Gophers' top-seven next season, but they have PLENTY of options - Tony Liebert

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No games played by the roster yet, of course, but have to give credit where credit is due. Ben has had a much better off season than I anticipated. Dang, I’m almost to the point of, ‘Don’t sleep on Minnesota’.
A far cry from that team in the last game of his first season, where 4 of the starters played 40 minutes and the 5th one played 39 minutes.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
No games played by the roster yet, of course, but have to give credit where credit is due. Ben has had a much better off season than I anticipated. Dang, I’m almost to the point of, ‘Don’t sleep on Minnesota’.
A far cry from that team in the last game of his first season, where 4 of the starters played 40 minutes and the 5th one played 39 minutes.
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Ben has done a good job of assembling this roster. Now he has forced his own hand to become a different kind of coach or at least have a different identity than the team has had under him. The strength of this team is 12 guys that you could argue need decent playing time- assuming Grove is a year away. It also appears that he brought in a bunch of solid defensive players- Rigsby, Odukale and Cochran all carrying that reputation. Can Ben coach a team that will play 10 deep and bust their tails on defense to become a top 50 defensive team? That's what needs to happen, because the talent is fairly level outside of Garcia.
 

Seems like we’re assuming Fox won’t start.

If he’s healthy, he’s easily one of the Gophers’ top 3-4 players. Small ball can include 2 guys who play the same position (also Garcia). They’re both essentially 4s.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Seems like we’re assuming Fox won’t start.

If he’s healthy, he’s easily one of the Gophers’ top 3-4 players. Small ball can include 2 guys who play the same position (also Garcia). They’re both essentially 4s.
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Maybe both 4's, but their shot selection is very different.
 


I agree with Beeg. (something that would never be said on the political board....)

Johnson has acquired what - on the surface - appears to be a fairly deep and balanced roster.

but it all comes down to this: how does he use that roster?

for me, if you have players who are capable of helping the team win, then USE THEM. that means potentially a 10- or 11-player rotation. apply defensive pressure, but use the depth to get guys in and out of the game. then, at the end of the game, instead of guys who are gassed from playing 35+ minutes, you can have relatively fresh bodies on the court to keep up the pressure.

so the rundown:
PG: Patterson, Asuma

SG: M. Mitchell jr, Cochran, Rigsby,

SF: Odukale, Betts

PF: F. Mitchell, Fox

C: Garcia, Edmonds

I want to see all of those players get minutes in every game. depending on the opponent/style/scouting report, playing time will vary for some, but they should all be playing at least some minutes every game. If Johnson is going with a 7- or 8-man rotation and people aren't getting off the bench, then I will be very disappointed.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I agree with Beeg. (something that would never be said on the political board....)
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:ROFLMAO:
short ornery norwegian said:
Johnson has acquired what - on the surface - appears to be a fairly deep and balanced roster.
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Acquired is the correct terminology!
short ornery norwegian said:
but it all comes down to this: how does he use that roster?

for me, if you have players who are capable of helping the team win, then USE THEM. that means potentially a 10- or 11-player rotation. apply defensive pressure, but use the depth to get guys in and out of the game. then, at the end of the game, instead of guys who are gassed from playing 35+ minutes, you can have relatively fresh bodies on the court to keep up the pressure.

so the rundown:
PG: Patterson, Asuma

SG: M. Mitchell jr, Cochran, Rigsby,

SF: Odukale, Betts

PF: F. Mitchell, Fox

C: Garcia, Edmonds

I want to see all of those players get minutes in every game. depending on the opponent/style/scouting report, playing time will vary for some, but they should all be playing at least some minutes every game. If Johnson is going with a 7- or 8-man rotation and people aren't getting off the bench, then I will be very disappointed.
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Good post. The odd man out of your depth chart might have the highest "bucket maker" ability to anyone on the roster not name Garcia....so even Williams could be a surprise situational player or better. Practices will be interesting for sure! There are 6 guys on the roster who are used to playing 30 minutes a game and three more in the 20 minute range at a major college level + Williams at a level down.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I agree with Beeg. (something that would never be said on the political board....)

Johnson has acquired what - on the surface - appears to be a fairly deep and balanced roster.

but it all comes down to this: how does he use that roster?

for me, if you have players who are capable of helping the team win, then USE THEM. that means potentially a 10- or 11-player rotation. apply defensive pressure, but use the depth to get guys in and out of the game. then, at the end of the game, instead of guys who are gassed from playing 35+ minutes, you can have relatively fresh bodies on the court to keep up the pressure.

so the rundown:
PG: Patterson, Asuma

SG: M. Mitchell jr, Cochran, Rigsby,

SF: Odukale, Betts

PF: F. Mitchell, Fox

C: Garcia, Edmonds

I want to see all of those players get minutes in every game. depending on the opponent/style/scouting report, playing time will vary for some, but they should all be playing at least some minutes every game. If Johnson is going with a 7- or 8-man rotation and people aren't getting off the bench, then I will be very disappointed.
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I agree completely with that rotation. There's no way Asuma ISNT in the rotation. I also feel like Caleb Williams will get some run here and there as a three point marksman.
 

