Gabe in Portal

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After his flash in the pan shooting year, I never liked Gabe as a starter. 6th-7th man yes. Wouldn't surprise me if BJ had a talk of this nature with Gabe. Him in the portal is a major red flag, even if he comes back. Clearly he didn't like something or something was not enough after he and BJ talked.

One thing that keeps standing out is the lack of clarity of what type of basketball BJ will be creating. Gabe stated he basically wants to go somewhere where he fits. This whole "it depends on the players" is old, I don't think changing your style of play each year is sustainable.

If you look at why Suggs went to Zags, he said their "system" fits his style perfectly and can make him a better player.

We currently lack a style with BJ.
 

ethomasp31 said:
I would have loved to have a team built around Sims, Wright, Gabe, Race, Garcia, Davison, Reuvers, John....with other guys sprinkled in right now. We would have probably had a shot at Hurt, Suggs, Walton, Dainja and Chet if we did.
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What has shown those guys would be here? Johnson got 1 of them to commit to a school he was coaching. that one guy entered the transfer portal with his as the newly named head coach. I drink a lot but I’m currently sober so maybe I’m missing something not being in a good head space.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
After his flash in the pan shooting year, I never liked Gabe as a starter. 6th-7th man yes. Wouldn't surprise me if BJ had a talk of this nature with Gabe.

One thing that keeps standing out is the lack of clarity of what type of basketball BJ will be creating. Gabe stated he basically wants to go somewhere where he fits. This whole "it depends on the players" is old, I don't think changing your style of play each year is sustainable.

If you look at why Suggs went to Zags, he said their "system" fits his style perfectly and can make him a better player.

We currently lack a style with BJ.
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Careful. I made this observation and got shredded.
 

skiumah1 said:
I think this speaks more to the crash and burn course Richard had us on.
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Look, I can't stand Pitino but coaches fail and coaches get fired. What players decide to do after that coach leaves is up to them. Players have a unique opportunity this year that they didn't have before and if anyone is thinking about making a break, now is the time. I don't think you can compare this post-season period to prior ones. Perhaps an incoming coach of greater stature could have limited the attrition but we'll never know.
 

whalenfan said:
Believe what you want but Ben being named the coach is the one thing thats gonna make Gabe think about staying. Without him Gabe would 100% transfer out.
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That's good to hear, and it certainly rings true. I'm hopeful he stays, but I'm still feeling ill about this.
 


Maybe he can find a fit at a mid major. The pressure of playing at home and having to make open shots apparently overwhelmed him. Looking at his shooting percentages that could the case either that or he’s a poor shooter in reality. Be nice if he stayed but oh well.
 


Blackhammer said:
Maybe he can find a fit at a mid major. The pressure of playing at home and having to make open shots apparently overwhelmed him. Looking at his shooting percentages that could the case either that or he’s a poor shooter in reality. Be nice if he stayed but oh well.
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For a team that lacked a solid defensive foundation, this is one player you don't want to leave. Now all we have is Robbins. Beyond that, defensive liabilities everywhere.
 

leib0039 said:
Apparently you can't be critical of Johnson/the hiring process and still support him and the team but here we go!

Do I think this destroys the program either way, no I don't. Gabe is solid, i hope he comes back, but if he doesn't we will survive. My CONCERN is that we basically hired Johnson to keep kids like Gabe home and happy. The mere fact he went into the portal is a red flag for me. Again I'm not saying fire Johnson we are doomed but it's a concern. The same people who get upset with this way of thinking were likely the same ones in Pitino years 5-6-7 who kept buying "well if we would have just been healthy we would have been unbelievable." Sure injuries didn't help but there were bigger issues. Same thing applies here. Is Gabe in the portal an absolute omen we are screwed, absolutely not, but if you think it's a total non-issue I think you are just avoiding some of the facts.
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100%. Gabe is not the one I worried about. Coach Johnson was his recruiter! They are both DLS grads! Doogie & Ryan James have both said they are very close! Yet, a week later his name is in there even with the rumor that his HS coach will be added to the staff.

