Do you want Ben back for a fourth year?

Do you want Ben back for a fourth year?

  • Yes, Ben deserves to return next season for Year 4.

    Votes: 129 59.4%

  • No, we need a new coach for next season.

    Votes: 88 40.6%
  • Total voters
    217
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CentralGopher said:
These are young kids in way better shape than I am. If they’re truly too tired to play hard the coach needs to adjust practice to account for that but I doubt that is the case with kids like that since they can bounce back pretty quickly at that age.
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I don't think anyone said they didn't play hard. Outside of the Indiana game, they were in the games and played hard. Just couldn't finish the deal.
 




Dakota2 said:
The current team, if everyone returns, would not be that much better next year. Christie and Payne can be a lot better, Hawkins and Mitchell a little better. Garcia and Fox are not going to be a lot better if any.

To be markedly better next year we need three solid portal players good enough to compete for starts and playing time with guys who are here. A power forward, a center, and a wing. Johnson's only job right now is the portal.
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Agreed 1000% percent here. This same team, even if everyone comes back, is not enough.

You've got to go get another solid difference maker or two, and then a depth piece or two or three or four...etc.

It's not that far fetched to make it happen either. Ben can do it.
 


Just when I like Ben, he goes and loses a few games. 3 game losing streak to finish out the B1G season. Now that we beat Butler on the road, and we have an opportunity to beat #41 in kenpom on the road. I voted Yes BTW
 


Some guy said:
If he goes 11-9 but is NIT is that true?
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I tried putting this out there earlier but no one would bite.

Posters here talk romantically about the Haskins era, and his final six conference records/place finishes were:

10-8 4th (NCAA second round)
10-8 4th (NCAA first round)
10-8 4th
16-2 1st (NCAA Final Four)
6-10 8th (NIT champs)
10-8 6th (NCAA first round)


Obviously in the new 18 team Big Ten finishing 4th would be great and probably a 11-9 conf record won’t get you there. 10-8 extrapolated to 20 games is 11-9.

But it just makes me wonder what is realistic here on a sustained basis and what will make fans consistently happy?
 

MplsGopher said:
I tried putting this out there earlier but no one would bite.

Posters here talk romantically about the Haskins era, and his final six conference records/place finishes were:

10-8 4th (NCAA second round)
10-8 4th (NCAA first round)
10-8 4th
16-2 1st (NCAA Final Four)
6-10 8th (NIT champs)
10-8 6th (NCAA first round)


Obviously in the new 18 team Big Ten finishing 4th would be great and probably a 11-9 conf record won’t get you there. 10-8 extrapolated to 20 games is 11-9.

But it just makes me wonder what is realistic here on a sustained basis and what will make fans consistently happy?
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Only one man's opinion here. I would like a bad year to be 8-12 (maybe 7-13). A great year to be 16-4. All other years somewhere in between. Looks like Ben has crawled into the lower end of middle of the pack. Next year I expect 9th place or better in the BIG as a low bar. Improvement each year with a few hiccups here and there.
 



Some guy said:
If he goes 11-9 but is NIT is that true?
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Yes, because it means they likely played another terrible non-conference schedule.

NCAA tournament within the first 3 years should be the bare minimum requirement. That was nearly everyones minimum requirement for a new coach before Ben was even hired.

Since he didn't do that but will get a 4th year, it's NCAA tournament or be fired next season. Especially since year 5 will likely be a rebuilding year regardless.
 

skiumah1 said:
Agreed 1000% percent here. This same team, even if everyone comes back, is not enough.

You've got to go get another solid difference maker or two, and then a depth piece or two or three or four...etc.

It's not that far fetched to make it happen either. Ben can do it.
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If we are adding this many pieces....who are we subtracting?
 

golfing18now said:
If we are adding this many pieces....who are we subtracting?
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I’d be surprised if Ihnen comes back, I think he could have a nice career at the D2 level.

Missing two years at that point really affected his development, from my perspective.
 

MplsGopher said:
I tried putting this out there earlier but no one would bite.

Posters here talk romantically about the Haskins era, and his final six conference records/place finishes were:

10-8 4th (NCAA second round)
10-8 4th (NCAA first round)
10-8 4th
16-2 1st (NCAA Final Four)
6-10 8th (NIT champs)
10-8 6th (NCAA first round)


Obviously in the new 18 team Big Ten finishing 4th would be great and probably a 11-9 conf record won’t get you there. 10-8 extrapolated to 20 games is 11-9.

