Ben Johnson is a Disaster

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Gopherfan84 said:
We’ve recruited tons of guards. He didn’t land them (Pierre, Ziggler, Holloman, Robison to an extent for example). That’s where the fair argument/criticism is. Stop saying he didn’t recruit them. That’s not fair nor true.
Respond all you want and disagree, I’ll go back to not posting and barely being able to follow a message board/discussion I used to enjoy.
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Merry Christmas! Now, back to not posting for you.
 

Crappie said:
35 plus seasons of support is not impatience, no matter how many times you repeat it.
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Congrats on being a fan for 35 years. Then you should remember your first two years when Clem Haskins won 2 and 4 Big Ten games before taking them to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in years three and four.
 

ethomasp31 said:
Congrats on being a fan for 35 years. Then you should remember your first two years when Clem Haskins won 2 and 4 Big Ten games before taking them to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in years three and four.
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Ben and Clem not comparable in pretty much every area except struggling in conference early on. Different era and different people. Clem had a lot more on the resume before getting here.
 

ethomasp31 said:
Congrats on being a fan for 35 years. Then you should remember your first two years when Clem Haskins won 2 and 4 Big Ten games before taking them to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in years three and four.
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Congratulations on comparing Clem to Ben.

Include Santa and the Easter Bunny and you have it.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Ben made a decision to put the hands of the 2 guard spot in two 3 star freshman hands. I believe there was talks of players like Parker Stewart, Cam Spencer, and Josiah Strong coming in. I have no clue of knowing if he passed on them or visa-versa. The team would be at least a decent amount better with one of those players IMO.
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He planned on Ihnen at the 2, that makes the recruiting a little easier to understand. Still missed on the PG in my mind but he recruited the guy from Cretin hard, just missed.
 


GopherBlood666 said:
Ben and Clem not comparable in pretty much every area except struggling in conference early on. Different era and different people. Clem had a lot more on the resume before getting here.
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It's a very fair comparison.

The era is NOT so different. A new coach still needs to recruit and build a base. And what NEVER CHANGES is fans blasting a new coach after every bad game...no matter what he inherited.
 



Crappie said:
Never seen a coach be the victim more than the current mn coach.

Never.
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I've seen it hundreds of times. Every coach is blasted when the team loses, regardless of the circumstances.
 




So far, Ben’s coaching seems to have more in common with Monson and Pitino than Haskins. He’ll have to find a better PG to make a 3rd year tournament appearance, much less a Sweet 16 run. Time will tell. But so far the results are bad.
 

goldenboy said:
So far, Ben’s coaching seems to have more in common with Monson and Pitino than Haskins. He’ll have to find a better PG to make a 3rd year tournament appearance, much less a Sweet 16 run. Time will tell. But so far the results are bad.
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Like a Bobby Jackson...
 

goldenboy said:
So far, Ben’s coaching seems to have more in common with Monson and Pitino than Haskins. He’ll have to find a better PG to make a 3rd year tournament appearance, much less a Sweet 16 run. Time will tell. But so far the results are bad.
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Haskins started 2-16 & 4-14 in conference play.

Shouldn't we at least see if Ben can follow-up on his excellent recruiting class that isn't even on the team yet?
 





MNJay said:
Haskins started 2-16 & 4-14 in conference play.

Shouldn't we at least see if Ben can follow-up on his excellent recruiting class that isn't even on the team yet?
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For sure. Should give cbj a contract for 10 years.
 

MNJay said:
Haskins started 2-16 & 4-14 in conference play.

Shouldn't we at least see if Ben can follow-up on his excellent recruiting class that isn't even on the team yet?
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The whiners on the GH need their candy now or they'll pout!
 



MNJay said:
I've seen it hundreds of times. Every coach is blasted when the team loses, regardless of the circumstances.
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Yep totally agree, should be zero criticism leveled again CBJ. I mean he has no control of the offense, no control of the defense, certainly didn't have the ability to comb through 1000+ transfers for 2 years, and was not in charge of the freshman he recruited!

Wait...I'm being told he actually has 100% total control of everything including the guys he recruits and the plays ran.

This guy takes the cake as the worst poster on this entire board. If the team is terrible (and they are) it is 100% on the person who is the GM and Coach
 

bga1 said:
Let's look at it this way- the odds of winning a game are additive of the odds for each game so with 18 remaining games, if our odds of winning any single game were 5% our odds of winning one game all year (or more) would be 90%- thus in that case the odds of going winless would be 10%.

We are going to have some games where are odds are 30% and some where our odds are 2%. Until we get better- which I expect we will, it is tough to imagine us being favored in a BigTen game as we are today.
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If only the other teams won’t get better too.
 

