Gophers roster construction-expectations vs. reality

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dlnavra said:
Interesting article in today's Dallas Morning News sports section re: Baylor and Scott Drew. It notes that while he's expecting to lose a lot of talent this year, Drew has "moved away from elite recruits to experienced transfers who can develop in his system." ESPN stats noted that Baylor is just the third NCAA champ since '79 without a McDonald's All-American on the roster. That changes next year w/ 3 top 100 recruits. But closes with "don't discount Drew delving into the transfer portal again. Five of his eight rotation players this season started at another school. . ."

It's been lamented fairly often on this board, but the transfer portal appears here to stay, and while a big mystery what Ben Johnson's actual "system" will be, other than Robbins which will be a huge loss, other coaches have also seen dramatic turnover in their roster, and let's reserve judgement and see what he can do.

I like that he's pulling players from all over, and not fixated on MN ties, although he should benefit with the upcoming strong MN high school class. Obviously a killer if no Robbins or capable replacement(s) via portal. It will turn this season into a Hoiberg Huskers similar couple of years. Btw, see Hoiberg just signed another big man 7' Lithuanian. He now has a top 15 class, so jokes about Huskers aside, Hoiberg is turning corner after some very rough years.
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His approach proves over and over again, there is no uniform baseball or golf swing.
 

ethomasp31 said:
I've said I think we will be better than last year. I think it's mainly the people who have been complaining about the hire who are saying we are are going to stink. We don't even know who will be on the team yet.
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I've tried to remain as optimistic as anyone about this but I have a hard time seeing us being better in the next year. It's going to suck to watch for a year like it did with Fleck in his first season but like in that situation, it becomes easy to recruit. In that, hopefully recruits see the culture that's being established here and the opportunity they'll have to play early and often. That's what I'm holding onto and I think the first two recruiting classes will be telling, not saying he needs a top 20 class but the direction the program is headed will be told by the type of player he attracts. So far I like the transfers from what I've read about them, high BBall IQ kids that just want to come in and work.
 
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cjbfbp said:
It's certainly not impossible that we could be better. Thinking we could stink could be motivated by other impulses than the one you mentioned. I haven't complained much at all about the coaching hire but I'd prefer to set my expectations for the coming year as low as possible.
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I believe as low as possible would be a zero win season, including losing the exhibition games and scrimmage.
 


MennoSota said:
I believe as low as possible would be a zero win season, including losing the exhibition games and scrimmage.
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OK, I guess "as low as possible" was a bit of an overstatement. I'll pick two examples to set general parameters, one recent and one a little older.

I guess if the new coach exceeds Pitino's 8-23 season I will consider that a moral victory.

On the other hand, if he doesn't do better than Iowa State's 2-22 record this season I will consider that very troubling.
 


cjbfbp said:
OK, I guess "as low as possible" was a bit of an overstatement. I'll pick two examples to set general parameters, one recent and one a little older.

I guess if the new coach exceeds Pitino's 8-23 season I will consider that a moral victory.

On the other hand, if he doesn't do better than Iowa State's 2-22 record this season I will consider that very troubling.
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Really? If we go 8-23 you would consider that a success? You do realize we were projected as a 4 seed in January of 2021? Excuse my while I throw up knowing that this BS is a function of tools on this message board and the booster community. Ridiculousness.
 

cjbfbp said:
OK, I guess "as low as possible" was a bit of an overstatement. I'll pick two examples to set general parameters, one recent and one a little older.

I guess if the new coach exceeds Pitino's 8-23 season I will consider that a moral victory.

On the other hand, if he doesn't do better than Iowa State's 2-22 record this season I will consider that very troubling.
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Holy lord. We should be realistic with Ben Johnson, but if our season is anywhere near 8-23 and 2-16 in the Big 10 it is an absolute failure.

It's not the end of the world, I get it's his first season, but going 10-21 should never be acceptable.
 

VolitileGopher said:
Really? If we go 8-23 you would consider that a success? You do realize we were projected as a 4 seed in January of 2021? Excuse my while I throw up knowing that this BS is a function of tools on this message board and the booster community. Ridiculousness.
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How did that January projection end up working out for the squad? Clearly what we had this year was not ever a potential #4 seed and in fact the Big Ten as a whole was also clearly not as good as people thought it was based on the way the conference was demolished in the tournament.

Much as some people have a hard time dealing with it, success in the 21-22 season will not be dictated by wins and loses.
 

It all depends on what the end result is.

If the Gophers win (let's say) 5 or 6 games next year, that seems on surface like a bad year.

But - if that season helps lay the foundation for a program that moves forward and develops into a more consistent program with stronger in-state recruiting, then next year will seem like the first step on a road to success.

Like it or not, there are times when a team takes a step backwards in order to take a bigger step forward. you see that in the pros, when a team tanks to get better draft picks, and those draft picks wind up as the core of a good team. with the new transfer rules, college teams may adopt a similar approach. Just wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. may be tough to watch at first, but could wind up in a better place as the process plays out.
 



VolitileGopher said:
Really? If we go 8-23 you would consider that a success? You do realize we were projected as a 4 seed in January of 2021? Excuse my while I throw up knowing that this BS is a function of tools on this message board and the booster community. Ridiculousness.
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Where did they finish again, I'm having a hard time remembering? I hear Kentucky was a 1 seed in November!
 


short ornery norwegian said:
It all depends on what the end result is.

If the Gophers win (let's say) 5 or 6 games next year, that seems on surface like a bad year.

But - if that season helps lay the foundation for a program that moves forward and develops into a more consistent program with stronger in-state recruiting, then next year will seem like the first step on a road to success.

Like it or not, there are times when a team takes a step backwards in order to take a bigger step forward. you see that in the pros, when a team tanks to get better draft picks, and those draft picks wind up as the core of a good team. with the new transfer rules, college teams may adopt a similar approach. Just wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. may be tough to watch at first, but could wind up in a better place as the process plays out.
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5 or 6 wins total would be unacceptable. I expect the non-conference to be soft outside of ACC/Big East/Mississippi State. They should still be able to go 7-4 or so in the non-conference and hopefully win 3-5 B1G games. I would consider 12 or more wins total to be an A.
 

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