Ben Johnson is a Disaster

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GopherWeatherGuy

GopherWeatherGuy

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This isn’t a youth issue, this is a coaching and roster construction issue. It’s not going to get much better next season.

When you hire someone who doesn’t have any credentials to be a B1G coach, this is what you get. This is the worst Gopher basketball team I’ve seen in my lifetime.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
This isn’t a youth issue, this is a coaching and roster construction issue. It’s not going to get much better next season.

When you hire someone who doesn’t have any credentials to be a B1G coach, this is what you get. This is the worst Gopher basketball team I’ve seen in my lifetime.
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My best comparison is Lindsay Whalen. She was in over her head. Tons of growing pains. Landed an excellent class. Seem to be playing much better. A legitimate great player and some very nice pieces. She needs to continue that.

Does Ben have the same leeway as her? I don’t think so. She sold tickets (enough more where she paid for her salary in just the extra tickets sold year 1), excited a fan base and is a women’s hoops legend. Ben hasn’t done those things and isn’t the same notoriety. He needs to win some games next year and year 4. This year will be tough. I think everyone sees that.
 

I can’t disagree - he (and Coyle) deserves some heat - they are getting run off the court every game - physically outmatches in every aspect - same mistakes every game - if you saw his press conference post game he seemed lost and clueless - same comments after VA Tech and Purdue beat downs - probably DePaul and UNLV as well - this is really starting to look like a train wreck - granted others will say he needs time to build a program and that may be fair but the rest of the conference is doing the same and I struggle with an argument that this rebuild will work - in this conference with the portal the future is now and it just ain’t here. Dis functional program - for the last 20 years
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This isn’t a youth issue, this is a coaching and roster construction issue. It’s not going to get much better next season.

When you hire someone who doesn’t have any credentials to be a B1G coach, this is what you get. This is the worst Gopher basketball team I’ve seen in my lifetime.
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Tonight was a disgrace. You don't fall 30 points behind at home, EVER, against a lower division Big Ten team. There is zero design to this team, from roster construction to their offense to the defensive side of the ball. Garbage.

There is only one saving grace- the 4 freshmen are all individually promising.
 


Hiring Ben over Craig Smith seems likely to go down as one of the stupidest/inept decisions in Gopher athletics in a long time.

I'm certainly not on board with "4 years no matter what." He needs a massive turnaround next year or he needs to go. No sense dragging it out. Yes getting talent can take time, but the lack of hustle, discipline and plan on offense is unacceptable. This team will not reach 10 wins this season.
 


howeda7 said:
Hiring Ben over Craig Smith seems likely to go down as one of the stupidest/inept decisions in Gopher athletics in a long time.

I'm certainly not on board with "4 years no matter what." He needs a massive turnaround next year or he needs to go. No sense dragging it out. Yes getting talent can take time, but the lack of hustle, discipline and plan on offense is unacceptable. This team will not reach 10 wins this season.
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Yep, I was willing to give it time if I saw glimmers of what would be. I saw some glimmers last year. This year has been a disaster. If this year continues like it seems it will, next year is make or break.

If I'm Coyle, I also tell him if he sits on another scholarship he's fired. It's inexcusable for a team as bad as ours to not be using our full allotment of scholarships.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yep, I was willing to give it time if I saw glimmers of what would be. I saw some glimmers last year. This year has been a disaster. If this year continues like it seems it will, next year is make or break.

If I'm Coyle, I also tell him if he sits on another scholarship he's fired. It's inexcusable for a team as bad as ours to not be using our full allotment of scholarships.
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He didn't want two of the worst SG's in the B1G to transfer after this year :rolleyes:
 



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.
 

To me the answer is simple, point guard. Truth is Willis was way more important to the team last year than at first glance, his ability to stretch the floor, his athleticism in the back court and veteran presence are sorely missed.

Oh yeah and our best player is a freshman.
 


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.)
 



I'm noticing the same guys here in this thread, commenting & liking comments....who before raved about Winter & Robison and how great Wisconsin is.
 

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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Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

I loved last night, and have been thoroughly impressed this year. MNJay is on-point. Stop watching for wins and losses. Look at what is developing, not whether the team is constructed to win now - it isn't. Ben is getting young guys - who have talent galore - experience. Period. That's this entire year. Now relax and enjoy.
 

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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This is what the it must be like to be a Cleveland browns fan. The suck for twenty years straight but after every game you tell yourself, there was some good our new new roster and new new starting quarterback completed more than 1 pass tonight…so that’s a good game.
 



MNJay said:
I'm noticing the same guys here in this thread, commenting & liking comments....who before raved about Winter & Robison and how great Wisconsin is.
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Not me.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

I loved last night, and have been thoroughly impressed this year. MNJay is on-point. Stop watching for wins and losses. Look at what is developing, not whether the team is constructed to win now - it isn't. Ben is getting young guys - who have talent galore - experience. Period. That's this entire year. Now relax and enjoy.
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The team was down by 30 on its home court. But hey, you do you.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

I loved last night, and have been thoroughly impressed this year. MNJay is on-point. Stop watching for wins and losses. Look at what is developing, not whether the team is constructed to win now - it isn't. Ben is getting young guys - who have talent galore - experience. Period. That's this entire year. Now relax and enjoy.
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Love your optimism but it is also based in a system of development that is largely gone. Portal rules make development very difficult because players need to be patient. This is not generally a patient generation. Talented young players are promising but also at high risk to leave if they don’t see hope.

I didn’t see the game last night but it sounds like it is continuing a pattern of low energy and low effort. There is no quicker way to lose a loyal and patient fan base, which includes a lot of people here, than giving off a perception you’re not working hard. And that is in complete control of players and coaches.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

I loved last night, and have been thoroughly impressed this year. MNJay is on-point. Stop watching for wins and losses. Look at what is developing, not whether the team is constructed to win now - it isn't. Ben is getting young guys - who have talent galore - experience. Period. That's this entire year. Now relax and enjoy.
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Problem is that future recruits are not lifelong, die-hard gopher fans. Casual fans also are not interested in teams that get waxed in the opening 10 mins at home. Glad you're happy, but games like this do nothing to sell the program at large.
 

I think the title of the thread is inaccurate. It should be… Ben Johnson is a COMPLETE disaster!
 

You may vouchsafe that the players grew up with assertive, in your face coaching and are struggling with Diffident Ben.
 



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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You should be able to give an effort on defense though no matter if you are a freshman. I could live with them learning on the fly as freshman if this team could play better defense. We are completely terrible on defense and that’s on our coach.
 

When Little Ricky left the veterans on the team who had eligibility chose to go with him.
The cupboard was literally bare when Johnson came.
Last year he had some veteran players come via the portal, causing a great deal of excitement during the cupcake pre-conference games, but proved lacking in conference play.
He is fielding a team with two transfers who could not start for their prior teams and very inexperienced players.
Johnson needs at least two years more to show what he can do in recruiting and development.
Why Coyle chose Johnson instead of other coaches was never made clear.
 

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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You think the two incoming freshman will fix this team? You think any legit transfers are gonna want to come to Minnesota after watching games like this? And you’re assuming our freshman are gonna stick around for 2 years of sucking to hope the team can compete their 3rd year.
 

CentralGopher said:
You should be able to give an effort on defense though no matter if you are a freshman. I could live with them learning on the fly as freshman if this team could play better defense. We are completely terrible on defense and that’s on our coach.
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The players are playing hard- especially the young guys. The defensive scheme is horrid.
 

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