Dartmouth transfer Taurus Samuels will visit Gophers May 5-6

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What is the message if Taurus doesn’t select MN? Taurus stinks or Ben stinks.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
What is the message if Taurus doesn’t select MN? Taurus stinks or Ben stinks.
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I mean, it could be neither (or both).

I don't like the fit of Samuels on the Gophers but if we can't hand out Big 10 minutes to anyone, it's problematic (in my opinion).
 

bga1 said:
The problem you have there is that 5 of the top 7 are not ball handling guards. That's why it is so important that we get one more real solid scorer and handler. I am guessing that Henley is better than people think and perhaps he surprises and brings it to 5 of 8. That still makes the team VERY susceptible to suffering big damage if there is an injury at the guard position.

Sure, I'd take Samuels in a heartbeat for that 8-10 minute role but we are still missing a proven scoring guard unless we get a great year out of Carrington or Henley or both.
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I think Samuels would play a lot more than people think he would. He can guard smaller, quicker PG's. You can slide the 6'4"
Cooper over to the 2, with Samuels at the 1, and Carrington can back up both spots. Is it perfect? No, but if either Cooper or Samuels was perfect, we couldn't get them. My opinion is we'll be better next year, but still bottom half of the B1G.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I think Samuels would play a lot more than people think he would. He can guard smaller, quicker PG's. You can slide the 6'4"
Cooper over to the 2, with Samuels at the 1, and Carrington can back up both spots. Is it perfect? No, but if either Cooper or Samuels was perfect, we couldn't get them. My opinion is we'll be better next year, but still bottom half of the B1G.
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If we have these 10 or 11 guys with Samuels and if they could all be available to play every game on the schedule...I think we would finish middle or higher and make the tournament.
If Samuels takes the cheese and Ben says he's going to play 8....which 3 guys sit with everybody healthy?
Thompson, Joseph and...and ....probably never happens because history says we can't keep guys healthy but I think he'd have to play 9 under the unlikely condition all 11 were healthy. What if Joseph is the hardest working best defender/slash garbage rebounder? What if Thompson becomes the all time best shooting 7 foot three point specialist in the country? I truly like all these scenarios with two more really good guys. Strength in numbers...then you got 5 guys who aren't playing....if only one or two don't play...that's cruel....depressing for sure if it's you sitting alone. Misery loves company. Recruit 13 quality players and let them compete.
 
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Chico Gopher said:
Are we looking for a wild guess and random speculation or the official announcement from Coach Johnson?
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Well clearly nothing official has happened yet. As for wild guesses and random speculation....both of those are specialties around here...

I have no clue where things stand with Samuels....maybe he wants to take more visits or just needs more time....or he wasn't interested in the depth role and is going to look elsewhere for a bigger role.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Well clearly nothing official has happened yet. As for wild guesses and random speculation....both of those are specialties around here...

I have no clue where things stand with Samuels....maybe he wants to take more visits or just needs more time....or he wasn't interested in the depth role and is going to look elsewhere for a bigger role.
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I wouldn't describe his likely role as "depth". Whether he starts or not, he'd play major minutes next season.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but look at our roster. Which guards are ahead of him?
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I wouldn't describe his likely role as "depth". Whether he starts or not, he'd play major minutes next season.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but look at our roster. Which guards are ahead of him?
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Based on last week's presser, I would say Cooper, Carrington, and Henley.
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
I wouldn't describe his likely role as "depth". Whether he starts or not, he'd play major minutes next season.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but look at our roster. Which guards are ahead of him?
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Based on the roster I would have to say no one is ahead at this point, minutes are there for the taking, this really will be a case of who performs the best in practice at the start of the season. Could be a freshman, could be a transfer.
 



ecoperson said:
Based on last week's presser, I would say Cooper, Carrington, and Henley.
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Its not a lot to go off of but agreed, after the presser last week and the lack of guard commitments after several visits, logic says Ben thinks our roster is pretty much set and thinks Cooper/Carrington/Henley and some combination of II/Battle can handle the guard/wing spots. I have to assume with the number of guards that have visited and not committed here Ben has to be telling them something like "hey we like you but it is clearly a backup role, if 5-15 min a game is for you great, if not we thank you and best of luck"

Now I personally think that is a big mistake and leaves you with absolutely 0 room for injury or players who are not ready but that seems to the be wagon that Ben has hitched his horses to. If it works then he looks very smart, but man if it goes sideways I think it is essentially impossible to not heavily criticize his strategy and/or perception of his roster. And for those saying thats just pessimism, well we have just a few months ago to see how that worked. We knew Fox was hurt, we knew Daniels/Ogele werent good and we had to rely on a run down version at C for huge minutes, that bit us hard. Just seems odd he would run that logic back with the backcourt this year.
 



ecoperson said:
Based on last week's presser, I would say Cooper, Carrington, and Henley.
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Henley's a 6'7" wing.

That leaves Cooper, and Carrington as the only guards currently on the roster. If we add Samuels, we have three guards. If that's what we go into the season with, Samuels is going to play major minutes.

