How will we do with our portal additions?

What grade do you expect?

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Full Speed Ahead said:
Add Stony Brook grad transfer Keenan Fitzmorris to our list of portal targets, a 7’0” center who averaged 11.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.0 assist, and 1.1 blocks.

Two other big men who just entered the portal are Kentucky freshman Aaron Bradshaw, and Arizona center Oumar Ballo.

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I was just checking this guy out earlier today. Good shooter. Not much bulk (7'1" and 225 lbs.). Mature, late bloomer. Next year would be his 6th year because he's played in four and sat out a year. Can shoot the 3 a bit. Weak rebounder (only 7.1 per 40 minutes this last season). Had a couple of good games in their conference tournament and was named to the all tournament team.
 


Holy Man said:
We need some inside play. What we have and even upgraded guard and wing play won’t make up for the loss of Payne. He needs to get some bulk to compete in this league. We can’t adopt an out score them approach and succeed.
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I'm sure we'll get someone to play center. But it might well be Jack Wilson II. It will almost certainly be a big downgrade from Payne. So improved guard/bench play will have to offset it or we won't reach the lofty heights we set this year.
 

Zed Key would be a nice add. Gophers don't necessarily need a ton of scoring out of the post.

Not flashy, tough, works hard, would help us on the glass & be a nice complement to Garcia. We can offer him a ton of minutes, and it's not like he'll have all the brand names after him. Seems gettable.

Question is, would he prefer to leave the Big Ten?
 


SelectionSunday said:
Zed Key would be a nice add. Gophers don't necessarily need a ton of scoring out of the post.

Not flashy, tough, works hard, would help us on the glass & be a nice complement to Garcia. We can offer him a ton of minutes, and it's not like he'll have all the brand names after him. Seems gettable.

Question is, would he prefer to leave the Big Ten?
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I like Key but major yikes that we're at the point of hoping that our starting C is the backup C from one of the teams we were ahead of in the standings last year???
 

leib0039 said:
I like Key but major yikes that we're at the point of hoping that our starting C is the backup C from one of the teams we were ahead of in the standings last year???
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Fit is important. He would fit.

And he'd get a lot more minutes than he got last season at OSU. It's not like Key was a stiff there. Holtmann/Diebler went with the younger, much more athletic guy (Okpara), and that's understandable.

Gophers may have finished ahead of the Buckeyes in the standings, but OSU was a lot better (more dangerous) team than the Gophers at the end of the season.
 

leib0039 said:
I like Key but major yikes that we're at the point of hoping that our starting C is the backup C from one of the teams we were ahead of in the standings last year???
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Why are you assuming we know all the players we’re recruiting?

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
 

Key was really good the year before last (averaged double digit points I think) but like it was mentioned, he lost a lot of minutes to Okpara. He's a tough, hard-nosed player and would fit in well with Garcia's finesse style.....
 



Disappointed we have heard no news about Gophers reaching out to Jevon Porter, Danny Wolf, or Brandon Garrison. Have heard a little on Christ Essandoko. If we could get 2 of those 4 along with one more Combo Guard 3 with defense and 3 pt shooting, then I would agree we could be a top 25 team, possibly top 15 team.

CBJ has plenty to sell and if he can't then he is going to make his seat hot in a hurry I am afraid.
 

007gopherfan said:
Disappointed we have heard no news about Gophers reaching out to Jevon Porter, Danny Wolf, or Brandon Garrison. Have heard a little on Christ Essandoko. If we could get 2 of those 4 along with one more Combo Guard 3 with defense and 3 pt shooting, then I would agree we could be a top 25 team, possibly top 15 team.

CBJ has plenty to sell and if he can't then he is going to make his seat hot in a hurry I am afraid.
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Don't know where, but I'm fairly certain I saw that we contacted Wolf. Heard nothing on the others. Trying not to be a pessimist, but If you think we're getting 2 quality bigs AND a top guard who plays D and shoots 3's, I've got a bridge to sell you. Just doesn't seem like we're offering ($$$) what others are.....hope I'm wrong.
 

cheeseheadgophfan said:
Don't know where, but I'm fairly certain I saw that we contacted Wolf. Heard nothing on the others. Trying not to be a pessimist, but If you think we're getting 2 quality bigs AND a top guard who plays D and shoots 3's, I've got a bridge to sell you. Just doesn't seem like we're offering ($$$) what others are.....hope I'm wrong.
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SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE $$$$ we don't have to offer. Look what Caitlin Clark did in Iowa. She isn't getting a lot of her $$$ from Iowa. NIL is name image likeness. You don't think people's NIL ability won't go up if they take MN to a run in the dance. Gophers are returning a solid starting lineup minus C position. Two big centers could definitely lead this team to the dance and possible sweet 16 or more! Maybe those 4 are all about the $$$ and then if they are....well then so be it, but Gophers would be a step up for most of them in a TOP MARKETING BIG TEN. Do they want to be a small blend of top recruits on other teams and non noticeable or be a HUGE PART of team seeking success? It is CBJ's job to sell the vision. There is plenty of parity competing the the NCAA dance each year(why we see upsets). Somepoint Coach needs to step up the game!
 

