May Roster Construction current take

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Holy Man said:
I'd like to believe that one of Ben's best attributes is confining his recruiting to players who will not have off the court issues. That should be the least of our worries. His ability to get players to gel quickly was a highlight of last year. If that is really a strength, which it needs to be in the brave new world of the portal, we could be in good shape. I'm still not confident enough to be the farm on it, though.
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Neither am I. Just a touch concerned that he might lean a little too heavy to the X & O as opposed to the Jimmy & Joes.
 

bga1 said:
Exactly right! The job of the coach is to recruit talent that will fit the scheme and win more games, not to promise playing time. The job of the player is to win more playing time, by being a factor in winning those games. I wouldn't just take guys but if we can get better guys (doubtful at this point) why wouldn't we?

This is a much better roster than last year. That said- we aren't loaded.
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I am really curious to see what happens with this team in the upcoming season. Last year we had a group that was seriously undermanned in the front court yet managed to compete hard and hang with good teams even though they ultimately came up short most nights.

We may not be loaded but we should have a starting 5 that can match up pretty well with most opponents with some quality bench options. If Ben can get the same kind of effort from this year's group as he was able to get from last year's group we could see a significant improvement across the board.

We know what we are going to get from Battle. There are a lot of unknowns over the rest of the roster but there are also lots of reasons for optimism when it comes to Garcia, Ihnen, Fox and Cooper. All 4 of them should be able to compete at this level at minimum and who knows where it goes from there. Samuels also looks to be a solid piece that was just added.

True freshman are always a crap shoot, but we have some that look like they can play and none will have pressure on them to come in and be a star from day 1. If any of them surprises and plays really well.....it could get really interesting.
 

Holy Man said:
I'd like to believe that one of Ben's best attributes is confining his recruiting to players who will not have off the court issues. That should be the least of our worries. His ability to get players to gel quickly was a highlight of last year. If that is really a strength, which it needs to be in the brave new world of the portal, we could be in good shape. I'm still not confident enough to be the farm on it, though.
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Good post and I am inclined to agree. I know people roll their eyes at "culture" but I think it's a real thing that is extended to making your recruiting desirable.

I also really liked his approach to minimizing turnovers.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I am really curious to see what happens with this team in the upcoming season. Last year we had a group that was seriously undermanned in the front court yet managed to compete hard and hang with good teams even though they ultimately came up short most nights.

We may not be loaded but we should have a starting 5 that can match up pretty well with most opponents with some quality bench options. If Ben can get the same kind of effort from this year's group as he was able to get from last year's group we could see a significant improvement across the board.

We know what we are going to get from Battle. There are a lot of unknowns over the rest of the roster but there are also lots of reasons for optimism when it comes to Garcia, Ihnen, Fox and Cooper. All 4 of them should be able to compete at this level at minimum and who knows where it goes from there. Samuels also looks to be a solid piece that was just added.

True freshman are always a crap shoot, but we have some that look like they can play and none will have pressure on them to come in and be a star from day 1. If any of them surprises and plays really well.....it could get really interesting.
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We have a lot more talent than last year. It's weird because this team, with all the length we now have, is going to be the polar opposite of last years team which was guard heavy. It will be very interesting to see how Ben uses this group on both sides of the ball. How deep he goes with bench time, type of defense they play, who can play where....all of it is up for grabs at this point.
 

Holy Man said:
What about Ihnen at SF/3?
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That would be great too. I haven't see enough to think he can pull it off, but who knows. I will say Gophers are for sure counting on Battle, they'll be happy with what they can get from Ihnen
 



MNVCGUY said:
I am really curious to see what happens with this team in the upcoming season. Last year we had a group that was seriously undermanned in the front court yet managed to compete hard and hang with good teams even though they ultimately came up short most nights.

We may not be loaded but we should have a starting 5 that can match up pretty well with most opponents with some quality bench options. If Ben can get the same kind of effort from this year's group as he was able to get from last year's group we could see a significant improvement across the board.

We know what we are going to get from Battle. There are a lot of unknowns over the rest of the roster but there are also lots of reasons for optimism when it comes to Garcia, Ihnen, Fox and Cooper. All 4 of them should be able to compete at this level at minimum and who knows where it goes from there. Samuels also looks to be a solid piece that was just added.

True freshman are always a crap shoot, but we have some that look like they can play and none will have pressure on them to come in and be a star from day 1. If any of them surprises and plays really well.....it could get really interesting.
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Our most glaring weakness last year was rebounding and interior defense. But we stayed competitive in many games when out rebounded by margins of10-15 boards and giving up an absurd number of second and third chance points.

That all changes with this roster.
 


Dakota2 said:
Our most glaring weakness last year was rebounding and interior defense. But we stayed competitive in many games when out rebounded by margins of10-15 boards and giving up an absurd number of second and third chance points.

That all changes with this roster.
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IMO, Fox is the key for improvement over last year. If he can regain his form and quickness, he should lead the team in boards. Watching Garcia showed he's not strong in the lane but that could change with added strength. My guess is he will guard the 4. Ihnen is the same as Fox and should contribute. Payne looks athletic and certainly should not be a slug in the lane and the other FR seem to be good athletes. Who knows with TT.
 



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