Gophers men's basketball now sees transfer portal as a friend, not an enemy; Thompson & Thiam will be back

[BleedGopher]

per Marcus:

Instead of worrying about who is leaving, the Gophers expect everyone back who can return — and they're focused on adding talent with transfers and freshmen for next season.

"It's a lot easier when you have a chunk of guys on the roster versus having to fill an entire team," Johnson said Thursday. "The other good part is you know what you have, too. And so you know what you need to add, which helps when it comes to the portal."

Freshmen Treyton Thompson and Abdoulaye Thiam were the Gophers players who seemed most likely to enter the portal after playing sparingly this season, but they will be back.

Johnson said he might have one of the only Big Ten teams that has a full roster of players excited about returning and not looking into transferring.

"It's definitely a better feeling, a more reassuring feeling," Johnson said. "Now it's what we can add to make sure this team is as good as it can be. Being aggressive, getting a few breaks in the portal and seeing where we can take it."

Gophers men's basketball now sees transfer portal as a friend, not an enemy

Men's basketball coach Ben Johnson has no players seeking to leave. It's a dramatic change from the 10 players who left via the NCAA transfer portal after last season.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[60's Guy]

Well, we can assume Thiam is intelligent…who’d pick him up? …with all the competition in the portal?
He’s quick maybe he becomes a defender rather than a shooter….still gotta eliminate the turnovers. Maybe he was just nervous.

I don’t think anybody thought Thompson was leaving? He’ll get better each season.

 

[eker0016]

Well, we can assume Thiam is intelligent…who’d pick him up? …with all the competition in the portal?
He’s quick maybe he becomes a defender rather than a shooter….still gotta eliminate the turnovers. Maybe he was just nervous.

I don’t think anybody thought Thompson was leaving? He’ll get better each season.

I thought there was a very decent chance Thiam would leave. He went to a year of JUCO already so he will be 3 years removed from HS this fall, couldn't sniff the floor here even when we desperately needed a guard to come in and just give us 5-10 minutes here or there. Now he will have several talented freshmen and grad transfers in front of him for playing time. It is exceedingly rare in program history for a player to play in as few games as he did and ever contribute to our team later in their career. He is from Orlando, maybe going back to a Florida Gulf Coast or FIU would suit him well.

I'm guessing Ben did not want to recruit 5 grad transfers again, at some point it's just extra work on his plate to sign up a 5th guy who you can't promise playing time to. So he will give Thiam a chance to develop and improve. He did look quick, let's hope he can become a shutdown defender and gets some of that shooting stroke back from JUCO.

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Well, we can assume Thiam is intelligent…who’d pick him up? …with all the competition in the portal?
He’s quick maybe he becomes a defender rather than a shooter….still gotta eliminate the turnovers. Maybe he was just nervous.

I don’t think anybody thought Thompson was leaving? He’ll get better each season.

You must have not read the in game threads on this board if you didn't see posters constantly saying Thompson would leave.

 

[Spottedmuskie]

Ha! A lot of blabber mouths promised Thiam and TT would be in the portal

 

[60's Guy]

You must have not read the in game threads on this board if you didn't see posters constantly saying Thompson would leave.

I intentionally didn't write I never thought Thompson was going anywhere...so you'd be able to call me dumb again.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Ha! A lot of blabber mouths promised Thiam and TT would be in the portal

Maybe they both have girlfriends at the U!!!

 

[Spottedmuskie]

Maybe they both have girlfriends at the U!!!

Right! No way they could possibly like their teammates, coach, or the culture of the program. Thank God for their girlfriends!

 

[forever a gopher]

Not trying to jinx it, but declaring anybody will be back next year this early in the process hasn’t been paying attention to the portal. Exhibit A is the Bucky Irving news today. You are not assured somebody is going to be on your team next year until the season stats (and even that isn’t assured). I have no doubt if Johnson is saying that, they’ve both told him they’re returning. But they could leave in the middle of summer, or the second week of the semester when it makes no sense to leave. One thing I have learned in this new portal world is don’t assume anything.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Well, we can assume Thiam is intelligent…who’d pick him up? …with all the competition in the portal?
He’s quick maybe he becomes a defender rather than a shooter….still gotta eliminate the turnovers. Maybe he was just nervous.

I don’t think anybody thought Thompson was leaving? He’ll get better each season.

Damian Johnson was awful as a FR. Aaron Robinson didnt look like a Big 10 basketball player for a couple of years. Maverick was also a guy who turned into a good depth player for us at the end of his run.

I hear you on Thiam but I think there might be something there with just how active he is. Hopefully Ben can harness all of that nervous energy.

 

[GopherJake]

Maverick sucked.

 

[GopherPlaya]

Damian Johnson was awful as a FR. Aaron Robinson didnt look like a Big 10 basketball player for a couple of years. Maverick was also a guy who turned into a good depth player for us at the end of his run.

