Johnson on walk-on Lincoln Meister: "He’s made guys better because he’s long, he’s crafty, he’s a better athlete than you think. He’s pretty skilled.”

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Per Greder:

“He’s played well and pushed guys (in practice),” Johnson said. “We were sitting there at first, ‘How did this guy not play (much at UMD)? He was at a disadvantage (at 6-foot-9) in Division II because everyone is small, so he’s got no matchup. … He comes here and it’s a much better fit because he’s a true five. He’s been a delight in practice. He’s made guys better because he’s long, he’s crafty, he’s a better athlete than you think. He’s pretty skilled.”

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Um, there are plenty of 6’9” guys in DII. Usually not as skilled as DI players but they are there.
 
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Given his size and our lesser depth in the front court, I did wonder when he joined the team if he might be able to earn some minutes outside of garbage time. Sounds like he might.
 

CentralGopher said:
Um, there are plenty of 6’9” guys in DII. Usually not as skilled as DI players but they are there.
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Absolutely. What an odd thing to say. Some pretty good big men in D-2. And Johnson says the reason he didn’t play much is because no one was as tall as him? Another eye roller from our leader.
 

Johnson and Staff can coach him up.
 





I read the comment as saying - or implying - he struggled on defense when matched up against smaller, quicker players.

so it may not be his height as much as his bulk and apparent lack of foot speed or quickness creating matchup issues when facing smaller opponents. doesn't mean that he can't come in for a few minutes and bang around in the post. if nothing else, it's another big practice body.

(a slightly smaller version of Jack Wilson.....?)
 



Stan said:
Johnson and Staff can coach him up.
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I cannot tell if you are serious?? I have you on the positive side of he gopher ledger.
short ornery norwegian said:
I read the comment as saying - or implying - he struggled on defense when matched up against smaller, quicker players.

so it may not be his height as much as his bulk and apparent lack of foot speed or quickness creating matchup issues when facing smaller opponents. doesn't mean that he can't come in for a few minutes and bang around in the post. if nothing else, it's another big practice body.

(a slightly smaller version of Jack Wilson.....?)
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Oh god. No George burns offense
 

Ben is more familiar with scheduling DIII teams.
IF it were true...play zone, throw him the ball on offense and let him dunk every time. Silly comment by Ben.
 


60's Guy said:
Ben is more familiar with scheduling DIII teams.
IF it were true...play zone, throw him the ball on offense and let him dunk every time. Silly comment by Ben.
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There are some guys 6'9 and above in D2, yes. But not too many. However, the comment Johnson made was clearly that this guy matches up much better with bigger guys and doesn't have the speed to match up with smaller players, as was previously noted by ornery Norwegian.

There seems to be a lot of comments about how ridiculous it is to say there aren't any guys that size in D2-still a lot of energy around "let's show what an idiot Johnson is". Maybe that could be saved for later, I'm sure there will be more opportunities for you. Or maybe this season can be a surprise, and the same kind of comment won't produce much.
 



Formerswish said:
There are some guys 6'9 and above in D2, yes. But not too many. However, the comment Johnson made was clearly that this guy matches up much better with bigger guys and doesn't have the speed to match up with smaller players, as was previously noted by ornery Norwegian.

There seems to be a lot of comments about how ridiculous it is to say there aren't any guys that size in D2-still a lot of energy around "let's show what an idiot Johnson is". Maybe that could be saved for later, I'm sure there will be more opportunities for you. Or maybe this season can be a surprise, and the same kind of comment won't produce much.
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"How did this guy not play much at UMD?" That's how the conversation started...not a fan of bashing coaches unless they start shooting first...which Ben did.
I coached 7 footers in DIII many years ago...haven't followed lately...maybe tall guys don't play basketball anymore?
I just felt he should of talked about how great he thought the player was versus or without bashing the UMD coaching staff and giving his derisive slant to make a point on his version of a DII scouting report.
 


