How good is Isaiah Ihnen?

[TonyLiebert]

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Incredible athlete, who will make money playing professionally in the future.

He is a capable wing despite lots of noise he couldn’t shoot, wasn’t mobile enough to do so - this was based on his limited playing as a Freshman.

Amazingly, CBJ knows more than Gopherhole basketball intelligentsia.

 

[Holy Man]

Amazingly, CBJ knows more than Gopherhole basketball intelligentsia.

Hey, wait a minute. I’m not giving up my card to the hole intelligentsia!

 

[Off-GridTNgopher]

One good game.... Against a inferior opponent.. let's see how he does against real competition once the B1G starts. But definitely much more from him so far than I was expecting

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Ben’s roommate had a great game!

 

[Formerswish]

One good game.... Against a inferior opponent.. let's see how he does against real competition once the B1G starts. But definitely much more from him so far than I was expecting

It's certainly true that this was an inferior opponent, and Ihnen has a lot more to prove. But at least so far he's been able to show he can still move and can get off the floor after his 2 surgeries. His ability to rebound and play defense (assuming he stays healthy) will provide a huge lift for this team. There just aren't that many 6'10 guys around who are that long and can defend multiple positions. And while he may never have a perfect game shooting like he did last night, the guy can shoot it-and if he can show he can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket more often, that will add to his value.

To all of those on this board who claimed he was terrible and wouldn't add anything to this team after his surgeries and his first couple of years, I hope you were watching last night. Your evaluation of talent may need a bit of sprucing up..

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

One good game.... Against an inferior opponent.. let's see how he does against real competition once the B1G starts. But definitely much more from him so far than I was expecting

Can you go off off the grid?

 

[Tucker32]

He’s talented. Those people who were writing him off based on the year under Pitino simply don’t know basketball. The talent to be a solid Big Ten player was obvious, and the poor use of that talent was also obvious. Will be fun to see what he can do.

 

[60's Guy]

One of my posts touting the potential of Ihnen. This from April:

 

[jovs]

He’s talented. Those people who were writing him off based on the year under Pitino simply don’t know basketball. The talent to be a solid Big Ten player was obvious, and the poor use of that talent was also obvious. Will be fun to see what he can do.

He's lost a bit of his athleticism, he doesn't elevate much but at 6'10" not sure it matters that much. He moves well though, still can run the floor, plays tough defense, and has been shooting lights out, for a guy with knee injuries I would say incredible, same with Fox.

 

[Dakota2]

One good game.... Against an inferior opponent.. let's see how he does against real competition once the B1G starts. But definitely much more from him so far than I was expecting

Who was considered the inferior opponent?

 

[bc2211]

It's certainly true that this was an inferior opponent, and Ihnen has a lot more to prove. But at least so far he's been able to show he can still move and can get off the floor after his 2 surgeries. His ability to rebound and play defense (assuming he stays healthy) will provide a huge lift for this team. There just aren't that many 6'10 guys around who are that long and can defend multiple positions. And while he may never have a perfect game shooting like he did last night, the guy can shoot it-and if he can show he can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket more often, that will add to his value.

To all of those on this board who claimed he was terrible and wouldn't add anything to this team after his surgeries and his first couple of years, I hope you were watching last night. Your evaluation of talent may need a bit of sprucing up..

The dude is already halfway (6) to his sophomore total made 3s (13), which he spread out over 29 games. He came in as a shooter but simply did not perform under Pitino. He started to turn a corner near the end of the sophomore year; when he added a little pull up to his game, but he had not made any substantial gains. If he’s found his shot, that is a huge addition to this gopher team.

We all also just watched another player gut it out after back to back ACLs. He was the heart and soul but half the physical player he was as a freshman. What Fox and Inhen have done so far has been remarkable from a recovery standpoint.

But Big Ten play is going to be a whole nother animal. I’m happy for Inhen, but not anywhere near ready to take a victory lap. For the first time in his career, he’ll be on the scouting report.