007gopherfan said:
SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE $$$$ we don't have to offer. Look what Caitlin Clark did in Iowa. She isn't getting a lot of her $$$ from Iowa. NIL is name image likeness.
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She doesn't need to rely on Iowa. She is a bona fide celebrity. She even appears on national TV commercials. Preciously few college basketball players are true celebrities so that's where I think pay-to-play fills in. It's not supposed to be that way but the NCAA seems to be completely lacking in any ability to control what people call NIL.
 



TwistingMyMelon said:
She doesn't need to rely on Iowa. She is a bona fide celebrity. She even appears on national TV commercials. Preciously few college basketball players are true celebrities so that's where I think pay-to-play fills in. It's not supposed to be that way but the NCAA seems to be completely lacking in any ability to control what people call NIL.
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Yeah but if she was on another team likely be the same thing or unless she was mixed in with multiple top recruits, her celebrity may have never happened, but since it stood out with Iowa going to first national championship game is when things really went crazy and she signed all her endorsements. That is what CBJ has to sell.
 

Another example of coaching selling it is Dawn Staley in South Carolina. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Gamecocks_women's_basketball

Took here a little time getting South Carolina back and going but eventually the vision she was selling to recruits, etc caught on and now they are a power house where many recruits want to go. CBJ as a coach has to be able to sell the program if it wants to get any farther. Then he has to backup what he is selling to his players.
 

I have to believe that MN being competitive in the Big Ten, and has first rate facilities are the ancillary selling points. For certain needs, like center/wings can guaranty playing time. Obviously, guys like Mitchell, Hawkins, Garcia have input into what transfers are looking for other than the obvious $$$. We are competing with Berkshire Hathaway/Tyson money. CBJ seems to have cast a fairly wide net in the "officially reached out to" list. That said, of the 823 portal athletes, it does seem like MN would be reaching out to more than 23 players to fill open spots. Probably have. This message board has a lot of Chicken Littles, but we should probably pull an RJ MacReady and just "...wait here a while, see what happens". None of us is in any position to do anything about it anyway.
 

60's Guy said:
South Carolina girls just won the National Championship playing 9 girls every game somewhere between 12 and 17 minutes each minimum. Regular season, close games and NCAA Tournament games....consistent minutes for 9 girls.
I'm telling y'all it is the formula in the present times. Kids want consistent roles, they want to do it as a group/team. Team morale is better and you increase odds people improve over the season and that any of your nine gets hot on a game night.
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Guessing it also helps having a collection of the best players in women's basketball....might not be the best example since few teams have the depth of talent a team like South Carolina almost certainly has. Same reason UCONN's women's team could still be really good with 5 players out with season ending injuries. Few teams have that level of skilled depth.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Guessing it also helps having a collection of the best players in women's basketball....might not be the best example since few teams have the depth of talent a team like South Carolina almost certainly has. Same reason UCONN's women's team could still be really good with 5 players out with season ending injuries. Few teams have that level of skilled depth.
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Thanks...obvious answer is just get the best players and do whatever you want.

My point is Ben wants to play 7 because he can't keep more than that happy. So he fills the roster with guys happy not playing. I believe the best strategy is to get as many good players as you can and play nine. Many would argue you can't do it like South Carolina women and Houston men because the players won't be happy and they'll transfer. That's the point. It can work.

Obviously, coaching helps too. Geno is only going to play 6 or 7 even if he has 15. South Carolina chooses to play 9. There's more to it. But, I like the philosophy of playing 9 for many reasons. Inevitable injuries is another.
 

60's Guy said:
Thanks...obvious answer is just get the best players and do whatever you want.

My point is Ben wants to play 7 because he can't keep more than that happy. So he fills the roster with guys happy not playing. I believe the best strategy is to get as many good players as you can and play nine. Many would argue you can't do it like South Carolina women and Houston men because the players won't be happy and they'll transfer. That's the point. It can work.

