***OFFICIAL MARYLAND AT MINNESOTA IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

They've lost their last 3 games by a combined 95 points. They won't all be here as juniors.
They're smart enough to know that this year's won-loss results as freshmen don't affect their potential results in the future when they develop.
 


Payne 14 points 6 rebounds.
Henley 8 points 7 rebounds 4 assists.
Ola-Joseph 8 points 3 rebounds.

This is exactly what I'm looking for. These kind of numbers as freshmen translate to being good players as juniors...when our rebuild should show results. Which can be sustainable results with recruiting.
I like these three kids. Athletically they are really the only kids + Garcia that we have that are at the Big Ten level. Battle is a one dimensional shooter. Not athletic or quick (at this level). Earlier in the year I was down on Garcia's effort and well....grit, but I like how he has come on. The five guys worth keeping on this roster are the 4 frosh and Garcia. Cut bait with the rest and come back with some speed and play some tough defense. Time to move on. Ben is going to be the coach for a while- he is going to have to make some hard decisions if he wants to last past 4 years.

What we see now is totally unacceptable. Just letting a team walk onto our home court and drill any shot they want....Playing offense like its the playground. ugh
 




The hole is getting deeper...
The pressure to be savior's on Evan's and Christie's part is going to be immense (absolutely not a good thing)...unless a bunch of guys transfer and we get better players in the portal.

We got the ball to Payne down low a record number of times tonight. He had 14 points and 6 rebounds. There is a ways to go but finally it was an emphasis in game 22. What's worrisome is his free throw shooting...yes, he was 60% tonight vs his 43% on the season but he he looks so uncomfortable shooting many of them. Has to improve if he is going to be an effective emphasis.

Our offense is so many things not good. Not very many good looks. We move the ball to move the ball. No purpose. Then somebody takes off to nowhere.

Really curious about the roster. Keeps playing Thompson...what if he stays again? What if they all stay? To go to very good or great...you need to get to good first. Who on the roster is consistently good? We got lots of bad and the next step up is not all the way to good.
 
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What we see now is totally unacceptable. Just letting a team walk onto our home court and drill any shot they want....Playing offense like its the playground. ugh
We're going to start implementing stellar coaching and caring about defense next year though, right?
 

The hole is getting deeper...
The pressure to be savior's on Evan's and Christie's part is going to be immense (absolutely not a good thing)...unless a bunch of guys transfer and we get better players in the portal.

We got the ball to Payne down low a record number of times tonight. He had 14 points and 6 rebounds. There is a ways to go but finally it was an emphasis. What's worrisome is his free throw shooting...yes, he was 60% tonight vs his 43% on the season but he he looks so uncomfortable shooting many of them. Has to improve if he is going to be an effective emphasis.

Our offense is so many things not good. Not very many good looks. We move the ball to move the ball. No purpose. Then somebody takes off to nowhere.

Really curious about the roster. Keeps playing Thompson...what if he stays again? What if they all stay? To go to very good or great...you need to get to good first. Who on the roster is consistently good? We got lots of bad and the next step up is not all the way to good.
I'm in agreement on roster thoughts. The talent level is the real problem. These guys aren't good players. You've gotta continue to turn it over. I think Evans, Christie, Fox and Ihnen will help.

There were so many guys out there tonight for us that either aren't Big 10 players or aren't ready to be Big 10 players.
 

Went to the game tonight - Won't change my thinking that Ben needs time.

Watching that type of basketball tonight really tests that way of thinking though.
Some of his coaching decisions tonight were beyond curious:

Two straight planned fouls by Henley in the possession at the end of the first half
Never played Ramberg (unless the last two minutes which I missed) in a game where effort sorely lacked
Stuck with the same defense the entire game, even though we were getting thrashed
There is just no passion
 



Some of his coaching decisions tonight were beyond curious:

Two straight planned fouls by Henley in the possession at the end of the first half
Never played Ramberg (unless the last two minutes which I missed) in a game where effort sorely lacked
Stuck with the same defense the entire game, even though we were getting thrashed
There is just no passion
Why Ramberg is not playing makes no sense to me. He's a top 5 player on this roster as it is now. And he plays hard which is really lacking.

Those 2 "take" fouls were extremely poorly coached and executed. Henley had no idea what he was doing.
 

I'm not familiar with that. But they lost to Maryland (on the road) by less than we just did at home.
You mentioned future results. Saying maybe someday we can be as good as St. Peter's.

What you & many here don't realize is...future results depend on freshmen developing and incoming recruits. Future results do NOT depend on won-loss results now.
 


Well, they didn't set a record for a seasonal loss deficit this time at least. I thought they were going to.
I do wonder if the Gophers have ever lost by 35 points or more twice in a row. That's quite a feat. This also has to be one of the worst home losses in the history of the Barn I would think.
 



I'm in agreement on roster thoughts. The talent level is the real problem. These guys aren't good players. You've gotta continue to turn it over. I think Evans, Christie, Fox and Ihnen will help.

There were so many guys out there tonight for us that either aren't Big 10 players or aren't ready to be Big 10 players.

Thompson isn't a Big Ten player. He wouldn't see the floor if injuries didn't beat us down. Henley and JOJ just aren't ready for this much PT. Even though I think Payne is further along....he's playing more than he should due to injuries too. Where Ben really deserves flack is at guard. Samuels was clearly brought in to play some minutes. Even with Carrington healthy. That's downright bad. Got to hope that Johnson can find a true point to transfer in. It's a necessity to find someone who can share responsibilities with Cooper.
 

I do wonder if the Gophers have ever lost by 35 points or more twice in a row. That's quite a feat. This also has to be one of the worst home losses in the history of the Barn I would think.
I'm pretty sure the home loss to Illinois in Pitino's last year was worse. That's when you knew he was done for certain.
 

Thompson isn't a Big Ten player. He wouldn't see the floor if injuries didn't beat us down. Henley and JOJ just aren't ready for this much PT. Even though I think Payne is further along....he's playing more than he should due to injuries too. Where Ben really deserves flack is at guard. Samuels was clearly brought in to play some minutes. Even with Carrington healthy. That's downright bad. Got to hope that Johnson can find a true point to transfer in. It's a necessity to find someone who can share responsibilities with Cooper.
Agreed - Thompson should not be close to seeing the floor in the Big 10. Samuels should not be on a Big 10 roster.

It's just really rough right now. Garcia needs to play to try to keep us within 20.
 

The hole is getting deeper...
The pressure to be savior's on Evan's and Christie's part is going to be immense (absolutely not a good thing)...unless a bunch of guys transfer and we get better players in the portal.

We got the ball to Payne down low a record number of times tonight. He had 14 points and 6 rebounds. There is a ways to go but finally it was an emphasis. What's worrisome is his free throw shooting...yes, he was 60% tonight vs his 43% on the season but he he looks so uncomfortable shooting many of them. Has to improve if he is going to be an effective emphasis.

Our offense is so many things not good. Not very many good looks. We move the ball to move the ball. No purpose. Then somebody takes off to nowhere.

Really curious about the roster. Keeps playing Thompson...what if he stays again? What if they all stay? To go to very good or great...you need to get to good first. Who on the roster is consistently good? We got lots of bad and the next step up is not all the way to good.
No, there is not immense pressure on Evans & Christie to be saviors. It will be a team effort. Our future is with our 4 freshmen and Evans & Christie and a few others over the next few years.

Although yes...this board will explode game-by-game demanding wins immediately the minute they step on the court.
 

You mentioned future results. Saying maybe someday we can be as good as St. Peter's.

What you & many here don't realize is...future results depend on freshmen developing and incoming recruits. Future results do NOT depend on won-loss results now.
If the freshman play well, they will have transfer offers. After 4-16, 1-19, 6-14 it's a pretty good bet some of them will have departed after year 1 or year 2. Dreaming about them as juniors in the transfer portal era is a bit silly, especially when we're this bad.
 


Agreed - Thompson should not be close to seeing the floor in the Big 10. Samuels should not be on a Big 10 roster.

It's just really rough right now. Garcia needs to play to try to keep us within 20.

With Garcia and Carrington playing....Thompson barely sees the floor if at all. And Henley probably doesn't play much either. It's a shit position to be in.....but four guys injured all at once.....and it forces guys who shouldn't be on the floor into playing. Nothing to do about it right now.
 

Almost as original as you & this board melting-down game-by-game during our rebuild.
No one is melting down. We're commenting on the wreckage that was a once decent program.

FWIW, I don't care or blame Ben for the coach speak, It's more annoying when PJ says the exact same thing after every loss. But something a bit more meaningful after losing 3 straight games by 25+ might be better.
 

I'm in agreement on roster thoughts. The talent level is the real problem. These guys aren't good players. You've gotta continue to turn it over. I think Evans, Christie, Fox and Ihnen will help.

