Isiah Ihnen

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Does anyone wonder where we would be if Pitino would of gave Isiah more run earlier in the year? He arguably has the brightest future of any player on the roster. His combination of length on defense and shooting ability is a major need on this team. And for a team that was desperate for depth, he for some reason barely saw to the court until February. How much better would he be now? Would we have been 1-2 wins better?

Game 1 - DNP
Game 2 - DNP
Game 3 - DNP
Game 4 - 9 Min
Game 5 - 18 Min
Game 6 - 13 Min
Game 7 - DNP
Game 8 - 3 Min
Game 9 - 1 Min
Game 10 - DNP
Game 11 - 2Min
Game 12 - 11Min
Game 13 - DNP
Game 14 - 5 Min
Game 15 - DNP
Game 16 - DNP
Game 17 - DNP
Game 18 - DNP
Game 19 -5Min
Game 20 - 1 Min

That is 3.4 Min a game, for our best rated recruit who ends up being one of our better players by the end of the year.

www.espn.com

Isaiah Ihnen 2023-24 Stats per Game - NCAAM - ESPN

The 2023-24 NCAAM season stats per game for Isaiah Ihnen of the Minnesota Golden Gophers on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 


I thought there was some injury. I couldnt find specifics, but assuming that was the first three games?
 

Have we lowered our standards so much that we watch Ihnen play and think Pitino messed up not overloading this kid with minutes? Is he really one of our better players?

He's done a decent job on the offensive glass. When in position defensively (the main culprit of his minutes when healthy), he does a nice job contesting shots.

But c'mon. He offers practically nothing offensively. He offensive rebounds, which I like, but he looks terrified once he does secure the ball and I've never seen him successfully put the ball on the floor and finish against somebody. He shoots a lot of 3s, but he's not a good shooter.

I think Ihnen can develop into a decent player. Players have looked worse as freshmen and developed into really good players, but there's not much evidence that he's on the cusp of being a guy who can play 25-30 minutes a game on a good team. I think anybody expecting him to make the jump from a kid who looks lost most of his freshman year and can't make a shot to a legitimate starter on a team that wins consistently are setting themselves up for massive disappointment.
 

My opinion he looked looked pretty raw when he first got some playing time, like a deer in the headlights. I think it took him some time to adjust to the speed of the game at this level. I am sure practice helped and as Pitino saw that he was starting to get it he got more playing time. I look for him to be a big contributor next year. On a lesser point it seems his game really started to pick up right after he got a haircut.
 




The issue wasn't how good Ihnen was in an absolute sense, it was how good he was in comparison to Demir. On that basis it would have served the team well for Ihnen to get more minutes. He wasn't dominant, of course, but he improved as he got more court time.
Ihnen's lack of PT can be included in Pitino's strategic and tactical errors this season. His decision to start Demir defending Garza (to protect Oturu) in the first five minutes of the Iowa game at home was the difference in that game. Then he did the same thing against the next big man at the next home game (can't remember who) with the same outcome differential. Ihnen is bigger and more athletic than Demir. He would not have shut those guys down. He might have changed 2-3 baskets, which would have changed the outcomes.
 

Ihnen, Carr, and Kalscheur.

Those are the 3 guys that absolutely must be on the roster next season. It would be fatal to lose any one of 'em. Those are guys Gophers need to build their season around next season. The rest of the roster, it wouldn't surprise me if any of 'em are not here for whatever reason.

Including Oturu, my guess is we'll have about 4 of the current underclassmen not on the roster next season.
 



Biggsohnasty said:
Have we lowered our standards so much that we watch Ihnen play and think Pitino messed up not overloading this kid with minutes? Is he really one of our better players?

He's done a decent job on the offensive glass. When in position defensively (the main culprit of his minutes when healthy), he does a nice job contesting shots.

But c'mon. He offers practically nothing offensively. He offensive rebounds, which I like, but he looks terrified once he does secure the ball and I've never seen him successfully put the ball on the floor and finish against somebody. He shoots a lot of 3s, but he's not a good shooter.

I think Ihnen can develop into a decent player. Players have looked worse as freshmen and developed into really good players, but there's not much evidence that he's on the cusp of being a guy who can play 25-30 minutes a game on a good team. I think anybody expecting him to make the jump from a kid who looks lost most of his freshman year and can't make a shot to a legitimate starter on a team that wins consistently are setting themselves up for massive disappointment.
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Someone else said it, but this question is about balancing development versus risk at our weakest position. Other teams try to isolate Demir and Omersa as much as possible, and each overplays their role in offense and at key points in the second half. It has cost us games.

ihnen has potential that neither has, and is an offensive threat that teams have become aware of. When Demir or Omersa catch the ball on the perimeter, their defenders say to help in any post feed to Oturu. When Ihnen is on the perimeter, teams are closing hard to chase him off the three point line (as of half time of the Maryland game). That scouting report alone makes him more valueable than demir and Omersa when they are playing like their usual selves.

