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Is that even true? We have 5 guys leaving and another guy testing the NBA waters.

I don't know if I would even argue the goal should be to stabilize the roster. I think it's best to just infuse as much talent as possible by doing your best to retain your best players and swap out your worst players for better transfers.

That said, I do agree with the main point. Ben has a chance to bring in more productivity than he lost.
 






I'm not sure that returning 5, maybe 6, guys out of 13 is "stabilizing the roster." Kind of an odd comment. The rest of the tweet is true.
 

golfing18now said:
I'm not sure that returning 5, maybe 6, guys out of 13 is "stabilizing the roster." Kind of an odd comment. The rest of the tweet is true.
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If Payne wasn't one of the departures, I would be ecstatic with this level of roster stability. I think last year we found out who we had and the rest of the departures make sense.
 

bga1 said:
I have felt that Asuma is going to really help right away- you like Grove's chances to help next year?
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Maybe not a regular basis, but I think he'll see some spot minutes here and there
 



The guys who left other than Payne, either saw limited or zero minutes or were role players and their minutes were likely to decline further. All significant players, other than Payne, are returning (because I think Christie gets his NBA evaluation and stays). Carrington’s and JOJ’s minutes are replaceable.

With Asuma coming in and likely portal additions, we will be stronger. Go Goohers!
 

Without Christie the roster is worse. Losing Payne is to be expected. Getting Garcia back was big.
 


bga1 said:
I have felt that Asuma is going to really help right away- you like Grove's chances to help next year?
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I do based on two things.

First of all his progress has been hampered by injuries. Secondly I defer my thoughts based on Ryan James take on him. RJ thinks he has a lot of upside and has a feel for the game. He does many things well, has a high hoops IQ, is a team player and plays hard on D. He can be a solid contributor.

IMO, Asuma will bring something that the Gophers lack. That is an all around solid PG.
 




Bayfield Gopher said:
I do based on two things.

First of all his progress has been hampered by injuries. Secondly I defer my thoughts based on Ryan James take on him. RJ thinks he has a lot of upside and has a feel for the game. He does many things well, has a high hoops IQ, is a team player and plays hard on D. He can be a solid contributor.

IMO, Asuma will bring something that the Gophers lack. That is an all around solid PG.
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You mean IRJO, Asuma will bring something that the Gophers lack 😉
 
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GopherMarroon said:
Without Christie the roster is worse. Losing Payne is to be expected. Getting Garcia back was big.
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Of course. You lose a player to the NBA draft, you’ve lost one of the top players in the country. However, whether the roster ends up worse depends on how Asuma plays and as-yet-to-be-determined portal additions.
 

GopherMarroon said:
Without Christie the roster is worse. Losing Payne is to be expected. Getting Garcia back was big.
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Losing Payne was now to be expected?

If they lose Christie too, which I think is more likely than not, the Gophers are going to need at least 3 players who can contribute a lot out of the portal to be competitive next season.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Losing Payne was now to be expected?

If they lose Christie too, which I think is more likely than not, the Gophers are going to need at least 3 players who can contribute a lot out of the portal to be competitive next season.
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Yeah, I still see Ben needing to pull a pretty big rabbit out of the hat to have a team that can match last year's accomplishments. Payne is a gigantic loss, and we already needed to add depth at that position, so now we need two centers. Good luck.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Losing Payne was now to be expected?

If they lose Christie too, which I think is more likely than not, the Gophers are going to need at least 3 players who can contribute a lot out of the portal to be competitive next season.
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As previously posted in another strand: IF Christie returns, and IF they can get a 5 that can rebound and play D and a decent wing, they have a chance to be better than last year, and that's assuming there is continued development from Christie, Hawkins, and Mitchell, and the addition of Asuma, who will get some playing time.

Those are big "ifs", but I think not impossible. You win with good guard play, and they could have a very good group of guards next year with Christie's return.

And I hope a lot of NBA scouts saw him getting backed down and pummeled by big guards last year, and his stock fell a bit. I don't see him as a 1st round pick yet. That shot is sure sweet though!

The other addition that may help more than people think is the Grove kid. Saw him live, and he's an athlete that moves well and is strong enough to provide some defense and rebounding in limited minutes.

A lot of things still have to fall in place, but if they do, there still is a decent chance this team is better and an upper division Big Ten squad.
 

