Ben Johnson is a Disaster

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The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
 

Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
He was MR Basketball in the State of MN, not some average recruit who needs to only get by on Defense and Rebounding
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Is scoring the only criteria used to determine Mr. Basketball?

Shooting can be fixed and improved. Defense and rebounding are largely effort, hustle and mindset. It is the less glamorous side of basketball, but no less important. I get it. Points are the easiest metric to understand, so that is why so many rubes fixate on it.

I get it. You like to troll and must get the last word in, so knock yourself out.
 

topos said:
The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
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This can be a great recruiting commercial for the program. I hope they take advantage of this!
 

topos said:
The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
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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.

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."
 




topos said:
The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
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In my experience coaching, if I didn't keep it together, how the heck could I expect my teams to keep it together?

Especially in crunch time in tight games. I remember several games vividly where you could hear the other coach losing his sh*t. I would tell my team they are going to be tense out there and are going to make mistakes. Stay grounded, play fundamentally sound basketball, and we will be fine. Most of the time it ended well!
 

Gophs24 said:
its ok to state the truth that Carrington has been disappointing in the 5 conference games so far.
2.4 PPG
2.2 RPG
.6 APG
below average on defense
shooing 17% from 3

we would all be kidding ourselves if we werent expecting more from him so far.

its also ok to state the truth that he is still just a freshman 15ish games into his career. while we all expected more from him its clear its gonna take him more time than we all maybe hoped.

lets hope he can take some steps forward the rest of the season!


Henely is anothing guy for me personally as my expectations were more then what he is showing
2.6 PPG
2.4 RPG
1.2 APG
in the Wisonsin and Nebraska games i thought he was really starting to get more comfortable on the court but 3 quick fouls and he never really got a chance to get in the flow of things last night
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Absolutely fair to acknowledge that he has struggled to this point in his very brief college career. He has. But struggles from true freshman should be expected, especially when they are not the high end 1 and done type players that can be expected to dominate in college right away.

Every player is different and some need more time to figure things out. What gets frustrating is when fans want to write a guy off just because he isn't a star on day 1.
 

skiumah1 said:
The All-Access grew on me, was especially interesting down the stretch to hear these guys.

Gotta make free throws, but that was a nice W and I was impressed with Ben.
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Did anyone else catch at the end of the game when Holtmann told the ref they were going to foul Payne on the inbound? I mean I get that intentional fouls aren't called late in games even when the fouls are 100% intentional but how can you tell the ref before the play you are going to foul a particular player and not have that be viewed as intentional?

Assume it goes on all the time and we just never hear it but that really stood out to me when he said it.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Did anyone else catch at the end of the game when Holtmann told the ref they were going to foul Payne on the inbound? I mean I get that intentional fouls aren't called late in games even when the fouls are 100% intentional but how can you tell the ref before the play you are going to foul a particular player and not have that be viewed as intentional?

Assume it goes on all the time and we just never hear it but that really stood out to me when he said it.
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that legit even happens at high school games......really a none issue
 

topos said:
The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
Click to expand...

I have obviously been very hard on Ben this season, but this was my thought as well. I feel a lot better about his coaching ability now. And he has proven he can recruit some nice pieces.

However, plenty of good coaches still fail because they cannot get all of the right pieces to fit together at the right time. My #1 complaint about Ben is how he is recruiting the guard position now and in the future. If he can figure that out, I think he has a chance to be successful here. But if he continues with his current path at that position, it will continue to result in a lot more losses than wins.
 

topos said:
The All-Access feature was enlightening and made me feel better about where we are headed. I hope Ben has the tape and can use it in his recruiting pitches.

I always thought Holtmann was a Tier I coach. The in-game coaching styles were shocking:

Holtmann: "Play hard!" "Rebound!" "Be tougher!" "Keep doing that!" "Foul!" "Patience!"

Johnson: "J-Mo, bring the ball up, Lon', get to the wing, Miami! Miami! Slip it, Pharrell! Good!"

Johnson was constantly instructing his players, especially the young guys, and had a perfect temperament that pushed players to do better.

He was collected during the frustrating moments (when past coaches chose to melt down). He was constructive, talked to the players respectfully, and was encouraging. I would love to play for CBJ. These guys will never quit on him!
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Agreed. I’m I guess as close to a Ben Johnson homer as it gets (wanted him in 2013 over Pitino). When people reference Coyle hiring him after his interview, they also claim it must be outside influences… I always wanted to retort, well if you could just talk to him it would be easier to see that Ben could sell Coyle in an interview. Maybe he doesn’t have the “chops” yet, but he’s certainly has the knowledge base.

