How do you feel about the state of program right now?

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Allshade said:
With some good coaching, do you think Hawkins could be a decent point guard? He's quick, pretty good handles. Seems like he could make things happen. What do I know?
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Hard to tell until we play better competition. Ask this question again after 6 B10 games.
 

kg21 said:
Did you miss the never ending dunks and layups?
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No, but an alert observer would have noticed there were a number of times we played good defense down to the end of the shot clock to be rewarded by a clown shot going in. On a normal night they get a few less buckets.
 

Dakota2 said:
No, but an alert observer would have noticed there were a number of times we played good defense down to the end of the shot clock to be rewarded by a clown shot going in. On a normal night they get a few less buckets.
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A few less clown shots wouldn't of mattered.... we still loose
 

BarnBurner said:
After an ass kicking by a wcc team, you're going with sf was lucky?

Did you actually watch?

Stop with the excuses and nonsense.
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Unlike you, I am not required to tailor every comment to childish groupspeak.

USF did make a few improbable shots, actual fact. Had no bearing on the outcome because we threw it away 18 times and shot poorly.
 



Dakota2 said:
Unlike you, I am not required to tailor every comment to childish groupspeak.

USF did make a few improbable shots, actual fact. Had no bearing on the outcome because we threw it away 18 times and shot poorly.
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Your coach and team got a whooping and lost by 20, and you talk about lucky shots.

How childish.
 

Had this gone well, the Gophers would have a homegrown guy that would (theoretically) be unlikely to leave for greener pastures. Pitino, had he had good success, almost assuredly would have left if others came calling. Getting a guy with ties to the program is how you avoid being viewed as a stepping-stone program, e.g. PSU - they were good for a couple of years and now back to square one. If Rhoads is good, he'll be gone in a couple years, too. I don't like the PSU dynamic myself, but I do get that seeing some success > none.

That being said, I prefer to judge performance, and not engage in the irrelevant debate on whether it was the right hire. And there can be little argument that it has not gone well, even granting the legitimate complaints about the hand they were dealt (roster turnover, NIL, injuries, etc.). Other teams have issues, too.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I still hold to this: coaching matters, but talent matters too. and the Gophers do not have the NIL needed to bring in the level of talent that would allow the program to really move up in the conference standings.
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This is complete nonsense as other coaches have taken over similar situations with limited NIL and rapidly got better.

I'm sure San Francisco ran us out of the gym last night with more talent because they're swimming in NIL though...
 

So many excuses.... Today's college athletics are now different... The days of building a team over years is done with.. for some reason the university doesn't care or understand..... However based upon the coaching we've seen; it's quite possible all the nil $$ in the world wouldn't save Ben... He simply can not coach....
 





Bad Gopher said:
Even after he quits or is fired? Meaning a gag order? WTF
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I wouldn't take the comment entirely literally. He likely will never acknowledge it even if he could. My guess is that he was never "mandated" to hire Ben, but it was "strongly suggested" by Goebel and the search committee. No real search wouldn't have waited to do full interviews with Craig Smith, Medved and Dutcher. It's not they had to grab Ben before someone else did.
 

We need a new play-caller next year. Watch any college football game and you will see a wide variety of creative play calling. We had a very vanilla offense this year, and that has to change.
 



Off-GridTNgopher said:
So many excuses.... Today's college athletics are now different... The days of building a team over years is done with.. for some reason the university doesn't care or understand..... However based upon the coaching we've seen; it's quite possible all the nil $$ in the world wouldn't save Ben... He simply can not coach....
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Outside of hockey, Minnesota will never win simply by having the best talent. They will have to take average talent and elevate it. Ben is utterly incapable of this, that much is apparent. And he's not a good enough recruiter to overcome it.
 

NIL $ is an issue for ascending to the top two or three spots in the B1G and competing for titles year in year out. We're not asking for that. We're asking for basic competence, to not be one of the worst teams in Power 6, and to make the NCAA tournament maybe half the time. The bar is low and we continue to somehow hit our face on it.
 

Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
I think the lack of real activity on gopherhole speaks for itself. People have moved into the category of not caring. Clearly the AD and Regency don’t care, or they have some MBA with no real world experience telling them that it is financially smarter to ride this sinking ship for 3 more years (all while executing the program) instead of paying the buyout + a real / competitive coaching salary.