But it just makes me wonder what is realistic here on a sustained basis and what will make fans consistently happy?
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MplsGopher said:
But it just makes me wonder what is realistic here on a sustained basis and what will make fans consistently happy?
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To answer your question: Nothing will make most happy. As the old saying goes: If it ain’t one thing it’s the other!
 



Spottedmuskie said:
Just when I like Ben, he goes and loses a few games. 3 game losing streak to finish out the B1G season. Now that we beat Butler on the road, and we have an opportunity to beat #41 in kenpom on the road. I voted Yes BTW
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No bashing intended here Spotted. But what changed with Ben in the last three games where you suddenly didn’t like him? I didn’t see any difference in the Butler game over previous three which easily could have been an another L. Maybe you did. BTW I want Ben back.
 

Gopheritnow said:
To answer your question: Nothing will make most happy. As the old saying goes: If it ain’t one thing it’s the other!
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That isn't true at all and is a friggin cop out. People have been open about their expectations and even a lot of the positive people are rather disappointed with a lot of the aspects of the season. The team sort of just hit the floor of what a lot of us were saying was the minimum needed to want him back for a Year 4.

The poster you quote (who many of us block because he is a fraud and spams the football board) is asking his question disingenuously.

Go back to the beginning of the season, no one had any expectations that seemed all that out of line. Being in line for an NCAA Tourny bid was a lot of people's goal. (or making one) A sense of improvement was what the majority were saying whether they were Ben defenders or haters. The vocal fringe on either end don't represent everyone else...

Look, the fact is that the fans are rather wishy washy right now because the team was rather wishy washy. It was better, but it is hard to know whether that was the team or the schedule because of how the season played out. (which is still ongoing which is why many are still formulating solid opinions) There were times when the team looked like they could compete with anyone, and times the team looked like it would lose to The Little Sisters of the Poor. (sometimes in the same game!) I don't think it is unreasonable for the majority to be unsure of whether this is a sign of a great future or a blip on the radar because of a mediocre Big Ten and a horrifically awful NC schedule.

I mean I think fans of most P6 teams would be on the fence about a coach who in 3 years has shown what Ben has shown. That doesn't mean he should be fired, but outside of a few really vocal people who will never like him for various reasons I am not seeing anything that tells me the majority of fans are acting much out of turn.
 

Dave H said:
That isn't true at all and is a friggin cop out. People have been open about their expectations and even a lot of the positive people are rather disappointed with a lot of the aspects of the season. The team sort of just hit the floor of what a lot of us were saying was the minimum needed to want him back for a Year 4.

The poster you quote (who many of us block because he is a fraud and spams the football board) is asking his question disingenuously.

Go back to the beginning of the season, no one had any expectations that seemed all that out of line. Being in line for an NCAA Tourny bid was a lot of people's goal. (or making one) A sense of improvement was what the majority were saying whether they were Ben defenders or haters. The vocal fringe on either end don't represent everyone else...

Look, the fact is that the fans are rather wishy washy right now because the team was rather wishy washy. It was better, but it is hard to know whether that was the team or the schedule because of how the season played out. (which is still ongoing which is why many are still formulating solid opinions) There were times when the team looked like they could compete with anyone, and times the team looked like it would lose to The Little Sisters of the Poor. (sometimes in the same game!) I don't think it is unreasonable for the majority to be unsure of whether this is a sign of a great future or a blip on the radar because of a mediocre Big Ten and a horrifically awful NC schedule.

I mean I think fans of most P6 teams would be on the fence about a coach who in 3 years has shown what Ben has shown. That doesn't mean he should be fired, but outside of a few really vocal people who will never like him for various reasons I am not seeing anything that tells me the majority of fans are acting much out of turn.
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You don't need to ever watch a game. You have no need to know the name of a single player. You have a calendar. The calendar tells you how many games the team must win to have met your expectations.
 


Big Dawg said:
Only one man's opinion here. I would like a bad year to be 8-12 (maybe 7-13). A great year to be 16-4. All other years somewhere in between. Looks like Ben has crawled into the lower end of middle of the pack. Next year I expect 9th place or better in the BIG as a low bar. Improvement each year with a few hiccups here and there.
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Agree with your low end. I'd go lower for calling a "great" year. There have been only 3 years for Minnesota comparable to 16-4 in the last 50 years and none in the 21st century. Also, the conference hasn't produced that many teams winning 16 (in a 20 game season) or 15 (in an 18 game season) conference games in a season lately. Only 7 times in 10 years and one or two of those years featured two teams reaching those totals. So, you pretty much have to win the conference to get that number of wins and may not get there even if you win the conference.
 
