on the court with a purpose. But no counting stat ever tells the whole story.

Also, if we are doing things in the honor of fairness look at Coopers stats with Ben compared to this year with SC. Not sure how hes doing defensively idk if any amount of coaching can fix his lead feet. But offensively hes night and day.
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In Cooper's defense, and I said this last year, he was playing with a PF at one wing and a FR who was completely over their skiis on the other wing (Carrington or Henley).

Our system and personnel forced him to be not only our primary ball handler but often our only ball handler.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Ummm Cooper had good assists numbers last year. But he also over dribbled all the time and the offsnese was constantly stagnant.

Im not saying thats Hawkins, hes much quicker than Cooper and moves everywhere on the court with a purpose. But no counting stat ever tells the whole story.

Also, if we are doing things in the honor of fairness look at Coopers stats with Ben compared to this year with SC. Not sure how hes doing defensively idk if any amount of coaching can fix his lead feet. But offensively hes night and day.
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Both with Cooper and Battle, put their play in the context of their teammates. Cooper was playing with 4 freshman getting a lot of minutes. Battle is now not the primary opttion, getting more ooen, unpressured looks. In games where he is hurried, he is missing more. To pin their success on coaching is wholly unfair and naive. It takes players to win.
 
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Bob_Loblaw said:
In Cooper's defense, and I said this last year, he was playing with a PF at one wing and a FR who was completely over their skiis on the other wing (Carrington or Henley).

Our system and personnel forced him to be not only our primary ball handler but often our only ball handler.
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Exactly. This was not coaching. It was personnel.
 

Go4POV said:
Both with Cooper and Battle, put their play in the context of their teammates. Cooper was playing with 3 freshman getting a lot of minutes. Battle is now not the primary opttion, getting more ooen, unpressured looks. In games where he is hurried, he is missing more. To pin their success on coaching is wholly unfair and naive. It takes players to win.
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I didnt give an opinion one way or the other. I am just showing you cant pick and choose.

Cooper was not a good PG last year, but he had a lot of assists. But youre pointing to Hawkins now.

You cant say that Ben hasnt had time with certain players but now point to Hawkins success(through 8 games vs teams with a pulse) just because of assists. Hawkins has a eFG% of a ghastly 44%. Below the afforementioned Chucky. Hawkins has been much better than expected so I dont want this to sound like dissing him just pointing out the convenient argument

Part of coaching is also getting personnel to fit. Ben chose Cooper and Samuals. He still built that roster and couldnt make it work. Other coaches coach on the fly all the time.

Is Ben forsure a 100% coaching failure? Nope. Is he a lost cause at developing players? Nope

But is it also completely fair to say that when two players are similarily ranked the one going to play for Gard has a head start over the one playing for Ben? Yes. Its not a lock but its a fair statement to date.
 


GopherOhana said:
The gophers have been bad at basketball for a long time. basically, gopher basketball is indefensible.
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Would we not have a better record if the team was indefensible? Seems like we could score at will!
 

MUgopher32 said:
I didnt give an opinion one way or the other. I am just showing you cant pick and choose.

Cooper was not a good PG last year, but he had a lot of assists. But youre pointing to Hawkins now.

You cant say that Ben hasnt had time with certain players but now point to Hawkins success(through 8 games vs teams with a pulse) just because of assists. Hawkins has a eFG% of a ghastly 44%. Below the afforementioned Chucky. Hawkins has been much better than expected so I dont want this to sound like dissing him just pointing out the convenient argument

Part of coaching is also getting personnel to fit. Ben chose Cooper and Samuals. He still built that roster and couldnt make it work. Other coaches coach on the fly all the time.

Is Ben forsure a 100% coaching failure? Nope. Is he a lost cause at developing players? Nope

But is it also completely fair to say that when two players are similarily ranked the one going to play for Gard has a head start over the one playing for Ben? Yes. Its not a lock but its a fair statement to date.
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Oh my! Forget that I brought up Hawkins (only did so as a representation of ball movement which is coaching).

As has been discussed ad naseum on this forum it is a totally unfair comparison to compare the recruiting of a new coach in a historically mediocre program to that of a coach in a program with a winning tradition. That is what is known as false equivalency. Minnesota can not recr on a par with Wisconsin and will not be able to do so until we start winning over 500, if then. Perhaps we can pluck a gem now and then like Christie and Asuma, but be realistic in your expectations.

what I was responding to was the assertion that Ben could not develop a player, a guard, which is a totally unfounded assertion, and in my opinion unfair, and BS.

See you at the game! I have no more to say about this.
 

Go4POV said:
Oh my! Forget that I brought up Hawkins (only did so as a representation of ball movement which is coaching).

As has been discussed ad naseum on this forum it is a totally unfair comparison to compare the recruiting of a new coach in a historically mediocre program to that of a coach in a program with a winning tradition. That is what is known as false equivalency. Minnesota can not recr on a par with Wisconsin and will not be able to do so until we start winning over 500, if then. Perhaps we can pluck a gem now and then like Christie and Asuma, but be realistic in your expectations.
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But this is my point, you use this to highlight coaching but also deflected other forms of coaching like making personnel work.

And it wasnt comparing recruiting. It was the ability for equal recruits to develop under Gard compared to Ben. Is the data smaller? Sure, but thats part of why the edge goes to Gard. Hes done it. No coach is flawless at developing.

But also, if you do point to Bens coaching with Hawkins(thats fine) you cant also say hes hasnt had enough time then. Because Hawkins has been here half a season. If Hawkins can be a victory lap then Carrington can so far be a failure. Etc..

All Im saying is that its not absurd to give a slight leg up to a recruit going to Gard and Wisconsin as of now. Even as you said, that player will be surrounded with better talent early on too.

The issue on this board is that its so extremely divided. People either think Ben has no hope to ever coach. Or people blindly defend everything and claim not enough time in the year of portals.
 

Did Ben chose Cooperor Samuels? Or get stuck with them? You don’t always get what you want, but have to take what you get. No one, even the most avid BenHater on here could believe that Ben Johnson didn’t know that Samuels wasn’t an answer to one prayers for Big Ten talent!
 

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