 

[bga1]

It's certainly true that this was an inferior opponent, and Ihnen has a lot more to prove. But at least so far he's been able to show he can still move and can get off the floor after his 2 surgeries. His ability to rebound and play defense (assuming he stays healthy) will provide a huge lift for this team. There just aren't that many 6'10 guys around who are that long and can defend multiple positions. And while he may never have a perfect game shooting like he did last night, the guy can shoot it-and if he can show he can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket more often, that will add to his value.

To all of those on this board who claimed he was terrible and wouldn't add anything to this team after his surgeries and his first couple of years, I hope you were watching last night. Your evaluation of talent may need a bit of sprucing up..

Ihnen can defend and he can get hot from 3pt range- time will tell if he adds consistency. If he does, that's a fantastic weapon as a 6-9 guy can get a perimeter shot off any time if things break down. What I liked last night was that he made himself a threat to drive to the hole- a huge missing piece to his game in the past that made him one dimensional.
You are right, he can defend against guards or forwards and that's valuable.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

One of my posts touting the potential of Ihnen. This from April:View attachment 28194

You got this one right

 

[Bad Gopher]

Incredible athlete, who will make money playing professionally in the future.

He is a capable wing despite lots of noise he couldn’t shoot, wasn’t mobile enough to do so - this was based on his limited playing as a Freshman.

Amazingly, CBJ knows more than Gopherhole basketball intelligentsia.

My thoughts, too. If he doesn't end up playing professionally, I'll eat my hat.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Ihnen can defend and he can get hot from 3pt range- time will tell if he adds consistency. If he does, that's a fantastic weapon as a 6-9 guy can get a perimeter shot off any time if things break down. What I liked last night was that he made himself a threat to drive to the hole- a huge missing piece to his game in the past that made him one dimensional.
You are right, he can defend against guards or forwards and that's valuable.

I know, it was against UTSA, but that layup he had was a nice piece of basketball. His length really showed on that play.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I really like Ihnen as a post player who can shoot. He looks really good so far.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

I really like Ihnen as a post player who can shoot. He looks really good so far.

He’s got those darn long arms which are most obvious when he’s in a defensive stance.

 

[howeda7]

One good game.... Against a inferior opponent.. let's see how he does against real competition once the B1G starts. But definitely much more from him so far than I was expecting

+1. Even Isaiah Ihnen can't really answer this question yet

 

[Holy Man]

One of my posts touting the potential of Ihnen. This from April:View attachment 28194

Brilliant! Thanks for reminding us!

 

[Holy Man]

For all of us doubters, I don’t think we thought he was “terrible.” The issue was coming back after two consecutive season ending injuries. That’s a tough thing to do, and if he stays healthy and continues to contribute, more power to him. We’ll all be happy for him. He’ll have earned it.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Ihnen can defend and he can get hot from 3pt range- time will tell if he adds consistency. If he does, that's a fantastic weapon as a 6-9 guy can get a perimeter shot off any time if things break down. What I liked last night was that he made himself a threat to drive to the hole- a huge missing piece to his game in the past that made him one dimensional.
You are right, he can defend against guards or forwards and that's valuable.

I really hope he is spending his time guarding post players. He is big bodied athletic guy who would be invaluable on defense with his ability to switch on pick and rolls, defend the post and rebound. Let’s not have him chasing wings all over the court and neutralize the advantage his athleticism affords us.

 

[MNVCGUY]

For all of us doubters, I don’t think we thought he was “terrible.” The issue was coming back after two consecutive season ending injuries. That’s a tough thing to do, and if he stays healthy and continues to contribute, more power to him. We’ll all be happy for him. He’ll have earned it.

Having doubts was 100% understandable....but it was weird how many had made up their mind that Ihnen and Fox had no shot of contributing and were just going to be wasted scholarships.

Love the fact that both are playing and looking ready to be productive parts of the rotation this year. How good they will be remains to be seen but I never understood those that just totally gave up on them.

