2022-23 Gopher Half Glass Full Discussion

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ecoperson

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After seeing several buzzkills immediately descend upon and bring their not-so-sunny dispositions to the "Gophers Loaded with Up and Coming Talent" thread created by @MennoSota today, I have created a thread specifically aimed at discussing some of the positives that we see from the team over the season.

The buzzkills have infiltrated every thread on the GopherHole and have made most threads nearly unreadable with their negative spin. If one of the buzzkills tries to soil in this thread as well, I ask that other posters simply ignore them and not engage. There is no need to try to convince the buzzkills of anything... they have their opinions and will not be swayed. I repeat... do not engage!

All are, of course, welcome to read and post here. But please let us just have just one thread where we can discuss our hope and optimism. Please let us have this humble respite from all of the often negative things in the world and just focus on the positive developments of our favorite college basketball program!
 


I liked how Henley started out the game on Monday. He had good energy, attacked the basket and scored our first 5 points. He's got a bit of slipperiness to him and he isn't afraid to be aggressive. JOJ also has great energy. I think Carrington isn't fully healed from his ankle injury, but he seems to be working hard. Payne is going to be good and it was good for him to get his shot blocked a couple times so he can learn from it. Anyone of us who played some level of college ball knows the learning curve as a freshman. The game seems to play fast, but the more you play, the slower the game gets and you start to see things that you missed at the beginning. When that happens is different for everyone, but I am waiting for those moments when the kids have that "aha" moment.
 

MennoSota said:
I liked how Henley started out the game on Monday. He had good energy, attacked the basket and scored our first 5 points. He's got a bit of slipperiness to him and he isn't afraid to be aggressive. JOJ also has great energy. I think Carrington isn't fully healed from his ankle injury, but he seems to be working hard. Payne is going to be good and it was good for him to get his shot blocked a couple times so he can learn from it. Anyone of us who played some level of college ball knows the learning curve as a freshman. The game seems to play fast, but the more you play, the slower the game gets and you start to see things that you missed at the beginning. When that happens is different for everyone, but I am waiting for those moments when the kids have that "aha" moment.
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I agree with you on Henley. He has not been afraid to try to make some things happen. He hasn't always been successful but I like the mindset. I think he will continue to improve as the season progresses and he starts to get out of his own head a bit.

I posited in another thread that Carrington may be 'healed' but he may not be trusting it yet. I have been in that spot where I thought every new twinge was a reinjury and it definitely made me play less loose.

JOJ is going to earn more minutes going forward. He has great energy as you mention and, once he gets more comfortable, I think he can be a solid player for us.

Payne came into the season as the most heralded of the frosh and he has not disappointed. I often forget how young he actually is. Once he realizes how good he is and can be, I believe that he can provide a great inside presence for this squad. He will get called for some ticky-tacky fouls because it always seems like refs don't give young bigs the benefit of the doubt.
 

I have no issues with the current freshman and next years trio (classifying Betts there for simplicity). Nice back-to-back classes. Didn’t realize Evans is only 17. Hopefully he grows physically a bit with age. His old man is large. Plenty to be excited about. This year they’ll develop and hopefully that helps down the road.
 


Payne has proved his worth! hes going to be a dawg for us!

JOJ i have been pleasantly surprised with and he has earned the chance to get solid minutes every game. Interested how much his "athletisism" will translate against big ten competition

Henley continues to show flashes on his offensive game! really looking forward to him getting more comfortable on the defensive end and stay locked in on his man as he seems to get caught standing around while his guy crashes the board for an O board or back door cut.

Braeden. same with Henley. shows flashes and right now offers a more all around game than Henley does. He has shown to be a willing rebounder from the guard position. He needs to get his shot going though!

Payne is ready. The other 3 freshman will have to continue to learn and get comfortable on the fly! But thats good. These minutes this year are only going to help!


Now our 2 signees plus Betts for next year! they both have a shot to step right in and help the team right away! We dont get a guy with Evans skillset very often! Christie, i sure hope he can prove to be a ball handler for us! His shot is pure! Betts seems to have bought into where he is at this year and its great he gets to practice against college level guys for a year to get himself better!
 

Fast forward to next season, if Fox and Ihnen can recover enough to earn minutes and Battle plus Garcia and Cooper return, Ben will have a pleasant problem; finding the minutes to keep everyone happy.! Depth could finally be our strength!

Get a quick, experienced PG is key along with who may end up transferring..
 