Obviously, coaching helps too. Geno is only going to play 6 or 7 even if he has 15. South Carolina chooses to play 9. There's more to it. But, I like the philosophy of playing 9 for many reasons. Inevitable injuries is another.
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I would agree CBJ seems to be very worried about hurt feelings, but that is pointless. Look at the portal, it's full of top guys from top teams, great players on bad teams, bad players, role players etc. At this point you have a kid 1 year, there's no reason to worry about the next year because they could leave for one of 1000000 reasons.
 

60's Guy said:
Thanks...obvious answer is just get the best players and do whatever you want.

My point is Ben wants to play 7 because he can't keep more than that happy. So he fills the roster with guys happy not playing. I believe the best strategy is to get as many good players as you can and play nine. Many would argue you can't do it like South Carolina women and Houston men because the players won't be happy and they'll transfer. That's the point. It can work.

Obviously, coaching helps too. Geno is only going to play 6 or 7 even if he has 15. South Carolina chooses to play 9. There's more to it. But, I like the philosophy of playing 9 for many reasons. Inevitable injuries is another.
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UConn played 7 last night until the very end- but they have some amazing athletes. I think you can do 7 if you have the athletes that can run all night. If you don't have thoroughbreds then you are better off playing more guys for shorter minutes and demand that they are playing hard on both ends. At UConn you might ride the pine behind an all American player but you know that next year they are going to be gone and your chance comes.
 


60's Guy said:
Thanks...obvious answer is just get the best players and do whatever you want.

My point is Ben wants to play 7 because he can't keep more than that happy. So he fills the roster with guys happy not playing. I believe the best strategy is to get as many good players as you can and play nine. Many would argue you can't do it like South Carolina women and Houston men because the players won't be happy and they'll transfer. That's the point. It can work.

Obviously, coaching helps too. Geno is only going to play 6 or 7 even if he has 15. South Carolina chooses to play 9. There's more to it. But, I like the philosophy of playing 9 for many reasons. Inevitable injuries is another.
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This narrative that Ben only wants to play 7 is getting kind of tired.

6 guys averaged over 20 minutes a game - Hawkins, Mitchell, Garcia, Payne, Christie and Carrington

2 more averaged around 15 - JOJ and Fox. Ihnen averaged 11 minutes a game over the course of the season.

So that is 9 guys that played on average at least 10 minutes a game. The bench got shorter over the last part of the season, most likely in part because JOJ checked out which led to his playing time being drastically cut.

The bottom line is that Johnson will play 8-9 guys on a regular basis, when he has the right guys and they are bought in.
 

bga1 said:
UConn played 7 last night until the very end- but they have some amazing athletes. I think you can do 7 if you have the athletes that can run all night. If you don't have thoroughbreds then you are better off playing more guys for shorter minutes and demand that they are playing hard on both ends. At UConn you might ride the pine behind an all American player but you know that next year they are going to be gone and your chance comes.
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The established basketball schools can do it however they want because they got guys sitting on the bench who are good and unlikely to leave in-season and if they transfer...no worries they are easily replaced.
But the lesser schools, the places where programs are not established....the places that attract lesser talent: you play 9 guys and this allows you to develop people throughout the year, it minimizes the importance of injuries because you already have a 9 man rotation....you absorb the loss. When you play 6 or 7, an injury kills you...two injuries...shut it down. Your replacements haven't played...they frustrate the guys who have been playing because the fill-ins don't know how it all works....they have no confidence, they are nervous and uncomfortable.

Play nine and sell the team thing, SELL you are playing harder than the other team because we play 9 and so your defensive intensity is greater than the other team. Don't coast, don't rest on the court and become known by everybody for playing harder fthan the other team...it becomes something you can hang your hat on. People respect you. The sum is definitely greater than the parts and people feel good about it.
 

MNVCGUY said:
This narrative that Ben only wants to play 7 is getting kind of tired.

6 guys averaged over 20 minutes a game - Hawkins, Mitchell, Garcia, Payne, Christie and Carrington

2 more averaged around 15 - JOJ and Fox. Ihnen averaged 11 minutes a game over the course of the season.

So that is 9 guys that played on average at least 10 minutes a game. The bench got shorter over the last part of the season, most likely in part because JOJ checked out which led to his playing time being drastically cut.

The bottom line is that Johnson will play 8-9 guys on a regular basis, when he has the right guys and they are bought in.
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We will just disagree. Ihnen averaged that many minutes because he started the first couple months...then he didn't play. And I'm going by what Ben has said out loud and what he does each conference season. You had guys sit out games to inflate those minutes averages.
Where is the evidence JOJ checked out? He was dressed, on the team and went in the game with a minute to go.
The non conference schedule he could have played 13 guys. It's two different seasons.
 

