Ben Johnson is a Disaster

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bga1 said:
Worse. Covid followed by a bad season and low expectations for this year has been a terrible series of events that has just knocked the stuffings out of the fan base.
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The end of Monson didn't have a sense of hope for the future though.
 

tikited said:
The end of Monson didn't have a sense of hope for the future though.
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Once he was gone it did. It felt like Coach Mo at least had them playing hard and they had a clue what they were doing, even if they were bad. I don't have that sense now, overall. There are a couple of exceptions but not 10 out of 10 by any means.
 

Go Gophs said:
You need good guards to win in high level college basketball. Guards that can distribute, shoot the three well, defend the 3 well and not get broken down on defense every other time down the floor.

Guard play here hasn't been good for year and we have sucked for year. Battle, Garcia, etc, none of them matter if you don't have guards. Even the big cat they have coming next year will make little difference if you don't have fantastic guards.
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Been told right here on GH Henley and Carrington would be that type of player.
 


BarnBurner said:
Been told right here on GH Henley and Carrington would be that type of player.
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I don't think speed is our issue, just that maybe Ben is having them play a style that requires more speed? No one has ever accused BADgers of being too athletic, yet somehow they find a way to be at the top of the standings every year.
 








goldengophers said:
Craig Smith was the beyond obvious choice, Coyle tried to get cute and as a result has decimated this program.
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For all we know, it may very well have not been Coyle's decision to make, at least not entirely... plenty of other factors at work going into this hire.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
I don't think speed is our issue, just that maybe Ben is having them play a style that requires more speed? No one has ever accused BADgers of being too athletic, yet somehow they find a way to be at the top of the standings every year.
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Johnny Davis was a top 10 nba draft pick as a guard…he was plenty quick
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm still struggling to connect last year to this year and believe that the same staff coached both teams. Last year's team was far more sound, ran offense that got guys good looks and easy baskets, and defended well for their physicality, including and especially from the perimeter. This year's team looks like a hapless new staff took over. What gives? This is a big a mystery as I've seen, and I've watched sports for a lot of years.

More than a few people I've talked to say something like, this team looks off...although nobody can put their finger on what's wrong. I realize this post probably begins in one of those other "what's wrong with this team" threads, but I find it difficult to judge Johnson with so many questions about just which of these two seasons we should judge him by.
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Maybe the difference was Luke Loewe. Maybe he was the reason everyone hustled. Maybe it was his offense. Did the coach on the floor make the coach on the bench look good?
 

GopherBlood666 said:
I don't think speed is our issue, just that maybe Ben is having them play a style that requires more speed? No one has ever accused BADgers of being too athletic, yet somehow they find a way to be at the top of the standings every year.
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We are playing so slow now we rarely get an easy shot, and it doesn't look like the guys have a clue in half-court. No movement, poor passing, poor screening, poor shot selection that is almost always challenged. It's been hard to watch, and understand. I don't think Ben is a bad coach, but it looks like that now as nothing seems to be translating positively from practice to the game.
 




GopherBlood666 said:
Sure, and they also won the conference with Brad Davidson as their point guard. Does he have NBA level quickness?
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No, but having some quickness is a requirement…and the gophers have none currently and the 2 signed recruits don’t have it either
 


bga1 said:
Good point. Whatever it is, the staff needs to get basic with things. Straight man to man or zone. The hard hedge is killing them. Opposing teams are putting them on a hamster wheel and getting wide open shots as we attempt to recover. Just play straight up, with good principles, guard your guy, block out.

On offense- post up Payne get him the ball every possible possession and teach him to pass the ball back out and reposition. We just are not getting open looks from 3 point range because we don't get the ball inside. When we are getting into the paint it is usually off the dribble and we are turning it over too often because our guards don't have the quickness to blow by opposing guards and bigs.
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I understand what you are saying here, but don't fully agree with it.
Everyone on here keeps asking what the identity/philosophy is for this team on both ends of the floor. Right now it looks to me like they are trying to do some things defensively (hard hedge and recover as one example) that would establish an identity. Unfortunately we are not rotating and recovering well enough to make things uncomfortable for the offensive players...yet. To me that is trying to establish an identity - just need to have more players that understand the concepts and more importantly are capable of executing it. To abandon that approach would then halt the defensive philosophy and everyone would be wondering what Coach Johnson and Thorson are trying to do as they keep changing things up. It looks UGLY right now, but rather than change the approach they need continue to work on it to get better. Then we won't see so many missed rotations and leaving guys wide open.
They do need to bring in more quickness at the guard spot and get better at blocking out. Right now there are too many soft rebounders on this team.
There are a ton of things that need to be worked on with this team and they are not all going to be fixed this week or even this season. But I believe they will fix some of them as the year goes on and we will see a better product on the court over the course of the year.
To those saying that we aren't playing hard, I just don't see that. What I see more is we are hesitant or unsure of what to do, which makes our reaction time a little slower than it should. It's not from a lack of effort but of comfort and understanding.
There were times in watching last nights game, where I couldn't believe how poorly they were playing, but at not time did I think that it was because of their effort or playing hard. At times it was due to someone trying to do too much and at other times it was them not being comfortable in what they were trying to do. It's not just the FR either, but also the older guys. They don't look like they are comfortable playing together yet and those bad stretches get magnified because of it.
 

