"Secret" scrimmage against Colorado State


I've been saying it for a few months, but if Henley and Samuels are playing big minutes and/or starting at the 2, we are in a lot of trouble at the guard position.

I think we are in trouble at the guard position, but who could start that would make you feel more comfortable? Carrington? If so, why?
 

Some posters are concerned with the depth of guards on this team. Samuels and Henley have already been labeled as recruitment misses by some individuals... Samuels based on his underwhelming years at Dartmouth and Henley being under recruited by other Power 5 conferences and being too tall to be a guard.

You don't think we should be concerned with our guard depth?
 

Either Carrington or Samuels will start and the other will play substantial minutes. But I'm not sure why he is more that much more concerning than Loewe/Stephens/Sutherlin.

I wouldn't count out Henley either.
 

There was an article in the Strib talking about the Coaches' reaction to the scrimmage. Johnson said he wants to give the younger players as much playing time as possible in the early part of the season to help get them ready.

an excerpt:

Payne, from Cottage Grove, and Ola-Joseph, from Brooklyn Park, are likely to see time in the front court, especially with season-ending injuries to veteran forwards Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen. The rapid development of their freshman counterparts Braeden Carrington from Park Center and Jaden Henley is also critical in the backcourt.

"You want to get as many games and minutes under their belt as you can," said Johnson, who is considering the same play-the-young-guys approach in early nonconference play, including the Nov. 7 season opener against Western Michigan.

Sophomore Treyton Thompson, who played sparingly last season, is also considered in that unproven group.
 


There was an article in the Strib talking about the Coaches' reaction to the scrimmage. Johnson said he wants to give the younger players as much playing time as possible in the early part of the season to help get them ready.

an excerpt:

Payne, from Cottage Grove, and Ola-Joseph, from Brooklyn Park, are likely to see time in the front court, especially with season-ending injuries to veteran forwards Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen. The rapid development of their freshman counterparts Braeden Carrington from Park Center and Jaden Henley is also critical in the backcourt.

"You want to get as many games and minutes under their belt as you can," said Johnson, who is considering the same play-the-young-guys approach in early nonconference play, including the Nov. 7 season opener against Western Michigan.

Sophomore Treyton Thompson, who played sparingly last season, is also considered in that unproven group.
Keep forgetting about Treyton.
 

I would be all for having a few "gritty" ugly wins in the non-conference because we played the young guys instead of winning by 20+ thanks to Battle, Garcia, and Cooper playing 39 minutes apiece.

Kenpom would hate us early on, but the experience could spark a few Big Ten wins later in the season.
 

I think we are in trouble at the guard position, but who could start that would make you feel more comfortable? Carrington? If so, why?

Yes Carrington. I originally wanted another, better than Samuels guard transfer, but when that wasn't going to happen, the hope was that Carrington could step up and come close to replicating what Gabe did as a freshman.

That could still happen, but I've heard very little about Carrington so far and it appears he's behind at least Samuels and maybe Henley as well. I still think Carrington's ceiling is Gabe, but it may take him a few years to get there, if he does. That doesn't help this year's team much.
 

Yes Carrington. I originally wanted another, better than Samuels guard transfer, but when that wasn't going to happen, the hope was that Carrington could step up and come close to replicating what Gabe did as a freshman.

That could still happen, but I've heard very little about Carrington so far and it appears he's behind at least Samuels and maybe Henley as well. I still think Carrington's ceiling is Gabe, but it may take him a few years to get there, if he does. That doesn't help this year's team much.
Who are you hearing from that he’s behind Samuels. I haven’t heard that at all. I pretty much have heard Samuels is Coopers back up
 



Who are you hearing from that he’s behind Samuels. I haven’t heard that at all. I pretty much have heard Samuels is Coopers back up
We need to start the season soon so posters can at least steer their negativity towards actual game play versus conjecture based on limited knowledge of how players will/will not adjust to Power 5 college bball.
 

Who are you hearing from that he’s behind Samuels. I haven’t heard that at all. I pretty much have heard Samuels is Coopers back up

Who’s starting at the 2 then? It was supposed to be Ihnen, which was bad enough, and I’ve heard very little about Carrington there. That leaves Samuels or Henley. I know you’ve alluded to Battle there as well, which I think is a mistake, but that still leaves a hole somewhere in the lineup that needs to be filled by someone.
 

