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The only reason for confidence that you should need is that they just beat two top ten teams on the road. If that's not enough to give you at least a little bit of hope, I don't know what will. At the end of the day, it is the nature of sports to have upsets and underdogs making a run. That's...

Good grief. Some posters will literally dissect anything that a coach says to spin into something to complain about. It is so childish and counterproductive.

Sadly, this is/has been true for many D-1 teams. Players often pay too much attention to the 3 point line instead of probing the defense to find the best shot or passing angle. Players should need only be aware of the 3 point line when they are preparing to receive a kick out. Too many players...

To be clear... I am not trying to refute or argue with you. I liked the fact that you introduced some additional variables. You asked what they were aiming for and I simply provided the word that Johnson used to describe their play. I followed by saying that this year's squad has yet to show...

I'm using personnel as merely ONE of the many factors that will impact an accurate coaching comparison. As you said, it certainly makes a difference. I have not spoken with Johnson and staff but everything I have heard suggests that they want the program to be about playing gritty. To me, this...

I am glad to hear that you are not jumping ship. We need the die hard fans. What would you do differently to improve their play? And why do you feel that the coaches aren't doing this?

I have seen plenty of young teams come together and perform better as the season progressed. I feel like I have to point out that this team could perform much better but still lose to better competition. I have chosen to look for improvement in play over the year and am not focusing on the...

I love your work, Hodger, but I just hope that your readers understand how difficult it is to make comps that hold up to scrutiny. To be most accurate, one would need to include a wide assortment of variables other than those included here and then weight these variables in some fashion. For...

Thanks for the kind words. Let me be the first to say that I was as stunned and disappointed as anyone when Johnson was hired. I would have loved to have hired someone with a track record of success elsewhere. But Coyle and the administration made the decision so we have to live with it. Most...

Now you are worried about some players being so good that they leave early? You are the sort that will win the lottery but then complain about the taxes!

We were looking good at the time for him but he chose to reclassify and the rest is history.

My whole point is that all comparisons are laughable... and pointless. Each situation is different. There is absolutely NO telling what any other coach would do at MN. There is no telling what Johnson would be doing had he been hired at Directional State. Johnson never used those phrases as...

You hit the nail on the head... ISU hired an established coach and the Minnesota hired an assistant coach with strong MN ties. Let's compare the results after a few years. One year and change isn't enough of a sample size to account for ALL of the other many different variables. Unless, of...

We get it, GWG. You have never liked the hire. You can continue to compare and complain but Otzelberger is NOT the coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. AD Mark Coyle hired Ben Johnson instead. Otzelberger had 5 years of head coaching experience before arriving in Ames. Otzelberger had been an...

Johnson got an extension to ensure that he had 5 years remaining on his contract to eliminate any concerns from recruits. It worked wonders as we got Evans and Christie.

I have always felt that refs are notoriously more whistle happy in the first five minutes of the game as they, themselves, feel out the teams. Having Payne miss those moments while also learning on the bench makes sense to me. Other coaches might have different philosophies.

Have you been a coach at any level before? Your simplistic analysis of the game makes me think that your 'coaching' has been limited to playing your grandfather's old Double Dribble game on the Commodore 64.

I'd pony up for that!

I'd say Johnson hit his "shiny and new" opportunity as far as he could hit it in signing Evans and Christie. Johnson has done NOTHING to deserve either of the two of them. He is selling, selling, selling on the future and these guys were buying!

Reyna says he's fit but coaching staff may think otherwise. I am sure the thought was to limit his minutes in group play. Berhalter may have thought Morris was less mistake prone than a 95% fit Reyna. Had they coasted to the 3 points and saved his legs for today, we all might be lauding...