Ben Johnson is a Disaster

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Ben Johnson is the best recruiter we've had in ages. He's had bad luck with injuries two years in a row. But I can't imagine next year with Evans and Christie coming in, Betts too, Payne, Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Henley with lots of experience after this year and of course Battle, Garcia and Cooper all back. That says nothing of Fox and Ihnen. I see wowsa! Last year they played great but got worn down with no depth. This year they are developing depth with the freshmen studs. We are going to be awesome going forward.
 

CoMn said:
Ben Johnson is the best recruiter we've had in ages. He's had bad luck with injuries two years in a row. But I can't imagine next year with Evans and Christie coming in, Betts too, Payne, Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Henley with lots of experience after this year and of course Battle, Garcia and Cooper all back. That says nothing of Fox and Ihnen. I see wowsa! Last year they played great but got worn down with no depth. This year they are developing depth with the freshmen studs. We are going to be awesome going forward.
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Yup. Add a good point guard to the mix and we've got a really solid roster all of the sudden.
 

CoMn said:
Ben Johnson is the best recruiter we've had in ages. He's had bad luck with injuries two years in a row. But I can't imagine next year with Evans and Christie coming in, Betts too, Payne, Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Henley with lots of experience after this year and of course Battle, Garcia and Cooper all back. That says nothing of Fox and Ihnen. I see wowsa! Last year they played great but got worn down with no depth. This year they are developing depth with the freshmen studs. We are going to be awesome going forward.
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Agree. They will have 8+ players with significant experience to bring the freshmen along slowly. I was watching last night and thought this is something every player and coach in MN should see. He represented the State of MN so well last night.

I've struggled with my patience with the basketball teams, but after the last 3 games you can see Johnson knows what he's doing.
 

MennoSota said:
I was glad they mic'd up the coaches so the whiners could see that Coach Johnson knows what he's about. There is a plan.
Be sure we will lose more than we win, but these kids are learning what they need to do to compete and win in the B1G.
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100% agree with this...I very much enjoyed it and it gave me a real understanding of what he is doing and how he is approaching it; which you can't get without this type of broadcast. Biggest thing I took away is that he is constantly trying to build his guys up, I didn't see or hear him really lean into any of his guys at all. I was surprised at how light of touch he is. I think he needs to organize his thoughts a bit more and filter so his communication is a bit clearer. He tends to just dump everything going through his mind, which makes it a bit of a ping pong match listening to him. But overall I liked his approach, it looked like he was getting through to his guys for the most part. I also liked hearing his coaching reaction to what OSU was doing, made me feel much better about his ability to make in game adjustments.
 



CoMn said:
Ben Johnson is the best recruiter we've had in ages. He's had bad luck with injuries two years in a row. But I can't imagine next year with Evans and Christie coming in, Betts too, Payne, Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Henley with lots of experience after this year and of course Battle, Garcia and Cooper all back. That says nothing of Fox and Ihnen. I see wowsa! Last year they played great but got worn down with no depth. This year they are developing depth with the freshmen studs. We are going to be awesome going forward.
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The jury is still out on Ben’s recruiting. On paper his classes are still behind or on par with most of Pitino’s and Tubby’s classes. On the court they’ve provided last place results so far.
 
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MaxyJR1 said:
Agree. They will have 8+ players with significant experience to bring the freshmen along slowly. I was watching last night and thought this is something every player and coach in MN should see. He represented the State of MN so well last night.

I've struggled with my patience with the basketball teams, but after the last 3 games you can see Johnson knows what he's doing.
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Thank you.
I have been accused of drinking Kool-aid by being positive with this squad when, in fact, I have just been observing the progression of a very young and inexperienced team climbing an extremely steep learning curve in the Big 10 Conference. It's so d@mn hard for freshmen in this particular league and our kids, while good, are not Michigan Fan 5 elite players. The process is difficult but this whole season is about baby steps. Monday sees us play an athletic team. We may get beat soundly, but this coaching staff will use win or loss to keep these kids progressing.

Rest assured this league will scout the hell out of Minnesota over these past 3 games and look for weaknesses to exploit (and there are weaknesses) but these kids are better served by having their weaknesses revealed now so they can turn them into strengths later on. This team is improving, but the season is going to be bumpy and difficult with more losses on the scoreboard than we would wish. The bottom line is that the kids are moving up the trajectory and we have not come close to their ceiling.
 