Formerswish said:
As previously posted in another strand: IF Christie returns, and IF they can get a 5 that can rebound and play D and a decent wing, they have a chance to be better than last year, and that's assuming there is continued development from Christie, Hawkins, and Mitchell, and the addition of Asuma, who will get some playing time.

Those are big "ifs", but I think not impossible. You win with good guard play, and they could have a very good group of guards next year with Christie's return.

And I hope a lot of NBA scouts saw him getting backed down and pummeled by big guards last year, and his stock fell a bit. I don't see him as a 1st round pick yet. That shot is sure sweet though!

The other addition that may help more than people think is the Grove kid. Saw him live, and he's an athlete that moves well and is strong enough to provide some defense and rebounding in limited minutes.

A lot of things still have to fall in place, but if they do, there still is a decent chance this team is better and an upper division Big Ten squad.
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Good analysis. I’d love to see Grove be able to contribute as a freshman and the qualities you describe are needed on this roster. Can he be physically ready to compete by the start of the season though?
 

Holy Man said:
Good analysis. I’d love to see Grove be able to contribute as a freshman and the qualities you describe are needed on this roster. Can he be physically ready to compete by the start of the season though?
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That is a fair question as injuries have held him back. It will be interesting to see if he plays any AAU and takes time to heal for Summer workouts. At 6'-8" and 230 or so, is he done growing other than getting stronger? Grove also played goalie on his soccer team so that says a lot about his athletic ability.

HIs development will be worth watching. Many here have written him off to the role of RS.
 


Bayfieldgopher said:
That is a fair question as injuries have held him back. It will be interesting to see if he plays any AAU and takes time to heal for Summer workouts. At 6'-8" and 230 or so, is he done growing other than getting stronger? Grove also played goalie on his soccer team so that says a lot about his athletic ability.

HIs development will be worth watching. Many here have written him off to the role of RS.
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Do graduating seniors play club basketball in the summer before college? I would guess not. Maybe Howard Pulley or something like that.
 




Holy Man said:
Good analysis. I’d love to see Grove be able to contribute as a freshman and the qualities you describe are needed on this roster. Can he be physically ready to compete by the start of the season though?
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Holy Man said:
Good analysis. I’d love to see Grove be able to contribute as a freshman and the qualities you describe are needed on this roster. Can he be physically ready to compete by the start of the season though?
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In terms of his injury, I certainly don't know. But when I see a kid like this who is physically strong enough and athletic enough at 6-8" and around 230, and he can get off the floor and is very willing to play physically, you can always find minutes for a guy like that.

And they're going to need bodies, who knows if Fox will last another season and if Betts pans out as a player? And finding a "5" has to be the priority now. Is there any NIL money left?
 


USAF said:
If Grove is getting any significant playing time this coming season, that's a really, really bad sign.
He's not a B1G player.
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If you read things closely, I'm not talking about him getting "significant minutes", just that he's the kind of kid that will "get some minutes" because he is physical, can rebound, and has a good feel for the game.

In a year or so after some development, I would see him as a Big Ten player. We'll have to disagree on this one.
 

Formerswish said:
As previously posted in another strand: IF Christie returns, and IF they can get a 5 that can rebound and play D and a decent wing, they have a chance to be better than last year, and that's assuming there is continued development from Christie, Hawkins, and Mitchell, and the addition of Asuma, who will get some playing time.

Those are big "ifs", but I think not impossible. You win with good guard play, and they could have a very good group of guards next year with Christie's return.

And I hope a lot of NBA scouts saw him getting backed down and pummeled by big guards last year, and his stock fell a bit. I don't see him as a 1st round pick yet. That shot is sure sweet though!

The other addition that may help more than people think is the Grove kid. Saw him live, and he's an athlete that moves well and is strong enough to provide some defense and rebounding in limited minutes.

A lot of things still have to fall in place, but if they do, there still is a decent chance this team is better and an upper division Big Ten squad.
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That's a lot of if's and I'll be very surprised if Grove plays next season. Anything could happen but they still need to add a lot to this roster. The Gophers were still tied for the last weakling Wednesday spot last season, and that was with Payne, Christie, and Carrington.

It seems like people are also forgetting that there are 4 new teams coming into the B1G next season. Two of them have really good 1st year coaches in Muss and Sprinkle, and the other two are UCLA and Oregon. The Gophers have a long road ahead of them to get into the top half of the conference.
 

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