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Gopheritnow said:
To answer your question: Nothing will make most happy. As the old saying goes: If it ain’t one thing it’s the other!
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Dave H said:
That isn't true at all and is a friggin cop out.
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I think you're taking Gopheritnow's comments too personally, or specifically, to Minnesota. Generally, he is correct. I read some other online Big Ten team's forums here and there and I participated in another pro team forum (not a Minnesota team) for awhile. On the whole, most sports fan forums are pretty similar (filled with complaints, contentious, and fairly dreary on the whole). They're similar to political forums actually.

If you have a losing team, people will be unhappy. If you have an average team, people will be unhappy. Even if you have a good team, people will complain that they aren't better and will still bitch relentlessly during losses.
 



TwistingMyMelon said:
I think you're taking Gopheritnow's comments too personally, or specifically, to Minnesota. Generally, he is correct. I read some other online Big Ten team's forums here and there and I participated in another pro team forum (not a Minnesota team) for awhile. On the whole, most sports fan forums are pretty similar (filled with complaints, contentious, and fairly dreary on the whole). They're similar to political forums actually.

If you have a losing team, people will be unhappy. If you have an average team, people will be unhappy. Even if you have a good team, people will complain that they aren't better and will still bitch relentlessly during losses.
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I used to do game threads on Twins Daily back when Molitor was coaching. They had a couple poorer years, but the GT were hilarious. Lots of talk about music, restaurants, different cities, and some awfully good one liners. The only baseball talk was morbid and light hearted. I wondered aloud what happens to the GT if the Twins actually got decent? And it came to pass, and the GT were then filled with fools who would determine that on one day player so and so was the league MVP, and the next day the same player was a bleeping idiot. I have a son in law like that, and I cannot stand to watch a sporting event with him! It’s sports, someone has to lose, and someone has to win. Neither result makes you a god one day, or a moron the next!
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
I think you're taking Gopheritnow's comments too personally, or specifically, to Minnesota. Generally, he is correct. I read some other online Big Ten team's forums here and there and I participated in another pro team forum (not a Minnesota team) for awhile. On the whole, most sports fan forums are pretty similar (filled with complaints, contentious, and fairly dreary on the whole). They're similar to political forums actually.

If you have a losing team, people will be unhappy. If you have an average team, people will be unhappy. Even if you have a good team, people will complain that they aren't better and will still bitch relentlessly during losses.
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Maybe but I don't think criticism in this case is out of line.
 

Bayfield Gopher said:
No bashing intended here Spotted. But what changed with Ben in the last three games where you suddenly didn’t like him? I didn’t see any difference in the Butler game over previous three which easily could have been an another L. Maybe you did. BTW I want Ben back.
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Thought he was turning a bit of a corner to finish the season strong. Nothing personal on Ben, I do like the culture he is building and most guys look like they really want to be here. Too bad Battle chased that money, I bet he enjoyed his time in MN more than Ohio State.

Our loss to Sparty is looking better now as they crushed Miss St and Illinois winning too. B1G is off to an impressive start. I guess I'm too impulsive after some losses. We will see how we finish the season and I don't anticipate many exits to the portal, perhaps JOJ and maybe Christie to the draft. Really hope we can come back with most of this roster and enter the tourney as a 10 seed or better
 

Spottedmuskie said:
Our loss to Sparty is looking better now as they crushed Miss St and Illinois winning too. B1G is off to an impressive start. I guess I'm too impulsive after some losses. We will see how we finish the season and I don't anticipate many exits to the portal, perhaps JOJ and maybe Christie to the draft. Really hope we can come back with most of this roster and enter the tourney as a 10 seed or better
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The part in bold applies to pretty much everyone on message boards. It's the main reason I steer far clear of the in game threads during games.

This is a huge off season for Johnson and the program. Have to find a way to keep roster mostly in-tact, add some additional pieces and keep building on the positives from this past season.

Hopefully we make a nice run in the NIT, and it serves as a bit of a springboard into the 24/25 season.
 

He should be back! That is a no-brainer! This year has been unexpectedly successful, and lotsa fun! At the end here, we get to play two or three teams we have hardly ever have played (Butler, the Sycamores, and then maybe Bradley).
 


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