Doogie did reply to a comment about expectations and spotlight as a MN kid. Sounds like Gabe's uncomfortable with that - it may not matter who the coach is.

Hopefully Coach Johnson can get him to stay on.
 



UpAndUnder43 said:
Do you anticipate this happening at Texas, UNC, Marquette, Indiana, etc because all the factors you listed apply to those teams also.

Just curious.
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Uhh, I'm pretty sure Indiana has already had a good number of guys enter the portal? At least 3-4 that I saw in the first day or two
 

whalenfan said:
Believe what you want but Ben being named the coach is the one thing thats gonna make Gabe think about staying. Without him Gabe would 100% transfer out.
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Yeah you could tell he was good as gone if there wasn't a change.
 

Ben and Gabe had to have had time to discuss his future on the team. I assume that Ben told him that he would be upgrading the spot and that Gabe may not be getting as much playing time.

We all love Gabe, but he has been given the keys to the team for years. His shooting slump has added more pressure, but not anymore than at any other B1G school. We can not compete for a B1G title with a starting guard at that level of performance. Not to attack Gabe, but that spot needs more. If he feels he can’t step up then Ben needs to find someone who can.
 

umn99 said:
100%. Gabe is not the one I worried about. Coach Johnson was his recruiter! They are both DLS grads! Doogie & Ryan James have both said they are very close! Yet, a week later his name is in there even with the rumor that his HS coach will be added to the staff.

Doogie did reply to a comment about expectations and spotlight as a MN kid. Sounds like Gabe's uncomfortable with that - it may not matter who the coach is.

Hopefully Coach Johnson can get him to stay on.
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Who can blame Gabe? He is going to wait and see who stays and who Johnson can bring in so he can find out if there is a decent squad to play with. This is a total rebuild and if I were him - I'd be looking around as a senior...just to make sure. If he comes back, it means he feels good about the squad's ability to compete.
 



ethomasp31 said:
"So what does this say about wanting to build the team on hometown players?"

I would have loved to have a team built around Sims, Wright, Gabe, Race, Garcia, Davison, Reuvers, John....with other guys sprinkled in right now. We would have probably had a shot at Hurt, Suggs, Walton, Dainja and Chet if we did.
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You said the hometown pressure is too much, that would indicate that it is better to go away.
 
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alchemy2u said:
Ben and Gabe had to have had time to discuss his future on the team. I assume that Ben told him that he would be upgrading the spot and that Gabe may not be getting as much playing time.

We all love Gabe, but he has been given the keys to the team for years. His shooting slump has added more pressure, but not anymore than at any other B1G school. We can not compete for a B1G title with a starting guard at that level of performance. Not to attack Gabe, but that spot needs more. If he feels he can’t step up then Ben needs to find someone who can.
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I very much doubt he told him that. I bet he told Gabe that he believes in him and that he is going to go out and recruit a competitive team for next year. Gabe will wait a bit to see if that happens....but if it doesn't....
 

Maybe Ben told him that his replacement is in the portal and is going to accept an offer to come to Minnesota.
 

I get where Gabe is coming from. He doesn’t even know who his position coach will be. Plus his team mates. Play the field and see who wants him then weigh the options. Hope he stays a Gopher as I always appreciate his value
 

When I made my list of who I wanted to keep on the team, I had Kalscheur 6th....behind Robbins, Mashburn, Johnson, Williams, and Ihnen....and just ahead of Freeman and Mitchell. I even had him behind Treyton Thompson in importance for the program. I like Gabe and think he has a lot of potential, which he showed early on in his Gopher career. That said, he was not a net positive on this year's team. He hurt us when he was on the court more often than not. I hope he stays but, if he does, and plays like he did this year, we might be better off with any number of potential transfers (El-Amin, Tandy, Thompson, Roddy, Fox, et. al.)
 

