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Agreed that he will benefit a huge amount from having better shooters on the perimeter and more room to work underneath. He'll shoot a ton of free throws next year no matter how the perimeter players shoot it, but another key is whether he's ready to show the other aspects of his offensive...

I'll give you that there is one person on this board here who has a grating personality, and the amount of optimism is absurd. I'm a supporter of Ben, at least through this year. I think he's building something, and I think he can coach. But if this year is poor (many different definitions of...

Agreed, Donley has the kind of quickness and ball skills that will translate to the next level if he continues to develop. He's a fun kid to watch. Wilson is a good ball player and very well-rounded, but it may be tough for him to match up physically. I haven't seen Wooley from Orono play enough...

I'm also pretty pumped to see Hawkins quickness and ability to get by people. And I would argue that quickness at the guard position will be the biggest factor in the Gophers improvement this coming season. We had one of the slowest backcourts in major college basketball last year, and it hurt...

No, you're right, being a good assistant doesn't guarantee anything. And in my coaching experience it would be pretty hard to define a coaching assistant as a "failure" if the team didn't have a good season-even at a number of different places. That seems to fall much more into the lap of the...

This year will tell everything about whether Johnson will earn any more years as the head coach. If he doesn't produce significant improvement, he'll be gone. But to suggest that he is a massive failure because these teams made the tournament after he left as an assistant coach? You can make...

He is showing up very well against elite competition in AAU ball, and let's hope he doesn't decide to play football this Fall, like he's talked about. From the descriptions of him I've read about, he's exactly the kind of person you'd like running the point-great leadership qualities. We'll see...

Agreed, and in an event with about 50 D-1 players in Denver, to have 2 Gopher-committed players rated in the top 5 regardless of class (no, I don't know much about the person doing the rating) is pretty impressive. No matter how you judge Johnson so far, it seems apparent that he's a good judge...

Let your conscience be your guide..

I have a request Rockraven. I haven't been on this board for too long, but I enjoy reading opinions and information relative to Gopher basketball here, even when those opinions differ from mine. What bothers me is when the comments are belittling and insulting. You're not the only one doing...

I understand, I think he may well be best suited near the basket. In order for him to be effective on the wing, he would have to have made significant progress on his ball handling and some other areas of his game. I think that's possible, we'll have to see. I didn't seem him as an awful ball...

Good point, where is that enthusiasm? I think it's all been sucked out of people after 2 very poor years-those kinds of years have a way of doing that. I know there's never a sure thing with freshmen, but I believe Christie is going to get a lot of playing time. A player with the equivalent...

I agree that we really don't know if Ihnen can guard a 3 or if he can be an effective wing on offense. Here's what I would say about him: He is a career 29% shooter from 3, but he did shoot 38% on 45 3's his freshman season, and all of his shots were not all open looks from the corner. The guy...

Agreed we need Payne to make a big jump this year to be successful. Here's why I would bet on him making a big jump: 1. He's not just a big strong kid with good skills, he's a great athlete who has the ability to put the ball on the floor, pass it, rebound at a high level, has unbelievable...

And this guy doesn't have to be a starter or provide 12 pts/game. He does look athletic, he can rebound and has a pretty high number of blocks. If he can come off the bench and provide some energy, good interior defense, and guard 3's and some 4's in this league for 5-6 min a game, he'll be a...

Breaking News: Absolutely nobody knows where the Gophers will finish next year, but they do have some front line talent coming back in Garcia, Payne, and JOJ, and some others in Ihnen, Fox, and Betts who may supply depth. Their fate will depend on how their new backcourt fares in the Big Ten. If...

I agree that they could have doubled more in that game with Wahl and Crowl. And it's also true that you have to pick your poison, because when you double team the post you give up open 3's, and that is often much worse. I'm not saying the game plan was perfect, but these guys are not idiots who...

Agreed, there is very little we can tell from this video about his "lift" or "explosiveness". And at 6'10, there aren't going to be too many guys around who are going to be "explosive" with the ball in his hands, no matter what state his knees are in. He looked fairly comfortable, and that's...

No disrespect taken, and I completely understand where you're coming from. And I want to be clear that he hasn't shown himself to be the 2nd coming of John Wooden, but the truth is that he's had very poor talent the last 2 years. That's another path I won't go down, but last year his guard play...

While nobody knows the how good this team will be this year, it would be pretty surprising if there isn't a sizable upgrade from the guard position in ball handling, shooting, FT shooting, and defense with Mitchell, Hawkins, Christie, and a healthy and improved Carrington. There may even be a...