GFBfan said:
I understand what you are saying here, but don't fully agree with it.
Everyone on here keeps asking what the identity/philosophy is for this team on both ends of the floor. Right now it looks to me like they are trying to do some things defensively (hard hedge and recover as one example) that would establish an identity. Unfortunately we are not rotating and recovering well enough to make things uncomfortable for the offensive players...yet. To me that is trying to establish an identity - just need to have more players that understand the concepts and more importantly are capable of executing it. To abandon that approach would then halt the defensive philosophy and everyone would be wondering what Coach Johnson and Thorson are trying to do as they keep changing things up. It looks UGLY right now, but rather than change the approach they need continue to work on it to get better. Then we won't see so many missed rotations and leaving guys wide open.
They do need to bring in more quickness at the guard spot and get better at blocking out. Right now there are too many soft rebounders on this team.
There are a ton of things that need to be worked on with this team and they are not all going to be fixed this week or even this season. But I believe they will fix some of them as the year goes on and we will see a better product on the court over the course of the year.
To those saying that we aren't playing hard, I just don't see that. What I see more is we are hesitant or unsure of what to do, which makes our reaction time a little slower than it should. It's not from a lack of effort but of comfort and understanding.
There were times in watching last nights game, where I couldn't believe how poorly they were playing, but at not time did I think that it was because of their effort or playing hard. At times it was due to someone trying to do too much and at other times it was them not being comfortable in what they were trying to do. It's not just the FR either, but also the older guys. They don't look like they are comfortable playing together yet and those bad stretches get magnified because of it.
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Here's what I see: A bunch of CLOWNS on this board. Impatient, unrealistic, demanding, entitled, uninsightful.

Except for a few. You, sir, are one of the few exceptions. You're one of the good ones.

Freshmen might be hesitant? Unsure? Feeling their collective way into things? Say it ain't so!

CLOWNS.
 

MNJay said:
You guys don't know anything about college basketball. Or you're closeted Badger fans. If you listen to what I say, you might learn something.

The ONLY thing that matters this year is getting our freshmen experience. Then next year we add 2 more good recruits. Then the year after is when we should look to win big.

Don't watch the games and get all emotional.

Last night was another good result. Ola-Joseph once again did well...11 points on 4/7 shooting and 5 rebounds. And Payne had 15 points on 6/6 shooting in 21 minutes. These are very good results at this early point. (Carrington did well last game...so it was nice to see Payne do well this game.)
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Hate to tell you, but the freshmen will transfer out.
 


Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
No, but having some quickness is a requirement…and the gophers have none currently and the 2 signed recruits don’t have it either
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Back to my original point. Teams can win without elite level quickness if they focus on the right things and minimize mistakes. We are currently doing neither. You think the recruiting is the problem. I think the coaching is the problem. I guess we can just part ways admirably.
 

leib0039 said:
So lot of things.

1. Johnson has been an absolute train wreck this year. We have no offensive scheme, our defense is a total joke, we cant rebound, we can shoot FT and we arent even putting in effort (JOJ and Payne aside). And Ben goes into the presser like a sad little puppy. BUCK UP AND DO SOMETHING. Those are all squarely on the coach.
2. We missed on every single coach we thought about (Dutcher, Smith, Nedved, Muss). It is pitiful that we ended up with a guy who couldnt get a job in the MAC.
3. I think the freshman/23 recruits are a nice base. But I think some people arent seeing the big picture. MSU has their top recruit ever coming next year, Mich multiple 5*, Rutgers has a guy right behind Evans coming in, OSU has multiple top 40 guys, same with MD. So next year the talent will be fine but this isnt like we have a Duke/UK class. Furthermore, good luck keeping all of them for multiple years, it just wont happen.
3b. What has johnson shown to make you think he can help guys improve? I have seen nothing. Battle has regressed, TT is totally worthless, he cant get anything out of Garcia. I would argue our only two positives this year are Payne and JOJ who I think are simply physically more mature than we thought, I am not sure they are improving skill wise, they are just ready to play college ball now size wise.
4. Good for you people who think a 30 point margin is "positive". Way to live in La La land, I hope you are buying 6,000 tickets a year since you are so enthused about losing. Sorry the rest of us live in the real world where the team we love is spiraling into utter darkness.
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It doesn’t sound much like you love this team. 😳
 

touchdownvikings said:
Here's what I see: A bunch of CLOWNS on this board. Impatient, unrealistic, demanding, entitled, uninsightful.

Except for a few. You, sir, are one of the few exceptions. You're one of the good ones.

Freshmen might be hesitant? Unsure? Feeling their collective way into things? Say it ain't so!

CLOWNS.
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I know the poor play is causing you to lash out, but there is very little anyone can do to defend last night's effort. You are literally yelling at the most committed members of this fan base. Maybe there are some bad faith actors as well, but most here watch every game on TV and/or in person.

