Do you want Ben back for a fourth year?

Do you want Ben back for a fourth year?

  • Yes, Ben deserves to return next season for Year 4.

    Votes: 129 59.4%
  • No, we need a new coach for next season.

    Votes: 88 40.6%

  • Total voters
    217
Sure it does. For the last three months Coyle has seen a competitive team and he projects that into further improvement next year. That is why he is retaining his coach.
Certainly.

So thoughts then on why they relatively collapsed the last three games?
 

There are plenty of examples of bad coaches getting fired after seasons with improved records
3-11 is an improvement over 2-12.

Why didn’t you answer his question as stated?
 

How many times did they rally in the second half this year? The team did not quit and battled back from some big deficits. That doesn't happen if the coach can't get players going.
They had some nice comebacks. I actually attribute them more to CBJ's in-game adjustments. This team is good when they're hitting shots and the crowd is behind them, but what team isn't...
The slow starts and lack of defensive intensity, especially against quality opponents, has been the biggest issue to me. That falls on CBJ and his ability to motivate and have the guys ready.

I may be way off, but I see CBJ on the sidelines and during timeouts and his demeaner always seems the same. I think the best coaches have a calmness about them but know when to get intense and push players buttons.
 


In his defense the M is right next to the N on the keyboard. We still have guys here (experts) who refer to our previous coach as Patino.

Yes, but the "A" is not next to the "I" so I don't think that's a typo.
 


Certainly.

So thoughts then on why they relatively collapsed the last three games?
Carrington got a concussion. He's a good defender.
OLJ added nothing down the stretch.

They played 6-7 guys and defense went south. I think the team was gassed at the end of the season. That's where holding onto guys and getting some more additions is key. Sounds like Johnson has already reached out to a number of guards for more depth.

You also need to look at the schedule.
@ Nebraska ( Undefeated at home)
@ Illinois (Big Ten Champs
vs Indiana which was a really bad match-up and we couldn't defend.
@ Northwestern (Tournament team on Senior Night)
to MSU who is also in the tournament as a 9 seed.

I thought we should have gone 10-10. We were a game short. In hindsight we benefited from our schedule a bit this year, but still saw improvement.
 
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I can think of 3 off the top of my head for this season. Kenny Payne, Mike Hopkins and Monson.
Neither of the 1st 2 improved by more than 1 game (not 7) and Monson was let go before he won the conference tournament (won 1 less game than the prior to it). Way to be intentionally dishonest.
 




Neither of the 1st 2 improved by more than 1 game (not 7) and Monson was let go before he won the conference tournament (won 1 less game than the prior to it). Way to be intentionally dishonest.

???

Louisville doubled their win total and improved by 90 spots in KenPom and improved their NET by 99 spots. Yeah, Hopkins won just one more game, but they improved their KenPom ranking from 107 to 63 and their NET from 122 to 69. And Monson's team actually had one more win than they did last year, prior to the conference tournament.

You're going to have to explain to me how providing facts is being dishonest? These three teams all had improved records(and improved overall quality of the team) and were fired. And that's just from this season.
 

???

Louisville doubled their win total and improved by 90 spots in KenPom and improved their NET by 99 spots. Yeah, Hopkins won just one more game, but they improved their KenPom ranking from 107 to 63 and their NET from 122 to 69. And Monson's team actually had one more win than they did last year, prior to the conference tournament.

You're going to have to explain to me how providing facts is being dishonest? These three teams all had improved records(and improved overall quality of the team) and were fired. And that's just from this season.
Don't let facts get in the way of a perfectly good narrative, man!
 

???

Louisville doubled their win total and improved by 90 spots in KenPom and improved their NET by 99 spots. Yeah, Hopkins won just one more game, but they improved their KenPom ranking from 107 to 63 and their NET from 122 to 69. And Monson's team actually had one more win than they did last year, prior to the conference tournament.

You're going to have to explain to me how providing facts is being dishonest? These three teams all had improved records(and improved overall quality of the team) and were fired. And that's just from this season.
Louisville won 1 more game in conference as did Washington. Monson won 1 less game in conference before he was fired. I forgot wins don't matter, just computer rankings do, my mistake. Someone should let Indiana State know.
 



Don't let facts get in the way of a perfectly good narrative, man!
That basically describes every message board and comments section on the internet. Heck it even applies to a lot of the "news" organizations anymore with the focus on being first over being right.
 

Louisville won 1 more game in conference as did Washington. Monson won 1 less game in conference before he was fired. I forgot wins don't matter, just computer rankings do, my mistake. Someone should let Indiana State know.

???

They all won more games than last year. A question was asked, I answered it.
 

Don't let facts get in the way of a perfectly good narrative, man!

Yeah, I don't understand. I find providing facts get people upset on here. This has nothing to do with CBJ. Just answered a question.
 

Louisville won 1 more game in conference as did Washington. Monson won 1 less game in conference before he was fired. I forgot wins don't matter, just computer rankings do, my mistake. Someone should let Indiana State know.
Nothing has ruined watching and discussing sports more than analytics! It’s completely ruined MLB. Watching someone strike out 30-40% of the time is not entertaining. Watching great starting pitchers go 5 innings is not entertaining. Watching players swing from the heels with two strikes, like a slow pitch softball player, is not entertaining. Now the analytics of 3 point shooting has gone a long way to diminishing team play in basketball. It’s not even the fact that the three point play isn’t a valuable tool. It’s the fact that if you are on that night, you win. If you’re not, you lose. But no matter what you still keep on shooting them. Like a baseball team based on hitting. Very inconsistent, you never know which team will show up that night.
 

