Gophers Basketball 2023 Off-Season To-Do List

[bga1]

at 5'11", would have to be. would be the 2nd coming of mathieu

We have plenty of height. We need a drive and dish guy. I don't care if the guy looks like Danny Devito if he can get in people's face on defense, beat people off the drive and get up the floor on a fast break or against the press.

 

[MennoSota]

at 5'11", would have to be. would be the 2nd coming of mathieu

He's quick and I think his being able to play for two years as a starter has helped him learn how to play and have confidence. The reason NAU made their little run in the playoffs is because of his play. At 5'11" he played bigger. His handle is very good.

 

[GopherBlood666]

Ben didn't use him at all in the latter part of the season. I doubt he returns. But if he was to dedicate to putting on about 25 pounds of muscle and stop thinking about himself as a stretch 4- I'd love to have him back as a back up center. All he did this year was shoot threes....and not very well at that.

He made a nice post hook in one of his last appearances. I think he would make a serviceable backup to Payne. He has been a contributor to wins in the past, and if Battle leaves, he will have the most time spent with the current staff. Ben will definitely need to emphasize working in the low post with him this off season for him to be able to contribute more meaningfully next season.

 

[skiumah1]

I'd be surprised if Thompson is back. Feels like Ben sent a message there this year.

 

[CentralGopher]

at 5'11", would have to be. would be the 2nd coming of mathieu

Didn’t we have a guy by the name of Robinson that was 5’8”?

 

[sirloin1078]

 

[DLib]

 

[Bobek]

Off-season starts tomorrow. The staff better get working quickly. My off-season to-do list.

- Keep the 4 freshmen in the program. Would be bad to lose Payne, JOJ or Henely. I'd like to keep Carrington as well.

- Get Christie on campus as soon as he can.

- Push Thompson out. If this staff can't upgrade at that spot then we have issues.

- Get Ihnen and Fox healthy. No idea if they can contribute, but getting nothing out of 4 scholarship years out of those two is bad.

- Hit the Portal HARD! Enough with experimenting with low major D1 guards. We need BT quality athletes in our backcourt.

- Shake up the coaching staff. No staff that has won 6 Big Ten games in 2 years should remain in tact. Sure keep Thorson, the other assistants should be replaced, or at least 1 of them.

- Figure out a way to get Garcia more consistent. He was great at times and disappeared in many many games.

The first step is to keep Garcia……. and the freshmen.

 

[forever a gopher]

40% 3PT, 85% FT shooter. He's listed as a 6'-5" forward, have no idea what his game is like. Is he quick enough to guard a B1G wing? He appears to be a heck of a shooter, which we are sorely missing. This team either needs to get quicker or better shooting. They can keep playing a slow and plodding offense, but they'll need to be better at turning over less and better shooting. Or they need to try and get faster and up the tempo.

Slow + bad at rebounding (even though they are all forwards) + high turnovers + poor shooting isn't working. Let's fix at least one of these, and preferably two.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/ethan-roberts-1.html

 

[upnorthkid]

We have plenty of height. We need a drive and dish guy. I don't care if the guy looks like Danny Devito if he can get in people's face on defense, beat people off the drive and get up the floor on a fast break or against the press.

He's quick and I think his being able to play for two years as a starter has helped him learn how to play and have confidence. The reason NAU made their little run in the playoffs is because of his play. At 5'11" he played bigger. His handle is very good.

0% meaning that at all negative. Just meaning ya gotta be at that height to make it.

 

[sirloin1078]

40% 3PT, 85% FT shooter. He's listed as a 6'-5" forward, have no idea what his game is like. Is he quick enough to guard a B1G wing? He appears to be a heck of a shooter, which we are sorely missing. This team either needs to get quicker or better shooting. They can keep playing a slow and plodding offense, but they'll need to be better at turning over less and better shooting. Or they need to try and get faster and up the tempo.

Slow + bad at rebounding (even though they are all forwards) + high turnovers + poor shooting isn't working. Let's fix at least one of these, and preferably two.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/ethan-roberts-1.html

I do like the 85% FT.....