Minnesara said:
If only the other teams won’t get better too.
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This is the point that escapes the posters who are dazzled by the potential of the young and incoming talent. Minnesota is not a program that can consistently - or even ever - out-talent its league brethren. In order to be successful, the whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what good coaches excel at, and it’s apparent regardless of the number of recruiting stars on the floor.
 

formerlybis said:
This is the point that escapes the posters who are dazzled by the potential of the young and incoming talent. Minnesota is not a program that can consistently - or even ever - out-talent its league brethren. In order to be successful, the whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what good coaches excel at, and it’s apparent regardless of the number of recruiting stars on the floor.
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Agreed. Give it time and we will see.
The impatience of some on this board is overbearing.
 

formerlybis said:
This is the point that escapes the posters who are dazzled by the potential of the young and incoming talent. Minnesota is not a program that can consistently - or even ever - out-talent its league brethren. In order to be successful, the whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what good coaches excel at, and it’s apparent regardless of the number of recruiting stars on the floor.
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A lot of people get the chicken and the egg in the wrong order, including probably Mark Coyle. He hired a couple homeboys to coach his basketball teams because he thought they could grab some big time local recruits, and that would jump start the programs. I think he pretty much said as much. The reality is that you'll recruit well if you demonstrate that you can win and develop players. That's largely why we have such a strong pipeline of talent from the Twin Cities to Madison. In terms of big-time talent, Dick Bennett proved himself, and that got him Devin Harris. Bo proved his mettle, and that got him Brian Butch and Sam Dekker. Any of those players could have gone anywhere.
 

MNJay said:
Haskins started 2-16 & 4-14 in conference play.

Shouldn't we at least see if Ben can follow-up on his excellent recruiting class that isn't even on the team yet?
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In trying to make this a productive conversation, lets talk about actual expectations going forward.

How many wins NEXT season would be unacceptable for you?

I'm critical of Ben, but I don't think it would be smart or fair to fire him this offseason. I think we need to start producing the following season. By producing, I mean actual wins on the court. He has his third class in the system, we aren't THAT young.

I can tell you where my line is, if we are not a minimum a bubble team next year, I'd move on from Ben. I don't care about injuries or any other excuses, those happen to everyone. No one is stopping him (just like no one stopped Pitino) from building depth.

What is your threshold?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
In trying to make this a productive conversation, lets talk about actual expectations going forward.

How many wins NEXT season would be unacceptable for you?

I'm critical of Ben, but I don't think it would be smart or fair to fire him this offseason. I think we need to start producing the following season. By producing, I mean actual wins on the court. He has his third class in the system, we aren't THAT young.

I can tell you where my line is, if we are not a minimum a bubble team next year, I'd move on from Ben. I don't care about injuries or any other excuses, those happen to everyone. No one is stopping him (just like no one stopped Pitino) from building depth.

What is your threshold?
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This wasn't directed at me, but the impatient voices will start to get louder *this* year if the Gophers start 0-4 in conference. That's because the 4th game - Nebraska at home next weekend - is currently the best shot to avoid a winless conference season. People say they have low expectations, but it's a different mental challenge to stay the course when those low expectations are met (or worse).

Be in the double-digits in ranks for offense or defense. That's my bar, and it's incredibly low for a P6 program, but that would indicate there's coaching going on.
 

MNJay said:
Haskins started 2-16 & 4-14 in conference play.

Shouldn't we at least see if Ben can follow-up on his excellent recruiting class that isn't even on the team yet?
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Excellent recruiting class? 2 players? A good start I'd say but it will still be towards the bottom if he doesn't add to it.

Coffee, Burton, Lynch, Newbern can even include Shikanjanksi.

Let's see if he can find those types and be able to coach and develop them. Clem is/was possibly the best basketball coach we've had at the U.
 

formerlybis said:
This is the point that escapes the posters who are dazzled by the potential of the young and incoming talent. Minnesota is not a program that can consistently - or even ever - out-talent its league brethren. In order to be successful, the whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what good coaches excel at, and it’s apparent regardless of the number of recruiting stars on the floor.
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Correct and this is also exactly why most were baffled that when choosing a coach they picked one with zero experience. We all know that what you said is 100% true. Here at MN, you will have to win with less at least to start. Top guys just aren't going to come here until they prove that they are not a bottom of the barrel BT team.
 

Go Gophs said:
Correct and this is also exactly why most were baffled that when choosing a coach they picked one with zero experience. We all know that what you said is 100% true. Here at MN, you will have to win with less at least to start. Top guys just aren't going to come here until they prove that they are not a bottom of the barrel BT team.
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He had experience as ssshitino’s assistant… oh no.
 

Go Gophs said:
Excellent recruiting class? 2 players? A good start I'd say but it will still be towards the bottom if he doesn't add to it.

Coffee, Burton, Lynch, Newbern can even include Shikanjanksi.

Let's see if he can find those types and be able to coach and develop them. Clem is/was possibly the best basketball coach we've had at the U.
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You do realize he only has those 2 scholarships to give at the moment? Unless someone leaves that’s all he has.
 

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