His skill development method(s) is the other area where I think some fans might not be able to see yet. However, when they do, they will realize Ben will “raise the floor” for most players vs what we are used to seeing. He’s extremely Deliberate.
 

Gophs24 said:
its ok to state the truth that Carrington has been disappointing in the 5 conference games so far.
2.4 PPG
2.2 RPG
.6 APG
below average on defense
shooing 17% from 3

we would all be kidding ourselves if we werent expecting more from him so far.



Henely is anothing guy for me personally as my expectations were more then what he is showing
2.6 PPG
2.4 RPG
1.2 APG
in the Wisonsin and Nebraska games i thought he was really starting to get more comfortable on the court but 3 quick fouls and he never really got a chance to get in the flow of things last night
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Almost positive Ben said Henley got sick after the Nebraska game. Probably caused him to miss some practice time. Not that it’s relevant to your post at all, but I’m thinking Payne is fighting a lower back issue or something. Think last night’s interaction with Johnson confirms something is going on with him.
 



Gophs24 said:
that legit even happens at high school games......really a none issue
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Figured it had to be for the coach to so casually state it, especially knowing he was mic'd.

Credit to Johnson for having the inbound setup for Payne to stay stationary and not give Ohio State the chance to foul him.

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.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Lol, very happy with the result tonight. But Ben has a LONG ways to go.
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Yeah, let's not get mental here. Let's not base a performance review on one good game, and at the same time, let's let this schedule play out before we make a whole lot of judgments about this season's success or failure.

They won a road game against a good conference opponent. It was great! I can safely say that nobody enjoyed it more than I did. I was high on life all night, and I could barely get to sleep. This is why we watch and get invested in sports! They're playing better, and my fingers are crossed that this thing is on a good trajectory.

Although I'll avoid taking full stock of things before the season's played out, we are where we are: four conference wins and a last-place finish last season. It's steeply uphill from here if this team is even going to equal last year's success. Even if they do, back-to-back basement finishes would be the worst two-year performance in program history. Even if you like this one win and are impressed with Ben's in-game coaching on the mic last night--both of which I am--there is still the matter that our power rating is so far separated from the next-to-last-place team that we've become the butt of jokes in the national community. And still the matter of how much more successful other comparable second-year coaches in similar circumstances have been.

They're on an unmistakeable improvement curve right now, and my hope is that this is the start of something big that'll carry over into next year. Why can't we keep improving, win several games, and avoid Wednesday of the BTT? If they keep this quality of play up, they'll be in most games with an opportunity to win many of them. Or is this a temporary warm streak? We will find out.

For the time being, write this down: if the Gophs make the Sweet 16 next year, a la Clem, I'll take MNJay out to lunch at a nice place!
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Almost positive Ben said Henley got sick after the Nebraska game. Probably caused him to miss some practice time. Not that it’s relevant to your post at all, but I’m thinking Payne is fighting a lower back issue or something. Think last night’s interaction with Johnson confirms something is going on with him.
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yup henley was sick leading up to the game.
 

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.

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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And every player’s development is perfectly linear.

He’s The kind of posters that says crap like “ya can’t coach speed.” Sure of it, regardless of how self evident that the opposite is true.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I have obviously been very hard on Ben this season, but this was my thought as well. I feel a lot better about his coaching ability now. And he has proven he can recruit some nice pieces.
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You don’t say? I almost spit out my coughing from laughing.
Amazing what just one freaking win can do for my attitude and optimism.
 




Gophs24 said:
its ok to state the truth that Carrington has been disappointing in the 5 conference games so far.
2.4 PPG
2.2 RPG
.6 APG
below average on defense
shooing 17% from 3

we would all be kidding ourselves if we werent expecting more from him so far.

its also ok to state the truth that he is still just a freshman 15ish games into his career. while we all expected more from him its clear its gonna take him more time than we all maybe hoped.

lets hope he can take some steps forward the rest of the season!


Henely is anothing guy for me personally as my expectations were more then what he is showing
2.6 PPG
2.4 RPG
1.2 APG
in the Wisonsin and Nebraska games i thought he was really starting to get more comfortable on the court but 3 quick fouls and he never really got a chance to get in the flow of things last night
Click to expand...
They are freshman, most have ups and downs, that should be expected. That said, I have a feeling if you would have come preseason and said Henley/Carrington are combining for say 5 points 5 reb 3 ast and below average defense the hardo's would have jumped on that saying no way Carrington was the player of the year, Henley was #3 in the state of CA are you kidding?!?? 5 points and 5 reb COMBINED pshh quit being a downer!

