The same guys saying Ben can't coach would be saying Clem couldn't coach. Guaranteed. I've been on these message boards for 20 years...and some things never change.
Since this nonsense keeps springing its ugly head from time-to-time, let me address your faulty logic and hopefully put this to bed once and for all (though I'm sure you'll be back spouting it again in no time).
1. The two coaches were coming in with vastly different resumes and profiles. Haskins was an outstanding college player and the #3 overall draft pick when he came into the NBA, drafted ahead of guys like Clyde Frazier, Pat Riley, and Phil Jackson. He also had 6 years of division I head coaching experience and had led two teams to the NCAA Tournament, including the year he was hired to come to Minnesota. I wasn't a Gophers fan at the time as I was living in South Dakota and in the first grade, but I have to imagine the Haskins hire was pretty well-received and his resume to that point fits the profile of a first-time high major head coach. On the other hand, Johnson was a mediocre college player, didn't sniff the NBA or any professional league, had zero head coaching experience at any level, and had an assistant tenure filled with mediocre-to-bad teams, including somehow getting a head coach fired at Xavier where almost every head coach goes on to a blue blood job. From literally the announcement of the hire, the almost-universal response was "WTF?!?!?" (see this board for proof) because everyone on Earth except the University of Minnesota administration knew that Johnson wasn't qualified for this job and didn't deserve it.
2. The 1987-88 Gophers team, Haskins' second, featured six future NBA players (Burton, Newbern, Coffey, Lynch, Bond and Maxey). SIX! Again, I wasn't watching as I was 8 years old and in South Dakota, but I have to imagine that the potential was self-evident, as all six were sophomores and freshman, and yet Burton and Newbern were both double-digit scorers, with Coffey averaging close to a double-double. The current Gophers roster is untalented and imbalanced, and if any of them ever play a second in a real, competitive, meaningful NBA game, I will be absolutely floored. You think ANY current Gophers are playing in the NBA someday, let alone six of them?
3. The 1987-88 Gophers team was 4-14, and while they did suffer a few blowouts, were generally competitive in most games and usually stayed within a single-digit margin. Meanwhile, the current Gophers squad looks completely lost on both ends of the floor, are getting absolutely destroyed in every game, and only have the one win they do have because Ohio St. is far worse than expected and didn't look like they even wanted to be there the night we played them. We will probably end the conference season 1-19, maybe steal a second win somewhere if we cross our fingers really hard and run into another disinterested opponent.
The TL; DR version:
1. Haskins had playing and head coaching experience and credibility, Johnson has neither.
2. The 1987-88 roster was young and very talented, the 2022-23 roster is not as young as people like to pretend and untalented.
3. We are getting blown off the floor in every game and haven't been in a competitive game in weeks.
Hopefully you'll stop it now, but my guess is we'll be going round and round.