I hear you on Thiam but I think there might be something there with just how active he is. Hopefully Ben can harness all of that nervous energy.

I think Johnson was awful as freshmen but it could have been a system fit too. Tubby style fit his strengths. I curious to see what Thiam strengths are. Shooting 40+ from 3 in juco means he has to be at least a decent shooter

 

[Some guy]

Damian Johnson was awful as a FR. Aaron Robinson didnt look like a Big 10 basketball player for a couple of years. Maverick was also a guy who turned into a good depth player for us at the end of his run.

I hear you on Thiam but I think there might be something there with just how active he is. Hopefully Ben can harness all of that nervous energy.

If by maverick was a good depth player for us you mean when maverick had to play a major role due to a variety of factors it tanked the season while he is a freshmen/ sophomore…then appeared in 11 conference games as a senior while scoring 15 points and turning it over 6 times…then yes

Big depth guy

 

[Holy Man]

I think Johnson was awful as freshmen but it could have been a system fit too. Tubby style fit his strengths. I curious to see what Thiam strengths are. Shooting 40+ from 3 in juco means he has to be at least a decent shooter

If I recall Damian red shirted as a freshman.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

If by maverick was a good depth player for us you mean when maverick had to play a major role due to a variety of factors it tanked the season while he is a freshmen/ sophomore…then appeared in 11 conference games as a senior while scoring 15 points and turning it over 6 times…then yes

Big depth guy

I'm talking about the Maverick Ahanmisi who improved to become about a 39% 3 PT shooter and a pretty efficient bench player. He played quite a bit throughout the big ten season and NIT run. By every advanced metric, he was a solid player in year 3 and merely not a good player in year 4.

By every advanced metric, is offense drastically improved from year 1 to years 2 and 3.
By every advanced metric, his defense improved pretty drastically as well.

He went from a player completely in over his head in year 1 to a typical big ten backup PG in year 4.

So like I said. . . depth.

 

[Blackhammer]

Thiam has shown absolutely nothing in his limited minutes. But it’s important to have practice players and some depth. Who knows guys have improved and figured it out before.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Maverick sucked.

His JR and SR seasons he was getting 10 minutes per game, shooting 39% from 3 and playing average defense. By advanced stats and looking at per 40 numbers, he was better (or close) to Loewe.

Now, I don't think he was a better player than Loewe by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just saying that he worked himself into being a playable depth player.

 

[GopherJake]

His JR and SR seasons he was getting 10 minutes per game, shooting 39% from 3 and playing average defense. By advanced stats and looking at per 40 numbers, he was better (or close) to Loewe.

Now, I don't think he was a better player than Loewe by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just saying that he worked himself into being a playable depth player.

Uh huh. He sucked. Turnover machine. That’s why he didn’t play. Even though we were desperate.

 

[USAF]

Good lord. Barrister calling Ahanmisi good.

Good lord I pity anyone hiring this tool as their lawyer.

 

[Some guy]

His JR and SR seasons he was getting 10 minutes per game, shooting 39% from 3 and playing average defense. By advanced stats and looking at per 40 numbers, he was better (or close) to Loewe.

Now, I don't think he was a better player than Loewe by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just saying that he worked himself into being a playable depth player.

His senior year he appeared in only 11/18 big ten games. So yeah he averaged 10 minutes per game in the games he played. In big ten play he averaged 3.3 minutes per game of the big ten season if you count the 7 he never left the bench as a 0 instead of an NA

 

[bga1]

I thought there was a very decent chance Thiam would leave. He went to a year of JUCO already so he will be 3 years removed from HS this fall, couldn't sniff the floor here even when we desperately needed a guard to come in and just give us 5-10 minutes here or there. Now he will have several talented freshmen and grad transfers in front of him for playing time. It is exceedingly rare in program history for a player to play in as few games as he did and ever contribute to our team later in their career. He is from Orlando, maybe going back to a Florida Gulf Coast or FIU would suit him well.

I'm guessing Ben did not want to recruit 5 grad transfers again, at some point it's just extra work on his plate to sign up a 5th guy who you can't promise playing time to. So he will give Thiam a chance to develop and improve. He did look quick, let's hope he can become a shutdown defender and gets some of that shooting stroke back from JUCO.

Thiam is quick and he’s a guard. We need guard depth. I hope he makes big strides in the off-season and can provide depth.

 

[Spottedmuskie]

We're so bored that we had to go back and remember legendary Gopher guard Maverick Ahamsi's career. I really hope he gets his number hanging in the rafters this season. Long over due

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Ha! A lot of blabber mouths promised Thiam and TT would be in the portal

Or

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Good lord. Barrister calling Ahanmisi good.

Good lord I pity anyone hiring this tool as their lawyer.

I thought you had me on ignore?

Do you wish you could quit me as easy you quit your job? I guess it's easy for you to keep living off the hard work of much better men. Get a job, you wouldn't hate yourself so much.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

We're so bored that we had to go back and remember legendary Gopher guard Maverick Ahamsi's career. I really hope he gets his number hanging in the rafters this season. Long over due

Who said he was legendary? I said he turned himself into an ok depth player. He is a player who was statistically better than Loewe on a much better team.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

His senior year he appeared in only 11/18 big ten games. So yeah he averaged 10 minutes per game in the games he played. In big ten play he averaged 3.3 minutes per game of the big ten season if you count the 7 he never left the bench as a 0 instead of an NA

Neat. You're arguing that I think he was good. I think he turned himself into decent depth that could help us in a pinch (what I'm hoping out of Thiam). A pinch, like when your starting PG gets hurt, and you need to play ~15-20 minutes per game in the Big 10 conference tournament and championship game NIT run, you know, like Mav.

When his numbers in the Big 10 tournament through the NIT were 50% FG, 38% 3PT, 9 PPG. Again, no one is arguing the guy was good. No one. So if you're going to come back with comparisons to good players, you're missing my point. You should be comparing Mav to other backups who could NEVER see the court (this year, last year, etc.).

All I'm saying is that Mav turned himself into a an end of the bench depth piece that brought value to the program. I know this isn't coming from you, but this board has a very odd snobbery when it comes to depth players (laughing at the idea of adding someone like Carlson, hissy fits about other players). That's so odd to me from a program where we literally can't give scholarships away. We have to play 5 players in a game and we constantly lead the nation in minutes played.

PS: His JR season he played 10 MPG throughout the Big 10, conference tournament and NCAA tournament. He shot 35% from 3. This includes when he played 21 minutes in our upset of #1 ranked Indiana.

We currently have a basketball program that finished last in the Big 10 and only played 5 guys in their Big 10 tournament game. This is coming off a previous year where also never played our bench. Yet, it's laughable that I hope that Thiam can work himself into a playable type of player. A guy who can, in a small way, help a bad team get a little better (much less a good team go on an NCAA tournament run like Mav).

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Uh huh. He sucked. Turnover machine. That’s why he didn’t play. Even though we were desperate.

He did play. He played on a much much much better team. A significantly less desperate team than we were the last two seasons. He averaged 10 minutes per game on an NCAA tournament team. He played 21 minutes when we beat #1 ranked Indiana. He played ~10 mpg during our NIT run his senior season.

We just saw our last place Big 10 team play 5 total guys in the Big 10 tournament and you thought those teams were desperate? Hot take.

 

[Some guy]

Neat. You're arguing that I think he was good. I think he turned himself into decent depth that could help us in a pinch (what I'm hoping out of Thiam). A pinch, like when your starting PG gets hurt, and you need to play ~15-20 minutes per game in the Big 10 conference tournament and championship game NIT run, you know, like Mav.

When his numbers in the Big 10 tournament through the NIT were 50% FG, 38% 3PT, 9 PPG. Again, no one is arguing the guy was good. No one. So if you're going to come back with comparisons to good players, you're missing my point. You should be comparing Mav to other backups who could NEVER see the court (this year, last year, etc.).

All I'm saying is that Mav turned himself into a an end of the bench depth piece that brought value to the program. I know this isn't coming from you, but this board has a very odd snobbery when it comes to depth players (laughing at the idea of adding someone like Carlson, hissy fits about other players). That's so odd to me from a program where we literally can't give scholarships away. We have to play 5 players in a game and we constantly lead the nation in minutes played.

PS: His JR season he played 10 MPG throughout the Big 10, conference tournament and NCAA tournament. He shot 35% from 3. This includes when he played 21 minutes in our upset of #1 ranked Indiana.

We currently have a basketball program that finished last in the Big 10 and only played 5 guys in their Big 10 tournament game. This is coming off a previous year where also never played our bench. Yet, it's laughable that I hope that Thiam can work himself into a playable type of player. A guy who can, in a small way, help a bad team get a little better (much less a good team go on an NCAA tournament run like Mav).

I didn’t make a player comparison to Mav at all. Nor do I care if you think he was a good bench player. I just gave some real life things that were accurate to give some context to your statement for people whose memories of Mav were hazy.

He did play minutes when called upon

 

[GopherPete]

Good lord. Barrister calling Ahanmisi good.

Good lord I pity anyone hiring this tool as their lawyer.

Well technically the court would view that person as incompetent, would they be wrong?

 

[short ornery norwegian]

the Mav discussion gets back to this weird notion that - if you are not a star player, then you must be garbage.

there is still room in the world for players who are not great - not stars - but are capable of providing depth.

I went and looked up Mav's college stats. For his career, he averaged roughly 3 points and 1 rebound a game - and less than 1 turnover a game.

as of last year, he was still playing in some pro basketball league in the Phillippines. He even got traded to another team for a player and a 1st-round draft pick.