Ben Johnson Q&A Instagram Live

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SanDiegoGopherFan

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This is the live Q&A from a couple days ago. First thing I noticed is how tired, maybe stressed, he looks. Hope all is ok.

Funny moment, for those a while back stating that associate head coach is not that important of a title, fast forward to 8:43 when he starts talking about Coach Jenkins, the fun part is at 9:15. :)

Anywhoooo, going back to finish watching. The U needs to do more of this with Ben, it will help.

Edit: The questions are actually very good, I thought it would be more funny easy questions. He goes a bit more in-depth of style of play. He admitted he is still trying to figure out that part, but is getting an idea of what style he wants to play. So for those who were defending and trying to explain gritty style , you'll be disappointed.
 
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I really want to get to the nitty gritty.
 


Thanks for posting, good to see a bit more detail on his vision.

Go Gophers!!
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:

This is the live Q&A from a couple days ago. First thing I noticed is how tired, maybe stressed, he looks. Hope all is ok.

Funny moment, for those a while back stating that associate head coach is not that important of a title, fast forward to 8:43 when he starts talking about Coach Jenkins, the fun part is at 9:15. :)

Anywhoooo, going back to finish watching. The U needs to do more of this with Ben, it will help.

Edit: The questions are actually very good, I thought it would be more funny easy questions. He goes a bit more in-depth of style of play. He admitted he is still trying to figure out that part, but is getting an idea of what style he wants to play. So for those who were defending and trying to explain yet gritty style , you'll be disappointed.
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I would like to have seen a question about how he plans to fill out the roster with summer around the corner and four scholarships yet to be filled.
 



How did he get the job without a vision of how he wants to play if he was a head coach?
Many successful head coaches have notebooks crammed with their vision from their journey to the position.
Granted it changes as you learn what you didn’t know you didn’t know. But you’re on fire to implement your vision! (I’d think?)
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:

This is the live Q&A from a couple days ago. First thing I noticed is how tired, maybe stressed, he looks. Hope all is ok.

Funny moment, for those a while back stating that associate head coach is not that important of a title, fast forward to 8:43 when he starts talking about Coach Jenkins, the fun part is at 9:15. :)

Anywhoooo, going back to finish watching. The U needs to do more of this with Ben, it will help.

Edit: The questions are actually very good, I thought it would be more funny easy questions. He goes a bit more in-depth of style of play. He admitted he is still trying to figure out that part, but is getting an idea of what style he wants to play. So for those who were defending and trying to explain gritty style , you'll be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, didn't get that tired vibe you did.
 

Didn’t seem tired to me. Really laid back and comfortable in himself. Likeable. Lots of similarities with Pitino in my mind. Ben maybe isn’t as glib and smooth, but both seem like good guys. Both really show their lack of experience when they took the job. Agree that, by the time they become B1G head coaches, most coaches have bought in to specific beliefs (specific man or zone D systems; types of effective offensive systems, etc). Don’t hear that much from Ben (and didn’t hear or see it early on with Pitino, either). Both were hailed as recruiting whizzes. Let’s hope that Ben brings that to fruition better than Pitino did. Seems like we’ve been down this road before. Hope the destination is different this time.
 



60's Guy said:
How did he get the job without a vision of how he wants to play if he was a head coach?
Many successful head coaches have notebooks crammed with their vision from their journey to the position.
Granted it changes as you learn what you didn’t know you didn’t know. But you’re on fire to implement your vision! (I’d think?)
Click to expand...
Did you watch the video or just read San Diego's comment?

He talks about how he wants to play but he also admits that they are still filling out the roster and some of what they want to do is going to be dictated by the personnel. Obviously he has a vision for the program and was able to sell that vision to Coyle.

I don't get the tired comments from the OP either. He doesn't have the personality of a PJ Fleck but he didn't come across as tired at all in the video. Doing a sit down Q&A like that with no interviewer or anything to feed off of is tough.

Good idea to do something like this although it probably would have been better to have someone else read the questions just to give it a little more flow. Will be interesting to see what Johnson is able to do on the recruiting trail and once the team takes the court.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Yeah, didn't get that tired vibe you did.
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You know how he looked sharp/groomed etc in the intro conference, and looks groomed in the cover photo of the video. I mean, it's important to look professional in my opinion when selling the program.

He looks like he needs a hair cut and has tired eyes.

Anyways, just little things i notice. His energy picked up towards middle of the video, but he started off a little tired to me.

to the other poster, yes, he is not PJ. I get that. I'm just not used to having a monotone head coach, RP had more energy.

He talks about how he wants to take different parts of what he has experienced for example at Xavier, but he doesn't have a specific style nailed down yet. I honestly don't care about that, I just hope he can recruit players to "his" system rather than create different systems every new recruiting class.