Gopher Teeth said:
100% agree with this...I very much enjoyed it and it gave me a real understanding of what he is doing and how he is approaching it; which you can't get without this type of broadcast. Biggest thing I took away is that he is constantly trying to build his guys up, I didn't see or hear him really lean into any of his guys at all. I was surprised at how light of touch he is. I think he needs to organize his thoughts a bit more and filter so his communication is a bit clearer. He tends to just dump everything going through his mind, which makes it a bit of a ping pong match listening to him. But overall I liked his approach, it looked like he was getting through to his guys for the most part. I also liked hearing his coaching reaction to what OSU was doing, made me feel much better about his ability to make in game adjustments.
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I thought it was interesting that the Ohio State coach often repeated what he wanted several times while I didn't catch Johnson doing it at all, or at least much less. You're right, he did seem to mull things over and then let it all go.

It was fun to hear what coaches say at this level. I wonder how much the mic inhibited them.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Another strategy thing I thought was interesting was when Johnson told the inbounder to just roll the ball in if he couldn't find anyone. With 1.7 on the clock you almost could just gently roll the ball in play and force the defender to pick it up and try and get a quick shot off. Would be an interesting strategy to try.
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It's better than getting a 5 second call and giving them another shot certainly. The odds of being able to pick it up and heave it in are astronomical. Somewhere around the odds of losing 18 play-off games in a row.
 

Amazing what sports fandom looks like. On January 1st, we were on 0-20 watch and now we have the best coach in the conference. One 3 point win on the road and a loss to Nebraska at home. What if they had blown that 8 point lead?

Not trying to be Wet Blanket Guy, but maybe a little context. As silly as it was to put L's in the column for the remaining conference schedule, we should also pump the brakes on any one result. Loved the game and the effort, but maybe we might want to see a little more? Happy for the players though. No doubt.
 

Mulligan said:
I thought it was interesting that the Ohio State coach often repeated what he wanted several times while I didn't catch Johnson doing it at all, or at least much less. You're right, he did seem to mull things over and then let it all go.

It was fun to hear what coaches say at this level. I wonder how much the mic inhibited them.
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If you listened to the last 5 minutes and caught all the editing (silence to cut the cursing) you know that Coach Johnson was not inhibited. It made me laugh. It reminded me of the moment after KG won the championship with the Celtics. 😅
Ben, worked as hard as his kids did to get that win. My only disagreement was with him downplaying the offense in the last 5 minutes. I would have liked to hear him tell the kids to be aggressive on offense, but don't turn the ball over.

By the way, only 9 turnovers last night. That was huge.
 



Mulligan said:
I thought it was interesting that the Ohio State coach often repeated what he wanted several times while I didn't catch Johnson doing it at all, or at least much less. You're right, he did seem to mull things over and then let it all go.

It was fun to hear what coaches say at this level. I wonder how much the mic inhibited them.
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Holtman repeated at least 15 times on what defense he wanted to run near the end of the game and the team failed to run it.
 

Gopher Teeth said:
100% agree with this...I very much enjoyed it and it gave me a real understanding of what he is doing and how he is approaching it; which you can't get without this type of broadcast. Biggest thing I took away is that he is constantly trying to build his guys up, I didn't see or hear him really lean into any of his guys at all. I was surprised at how light of touch he is. I think he needs to organize his thoughts a bit more and filter so his communication is a bit clearer. He tends to just dump everything going through his mind, which makes it a bit of a ping pong match listening to him. But overall I liked his approach, it looked like he was getting through to his guys for the most part. I also liked hearing his coaching reaction to what OSU was doing, made me feel much better about his ability to make in game adjustments.
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If you ever watched Dave Thorson or Tim Miles (Ben’s two biggest coaching influences imo) the fact he talks constantly (especially with a green team) won’t surprise you and I doubt it’ll change until we are better. Even then it may not, Thorson never shut up.
 

golfing18now said:
Amazing what sports fandom looks like. On January 1st, we were on 0-20 watch and now we have the best coach in the conference. One 3 point win on the road and a loss to Nebraska at home. What if they had blown that 8 point lead?
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I didn’t read it that way at all. Just read that some posters have some more confidence in his knowledge and competence in his working with players.
golfing18now said:
Not trying to be Wet Blanket Guy, but maybe a little context. As silly as it was to put L's in the column for the remaining conference schedule, we should also pump the brakes on any one result. Loved the game and the effort, but maybe we might want to see a little more? Happy for the players though. No doubt.
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Just shows how stupid the 0-20 talk was. Not saying we won’t finish last still, but the B1G is crazy this year. There is at least 2 more wins coming. Lot of up and down play and I don’t know if we’ve hit our up until last night.
 

