Elijah Hawkins Commits to Gophers!

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Evans getting out of his LOI secured Payne more than anything.
 

formerlybis said:
Evans getting out of his LOI secured Payne more than anything.
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Disagree, and was there any evidence he was considering leaving? Regardless of Evans he was going to get major minutes . Maybe he wanted to play the four occasional and work on his perimeter game in hopes of helping his potential NBA career.
 

Blackhammer said:
Disagree, and was there any evidence he was considering leaving? Regardless of Evans he was going to get major minutes . Maybe he wanted to play the four occasional and work on his perimeter game in hopes of helping his potential NBA career.
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Lol!!! NIL. I had no idea people had such short memories. SMH
 












bga1 said:
Best answer: His weakness-he stated that he needs to reduce the turnovers.
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I hope the system and being surrounded by good ball handlers reduces that. The Gophers should be less helter skelter running the floor. Have better hands, get better looks, and have a much better shooting % this year including FT. If our defense is tough and “scrappy” we will all be surprised. Especially with the huge upgrade at the 3 from last year.
 

Rockraven said:
I hope the system and being surrounded by good ball handlers reduces that. The Gophers should be less helter skelter running the floor. Have better hands, get better looks, and have a much better shooting % this year including FT. If our defense is tough and “scrappy” we will all be surprised. Especially with the huge upgrade at the 3 from last year.
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We’ve got a defensive guru on board. We’re gonna be ok.
 




Blackhammer said:
No reason to think Payne was leaving if Evans was here? Imo Never saw anything indicating that.
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Neither did anyone else. Doubt many saw a lot of minutes for Evans this year. Lots of Star minutia but far from a Betts or Christie for impactful minutes from last year.
 


Rockraven said:
I hope the system and being surrounded by good ball handlers reduces that. The Gophers should be less helter skelter running the floor. Have better hands, get better looks, and have a much better shooting % this year including FT. If our defense is tough and “scrappy” we will all be surprised. Especially with the huge upgrade at the 3 from last year.
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While nobody knows the how good this team will be this year, it would be pretty surprising if there isn't a sizable upgrade from the guard position in ball handling, shooting, FT shooting, and defense with Mitchell, Hawkins, Christie, and a healthy and improved Carrington. There may even be a few fast break baskets, of which we had maybe 2 or 3 all of last year! There may also be more turnovers, which would be the price you pay for an occasional up-tempo style.

It would also be pretty shocking if there isn't improvement from the front line of Payne, Garcia, JoJ, and some possible help from Betts, Fox (if he plays), and Ihnen (if he plays). This will be a vastly different team from last year, so the jury is out. But this team's make-up and potential is a lot better than last year's, and they'll be a lot more fun to watch. I don't think 6-8 wins is too optimistic, and anything less may be the end for Johnson. I still think he can coach, so let's see what he can do with more talent.
 

Formerswish said:
While nobody knows the how good this team will be this year, it would be pretty surprising if there isn't a sizable upgrade from the guard position in ball handling, shooting, FT shooting, and defense with Mitchell, Hawkins, Christie, and a healthy and improved Carrington. There may even be a few fast break baskets, of which we had maybe 2 or 3 all of last year! There may also be more turnovers, which would be the price you pay for an occasional up-tempo style.

It would also be pretty shocking if there isn't improvement from the front line of Payne, Garcia, JoJ, and some possible help from Betts, Fox (if he plays), and Ihnen (if he plays). This will be a vastly different team from last year, so the jury is out. But this team's make-up and potential is a lot better than last year's, and they'll be a lot more fun to watch. I don't think 6-8 wins is too optimistic, and anything less may be the end for Johnson. I still think he can coach, so let's see what he can do with more talent.
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No disrespect intended, but on what basis do you think he can coach? I’ve seen this mentioned many times by many posters, not just you and I’m curious if it’s something other than hope/he’s a good man. I’m a numbers guy, and there isn’t much to point to that supports his supposed coaching acumen (I.e., offensive and defensive efficiency have gotten quite a bit worse where a coach like Pikiell could point to a sharp defensive improvement over his first two years despite a similar record of Ws and Ls - also with below average talent). Getting into the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency would show me improvement, and that’s an incredibly low bar.
 