He’s also a 37% shooter from 3, with most of his 46 attempts coming in big ten play. That’s a pretty good clip. Not to mention, ihnen clearly put in work last week to add a weapon for when he gets chased off the perimeter. He had a beautiful drive against the closer that ended with a pull up fade away in the lane. He needs reps in order to improve, and he’s certainly shown that he will.

All of your observations seem to come from the non conf season when the guy had been thrown into the fire after little practice time due to injury.
 

jamiche said:
The issue wasn't how good Ihnen was in an absolute sense, it was how good he was in comparison to Demir. On that basis it would have served the team well for Ihnen to get more minutes. He wasn't dominant, of course, but he improved as he got more court time.
Ihnen's lack of PT can be included in Pitino's strategic and tactical errors this season. His decision to start Demir defending Garza (to protect Oturu) in the first five minutes of the Iowa game at home was the difference in that game. Then he did the same thing against the next big man at the next home game (can't remember who) with the same outcome differential. Ihnen is bigger and more athletic than Demir. He would not have shut those guys down. He might have changed 2-3 baskets, which would have changed the outcomes.
Click to expand...

He also may have been out of position and given up a couple that way that Demir wouldn't have been. I agree 100% on Ihnen being more athletic and longer than Demir and that would maybe have helped, but teams have picked on Ihnen too as he is still learning. If he had wanted to go conservative with Garza, I wish he'd gone Omersa a bit more at Garza but that's just hindsight as well. Do fully agree that if this team defended better this season would've been different.
 

bc2211 said:
Someone else said it, but this question is about balancing development versus risk at our weakest position. Other teams try to isolate Demir and Omersa as much as possible, and each overplays their role in offense and at key points in the second half. It has cost us games.

ihnen has potential that neither has, and is an offensive threat that teams have become aware of. When Demir or Omersa catch the ball on the perimeter, their defenders say to help in any post feed to Oturu. When Ihnen is on the perimeter, teams are closing hard to chase him off the three point line (as of half time of the Maryland game). That scouting report alone makes him more valueable than demir and Omersa when they are playing like their usual selves.

He’s also a 37% shooter from 3, with most of his 46 attempts coming in big ten play. That’s a pretty good clip. Not to mention, ihnen clearly put in work last week to add a weapon for when he gets chased off the perimeter. He had a beautiful drive against the closer that ended with a pull up fade away in the lane. He needs reps in order to improve, and he’s certainly shown that he will.

All of your observations seem to come from the non conf season when the guy had been thrown into the fire after little practice time due to injury.
Click to expand...

If it was only about offense then you are correct here, but his playing time was held off because he would get lost defensively. That alone made him someone who you could not trust earlier in the season. Now the last week or two he's gotten better, but schools will still attack him (ex. Wisconsin). I wouldn't have minded a little more Ihnen a little earlier, but not much. He was awful to start whether he was injured or not. Demir and Omersa were better.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Ihnen, Carr, and Kalscheur.

Those are the 3 guys that absolutely must be on the roster next season. It would be fatal to lose any one of 'em. Those are guys Gophers need to build their season around next season. The rest of the roster, it wouldn't surprise me if any of 'em are not here for whatever reason.

Including Oturu, my guess is we'll have about 4 of the current underclassmen not on the roster next season.
Click to expand...
Any incoming coach has to find a way to keep those three. Willis would have a hard time leaving. I think it is also crucial to keep Freeman. I think he is going to be a solid big man in the coming years. There is obvious playing time available to him so I would be surprised if he goes.

Obviously, if Pitino stays we are looking at a different scenario.
 



Ihnen was injured for a fair amount of the DNPs, I'd guess 5 or more. Same reason he sat out against Northwestern later in the year. You can't play injured guys (or shouldn't)
 

bga1 said:
Any incoming coach has to find a way to keep those three. Willis would have a hard time leaving. I think it is also crucial to keep Freeman. I think he is going to be a solid big man in the coming years. There is obvious playing time available to him so I would be surprised if he goes.

Obviously, if Pitino stays we are looking at a different scenario.
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I think this will be the case even if Pitino remains. Roster overhaul (except for those 3) shouldn't be surprising.
 