60's Guy said:
The established basketball schools can do it however they want because they got guys sitting on the bench who are good and unlikely to leave in-season and if they transfer...no worries they are easily replaced.
But the lesser schools, the places where programs are not established....the places that attract lesser talent: you play 9 guys and this allows you to develop people throughout the year, it minimizes the importance of injuries because you already have a 9 man rotation....you absorb the loss. When you play 6 or 7, an injury kills you...two injuries...shut it down. Your replacements haven't played...they frustrate the guys who have been playing because the fill-ins don't know how it all works....they have no confidence, they are nervous and uncomfortable.

Play nine and sell the team thing, SELL you are playing harder than the other team because we play 9 and so your defensive intensity is greater than the other team. Don't coast, don't rest on the court and become known by everybody for playing harder fthan the other team...it becomes something you can hang your hat on. People respect you. The sum is definitely greater than the parts and people feel good about it.
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I love it! This is the way for a team like ours.
 


MNVCGUY said:
This narrative that Ben only wants to play 7 is getting kind of tired.

6 guys averaged over 20 minutes a game - Hawkins, Mitchell, Garcia, Payne, Christie and Carrington

2 more averaged around 15 - JOJ and Fox. Ihnen averaged 11 minutes a game over the course of the season.

So that is 9 guys that played on average at least 10 minutes a game. The bench got shorter over the last part of the season, most likely in part because JOJ checked out which led to his playing time being drastically cut.

The bottom line is that Johnson will play 8-9 guys on a regular basis, when he has the right guys and they are bought in.
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How is that narrative tired when it's the truth? How do you know JOJ wasn't bought in? His minutes were seemingly cut out of nowhere and it stayed that way for the 2nd half of the season. This wasn't a small sample size, BJ basically played 7 players the entire 2nd half of the season.

The last two years BJ's biggest defenders keep saying he has more and more depth, but by the end of the year that is never the truth. He does only want to play 7 regularly and continues to prove that. That doesn't even bother me because a lot of good teams are similar. But let's not pretend that he's suddenly going to go to a 9-10 man rotation. It's not going to happen.
 

60's Guy said:
We will just disagree. Ihnen averaged that many minutes because he started the first couple months...then he didn't play. And I'm going by what Ben has said out loud and what he does each conference season. You had guys sit out games to inflate those minutes averages.
Where is the evidence JOJ checked out? He was dressed, on the team and went in the game with a minute to go.
The non conference schedule he could have played 13 guys. It's two different seasons.
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Even if you take out Ihnen it was an 8 man rotation until the final 10+ games of the year when JOJ's minutes fell off the face of the earth and the rotation became 7.

None of us knows the full reason behind what happened with JOJ but he went from playing 20+ minutes a game to closer to 5 and then he transferred so putting it all together I would guess something happened that caused him to fall out of favor and for his minutes to crater. When he did play he looked lost and did not look good at all.

It is clear Johnson prefers a smaller rotation overall and will never be one to go 10 deep but if he has guys he trusts he has shown he will play 8-9.
 

Let’s get Indiana States, Cream Abdul Jabbar, he just hit the portal! Only a sophomore, 17PPG, 6RPG.
 
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
How is that narrative tired when it's the truth? How do you know JOJ wasn't bought in? His minutes were seemingly cut out of nowhere and it stayed that way for the 2nd half of the season. This wasn't a small sample size, BJ basically played 7 players the entire 2nd half of the season.

The last two years BJ's biggest defenders keep saying he has more and more depth, but by the end of the year that is never the truth. He does only want to play 7 regularly and continues to prove that. That doesn't even bother me because a lot of good teams are similar. But let's not pretend that he's suddenly going to go to a 9-10 man rotation. It's not going to happen.
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Have said I don't know what happened with JOJ but something was going on because you don't just go from 20+ minutes a night to 5 for no reason. What that reason was we won't know but he was dressed and available for most of those games and wasn't playing so something was going on.

I agree that a 9-10 man rotation under Johnson feels pretty unlikely but I still think he would play 8 and has shown that he will over large chunks of a season. Last year the 7 man rotation basically came about in the second half of the Big Ten season so about 2/3 of the way through the entire season and was tied directly to whatever was going on with JOJ.

And this isn't even about defending Johnson. I would have liked to have seen Betts get more minutes than he did and the JOJ situation was odd. I just don't agree with the idea some have that he is trying to play iron man basketball with as few subs as possible.
 

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