Expectations/Goals for 2021-22 Gophers

How solid is the Parker Fox intel? Can anybody say with certainty he will be back in January? Or is this wishful thinking?
I got my intel from Ryan James who is pretty reliable.

Ryan’s update was from an Oct. 19 podcast.

Since then multiple posters on here have commented on how Parker is moving well during pre-game warmups and that he is overly active on the sideline during games jumping up and down..

Sounds like he could be close.

And according to Ryan, the January recovery date was a fairly conservative estimate. Early timetables said he could be back in 2021
 

I got my intel from Ryan James who is pretty reliable.

Ryan’s update was from an Oct. 19 podcast.

Since then multiple posters on here have commented on how Parker is moving well during pre-game warmups and that he is overly active on the sideline during games jumping up and down..

Sounds like he could be close.

And according to Ryan, the January recovery date was a fairly conservative estimate. Early timetables said he could be back in 2021
That’s great news! I appreciate the explanation.
 

I hate to beat down some of the optimism and enthusiasm on the board, but this is a MN sports team. Besides the obvious deficits to the roster, no matter how swell the start to the season, success always manages to elude a starving fan base.
The optimism and enthusiasm you are picking up on isn't about the team being good THIS year. It is about being impressed with the way the team has played under Johnson to start the season which can provide some hope for the future beyond this season.

This season is going to be a dumpster fire in the end. The team has way too many holes to compete for anything meaningful this season and that is just fine as it was never going to be about this year.

Pretty sure the majority of us expected little to nothing based on the makeup of the roster. So for them to come out and play well in a pre-season tournament and win it was a very welcome surprise to start the year.
 

The optimism and enthusiasm you are picking up on isn't about the team being good THIS year. It is about being impressed with the way the team has played under Johnson to start the season which can provide some hope for the future beyond this season.

This season is going to be a dumpster fire in the end. The team has way too many holes to compete for anything meaningful this season and that is just fine as it was never going to be about this year.

Pretty sure the majority of us expected little to nothing based on the makeup of the roster. So for them to come out and play well in a pre-season tournament and win it was a very welcome surprise to start the year.
I completely agree with you. It's just that every time a MN team does anything that makes us feel good, they end up throwing up all over themselves. I felt it was my civic duty to remind folks of that unfortunate reality. :)
 



I completely agree with you. It's just that every time a MN team does anything that makes us feel good, they end up throwing up all over themselves. I felt it was my civic duty to remind folks of that unfortunate reality. :)
That's fair and probably needed for some that see a few wins and think we are going all the way :)
 


As I stated earlier,with the exception of 3 or 4 teams ,the conference is average at best.We can compete with average all season long.
 




I completely agree with you. It's just that every time a MN team does anything that makes us feel good, they end up throwing up all over themselves. I felt it was my civic duty to remind folks of that unfortunate reality. :)
No one asked.
 

As I stated earlier,with the exception of 3 or 4 teams ,the conference is average at best.We can compete with average all season long.
As long as they can manage to stay healthy that may well be the case. But as discussed, with the severe lack of depth on this roster already, pretty much any injuries to the key players left would be a crushing blow to this team.
 

That's fair and probably needed for some that see a few wins and think we are going all the way :)
I don't see anything under a sweet 16 run. Of course I've been drinking.

Honestly I am very impressed with the team concept (combined with reading today about Pitino's offensive scheeme already being questioned in New Mexico). That was my expectation. Better concepts and structure. I'm already very impressed. I think with that philosophy, they will win 6 conference games or more. I know I need to temper expectations, but I don't want to and I'm going to throw a temper tantrum if they don't win 6 or more conference games after what I've seen so far.
 

I don't see anything under a sweet 16 run. Of course I've been drinking.

Honestly I am very impressed with the team concept (combined with reading today about Pitino's offensive scheeme already being questioned in New Mexico). That was my expectation. Better concepts and structure. I'm already very impressed. I think with that philosophy, they will win 6 conference games or more. I know I need to temper expectations, but I don't want to and I'm going to throw a temper tantrum if they don't win 6 or more conference games after what I've seen so far.
If we see nothing else this year......it is so refreshing to see a Gopher team look like they have some clue what they are doing when running a half court offense. Near the end of Pitino's run and especially in the last year the team was lost when they couldn't get out and run. If they had to function in the half court they were toast. That combined with the ridiculous number of 3s taken by bad 3 point shooters made the team really tough to watch.

