The Case for Niko (aka Niko’s Case)

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Holy Man said:
This is simply way too much confidence for a Minnesota sports situation that looks like it could be good. Just stop it! ☘️
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Everyone watch Royce Lewis running to 1B or picture Tom Crean in a yellow Centrury 21 blazer. Turn your pessimism to 10 ASAP!
 



I didn't read the whole thread, but I disagree with the thread starter in that I really don't want Thorson back on the staff. I want a complete fresh start after the last disaster. Thorson would likely run the defense if he stays and we simply never saw the vaunted defense he was supposed to bring in 4 years here. Also Dave would likely still be the lead recruiter locally and I see a major issue with having the guy who was selling the Ben Johnson program to the '26 and '27 kids be the same guy who is now selling them on the Niko Medved program.

One of the key things I will be looking at when Niko is named the coach is who will be on the staff. It's heavily rumored that Ali Farokhmanesh, his lead assistant, will take over at Colorado State. I would assume Niko would bring Brian Cooley with him who was his big man coach at CSU (per the schools bios). I really want to see a guy with high major experience that has recruited 4 star kids on the staff. I don't want to see another staff put together where everyone is coming from a mid major job or lower and we seemingly have limited options/connections in both the high school and transfer portal recruiting world. It seemed like anyone who was from Minnesota had a chance to come home under the last staff and we just have to be able to cast a much wider net.
 


EG#9 said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but I disagree with the thread starter in that I really don't want Thorson back on the staff. I want a complete fresh start after the last disaster. Thorson would likely run the defense if he stays and we simply never saw the vaunted defense he was supposed to bring in 4 years here. Also Dave would likely still be the lead recruiter locally and I see a major issue with having the guy who was selling the Ben Johnson program to the '26 and '27 kids be the same guy who is now selling them on the Niko Medved program.

One of the key things I will be looking at when Niko is named the coach is who will be on the staff. It's heavily rumored that Ali Farokhmanesh, his lead assistant, will take over at Colorado State. I would assume Niko would bring Brian Cooley with him who was his big man coach at CSU (per the schools bios). I really want to see a guy with high major experience that has recruited 4 star kids on the staff. I don't want to see another staff put together where everyone is coming from a mid major job or lower and we seemingly have limited options/connections in both the high school and transfer portal recruiting world. It seemed like anyone who was from Minnesota had a chance to come home under the last staff and we just have to be able to cast a much wider net.
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I see your point. It's going to be interesting, assuming Niko happens, what occurs with Thorson. I do like Cooley in that he's a similar grinder type who had to earn his way just to get to CSU. But without Ali, he'll need a stud recruiter.
 



EG#9 said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but I disagree with the thread starter in that I really don't want Thorson back on the staff. I want a complete fresh start after the last disaster. Thorson would likely run the defense if he stays and we simply never saw the vaunted defense he was supposed to bring in 4 years here. Also Dave would likely still be the lead recruiter locally and I see a major issue with having the guy who was selling the Ben Johnson program to the '26 and '27 kids be the same guy who is now selling them on the Niko Medved program.

One of the key things I will be looking at when Niko is named the coach is who will be on the staff. It's heavily rumored that Ali Farokhmanesh, his lead assistant, will take over at Colorado State. I would assume Niko would bring Brian Cooley with him who was his big man coach at CSU (per the schools bios). I really want to see a guy with high major experience that has recruited 4 star kids on the staff. I don't want to see another staff put together where everyone is coming from a mid major job or lower and we seemingly have limited options/connections in both the high school and transfer portal recruiting world. It seemed like anyone who was from Minnesota had a chance to come home under the last staff and we just have to be able to cast a much wider net.
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It's worth noting: I've felt Ben and his staff outkicked their coverage when it came to recruiting. They haven't had much to recruit to in terms of track record of success and hopes of being competitive in the conference, and they've been under-funded. To the extent that's been Thorson's doing, that recommends him.
 