Who’s starting at the 2 then? It was supposed to be Ihnen, which was bad enough, and I’ve heard very little about Carrington there. That leaves Samuels or Henley. I know you’ve alluded to Battle there as well, which I think is a mistake, but that still leaves a hole somewhere in the lineup that needs to be filled by someone.
You’ve heard a ton about Samuels? That’s my point. I think it’s Carrington or Henley.
 

Who’s starting at the 2 then? It was supposed to be Ihnen, which was bad enough, and I’ve heard very little about Carrington there. That leaves Samuels or Henley. I know you’ve alluded to Battle there as well, which I think is a mistake, but that still leaves a hole somewhere in the lineup that needs to be filled by someone.
Samuels starts early on with two freshmen off the bench for lot of court time. When one of them is ready to start, Samuels moves into his intended role of backing up Cooper.
 



Samuels starts early on with two freshmen off the bench for lot of court time. When one of them is ready to start, Samuels moves into his intended role of backing up Cooper.
I think that is a very likely scenario.
 

Samuels starts early on with two freshmen off the bench for lot of court time. When one of them is ready to start, Samuels moves into his intended role of backing up Cooper.

I think you're likely right, but again that's why I'm concerned about the position. Freshman start from day 1 all of the time in college basketball, including at MN. If neither of ours can beat out a low level transfer from Dartmouth at the beginning of the season, that's a problem.
 

I think you're likely right, but again that's why I'm concerned about the position. Freshman start from day 1 all of the time in college basketball, including at MN. If neither of ours can beat out a low level transfer from Dartmouth at the beginning of the season, that's a problem.
I’ll join your concern if Samuels starts. You’re right though, freshman start all the time from day one. I expect that here too. What’s nice though is that we have two options and are not hoping on just one. I’m fully confident in Carrington being serviceable. Henley I just don’t know enough about.
 

I think you're likely right, but again that's why I'm concerned about the position. Freshman start from day 1 all of the time in college basketball, including at MN. If neither of ours can beat out a low level transfer from Dartmouth at the beginning of the season, that's a problem.
Samuels had some good games (12-15 points) against some P5 teams like Georgetown, Stanford, etc. If a freshman did that, we'd say he was very good.
 

I think you're likely right, but again that's why I'm concerned about the position. Freshman start from day 1 all of the time in college basketball, including at MN. If neither of ours can beat out a low level transfer from Dartmouth at the beginning of the season, that's a problem.
One of them will beat him out after some number of games.
 

Who’s starting at the 2 then? It was supposed to be Ihnen, which was bad enough, and I’ve heard very little about Carrington there. That leaves Samuels or Henley. I know you’ve alluded to Battle there as well, which I think is a mistake, but that still leaves a hole somewhere in the lineup that needs to be filled by someone.

My 0.02 is that Samuels who is listed at 6'0" (wink-wink) is our back-up PG, not a SG. It will almost certainly be Henley and/or Carrington getting most of the SG minutes. I could see the 6'4" Cooper sliding over to SG a bit with Samuels running the show, but even that's unlikely to be more than a couple minutes as Cooper will need rest at some point.

I also disagree that Ihnen was going to be our SG. I heard CBJ say he was versatile enough he might even see some minutes at SG, but Ihnen has grown & is approaching 7'. There's just no way he was going to start, or play extended mins there if healthy.
 

I’ll join your concern if Samuels starts. You’re right though, freshman start all the time from day one. I expect that here too. What’s nice though is that we have two options and are not hoping on just one. I’m fully confident in Carrington being serviceable. Henley I just don’t know enough about.

I'm with you here. I think Carrington is the more college ready of the two, with Henley having the higher ceiling long term.
 

My 0.02 is that Samuels who is listed at 6'0" (wink-wink) is our back-up PG, not a SG. It will almost certainly be Henley and/or Carrington getting most of the SG minutes. I could see the 6'4" Cooper sliding over to SG a bit with Samuels running the show, but even that's unlikely to be more than a couple minutes as Cooper will need rest at some point.
I would guess that is right and would hope it is. No knock on Samuels but I am looking for us to be competitive this year while being more forward looking. I would rather develop one of the kids with upside and use Samuels as a veteran stabilizer.
 

Samuels starts early on with two freshmen off the bench for lot of court time. When one of them is ready to start, Samuels moves into his intended role of backing up Cooper.
or the opposite, play the freshmen early season against the bi directional state universities hoping that they can adjust and grow early, if they fail to deliver, then play Samuels later in the season. Makes more sense then throwing them in against B1G teams, where they will have to be pulled fast.
 





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