Take a deep breath, it’ll be okay.

Donate To GopherHole
Dakota2 said:
You might say his strengths are being a young man with three years run as a head basketball coach in the Big Ten, a multi-million dollar a year salary and a pretty well set future. That compares to you exactly how again????
Click to expand...
15-45.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I don't think it is. They weren't the only ones.

What's incredible is that we have heard for the last two years that we need to give him more time for his early recruiting classes to develop. Especially since they were made up of a lot of local kids.

What's also incredible is that they all left within 2 years.
Click to expand...
Do you remember the first house you bought? Probably a good thing now your family didn't judge your earning potential based on that starter house. But you got what you could afford at the time. You got the best you could get.

Twenty years later you probably had upgraded once ... maybe multiple times. Was it incredibly bad you got rid of that first house for better ones?
 



SplitDecision said:
Just for fun, let’s play “What if?”--What if the mopiness in the locker room from the three portal players is true. Garcia, Mitchell, Hawkins frustrated as the season winds down, knowing Carrington, Payne, and Ihnen are leaving, they go to CBJ with Fox and say,

"Hey coach, we want to play ball. The four of us can compete at a high level, and we are coachable. The three guys left because you told them what they needed to do at this level, and they just didn't have the skills to consistently do what you drove them to do. That doesn't make you an arse-hole, but you have high expectations and believe players should listen and be coached without making the same mistakes repeatedly. Sometimes potential in recruits doesn't reach a ceiling you had hoped. Its too bad Pharrel decided to leave, but if we can get a few better pieces in the portal that want to come in and work with us, we'll stay. Christie is all in too".

I don't know anything except rumors of locker room dissent and pouting about playing time (which is earned), cryptic Instagram posts, and a very close following of the portal as players enter.

BTW, MN recruit Danny Wolff (7-0/265lb) entered the portal from Yale, proving that having a great team, winning in NCAA tournament doesn't mean anything regarding portal status. He was five-time Ivy Player of the Week. Something like him flipping to MN playing in BigTen would create a lot of optimism. Good players want to win, be treated well, and play at a high level. MN is on a good trajectory, but this next season in a critical one for the program's relevance.
Click to expand...
A Fox and a Wolff. Canine Connection!
 



Dakota2 said:
Incredible you think it's the end of the world that Carrington and JOJ left.
Click to expand...
Ben has to replace Carrington with enough wings where that shouldn’t hurt us. But if he does that, then good riddance with those two.
 

Dakota2 said:
Do you think Ben's handling of Payne had anything to do with his chronic back condition both seasons?
Click to expand...
total minutes? Sure. The curious no start issue- no. How he used him? Why run a kid out constantly on the hard hedge if you are trying to protect his back. He was constantly chasing around to recover on D.
 

I have zero confidence BJ can find a big as good as Payne! You can find quality guards on most mid major rosters. Our only hope is another former top prospect MN high schooler wants to come home. And the only one I could think of is Dainja.
 
Last edited:




So just looked up our former players are not well regarded in the transfer portal rankings.

Not a great sign for them.

There should be substantial additions. I imagine their NIL offers will suffer.
 
Last edited:


Dave H said:
To him unless it is Ben Johnson leaving it is the end of the world.

I have never hated an enemy as much as some people hate Ben Johnson...so odd.
Click to expand...
STOP. No one here hates Ben Johnson as a person. There are many who have realized he is in over his head as a coach in this league and want a change. BIG DIFFERENCE.
 





GopherBlood777 said:
I understand wanting to be in denial, it's hard to swallow how bad this experiment has been so far.
Click to expand...
As someone mentioned a couple of days ago, we’re always playing from behind. We hire a coach with a developmental vision just as the whole possibility of that on a high major level disappears. The experiment has failed and it is very difficult to see it succeeding in the new world of college basketball. I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt and it’s not him, but the world that has changed this. But it has changed and none of us can deny it.

There is no scenario I can see where recruiting developmental players works at a high major level anymore. All three of our local recruits that bolted fit that category. One did develop enough to be highly attractive to big programs. The other two haven’t. It has not helped us.

We’ll see what happens in the portal this year. Ben’s best attribute is evaluating talent. If he can nab some players that might not grab the biggest paycheck, maybe it can turnaround. I’m not hopeful.
 


ecoperson said:
Where did anyone say Ben had issues with anyone? You make up a lot of shit to berate the coach of our team and program because you didn't like the hire from day one.

The players can't wait to get out for moolah and playing time- pure and simple. That is not an indictment on Ben in any way. You are quite clearly trying to place the blame on the coach to help justify your dislike of Ben.
Click to expand...
You have 0 clue as to why the players are leave... Talk is just that talk ... They may be looking for a pay day... They may have come to hate the decision to stay home and play for a coach who is so far in over his head.... It could be a combination of both. So stop believing everything that's printed... Odds are it's false as well
 

skiumah1 said:
Agreed
Click to expand...
Garcia can shoot, he can handle the ball, he can pass, and he defends pretty well. None of which Payne does well, other than block shots. Payne is not a player who can be a featured scorer, and he wants to be. He is the type of player who has a lot of development to do, and to do so needs to be receptive to coaching. He can be an extremely valuable player on a team, but needs to be surrounded by people who have offensive skill he can play off and needs to accept his role. Not everyone likes to here what they need to work on.
 


Holding steady at 5 leaving. Assuming the portal is closed on weekends?
Any more attrition and it would be one of Garcia, Hawkins, Christie, Mitchell, Betts. Not counting Fox and Purcell.
He is going to have to be Houdini.
 



GopherBlood777 said:
I understand wanting to be in denial, it's hard to swallow how bad this experiment has been so far.
Click to expand...
Can't wait for all of your predictions on how bad the team will be then subsequently be better than thought again. Want to bet they'll be better than last year this upcoming year. Or are you all talk?
 

They were not better according to many of your peers. The B1G was shitty this year....
Johnnyboy18 said:
Can't wait for all of your predictions on how bad the team will be then subsequently be better than thought again. Want to bet they'll be better than last year this upcoming year. Or are you all talk?
Click to expand...
 


Johnnyboy18 said:
Can't wait for all of your predictions on how bad the team will be then subsequently be better than thought again. Want to bet they'll be better than last year this upcoming year. Or are you all talk?
Click to expand...
#1. I'll wait until fall when the roster is set. In the meantime, I'm hoping for one of two things to happen: Ben gets studs from the portal, they gel nicely, and we go 13-7 in the BIG or Ben can't assemble a decent roster, we go 3-17 in the BIG and Ben is gone (then we hire an actual HC with HC experience). Tune in come October to see what the 2024/2025 Gophers can do.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Can't wait for all of your predictions on how bad the team will be then subsequently be better than thought again. Want to bet they'll be better than last year this upcoming year. Or are you all talk?
Click to expand...

What's better? Making the tournament?
 



You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom