Gophers guard Both Gach is expected to enter the transfer portal

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cjbfbp said:
Although I would have liked to see Gach return, I'm not so concerned about losing him because there are four other veteran guards on the roster and plenty of guards left in the transfer portal. I'm more concerned about getting a couple of capable big men because the pickings in the transfer portal are much slimmer there.
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that's assuming their starts all translate equally to the B1G, which they most likely wont for everyone. Gonna be an interesting next 4-6 weeks
 

Ho Jon said:
This is good thing. It's his team now. All the players (but one) are players he recruited here. It moves his timeline up in my opinion. If he is the kind of coach Coyle thinks he is, this is good because he can have his players playing his system from day one.

Good luck coach, you got your wish!
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That's what I was thinking after the initial shock.

Ben, you have your players, lets see what you can do.
 

Plato said:
There is something unusual about this many players fleeing for what they perceive as a better environment.
It was going to be a very difficult year no matter whom was hired but this is a bit more than difficult.
The truth will come out when the next two years recruiting classes are signed.
The coach will be able to promise recruits without fear of being contradicted lots of playing time.
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If playing time was a key part of TOP players choosing a program, you'd see all the 4 stars and maybe some 5 stars choose programs that SUCK.

It doesn't work that way sadly. It's why teams like the Dukes and Kentuckys are loaded with 4-5 star talent on the bench.
 


SanDiegoGopherFan said:
That's what I was thinking after the initial shock.

Ben, you have your players, lets see what you can do.
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These aren't his players. They're what he can get under the circumstances. But he will need to hit some HR's in recruiting or surprise on the court to see year 4.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
The word last week from the inside is that Ben is doin nothing and that includes conversing with the current athletes. The proof is now in front of us.
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Wait what?? You're joking right?

If you're serious, him looking shabby aka not professional during the Instagram live would explain a few things.
 


SanDiegoGopherFan said:
Wait what?? You're joking right?

If you're serious, him looking shabby aka not professional during the Instagram live would explain a few things.
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I find it hard to believe. If Thorson resigns or something then we'll know something's very wrong.
 



howeda7 said:
These aren't his players. They're what he can get under the circumstances. But he will need to hit some HR's in recruiting or surprise on the court to see year 4.
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I see your point, but what I'm saying is more along the lines of, these are the type of "personalities/gritty players" he wanted, lets see what he does with them.

by no means do I expect a B1G championship with this roster, even though as of now, it's 95% Ben Johnson recruits.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I see your point, but what I'm saying is more along the lines of, these are the type of "personalities/gritty players" he wanted, lets see what he does with them.

by no means do I expect a B1G championship with this roster, even though as of now, it's 95% Ben Johnson recruits.
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If he manages to go 6-14 in the B1G again, he might get Coach of the Year votes.
 

howeda7 said:
I find it hard to believe. If Thorson resigns or something then we'll know something's very wrong.
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Yeah, i would be shocked. I thought him looking tired was more because he was working so hard. Not the lack of work.
 

howeda7 said:
If he manages to go 6-14 in the B1G again, he might get Coach of the Year votes.
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With this current roster (and how it's trending), which the few publications who have written about B1G roster overhauls say Minnesota is the worst at the moment, I would agree. 6 wins in the B1G would be vote worthy.
 



Here is what I have seen:
Ben coached at Xavier. None of the multiple guys in the Xavier transfer portal are Gophers. The Gophers are in the Big Ten, it is a step up. If I coached kids everyday for a year, I'd like to think they'd desire to follow me anywhere. Has not happened. I also assume he had a part in recruiting to Xavier. Not a good look to me. Not a lot of charisma.
Ben recruited at least one former Gopher. Ben could not convince him to stay. That set off quite a few red flags for me.
Most Gophers were excited for next season under Pitino based on what they said prior to Richard's departure. Ben gets hired. He has a chance to recruit them all. He whiffs on them all, except one so far. That is not normal nor impressive.
The idea he is running guys off to establish his culture is moronic.
So far, the guys Ben has recruited were not good enough to be Gophers when they came out of high school. But their desire was to be Gophers. Given the opportunity they were excited to be Gophers. That is not what I'd call recruiting...that is filling out the low hanging paperwork.

He's got all summer to land a half a dozen better players. Hope he has success.
Honest question: Thorson's passion for basketball is unquestioned. He was able to recruit kids to DeLaSalle for free or reduced tuition and most stayed for six years because, I do not doubt they got better at basketball and as people. He won a lot of games but he also had superior talent.
My question: Does anybody like playing for the guy?
It seems he is wound very tight. I have no idea...just asking questions and wondering what the heck is going on...
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
If you're serious, him looking shabby aka not professional during the Instagram live would explain a few things.
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Not even sure why I’m responding, but really? I’m not sure what the implication of your post is, but he looked fine/professional.
 