Just look at the interviews of King, Chet, etc of part of why they chose the schools they did. Their "system" fits them, not they will create the system around me. I've never read that in my life, if anyone can send me a link to a successful program that constantly changes their core style based on it's players, let me know. thanks
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
You know how he looked sharp/groomed etc in the intro conference, and looks groomed in the cover photo of the video. I mean, it's important to look professional in my opinion when selling the program.

He looks like he needs a hair cut and has tired eyes.

Anyways, just little things i notice. His energy picked up towards middle of the video, but he started off a little tired to me.

to the other poster, yes, he is not PJ. I get that. I'm just not used to having a monotone head coach, RP had more energy.

He talks about how he wants to take different parts of what he has experienced for example at Xavier, but he doesn't have a specific style nailed down yet. I honestly don't care about that, I just hope he can recruit players to "his" system rather than create different systems every new recruiting class.

Just look at the interviews of King, Chet, etc of part of why they chose the schools they did. Their "system" fits them, not they will create the system around me. I've never read that in my life, if anyone can send me a link to a successful program that constantly changes their core style based on it's players, let me know. thanks
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Good grief.
 

Pros:
  • Fun/informative breakdown of the assistant coaches
  • Ben's likable. I actually liked him on this much more than the press conference. I don't blame him for the press conference but he was a bit stiff and nervous (understandably), but Ben came off like a good guy. Answered the questions.
  • I liked his answer re: style of play.

Cons:
  • He is from Minneapolis and doesn't know where to get a Jucy Lucy?!?!? That ain't gonna play on the AAU Circuit.
  • I've heard him say this a few times, but he talks about having a chip on his shoulder. It comes off strange to me. He is 40 years old and the head basketball coach of his alma mater. That's pretty young. Prior to being a head coach, he was a D1 basketball player at two great schools. He was a highly decorated HS recruit. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, but things have REALLY gone according to plan for Ben. Why the chip?
  • A lot of "scratch & claw" or "gritty" comments. Again, I don't blame him , but that stuff doesn't mean anything.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
Pros:
  • Fun/informative breakdown of the assistant coaches
  • Ben's likable. I actually liked him on this much more than the press conference. I don't blame him for the press conference but he was a bit stiff and nervous (understandably), but Ben came off like a good guy. Answered the questions.
  • I liked his answer re: style of play.

Cons:
  • He is from Minneapolis and doesn't know where to get a Jucy Lucy?!?!? That ain't gonna play on the AAU Circuit.
  • I've heard him say this a few times, but he talks about having a chip on his shoulder. It comes off strange to me. He is 40 years old and the head basketball coach of his alma mater. That's pretty young. Prior to being a head coach, he was a D1 basketball player at two great schools. He was a highly decorated HS recruit. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, but things have REALLY gone according to plan for Ben. Why the chip?
  • A lot of "scratch & claw" or "gritty" comments. Again, I don't blame him , but that stuff doesn't mean anything.
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I mean Fleck is younger and he said he had a "crack" in his shoulder when he arrived here.
 



MennoSota said:
Ben Johnson...go to The Nook for your next Juicy Lucy
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Ya, or Matt's for their Jucy Lucy
or
5-8 Club for their Juicy Lucy
All three spots have that greasy tavern feel....and are excellent if you are in the right mood.
And, I don't even live in the Twin Cities....come on Ben.
 




60's Guy said:
Ya, or Matt's for their Jucy Lucy
or
5-8 Club for their Juicy Lucy
All three spots have that greasy tavern feel....and are excellent if you are in the right mood.
And, I don't even live in the Twin Cities....come on Ben.
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Not a fan of the Jucy Lucy's but Matts, been there one time but it was 45 years ago, not worth the trip back.

5-8 was always inconsistent, sometimes decent but sometimes terrible, great for noon mass in the 70's for Vikings games though.

I'll go with the Blue Door.
 

He is no EF Hutton, but he gets his points across. My take is that he will take advantage of the strength of his personnel. I look forward to the Gophers playing a few games. At least initially. Then, we will see if he is going to be a Thorson disciple or a hybrid of something else style wise.

OT - after the Spring Game, did you see Lindsay Whalen get drenched? She looked like she was p%ss&d at first. She wasn't expecting a cooler full, LOL! She probably called hubby to get a new change of clothes.
 

jovs said:
Not a fan of the Jucy Lucy's but Matts, been there one time but it was 45 years ago, not worth the trip back.

5-8 was always inconsistent, sometimes decent but sometimes terrible, great for noon mass in the 70's for Vikings games though.

I'll go with the Blue Door.
Click to expand...
Thought I heard the Blue Door on Selby is no more...or at least they are moving.
 

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