 

[Gopherbbdude]

My point is why hire the person in the first place since they were unqualified and then to cover the original bad decision, hire another person to "help". Oh, and who allowed an unqualified head coach to demand an $ 8mm buyout along with an extra year on the original contract after winning 4 bt10 games. Answer: Coyle. Coyle's high-profile coaching hires record is 1-1-2. Hockey (win), football (push/tie) and BB (2 losses).

Fleck is a HR in MN!!!

 

[Gofurgold]

Just who exactly do you think we're going to get here for a possible backup role? Just because someone wants to date Margot Robbie doesn't mean that she will accept the invitation.

Don’t get your panties in a bundle, all I said is a guy who averaged 4 rebounds in mid major cbb doesn’t excite me.

 

[dbmn]

Fleck is a HR in MN!!!

My response wasn't about Fleck or football. But as long as you mention Fleck. I'll agree with you he runs a good program compared to the last 30 years. And a HR once he beats WI and IA in the same year and goes to the Rose Bowl. It's not going to get any easier though with UCLA and USC joining the B10.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

8 mil buyout is ridiculous

 

[cjbfbp]

I don't care if the guy looks like Danny Devito if he can get in people's face on defense

Supposedly, Danny DeVito is 4'10" so I think the best he could do is get in basketball players' stomachs.

 

[cjbfbp]

Don’t get your panties in a bundle, all I said is a guy who averaged 4 rebounds in mid major cbb doesn’t excite me.

And why should anyone care about that?

 

[goldengophers]

8 mil buyout is ridiculous

Yeah zero reason for that to exist with a chance hire.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Yeah zero reason for that to exist with a chance hire.

Perplexing to say the least. It's almost as though Coyle and the administration didn't trust themselves to not pull the plug early in case...well, in case things went this badly. Reminds me of the "don't let me out of this cage" scene in Young Frankenstein.

 

[skiumah1]

There will be plenty of teams out there in a very similar situation as us going into next year and trying to fill spots from the portal. Good coaches will get what they need. We might even be in a better spot already having the solid front court of Payne and Garcia.

This is the first offseason where there's really no excuses for Ben going into next year as we should be competing for an NCAA tournament bid.

Get it done.

 

[Dakota2]

Exactly. If you have no one coming in who is obviously better and going to help the team more, then it's just fine to have him sit on the bench. We have more than 7 scholarships. Maybe he's a late bloomer. Keep plugging away in practice, getting better, maybe suddenly breaks out in year 4.

I see no reason to throw away a kid like that. Unless he himself wants to leave, then fine.

Johnson has made it very clear to Thompson he has no future here. TT did not play in any meaningful situation in the past six weeks. Thompson will decide if he wants to play basketball somewhere else or sit on the bench two more years.

 

[Dakota2]

I'm not sure why you don't believe in this phenomena. I think one could find a number of examples of it. I can think of two right of the top of my head and one of them applied to the Gophers.

Kris Humphries led the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding as a freshman and was a mid-first round NBA pick after that year. The ream finished only 12-18 that season. The year after his departure, the team finished 21-11 and was an NCAA qualifier. They certainly didn't replace him with anyone comparable.

The team made great improvement because two guys departed -- Humphries and his dad.

 

[bga1]

Johnson has made it very clear to Thompson he has no future here. TT did not play in any meaningful situation in the past six weeks. Thompson will decide if he wants to play basketball somewhere else or sit on the bench two more years.

...or dramatically improve his game and strength. If you 7'0" prepare to bang under the boards or go to a different conference than the Big Ten

 

[007gopherfan]

Be interesting to see how long it takes to know who is coming back and who isn't. Then once Ben makes his decisions and know, he needs to work the transfer portal really hard to land some scoring. Still think we don't have a true PG or a true Center for the Big Ten. Payne will be a good 4! Garcia is a 4.