Along with injuries, as a new international student ihnen arrived late and didn’t get to spend the summer with the team, iirc.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I think this will be the case even if Pitino remains. Roster overhaul (except for those 3) shouldn't be surprising.
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if Pitino stays i don't see much overhaul at all...….
Carr, Gabe, Willis, Williams, Ihnen, Freeman, Curry arent going anywhere....
the only guy I see leaving if Pitino stays is maybe Greenlee.
and I don't hate the roster for next year if Pitino stays
PG-Carr, Mashburn(FR)
SG-Gabe, Masburn & Tre can both get minutes here as well
SF-Willis, Tre can get minutes here
PF-Ihnen, Omersa, Mitchell(FR)
C-Curry, Freeman

again I don't hate the above roster. If Pitino can reel in Walton I would honestly be pretty pumped with the1-4 positions. and I think we would have to take a look at a PF/C type grad transfer


if Pitino goes I still don't see a scenario where Carr, Gabe, Tre, Ihnen, or Freeman leave. Curry probably decides to either retire or move to a school closer to home? Willis maybe decides to grad transfer somewhere? But even then I would say as long as the next coach wants him that he wont be scratching to leave the program. Greenlee? he probably leaves. Mashburn & Mitchell are gone. There is always roster turnover when coaches leave. but I just don't see those 5 guys leaving. Especially if we can get a solid hire.
 
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Gophs24 said:
if Pitino stays i don't see much overhaul at all...….
Carr, Gabe, Willis, Williams, Ihnen, Freeman, Curry arent going anywhere....
the only guy I see leaving if Pitino stays is maybe Greenlee.
and I don't hate the roster for next year if Pitino stays
PG-Carr, Mashburn(FR)
SG-Gabe, Masburn & Tre can both get minutes here as well
SF-Willis, Tre can get minutes here
PF-Ihnen, Mitchell(FR)
C-Curry, Freeman

again I don't hate the above roster. If Pitino can reel in Walton I would honestly be pretty pumped with the1-4 positions. and I think we would have to take a look at a PF/C type grad transfer


if Pitino goes I still don't see a scenario where Carr, Gabe, Tre, Ihnen, or Freeman leave. Curry probably decides to either retire or move to a school closer to home? Willis maybe decides to grad transfer somewhere? But even then I would say as long as the next coach wants him that he wont be scratching to leave the program. Greenlee? he probably leaves. Mashburn & Mitchell are gone. There is always roster turnover when coaches leave. but I just don't see those 5 guys leaving. Especially if we can get a solid hire.
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Looking at that roster, as you say, I would be looking for a one year guy at center and I also would be looking for a SF who can fill it up as that is the other soft spot in the line up. That spot is MADE for Walton but if not, go find a JUCO to plug and play. Calling Vince Grier!
 

Biggsohnasty said:
I've never seen him successfully put the ball on the floor and finish against somebody. He shoots a lot of 3s, but he's not a good shooter.
Click to expand...

He did that last game and pretty well. He took the ball, quickly drove closer to the basket, and put up a quick shot that went it. I don't know why it took him so long to do something like that but he appears to have some ability to do that so he should continue working on it.

As far as hitting three pointers, he had the highest 3 point shooting percentage on the team - 37.2%; his 3 point FG% in conference virtually was the same although Carr led in that percentage for conference games.
 

bga1 said:
Willis would have a hard time leaving.
Click to expand...

Not as a grad transfer. He definitely could find a place under that transfer status. I've wondered whether he will be eligible for that after this season since this is his fourth year.
 

cjbfbp said:
He did that last game and pretty well. He took the ball, quickly drove closer to the basket, and put up a quick shot that went it. I don't know why it took him so long to do something like that but he appears to have some ability to do that so he should continue working on it.

As far as hitting three pointers, he had the highest 3 point shooting percentage on the team - 37.2%; his 3 point FG% in conference virtually was the same although Carr led in that percentage for conference games.
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That pull up jumper he did was nice.

He's a raw freshman, who never played US ball before, had an injury, and needed to gain strength.

Next year he's going to have a big year. If Oturu stays, and they get Goodnews to come in and replace Willis as a swingman, I like the defensive potential for next season.
 

Maybe he just wasn't ready yet too though. Throwing someone into the fire when they're not ready can be counterproductive sometimes too.
 

Gophs24 said:
if Pitino stays i don't see much overhaul at all...….
Carr, Gabe, Willis, Williams, Ihnen, Freeman, Curry arent going anywhere....
the only guy I see leaving if Pitino stays is maybe Greenlee.
and I don't hate the roster for next year if Pitino stays
PG-Carr, Mashburn(FR)
SG-Gabe, Masburn & Tre can both get minutes here as well
SF-Willis, Tre can get minutes here
PF-Ihnen, Omersa, Mitchell(FR)
C-Curry, Freeman

again I don't hate the above roster. If Pitino can reel in Walton I would honestly be pretty pumped with the1-4 positions. and I think we would have to take a look at a PF/C type grad transfer


if Pitino goes I still don't see a scenario where Carr, Gabe, Tre, Ihnen, or Freeman leave. Curry probably decides to either retire or move to a school closer to home? Willis maybe decides to grad transfer somewhere? But even then I would say as long as the next coach wants him that he wont be scratching to leave the program. Greenlee? he probably leaves. Mashburn & Mitchell are gone. There is always roster turnover when coaches leave. but I just don't see those 5 guys leaving. Especially if we can get a solid hire.
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A lot would depend on who the new guy is and his name recognition and record. Plus he would likely bring a couple of decent players/recruits with him. The roster would be way diferent then it is now.