They will win maybe 2-5 B10 games, but who cares. That is trash. Even if they win 8 games, who really cares, that doesn’t get the town excited now that the Twolves are a hot ticket with Ant.
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Wet Blanket Guy is right. Fans are so fed up they don't even care anymore. I myself have season tickets and I don't even want to go to the games. This is likely my last season. Combined with lack of NIL money, it is a perfect storm of failure. It is likely we will never recover.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I was listening to Doogie on Skor North. They were talking about Gopher Basketball, and Doogie made this very veiled statement.

"there's a lot more to the hiring of Ben Johnson than maybe Mark Coyle could ever publicly acknowledge....."

at that point, I would have had a follow-up question or two, but Mackey and Judd just let it go by without further comment.

FWIW, I have stuck up for Johnson because he seems like a good guy - he's a former Gopher - and I always hope that the new coach is going to work out.

But I have pretty much given up any hope that things are going to turn around. I'll watch the games when they're on TV (but I'm not shelling out for another month of Peacock...)

I still hold to this: coaching matters, but talent matters too. and the Gophers do not have the NIL needed to bring in the level of talent that would allow the program to really move up in the conference standings.
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We got hammered last night by a team that is not likely NIL rich. The Mogbo scored 8 per game at Missouri State last year. They got him for 30 days of Happy Meals. Colorado State isn’t loaded with NIL…
I agree with your point if you are talking Big Ten championship level play. But we can be competitive with solid talent and coaching
 


This is the worst Gopher program I can recall in my 40 years of following the Gopher athletic department. Worse than Wacker-era Gopher football because it's easier to turn around a struggling basketball team, especially in Minnesota.

I'm sure there was some non-revenue sport that was comparatively worse in that time, but nothing I've watched compete so poorly for that long of a period.

I think he was a fine idea as a hire (I don't subscribe to all that "diversity hire" BS) but it's clearly not working. I don't believe in firing coaches mid-season without obvious misconduct, but unless things radically change out of nowhere, I expect Ben Johnson to be dismissed at the end of the season.
 

LakevilleBro said:
We need a new play-caller next year. Watch any college football game and you will see a wide variety of creative play calling. We had a very vanilla offense this year, and that has to change.
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There can't be a next year with this regime. Too little, too late. The football team needs a new play caller. The basketball team needs a new head coach.
 

formerlybis said:
Had this gone well, the Gophers would have a homegrown guy that would (theoretically) be unlikely to leave for greener pastures. Pitino, had he had good success, almost assuredly would have left if others came calling. Getting a guy with ties to the program is how you avoid being viewed as a stepping-stone program, e.g. PSU - they were good for a couple of years and now back to square one. If Rhoads is good, he'll be gone in a couple years, too. I don't like the PSU dynamic myself, but I do get that seeing some success > none.

That being said, I prefer to judge performance, and not engage in the irrelevant debate on whether it was the right hire. And there can be little argument that it has not gone well, even granting the legitimate complaints about the hand they were dealt (roster turnover, NIL, injuries, etc.). Other teams have issues, too.
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I don't disagree with everything you have posted here, but I disagree with the sentiment that we must have "Minnesota ties". Penn State was the biggest doormat in the conference but made the right hire. Yes, he left for greener pastures. But the level of success he had in two years likely led to a better hire in Rhoads. We have a sustained track record of firing coaches here, not coaches leaving. Quit worrying about hiring a guy that has Minnesota ties. Find a basketball coach and worry about having too much success later. The snowball isn't going downhill anymore. It's already at the bottom. Recruits see that. The fan base sees that. Future coaches can see that. This was an overreach, plain and simple. A high school diploma from Minnesota won't change the trajectory.
 

Allshade said:
With some good coaching, do you think Hawkins could be a decent point guard? He's quick, pretty good handles. Seems like he could make things happen. What do I know?
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He struggled with turnovers at Howard. It's still a problem at MN. Also struggles defensively in staying in front go bigger and stronger guards. He's a mid major player at best.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Much has been speculated about possible undue pressure on Coyle by "the administration" to do a "diversity hire." But I wonder whether there's been pressure on Coyle by local basketball movers and shakers and high school coaches: hire someone we know and like or you'll never get another one of our top recruits.
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That would be inmates running the asylum and should never happen.
 

Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
I think the lack of real activity on gopherhole speaks for itself. People have moved into the category of not caring. Clearly the AD and Regency don’t care, or they have some MBA with no real world experience telling them that it is financially smarter to ride this sinking ship for 3 more years (all while executing the program) instead of paying the buyout + a real / competitive coaching salary.

They will win maybe 2-5 B10 games, but who cares. That is trash. Even if they win 8 games, who really cares, that doesn’t get the town excited now that the Twolves are a hot ticket with Ant.
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Gopher basketball is sadly irrelevant to 95% of Minnesota sports fans now. Only the diehards are left and many of them are close to giving up. I can't bring myself to care about regular season NBA games or I'd probably be there too.
 

howeda7 said:
Gopher basketball is sadly irrelevant to 95% of Minnesota sports fans now. Only the diehards are left and many of them are close to giving up. I can't bring myself to care about regular season NBA games or I'd probably be there too.
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My guess is that the vast majority of us who still care are tied in to the game itself and not just our team. Not many fans are like that. I don’t give a rip about the NFL but I follow the Vikings. I like the institution of college basketball so it keeps me connected to the Gophers. I don’t think I am alone. We’re a tiny minority and that doesn’t pay the bill or put pressure on for better performance.
 

golfing18now said:
I don't disagree with everything you have posted here, but I disagree with the sentiment that we must have "Minnesota ties". Penn State was the biggest doormat in the conference but made the right hire. Yes, he left for greener pastures. But the level of success he had in two years likely led to a better hire in Rhoads. We have a sustained track record of firing coaches here, not coaches leaving. Quit worrying about hiring a guy that has Minnesota ties. Find a basketball coach and worry about having too much success later. The snowball isn't going downhill anymore. It's already at the bottom. Recruits see that. The fan base sees that. Future coaches can see that. This was an overreach, plain and simple. A high school diploma from Minnesota won't change the trajectory.
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This is why I started my post with the "had this gone well" qualifier. I understand the upside of what they were trying to do. I don't think Minnesota ties is a requirement either - it's in the "nice to have" section of the job posting.
 

fmlizard said:
This is the worst Gopher program I can recall in my 40 years of following the Gopher athletic department. Worse than Wacker-era Gopher football because it's easier to turn around a struggling basketball team, especially in Minnesota.

I'm sure there was some non-revenue sport that was comparatively worse in that time, but nothing I've watched compete so poorly for that long of a period.

I think he was a fine idea as a hire (I don't subscribe to all that "diversity hire" BS) but it's clearly not working. I don't believe in firing coaches mid-season without obvious misconduct, but unless things radically change out of nowhere, I expect Ben Johnson to be dismissed at the end of the season.
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Big Ten season is going to be very interesting. It is clear that this team is more talented then the past few years but they also have some very clear weaknesses and at times look completely lost out there. Some of that could be a function of all the new faces playing together for the first time and some of it could definitely be the coaching as well.

Like you I don't think a move gets made mid season, but if at the end of the Big Ten season we are still languishing in last place I don't see how a coaching change isn't made after the season. Where it will get tricky is if the team shows some improvement during the conference season to the point where a case could be made either way for keeping or firing Johnson at the end of the season.
 



bga1 said:
We got hammered last night by a team that is not likely NIL rich. The Mogbo scored 8 per game at Missouri State last year. They got him for 30 days of Happy Meals. Colorado State isn’t loaded with NIL…
I agree with your point if you are talking Big Ten championship level play. But we can be competitive with solid talent and coaching
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Marcus Williams is another example. He was so good as a freshman at Wyoming, xferred to Texas A&M where it didn't work out. Now he surfaces w/ San Francisco and is putting up good numbers again. He'd absolutely be an upgrade to the guards the Gophers have on the floor this year. Gophers are not leveraging the portal, and it's not necessarily about NIL. Then there is CSU, pulling in Joel Scott who played at Black Hills State last year. Immediately contributing.
 

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