Ben Johnson says the bench will see more minutes

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short ornery norwegian

short ornery norwegian

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Ben Johnson was a guest on Dan Barreiro's "Sunday Sermons" program on KFAN.

the thing that stood out to me -
Johnson admitted that they cannot get through the B1G season playing 6 or 7 guys per game. basically said that the bench players are working hard in practice and they will be relied on to play more minutes as the season goes forward. stressed the point that no one is upset at the lack of minutes so far - everyone has bought in, understands what the coaches want and need from them to earn playing time, and people should expect to see the bench get more involved.

the other interesting part: Barreiro said: "you were up for the job at Northern Illinois and didn't get it. So how did you land a job in the B1G?" Johnson admitted that he was up for the job at Northern Illinois, and was the runner up. Said he got the call that he didn't get the job at NIU, and not long after that, got a call from MN. But - he said "I may not have been the right guy for the job at NIU, but I believe I am the right guy for the job at MN."

as far as the rest of the interview, I was not taking notes - was riding the exercise bike - so this is what I remember.

On the Michigan game, talked a little about the defensive approach to handling Dickenson.

Talked about Jamison Battle. loves the work ethic. said he has "no short-term memory," if he makes a mistake, he forgets it and keeps playing. Joked about how he was recruiting Battle as a potential transfer for Xavier, then had to turn around and recruit him to MN.

Talked about Eric Curry - leadership and effort. got in best shape in years to come back and play.

in general, praised the players for their effort. playing smart basketball. a lot of older players, more mature with a good approach to the game.

and the kicker - Barreiro admitted that he didn't think the Gophers would be very good and thought they would be near the bottom of the conference, and he said he was wrong.
 
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short ornery norwegian said:
Ben Johnson was a guest on Dan Barreiro's "Sunday Sermons" program on KFAN.

the thing that stood out to me -
Johnson admitted that they cannot get through the B1G season playing 6 or 7 guys per game. basically said that the bench players are working hard in practice and they will be relied on to play more minutes as the season goes forward. stressed the point that no one is upset at the lack of minutes so far - everyone has bought in, understands what the coaches want and need from them to earn playing time, and people should expect to see the bench get more involved.

the other interesting part: Barreiro said: "you were up for the job at Northern Illinois and didn't get it. So how did you land a job in the B1G?" Johnson admitted that he was up for the job at Northern Illinois, and was the runner up. Said he got the call that he didn't get the job at NIU, and not long after that, got a call from MN. But - he said "I may not have been the right guy for the job at NIU, but I believe I am the right guy for the job at MN."

as far as the rest of the interview, I was not taking notes - was riding the exercise bike - so this is what I remember.

On the Michigan game, talked a little about the defensive approach to handling Dickenson.

Talked about Jamison Battle. loves the work ethic. said he has "no short-term memory," if he makes a mistake, he forgets it and keeps playing.

Talked about Eric Curry - leadership and effort. got in best shape in years to come back and play.

in general, praised the players for their effort. playing smart basketball. a lot of older players, more mature with a good approach to the game.

and the kicker - Barreiro admitted that he didn't think the Gophers would be very good and thought they would be near the bottom of the conference, and he said he was wrong.
Click to expand...
One of my best friends called me after the interview and told me all about it. I think the things that impressed both of us about Ben Johnson is that he just seems so genuine and real. He seems like the kind of guy players would want to work hard for.....

The other thing we talked about is that this is the first time in our lifetime that both the football program and basketball program have a coaching situation that we are both excited about....and we are 55 years old.....
 

ethomasp31 said:
One of my best friends called me after the interview and told me all about it. I think the things that impressed both of us about Ben Johnson is that he just seems so genuine and real. He seems like the kind of guy players would want to work hard for.....

The other thing we talked about is that this is the first time in our lifetime that both the football program and basketball program have a coaching situation that we are both excited about....and we are 55 years old.....
Click to expand...
Well, I'm 76 and I feel the same way.
 







I'd have thought we would have already seen some more bench minutes. Guys like Thompson and Ogele specifically....since we are so thin in the front court....but I'm glad that Johnson is addressing it. And Curry is a rockstar.

Also.....(y) on the exercise bike. Upgraded from my old Airdyne (which I loved) to a Rogue Echo Bike several months back. Awesome, awesome, awesome bike.
 



ethomasp31 said:
The other thing we talked about is that this is the first time in our lifetime that both the football program and basketball program have a coaching situation that we are both excited about....and we are 55 years old.....
Click to expand...
This is an interesting question. Football was mostly terrible during the Dutcher/Clem eras and Holtz coincided with the downside of Dutcher.

