After the Cooper commit: Constructing the roster.

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Dakota2 said:
He played as a freshman too. Remember?

The biggest advantage Ihnen now has is playing for a good coach. Should make a world of difference.
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He regressed from is first year to his second, and he wasn't great as a FR. Never a good sign.

And it's still TBD on whether he's playing for a good coach currently.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I find myself in the awkward position of defending Isaiah Ihnen. A guy I'm usually criticized for being too hard on.

I'm certainly not "impressed" by Isaiah Ihnen thus far, so perhaps "impressive" was the wrong word to describe those limited games/flashes I mentioned? "Hopeful", or "Positive" would have probably been better adjectives.

My point is that Ihnen, who's game has not caught up to his potential, has at least notched a couple double-doubles, and a 12/7 game against B1G, or high major competition, while Fox has yet to play a minute of D1 basketball.
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I get that Ihnen has potential. But many players fail to reach their potential. I haven't seen much on the court that excites me about Ihnen, and now he has the ACL injury on top of it.

I am not concerned about Fox's ability to play at this level. Highly productive players at lower levels typically struggle if they move up because they lack the athleticism to compete at the highest level. That is not the case with Fox.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I get that Ihnen has potential. But many players fail to reach their potential. I haven't seen much on the court that excites me about Ihnen, and now he has the ACL injury on top of it.

I am not concerned about Fox's ability to play at this level. Highly productive players at lower levels typically struggle if they move up because they lack the athleticism to compete at the highest level. That is not the case with Fox.
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Again, I don't disagree with you, but until I see it happen, I'm not going to accept Fox being better than Ihnen as fact. I think it's likely, but unproven.

I've seen the same tape you have on Fox, and am excited to have him. That said, he's also coming off an ACL, plus he's not just moving up from a mid, or low major to the B1G. He's moving up from D2. It's conceivable the jump from playing Concordia St Paul, to playing Purdue, could be a big one.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Can I ask where you are seeing that?
I found this, which shows him about 6th or 7th in rebounds per game, but it also shows the leading scorer to have played 23 games and when it comes to rebounding the leader has 13 games. So some discrepancies.
www.theseasonticket.com

HOME

www.theseasonticket.com www.theseasonticket.com
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Compass final stat lists him at top with 8-board avg , although number of games is questionable....also listed in the top 50 2022-recruits at PF , Clemson, Loyola & Colorado St. attempted to sign him....
 

Just a general comment....this off season is so much more fun than last year.... :)

There are legit reasons to be excited about the prospects for this team as opposed to where we sat last year after the injuries knowing it was almost certainly going to be a brutal year.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Again, I don't disagree with you, but until I see it happen, I'm not going to accept Fox being better than Ihnen as fact. I think it's likely, but unproven.

I've seen the same tape you have on Fox, and am excited to have him. That said, he's also coming off an ACL, plus he's not just moving up from a mid, or low major to the B1G. He's moving up from D2. It's conceivable the jump from playing Concordia St Paul, to playing Purdue, could be a big one.
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Definitely a huge jump. But for Fox to succeed he does not need to be the feature guy. He won't get 8-10 dunks a game but he might get 3-5 and be really disruptive to Purdue's defense.

His biggest value might be as a shot blocker and rebounder. Seems to have that innate sense of timing on blocks. And he is up so high he won't be swatting driving shooters on the forearm giving two free throws.
 

I still think it is a very open question as to how Johnson uses his bench in year #2.

I do not think that he is going to go "iron 5" again - ala the B1G Tournament. I certainly hope that was an outlier.

But, I don't think that we can assume that Johnson will use a deeper rotation until we actually see it on the court.

He may very well favor a 7 or 8-man rotation. Now, the 2 or 3 - maybe 4 - guys off the bench might get more minutes or more extended playing time.

But, that is all theoretical. All we can go on is what we saw last season.

Sure, there were injury factors, covid, etc to consider. So, maybe what we saw does not reflect Johnson's true philosophy on using the bench. But for now, it's all we have to go on.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Just a general comment....this off season is so much more fun than last year.... :)

There are legit reasons to be excited about the prospects for this team as opposed to where we sat last year after the injuries knowing it was almost certainly going to be a brutal year.
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Not only legit reasons but legal too. I'm sure it would have been breaking the law to feel optimistic last year after Fox and Ihnen went down.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I still think it is a very open question as to how Johnson uses his bench in year #2.

I do not think that he is going to go "iron 5" again - ala the B1G Tournament. I certainly hope that was an outlier.

But, I don't think that we can assume that Johnson will use a deeper rotation until we actually see it on the court.

He may very well favor a 7 or 8-man rotation. Now, the 2 or 3 - maybe 4 - guys off the bench might get more minutes or more extended playing time.

But, that is all theoretical. All we can go on is what we saw last season.

Sure, there were injury factors, covid, etc to consider. So, maybe what we saw does not reflect Johnson's true philosophy on using the bench. But for now, it's all we have to go on.
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He had a bench of Sutherlin. No choice. He might play eight guys but it won't always be the same eight. We can stand a sprained ankle or someone out with flu.
 