 

[bga1]

Be interesting to see how long it takes to know who is coming back and who isn't. Then once Ben makes his decisions and know, he needs to work the transfer portal really hard to land some scoring. Still think we don't have a true PG or a true Center for the Big Ten. Payne will be a good 4! Garcia is a 4.

Had we kept Evans, I think Payne could have moved to the 4 a year or so from now with a better developed mid range game. But at this level he is a great 5 as well. Payne plays pretty well with Garcia who is a stretch 4. Need a PG- no doubt about it.

I would assume Ben was having meetings with his players, individually, starting yesterday to lay out the road map for the future. Get their commitments to staying right away and it makes the search for the right pieces easier. If someone isn't sure- then go recruit as if they are leaving.

 

[007gopherfan]

Had we kept Evans, I think Payne could have moved to the 4 a year or so from now with a better developed mid range game. But at this level he is a great 5 as well. Payne plays pretty well with Garcia who is a stretch 4. Need a PG- no doubt about it.

I would assume Ben was having meetings with his players, individually, starting yesterday to lay out the road map for the future. Get their commitments to staying right away and it makes the search for the right pieces easier. If someone isn't sure- then go recruit as if they are leaving.

Be interesting to see how Evans really does. He is tall, but not that bulky and think Big Ten could have been interesting for him. See Thompson. Thompson can't seem to develop and get stronger for some reason and gets eaten up at the 4 and 5. Now if Evans develops like Zac Edey has done, it will be a big miss.

Payne is only 6'9 which makes the 5 tough. I think developing him into a power 4 with time at the 5 as needed is best. Garcia could also play the 3 for some time I think. Ben has to be looking to add any quality transfer that might be better fit then a current player. Need some explosiveness and confidence. If he isn't able to make those tough decisions, then he isn't ready to be a head coach. This is a part of the job that is very important these days with the open portal. Always recruiting!

 

[BTChamp]

There will be plenty of teams out there in a very similar situation as us going into next year and trying to fill spots from the portal. Good coaches will get what they need. We might even be in a better spot already having the solid front court of Payne and Garcia.

This is the first offseason where there's really no excuses for Ben going into next year as we should be competing for an NCAA tournament bid.

Get it done.

And that is a good point. He doesn't have to rebuild his entire roster. Plug in 2-3 guys and it could get competitive. I know competitive isn't the end goal, but signs of progress. There is a base now. Build on it.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Be interesting to see how Evans really does. He is tall, but not that bulky and think Big Ten could have been interesting for him. See Thompson. Thompson can't seem to develop and get stronger for some reason and gets eaten up at the 4 and 5. Now if Evans develops like Zac Edey has done, it will be a big miss.

I don’t see TT becoming a post presence ala Zac.
HS size per 247 profile-
Zac 7’3 220
TT. 6’11 190

TT’s opportunity was to be a stretch 4 IMO, however, he isn’t that good a shooter from 3 and not really a smooth athlete.

For many gangly kids like TT, it is hard to put on a lot of mass, due to longer muscle, unless they’re born with a thicker physique.

I think he needs to go to a lower end D1 school, where he’s not playing against strong quality post players ala in the B10.

Payne is only 6'9 which makes the 5 tough. I think developing him into a power 4 with time at the 5 as needed is best. Garcia could also play the 3 for some time I think. Ben has to be looking to add any quality transfer that might be better fit then a current player. Need some explosiveness and confidence. If he isn't able to make those tough decisions, then he isn't ready to be a head coach. This is a part of the job that is very important these days with the open portal. Always recruiting!

 

[Bobek]

The team made great improvement because two guys departed -- Humphries and his dad.

Agree! Humphries was a selfish prima donna. Who wants to play with someone like that!

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

And that is a good point. He doesn't have to rebuild his entire roster. Plug in 2-3 guys and it could get competitive. I know competitive isn't the end goal, but signs of progress. There is a base now. Build on it.

Payne, Carrington, JoJ, and maybe Garcia isn't much of a base. They need about 5 guys, again.