Are we really going to suck next year? I mean, Really??

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Otis

Otis

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First of, Let's establish some starting points.

Let's say Ben Johnson retains Conroy and does a good job of recruiting the players currently on the team. So he has the following to work with:
Kalesheur
Robbins
Ihnen
Williams
Mitchell
Freeman

Pulls rabbit out of his hat and keeps Mashburn.

Then he nabs KyKy and CJ from the portal along with Jamison Battle.

He dumps Pohto but keeps Thompson.

NCAA grants 1 time waiver in euphoria over ticket revenue from pandemic leniency effect. Now you have the following:

PG: Mashburn and Kyky battle for the starting spot and minutes.
SG: Kalesheur starts but 4* CJ and his 6'6" frame is waiting in the wings for the leftovers.
SF: Williams and Battle battle for the starting spot and minutes making each better.
PF: Ihnen assumes the throne and is backed up by the untapped Mitchell and Thompson.
C: Robbins and the five fouls and dunks offered by Sam Freeman.

Insert an offense (any offense with movement and passing) and get these guys to commit to team defense.

Is this really a last place team?

You have a two time National Player of the week and three returning starters being coached by a guy who is replacing a coach who employed a stagnant offense and a horrible defensive strategy and you don't think they will be better than last place?

I suppose you think he will allow them to chuck 25 3s per game too.

I don't see it. If he keeps these guys and gets some more. Changes the CULTURE of the program.

No way they are bottom material. They won't win the conference, but if he can change the CULTURE ala PJ, they sure as hell won't be last.

I gotta think that is what Coyle saw in him to make this hire. A guy with a plan.
 

Otis said:
First of, Let's establish some starting points.

Let's say Ben Johnson retains Conroy and does a good job of recruiting the players currently on the team. So he has the following to work with:
Kalesheur
Robbins
Ihnen
Williams
Mitchell
Freeman

Pulls rabbit out of his hat and keeps Mashburn.

Then he nabs KyKy and CJ from the portal along with Jamison Battle.

He dumps Pohto but keeps Thompson.

NCAA grants 1 time waiver in euphoria over ticket revenue from pandemic leniency effect. Now you have the following:

PG: Mashburn and Kyky battle for the starting spot and minutes.
SG: Kalesheur starts but 4* CJ and his 6'6" frame is waiting in the wings for the leftovers.
SF: Williams and Battle battle for the starting spot and minutes making each better.
PF: Ihnen assumes the throne and is backed up by the untapped Mitchell and Thompson.
C: Robbins and the five fouls and dunks offered by Sam Freeman.

Insert an offense (any offense with movement and passing) and get these guys to commit to team defense.

Is this really a last place team?

You have a two time National Player of the week and three returning starters being coached by a guy who is replacing a coach who employed a stagnant offense and a horrible defensive strategy and you don't think they will be better than last place?

I suppose you think he will allow them to chuck 25 3s per game too.

I don't see it. If he keeps these guys and gets some more. Changes the CULTURE of the program.

No way they are bottom material. They won't win the conference, but if he can change the CULTURE ala PJ, they sure as hell won't be last.

I gotta think that is what Coyle saw in him to make this hire. A guy with a plan.
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Freeman *should* be better, but still think more is needed to complement Robbins, or Gophers may be back to what partially plagued them this year. Ihnen development would be huge, at 6'9 we're all just waiting for him to emerge. Not sure on Mashburn. It will be excellent work by Johnson if he can convince Mashburn to stay, as there's no particular tie to the program at this point, other than his nice words re: Carlson, and he can find a similar biz school experience.
 

I don't think that roster is bottom 2-3 material, but I don't think that'll be the final roster for next year either. With no inside info, I doubt Mashburn return and Robbins is a big question mark. I think he stays, but also feel it's really up in the air. I do feel we'll find a replacement for Mashburn that'll diminish his loss. So, yeah, I'd expect about a 10th place finish myself, but there's a lot of unknown that goes into that prediction as well.
 


I definitely wouldn't say it's a given that we will suck. Ben has a great shot to keep some talent from this past year's team, but more importantly, with as crazy as the transfer portal is going to be this offseason, things could get very interesting.

Have to remember that while Richard did well in the transfer portal this past year, a larger issue was that due to COVID, that group with so many new faces couldn't really work together and gel. Not making excuses for the way the team collapsed, but moreso saying that if Ben can make some solid personnel moves and have a normal offseason to work with them, things could work out pretty well.
 


