Another BOOM: Eylijah Stevens from Lafayette

[builtbadgers]

Gach looked really good in the preseason. His dreadful first BIG game against Illinois really seemed to affect the rest of his season. In his defense, he was playing on a bum foot most of conference play. I hope he can be a solid rotaional piece once fully healthy.

He has never played with a high court IQ but your right about the foot. Still, not my kind of player.

 

[Minnesota Jay]

Were people saying this back when he was transferring here and then waiting for his waiver?

I coulda swore people were really excited about him coming here. Guess we cooled ....

I mean I wasn't saying it here because I wasn't posting here at the time, but I certainly said it in real life. However the reason I had to say it was because I found other fans I spoke with to be irrationally high on him, so I doubt your memory is failing you.

Point is nothing that Gach did or did not accomplish last year has any bearing on the transition the new transfers make

 

[cjbfbp]

Ryan James seems to think he’ll be back. I trust him. Gabe is also arguably the top perimeter defender returning in the Big Ten if he comes back.

Well, I wouldn't know Ryan James if he bit me in the ass. I do a little research and draw my own conclusions about things.

 

[cjbfbp]

Congrats, you're the winner for the strange post of the day award.

It wasn't a serious comment. I may be an asshole but I'm not a weirdo.

 

[Cayman]

Gach looked really good in the preseason. His dreadful first BIG game against Illinois really seemed to affect the rest of his season. In his defense, he was playing on a bum foot most of conference play. I hope he can be a solid rotaional piece once fully healthy.

I remember him being a fairly hyped up transfer commit. He averaged over 10 points a game at Utah in his sophomore year. I also remember concerns about his efficiency, that he was taking too many shots to score the points he got. (He has actually shot over 50% from 2 in all three years of his college basketball career so far, so maybe that just indicates that he's a poor 3 point shooter who takes a lot of 3's?) He likely got some undue hype from local fans because he's from Minnesota, and so I was trying to avoid getting carried away with thoughts that he would be a star here, but like you, I remember being pretty impressed with him early on. He had good size and seemed like he could handle, shoot, and get to the rim pretty competently. He was 8 of 20 from 3 entering the first Big Ten game against Illinois. I remember thinking he might be the second best player on the team after Marcus Carr, as I think Robbins had some clunker games to start and improved as conference play started.

But later on, Gach seemed to have some turnovers from maybe being out of control, 3 point shooting wasn't good, and it seemed like he had a lot of unforced errors too. I think he had multiple turnovers due to receiving a pass with his foot out of bounds, or like receiving a pass in the corner, then stepping out of bounds as he attempted to drive to the hoop.

I didn't learn of his foot injury until later on, so I'm holding out hope that we get to see more of the 2020-21 non-conference Both Gach, though some of the turnover problems seem like they might be unrelated to a nagging injury.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

I mean yeah I’d take proven commodities over shitty recruits but these guys were solid in far easier conferences. Look at Gach at Utah. Brandon Johnson came from a better conference averaging 15.4ppg. He averaged 8.9 this year. His conference ppg dropped 5.6

They weren't just solid. They were outstanding in those far easier conferences.

Ryan James said something to the effect of these guys being a solid foundation, which CBJ can sell to guys like Gabe, Robbins & Johnson, that the team can win if they stick around. Get them to stick around, and now you can show higher impact transfers how they can help get us over the top.

CBJ knows what he wants & he's going out and getting it. I like that these guys are 1 year transfers. They all look good, not great, but that kind of experience/maturity should take us from zero-to-competitive very quickly. That's all he's got to do his first year with these guys. That gives CBJ a year to recruit the big in-state class coming up & to show the recruits what kind of system he's going to run. It feels like a solid road map to me.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

They weren't just solid. They were outstanding in those far easier conferences.

Ryan James said something to the effect of these guys being a solid foundation, which CBJ can sell to guys like Gabe, Robbins & Johnson, that the team can win if they stick around. Get them to stick around, and now you can show higher impact transfers how they can help get us over the top.

