I feel bad for Damien

[What Up Guy]

This is not the senior season he deserved. He's one of my favorite all-time Gophers (I'm mid-20s if you're wondering) and its been great watching him blossom into a great 'all-around player' (as mentioned on EVERY broadcast). He puts his heart and soul into the team and he had to watch this team crumble. Mainly off the court, but too many times in the final seconds as well. Everyone else is pretty much coming back and we'll be reloaded, much more seasoned and wiser, it just sucks Damien won't be here for it.

 

[tjgopher]

I feel bad for Damien

I feel bad for him, too. So many people spell Damian's wrong

Yeah, it'd be nice if he had one more year. He's really developed well.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

It would be nice if he played like he did against Wisky and Ind all year, and the Gophs would be in much better shape. He does try hard and does not bitch too much, and I do like him. He would be a great role player on a quality team.

 

[bankonit]

He'd be a good 6th man or a role player. He just is not good enough to be your go to player.

 

[balds]

caught a good break with Tubby.

I like him too, but it's hard to feel sorry for him. He caught a big break after a 9-22 season. Getting to spend three seasons with Tubby, play in and win some big games, and really develop into a nice player. I wonder how things would have gone for him under 4 years of Monson? He will surely be missed.

 

[bankonit]

I feel bad for you if Damian Johnson is your favorite all-time Gopher

 

[Section201]

bank

I feel bad for you if Damian Johnson is your favorite all-time Gopher

Just a tad on the negative side perhaps?

DJ has accomplished alot in 5 years as a Gopher including graduating and moving on to grad school. I would say he has maximized his hoops potential and was never short of hard work and effort.

He certainly is a Gopher we can all be proud of.

I will most definitely miss him next year.

Damian ===>

 

[Brew_recruit]

He'd be a good 6th man or a role player. He just is not good enough to be your go to player.

wrong. He would start on a 2 or 3 seed team if we had all of our players.

 

[Art Vandelay]

wrong. He would start on a 2 or 3 seed team if we had all of our players.

He will be starting for 2 or 3 seed......in the NIT.

Saying this team would be a 2 or 3 seed in the Big Dance with RW, TM, and AN is about as ridiculous as saying Myron Medcalf will be replacing Andy Katz at ESPN.

 

[rcpratt]

Katz is terrible. But I think I get your point.

 

[Art Vandelay]

How about Jay Bilas?

 

[stocker08]

He will be starting for 2 or 3 seed......in the NIT.

Saying this team would be a 2 or 3 seed in the Big Dance with RW, TM, and AN is about as ridiculous as saying Myron Medcalf will be replacing Andy Katz at ESPN.

It really is not that ridiculous. If you think that those 3 players do not put us over the top in THREE one point losses (all against ranked teams: purdue, michigan state, texas a&m) and help us win a few more against teams we should not have lost to (michigan, indiana, portland, miami, northwestern in ot) then you do not know what you are talking about.

I could see us more realistically as a 3 to 5 seed in the NCAA's if we had our full roster this year.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

It really is not that ridiculous. If you think that those 3 players do not put us over the top in THREE one point losses (all against ranked teams: purdue, michigan state, texas a&m) and help us win a few more against teams we should not have lost to (michigan, indiana, portland, miami, northwestern in ot) then you do not know what you are talking about.

I could see us more realistically as a 3 to 5 seed in the NCAA's if we had our full roster this year.

Maybe, but no one knows how good they would have been playing together. Many variables. The talent level would be higher, but you never know how they would have played together. I wouls tend to agree that Mn is a top 4 big ten team with those players, but we don't have them, so we are NIT bound. Plus, with other players playing, RSIII, DJ, and BH might not have developed the same...

 

[Art Vandelay]

Please tell me what automatically assumes RW and TM would be huge impact players? What has TM done in his well traveled college career that suggests he's the next Blake Griffin? Those 11 games at Marquette where he played garbage minutes? RW was rated highly coming out of high school but so was the other RW and he barely plays. As for AN, they were barely a bubble team WITH him in the line-up.