MennoSota said:
If you listened to the last 5 minutes and caught all the editing (silence to cut the cursing) you know that Coach Johnson was not inhibited. It made me laugh. It reminded me of the moment after KG won the championship with the Celtics. 😅
Ben, worked as hard as his kids did to get that win. My only disagreement was with him downplaying the offense in the last 5 minutes. I would have liked to hear him tell the kids to be aggressive on offense, but don't turn the ball over.

By the way, only 9 turnovers last night. That was huge.
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Watched the whole game on Midco cable. The editing on that must have been when the screen and sound would freeze. Then the action would resume. A couple of times it was long enough that possession had changed and you wouldn't know what the hell happened. There were no silenced segments where you could still watch the action. And to think I was cussing Midco's usual technological prowess.
 

golfing18now said:
Amazing what sports fandom looks like. On January 1st, we were on 0-20 watch and now we have the best coach in the conference. One 3 point win on the road and a loss to Nebraska at home. What if they had blown that 8 point lead?

Not trying to be Wet Blanket Guy, but maybe a little context. As silly as it was to put L's in the column for the remaining conference schedule, we should also pump the brakes on any one result. Loved the game and the effort, but maybe we might want to see a little more? Happy for the players though. No doubt.
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You've been around for awhile. Need to know which posters have some sensibility and which posters are knee jerk clowns. Happens all the time on the football board too. How many posters turned their backs on Fleck after the Iowa game just to change tune after the Axe game? Lots of emotionally charged posts.

Similar thing here. "Ben Johnson is terrible." Year and a half into his tenure with a largely inexperienced roster. The people who post these things are pro sports fans. They clearly don't understand the building of a college program.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
If you ever watched Dave Thorson or Tim Miles (Ben’s two biggest coaching influences imo) the fact he talks constantly (especially with a green team) won’t surprise you and I doubt it’ll change until we are better. Even then it may not, Thorson never shut up.
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Lol…yeah I did notice that in the TO’s. If Ben wasn’t talking Thorson was sucking all the oxygen out of the building.
 

golfing18now said:
Amazing what sports fandom looks like. On January 1st, we were on 0-20 watch and now we have the best coach in the conference. One 3 point win on the road and a loss to Nebraska at home. What if they had blown that 8 point lead?

Not trying to be Wet Blanket Guy, but maybe a little context. As silly as it was to put L's in the column for the remaining conference schedule, we should also pump the brakes on any one result. Loved the game and the effort, but maybe we might want to see a little more? Happy for the players though. No doubt.
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Where has anyone called Johnson the best coach in the conference?

There are reasons for some optimism, the team has played much better over these last 3 games and you can see some good things starting to happen for the team. Don't think anyone is planning the parade route or suddenly thinking we are a contender in the Big Ten this year.

Just nice to see a little positivity on this forum again....but there is no need to pump the brakes, don't see anyone making this out to be more than it is which was a nice win on the road over a quality opponent.
 

Rewatched the game and listened more closely to Ben. He was encouraging, not overly negative, didnt get down on anyone, had some good plays, showed good overall strategy on O and D, had the kids ready for intensive full court pressure at the end, and those kids played HARD theoughout. Maybe Ben will never win a B1G title, but I like what I see so far in his tenure, record be darned.
 

stocker08 said:
They clearly don't understand the building of a college program.
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i certainly don't. No clue why the U has to hire Kill and lose to the Dakotas before getting to mediocre and no clue why they hire CBJ hoping he can build something - while other programs like ISU can hire TJ and go from 2 wins to the sweet 16
 

MNVCGUY said:
Where has anyone called Johnson the best coach in the conference?