This team moves the ball and looks for quality shots, that has been missing around here for a while.
 



If we see nothing else this year......it is so refreshing to see a Gopher team look like they have some clue what they are doing when running a half court offense. Near the end of Pitino's run and especially in the last year the team was lost when they couldn't get out and run. If they had to function in the half court they were toast. That combined with the ridiculous number of 3s taken by bad 3 point shooters made the team really tough to watch.

This team moves the ball and looks for quality shots, that has been missing around here for a while.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face (thanks, Mike Tyson). I like seeing some organization on the floor and a recognizable plan, but the test will be whether they can execute facing B1G defenses. Biggest surprise for me was the complete and successful shift from virtually all 3's on Friday to very few on Sunday, and being successful at both. That is what is most promising to me.
 

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face (thanks, Mike Tyson). I like seeing some organization on the floor and a recognizable plan, but the test will be whether they can execute facing B1G defenses. Biggest surprise for me was the complete and successful shift from virtually all 3's on Friday to very few on Sunday, and being successful at both. That is what is most promising to me.
I have zero doubt in my mind that execution in the Big Ten season is going to be difficult for this group. But I am hopeful that there will continue to be an obvious structure to the team and flow to how they play offense.

It was rare for a Pitino team to look good running an offense. Lots of standing around, one guy doing a ton of dribbling and guys who shouldn't be shooting 3s taking a bunch of them at bad times. They could look really good in transition but if they had to actual function as a team they struggled.

The one area I hope Ben really sets himself apart from Pitino is in building a roster. Pitino seemed good at finding pieces but rarely found what he needed to make a complete team. Hopefully Johnson can pull that off during his time here.
 

Now, I'm not saying this year's team is going to win 20 games and I'm not saying Battle is as good as Grier, but there are some similarities between this year's team and the 04-05 team. I also realize this year's team has some major front court depth issues.

But hear me out. . .

Both squads are really led by experienced guards. Neither the 04-05 guards (Robinson & Lawson) nor our guards are the type of players you look at on paper and think will be All Big 10 or anything, but they really don't seem like guys who will be out of place a lot. I don't think either group would really take a lot of bad shots.

Both squads had a guy who could just get buckets. Grier is one of my favorite Gophers of all time but Battle is a pretty smooth scorer. I, obviously, expect his numbers to come back down to earth a bit, but if Battle can average around 15-18 PPG efficiently in Big 10 play, he's in that Grier territory.

Both teams had a junkyard dog type of player coming off the bench that was really their source of toughness/grit (Sutherlin/Stamper).

To keep it all in perspective, the 04-05 team won a ton of close games. Of their 10 Big 10 wins - 5 were within 5 points, and 7 were within 10 points. When the other teams were on, we didn't have the guns to keep up. Of their 6 Big 10 losses, 4 of them were by more than 15. They likely were not as talented as their record indicated. However, they won a lot of close games because they played a ton of experienced guys and then had a reliable "go-to" player when they were really desperate for a bucket.

I have no delusions of a 20 win season, but here is to hoping we continue to be a tough out and we can win more games than some of us had predicted earlier in the season.

Oh - if they lose to Purdue - Fort Wayne tonight, this post was sarcastic.
 

I have no delusions of a 20 win season, but here is to hoping we continue to be a tough out and we can win more games than some of us had predicted earlier in the season.

Oh - if they lose to Purdue - Fort Wayne tonight, this post was sarcastic.
Written like a lawyer with an out clause... 😅
 

Been a while since it hasn’t been NCAA tourney or just, but what type of record would we need to put together to make the NIT? If we go 9-1 in nonconference with a loss to Mississippi state, and say we go 7-13 in conference to end 16-14, split in the BTT, and finish 17-15 - could that have a shot at an NIT bid? Would be a hugely successful season in my eyes, and not entirely unrealistic, record wise
 




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