Let’s play super duper aggressive and show some get on your jock swag
 









It’ll be an interesting season, for sure. The experience of this veteran team is a valuable asset, and I would assume that all of these guys will be hungry to advance to The Dance. To me, keys will be chemistry, leadership, and avoiding injuries. Mixing in a lot of new personalities from varying backgrounds.

And given that this is the final year of eligibility for 75% of the team, it’s a new rebuild again next year.

I am cautiously optimistic that we break into the upper half of the B1G this year and sneak in the tournament.
 

The front court rotation should be pretty easy with Fox, Mitchell, and Garcia gobbling up a lot of minutes. We’ll see some 4 guard lineups and we will also see the other new big guy a bit.

Backcourt will be tough. I still think Asuma earns a lot of minutes, so Ben has the luxury and burden of putting the other pieces together. I also think Odukale plays a ton of minutes.
 



Garcia is, of course, a given. Then I think Ben goes the “I want my best defender and best rebounder on the court” route. So lots of Frank Mitchell and Cochran with Dawson.
 





Sane24 said:
Are you saying we lack depth at big wing?
I hadn't noticed that before.
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Until "big wing" became your recent obsession, it was not something I gave a lot of thought to. As I've said numerous times, the size of our wings is not something that concerns me in college basketball.

If your question was serious and not just a weird excuse to bring up this bizarre obsession, I think he plays a lot because he is a wing who can be really effective without taking a ton of shots. He is a good defender, he rebounds well, he is a good playmaker. The same can be said about Cochran.

They are good glue guys who can pretty much play in any lineup.
 

Realistically should anyone play more than 30 minutes other than maybe Garcia?

With this type of experience I would think Ben will be pointing at his bench constantly with subs going in and out for 40 minutes.

Someone mentioned it earlier, if he runs a short bench with this team, I believe lots and lots of people will be disappointing with tons of questions as to why.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Until "big wing" became your recent obsession, it was not something I gave a lot of thought to. As I've said numerous times, the size of our wings is not something that concerns me in college basketball.

If your question was serious and not just a weird excuse to bring up this bizarre obsession, I think he plays a lot because he is a wing who can be really effective without taking a ton of shots. He is a good defender, he rebounds well, he is a good playmaker. The same can be said about Cochran.

They are good glue guys who can pretty much play in any lineup.
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Question was a weird excuse, but he will play a lot unless he has legitimate back-up. So, as far as I know NOW, he will probably play a lot.
 

RockChalk said:
Realistically should anyone play more than 30 minutes other than maybe Garcia?

With this type of experience I would think Ben will be pointing at his bench constantly with subs going in and out for 40 minutes.

Someone mentioned it earlier, if he runs a short bench with this team, I believe lots and lots of people will be disappointing with tons of questions as to why.
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And the nice thing is, for the bulk of them this is their last season, so no quitting mid-season, or threatening to transfer.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Garcia is, of course, a given. Then I think Ben goes the “I want my best defender and best rebounder on the court” route. So lots of Frank Mitchell and Cochran with Dawson.
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Odukale's not here to sit, imo. The guy can defend, is our only 3 with any size, and has started 80+ college basketball games in his career.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The front court rotation should be pretty easy with Fox, Mitchell, and Garcia gobbling up a lot of minutes. We’ll see some 4 guard lineups and we will also see the other new big guy a bit.

Backcourt will be tough. I still think Asuma earns a lot of minutes, so Ben has the luxury and burden of putting the other pieces together. I also think Odukale plays a ton of minutes.
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Don't you have to work Edmonds into the rotation too? He's not just a big body, the guy can play.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Don't you have to work Edmonds into the rotation too? He's not just a big body, the guy can play.
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Being the off season, I look at numbers way too much and also post them, annoyingly so, too much. Edmonds rebounding stats are remarkably close to Payne’s. (Different competition of course.) Payne’s total rebounds were 194 in 747 minutes. Edmonds’ were 184 in 710 minutes. Ben did a better job than I suspected he would. (Daniels, Ogele, Wilson, etc.)
Injuries, illness and such has a way of rearing its ugly head, Good to have Trey. No clue on my part how Johnson will handle rotation. Just throwing stuff against the wall.
 

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