There are reasons for some optimism, the team has played much better over these last 3 games and you can see some good things starting to happen for the team. Don't think anyone is planning the parade route or suddenly thinking we are a contender in the Big Ten this year.

Just nice to see a little positivity on this forum again....but there is no need to pump the brakes, don't see anyone making this out to be more than it is which was a nice win on the road over a quality opponent.
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Jay and menno say hello.
 

I don't think anyone is saying or predicting that the Gophers are suddenly a contender.

I think it's more in the vein of:

a lot of people were saying the sky is falling and the team was going to go 0-20 in conference.

Now, at least, there seems to be a little ray of light and some measured amount of optimism that things are not as bad as they seemed.

In the end, it's still going to be a fight to win 5 or 6 games in the conference. the kind of effort they got against OSU will be needed every night.

But, if they can build on the last three games, I do think that the Gophs will at least match last year's conference record, and they could even improve on last year's conference record.

So - it may not be great, but it's not going to be as bad as some were predicting.
 


Crappie said:
Jay and menno say hello.
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LOL, @MNVCGUY says "Where has anyone called Johnson the best coach in the conference?" and you try to connect us. That's funny. Was Pitino the best coach in the conference, even when he won the coach of the year award? No.
Ben is an inexperienced head coach who is doing his best to become an excellent coach. He has a plan and he intends to execute that plan. Time will tell if he succeeds.

As for you a Wet Dream, you both are grumpy ole' trolls living under the bridge.
 

Carrington is a freshman and still a bit lost. I know what that feels like -- on my way to eventually being really good. As a guard he has a lot to learn. He will emerge with time. I think later in the season he will execute better. He did have one game of 20 points.
 

2022 was a very good recruitment class for Ben Johnson. Some patience is needed.

2023 was a phenomenal recruitment class for Ben Johnson. Some patience will be needed.

For another view of 2022 in-state prospects rankings, Prep Hoops rated Pharrel Payne the top prospect in Minnesota. Braeden Carrington was rated the 3rd best.

Carrington made the Star Tribune All Metro team but Payne did not. Tre Holloman won the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year.

Carrington won Minnesota Mr. Basketball.


All these rankings and awards are close around a certain range and vary based on viewpoint.

Payne is coming on fast and Carrington at the shooting guard spot needs a bit more time.


Similarly, for girls basketball we saw some variation in winners. Amaya Battle won Minnesota Miss Basketball. Mallory Heyer won Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year. (Minnesota's top prospect Mara Braun was injured part of her senior year and didn't win either award but still made the All Metro team).


1673745124874.png

prephoops.com

2022 Minnesota High School Basketball Player Rankings | Prep Hoops

Who are the best Minnesota high school boys basketball players from the class of 2022? Check out Prep Hoops 2022 Minnesota rankings.
prephoops.com prephoops.com


Star Tribune All Metro First Team Basketball, boys'

Prince Aligbe, Minnehaha Academy, sr.

Braeden Carrington, Park Center, sr.

Alonzo Dodd, South St. Paul, sr.

Tre Holloman, Cretin-Derham Hall, sr.

Demarion Watson, Totino-Grace, sr.

www.startribune.com

The big list: All-Metro first-teamers and Metro Players of the Year for 2021-22

Once spread across the school year, now they're gathered in one place, part of the All-Metro Sports Awards celebration.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com


As an FYI, these are the top ranked 2024 prospects in Minnesota per Prep Hoops, which is just one view.

1673746074214.png

Minnesota High School Basketball Coverage | Prep Hoops

Prep Hoops is your #1 source for Minnesota High School Boys Basketball. We're the leader in player rankings, recruiting info and analysis.
prephoops.com prephoops.com
 

Formerswish said:
I couldn't agree more. Johnson showed he has excellent command of X's and O's, consistently creates good scoring opportunities after breaks in play, stays positive when things go south, and most importantly, he has the respect of his players. For a guy who has been heavily criticized around here as a disaster hire for the U, this is one disaster I'm feeling really good about.
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Maybe it also shows that some of our “best & brightest 🏀 minds” don’t know nearly as much as a coach who played D1 hoops, was an assistant for numerous years before being hired to coach the Gophers?
Formerswish said:
And I'd like to make a suggestion that we ignore the posts of a certain troll on this board so as not to waste time and energy on people who are "often wrong but never in doubt."
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