Dakota2 said:
Not only legit reasons but legal too. I'm sure it would have been breaking the law to feel optimistic last year after Fox and Ihnen went down.
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Have noticed that our resident rays of sunshine have gotten really quiet recently. I don't see their posts regardless but the "show ignored content" has been missing for a while now so I know they aren't saying much. :)
 



Fleckoff said:
If we fill the roster out with Strong and Stewart, I think it will look something like this at the start of the year

Cooper 25-28 minutes a game
Stewart 18-22 minutes a game
Battle 32-36 minutes a game
Garcia 32-36 minutes a game
Fox 22-28 Minutes (15-20 as "the five" slides to the four when Garcia is out)
Six Man Strong 20-25 minutes (all the back up PG minutes, 8-12 minutes at the SG spot as well)
Seventh Man Payne 20-25 minutes strictly as a five
Eighth Man Carrington 5-10 minutes a game
9th Man Ihnen/Hensley/JOJ 4-8 Minutes, will see one of them come in to Spell Battle
10th Man Thompson If Payne and Fox get into foul trouble will see him, hopefully we work him in the non con for a rotation in the first half

Could see Payne taking the five spot by the end of the year, I could even see Carrington starting, or if they get Strong and Stewart goes elsewhere, I could see them not forcing the issue and Starting Strong and increasing his minutes along with Carrington's bench role. Should be a good Battle for that 9th spot on the roster, suppose it would depend on the match up, could see Ihnen taking Garcia back up minutes as well as I am not sure he's quick enough to guard the perimeter, I have more confidence in Hensley in that regard.
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We would have a very nice team if we could add Stewart and Strong.
If that happened before May 1, I wonder if Thiam would hit the portal?
Bigs:
Garcia
Payne
Ihnen
Battle
Fox
Thompson

Guards:
Carrington
Ola-Joseph
Henley
Cooper
Strong
Stewart
Thiam
When he made his decision to stay we had 2 freshmen guards and added a third freshman guard in April. If we add 3 guards from the portal before May 1st, it seems it could change his outlook for staying...and then again he might be here for 4/5 years depending on why he made the decision to stay originally.
 
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60's Guy said:
We would have a very nice team if we could add Stewart and Strong.
If that happened before May 1, I wonder if Thiam would hit the portal?
Bigs:
Garcia
Payne
Ihnen
Battle
Fox
Thompson

Guards:
Carrington
Ola-Joseph
Henley
Cooper
Strong
Stewart
Thiam
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Never seen him play but is Ola-Joseph a guard? 247 lists him as a PF but he is only 6'6" so doesn't have typical PF size at this point.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Never seen him play but is Ola-Joseph a guard? 247 lists him as a PF but he is only 6'6" so doesn't have typical PF size at this point.
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Ya, I have not seen him play either...I thought I heard he didn't handle the ball all that well as a junior in high school. So, maybe that was why he got the forward label? No idea really, but I'd say he's a 3. He does not appear timid. :) I like his raw ability, mindset.
Highlight tape
 
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MNVCGUY said:
Have noticed that our resident rays of sunshine have gotten really quiet recently. I don't see their posts regardless but the "show ignored content" has been missing for a while now so I know they aren't saying much. :)
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Eye
Own
U
 

BarnBurner said:
Eye
Own
U
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lol

Who is this Eye you speak of? And does he own me or owe me? What a weird comment for someone who is presumably at least in their 50s or 60s to make on a message board.

(serves me right for clicking on the show ignored content button)....:)
 

MNVCGUY said:
lol

Who is this Eye you speak of? And does he own me or owe me? What a weird comment for someone who is presumably at least in their 50s or 60s to make on a message board.

(serves me right for clicking on the show ignored content button)....:)
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Eye
Own
You

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

For a self proclaimed ignore professional, you sure don’t ignore much.
 
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Jeremyp said:
My stab at minutes: I am still assuming a wing and combo guard addition.

Post Fox 22. Payne 18
Stretch 4. Garcia 28. Thompson 6. Ihnen 6
Wing/ Combo Forward. Battle 30. ihnen 10
Wing/shooting guard. Stewart/ Walton type 25. Combo guard or Carrington or Henley 15
PG Cooper 25. Combo guard or Carrington 15
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If Payne is better than Thompson, why not give him all of Thompson's minutes?

I'm all for playing enough players to give your best players breaks. I hated the way Pitino ran his team and Ben (under dire circumstances last year) wasn't much better. But I don't see the point in playing the 10th guy on the bench any minutes over the 7th, if they play similar positions.

I also think this is likely to happen, but I don't understand why everyone wants Battle to play zero minutes at the 4. Almost all of his minutes last year were at the 4 and he was fantastic. He was a nightmare for opposing teams to defend at times. I realize it caused rebounding issues but I think playing Battle entirely at the 3 is a mistake.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
If Payne is better than Thompson, why not give him all of Thompson's minutes?

I'm all for playing enough players to give your best players breaks. I hated the way Pitino ran his team and Ben (under dire circumstances last year) wasn't much better. But I don't see the point in playing the 10th guy on the bench any minutes over the 7th, if they play similar positions.

I also think this is likely to happen, but I don't understand why everyone wants Battle to play zero minutes at the 4. Almost all of his minutes last year were at the 4 and he was fantastic. He was a nightmare for opposing teams to defend at times. I realize it caused rebounding issues but I think playing Battle entirely at the 3 is a mistake.
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I’d expect Ben will be more Norman Dale than people realize. He won’t just give minutes to Payne over TT because he’s better/more talented. He still has to show he’s disciplined to certain practice standards first (and bice versa).

I wouldn’t be shocked to see freshman play far less than expected even in games us fans consider throw away.

I guess that’s appears similar to tour Pitino critique, but with a different method to the madness.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
He regressed from is first year to his second, and he wasn't great as a FR. Never a good sign.

And it's still TBD on whether he's playing for a good coach currently.
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The early results are in. Ihnen will play this year for a better (good) coach than in his first two seasons. Hands down.
 

60's Guy said:
Ya, I have not seen him play either...I thought I heard he didn't handle the ball all that well as a junior in high school. So, maybe that was why he got the forward label? No idea really, but I'd say he's a 3. He does not appear timid. :) I like his raw ability, mindset.
Highlight tape
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Based on that highlight tape he looks like a young Parker Fox with a sweet stroke from outside.
 



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