Gophers Basketball 2023 Off-Season To-Do List

[El Amin Fan]

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.

 

[goldengophers]

- New HC MBB

 

[cjbfbp]

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

What we need and what we'll get may be two different things.

 

[Bad Gopher]

We're already three players down from the roster we thought we'd have going into next season. And even that was a roster that needed a boatload of new talent to round out a potentially competitive squad. This is steeply uphill.

And don't give me any of this addition by subtraction crap unless you have players to add that are as good as those we've lost. Subtraction is subtraction without actual addition.

 

[Big Dawg]

We're already three players down from the roster we thought we'd have going into next season. And even that was a roster that needed a boatload of new talent to round out a potentially competitive squad. This is steeply uphill.

And don't give me any of this addition by subtraction crap unless you have players to add that are as good as those we've lost. Subtraction is subtraction without actual addition.

I look at this as a potential positive. I'm assuming the 3 you are refering to are Evans, Samuals and Battle. Or Cooper maybe. Here are my thoughts: Evans-wasn't going to do much next season. Most 7' freshman don't contribute out of the gate. Battle-great teammate. Very replaceable. Cooper-Tough to replace his offense. Should be able to replace his defense. I don't think we need "a boatload". We do need at least one solid PG who can play 30-35 mpg and be a good defender. I see progress with the 4 freshman. We will know a lot in the next 30-60 days. Ben needs to recruit his keepers and go find a few portals.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

What we need and what we'll get may be two different things.

That is, unfortunately, probably so true.
Please no Charlie, Danny, Taurus.
Luke and EJ type players might not be enough talent wise either. Really going to have to be Houdini to escape this box he got himself stuck in.
Payne needs rebounding help. In desperate need of a ball handler who can also defend.
I suspect he will count on Christie too much and will play to wait on Asuma. He will also think he is going to get reliable minutes out of Fox and Ihnen.
In other words, the portal isn’t going to be the savior we all hope it could be.
Gosh, I hope to be way off on my thinking. An actual competitive team would make the season so much more fun.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

What we need and what we'll get may be two different things.

 

[Holy Man]

That is, unfortunately, probably so true.
Please no Charlie, Danny, Taurus.
Luke and EJ type players might not be enough talent wise either. Really going to have to be Houdini to escape this box he got himself stuck in.
Payne needs rebounding help. In desperate need of a ball handler who can also defend.
I suspect he will count on Christie too much and will play to wait on Asuma. He will also think he is going to get reliable minutes out of Fox and Ihnen.
In other words, the portal isn’t going to be the savior we all hope it could be.
Gosh, I hope to be way off on my thinking. An actual competitive team would make the season so much more fun.

You’re not way off. You’re dead on. The most realistic we can hope for is keeping the freshmen and them making the big jump from year one to year two. Portal recruiting from the bottom of the league is a heavy lift that appears nearly impossible to me.

One thing mentioned in the small but enthusiastic Gopher cheering section last night was the need to upgrade staff. Thorson stays but one of the others goes.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

I wouldn’t be shocked to see some familiar names “come home”. Ben has a soft spot for guys who chose to go elsewhere and then decide to be a Gopher. He’s done it twice.

I’d look at the state of Michigan for a couple names that may end up here. He seems nearly incapable of getting guys that aren’t from here to come from the portal and contribute—Cooper aside.

 

[Holy Man]

I wouldn’t be shocked to see some familiar names “come home”. Ben has a soft spot for guys who chose to go elsewhere and then decide to be a Gopher. He’s done it twice.

I’d look at the state of Michigan for a couple names that may end up here. He seems nearly incapable of getting guys that aren’t from here to come from the portal and contribute—Cooper aside.

It may be unseemly but what about the route of hiring a displaced coach who might have a player or two come with him?

 

[Bad Gopher]

I look at this as a potential positive. I'm assuming the 3 you are refering to are Evans, Samuals and Battle. Or Cooper maybe. Here are my thoughts: Evans-wasn't going to do much next season. Most 7' freshman don't contribute out of the gate. Battle-great teammate. Very replaceable. Cooper-Tough to replace his offense. Should be able to replace his defense. I don't think we need "a boatload". We do need at least one solid PG who can play 30-35 mpg and be a good defender. I see progress with the 4 freshman. We will know a lot in the next 30-60 days. Ben needs to recruit his keepers and go find a few portals.

I was referring to Battle, Cooper and Evans. If Cooper returns, then we're only two down...and that's if we don't lose more. Thompson's as good as gone, so I'm not counting him. Retaining him would be a bonus and an unexpected gain.

Unfortunately, you can't just order up transfers like pizzas. As others have noted, it'll be hard to attract transfers to a smoldering dumpster fire, and our best hope would seem to be the year 1 approach: local kids bouncing back home.

Ben is going to have to have an off season resembling that of Gabe Kaplan's character in Fast Break. Go Cadwallader!

 

[UpAndUnder43]

It may be unseemly but what about the route of hiring a displaced coach who might have a player or two come with him?