 

[burton34]

Yikes! Damien as one of your all-time favorites. I feel bad for you... There's one benefit to not being in my 20s anymore, it's that I got to see great players like Willie Burton, Kevin Lynch, Bobby Jackson, Super Q, Sam "Jewish Jordan", etc.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

He will be starting for 2 or 3 seed......in the NIT.

Saying this team would be a 2 or 3 seed in the Big Dance with RW, TM, and AN is about as ridiculous as saying Myron Medcalf will be replacing Andy Katz at ESPN.

I could see a 3 or a 4 seed if those guys were all playing and they never had to deal with those distractions. I'm sure you would have thought we were NIT bound regardless though because that's just how you are.

 

[bankonit]

It really is not that ridiculous. If you think that those 3 players do not put us over the top in THREE one point losses (all against ranked teams: purdue, michigan state, texas a&m) and help us win a few more against teams we should not have lost to (michigan, indiana, portland, miami, northwestern in ot) then you do not know what you are talking about.

I could see us more realistically as a 3 to 5 seed in the NCAA's if we had our full roster this year.

We did have our full roster this year, everybody who was eligible to play, played. Royce and Trevor are about as much a part of this team as you or I.

 

[stocker08]

We did have our full roster this year, everybody who was eligible to play, played. Royce and Trevor are about as much a part of this team as you or I.

Everyone including yourself knew what I meant.

 

[bankonit]

Yikes! Damien as one of your all-time favorites. I feel bad for you... There's one benefit to not being in my 20s anymore, it's that I got to see great players like Willie Burton, Kevin Lynch, Bobby Jackson, Super Q, Sam "Jewish Jordan", etc.

Agreed, and add Voshon Lenard, Randy Carter, Eric Harris, Courtney James, Vincent Grier, Melvin Newbern, Richard Coffey and I was also a fan of Kevin Clark and Rico Tucker even though he was not here long and did not live up to expectations (his vertical was just plain crazy)

 

[goldygo4]

We did have our full roster this year, everybody who was eligible to play, played. Royce and Trevor are about as much a part of this team as you or I.

Dominique Dawson was eligible to play and did not. So even though you were trying to be a smart-ass you were wrong.

 

[macgopher]

Yikes! Damien as one of your all-time favorites. I feel bad for you... There's one benefit to not being in my 20s anymore, it's that I got to see great players like Willie Burton, Kevin Lynch, Bobby Jackson, Super Q, Sam "Jewish Jordan", etc.

Agreed, and add Voshon Lenard, Randy Carter, Eric Harris, Courtney James, Vincent Grier, Melvin Newbern, Richard Coffey and I was also a fan of Kevin Clark and Rico Tucker even though he was not here long and did not live up to expectations (his vertical was just plain crazy)

Can't forget Kevin McHale! 15 points a game, still ranks 2nd all time in scoring. And add 13 years w/Boston, 17,000+ points and 3 NBA titles, 5 NBA finals.

 

[bankonit]

Can't forget Kevin McHale! 15 points a game, still ranks 2nd all time in scoring. And add 13 years w/Boston, 17,000+ points and 3 NBA titles, 5 NBA finals.

McHale, Trent Tucker and Mychael Thompson are givens based on the fact they are legends

 

[Brew_recruit]

Please tell me what automatically assumes RW and TM would be huge impact players? What has TM done in his well traveled college career that suggests he's the next Blake Griffin? Those 11 games at Marquette where he played garbage minutes? RW was rated highly coming out of high school but so was the other RW and he barely plays. As for AN, they were barely a bubble team WITH him in the line-up.

This proves who little you know about basketball. Rodney was always seen as a project prospect who could be molded into a great player, royce was seen as a step on the court and help out right away type player. You are so blinded by your hate of the gophs that you talk out of your ass just to make them seem worse then they are.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Please tell me what automatically assumes RW and TM would be huge impact players? What has TM done in his well traveled college career that suggests he's the next Blake Griffin? Those 11 games at Marquette where he played garbage minutes? RW was rated highly coming out of high school but so was the other RW and he barely plays. As for AN, they were barely a bubble team WITH him in the line-up.