Bad Gopher said:
It's worth noting: I've felt Ben and his staff outkicked their coverage when it came to recruiting. They haven't had much to recruit to in terms of track record of success and hopes of being competitive in the conference, and they've been under-funded. To the extent that's been Thorson's doing, that recommends him.
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Maybe. But the comment about Thorsons defensive acumen is accurate. If he is such a great defensive mind, we should have had better defense the last four years. On the recruiting front I’m not so sure they hit over their weight. Most of the key recruits were players coming home, which is fine but I frequently put an asterisk by. I know I’ve hired people who fell into my lap and had zero to do with my effort or skills. Same is true in recruiting.
 

Holy Man said:
Maybe. But the comment about Thorsons defensive acumen is accurate. If he is such a great defensive mind, we should have had better defense the last four years. On the recruiting front I’m not so sure they hit over their weight. Most of the key recruits were players coming home, which is fine but I frequently put an asterisk by. I know I’ve hired people who fell into my lap and had zero to do with my effort or skills. Same is true in recruiting.
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Good points
 

EG#9 said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but I disagree with the thread starter in that I really don't want Thorson back on the staff. I want a complete fresh start after the last disaster. Thorson would likely run the defense if he stays and we simply never saw the vaunted defense he was supposed to bring in 4 years here. Also Dave would likely still be the lead recruiter locally and I see a major issue with having the guy who was selling the Ben Johnson program to the '26 and '27 kids be the same guy who is now selling them on the Niko Medved program.

One of the key things I will be looking at when Niko is named the coach is who will be on the staff. It's heavily rumored that Ali Farokhmanesh, his lead assistant, will take over at Colorado State. I would assume Niko would bring Brian Cooley with him who was his big man coach at CSU (per the schools bios). I really want to see a guy with high major experience that has recruited 4 star kids on the staff. I don't want to see another staff put together where everyone is coming from a mid major job or lower and we seemingly have limited options/connections in both the high school and transfer portal recruiting world. It seemed like anyone who was from Minnesota had a chance to come home under the last staff and we just have to be able to cast a much wider net.
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what you haven't liked our 255th-->277th-->179th -->181st finishes in defensive efficiency?

i'm right there with you on cutting ties
 



EG#9 said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but I disagree with the thread starter in that I really don't want Thorson back on the staff. I want a complete fresh start after the last disaster. Thorson would likely run the defense if he stays and we simply never saw the vaunted defense he was supposed to bring in 4 years here. Also Dave would likely still be the lead recruiter locally and I see a major issue with having the guy who was selling the Ben Johnson program to the '26 and '27 kids be the same guy who is now selling them on the Niko Medved program.

One of the key things I will be looking at when Niko is named the coach is who will be on the staff. It's heavily rumored that Ali Farokhmanesh, his lead assistant, will take over at Colorado State. I would assume Niko would bring Brian Cooley with him who was his big man coach at CSU (per the schools bios). I really want to see a guy with high major experience that has recruited 4 star kids on the staff. I don't want to see another staff put together where everyone is coming from a mid major job or lower and we seemingly have limited options/connections in both the high school and transfer portal recruiting world. It seemed like anyone who was from Minnesota had a chance to come home under the last staff and we just have to be able to cast a much wider net.
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Niko has 12 years experience as a head coach. I'm confident he knows what he wants in assistants. If that is Dave Thorsen, so be it. And, an assistant coach only has so much influence on what actually happens with what they are charged with. In the end, it is the head coach that makes the decisions come game day. The defense was actually very strong scheme wise this year, but Ben made poor decisions (they were all his decisions) by keeping guys playing poor defense on the floor, allowing mistakes to be made, etc - he didn't listen to Dave's recommendations for shifts in personnel or defense way too often. This resulted in poor rotations, lack of help, etc That's not on the assistant - that's the head coach.

I just don't get the fascination with the assistant coaches. I get it more when someone with no experience is hired, like Ben. However, trust a head coach, with experience, to make those decisions. They are not going to bring someone in who they don't believe in.
 

