Dawson Garcia: Who have been the locker room leaders? Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen. (video)

[MennoSota]

Nobody needs to beat Payne out for minutes. But someone needs to fill in for him the 15-20 minutes a game he is on the bench because of fouls.

Correct, which is why Coach Johnson needs a big.
We also need a water bug of a guard. Coach knows this. I am sure he and his coaches are working hard to fill this need.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Granted, it's a big unknown. I choose to look at it this way:

anything the Gophers get from Fox and Ihnen next year is a bonus. If they can be energy guys off the bench for 5 to 10 minutes a game, then that's 5 to 10 minutes where other players can get a rest - and maybe stay out of foul trouble.

that way, at the end of the game, you can actually have key player who are not gassed and not playing with 4 fouls.

any Depth is better than no depth.

or to quote Freewheelin' Franklin: dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.

 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

Well, first of all, it's just an opinion. Here is what I am basing it on: #1. Eric Curry was maybe servicable/somewhat decent on a pretty bad Gophers team after his mutiple knee/leg injuries/surgeries. Recruiting forecasts/projections aren't perfect but most agree Curry was rated higher than Ihnen and/or Fox. Ihnen wasn't as clear because he was coming from overseas. Nothing in his healthy years showed me he would be as good as or better than Curry. I am hopeful that Ben is looking for players that are better than Eric Curry. Fox looked athletic in the videos I saw of him in D2. Plenty of stars in D2 and/or less than P6 conferences will not do well in the P6/BIG. Add to that 2 missed seasons with 2 injured knees/surgeries and call me pessimistic. I do believe they COULD be servicable, but I feel that the current players at the positions Ihnen and Fox will/would play are better than Ihnen and Fox. I will be surprised if Ihnen and Fox are part of the top 8-9 rotation. If they are I believe we will still be a weakling Wednesday team next season. Hope I'm wrong. If Ihnen and Fox are part of the top 8-9 rotation AND we are again historically bad, then I don't really care who the top 8-9 rotation is. It won't really matter at that point. Fox has something in common with Betts and Christie. None of them have played even 1 minute of D1 basketball.

Fair enough....I tend to disagree. We have no idea about the rehabilitation. Everyone assumes that the athleticism will be decreased. Frankly, that's not necessarily the case with ACL's anymore and the advancements that have been made. Two friends of mine both have sons playing high level college basketball....both have torn ACL's. One of them tore ACL/MCL and meniscus. Both are at least as athletic, if not more athletic today than they were pre-surgery. One of their verticals has actually increased since the surgery. Curry also had a different body-type than these two as well. He always seemed to be carrying some excess weight (probably to bang with other B10 centers).

Maybe i'm just being a Pollyanna and holding out hope. The Gophers are due a break after years of misery.

 

[Big Dawg]

Granted, it's a big unknown. I choose to look at it this way:

anything the Gophers get from Fox and Ihnen next year is a bonus. If they can be energy guys off the bench for 5 to 10 minutes a game, then that's 5 to 10 minutes where other players can get a rest - and maybe stay out of foul trouble.

that way, at the end of the game, you can actually have key player who are not gassed and not playing with 4 fouls.

any Depth is better than no depth.

or to quote Freewheelin' Franklin: dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.

Concur. Always good to have solid depth. The Gophers have had a strong history of injuries over the years so depth is always a good thing.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Or at the end of the game when the opponent goes to the Hack-a-Payne.

I actually think Payne will be a serviceable FT shooter. He improved a ton when he stopped putting the ball around his waste and his shot isn't ugly or anything. If you can get your FT % to 65%, none of those hack-a-person methods will make sense.