Totally agree with this. While I think the team would be better with them, there is no evidence that they would be large impact players. There was a great post here a month or so ago with the players rated in RW's range, and only 1 of them was having a major impact at Indiana, I forget his name. Most of the players were averaging 4-7 points per game in limited minutes. I think Art is correct on this one. He is not saying the team would not be better, just saying that there is no evidence that either of these guys would have made huge impacts. Until you see them on the court, you can only speculate. As far as Nolen, I think his loss hurt, but we would not have as much scoring. Although personally I think we wouldbe a better team with him on the floor running the press.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

This proves who little you know about basketball. Rodney was always seen as a project prospect who could be molded into a great player, royce was seen as a step on the court and help out right away type player. You are so blinded by your hate of the gophs that you talk out of your ass just to make them seem worse then they are.

No one was saying that about Rodney after 4 or 5 games this year, they were talking about who he should be starting over.

 

[Brew_recruit]

No one was saying that about Rodney after 4 or 5 games this year, they were talking about who he should be starting over.

only idiots were saying that, we were playing sisters of the poor east and sisters of the poor west.

 

[Sour1729]

Agreed, and add Voshon Lenard, Randy Carter, Eric Harris, Courtney James, Vincent Grier, Melvin Newbern, Richard Coffey and I was also a fan of Kevin Clark and Rico Tucker even though he was not here long and did not live up to expectations (his vertical was just plain crazy)

I'm struggling to understand how you look back so fondly on Rico Tucker...putting him above DJ?

 

[andy]

Since when are people's all time "favorite" players supposed to be the "best" players?

 

[underground629]

Wow, your arguments are so exaggerated and out of context it's unbelievable. I guess your argument sounds better when you make that Blake Griffin comparison, right? You made that comparison, nobody else. This is the same exaggerated argument that you made about Trevor not being All-American material like "everyone on here thinks". Trevor was a freshman and injured. He's obviously a more polished player now and you know that he would at least provide us good defense and rebounding.

Are you really comparing Royce to Rodney like you don't know that Rodney was considered extremely raw and rated that high because of potential? You know how much more of a polished player Royce is. I'm sure you really think that Royce would've had a similar impact on the court.

Considering we've lost so many games by only a few points and we're a bubble team right now, can you honestly say that Royce and Trevor wouldn't be the difference in winning a few more in route to making the tournament? I'm sure you'll just ignore this post because of I've exposed the flaws in your arguments, but I guess I'm used to it. Everyone has been fed up with your for so long, yet you never seem to get sick of being the person that everyone hates. Do you piss everyone off this badly in your social life and not take any hints?

Please tell me what automatically assumes RW and TM would be huge impact players? What has TM done in his well traveled college career that suggests he's the next Blake Griffin? Those 11 games at Marquette where he played garbage minutes? RW was rated highly coming out of high school but so was the other RW and he barely plays. As for AN, they were barely a bubble team WITH him in the line-up.

 

[underground629]

Do you think they wouldn't have made enough impact for us to be a sure tournament team? That would likely mean winning one or two games out of the following losses...
5 point loss to Portland
1 point loss to Texas A&M
5 point loss to Miami
7 point loss to Mich St
3 point loss to Indiana in OT
1 point loss to Mich St
8 point loss to Michigan
3 point loss to Northern in OT
1 point loss to Purdue

Whether or not they're "large impact players" may be speculation, but I think it's pretty safe to say that having those two play would've assured us a tournament spot. Can you honestly say you don't think we would've won a few of those close games if they had played?

Totally agree with this. While I think the team would be better with them, there is no evidence that they would be large impact players. There was a great post here a month or so ago with the players rated in RW's range, and only 1 of them was having a major impact at Indiana, I forget his name. Most of the players were averaging 4-7 points per game in limited minutes. I think Art is correct on this one. He is not saying the team would not be better, just saying that there is no evidence that either of these guys would have made huge impacts. Until you see them on the court, you can only speculate. As far as Nolen, I think his loss hurt, but we would not have as much scoring. Although personally I think we wouldbe a better team with him on the floor running the press.