Tucker32 said:
Niko has 12 years experience as a head coach. I'm confident he knows what he wants in assistants. If that is Dave Thorsen, so be it. And, an assistant coach only has so much influence on what actually happens with what they are charged with. In the end, it is the head coach that makes the decisions come game day. The defense was actually very strong scheme wise this year, but Ben made poor decisions (they were all his decisions) by keeping guys playing poor defense on the floor, allowing mistakes to be made, etc - he didn't listen to Dave's recommendations for shifts in personnel or defense way too often. This resulted in poor rotations, lack of help, etc That's not on the assistant - that's the head coach.

I just don't get the fascination with the assistant coaches. I get it more when someone with no experience is hired, like Ben. However, trust a head coach, with experience, to make those decisions. They are not going to bring someone in who they don't believe in.
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This is where I'm at as well. Let Niko choose his own staff. Just because Thorson was on staff doesn't mean he was utilized well.
 

Holy Man said:
Maybe. But the comment about Thorsons defensive acumen is accurate. If he is such a great defensive mind, we should have had better defense the last four years. On the recruiting front I’m not so sure they hit over their weight. Most of the key recruits were players coming home, which is fine but I frequently put an asterisk by. I know I’ve hired people who fell into my lap and had zero to do with my effort or skills. Same is true in recruiting.
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All of this.
 

Tucker32 said:
Niko has 12 years experience as a head coach. I'm confident he knows what he wants in assistants. If that is Dave Thorsen, so be it. And, an assistant coach only has so much influence on what actually happens with what they are charged with. In the end, it is the head coach that makes the decisions come game day. The defense was actually very strong scheme wise this year, but Ben made poor decisions (they were all his decisions) by keeping guys playing poor defense on the floor, allowing mistakes to be made, etc - he didn't listen to Dave's recommendations for shifts in personnel or defense way too often. This resulted in poor rotations, lack of help, etc That's not on the assistant - that's the head coach.

I just don't get the fascination with the assistant coaches. I get it more when someone with no experience is hired, like Ben. However, trust a head coach, with experience, to make those decisions. They are not going to bring someone in who they don't believe in.
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I am sorry but this seems like a bit of cope to me. Everything bad was Ben and nothing because of Thorson? The same Thorson who was supposed to be there to teach Ben how to be a coach because of his vast experience? Sorry that dog won't hunt.

If Niko keeps Thorson that is his choice and that is fine but people around here have this love affair with Thorson that I just don't get. His recruiting was at best hit or miss, and the defense the Gophers play stunk almost all of the time. And even if you assume that Ben made those calls in game, isn't it Thorson who would be working with them in practice over it? Not seeing much in the way of skill development on the defensive end.

And if none of it matters because Ben is to blame, then what purpose does he serve anyways? Can't anyone fill the shoes of "I am only here to do what I am told and then shut up during the game"? That is basically what you are saying Thorson did.
 

Dave H said:
I am sorry but this seems like a bit of cope to me. Everything bad was Ben and nothing because of Thorson? The same Thorson who was supposed to be there to teach Ben how to be a coach because of his vast experience? Sorry that dog won't hunt.

If Niko keeps Thorson that is his choice and that is fine but people around here have this love affair with Thorson that I just don't get. His recruiting was at best hit or miss, and the defense the Gophers play stunk almost all of the time. And even if you assume that Ben made those calls in game, isn't it Thorson who would be working with them in practice over it? Not seeing much in the way of skill development on the defensive end.