60's Guy said:
Here is what I have seen:
Ben coached at Xavier. None of the multiple guys in the Xavier transfer portal are Gophers. The Gophers are in the Big Ten, it is a step up. If I coached kids everyday for a year, I'd like to think they'd desire to follow me anywhere. Has not happened. I also assume he had a part in recruiting to Xavier. Not a good look to me. Not a lot of charisma.
Ben recruited at least one former Gopher. Ben could not convince him to stay. That set off quite a few red flags for me.
Most Gophers were excited for next season under Pitino based on what they said prior to Richard's departure. Ben gets hired. He has a chance to recruit them all. He whiffs on them all, except one so far. That is not normal nor impressive.
The idea he is running guys off to establish his culture is moronic.
So far, the guys Ben has recruited were not good enough to be Gophers when they came out of high school. But their desire was to be Gophers. Given the opportunity they were excited to be Gophers. That is not what I'd call recruiting...that is filling out the low hanging paperwork.

He's got all summer to land a half a dozen better players. Hope he has success.
Honest question: Thorson's passion for basketball is unquestioned. He was able to recruit kids to DeLaSalle for free or reduced tuition and most stayed for six years because, I do not doubt they got better at basketball and as people. He won a lot of games but he also had superior talent.
My question: Does anybody like playing for the guy?
It seems he is wound very tight. I have no idea...just asking questions and wondering what the heck is going on...
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High achieving people love him and playing for him. He's wound tight, but it's energy filled and he's so good at teaching. He is very player focused and was big on developing guys. His practices were phenomenal.
 

manderson1984 said:
High achieving people love him and playing for him. He's wound tight, but it's energy filled and he's so good at teaching. He is very player focused and was big on developing guys. His practices were phenomenal.
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Honest question, in what ways were his practices phenomenal? Will his role as an assistant instructor (I presume) change at all as he has to manage more? Haven’t seen any cbb practices so I’m just curious how that shakes out and how we can judge how his practices will be with him as a head coach.
 

howeda7 said:
These aren't his players. They're what he can get under the circumstances. But he will need to hit some HR's in recruiting or surprise on the court to see year 4.
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Well, I get what you are saying, but these are his players. He told us that everyone he recruited plays his type of basketball. That doesn't mean I expect 20 wins next year, but he shouldn't complain. He has loved (publicly) every one of these new players. Every (seemingly) new coach talks about I need my players and I didn't recruit these guys...etc. Well, he did. I understand what you mean, but these are still his players.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
Just one example for you:

Both averaged 1.6 Turnovers per game.

Trevion Williams from Purdue averaged 2.4 turnovers per game and he was a 1st team all B1G selection and honorable mention All American
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I started typing up a post about how looking at per game stats didn't make much sense given that one was a key starter and the other a bench guy for much of the year, but when looking up the numbers got quite the surprise. I would have NEVER guessed that Gach averaged 22.7 minutes last year (25.1 for Williams).
 

An entire team quitting is quite the spectacle but the loss of Both Gach will have zero impact on the W-L record next year, which will be terrible. Year 2 will also be rough. Johnson has establish his culture in years 1-2 and recruit like an ace for the team to start turning a corner in Year 3 and hopefully making a run for the NCAA tournament in Year 4. Anyone thinking it will happen faster than this is not realistic.
 

Block M said:
An entire team quitting is quite the spectacle but the loss of Both Gach will have zero impact on the W-L record next year, which will be terrible. Year 2 will also be rough. Johnson has establish his culture in years 1-2 and recruit like an ace for the team to start turning a corner in Year 3 and hopefully making a run for the NCAA tournament in Year 4. Anyone thinking it will happen faster than this is not realistic.
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Totally agree, which is why I'm so down. Next year is looking like an embarrassing season where we hope to keep things close, 22 we try to be ok, 23 maybe edge close to the bubble and 24 if all goes perfect we should be solid....that's tough
 

bc2211 said:
Honest question, in what ways were his practices phenomenal? Will his role as an assistant instructor (I presume) change at all as he has to manage more? Haven’t seen any cbb practices so I’m just curious how that shakes out and how we can judge how his practices will be with him as a head coach.
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Really good energy in his practices. Players were bought in and reflected the energy. The teaching was direct and organized. Practice flow was efficient.
 


The word last week from the inside is that Ben is doin nothing and that includes conversing with the current athletes. The proof is now in front of us.

When it comes to getting “inside” info, your nickname on the street is the “doughnut hole”.
 

leib0039 said:
Totally agree, which is why I'm so down. Next year is looking like an embarrassing season where we hope to keep things close, 22 we try to be ok, 23 maybe edge close to the bubble and 24 if all goes perfect we should be solid....that's tough
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Hiring Johnson was obviously a big reach/gamble by the AD. It could pay off but its going to take time and patience. Will be fun to see all the new faces next year. Results: not so much.
 

Do you believe in miracles? Simply forget about all the stats about this player leaving and his stats are that impressive, etc..

We need warm bodies. There are plenty in the portal. Better grab some before they turn cold.
 



Yeah I think people are underestimating how bad this is. The whole building his own team/culture is nonsense. This isn't trimming the fat it losing the whole damn hog. Its going to be hard to recruit guys in 2022 in the summer and fall after they have seen that no players want to stick around under Johnson. Guys like Gach might not get you in the tournament, But they can keep you from getting blown out night after night in conference play which could very likely happen next year. Johnson needs to quickly assemble his squad of players that have never played together its going to be extremely tough.
 


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