I would say myself its about overall what i would have thought, I do wish Carrington/Henley would have shown more in just a few individual games. I would say JOJ/Payne have certainly been up and down but each to me has flashed some nice potential in certain games. Carrington has shown a bit of that but I would like more from both, like maybe Henley pops for a nice 15p 4r game where he goes 3/4 from 3 or something.
 

leib0039 said:
They are freshman, most have ups and downs, that should be expected. That said, I have a feeling if you would have come preseason and said Henley/Carrington are combining for say 5 points 5 reb 3 ast and below average defense the hardo's would have jumped on that saying no way Carrington was the player of the year, Henley was #3 in the state of CA are you kidding?!?? 5 points and 5 reb COMBINED pshh quit being a downer!

I would say myself its about overall what i would have thought, I do wish Carrington/Henley would have shown more in just a few individual games. I would say JOJ/Payne have certainly been up and down but each to me has flashed some nice potential in certain games. Carrington has shown a bit of that but I would like more from both, like maybe Henley pops for a nice 15p 4r game where he goes 3/4 from 3 or something.
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exactly!!

for me.
JOJ above expectations.
Payne about where i had hoped (although if im being honest i was thinking a bit more production)
Henley below expectations
Carrington below expectations
 

Gophers_4life said:
Right. It's easy to say stuff like this .... when you also win the games.

Being an awesome player's coach is great. Doing it the right way is great. But if you don't also win ... well, it is what it is.
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I am not anti-Ben for the sake of being anti-Ben. I haven't seen a lot of coaching acumen. And I'll openly admit I saw 1 play last night and it was a replay of the final foul. I saw it on twitter. So maybe he coached a great game.

Nadine backs her team and I respect that. But I also think she picks and chooses when stuff is good. Like last night. We didnt see those types of post when they were getting throttled by other teams...so to me its disingenuous to only post about him when its good.
 

Gophs24 said:
exactly!!

for me.
JOJ above expectations.
Payne about where i had hoped (although if im being honest i was thinking a bit more production)
Henley below expectations
Carrington below expectations
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That is about where I am at.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
I have obviously been very hard on Ben this season, but this was my thought as well. I feel a lot better about his coaching ability now. And he has proven he can recruit some nice pieces.

However, plenty of good coaches still fail because they cannot get all of the right pieces to fit together at the right time. My #1 complaint about Ben is how he is recruiting the guard position now and in the future. If he can figure that out, I think he has a chance to be successful here. But if he continues with his current path at that position, it will continue to result in a lot more losses than wins.
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I think a lot of the improvement of late is playing Cooper off the ball. That dribble handoff to Cooper from the wing toward the top of the key was $ last night. Cooper had space and made great decisions in the lane.

Ideally, it would be Carrington or Henley playing the Samuels role, but it's impressive to see the team adapt regardless.

Priority #1 next year is getting a dynamic PG from the portal. Ben missed this year, and while injuries were unfortunate, I'm not confident Ihnen would have been the answer to our underwhelming guard play.

Cooper is a silky shooter who matches up better against bigger, more physical guards. Playing #2 with spot PG duties would be ideal if he does stick around for one more year.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Figured it had to be for the coach to so casually state it, especially knowing he was mic'd.

Credit to Johnson for having the inbound setup for Payne to stay stationary and not give Ohio State the chance to foul him.

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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He's completely right about just rolling the ball in. Provides zippo time for a defender to reach down, grab the ball, and get enough forward momentum to get the ball to the hoop on the other side of the court. Simply not enough time. And that doesn't even consider the fact that the ball probably doesn't even get picked up cleanly with multiple guys going for it. It's a sound strategy at that point in the game.
 

stocker08 said:
He's completely right about just rolling the ball in. Provides zippo time for a defender to reach down, grab the ball, and get enough forward momentum to get the ball to the hoop on the other side of the court. Simply not enough time. And that doesn't even consider the fact that the ball probably doesn't even get picked up cleanly with multiple guys going for it. It's a sound strategy at that point in the game.
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Yep as long as you are inbounding under your own basket I could see where it would be a great strategy with the small amount of time left and the lead. Just have to trust the inbounder to be able to roll the ball in a way where it doesn't go out of bounds directly without someone from your team or the other team touching it first to get the clock moving.
 


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