No pressure at other schools other than if you keep missing shots you may actually get taken out or told to quit shooting. He’s an ok player but if hometown pressure is his negative good luck elsewhere
 

Northeastgopher said:
So I know people on this board debate how good Gabe is all the time, but at some point do we just get concerned about filling out a roster with competent players? We have half a roster open.
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At least the next 2 years will be pretty ugly.
 

leib0039 said:
Apparently you can't be critical of Johnson/the hiring process and still support him and the team but here we go!

Do I think this destroys the program either way, no I don't. Gabe is solid, i hope he comes back, but if he doesn't we will survive. My CONCERN is that we basically hired Johnson to keep kids like Gabe home and happy. The mere fact he went into the portal is a red flag for me. Again I'm not saying fire Johnson we are doomed but it's a concern. The same people who get upset with this way of thinking were likely the same ones in Pitino years 5-6-7 who kept buying "well if we would have just been healthy we would have been unbelievable." Sure injuries didn't help but there were bigger issues. Same thing applies here. Is Gabe in the portal an absolute omen we are screwed, absolutely not, but if you think it's a total non-issue I think you are just avoiding some of the facts.
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We hired Johnson to keep FUTURE RECRUITS at home. You're talking about players on our team who already have years of bias/experience built up. Maybe they weren't happy with their role or the team's arc. You think a coach is gonna come in within a week or two and change years of what has happened to them as individuals? Any wise 20ish kid is going to take the opportunity to see what's out there.

Your logic is VERY flawed. You don't hire a new coach to salvage the existing team. You hire a new coach to BUILD A BETTER PROGRAM (which is by no means a two-week or single spring process).
 

MplsGopher said:
Maybe Ben told him that his replacement is in the portal and is going to accept an offer to come to Minnesota.
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What replacement? We will play 8-10 guys and currently have about 2. There will be minutes for all competent players.
 


whalenfan said:
Believe what you want but Ben being named the coach is the one thing thats gonna make Gabe think about staying. Without him Gabe would 100% transfer out.
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What happened this year to cause a rift with Pitino that didn't happen in years 1 and 2?
 

WriterGoph said:
People need to stop trying to make a value judgement about the new coach based on what happens with our current players and the transfer portal. It's possible we could have a complete roster turnover. That doesn't mean Ben did a bad job. The coach has to figure out what and who he wants to build with, but our current players putting their names in the portal is about frustration with their experience thus far and wanting to look at all their options as opposed to an indictment of Ben. With this new transfer situation and a free year of eligibility, it's an unprecedented time in college basketball.

That said, I really like Gabe and value him and hope he stays with us!
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I totally get it. I was just saying what some people may think. It still holds true though. does it sound good that a person that recruited you out of high school and comes from your high school is now your coach and you throw your name in the portal? To me the coach may not be the reason but it isn't a good thing. It would be better if he would have done it before johnson was hired that way some people would not think that way. But I am betting some people will make their own assumptions with not realizing it's not about the coach, happens all the time and not really anything we can do about it.
 

bga1 said:
Who can blame Gabe? He is going to wait and see who stays and who Johnson can bring in so he can find out if there is a decent squad to play with. This is a total rebuild and if I were him - I'd be looking around as a senior...just to make sure. If he comes back, it means he feels good about the squad's ability to compete.
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This is total BS. How can you expect any high schools recruit to buy into the program if the current marquee plays doesn’t buy it?
 

WriterGoph said:
Uhh, I'm pretty sure Indiana has already had a good number of guys enter the portal? At least 3-4 that I saw in the first day or two
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And the rest? It’s almost like the teams who made shitty hires are losing everyone.
 


UpAndUnder43 said:
And the rest? It’s almost like the teams who made shitty hires are losing everyone.
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Well, UNC just happened today. Texas also just got their coach today. Maybe wait a few days before declaring those situations?
 


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