It's hit or miss. This team was a real question mark all year with the teams they beat but then the way they could turn around and lose by 30. I think they were better than their record and finish in the Big Ten shows.

With that said...we are still the same team that finished 13th. Even worse we're losing Carr and Mashburn.

I don't think we'll be bad bad but I think we'll be in the 10-14 placing next year.
 

Going with 11...Year 2 7-9 would be respectable.
....Year 3 better be a top 7 finish or things will get ugly inside and outside of Williams arena.
 

Who knows. It is REALLY hard to predict what the roster will look like.

Also, watch them play their first 2-3 Big Ten games. If they play defense, rebound, don't turn it over and take high quality shots they will be competitive.

If its more of the same, then I'd expect a bottom 4 finish.
 

tmvander said:
It's hit or miss. This team was a real question mark all year with the teams they beat but then the way they could turn around and lose by 30. I think they were better than their record and finish in the Big Ten shows.

With that said...we are still the same team that finished 13th. Even worse we're losing Carr and Mashburn.

I don't think we'll be bad bad but I think we'll be in the 10-14 placing next year.
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Let's remember that they went into the tank the hardest once Liam was out. If Liam stays, I think it completely changes the dynamic and the outlook for the team. Having one of the top 4 bigs in the conference is nothing to sneeze at and you can argue with Kofi (almost certainly gone) and Dickinson (fairly likely gone) out of the picture, Liam has a chance to be the top big in the league.
 



Automatic last bad, I don't think so. Two advantages of not being last or 13th bad are that a new coach and his enthusiasm can be a real motivating factor with a new roster that is likely to improve over the season and be better at the end. The second, I think, is that the conference will be weaker next year, giving us a better chance at wins we would not usually expect with an inexperienced roster.
 

WriterGoph said:
Let's remember that they went into the tank the hardest once Liam was out. If Liam stays, I think it completely changes the dynamic and the outlook for the team. Having one of the top 4 bigs in the conference is nothing to sneeze at and you can argue with Kofi (almost certainly gone) and Dickinson (fairly likely gone) out of the picture, Liam has a chance to be the top big in the league.
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Liam is a difference maker for sure. If he's here I think we could surprise some people but its WAY to hard to know what this team will look like on the floor. There could be even more chicken with the head cut off offense than last year. We just don't know.

On paper a team with

Robbins
Johnson or Ihnen
Gabe
Gach/Williams

feels like something work with. Build around that and develop and they could crack the top 10 in the conference
 

WriterGoph said:
Let's remember that they went into the tank the hardest once Liam was out. If Liam stays, I think it completely changes the dynamic and the outlook for the team. Having one of the top 4 bigs in the conference is nothing to sneeze at and you can argue with Kofi (almost certainly gone) and Dickinson (fairly likely gone) out of the picture, Liam has a chance to be the top big in the league.
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True, but really need to get a quality point guard who can get Liam the ball. That is a huge empty spot that needs to get filled in the spring, likely with a transfer.
 

Holy Man said:
True, but really need to get a quality point guard who can get Liam the ball. That is a huge empty spot that needs to get filled in the spring, likely with a transfer.
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Totally agree with you. Definitely need a good PG. I guess I just feel like there are a lot more solid guards floating around than quality 7-footers with an offensive touch. Other part about Liam is that I think with another full offseason of strength training, nutrition and conditioning, he should really be able to make an impact on his body (which is a necessity if he wants to potentially play professionally).
 



Holy Man said:
True, but really need to get a quality point guard who can get Liam the ball. That is a huge empty spot that needs to get filled in the spring, likely with a transfer.
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100% If Carr is truly gone, this IMO, is the number one roster spot that needs to be filled. We literally have no one that we can fake into that position on this roster.
 

Penn State will have a lot of turnover, Indiana is losing players by the day, Wisconsin will be very young with only Wahl contributing minutes as an upper classman, Nebraska doesn't look to be much better, and Collins is still at Nwestern. Will may be bad, but we can compete with all those teams. I'm optimistic about the transfer portal and a new culture under Johnson. We won't be historically bad like Iowa State this year or the Timberwolves
 

Spottedmuskie said:
Penn State will have a lot of turnover, Indiana is losing players by the day, Wisconsin will be very young with only Wahl contributing minutes as an upper classman, Nebraska doesn't look to be much better, and Collins is still at Nwestern. Will may be bad, but we can compete with all those teams. I'm optimistic about the transfer portal and a new culture under Johnson. We won't be historically bad like Iowa State this year or the Timberwolves
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Nebraska has a 5* recruit coming in. I don't think they'll be cutting nets down, but they may be able to climb out of the cellar.
 

