Ben Johnson Press Conference - Summer Update + Player Interviews

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EasyThere Pilgrim said:
Could mean.

But I'm surprised you guys let that comment slide. You're negative when you should be positive...and then you're positive when you should be negative. LOL but serious.
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Some returning players are a cancer, who improve the team by NOT RETURNING!
 

bga1 said:
100% right. Media in this town seem to never ask the next question. You have 30 minutes with the coach, I want to hear a minute on each new player and how they fit. What should we expect from Betts? What kind of tempo might we play with Lucye as compared with Hawkins? What kind of player is Odukale? We had problems on defense last year, is that going to be the identity this coming year with the new players? Can this team compete for an NCAA berth? What is the goal?
Can the combination of the 2 new bigs give us what Payne gave us? Where does Rigsby fit in? Can Asuma reach the level that Cam did in his first year, perhaps in a different way? What should we expect from Grove?
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The problems with those questions are the following:

1) Some of those questions he can't answer yet (not enough information);

2) Some of those question he may not want to answer at this time;

3) Given his proclivity for talking (maybe even rambling), that would be a 90 minute video if he went into all of those questions. I think he's an intelligent guy but he hasn't seemed to learn that sometimes less is more.
 
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howeda7 said:
4-16 isn't "playing very well". Man we have buried the bar 6 feet under with this program.
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13-17 is good for a roster thrown together after all Pitino's players deserted.
 

Sane24 said:
13-17 is good for a roster thrown together after all Pitino's players deserted.
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No. It isn't. 13-17 is not "good" for any power 5 team.

I'm not ripping the players on that team. They did the best they could. The Rutgers game was a fun "Iron 5" moment. But that doesn't mean we have to delude ourselves into remembering it as something it wasn't.
 

howeda7 said:
No. It isn't. 13-17 is not "good" for any power 5 team.

I'm not ripping the players on that team. They did the best they could. The Rutgers game was a fun "Iron 5" moment. But that doesn't mean we have to delude ourselves into remembering it as something it wasn't.
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"the best they could" is ALWAYS GOOD!
I have been a coach for 64 years and I would ALWAYS be happy for "the best they could" from my players.
And I don't know a single coach-friend who wouldn't be happy with "the best they could" with ANY TEAM!
And I also said "for their talent level" which is a clear caveat for a team whose players were all that remained after the deserters left.
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
The problems with those questions are the following:

1) Some of those questions he can't answer yet (not enough information);

2) Some of those question he may not want to answer at this time;

3) Given his proclivity for talking (maybe even rambling), that would be a 90 minute video if he went into all of those questions. I think he's an intelligent guy but he hasn't seemed to learn that sometimes less is more.
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Well, the worst case scenario is that he doesn't answer the questions. You ask for nothin', you get nothin'
 



Sane24 said:
"the best they could" is ALWAYS GOOD!
I have been a coach for 64 years and I would ALWAYS be happy for "the best they could" from my players.
And I don't know a single coach-friend who wouldn't be happy with "the best they could" with ANY TEAM!
And I also said "for their talent level" which is a clear caveat for a team whose players were all that remained after the deserters left.
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Every team should do the best they can. That's a bare minimum expectation. There will still be bad teams. The current team is predicted to finish 16th or 17th. If they finish 12th, Ben should still be fired, even if they "did the best they could."
 

howeda7 said:
Every team should do the best they can. That's a bare minimum expectation. There will still be bad teams. The current team is predicted to finish 16th or 17th. If they finish 12th, Ben should still be fired, even if they "did the best they could."
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You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine; and neither of us can fire or rehire Ben, regardless of our opinions.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
What do you mean by "you guys?" You spend enough time around here to realize that not everyone is of the same mind. Of course, you spend a great deal of time talking but probably very little time listening.
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I listened plenty over the last 3 seasons. Believe me.

I just find it curious that now everyone seems so positive. That "back to Year 1" comment would have created an uproar just a few months ago.
 

EasyThere Pilgrim said:
I listened plenty over the last 3 seasons. Believe me.

I just find it curious that now everyone seems so positive. That "back to Year 1" comment would have created an uproar just a few months ago.
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If you get out of the gopher hole, you may eventually lose the memory of the smell of gopher shit.....
 



howeda7 said:
Every team should do the best they can. That's a bare minimum expectation. There will still be bad teams. The current team is predicted to finish 16th or 17th. If they finish 12th, Ben should still be fired, even if they "did the best they could."
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I would take 12th in conf. right now, looking at the strength of the Big Ten. That would likely put MN on the bubble, and would mean that MN likely had a 10-10 record. I would love to see that, and in no way would CBJ be fired imo.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
watching the whole presser, I don't know if it was deliberate or not, but Johnson sure made it feel as if MN had very little NIL available. kept talking about players going elsewhere for more money - Garcia could have gone elsewhere for more money.

and to me, that just screams out for someone in the media to ask a direct question:
"how much NIL does the program have available?"
"do you have any NIL still available if you wanted to add another player?" and so forth.

another question I was waiting for on Mike Mitchell - "how will your role on the team change with Hawkins leaving?" "Will you be handling the ball more?"

maybe I expect too much, but it all seemed pretty vanilla to me.
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A couple sentences about each of the newcomers would have been nice....if Ben is not going to volunteer then ask about each of them one by one. The talk was about the three returning guys...I've seen them play. Tell me about the new guys.
 

