Gophers-Colorado St scrimmage

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a few details emerge from Marcus Fuller on the Strib:

No fans or media were allowed to attend the scrimmage. The score ended up being heavily one-sided in Colorado State's favor, from all accounts, but (Parker) Fox just saw the experience as a big accomplishment for how far he's come.

Fox was one of the U standouts during the scrimmage, along with the returning scoring leader Dawson Garcia. After coming off the bench, Fox, the former Division II All-America at Northern State (S.D.), said playing well helped to calm his nerves.

Also playing his first game action Saturday vs. an opponent in two years was junior Isaiah Ihnen, who recovered from two knee surgeries.

"[Fox] looked extremely comfortable out there doing what he does," Ihnen said. "For me, there was definitely a sense of being nervous. That feeling of this was my first time playing against other people again. The first couple minutes of the game I definitely felt that. As the game went on, I got more comfortable. Glad I got those jitters out."

The scrimmage started off with the Gophers getting behind big early, but they were more competitive during stretches as the game went on.

The U's new backcourt with transfers Elijah Hawkins (Howard) and Mike Mitchell Jr. (Pepperdine) felt like their chemistry grew after playing together for the first time.

"We learned a lot during the scrimmage," Hawkins said. "We took that learned from it and moved on. So, I feel like we're definitely ready for the season."

Freshman Cameron Christie was sick during the week and missed the scrimmage. Christie, who is expected to play major minutes for the Gophers this season, said he'll play in Thursday's exhibition game vs. Macalester at Williams Arena.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
a few details emerge from Marcus Fuller on the Strib:

No fans or media were allowed to attend the scrimmage. The score ended up being heavily one-sided in Colorado State's favor, from all accounts, but (Parker) Fox just saw the experience as a big accomplishment for how far he's come.

Fox was one of the U standouts during the scrimmage, along with the returning scoring leader Dawson Garcia. After coming off the bench, Fox, the former Division II All-America at Northern State (S.D.), said playing well helped to calm his nerves.

Also playing his first game action Saturday vs. an opponent in two years was junior Isaiah Ihnen, who recovered from two knee surgeries.

"[Fox] looked extremely comfortable out there doing what he does," Ihnen said. "For me, there was definitely a sense of being nervous. That feeling of this was my first time playing against other people again. The first couple minutes of the game I definitely felt that. As the game went on, I got more comfortable. Glad I got those jitters out."

The scrimmage started off with the Gophers getting behind big early, but they were more competitive during stretches as the game went on.

The U's new backcourt with transfers Elijah Hawkins (Howard) and Mike Mitchell Jr. (Pepperdine) felt like their chemistry grew after playing together for the first time.

"We learned a lot during the scrimmage," Hawkins said. "We took that learned from it and moved on. So, I feel like we're definitely ready for the season."

Freshman Cameron Christie was sick during the week and missed the scrimmage. Christie, who is expected to play major minutes for the Gophers this season, said he'll play in Thursday's exhibition game vs. Macalester at Williams Arena.
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Nice to hear, but it’s still not inspiring confidence in me. I will grant the point that two guys coming off injury will need time just getting used to being on the court.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
for those who want Ben gone -

if the team is as bad as you think it's going to be, you will get your wish. IF the Gophers finish last in the B1G again, I don't see any way that Johnson returns.

for those who don't want Ben gone - or at least are willing to see how the season plays out -

I'm not going to bet my life's savings on the Gophers taking a huge jump up in the standings. I just want to see some improvement - especially over the course of the season. i want to see a team that is playing better at the end of the season that it was at the start.

and we won't know that until we see the team play some games, especially B1G games. if the Gophers are losing B1G games by 20-and 30-point margins, then it's time to panic.
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SON, I disagree...it does not matter to me how much we lose by...if in year 3 we lose enough games to be in the bottom four...that's not acceptable.
We didn't get blown out but a handful of times last year. Lost by 35 to Rutgers and beat them at home. We had a bunch of games we lost by 10 or less. That can't be the gauge.
We need to win enough games to at least approach the middle of the pack.
 

MissouriGopher said:
Local media isn't reporting it because they understand that scores from scrimmages are meaningless. It's not hard.
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There certainly not meaningless. They aren't the most important thing in the world and they don't count, but I would imagine good teams would tend to beat bad teams in scrimmages.
 



CPTMidnight said:
I really have no data points for this year other than we ended in last place the last 2 years, we lost some players but possibly added overall depth. Next week will be telling as will each successive game as the season unfolds.

Rumors from a practice game that nobody saw - meh. That is what makes this thread so funny.
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It's the offseason on a message board. People routinely post about recruits (some of which you've commented on and have never seen play) and post about practice and how players look.

Should we just shut down Gopherhole in the offseason? There will be games soon and those threads, rightfully, will have more traffic. But to post during the offseason on a college basketball message board and to pretend like people having a reaction to the rumored results is "funny" is bizarre.

Clearly the real games are going to matter more. But welcome to a message board, people will speculate and talk about rumors in the offseason. It's funny to me that's so surprising to you.
 

MissouriGopher said:
Local media isn't reporting it because they understand that scores from scrimmages are meaningless. It's not hard.
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Our local media would definitely hesitate to throw the U under the bus because they understand the nuance of college sports.
 

MissouriGopher said:
We don’t know who played. How can we take anything away from the game? BJ has used these games every year to give Freshmen big minutes.
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We don't know who played for CSU either. Could've been their noobs and backups.
 

All the speculation and negativism about this over hyped scrimmage makes my tummy twirl big time. And the season hasn't even started yet!!!!! People need to check their emotions and take a deep breath.