formerlybis said:
No disrespect intended, but on what basis do you think he can coach? I’ve seen this mentioned many times by many posters, not just you and I’m curious if it’s something other than hope/he’s a good man. I’m a numbers guy, and there isn’t much to point to that supports his supposed coaching acumen (I.e., offensive and defensive efficiency have gotten quite a bit worse where a coach like Pikiell could point to a sharp defensive improvement over his first two years despite a similar record of Ws and Ls - also with below average talent). Getting into the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency would show me improvement, and that’s an incredibly low bar.
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In year one he showed real signs of being a solid coach. He put together some experienced guys and they ran a pretty solid offense despite having no inside presence. You have to have some talent to be top 100 and he has had very little experienced talent to work with. This year brings us way up in experience and for the first time there is the real chance of team balance and some depth. Last year he ran a bunch of colts out there and got poor guard play.
 

formerlybis said:
No disrespect intended, but on what basis do you think he can coach? I’ve seen this mentioned many times by many posters, not just you and I’m curious if it’s something other than hope/he’s a good man. I’m a numbers guy, and there isn’t much to point to that supports his supposed coaching acumen (I.e., offensive and defensive efficiency have gotten quite a bit worse where a coach like Pikiell could point to a sharp defensive improvement over his first two years despite a similar record of Ws and Ls - also with below average talent). Getting into the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency would show me improvement, and that’s an incredibly low bar.
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No disrespect taken, and I completely understand where you're coming from. And I want to be clear that he hasn't shown himself to be the 2nd coming of John Wooden, but the truth is that he's had very poor talent the last 2 years. That's another path I won't go down, but last year his guard play was about as poor as I've seen for a Big Ten team. And I don't care how good of a coach you are, if you don't have talent you're going to do poorly.

I've been involved in playing and coaching for about 40 years, and the reasons I think he can coach are how hard his players play for him, what kind of schemes he runs based on the players he has, how he controls momentum and the flow of the game, how he controls huddles (that was evident in the Ohio State games when viewers had access to the huddles), what kinds of plays he runs after time outs, and whether he can recruit (even with the loss of Evans, he's shown he can get good players, both in and out of the state.) And good recruiting makes coaches a lot better.

The jury is still out on whether his players improve year to year, and this year will tell a great deal about whether his players have improved. No doubt that Pikiell had way better numbers and improvement in efficiency numbers, but would he have done that with Taurus Samuels getting a lot of minutes? This is the year for Johnson to show he can coach some talent, and if this team doesn't improve drastically, I think he's gone, and he should be. I may be in the minority here, but I think he'll show he can coach.
 

Assuming the wheels really fall off this coming season, BJ will field an improved squad. I have no doubts about that. We may not have enough to get into the middle tier of the BIG but I expect that we show like we belong there. Our bad luck has to have run it course with injuries to II, Fox, Battle and Carrington.

But on a more positive note, I think they will be much better in 24/25 assuming the nucleus of the team stays intact and healthy.
 

formerlybis said:
No disrespect intended, but on what basis do you think he can coach? I’ve seen this mentioned many times by many posters, not just you and I’m curious if it’s something other than hope/he’s a good man. I’m a numbers guy, and there isn’t much to point to that supports his supposed coaching acumen (I.e., offensive and defensive efficiency have gotten quite a bit worse where a coach like Pikiell could point to a sharp defensive improvement over his first two years despite a similar record of Ws and Ls - also with below average talent). Getting into the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency would show me improvement, and that’s an incredibly low bar.
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I think Ben can coach. He clearly knows the game, as evidence from the OSU win. People seem to forget that we did have more than a few close losses. Im not oblivious to the fact that there was more than too many blow out losses. I think Cooper was the only player who didn't miss any time due to injury, and that was already on a slim roster. This year's roster looks like it actually has depth and team needs met with incoming players and more experience, overall. CBJ Def made some errors throughout the season, but if this upcoming season is bad, then the already-clamoring fans will be even louder and in bigger numbers. They players really are behind coach. I am too. I think we HAVE POTENTIAL to double our win total or more.
 

Elijah Hawkins Interview:

Howard won 3 games the year before he arrived.
Won 16 games when he was a freshman
Won 23 games last year and made NCAA Tourney for first time in 31 years.

He has been on championship team at every level starting in middle school, then junior high, then high school at DeMatha, and then at Howard. Not phased by UM record. Expects it to play out here like it did at Howard. Not worried about his height, has had to battle that at each step. Strengths are defense, playmaking, penetrating and scoring inside or dishing off, and by the way he shot 46% from 3 point range. And he wants to continue to develop and cut down on his turnovers. It is a step up in competition but has confidence he will be starting and leading the team and finishing tight games.