SplitDecision said:
I would take 12th in conf. right now, looking at the strength of the Big Ten. That would likely put MN on the bubble, and would mean that MN likely had a 10-10 record. I would love to see that, and in no way would CBJ be fired imo.
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Even 8 and 12 would be tolerable. I could accept that. But, I do think it could be tough to stay out of those last three spots. Unless Garcia truly is the Big Ten Player of the Year! He needs a running mate....who will be our 2nd leading scorer on a consistent basis? Tough to win with Garcia scoring 20 a game and a bunch of second leading guys at 6 and 8 points.
 

60's Guy said:
A couple sentences about each of the newcomers would have been nice....if Ben is not going to volunteer then ask about each of them one by one. The talk was about the three returning guys...I've seen them play. Tell me about the new guys.
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The last 15 minutes of the Grimm podcast is a little better in that regard. Ben indicates that Betts has muscled up and has lots of potential. He seems to like the bigs. Edmunds has size and athleticism.... So tidbits about each one but would still have liked to hear more.
 



SplitDecision said:
I would take 12th in conf. right now, looking at the strength of the Big Ten. That would likely put MN on the bubble, and would mean that MN likely had a 10-10 record. I would love to see that, and in no way would CBJ be fired imo.
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I'm all right with a 10-10 record (11-9 would be better though) but that should land the team higher than 12th.
 

60's Guy said:
Even 8 and 12 would be tolerable. I could accept that. But, I do think it could be tough to stay out of those last three spots. Unless Garcia truly is the Big Ten Player of the Year! He needs a running mate....who will be our 2nd leading scorer on a consistent basis? Tough to win with Garcia scoring 20 a game and a bunch of second leading guys at 6 and 8 points.
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I think an 8-12 conference finish would be problematic. The team needs to improve upon last year (19 or 20 regular season wins anyway with a chance for more after the regular season is completed). I realize the schedule will be tougher but with Garcia still in the fold, it's now or never. They really should have hit 19 or 20 regular season (and at least 10 conference) wins last year. They looked like they had a good chance of doing so when they were sitting at 17-9 with five games left but they lost four of their last five regular season games.

I think there will be more than one double figure scorer. Mitchell averaged low double figures last season. His shooting and scoring numbers last season practically were identical to his soph season at Pepperdine so he had no fall off with the move to a tougher conference. Patterson averaged double figures for the past two seasons and he's a fifth-year senior so I don't see why he can't do it here.
 

Sane24 said:
"the best they could" is ALWAYS GOOD!
I have been a coach for 64 years and I would ALWAYS be happy for "the best they could" from my players.
And I don't know a single coach-friend who wouldn't be happy with "the best they could" with ANY TEAM!
And I also said "for their talent level" which is a clear caveat for a team whose players were all that remained after the deserters left.
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I can respect that view but Johnson's cupboard is not bare. In addition to Garcia, he has a low double figure scorer and a productive sixth man returning from last season, three transfers who have earned all-conference honors (including the 4th leading rebounder in the nation), and a freshman who was rated among the top 10 point guards nationally. Have a little faith.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
I can respect that view but Johnson's cupboard is not bare. In addition to Garcia, he has a low double figure scorer and a productive sixth man returning from last season, three transfers who have earned all-conference honors (including the 4th leading rebounder in the nation), and a freshman who was rated among the top 10 point guards nationally. Have a little faith.
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Agreed, it's now or never. Considering the offers Garcia and Mitchell got, hard to expect other guys of similar quality to come here for less unless there is some track record of winning. It will be a very tough sell if we miss the tournament again going forward.
 

GopherBlood777 said:
Agreed, it's now or never. Considering the offers Garcia and Mitchell got, hard to expect other guys of similar quality to come here for less unless there is some track record of winning. It will be a very tough sell if we miss the tournament again going forward.
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Mitchell didn't get any big offers. But yes, it's a miracle that Garcia stayed.
 



I saw a video on men's BB twitter that referred to Jack Wilson as "coach". Has be been added to the staff?
 


TwistingMyMelon said:
I can respect that view but Johnson's cupboard is not bare. In addition to Garcia, he has a low double figure scorer and a productive sixth man returning from last season, three transfers who have earned all-conference honors (including the 4th leading rebounder in the nation), and a freshman who was rated among the top 10 point guards nationally. Have a little faith.
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I will gladly trade a little faith for a second big wing which they still are without.
Unless Betts has enough quicks which I seriously doubt.
 


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