GopherGangsta said:
Going with 11...Year 2 7-9 would be respectable.
....Year 3 better be a top 7 finish or things will get ugly inside and outside of Williams arena.
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That is slow by basketball standards. We can be top 10 B1G from the start if a solid roster is maintained and some new talent transfers in. This can be done while building his culture and recruiting. If Robbins and Kauscher are back the team can be close to .500 in conference.
 

Spottedmuskie said:
Penn State will have a lot of turnover, Indiana is losing players by the day, Wisconsin will be very young with only Wahl contributing minutes as an upper classman, Nebraska doesn't look to be much better, and Collins is still at Nwestern. Will may be bad, but we can compete with all those teams. I'm optimistic about the transfer portal and a new culture under Johnson. We won't be historically bad like Iowa State this year or the Timberwolves
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Curious how things play out at Wisconsin with guys like Reuvers and Davison. Clearly these guys aren't going to the NBA and I could see them sticking around to use their extra year. I would assume Gard would take them back, but I also don't know what kind of 2021 class they have coming in.
 




WriterGoph said:
Curious how things play out at Wisconsin with guys like Reuvers and Davison. Clearly these guys aren't going to the NBA and I could see them sticking around to use their extra year. I would assume Gard would take them back, but I also don't know what kind of 2021 class they have coming in.
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I read that Reuvers bought a place off campus this year and lived away from the rest of the team. I think he looked like he was checked out at the end of the season and is ready to move on with his life, so I'd be surprised if he goes back.
 

WriterGoph said:
Curious how things play out at Wisconsin with guys like Reuvers and Davison. Clearly these guys aren't going to the NBA and I could see them sticking around to use their extra year. I would assume Gard would take them back, but I also don't know what kind of 2021 class they have coming in.
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I'm hearing Ruevers and Davison gone, Potter might come back. Ruevers was pretty emotional when they lost in the tourney, didn't look like a player who was coming back.
 

Go Gophs said:
Who knows. It is REALLY hard to predict what the roster will look like.

Also, watch them play their first 2-3 Big Ten games. If they play defense, rebound, don't turn it over and take high quality shots they will be competitive.

If its more of the same, then I'd expect a bottom 4 finish.
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Yeah, until we know what the roster is going to look like next season it is impossible to make any predictions about how the team is going to do.

The transfer portal is a massive wildcard in this because you don't need a ton of players in basketball to drastically change the fortunes of a team.

But until we know who is leaving, who is staying and who is coming in it is kind of silly to try and speculate on how the team is going to do next season.
 

Almost a lock that Mash and Carr are gone. Even if we get one or two nice players in the portal, it’s safe to have low expectations next year. If we exceed, awesome. Year 2 is when we should expect more IMO. Is what it is!
 

Marooned said:
I don't think that roster is bottom 2-3 material, but I don't think that'll be the final roster for next year either. With no inside info, I doubt Mashburn return and Robbins is a big question mark. I think he stays, but also feel it's really up in the air. I do feel we'll find a replacement for Mashburn that'll diminish his loss. So, yeah, I'd expect about a 10th place finish myself, but there's a lot of unknown that goes into that prediction as well.
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I think Mash is as good as gone. That said, I know it sounds far fetched but I really think we will land one of Race Thompson or Dawson Garcia. Both of them will transfer. Honestly, I think Carr is more likely to stay than Mash but I would put it at 10-20%. In other words, not gonna happen. I do think we will have one of the better recruiting classes in recent memory.
 

Tubby was 20-14, 8-10 in conference in his first season, lost in the NIT.
Pitino was 25-13, 8-10 in conference in his first season, won the NIT.

There's no reason this team can't be at least a bubble team and make the NIT next season with what's left on the roster, and what's in the transfer portal.
 

So, let's predict how a team is going to be next year, when we have ZERO idea who is going to be on the roster.

yeah, that's easy.

at this point, I would say the only player I am 100% sure will be on the roster is Gabe, because Johnson recruited him. after that, who knows.

we have no idea what Johnson thinks about the returning players. they might fit into his plans, or he might not want any of them.
 

I’m not going to care if we win a game next year. I want to see Ben be consistent and stress defense. I want to see our team grow defensively throughout the year. If that happens I’ll be happy no matter what our W-L record is.
 

This will be a 4-5 win BIG team. The shooting will be abysmal. Unless, Gabe someone regains form we won't be good offensively and average at best defensively. We will be like Nebraska on a high note. I am not really optimistic for the next couple of years, honestly.
 

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