60's Guy said:
"How did this guy not play much at UMD?" That's how the conversation started...not a fan of bashing coaches unless they start shooting first...which Ben did.
I coached 7 footers in DIII many years ago...haven't followed lately...maybe tall guys don't play basketball anymore?
I just felt he should of talked about how great he thought the player was versus or without bashing the UMD coaching staff and giving his derisive slant to make a point on his version of a DII scouting report.
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Sure, you're entitled to your own opinion. He was the tallest kid on the UMD roster-I'm no expert on the current height on DII rosters. I believe Johnson was trying to defend the kid and explain why he wasn't playing much at UMD. I don't think he was trying to criticize DII programs..
 

Formerswish said:
Sure, you're entitled to your own opinion. He was the tallest kid on the UMD roster-I'm no expert on the current height on DII rosters. I believe Johnson was trying to defend the kid and explain why he wasn't playing much at UMD. I don't think he was trying to criticize DII programs..
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Wait, this kid didn’t light up the D2 league? Aww cripes
 


from a strictly anecdotal basis - back when I was at an MIAC school (Augsburg) in the mid-70's, almost every team in the conference had players who were 6'8" or taller. St. Thomas had a 7'4" guy - Bob Rosier - who had a cup of coffee in the NBA. Gustavus had a 6'11" guy (Grunst ?....). the Auggies had multiple guys in the 6'8" to 6'9" range.

but when I watch MIAC games today, teams are starting guys in the post who are maybe 6'6" or 6'7" tops. same with schools in the WIAC. I just checked and MSU-Mankato - a really good D2 program - doesn't have anyone over 6'8". UMD has one 6'9" FR from Edina.

so either there just aren't as many big kids anymore, or they're not playing D3 or D2 - at least not in MN.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
from a strictly anecdotal basis - back when I was at an MIAC school (Augsburg) in the mid-70's, almost every team in the conference had players who were 6'8" or taller. St. Thomas had a 7'4" guy - Bob Rosier - who had a cup of coffee in the NBA. Gustavus had a 6'11" guy (Grunst ?....). the Auggies had multiple guys in the 6'8" to 6'9" range.

but when I watch MIAC games today, teams are starting guys in the post who are maybe 6'6" or 6'7" tops. same with schools in the WIAC. I just checked and MSU-Mankato - a really good D2 program - doesn't have anyone over 6'8". UMD has one 6'9" FR from Edina.

so either there just aren't as many big kids anymore, or they're not playing D3 or D2 - at least not in MN.
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I kind of did the same thing. Don’t think there was any one over 6’7” in the NCAA DII championship game, but could have missed a player. Was going to check out some of the other teams, but got lazy.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
I kind of did the same thing. Don’t think there was any one over 6’7” in the NCAA DII championship game, but could have missed a player. Was going to check out some of the other teams, but got lazy.
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Lazy post 😎
 

So the times they are a changin'...back in the day the MIAC had all kinds of "tall guys".
Shorty and Ray researched the lack of "tall guys" in DII and DIII presently.
Where'd they all go?
Is nutrition that bad? Are there way less "tall guys" that are walking around as 15 to 25 year olds?
Lots of "tall guys" but they don't play high school basketball any more? They play high school hoops but if they can't shoot 3's nobody wants em?
Chet Holmgren is too good...everybody over 6'9 got discouraged and quit?
What's going on?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
from a strictly anecdotal basis - back when I was at an MIAC school (Augsburg) in the mid-70's, almost every team in the conference had players who were 6'8" or taller. St. Thomas had a 7'4" guy - Bob Rosier - who had a cup of coffee in the NBA. Gustavus had a 6'11" guy (Grunst ?....). the Auggies had multiple guys in the 6'8" to 6'9" range.

but when I watch MIAC games today, teams are starting guys in the post who are maybe 6'6" or 6'7" tops. same with schools in the WIAC. I just checked and MSU-Mankato - a really good D2 program - doesn't have anyone over 6'8". UMD has one 6'9" FR from Edina.

so either there just aren't as many big kids anymore, or they're not playing D3 or D2 - at least not in MN.
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My roommate 20 years ago was a D2 All-American. 6’9. Too bad for our guy that everyone has gotten shorter.
 

