Does Ben Johnson have any defenders left?

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As a coach, I 100% support Ben Johnson. His offensive schemes and structure are sound.
As a snake oil salesman, he hasn't been provided the financial backing to compete with richer snakes. I don't put that blame on Ben at all. The NCAA is now just a bunch of thugs and hoodlums making dark alley deals. Ben just isn't a thug like Mussleman who learned thuggery from his old man. I support Ben, but many on here would rather have a Vegas mobster who "gets things done" by any means necessary.

I find the current NCAA sports system untenable and a mockery of the sports they are attempting to monitor. If people want to bitch, go to the NCAA, but leave Ben out of your bitch session.
 


mplarson7 said:
For his 4th year at the helm, BJ is returning...3 players because of transfers?

I'm rather fed up with this as is. There needs to be a substantially better season this year or he better be gone.
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4 returners - Fox, Betts, Mitchell and Garcia
 

It is what it is at this point, and they aren't making a coaching change now. So, I might as well wait and see what happens. I am skeptical, yes, but also hopeful the new team will gel and be better. If it isn't, then there is a high probability he is gone.

College basketball is such a mess right now that if the Gophers are irrelevant for 24-25, the whole sport is going to be more or less irrelevant for me. Watching a bunch of ringer teams ranks right up there with watching rich pricks play polo. Zero interest.
 

DarthGopher said:
It is what it is at this point, and they aren't making a coaching change now. So, I might as well wait and see what happens. I am skeptical, yes, but also hopeful the new team will gel and be better. If it isn't, then there is a high probability he is gone.
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Right with ya. Jump on board. The roster isn't bad. You never know what guys can come together and have that gel / fit.

We'll see what happens.

Patterson +1 more and I'm all set ready for next year.
 




GFBfan said:
I'll be a defender. If he can't coach $hit, how come Hawkins went from TO prone early in the year to one of the better PG in the BIG.
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Right Ben got crucified last year for bringing a short kid from Howard into the Big Ten and then by the end he was one of the top guards after being coached up and then the same people are screaming at Ben for letting him go because we don’t have the money to keep him how does That make him a bad coach
 

mplarson7 said:
For his 4th year at the helm, BJ is returning...3 players because of transfers?

I'm rather fed up with this as is. There needs to be a substantially better season this year or he better be gone.
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college basketball is now about Money.

you can bring in any coach in the country, but if that coach does not bring a butt-load of money with him, it won't make any difference.

so if Coyle is going to fire Ben, then the interview process for the new coach should go like this:

"how much money can you bring in? Do you have rich boosters lined up to bankroll the program?"

if the answers are "not much" and "no," then I don't care what their names are - there will be no difference from where the Gophers are right now.
 









Count me in. One of the things they hired him to do was start getting some MN kids to stay. Changing that dynamic is a longer term project. He made some progress, plus he had a nice start with some outside players. Christie and Evans were good gets. Then Evans sold his soul to a Louisville.

Now in the NIL era high school recruiting chops just aren’t as valuable as they once were. Nice to have, but they play a year and then for the good ones, or the late developers, the cash register calls.

As for his game day coaching skills, there isn’t a coach in any sport, anywhere, that could please most fans. Do I agree with everything he does? Nope. But I also know I am not at practice so I can’t tell what is being taught, vs what is being listened to. And I bet with NIL the listening ratio will go nowhere but down.

Right now Johnson as a coach is like a someone playing 5 card stud with only 3 cards. He may or may not be a good poker player but in that environment, talent is a moot point!
 

Gopheritnow said:
Rght now Johnson as a coach is like a someone playing 5 card stud with only 3 cards. He may or may not be a good poker player but in that environment, talent is a moot point!
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Exactly. Or as someone else said (before hesitating and also throwing-in that it's also somehow partially on Ben too)...it's like Ben trying to win in Monopoly with a house on Baltic & Mediterranean when the other players have hotels on Boardwalk & Park Place.

Or as I said...where another player can pull real hundred-dollar-bills out of his pocket and just bribe all the other players for all their properties.
 


I think Mitchell is ok defensively and Fox is good plus adds the hustle dynamic.

Garcia is only ok. Interested to see how Asuma defends.
 




jamiche said:
FWIW, I've been told Pitino left a super unhappy locker room.
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Great... After he was dismissed that team didn't have to play for him anymore .... They obviously didn't want to play for CBJ either...
 

Around the time CBJ was hired, the college basketball "industry" began a radical transformation with the balance of power shifting from the NCAA and the schools to the NIL funders,the players and their handlers/agents. Predictably, the U was caught flatfooted and remains a year or two behind most of its competitors. The best players on this and every other roster are now free to chase the best financial opportunities and the U is barely in the flow of capital.

All of the above makes the discussion of whether or not CBJ is a good coach only semi relevant. We really won't know unless or until the basketball program has a lot more money to buy and retain good players.
 

The guys transferring out of Wisconsin show you that it isn't about winning anymore so you have to wonder, who could actually put together a consistent program here? Musselman would not have the $$$ to make things work here, people mention Medved but he looks to be on the downslide at CSU after striking gold with Roddy and Stevens, so not exactly going to inspire much confidence or bring in a great deal of NIL money. Craig Smith is probably getting fired at Utah after this season because he’s in the same boat as CBJ.

It's going to come down to how important is Basketball to the U? Would the administration be willing to throw a financial package at a proven coach comparable to the one they're giving Fleck and the Football program? I'm not convinced they would so I think middle of the pack power conference schools are left to choose and they're always going to prioritize the cash cow that is Football.

Unless we fall backwards into a once in a lifetime coach, this may be the reality for the program. The floor should probably be a little higher with the odd tournament appearance but this is a tough tough gig and for Coyle, I'm not sure where you turn to.
 
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MennoSota said:
I support Ben, but many on here would rather have a Vegas mobster who "gets things done" by any means necessary.
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Can you really call people "mobsters" if no one is trying to prosecute their behaviors?
 



Sane24 said:
I am a defender because I have been a successful coach since 1960 (when I was 15yrs-old) and I was MOST successful when I had the best players. Judging coaches by W-L only is inaccurate because the players usually determine W-L and a good coach with bad players will generally not have a good W-L.
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Agree that players in most situations determine W/L's. If you're a high school coach that isn't allowed to recruit, then the coach is stuck with the available players. That doesn't mean the team can't be coached up. College coaches have to recruit though so they're responsible for the players on the team vs high school that depends on the players in the school district. CBJ is responsible for the players and coaching them to return wins.
 

dbmn said:
Agree that players in most situations determine W/L's. If you're a high school coach that isn't allowed to recruit, then the coach is stuck with the available players. That doesn't mean the team can't be coached up. College coaches have to recruit though so they're responsible for the players on the team vs high school that depends on the players in the school district. CBJ is responsible for the players and coaching them to return wins.
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But as soon as CBJ coaches them up...they leave for $500K+ each.
 

MennoSota said:
As a coach, I 100% support Ben Johnson. His offensive schemes and structure are sound.
As a snake oil salesman, he hasn't been provided the financial backing to compete with richer snakes. I don't put that blame on Ben at all. The NCAA is now just a bunch of thugs and hoodlums making dark alley deals. Ben just isn't a thug like Mussleman who learned thuggery from his old man. I support Ben, but many on here would rather have a Vegas mobster who "gets things done" by any means necessary.

I find the current NCAA sports system untenable and a mockery of the sports they are attempting to monitor. If people want to bitch, go to the NCAA, but leave Ben out of your bitch session.
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Amen
 


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