Impatient? Sure, when we see what other 2nd year coaches have going on and we're in the same spot (or worse) than the last coach we fired (in terms of on the court execution we are lost)
Unrealistic? No, other 2nd year coaches are far exceeding where we are at
Demanding? After 25 years of ****, we should demand more as a once proud college basketball town and a fan base starving for success
Entitled? The program hasn't won anything and decades and yet we are here, WTF R U SMOKING
Uninsightful? Yeah I guess no one can quite articulate what has happened from year 1 to year 2, they look like they are being coached by an entirely different staff

If you don't like it when people provide just criticism to what we have seen in our 4 losses, maybe you should just sign off and come back once they start winning. Are the calls for Ben's job premature? Absolutely, but his leash is getting shorter with every performance like this and it is not unfair for those to point it out. This holier than thou attitude is getting old. Sport fans bitch about their favorite team when they stink. It's literally why sports are popular. It give people something to talk about whether that is positive or negative. Ecoperson started a half full thread you can read if this is too much. Oddly enough, Ben's biggest cheerleaders are typically absent from game threads. It would have been a great opportunity to explain how the massacre we called the B1G home opener was a step in the right direction.
 


BarnBurner said:
Been told right here on GH Henley and Carrington would be that type of player.
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Meh, who knows maybe they will be some day but I doubt it. Role players.

If you aren't going to get guys that out-athletic anyone, give me guys like Wisconsin and Iowa get. Guards that are smart, knock down open shots and don't turn the ball over.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
I don't think speed is our issue, just that maybe Ben is having them play a style that requires more speed? No one has ever accused BADgers of being too athletic, yet somehow they find a way to be at the top of the standings every year.
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The ability to knock down shots and not turn the ball over/make smart decisions is what makes a good college guard and what our neighbors have on their team constantly. We haven't had a pair of those for a long time.
 

stocker08 said:
Michigan was shooting at a ridiculous clip last night. Doesn't mean that the defense was good. It wasn't. But they don't shoot that well 90% of the games. They just got hot last night.

Also....Illinois's four true freshman were all ranked higher than Payne....our highest ranked recruit. You can't compare the two. They brought in three impact transfers as well. Not sure what to tell you.....but Illinois is a different level program than Minnesota right now. We don't have that luxury.
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I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of teams are going to shoot really well against us this year.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
Back to my original point. Teams can win without elite level quickness if they focus on the right things and minimize mistakes. We are currently doing neither. You think the recruiting is the problem. I think the coaching is the problem. I guess we can just part ways admirably.
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@GopherBlood666: coaching is the main reason, we agree on that. The recruiting is fine, Payne and JOJ will be serviceable (Payne could be very good). Just need to change the focus from more bigs to quick guards. We are in agreement though on coaching.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
I know the poor play is causing you to lash out, but there is very little anyone can do to defend last night's effort. You are literally yelling at the most committed members of this fan base. Maybe there are some bad faith actors as well, but most here watch every game on TV and/or in person.

Impatient? Sure, when we see what other 2nd year coaches have going on and we're in the same spot (or worse) than the last coach we fired (in terms of on the court execution we are lost)
Unrealistic? No, other 2nd year coaches are far exceeding where we are at
Demanding? After 25 years of ****, we should demand more as a once proud college basketball town and a fan base starving for success
Entitled? The program hasn't won anything and decades and yet we are here, WTF R U SMOKING
Uninsightful? Yeah I guess no one can quite articulate what has happened from year 1 to year 2, they look like they are being coached by an entirely different staff

If you don't like it when people provide just criticism to what we have seen in our 4 losses, maybe you should just sign off and come back once they start winning. Are the calls for Ben's job premature? Absolutely, but his leash is getting shorter with every performance like this and it is not unfair for those to point it out. This holier than thou attitude is getting old. Sport fans bitch about their favorite team when they stink. It's literally why sports are popular. It give people something to talk about whether that is positive or negative. Ecoperson started a half full thread you can read if this is too much. Oddly enough, Ben's biggest cheerleaders are typically absent from game threads. It would have been a great opportunity to explain how the massacre we called the B1G home opener was a step in the right direction.
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Nailed it. I am logging off til tomorrow.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Here's what I see: A bunch of CLOWNS on this board. Impatient, unrealistic, demanding, entitled, uninsightful.

Except for a few. You, sir, are one of the few exceptions. You're one of the good ones.

Freshmen might be hesitant? Unsure? Feeling their collective way into things? Say it ain't so!

CLOWNS.
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We start 3 upperclassman. This isn’t a freshman issue. This team doesn’t know how to play offense, defense, they are slow, out of shape, and lack basic fundamentals. That’s a coaching issue.

Most people could understand the losses if the Gophers did anything good, or they were competitive the entire game. This team isn’t competitive past the first 5 minutes.

The only clowns on this board are the ones who think this is acceptable. This looks like a D2 team playing in the B1G.
 

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