There were so many guys out there tonight for us that either aren't Big 10 players or aren't ready to be Big 10 players.
On one hand, how can one argue with this? On the other hand, Dick Bennett took Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000 with Jon Bryant fifth in minutes and playing a key role in their NCAA run and someone called Duany Duany in their nine-man rotation. Their top scorer and minutes guy was Mark Vershaw, who I don't even remember, and I follow the game. You can't tell me Bennett couldn't have gotten Dawson Garcia, Jamison Battle, Pharrel Payne, and T'alon Cooper to play with purpose, value the ball, play a little defense, take good shots, and keep games like tonight's close. I think we all know the answer to this question.
 
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If the freshman play well, they will have transfer offers. After 4-16, 1-19, 6-14 it's a pretty good bet some of them will have departed after year 1 or year 2. Dreaming about them as juniors in the transfer portal era is a bit silly, especially when we're this bad.
Our freshmen realize that their future won-loss results here will improve dramatically if they improve and if we have good incoming recruits.
 

I like these three kids. Athletically they are really the only kids + Garcia that we have that are at the Big Ten level. Battle is a one dimensional shooter. Not athletic or quick (at this level). Earlier in the year I was down on Garcia's effort and well....grit, but I like how he has come on. The five guys worth keeping on this roster are the 4 frosh and Garcia. Cut bait with the rest and come back with some speed and play some tough defense. Time to move on. Ben is going to be the coach for a while- he is going to have to make some hard decisions if he wants to last past 4 years.

What we see now is totally unacceptable. Just letting a team walk onto our home court and drill any shot they want....Playing offense like its the playground. ugh
Yep!
 

On one hand, how can one argue with this? On the other hand, Dick Bennett took Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000 with Jon Bryant seventh in minutes and playing a key role in their NCAA run and someone called Duany Duany in their nine-man rotation. Their top scorer and minutes guy was Mark Vershaw, who I don't even remember, and I follow the game. You can't tell me Bennett couldn't have gotten Dawson Garcia, Jameson Battle, Pharrel Payne, and T'alon Cooper to play with purpose, value the ball, play a little defense, take good shots, and keep games like tonight's close. I think we all know the answer to this question.
I agree those 4 guys can play big 10 basketball.

Battle is really concerning. Regression and Ben seems to have given him a free green light with no discipline in regards to effort level. Frustrating to watch him.
 

No one is melting down. We're commenting on the wreckage that was a once decent program.

FWIW, I don't care or blame Ben for the coach speak, It's more annoying when PJ says the exact same thing after every loss. But something a bit more meaningful after losing 3 straight games by 25+ might be better.
I've suggested that you guys not watch the games during Ben's rebuild attempt. It get you too riled-up. Instead, you should watch the box score results for our freshmen, and you should follow recruiting.
 


I'm pretty sure the home loss to Illinois in Pitino's last year was worse. That's when you knew he was done for certain.
Several differences:
Pitino was 14 and 15 in his last season
We were 6 and 14 in conference versus a likely 1 and 19 this year,
Yes, we got beat by Illinois by 31 at 63 to 94. But Illinois was probably #1 in the country...finished season #2 in AP and they finished 2nd in the conference at 16 and 4.
We did score 63 points vs Illinois versus the 46 tonight in the loss by 35 and Maryland is 16 and 7.
Our strength of schedule under Richard was #9 of 347 in the country.
It only seemed worse.
We are getting numb to how bad we are right now.
 

Payne 14 points 6 rebounds.
Henley 8 points 7 rebounds 4 assists.
Ola-Joseph 8 points 3 rebounds.

This is exactly what I'm looking for. These kind of numbers as freshmen translate to being good players as juniors...when our rebuild should show results. Which can be sustainable results with recruiting.
Not necessarily !!!

What concerns me is the lack of any kind of improvement in any of our returning players. WHY NOT ?
I must see some improvement, alot by these Freshman from this to next or we have a problem with the entire program from top to bottom.
 

No, there is not immense pressure on Evans & Christie to be saviors. It will be a team effort. Our future is with our 4 freshmen and Evans & Christie and a few others over the next few years.

Although yes...this board will explode game-by-game demanding wins immediately the minute they step on the court.
Obviously, you have never coached or likely played at a high level. If you don't think good players take responsibility and put that pressure on themselves to be the difference makers...then you just don't have the experience yet to comprehend what happens.

Pilgrim, if Thompson is the one guy to transfer and we add a point guard from the portal who is decent...and everybody is healthy... if your four freshmen, plus Betts (5) are all back....they won't get very many minutes. too many better guys ahead of them for playing time.
Please, rethink your bit.
 




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