CBJ knows what he wants & he's going out and getting it. I like that these guys are 1 year transfers. They all look good, not great, but that kind of experience/maturity should take us from zero-to-competitive very quickly. That's all he's got to do his first year with these guys. That gives CBJ a year to recruit the big in-state class coming up & to show the recruits what kind of system he's going to run. It feels like a solid road map to me.

Huh? I said they were solid. One paragraph after arguing with me you wrote that Ryan James said they were a solid foundation. So I said what he said...but you disagree with me and agree wit him?
The gophers will be better than last year. It doesn’t mean Ben Johnson was the correct hire. And calling him CBJ makes him a hockey team.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Huh? I said they were solid. One paragraph after arguing with me you wrote that Ryan James said they were a solid foundation. So I said what he said...but you disagree with me and agree wit him?
The gophers will be better than last year. It doesn’t mean Ben Johnson was the correct hire. And calling him CBJ makes him a hockey team.

No, you said they were "solid in far easier conferences". They weren't. They were outstanding in those conferences. You're trying to paint them as just okay players in those conferences, when in fact they were all-conference level players. What I paraphrased was that for the Gophers they help create a solid foundation. But...you knew that.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

No, you said they were "solid in far easier conferences". They weren't. They were outstanding in those conferences. You're trying to paint them as just okay players in those conferences, when in fact they were all-conference level players. What I paraphrased was that for the Gophers they help create a solid foundation. But...you knew that.

They were 2nd and 3rd team all conference in some seasons. They aren’t world beaters. I think I said the gophers will be better than last year but you ignored that to tel me they were outstanding. None of them were first team all conference or players of the year. But you knew that.
Was Marcus Carr outstanding this year? In my opinion no. He wasn’t. And he was on the same all conference teams as these guys were.
Maybe it’s a semantic issue.

 

[Go Gophs]

I mean yeah I’d take proven commodities over shitty recruits but these guys were solid in far easier conferences. Look at Gach at Utah. Brandon Johnson came from a better conference averaging 15.4ppg. He averaged 8.9 this year. His conference ppg dropped 5.6

To me Johnson is a great example of how mid major guys can have success. He was fantastic this year and looked every bit like he belonged.

Players don't always get noticed. Mid major guys around for 4 years are probably well versed basketball players also that give it all they have at all times. The difference between them and power 5 guys is probably athleticsm. I will take hard working guys that are actual basketball players though for these first couple years.
Build a culture with these types, then when we start to win some, guys that are BOTH athletic and good ball players will start to come. Then we have something.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

To me Johnson is a great example of how mid major guys can have success. He was fantastic this year and looked every bit like he belonged.

Players don't always get noticed. Mid major guys around for 4 years are probably well versed basketball players also that give it all they have at all times. The difference between them and power 5 guys is probably athleticsm. I will take hard working guys that are actual basketball players though for these first couple years.
Build a culture with these types, then when we start to win some, guys that are BOTH athletic and good ball players will start to come. Then we have something.

I agree with this. I feel like people are talking themselves into how good these guys are. I’m sure they will be fine but its a big jump up. A lot of guys fail at this jump, Johnson succeeded.
I hope we get a couple transfers with more than 1 year left to start getting continuity and a system in place.

 

[bga1]

I agree with this. I feel like people are talking themselves into how good these guys are. I’m sure they will be fine but its a big jump up. A lot of guys fail at this jump, Johnson succeeded.
I hope we get a couple transfers with more than 1 year left to start getting continuity and a system in place.

I don't disagree, but I am not sure I care how many years they have left except I don't want more than 2 years left...... unless they are a Garcia type stud. If Johnson were to get all seniors, he could still balance the roster next year by going with 5 frosh and then go get a few more transfers in the spring to fill the gaps.

 

[cjbfbp]

I don't disagree, but I am not sure I care how many years they have left except I don't want more than 2 years left...... unless they are a Garcia type stud.

I'm pretty sure that neither Loewe nor Stephens can play more than one year because they've already completed 4 years of eligibility. Players have an optional year, not two optional years.