Coyle will unveil his decision to keep or bounce RP right after the season.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
That pull up jumper he did was nice.

He's a raw freshman, who never played US ball before, had an injury, and needed to gain strength.

Next year he's going to have a big year. If Oturu stays, and they get Goodnews to come in and replace Willis as a swingman, I like the defensive potential for next season.
Click to expand...
I think that what was stuck in the back of everyone's mind is...what if this is Buggs again, a guy who is full of talent but is just a perimeter floater who gets lost at times. I think we have found that Ihnen is not like that. Pitino has said that he loves the game (Buggs didn't) and it is clear that he is working at it. He has learned at a pretty high rate and you can see him add a little piece each game.

If he can add muscle this summer and work on his ability to drive and finish and also work on a post game, the kid can play three positions. He could fill in at center, start at the 4 or play the 3 at times. The sky is the limit on his potential here.
 

I wouldnt be shocked if Ihnen averages 10ppg, 6 reb next year.

It's called potential, most can see it.
Coming over from Europe and his injuries were a major hurdle. Missing out on learning during a harder than usual non-conference slate also was a variable.

Biggsohnasty said:
I think Ihnen can develop into a decent player. Players have looked worse as freshmen and developed into really good players, but there's not much evidence that he's on the cusp of being a guy who can play 25-30 minutes a game on a good team. I think anybody expecting him to make the jump from a kid who looks lost most of his freshman year and can't make a shot to a legitimate starter on a team that wins consistently are setting themselves up for massive disappointment.
Click to expand...
 

I'm firmly in the cap that Pitino should be canned and I think Pitino should take a lot of heat for playing Demir more than Ihnen down the stretch. That said, Ihnen did not look ready early on and Pitino's strategy with him really paid off.

He went from looking completely lost to being one of our better ball players. I'll give Pitino credit for finding Ihnen and coaching him up. I wish he would have gotten more run in the Maryland game and a couple of others, but Ihnen is actually an argument to KEEP Pitino. It was a nice find and the kid went from looking lost to looking like the real deal.
 

march madness said:
I wouldnt be shocked if Ihnen averages 10ppg, 6 reb next year.

It's called potential, most can see it.
Coming over from Europe and his injuries were a major hurdle. Missing out on learning during a harder than usual non-conference slate also was a variable.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he's really strong defensively too. He does it without jumping or being out of control. He is an impressive ball player.
 

Gophs24 said:
if Pitino stays i don't see much overhaul at all...….
Carr, Gabe, Willis, Williams, Ihnen, Freeman, Curry arent going anywhere....
the only guy I see leaving if Pitino stays is maybe Greenlee.
and I don't hate the roster for next year if Pitino stays
PG-Carr, Mashburn(FR)
SG-Gabe, Masburn & Tre can both get minutes here as well
SF-Willis, Tre can get minutes here
PF-Ihnen, Omersa, Mitchell(FR)
C-Curry, Freeman

again I don't hate the above roster. If Pitino can reel in Walton I would honestly be pretty pumped with the1-4 positions. and I think we would have to take a look at a PF/C type grad transfer


if Pitino goes I still don't see a scenario where Carr, Gabe, Tre, Ihnen, or Freeman leave. Curry probably decides to either retire or move to a school closer to home? Willis maybe decides to grad transfer somewhere? But even then I would say as long as the next coach wants him that he wont be scratching to leave the program. Greenlee? he probably leaves. Mashburn & Mitchell are gone. There is always roster turnover when coaches leave. but I just don't see those 5 guys leaving. Especially if we can get a solid hire.
Click to expand...

Listening to the Scoop friday with Mykell Robinson, he sounds like he's on board coming here, just wants to visit first. He'd be another wing who likes to defend.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, he's really strong defensively too. He does it without jumping or being out of control. He is an impressive ball player.
Click to expand...
Good observation on Ihnen, he doesn't swing his arms wildly, he holds his stance and he just goes up straight when he jumps, if he can't grab it, he tips it.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
That pull up jumper he did was nice.

He's a raw freshman, who never played US ball before, had an injury, and needed to gain strength.

Next year he's going to have a big year. If Oturu stays, and they get Goodnews to come in and replace Willis as a swingman, I like the defensive potential for next season.
Click to expand...

Is that a possibility or just blue skying (or dreaming?). Haven't heard his name in two years and saw that he left KState because he wasn't going to get playing time.
 

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