 

[bga1]

I really hope he is spending his time guarding post players. He is big bodied athletic guy who would be invaluable on defense with his ability to switch on pick and rolls, defend the post and rebound. Let’s not have him chasing wings all over the court and neutralize the advantage his athleticism affords us.

You may be right. If Payne plays 30 and Garcia plays 30, maybe that gives Ihnen 20 minutes backing them up at the 5 and 4. You aren't going to like the idea but I think he will do great against 3s as well. If the guy who can burn us at the end of a game is a wing, don't be surprised if Ihnen is assigned to that guy. Much tougher to get off a dagger 3 against a 6-9 player like Ihnen.

 

[60's Guy]

I really hope he is spending his time guarding post players. He is big bodied athletic guy who would be invaluable on defense with his ability to switch on pick and rolls, defend the post and rebound. Let’s not have him chasing wings all over the court and neutralize the advantage his athleticism affords us.

We only have a couple of looks so far but when we play man we don't have a defender who can shut down the other teams best offensive player. The Macalester guard kid went off on everybody but Ihnen. The Bethune Cookman wing who started to take over also got shut down by Ihnen.

Ihnen is our best perimeter defender to keep somebody from scoring.
I agree he'll probably be our best post defender as well, but you can't ignore inside is not where Ihnen wants to play and not who he thinks he is. Put him there exclusively and he'll disappear over time.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

You may be right. If Payne plays 30 and Garcia plays 30, maybe that gives Ihnen 20 minutes backing them up at the 5 and 4. You aren't going to like the idea but I think he will do great against 3s as well. If the guy who can burn us at the end of a game is a wing, don't be surprised if Ihnen is assigned to that guy. Much tougher to get off a dagger 3 against a 6-9 player like Ihnen.

If Payne and Garcia play 30, I don't mind Ihnen getting 5-10 minutes per game at the 3, but that's out of pure necessity but that would mean the bulk - majority of his minutes would be at the post.

I don't mind if he is guarding anyone at the end of a game. I still think you'd want him on the best post offensive player to take away the PNR. But if they have a guy who is going to go ISO and play hero ball, I don't mind Ihnen guarding anyone in that situation. It's an example of how his versatility is a major luxury in SPOTS, but we shouldn't take him out of what he does best.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

We only have a couple of looks so far but when we play man we don't have a defender who can shut down the other teams best offensive player. The Macalester guard kid went off on everybody but Ihnen. The Bethune Cookman wing who started to take over also got shut down by Ihnen.

Ihnen is our best perimeter defender to keep somebody from scoring.
I agree he'll probably be our best post defender as well, but you can't ignore inside is not where Ihnen wants to play and not who he thinks he is. Put him there exclusively and he'll disappear over time.

He'll disappear? The guy is a really good interior defender who can switch on pick and rolls. He's just as likely to disappear guarding a wing as he is a 4.

 

[bc2211]

Having doubts was 100% understandable....but it was weird how many had made up their mind that Ihnen and Fox had no shot of contributing and were just going to be wasted scholarships.

Love the fact that both are playing and looking ready to be productive parts of the rotation this year. How good they will be remains to be seen but I never understood those that just totally gave up on them.

I think a lot of this perceived certainty was a response to rockraven and a handful of others that had penciled them in as all big ten forwards before they were cleared to practice.

 

[60's Guy]

He'll disappear? The guy is a really good interior defender who can switch on pick and rolls. He's just as likely to disappear guarding a wing as he is a 4.

Mentally....uninspired. No fun etc. He wants no part of banging. Check out.
He sees himself as a point guard. Talked about as a freshman and after the first ACL how Pitino did him wrong moving him inside.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Mentally....uninspired. No fun etc

Then that's on him. If playing his best position, in the middle of action, the position he will eventually get paid money to play, doesn't inspire him. Then he's a head case and will need to learn this lesson anyway.