MennoSota said:
I liked how Henley started out the game on Monday. He had good energy, attacked the basket and scored our first 5 points. He's got a bit of slipperiness to him and he isn't afraid to be aggressive. JOJ also has great energy. I think Carrington isn't fully healed from his ankle injury, but he seems to be working hard. Payne is going to be good and it was good for him to get his shot blocked a couple times so he can learn from it. Anyone of us who played some level of college ball knows the learning curve as a freshman. The game seems to play fast, but the more you play, the slower the game gets and you start to see things that you missed at the beginning. When that happens is different for everyone, but I am waiting for those moments when the kids have that "aha" moment.
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I think he will be good in time, but needs to develop quite a bit. I agree, he ads speed and elusiveness.
 

Gophs24 said:
Payne has proved his worth! hes going to be a dawg for us!

JOJ i have been pleasantly surprised with and he has earned the chance to get solid minutes every game. Interested how much his "athletisism" will translate against big ten competition

Henley continues to show flashes on his offensive game! really looking forward to him getting more comfortable on the defensive end and stay locked in on his man as he seems to get caught standing around while his guy crashes the board for an O board or back door cut.

Braeden. same with Henley. shows flashes and right now offers a more all around game than Henley does. He has shown to be a willing rebounder from the guard position. He needs to get his shot going though!

Payne is ready. The other 3 freshman will have to continue to learn and get comfortable on the fly! But thats good. These minutes this year are only going to help!


Now our 2 signees plus Betts for next year! they both have a shot to step right in and help the team right away! We dont get a guy with Evans skillset very often! Christie, i sure hope he can prove to be a ball handler for us! His shot is pure! Betts seems to have bought into where he is at this year and its great he gets to practice against college level guys for a year to get himself better!
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All good but getting a difference maker guard in the portal is a if not the key to putting a team on the floor next season that can be competitive every night. Hopefully that qualifies as half full commentary.
 



With how the team overachieved in many facets last year, I was hopeful that with a what I thought would be better overall basketball players squad this year, we’d improve upon last year.

Im confused what is not working with this team (besides pure statistics) what’s not connecting between this squad and the staff compares to last year
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
With how the team overachieved in many facets last year, I was hopeful that with a what I thought would be better overall basketball players squad this year, we’d improve upon last year.

Im confused what is not working with this team (besides pure statistics) what’s not connecting between this squad and the staff compares to last year
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Youth, inexperience and leadership. I know the freshman have been good for the most part but there isn’t much for upperclassmen besides a severely struggling Battle. I’m encouraged by the young group but last years team was full of 3-4-5-6? year players. This team does not have that crutch.
 

MennoSota said:
I liked how Henley started out the game on Monday. He had good energy, attacked the basket and scored our first 5 points. He's got a bit of slipperiness to him and he isn't afraid to be aggressive. JOJ also has great energy. I think Carrington isn't fully healed from his ankle injury, but he seems to be working hard. Payne is going to be good and it was good for him to get his shot blocked a couple times so he can learn from it. Anyone of us who played some level of college ball knows the learning curve as a freshman. The game seems to play fast, but the more you play, the slower the game gets and you start to see things that you missed at the beginning. When that happens is different for everyone, but I am waiting for those moments when the kids have that "aha" moment.
Click to expand...
The mind is a powerful.
 

The half full view is that this year doesn’t matter anyways. The fact of the matter is it doesn’t. It matters in terms of process but not results.
Next year matters.
Part of what frustrated me about last year was that last year we already knew this years results didn’t matter. I don’t like that. But I think nothing differently of the program now than I did 12 months ago.
Year 3 we have to start seeing stuff.
Is that half full? I think it is.
 



SanDiegoGopherFan said:
With how the team overachieved in many facets last year, I was hopeful that with a what I thought would be better overall basketball players squad this year, we’d improve upon last year.

Im confused what is not working with this team (besides pure statistics) what’s not connecting between this squad and the staff compares to last year
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I agree with your take. Last year's team seemed to know their roles and, while clearly less talented most nights, played hard and were in most conference games. I am no pollyanna. We have seen a lower level of hustle out of this crew.

I am hopeful that we are simply seeing youth thinking instead of playing. I am willing to overlook the win/loss this year if I can see that the team starts coming together and competing.
 

