PP: What this season tells us about the future of Gophers men’s basketball

[BleedGopher]

per Greder:

Johnson will not only rely on Jamison Battle on the court next season, but will take the work of the junior-to-be wing into recruit’s living rooms, especially how he was sixth in the Big Ten at 17.4 points per game.

“We now have something to sell, whereas before it was hard,” Johnson said. “I didn’t have a body of work, I couldn’t pull up video and say: ‘This is how we are going to play. This is how we run offense or this position. This is how we get you shots.’ Now you have that to sell. People who have watched us play they can see what we are trying to do.”

What this season tells us about the future of Gophers men’s basketball

In his first season as Gophers men’s basketball coach, Ben Johnson sought data points for how his player evaluating/recruiting and coaching philosophy/adaptability would pass through the Big Ten ga…

www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[bga1]

Interesting that he mentions it being a big off season for Thiam. I wasn't so sure he was staying, but perhaps Ben is. He showed zero trust in him this year.

 

[ecoperson]

The article pointed out the goods and bads of the season. I am a glass half full guy so here are the parts of the article that get me excited for next year:

• Minnesota shot 37 percent from deep, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 39th in nation.
• Total turnovers was second-best in the Big Ten and fourth overall in the country.

“They (Willis and Curry) helped Coach Johnson establish this culture and that’s why coach brought them back, right,” Battle said Wednesday. “To help the guys who are returning to understand what the core values of the program are … and help these guys, someone like myself, go out and lead the next year.”

“The portal is going to be big for us,” Johnson’s said last week on his KFXN-FM show. “We are going to dive into it full-blast. We have a body of work that will help us sell who we are and the opportunity that we have here. I think if we can get it right like I know we will, we got a chance to flip this roster into something that can be good for next year as well.”

Johnson called it a “big offseason” from sophomores-to-be Treyton Thompson and Abdoulaye Thiam.

“I think when you can combine really young good talent with older good talent that fits, that is when you can really move the needle,” Johnson said on the radio. “I know we will do that.”

 

[Some guy]

It’ll come down to getting the guys he wants to commit or not.

 

[Lion King]

It’ll come down to getting the guys he wants to commit or not.

Intelligent statement

 

[Some guy]

Intelligent statement

Yeah. Because what I learned this year is he is good enough to tie for 13th with 14#h place talent

 

[MennoSota]

Yeah. Because what I learned this year is he is good enough to tie for 13th with 14#h place talent

Your lack of vision and insight is impressive.

 

[Some guy]

Your lack of vision and insight is impressive.

I mean I have no insight. But if you see anything other than that you’re seeing delusions

 

[howieramone]

I mean I have no insight. But if you see anything other than that you’re seeing delusions

Come again?

 

[Unregistered User]

It’ll come down to getting the guys he wants to commit or not.

Big, if true.

 

[BTChamp]

The article pointed out the goods and bads of the season. I am a glass half full guy so here are the parts of the article that get me excited for next year:

• Minnesota shot 37 percent from deep, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 39th in nation.
• Total turnovers was second-best in the Big Ten and fourth overall in the country.

“They (Willis and Curry) helped Coach Johnson establish this culture and that’s why coach brought them back, right,” Battle said Wednesday. “To help the guys who are returning to understand what the core values of the program are … and help these guys, someone like myself, go out and lead the next year.”

“The portal is going to be big for us,” Johnson’s said last week on his KFXN-FM show. “We are going to dive into it full-blast. We have a body of work that will help us sell who we are and the opportunity that we have here. I think if we can get it right like I know we will, we got a chance to flip this roster into something that can be good for next year as well.”

Johnson called it a “big offseason” from sophomores-to-be Treyton Thompson and Abdoulaye Thiam.

“I think when you can combine really young good talent with older good talent that fits, that is when you can really move the needle,” Johnson said on the radio. “I know we will do that.”

That's what I took away as well. Impressive turnover ratio means intelligence, being under control, discipline and understanding teammates. That good coaching along with more talent will lift this team next year. Maybe/maybe not top half of the conference, but improvement should be easy to see. Thanks to Willis and Curry helping to establish the culture.

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

My biggest take away is him saying “I’ll have something to sell”

that was a lot of fans worries and sounds like it came true last year. Recruits he wanted on his A and B list not trusting his mediocre coaching background. This sounds like a knock down but its true.

If Ben is the recruiter Coyle thinks he is, I do think we’ll see a massive jump in the caliber of players we get from the portal.

another poster mentioned this but with the job Ben and staff this year with what they had, we should be a bubble team next year at least.

lets go!!!!

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

My biggest take away is him saying “I’ll have something to sell”

that was a lot of fans worries and sounds like it came true last year. Recruits he wanted on his A and B list not trusting his mediocre coaching background. This sounds like a knock down but its true.

If Ben is the recruiter Coyle thinks he is, I do think we’ll see a massive jump in the caliber of players we get from the portal.

another poster mentioned this but with the job Ben and staff this year with what they had, we should be a bubble team next year at least.

lets go!!!!

We are expecting 3 or 4 in the portal this year? Do you think he can exceed what he did last year with Battle, Willis and Stephens? That would be great in my opinion.

 

[cjbfbp]

“The portal is going to be big for us,” Johnson’s said last week on his KFXN-FM show. “We are going to dive into it full-blast.

Well, that's great to hear but don't just dive! Stay swimming in the pool and don't give up. Show the same stamina you forced your starters to have during the season!

 

[cjbfbp]

Do you think he can exceed what he did last year with Battle, Willis and Stephens?

Duplicating that would be a minor miracle I think. While there are a fair number of transfer guards who could give us a Stephens type year I think, those other two were far more special. If we went through all the transfers from 2021, I don't think we'd find a large number who had the kind of years they had. To put Battle in perspective (and to show how criminally underappreciated he was in the past), I'm going to repost something I wrote from another thread:

According to my database search, there are two current junior forwards in the country who have averaged more than 28 minutes per game, 11 + points per game, and 5 + rebounds per game in each of their first three seasons. They are both in the Big Ten. One of them (Trayce Jackson-Davis) was the #26 RSCI consensus player coming out of high school. The other was the unrated (according to 247) Jamison Battle.

Of course, we have Battle now so we don't need another one. Maybe we're better off getting 4 "decent" to "good" players from the portal this year instead of getting two "really good" ones along with a couple who were not even entry level.