I’d shake up the staff. Johnson would benefit by having a former college head coach on staff. If they bring a couple guys with? Great.

 

[MUgopher32]

I was referring to Battle, Cooper and Evans. If Cooper returns, then we're only two down...and that's if we don't lose more.

Unfortunately, you can't just order up transfers like pizzas. As others have noted, it'll be hard to attract transfers to a smoldering dumpster fire, and our best hope would seem to be the year 1 approach: local kids bouncing back home.

Ben is going to have to have an off season resembling that of Gabe Kaplan's character in Fast Break. Go Cadwallader!

On the flip side tho, a way to really appeal to transfers is clear cut playing time.

We will have that for guards. Its going to be Bens job to not settle and find the right one.

 

[Gophs24]

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I’d shake up the staff. Johnson would benefit by having a former college head coach on staff. If they bring a couple guys with? Great.

100%.....find assistant that has HC experience i think he would rally benefit from that.

recently fired HC that can land comfortably on our bench
Nathan Davis from Bucknell
Michael Huger from Bowling Green
Nate James from Austen Peay

 

[MaxyJR1]

On the flip side tho, a way to really appeal to transfers is clear cut playing time.

We will have that for guards. Its going to be Bens job to not settle and find the right one.

With the rate our young guys foul people, we will have plenty of playing time to offer. Have to find a way to get 9-10 guys minutes and be able to highly contribute. Part of the reason I'd like to see Cooper stick around.

Ola Joseph
Payne
Henley
Garcia
Cooper/Carrington/Transfer in

Christie
Betts
Fox/Transfer in
Ihnen

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Have to find a way to get 9-10 guys minutes and be able to highly contribute.

Do not see it happening with him. Too much evidence in these 2 seasons for me to believe he will go that route.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Do not see it happening with him. Too much evidence in these 2 seasons for me to believe he will go that route.

If he had the depth he would. You can't play your bigs 35+ minutes. Have to find players to help.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

You’re not way off. You’re dead on. The most realistic we can hope for is keeping the freshmen and them making the big jump from year one to year two. Portal recruiting from the bottom of the league is a heavy lift that appears nearly impossible to me.

One thing mentioned in the small but enthusiastic Gopher cheering section last night was the need to upgrade staff. Thorson stays but one of the others goes.

It was an error not to have one them with D1 HC experience to start with - I expect that Coyle will let Ben know this needs to be added

 

[Gopher Teeth]

On the flip side tho, a way to really appeal to transfers is clear cut playing time.

We will have that for guards. Its going to be Bens job to not settle and find the right one.

The problem with the playing time argument is that good teams will have slots for playing time, and they will pick up the good transfers who will obviously choose playing time with a good team over that with a bad team. So now you have the left over transfers that the good teams didn't want and there you are, no difference makers.

You have to find under the radar good players, which are unicorns, who have no other options, to find difference makers. That's a steep road to climb especially if you need multiples of those.

 

[CentralGopher]

For anyone hoping Thompson stays, I don’t get it. He isn’t a serviceable backup and won’t be next year either without a giant leap. Maybe the year after but that is a year too late. We need a backup post to replace the Evans decommit for next year.

 

[Gophers_4life]

- 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.

Can you please explain to me why Thompson must be, proactively and forcefully, pushed out, when he has contributed more than zero the last two seasons, while the other two have contributed zero and you have no idea if they can contribute but it must be a priority to get them healthy?

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

Are you saying that he purposefully turned down "BT quality athletes" that wanted to come here, in favor of experimenting with low major D1 guards?

Don't you think that he would have done that, if they were there to be had and wanted to come here?

 

[upnorthkid]

For anyone hoping Thompson stays, I don’t get it. He isn’t a serviceable backup and won’t be next year either without a giant leap. Maybe the year after but that is a year too late. We need a backup post to replace the Evans decommit for next year.

Agreed. I'd view him like MDs 3rd string C that came in after their issues with foul trouble in the 1st half. You can't have him be your backup big. If they fill someone into that role and Thompson is fine being an energy guy on the bench next year as a 3rd string/spot minutes guy, I'm fine with that.

 

[Big Dawg]

Are you saying that he purposefully turned down "BT quality athletes" that wanted to come here, in favor of experimenting with low major D1 guards?

Don't you think that he would have done that, if they were there to be had and wanted to come here?

Cooper: BIG assists per game? 2nd in BIG at 6.3 per game. Assist/TO ratio? 5th in the BIG at 2.4. 21st in the BIG in steals (1.1/gm). Not stellar, but Jamir Young (MD leader) was only slightly better at 1.2/gm. Lots of blocks for a G at .9 per game. Now tell me how he isn't a BIG caliber guard? Our eye test tells us he is a bit slow but I'll take him back next season all day long. Personally would love another PG with a defensive mindset to double up with Cooper. Maybe they both play at the same time.

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

I’d shake up the staff. Johnson would benefit by having a former college head coach on staff. If they bring a couple guys with? Great.