I can only come up with two small windows:

~2001-2002. Mason was going well and Monson looked good up until the 2002 Illinois game.

-September-October 2008: Tubby was going into year 2 and Brew started 7-1. And then...
 

howeda7 said:
This is an interesting question. Football was mostly terrible during the Dutcher/Clem eras and Holtz coincided with the downside of Dutcher.

I can only come up with two small windows:

~2001-2002. Mason was going well and Monson looked good up until the 2002 Illinois game.

-September-October 2008: Tubby was going into year 2 and Brew started 7-1. And then...
Click to expand...
Depressing
 








BBJones said:
I do remember Rick Barry. And I think Wilt tried them also, but he never had much luck with free throws in general. In fact, while he averaged 30.1 points per game for his career, he only shot 51.1 percent from the FT line.
Click to expand...
Wilt was a terrible free throw shooter except in his 100-point game.
 

howeda7 said:
This is an interesting question. Football was mostly terrible during the Dutcher/Clem eras and Holtz coincided with the downside of Dutcher.

I can only come up with two small windows:

~2001-2002. Mason was going well and Monson looked good up until the 2002 Illinois game.

-September-October 2008: Tubby was going into year 2 and Brew started 7-1. And then...
Click to expand...
Frank Williams...that game. The beginning of the end of Monson
 





howeda7 said:
This is an interesting question. Football was mostly terrible during the Dutcher/Clem eras and Holtz coincided with the downside of Dutcher.

I can only come up with two small windows:

~2001-2002. Mason was going well and Monson looked good up until the 2002 Illinois game.

-September-October 2008: Tubby was going into year 2 and Brew started 7-1. And then...
Click to expand...
PJ Fleck was hired in early 2017, the football team was coming off a 9-4 season with an upset win in a fairly significant bowl game, but also coming off the rape scandal. Pitino was in the midst of his best season here, Amir Coffey was a stud freshman, Reggie Lynch was a revelation on defense, Jordan Murphy was steadily improving, Nate Mason was first team all Big Ten, Daniel Oturu had just committed, the Gophers went on to get their best NCAA Tournament seed in decades, and entered the 2017-18 season as a preseason top 25 team, despite losing Eric Curry to injury in the offseason. Things were looking pretty good for us for a minute there.
 

Cayman said:
PJ Fleck was hired in early 2017, the football team was coming off a 9-4 season with an upset win in a fairly significant bowl game, but also coming off the rape scandal. Pitino was in the midst of his best season here, Amir Coffey was a stud freshman, Reggie Lynch was a revelation on defense, Jordan Murphy was steadily improving, Nate Mason was first team all Big Ten, Daniel Oturu had just committed, the Gophers went on to get their best NCAA Tournament seed in decades, and entered the 2017-18 season as a preseason top 25 team, despite losing Eric Curry to injury in the offseason. Things were looking pretty good for us for a minute there.
Click to expand...
I thought of that, but Fleck was 100% speculation at that moment and hadn't coached a game yet. And things turned on Pitino pretty quickly in 17-18.
 

Snapped this during the Michigan game. Might be interesting to track this stat.
 

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Who from the bench is currently working hard in practice to get ready for some PT?

Thompson would be nice for some height. I know he was a 4 star so you’d think he’d have the talent to get some minutes.

Thiam at point guard? He seemed like a project to begin with, but would be great if the project were to be accelerated.

Anyone else?
 

GopherPharmaBiz said:
Who from the bench is currently working hard in practice to get ready for some PT?

Thompson would be nice for some height. I know he was a 4 star so you’d think he’d have the talent to get some minutes.

Thiam at point guard? He seemed like a project to begin with, but would be great if the project were to be accelerated.

Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Ramberg?
 

GopherPharmaBiz said:
Who from the bench is currently working hard in practice to get ready for some PT?

Thompson would be nice for some height. I know he was a 4 star so you’d think he’d have the talent to get some minutes.

Thiam at point guard? He seemed like a project to begin with, but would be great if the project were to be accelerated.

Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Really wasn't aware that he shot THAT well from 3 last year.

Thiam played his first year of college basketball at Indian River State College, a junior college in Fort Pierce, Florida. He overwhelmed that competition level, averaging 15 points per game on 56% shooting from the field and 48.6% from three-point territory. The Pioneers finished 20-4 on the season as Abdoulaye garnered All-Tournament Team honors at the Junior College National Tournament and contributed to a Southern Conference Championship.
 



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