And if none of it matters because Ben is to blame, then what purpose does he serve anyways? Can't anyone fill the shoes of "I am only here to do what I am told and then shut up during the game"? That is basically what you are saying Thorson did.
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The question of whether it was the assistant or the coach is age old and originated with Mark Few and Dan Monson. :)
 



Tucker32 said:
Niko has 12 years experience as a head coach. I'm confident he knows what he wants in assistants. If that is Dave Thorsen, so be it. And, an assistant coach only has so much influence on what actually happens with what they are charged with. In the end, it is the head coach that makes the decisions come game day. The defense was actually very strong scheme wise this year, but Ben made poor decisions (they were all his decisions) by keeping guys playing poor defense on the floor, allowing mistakes to be made, etc - he didn't listen to Dave's recommendations for shifts in personnel or defense way too often. This resulted in poor rotations, lack of help, etc That's not on the assistant - that's the head coach.

I just don't get the fascination with the assistant coaches. I get it more when someone with no experience is hired, like Ben. However, trust a head coach, with experience, to make those decisions. They are not going to bring someone in who they don't believe in.
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How would any of us know that Ben ignored the advice from Thorson unless we had strong ties to players on the team or the coaching staff?
 


It was my understanding that Thorson's specialty was offense? All his coaching videos from back in the day are offensive development. I don't recall DeLaSalle overwhelming people with their defense? They just had more offensive firepower than the people they played.
Just my take.
 

60's Guy said:
It was my understanding that Thorson's specialty was offense? All his coaching videos from back in the day are offensive development. I don't recall DeLaSalle overwhelming people with their defense? They just had more offensive firepower than the people they played.
Just my take.
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Having watched them a great deal in prep to play them, they were typically just sound all around. However, it was defense first and consistently strong all the time. They were also very solid offensively. They didn't always have high offensive skill set, but always had athletes who played great defense.
 

60's Guy said:
It was my understanding that Thorson's specialty was offense? All his coaching videos from back in the day are offensive development. I don't recall DeLaSalle overwhelming people with their defense? They just had more offensive firepower than the people they played.
Just my take.
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De La Salle was absolutely known for Defense under Thorson. As were players he developed. Including Gabe K, Alan Anderson and a ton of others.
 

60's Guy said:
It was my understanding that Thorson's specialty was offense? All his coaching videos from back in the day are offensive development. I don't recall DeLaSalle overwhelming people with their defense? They just had more offensive firepower than the people they played.
Just my take.
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I would actually say pre Thorson that describes the school better under Ed Cassidy. Always in the State Tournament and just blew people away with offense. Thorson brought Motion Offense and Strong Defense.

It was quite the change at first, because they were used to a dominating games aesthetically. Very flashy, dependent on stars playing well.

Thorson brought a much stronger team game. More similar to what Don Zierdan might have done. A much more methodical and complete game. What became substantially better was when stars had off nights the team were more likely to pick them up.

Ironically, Thorson also started out right away playing a playing a ridiculously difficult schedule. He brought annual games against Milwaukee powerhouses, Chicago schools, Oak Hill Academy, among others.

His first year when they didn’t make State was a shock. They almost wanted his head. It was a short lived adjustment period though.
 

60's Guy said:
It was my understanding that Thorson's specialty was offense? All his coaching videos from back in the day are offensive development. I don't recall DeLaSalle overwhelming people with their defense? They just had more offensive firepower than the people they played.
Just my take.
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I'm no expert on Dave Thorson but my early 2000's Minnehaha teams made a habit of losing to De La Salle, and yes they had excellent defense.
 

Unregistered User said:
The first recorded game between two college teams occurred on February 9, 1895, when Hamline University faced Minnesota A&M (which later became a part of the University of Minnesota). Minnesota A&M won the game, which was played under rules allowing nine players per side.

en.wikipedia.org

History of basketball - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Nice find. Must have been updated/corrected as wiki lists Nov. 22, 1894 Drexel Inst. of Art, Science, Industry vs. Temple College as first college game. First 5 on 5 game Univ. Chicago vs. Univ. Iowa in Iowa City Jan. 18, 1896 OR 1897 Yale vs Penn because the Iowa team wasn't representative of the Univ., rather, was organized through the YMCA. Weird that someone would "correct" that.
 


This WVU article lists Niko Medved as the first candidate they should consider to replace DeVries. Apparently his wife is from Morgantown.
 

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