Ben does need to shake up the staff. Its unacceptable at some of the teams stats. Its like this current team did not respect or buy into what the current staff was teaching this year unlike last year where they surpassed expectations and despite the records they were in many more games

 

[Chico Gopher]

I think what we all want out of the portal is that guy who’s teammates and coaches claim would be a starter on almost any other team in our (P-6) conference, but unfortunately he’s behind our All-American caliber starter.

As a previous comment stated, that guy has his choice of 100 or so teams with available starter-minutes, looking for the same level of player. The chance that he would choose a team that needs a LOT more help than just him is slim. Not impossible, but that would be a tough get. Feels like the type of players that we want and need (playing time being equal) would likely be more interested in a team that is already pretty competitive.

Now if that player suddenly struck a pact with a couple of his buddies, who happen to be in the exact same roster situation and they all agreed that they would like to team up to turn a program around, then the Gophers would be in the running. Anybody see that scenario happening? Of course anything is possible.

I know we all want to Gophers to come up with 3 transfers (another post, wing & PG-right?) who are at least an H.M. All-conference-level performers.. My feeling is that, while we might get one transfer that turns into our Payton Willis, our realistic hope is to see the freshmen stay and take the expected big step forward next year and we fill in with solid, fundamental guys with skills, but probably won’t be guys that the other teams highlight in their scout reports.

BTW, I’m actually pretty high on Hendley and Payne going into next year and believe Carrington has shown he can probably contribute next year as well.

 

[El Amin Fan]

I think what we all want out of the portal is that guy who’s teammates and coaches claim would be a starter on almost any other team in our (P-6) conference, but unfortunately he’s behind our All-American caliber starter.

As a previous comment stated, that guy has his choice of 100 or so teams with available starter-minutes, looking for the same level of player. The chance that he would choose a team that needs a LOT more help than just him is slim. Not impossible, but that would be a tough get. Feels like the type of players that we want and need (playing time being equal) would likely be more interested in a team that is already pretty competitive.

Now if that player suddenly struck a pact with a couple of his buddies, who happen to be in the exact same roster situation and they all agreed that they would like to team up to turn a program around, then the Gophers would be in the running. Anybody see that scenario happening? Of course anything is possible.

I know we all want to Gophers to come up with 3 transfers (another post, wing & PG-right?) who are at least an H.M. All-conference-level performers.. My feeling is that, while we might get one transfer that turns into our Payton Willis, our realistic hope is to see the freshmen stay and take the expected big step forward next year and we fill in with solid, fundamental guys with skills, but probably won’t be guys that the other teams highlight in their scout reports.

BTW, I’m actually pretty high on Hendley and Payne going into next year and believe Carrington has shown he can probably contribute next year as well.

Carrington played 20 minutes a game this year. He "probably contributed" this year already.

 

[Gophers_4life]

I think what we all want out of the portal is that guy who’s teammates and coaches claim would be a starter on almost any other team in our (P-6) conference, but unfortunately he’s behind our All-American caliber starter.

Why would a guy like that, come here?

Especially if he's not from here (ie, Garcia)?

 

[Bad Gopher]

For anyone hoping Thompson stays, I don’t get it. He isn’t a serviceable backup and won’t be next year either without a giant leap. Maybe the year after but that is a year too late. We need a backup post to replace the Evans decommit for next year.

I'll repeat it as many times as I need to: give me a name of who you have coming in that's better than him. Then I'll be fine waving him bon voyage. Subtraction is subtraction if there's no corresponding addition. Again, give me a name.

Or let me put it this way: if there were a Treyton Thompson on some other program's roster--a former 4-star recruit from Minnesota who's been languishing on some high-major bench--we'd be all over that as someone who could maybe find themselves here with all the playing time people are talking about in this thread.

 

[Gophers_4life]

I'll repeat it as many times as I need to: give me a name of who you have coming in that's better than him. Then I'll be fine waving him bon voyage. Subtraction is subtraction if there's no corresponding addition. Again, give me a name.

Or let me put it this way: if there were a Treyton Thompson on some other program's roster--a former 4-star recruit from Minnesota who's been languishing on some high-major bench--we'd be all over that as someone who could maybe find themselves here with all the playing time people are talking about in this thread.

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.

 

[bga1]

With the rate our young guys foul people, we will have plenty of playing time to offer. Have to find a way to get 9-10 guys minutes and be able to highly contribute. Part of the reason I'd like to see Cooper stick around.

Ola Joseph
Payne
Henley
Garcia
Cooper/Carrington/Transfer in

Christie
Betts
Fox/Transfer in
Ihnen

The question I have with Cooper and with Ben is- can he deliver the hard news that a guy's role is going to change. I would love to have Cooper as a 20-25 minute combo guard who can come in and stabilize. Can he accept that role and will Ben do it? With Battle, he just didn't change the way he was doing things and he kept forcing shots and still Battle played 35-40 minutes. That stuff has to be over and it has to be team first. I agree, I hope we have better more usable depth and Ben uses it. It scares me that he discussed keeping the guys happy as an excuse for not having 13 guys.