60's Guy said:
So the times they are a changin'...back in the day the MIAC had all kinds of "tall guys".
Shorty and Ray researched the lack of "tall guys" in DII and DIII presently.
Where'd they all go?
What's going on?
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My hot take is, back when you and SON were in your college days there were considerably less D1 schools.
For instance in 1992-93 season, there were 298 D1 schools and today there are 362 or 363. So, figuring 2 big men a program, just an estimate….you get the idea. Wasn’t able to go back any further than 92-93 from the site I was checking. Also, scouting the players is so much more advanced now, no big players go unnoticed. They get scarfed up by D1 schools. I’m guessing number of scholarships probably higher now also. (Remember, just a hot take.)
 
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fan of Ray Williams said:
My hot take is, back when you and SON were in your college days there were considerably less D1 schools.
For instance in 1992-93 season, there were 298 D1 schools and today there are 362 or 363. So, figuring 2 big men a program, just an estimate….you get the idea. Wasn’t able to go back any further than 92-93 from the site I was checking. Also, scouting the players is so much more advanced now, no big players go unnoticed. They get scarfed up by D1 schools. I’m guessing number of scholarships probably higher now also. (Remember, just a hot take.)
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Certainly a significant contributing factor among likely many changing factors.
 

I know this is a random example and could honestly be more of the exception as opposed to the rule, but do you guys remember Sam Freeman. Back-up post for a couple of seasons with the Gophers? About 6'10 or so. I remember being frustrated watching him, in that I think we saw flashes from time to time that indicated he might have the ability to be better than just decent. As time went on, we realized that; OK, the Big Ten is beyond his level. Wonder if he could become something somewhere else?

He ended up in Stockton, Ca. at University of Pacific. Saw a few of his games and it was the same thing. Some flashes, but nothing consistently good enough to earn minutes.

Last year, he ended up at San Bernadino, which was a Elite Eight Division 2 team. I think he was using his Covid year. Amazingly, he rarely played. Generally 7-8 minutes a game. In watching in person, even at the D-2 level, he had never developed into even an average scoring threat, and defensively, he really wasn't a particularly good rim protector in the paint-got into foul trouble against slashing wings and quicker 4's and 5's. I think there were 3 7-footers in that league last season. One was pretty good with 3-point range. He transferred out to a D-1 program. Another basically got released because he couldn't defend, rebound or run the floor worth a lick and the 3rd is basically an emergency post (10th guy on the bench).

Not saying that is what happened with Meister at the D-2 level, but you see quite a few examples in D-2 of bigger posts struggling with defending athletic 6'7" guys, and losing playing time because of it.
 

With the talk about players going from D2 to P5 with limited success, it reminded me of Alex Illikainen, a top 100 ****national recruit from Grand Rapids who went to the Badgers at UW, flamed out, and transferred to D2 UMD. Coach Justin Wieck was thrilled to have him, but he wasn't great at UMD either. UMD has been good though, making NCAA tournaments and advancing to Elite 8 in '22-'23. So, Meister has been to the most NCAA tournaments of any Gopher. :)

I personally don't think Lincoln Meister is concerned too much about playing time at MN. He is an mechanical engineering student who has a Master's degree, and probably had to transfer to the U to advance his degree. He was injured his freshman year in Duluth and missed the year--likely a "surgical" injury but I don't know. He played a lot the last two seasons, 36 and 33 GP, 15min/gam, rebounded well, scored 5pts/gm, fouled a lot, and made .63% FTs.
 

60's Guy said:
So the times they are a changin'...back in the day the MIAC had all kinds of "tall guys".
Shorty and Ray researched the lack of "tall guys" in DII and DIII presently.
Where'd they all go?
Is nutrition that bad? Are there way less "tall guys" that are walking around as 15 to 25 year olds?
Lots of "tall guys" but they don't play high school basketball any more? They play high school hoops but if they can't shoot 3's nobody wants em?
Chet Holmgren is too good...everybody over 6'9 got discouraged and quit?
What's going on?
Click to expand...
May be more a function of there being a lot more athletic guys in that 6'4"-6'7" range that has made it tougher for the less athletic taller guys to compete at that level. Just a guess on my part as I don't follow D2 basketball at all. Wouldn't shock me if that level was dominated by outside shooting as well as opposed to post play.
 

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