Carrington got a concussion. He's a good defender.
OLJ added nothing down the stretch.

They played 6-7 guys and defense went south. I think the team was gassed at the end of the season. That's where holding onto guys and getting some more additions is key. Sounds like Johnson has already reached out to a number of guards for more depth.

You also need to look at the schedule.
@ Nebraska ( Undefeated at home)
@ Illinois (Big Ten Champs
vs Indiana which was a really bad match-up and we couldn't defend.
@ Northwestern (Tournament team on Senior Night)
to MSU who is also in the tournament as a 9 seed.

I thought we should have gone 10-10. We were a game short. In hindsight we benefited from our schedule a bit this year, but still saw improvement.
I’m not sure I’m buying the guys are gassed angle. If they started out the game playing well defensively and couldn’t maintain that at the end of the game then maybe but there were plenty of games they weren’t great on defense the whole game.
 

I’m not sure I’m buying the guys are gassed angle. If they started out the game playing well defensively and couldn’t maintain that at the end of the game then maybe but there were plenty of games they weren’t great on defense the whole game.
I meant end of the season gassed and that didn't help things. They also had an extra game that last week as others were a game ahead of them.

We played 5 games in 14 days to end the regular season.
Northwestern played 5 in 18 days as an example. Most teams had extra rest coming in the last week to our game and we had two guys out with concussions.

Excuses Excuses I know, but it tells some of the story.
 

No, I am of the opinion that he regularly overestimates the depth he has and I have three years of team results to support that opinion.
So in other words, three times he has been completely satisfied with the roster? Never wished he could have gotten one more of the guys they offered?
 

Wasn’t the Big Ten season only 18 games during Clem’s tenure? Ben has then had 6 more chances at those 15 victories. I’d also guess the conference was deeper to to bottom with probably just Northwestern & Penn St.

Didn’t Norwood fire Tubby after winning an NCAA tourney game?
Read it again. No AD fires a coach who goes from two conference wins to nine.
 

There are plenty of examples of bad coaches getting fired after seasons with improved records

Feel free to disagree with this reality
Plenty isn't very specific. Just give us a name of a coach who went from two conference wins to nine and got fired.
 


Distribute minutes to who? There were games he had six players, the starters and Fox. When Carrington was healthy he had seven. Ihnen had many chances earlier, even starting a handful of games. Ben couldn't trust him down the stretch. And nobody knows what happened to JOJ. Whatever it was, he was not deemed ready to play.
Exactly, Ihnen and JOJ were starters at the beginning of the year but couldn't provide a single minute by the time the conference season ended. I never agreed with either starting, but they each bring enough to give 5-10 minutes. Assuming they are health enough to dress, I would rather see them getting limited minutes each game as opposed to pushing the top 5-6 guys to their absolute limit.
 

Certainly.

So thoughts then on why they relatively collapsed the last three games?
Three point shooting, maybe from being worn out, maybe bad timing on luck of the draw. Gophers ride outside shooting, free throw shooting, and hustle defense. Being a weak rebounding team all year took a toll as well.
 

Exactly, Ihnen and JOJ were starters at the beginning of the year but couldn't provide a single minute by the time the conference season ended. I never agreed with either starting, but they each bring enough to give 5-10 minutes. Assuming they are health enough to dress, I would rather see them getting limited minutes each game as opposed to pushing the top 5-6 guys to their absolute limit.
Ihnen couldn't be trusted for 5-10 minutes. No way you use him. JOJ disappeared. Nobody here knows the story of why.
 

So in other words, three times he has been completely satisfied with the roster? Never wished he could have gotten one more of the guys they offered?

Look, he either isn't doing enough to develop the bench players or he's not recruiting enough reserves of sufficient quality to be developed adequately. I'm not a paid consultant for Gopher basketball so I don't have to figure out the reasons why.

At least this season he got the starters and the top reserve right.
 

Ihnen couldn't be trusted for 5-10 minutes. No way you use him. JOJ disappeared. Nobody here knows the story of why.
Ihnen was the only player Ben decided to keep and allegedly fought hard to keep him. It is now his 3rd year in Ben's program. He is healthy enough to play. If you can't trust him to play at this point for even 5-10 minutes, that is an issue with the coaching staff.
 

They had some nice comebacks. I actually attribute them more to CBJ's in-game adjustments. This team is good when they're hitting shots and the crowd is behind them, but what team isn't...
The slow starts and lack of defensive intensity, especially against quality opponents, has been the biggest issue to me. That falls on CBJ and his ability to motivate and have the guys ready.

I may be way off, but I see CBJ on the sidelines and during timeouts and his demeaner always seems the same. I think the best coaches have a calmness about them but know when to get intense and push players buttons.
The subject of poor defense or defensive intensity has come up quite a bit lately.

The team did not lack effort or intensity. They did lack size and strength. When you look at the number of strong guards around 6'4 in the league -- Marcus Domask of Illinois being the poster boy -- you just know our guards can't stop them from getting to the basket and scoring. Not for lack of effort, for lack of strength and height.

Garcia worked really hard on defense but he is not a strong guy relative to many power forwards in the league. Fox outworks anyone but lacks strength. Payne has the strength but he is fooled like a kid watching a magician with a bean under one of the shells.

The effort was there. We won games with hustle and hitting threes. We didn't overpower anyone.

The highest portal priority is two big guys, really strong, who rebound ferociously and play defense.
 

If you can't trust him to play at this point for even 5-10 minutes, that is an issue with the coaching staff.

I can't disagree with that but I understand why Johnson wanted him to have the chance to play after his extended rehabilitation. The question now is what happens with Ihnen from this point on.
 




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