Freshman class better than advertised?

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
You were happy he left early after being one of our best players and helping getting us to the NCAA tournament twice in three years, which is a rarity for Gopher bball?
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I was at the time. I sure didn't like him handling the point. Perhaps I would have felt differently if he stayed for his last season and Carr took over the point.
 

bga1 said:
I hear you but Henley has a better shooting stroke than Coffey had as a frosh. Coffey had a real solid freshman year though, with a pretty solid team.

I agree on the defense- it has been really bad so far. Our guards are getting beaten consistently.
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While Henley turns it over quite a bit right now and has been roasted a few times in on-ball defense, he shows pretty impressive skills handling the ball and in being a threat both with his outside shooting (agree that his stroke looks very good!) and being able to get to the basket. It doesn't hurt that he has a 40 inch vertical jump.
Yes, the opposition has been pretty weak, and there will be many struggles along the way as they play better teams, but how about Johnson picking this kid up early and recognizing his talent when very few other schools were offering him? A 6 foot 7 kid with that kind of handle, shooting ability, and potential is awfully good to see here. With this other collection of freshmen mixed in with Evans and Christie, it means that down the road the bottom tier Big Ten finishes may be over...
 

Unregistered User said:
I think we should wait a decade before we show any enthusiasm about a young player.

Only by viewing the complete body of work, and giving it some time to age, should we be allowed to get excited about any newcomers.
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Finally some sanity. Henley will be one of the better freshman in the Big Ten, as will Payne. Ola Joseph is a surprise (to me, at least). Don't know yet about Carrington.

It is already evident this is a good freshman class.
 

bga1 said:
I hear you but Henley has a better shooting stroke than Coffey had as a frosh. Coffey had a real solid freshman year though, with a pretty solid team.

I agree on the defense- it has been really bad so far. Our guards are getting beaten consistently.
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Coffee was a great player with a horrid shooting stroke. Henley has great form. If he has Amir's heart he can be a better player than Coffee was at Minnesota.
 

Henley needs to tighten up a few things, a few too many turnovers off bad passes and the handles need to be a little tighter, but he looks very promising. Whoever said he wasn't a guard must have never watched him play though, he very clearly is a guard.
 


cjbfbp said:
Yes, he was a miserable de facto point guard in his final year because of those tendencies. I was glad when he announced he was leaving before his final year. Of course, Carr had some of the same issues.
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That de facto PG (He actually wanted to play there) led us to one of the more pleasurable offenses we had during the Pitino era. The ball and pace was the best under him imo. The Mason and Carr usage rates were way worse and awful to watch and led to losing teams and miserable teammates (in Carr’s case)
 

Henley looks good to me, I think hes going to be very good. Payne needs work, gets the ball knocked away way to easily.
 

cjbfbp said:
I was at the time. I sure didn't like him handling the point. Perhaps I would have felt differently if he stayed for his last season and Carr took over the point.
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Add a senior Coffey to the mix with Carr and peak Oturu and you have enough to get to the sweet 16 if not more, even if the rest of the roster is made up of walk ons.
 

Formerswish said:
While Henley turns it over quite a bit right now and has been roasted a few times in on-ball defense, he shows pretty impressive skills handling the ball and in being a threat both with his outside shooting (agree that his stroke looks very good!) and being able to get to the basket. It doesn't hurt that he has a 40 inch vertical jump.
Yes, the opposition has been pretty weak, and there will be many struggles along the way as they play better teams, but how about Johnson picking this kid up early and recognizing his talent when very few other schools were offering him? A 6 foot 7 kid with that kind of handle, shooting ability, and potential is awfully good to see here. With this other collection of freshmen mixed in with Evans and Christie, it means that down the road the bottom tier Big Ten finishes may be over...
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40 inches? Holy Rodney Williams!
 





talent matters.

experience matters.

in a perfect world, you would like to have experienced talent.

last year, the Gophers had (IMHO) more experience but less raw talent.

this year, the Gopher have (IMHO) more raw talent but less experience.

an experienced team will generally make fewer mistakes.
a more talented team will often make more mistakes, but can also make more exciting plays.

just going to have to live with the mistakes while this year's group gains experience.
 




Early results are solid. If Henley can shoot like he has....he'll be valuable. JOJ has been surprising with how well he has played so far. He's just stronger that the guys who've been guarding him. Will probably run into some tough sledding once Big Ten starts. Payne is Big Ten ready right now.

I think most of us were pleased with this class. Knew that there was plenty of talent here. So far they've exceeded expectations.
 

Tucker32 said:
People simply hadn’t seen JOJ play a lot. Those who had knew he could contribute due to his athletic ability. He’ll be able to guard multiple positions, and his athleticism will allow him to pick up a few points each game at the basket.
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i was one that seen JOJ enough to think that he honestly would not be able to contribute much early in his career. But he for me has been the surprise of the freshman. Now i do think when he gets up against better teams that his athletic ability will be nuetrilized

Henley has been exactly what i had expected. he was the guy for a lot of people on this board that always was 2nd fiddle because he wasnt from MN

Payne as well has basically been as expected. he has been playing a bit fast but he will be just fine

BC will be a welcomes addition to the rotation. Hopefully he is the shooting we are all hoping he will be, and if he is we have a chance to pull a couple upsets
 


I really like this class alot. JOJ was a very productive player on a D1 MN team that had Tarin Lipsey, Eli King, and I think Cam Heide and Joel Hurlburt as well, he was in a similar role that David Roddy was in on that Pulley team with Oturu, Gabe, Jarvis and Tre. Carrington was Mr Basketball in his class, played PG his Junior year and I think he played alot for Point for Sizzle as well. Payne was a true late bloomer, but when healthy he was probably most dominant player in the State his Senior year, lots of upside and I'm not convinced Dennis Evans is going to start over him. If anything they'll probably play a little together. Henley, I think had his AAU career wiped out by covid so that was a very nice find by the staff. Betts had a dominant performance vs D1 Minnesota last summer, shot the lights out and was a stat stuffer. I think once he puts the weight on he will have a good career here as well.
 

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