Some guy said:
The half full view is that this year doesn’t matter anyways. The fact of the matter is it doesn’t. It matters in terms of process but not results.
Next year matters.
Part of what frustrated me about last year was that last year we already knew this years results didn’t matter. I don’t like that. But I think nothing differently of the program now than I did 12 months ago.
Year 3 we have to start seeing stuff.
Is that half full? I think it is.
Click to expand...
Seems half full to me! I doubt that many of us had this team making the NCAAs this year. Seems that the media and fans all had us near the bottom of the conference. With that goal seemingly out of the question, I immediately started looking to how this year can be a bridge to competing for that ultimate goal next year.

I had sincerely hoped that some of the hustle and poise that we saw last year would manifest itself in this team. I can only point to youth as a one of the causes. I think Battle's injury has not helped. I had expected more out of Garcia.

I want to see this team start taking some baby steps this year. They need to get a little confidence. If Battle is not fully healthy, I think he should sit. I would rather try to compete with him healthy later in the season than serve as a broken wing on an airplane that we are building while in flight. Give the youngins as much time as necessary to figure things out. It might be ugly sometimes but the light bulbs might also turn on a little sooner.

THEN we throw in Evans, Betts, Christie, and a transfer or two next year and take some tangible steps forward.
 


ecoperson said:
I agree with your take. Last year's team seemed to know their roles and, while clearly less talented most nights, played hard and were in most conference games. I am no pollyanna. We have seen a lower level of hustle out of this crew.

I am hopeful that we are simply seeing youth thinking instead of playing. I am willing to overlook the win/loss this year if I can see that the team starts coming together and competing.
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One more thing that is different this year is no Payton Willis. At times he could take over a game. There is no one like that on the team this year.
 

T-Bonegopher said:
One more thing that is different this year is no Payton Willis. At times he could take over a game. There is no one like that on the team this year.
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Last year we had two guys who could drop 30. This year it looks like there’s none.
 

T-Bonegopher said:
One more thing that is different this year is no Payton Willis. At times he could take over a game. There is no one like that on the team this year.
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But the roster is made up of mostly Minnesota players.
 

Holy Man said:
Last year we had two guys who could drop 30. This year it looks like there’s none.
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Battle is certainly struggling as one of the returning guys. I had expected the rest of the squad to be able to step up collectively to offset Willis' offense. I expected this team to get some more easy points in transition. It hasn't happened yet. Here's hoping that something clicks soon. The schedule isn't doing them any favors.
 


ecoperson said:
Battle is certainly struggling as one of the returning guys. I had expected the rest of the squad to be able to step up collectively to offset Willis' offense. I expected this team to get some more easy points in transition. It hasn't happened yet. Here's hoping that something clicks soon. The schedule isn't doing them any favors.
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The schedule isn't doing them any favors? I hope you mean the upcoming Big Ten games...because our schedule so far has been fairly soft.
 

Like a lot of people, I was optimistic coming into the season, because I believed this would be a more talented team.

but I did not appreciate the value of experience. Last year's team lacked high-end athleticism, but they had experience and grit. plus they had a PG in Willis who could create his own shot, or drive and kick to create opportunities for other players.

This year's team is more athletic, and I believe has a higher ceiling. but I underestimated the learning curve.

but - (going glass half-empty), Cooper is not as athletic at PG, and that has impacted what this team can do on the floor.

#1 need for next year is an athletic PG. can't fix that this year, so have to live with what this group can accomplish.
 




short ornery norwegian said:
Like a lot of people, I was optimistic coming into the season, because I believed this would be a more talented team.

but I did not appreciate the value of experience. Last year's team lacked high-end athleticism, but they had experience and grit. plus they had a PG in Willis who could create his own shot, or drive and kick to create opportunities for other players.

This year's team is more athletic, and I believe has a higher ceiling. but I underestimated the learning curve.

but - (going glass half-empty), Cooper is not as athletic at PG, and that has impacted what this team can do on the floor.

#1 need for next year is an athletic PG. can't fix that this year, so have to live with what this group can accomplish.
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I truly believe had Ihnen and Fox not hurt for the season that was an NIT at worst
 

Gopherfan84 said:
Yeah I really think Battle will be that guy for us scoring wise. It’ll make it easier on everyone else once his shot and rhythm comes back
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Battle and Willis 2 different style of players.
 


Gopherfan84 said:
I meant more as a guy to go get a bucket. Yes they are of course different players in how they’d do that
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One was a setter the other is a settee. Not sure Battle can flourish without a competent point guard. Hope he can, just not sure he can.
 

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