Based on what I feel are the upsides with this squad compared to last season and we stay healthy, I believe that we have a shot at a NIT bid. Screw the *&$#@^ scrimmage and most everyone leaning heavily on their panic button. Lets see how this team looks out of the gate and how much they will improve over the duration of the season.
 





Bayfieldgopher said:
All the speculation and negativism about this over hyped scrimmage makes my tummy twirl big time. And the season hasn't even started yet!!!!! People need to check their emotions and take a deep breath.

Based on what I feel are the upsides with this squad compared to last season and we stay healthy, I believe that we have a shot at a NIT bid. Screw the *&$#@^ scrimmage and most everyone leaning heavily on their panic button. Lets see how this team looks out of the gate and how much they will improve over the duration of the season.
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Someone posted earlier that the team flew into Colorado Springs for the scrimmage at CSU. It was an honest mistake and we had a little fun with it. But let’s think about it.

What if Ben split the squad and there were actually two scrimmages. One squad played Colorado State and the other guys indeed went to the Springs to play Colorado College.

We have heard the two transfer guards played, Fox and Ihnen, and Garcia. Who else? Reader and the walkons?

So the other squad had Carrington, JOJ, Payne and Jack playing CC four on five. They probably won their tilt by 80, more than offsetting the loss by 40 up north.

Not so much to worry about maybe.
 

I mean it's really unfair to expect this team or staff to win games. Obviously we don't try to win Exhibition games, non conference is not realistic because we have a transfer and injuries which no one else has, and it's not fair to expect conference wins because CBJ is still learning, the team is gelling and other teams are more talented! 😉
 



leib0039 said:
I mean it's really unfair to expect this team or staff to win games. Obviously we don't try to win Exhibition games, non conference is not realistic because we have a transfer and injuries which no one else has, and it's not fair to expect conference wins because CBJ is still learning, the team is gelling and other teams are more talented! 😉
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The first two years we knew what it was.
 

leib0039 said:
I mean it's really unfair to expect this team or staff to win games. Obviously we don't try to win Exhibition games, non conference is not realistic because we have a transfer and injuries which no one else has, and it's not fair to expect conference wins because CBJ is still learning, the team is gelling and other teams are more talented! 😉
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Well, it’s true other teams are more talented.
 


jovs said:
Starting Thursday the scrimmage will not matter and hope will spring eternal. Just have to wait and see.
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This is how I’m rolling. Thursday we start getting to see things with our own eyes. No more shroud of secrecy or pretending we know how effective players are going to be. We start seeing actual evidence.

Hoping for the best.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
It's the offseason on a message board. People routinely post about recruits (some of which you've commented on and have never seen play) and post about practice and how players look.

Should we just shut down Gopherhole in the offseason? There will be games soon and those threads, rightfully, will have more traffic. But to post during the offseason on a college basketball message board and to pretend like people having a reaction to the rumored results is "funny" is bizarre.

Clearly the real games are going to matter more. But welcome to a message board, people will speculate and talk about rumors in the offseason. It's funny to me that's so surprising to you.
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Well... I find it funny that you find it funny that I find it funny.
 

Tennessee @ MSU and Kansas at Illinois are exhibition games tomorrow. They have better exhibitions than our entire non-conference schedule. Sad.
 

Anyone want to take bets on if this thread is still going in March? Gonna be the 23/24 version of the “Ben Johnson is a Disaster” thread…
 


Goldy-Wan Kenobi said:
Anyone want to take bets on if this thread is still going in March? Gonna be the 23/24 version of the “Ben Johnson is a Disaster” thread…
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It’s just the closest thing to the most recent hand thread. When the real games start, it’ll push this one down.
 




A scrimmage or even an exhibition bad performance isn’t overly concerning in a vacuum. But this isn’t a vacuum. And that is why historical examples placed on here about really successful teams that lost secret scrimmages or barely beat Chicago State in an exhibition game only to go onto later season success doesn’t explain why this shouldn’t be concerning.

Nothing about Ben’s tenure so far should make us say oh this is nothing, I’m sure Ben is going to put a solid well coached team on the floor when the regular season starts.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
a few details emerge from Marcus Fuller on the Strib:

No fans or media were allowed to attend the scrimmage. The score ended up being heavily one-sided in Colorado State's favor, from all accounts, but (Parker) Fox just saw the experience as a big accomplishment for how far he's come.

Fox was one of the U standouts during the scrimmage, along with the returning scoring leader Dawson Garcia. After coming off the bench, Fox, the former Division II All-America at Northern State (S.D.), said playing well helped to calm his nerves.

Also playing his first game action Saturday vs. an opponent in two years was junior Isaiah Ihnen, who recovered from two knee surgeries.

"[Fox] looked extremely comfortable out there doing what he does," Ihnen said. "For me, there was definitely a sense of being nervous. That feeling of this was my first time playing against other people again. The first couple minutes of the game I definitely felt that. As the game went on, I got more comfortable. Glad I got those jitters out."

The scrimmage started off with the Gophers getting behind big early, but they were more competitive during stretches as the game went on.

The U's new backcourt with transfers Elijah Hawkins (Howard) and Mike Mitchell Jr. (Pepperdine) felt like their chemistry grew after playing together for the first time.

"We learned a lot during the scrimmage," Hawkins said. "We took that learned from it and moved on. So, I feel like we're definitely ready for the season."

Freshman Cameron Christie was sick during the week and missed the scrimmage. Christie, who is expected to play major minutes for the Gophers this season, said he'll play in Thursday's exhibition game vs. Macalester at Williams Arena.
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Oh, so this is just a matter of them learning to play together and be comfortable with each other then. So we should start to see things come together some time around the BTT. /s 🤪
 


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