Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson has high praise for freshman Isaac Asuma

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Marcus:

High among the positives last season for Gophers men’s basketball in coach Ben Johnson’s second year was seeing a freshman selected in the NBA draft for the first time in 20 years.

A year ago, the Gophers raved about former Illinois high school star Cam Christie, who was picked in the second round by the Los Angeles Clippers this summer.

The 6-6 Christie’s development into an NBA player after just one college season was a pleasant surprise.
It might not be fair to hold this year’s top Gophers freshman, Isaac Asuma, to the same standard, but he has already made a strong impression in the program. The Cherry, Minn., native’s basketball IQ and feel for the game are beyond his years, which could help him see early minutes at point guard.

“Isaac’s not as tall as Cam, but there are a lot of similarities,” Johnson said during Wednesday’s interview at the Minnesota State Fair. “He’s a development-type player who understands you’ve got to put the work in. I think he’s going to have an extremely bright future. I’m really, really excited to get him now fully engrained into our program.”

www.startribune.com

Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson has high praise for freshman Isaac Asuma

At his team’s State Fair visit Wednesday, Minnesota coach Ben Johnson also had an update on Dawson Garcia’s injury recovery.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 


BleedGopher said:
Per Marcus:

High among the positives last season for Gophers men’s basketball in coach Ben Johnson’s second year was seeing a freshman selected in the NBA draft for the first time in 20 years.
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Super cool that the Gopher Basketball beat writer doesn't even know how many years the coach has been there.
 




howeda7 said:
To be fair, it's just flown by.
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I wonder if that's what they teach kids at journalism school these days. Just ballpark the amount of time, it's OK if you have a bad sense of it.
 












GopherBlood777 said:
that would be a good sign for Asuma, terrible sign for the senior guards he brought in
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My thinking is Patterson really isn’t a point. Neither is Cochran or Rigsby. Odukale is more of a wing now since being the point at Pittsburgh his freshman season. Suppose Mitchell could do it as he did at Pepperdine. Just a dumb hot take.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Will he work his way into the starting lineup after 8 games like Christie? My hot take is yes.
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Maybe but it looks like he has better competition than Christie had. Both Mitchell and Christie began the season coming off the bench but they started after Carrington and Ihnen were switched to the bench.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Maybe but it looks like he has better competition than Christie had. Both Mitchell and Christie began the season coming off the bench but they started after Carrington and Ihnen were switched to the bench.
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Good point. Does appear to be better competition. Mitchell got the starting spot 11 games in.
Not that Asuma is in the same class as Lipsey and Hunter, but Iowa State was able to insert those two from the get go at point guard. Johnson started Henley right off the bat and Ola-Joseph 8 games in, their freshmen seasons. Henley eventually lost the starting spot and regained it. Ola-Joseph kept it. Understandably different situations.
Think he will go Mitchell and Patterson at the beginning of the season. Other 3 will be Garcia, F Mitchell and Odukale. Cochran, Rigsby, Asuma, Fox coming off the bench. (One last vent and I will shut up. Just a couple more semi-tough games would have been nice. Done.)
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Good point. Does appear to be better competition. Mitchell got the starting spot 11 games in.
Not that Asuma is in the same class as Lipsey and Hunter, but Iowa State was able to insert those two from the get go at point guard. Johnson started Henley right off the bat and Ola-Joseph 8 games in, their freshmen seasons. Henley eventually lost the starting spot and regained it. Ola-Joseph kept it. Understandably different situations.
Think he will go Mitchell and Patterson at the beginning of the season. Other 3 will be Garcia, F Mitchell and Odukale. Cochran, Rigsby, Asuma, Fox coming off the bench. (One last vent and I will shut up. Just a couple more semi-tough games would have been nice. Done.)
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Oh, that's alright. Schedule wasn't finalized too long ago. The schedule bitching period doesn't have to stop yet.

I agree with your lineup predictions. Cochran might be a pretty good 6th man.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
We have a lot better wing depth this year, it might be tough but he’ll have a big role.
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Yeah. Was thinking, "maybe he is finally getting it, no more square pegs in a round hole, he is seeing the light and didn't just stumble upon these players". Then I watched a couple recent interviews and am going with "stumble".
 

GopherBlood777 said:
that would be a good sign for Asuma, terrible sign for the senior guards he brought in
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Not necessarily. Freshman stud players starting over very good experienced players is a great thing. Let’s hope that is the case.
 


Not that Asuma is in the same class as Lipsey and Hunter, but Iowa State was able to insert those two from the get go at point guard.

Hunter was #5 rated PG in his senior year, Lipsey was #30 rated PG in his senior year, and Asuma was #9 rated PG in his senior year. Why wouldn't Issac be in "the same class" as those two, based on high school. He has not even played a college game.
 

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