A lot to like. May it all come true. Plus he is excited about pairing with Mike Mitchell and is glad there is another 40% 3 point shooter on the team. No insecurity about playing time at all. Excited about playing with super talented teammates.
 

Classof 66 said:
Elijah Hawkins Interview:

Howard won 3 games the year before he arrived.
Won 16 games when he was a freshman
Won 23 games last year and made NCAA Tourney for first time in 31 years.

He has been on championship team at every level starting in middle school, then junior high, then high school at DeMatha, and then at Howard. Not phased by UM record. Expects it to play out here like it did at Howard. Not worried about his height, has had to battle that at each step. Strengths are defense, playmaking, penetrating and scoring inside or dishing off, and by the way he shot 46% from 3 point range. And he wants to continue to develop and cut down on his turnovers. It is a step up in competition but has confidence he will be starting and leading the team and finishing tight games.

A lot to like. May it all come true. Plus he is excited about pairing with Mike Mitchell and is glad there is another 40% 3 point shooter on the team. No insecurity about playing time at all. Excited about playing with super talented teammates.
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To be the man, you got to want TO BE THE MAN!
 

JZABR said:
I think Ben can coach. He clearly knows the game, as evidence from the OSU win. People seem to forget that we did have more than a few close losses. Im not oblivious to the fact that there was more than too many blow out losses. I think Cooper was the only player who didn't miss any time due to injury, and that was already on a slim roster. This year's roster looks like it actually has depth and team needs met with incoming players and more experience, overall. CBJ Def made some errors throughout the season, but if this upcoming season is bad, then the already-clamoring fans will be even louder and in bigger numbers. They players really are behind coach. I am too. I think we HAVE POTENTIAL to double our win total or more.
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Great post.

My favorite GH moment from last year’s season, was when one of the more “illustrious posters” posited that Ben was trying harder to coach against OSU due to the cameras 🎥.

You literally cann make up some of the 💩people post on here.
 
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formerlybis said:
No disrespect intended, but on what basis do you think he can coach? I’ve seen this mentioned many times by many posters, not just you and I’m curious if it’s something other than hope/he’s a good man. I’m a numbers guy, and there isn’t much to point to that supports his supposed coaching acumen (I.e., offensive and defensive efficiency have gotten quite a bit worse where a coach like Pikiell could point to a sharp defensive improvement over his first two years despite a similar record of Ws and Ls - also with below average talent). Getting into the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency would show me improvement, and that’s an incredibly low bar.
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The "All Access" game against Ohio State was a real eye-opener for me. (for those of you that haven't seen these, there are no commercials and instead we get to listen in on the discussions in the locker rooms and during the time outs). I was really impressed with Johnson's coaching during the game, far more than any of the other coaches in all the other "All Access" games I've watched (and I make it a point to pretty much watch all of em). The adjustments made, plays drawn up, motivation speeches, etc, really impressed me. Give it a watch if you can.
 

bga1 said:
In year one he showed real signs of being a solid coach. He put together some experienced guys and they ran a pretty solid offense despite having no inside presence. You have to have some talent to be top 100 and he has had very little experienced talent to work with. This year brings us way up in experience and for the first time there is the real chance of team balance and some depth. Last year he ran a bunch of colts out there and got poor guard play.
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We should can the guy who put together a team with such awful guards.
 



Full Speed Ahead said:
The "All Access" game against Ohio State was a real eye-opener for me. (for those of you that haven't seen these, there are no commercials and instead we get to listen in on the discussions in the locker rooms and during the time outs). I was really impressed with Johnson's coaching during the game, far more than any of the other coaches in all the other "All Access" games I've watched (and I make it a point to pretty much watch all of em). The adjustments made, plays drawn up, motivation speeches, etc, really impressed me. Give it a watch if you can.
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Yep, I really liked what I saw in that Ohio State game. But then you had the Wisconsin game. The Badgers just kept giving the ball to Wahl or Crowl down low and I don't remember one double team. It was almost a sure basket every time and no adjustment. A game was right there for us and we didn't grab it. If an old guy who played hockey sitting on his ass can see that something different needs to done; why can't a guy who has played and coached at a high college level see it? And I'm sure Johnson could see it, but why he let them keep doing it still bugs me.
 

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