Now consider Carrington has never played a minute of college ball, and that there are concerns about Cooper struggling defensively against smaller, quicker PG's, and it's hard not to envision Samuels playing a major role in the back court.

Additionally, both Cooper & Carrington can play the 2, with Samuels at the 1, but Samuels likely can't play the 2, which creates more opportunities for Samuels to see playing time.
 

leib0039 said:
Its not a lot to go off of but agreed, after the presser last week and the lack of guard commitments after several visits, logic says Ben thinks our roster is pretty much set and thinks Cooper/Carrington/Henley and some combination of II/Battle can handle the guard/wing spots. I have to assume with the number of guards that have visited and not committed here Ben has to be telling them something like "hey we like you but it is clearly a backup role, if 5-15 min a game is for you great, if not we thank you and best of luck"

Now I personally think that is a big mistake and leaves you with absolutely 0 room for injury or players who are not ready but that seems to the be wagon that Ben has hitched his horses to. If it works then he looks very smart, but man if it goes sideways I think it is essentially impossible to not heavily criticize his strategy and/or perception of his roster. And for those saying thats just pessimism, well we have just a few months ago to see how that worked. We knew Fox was hurt, we knew Daniels/Ogele werent good and we had to rely on a run down version at C for huge minutes, that bit us hard. Just seems odd he would run that logic back with the backcourt this year.
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Agree, my take is can’t get another even half decent guard to commit. Otherwise it’s pretty reckless to have so few guards in a guard dominated sport. No margin for injuries or anything else that goes wrong.
 

leib0039 said:
Its not a lot to go off of but agreed, after the presser last week and the lack of guard commitments after several visits, logic says Ben thinks our roster is pretty much set and thinks Cooper/Carrington/Henley and some combination of II/Battle can handle the guard/wing spots. I have to assume with the number of guards that have visited and not committed here Ben has to be telling them something like "hey we like you but it is clearly a backup role, if 5-15 min a game is for you great, if not we thank you and best of luck"

Now I personally think that is a big mistake and leaves you with absolutely 0 room for injury or players who are not ready but that seems to the be wagon that Ben has hitched his horses to. If it works then he looks very smart, but man if it goes sideways I think it is essentially impossible to not heavily criticize his strategy and/or perception of his roster. And for those saying thats just pessimism, well we have just a few months ago to see how that worked. We knew Fox was hurt, we knew Daniels/Ogele werent good and we had to rely on a run down version at C for huge minutes, that bit us hard. Just seems odd he would run that logic back with the backcourt this year.
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No reason to believe Ben is telling an experienced portal guard that he wants him only for a few minutes of backup per game. A more logical conversation would be telling him we have one projected starter at guard and some freshmen that you will need to compete with for playing time. If a guy requires a promise of playing time without earning it, he's not right for the team.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Henley's a 6'7" wing.

That leaves Cooper, and Carrington as the only guards currently on the roster. If we add Samuels, we have three guards. If that's what we go into the season with, Samuels is going to play major minutes.

Now consider Carrington has never played a minute of college ball, and that there are concerns about Cooper struggling defensively against smaller, quicker PG's, and it's hard not to envision Samuels playing a major role in the back court.

Additionally, both Cooper & Carrington can play the 2, with Samuels at the 1, but Samuels likely can't play the 2, which creates more opportunities for Samuels to see playing time.
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Johnson specifically mentioned in his press conference last week about getting Henley some minutes at the point. Henley has grown quite a bit in the last couple of years and is comfortable with the basketball in his hands.
 

ecoperson said:
Johnson specifically mentioned in his press conference last week about getting Henley some minutes at the point. Henley has grown quite a bit in the last couple of years and is comfortable with the basketball in his hands.
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He also said Isaiah Ihnen can play the 2 in that same press conference, lol.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
He also said Isaiah Ihnen can play the 2 in that same press conference, lol.
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If we can't trust the coach's analysis, it's time to get a new coach. Not only do we have a new head coach but he is also either a liar or just doesn't know what the heck is going on. I don't know what to say anymore. See you all at summer workouts.
 

ecoperson said:
If we can't trust the coach's analysis, it's time to get a new coach. Not only do we have a new head coach but he is also either a liar or just doesn't know what the heck is going on. I don't know what to say anymore. See you all at summer workouts.
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Seems to me that the athletic department could just save a lot of money by not having a head coach and just putting a bunch of gopherhole posters in charge. Many posters very confidently proclaiming what incoming recruits, returning players, and transfers can and can't do regardless of what the head coach says they can do. :)
 

MNVCGUY said:
Seems to me that the athletic department could just save a lot of money by not having a head coach and just putting a bunch of gopherhole posters in charge. Many posters very confidently proclaiming what incoming recruits, returning players, and transfers can and can't do regardless of what the head coach says they can do. :)
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MNVCGUY said:
Seems to me that the athletic department could just save a lot of money by not having a head coach and just putting a bunch of gopherhole posters in charge. Many posters very confidently proclaiming what incoming recruits, returning players, and transfers can and can't do regardless of what the head coach says they can do. :)
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And you are one.
 


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