Neal: Moving forward with Ben Johnson is the only option for Gophers men’s basketball

Donate To GopherHole
gophereric30 said:
We all have our opinions on whether Ben recently has saved his job or not. I would think he will be let go. After a sweep in LA people thought he would be back, but i have to believe if we lose tonight that will put to rest the possibility of him coming back. It will make it a done deal.
Click to expand...
NW is riddled with injuries. No way Mn loses tonight.
 













What will be the rhetorical message that the "non-existant" pro-Ben media cabal will be spouting tomorrow?
 

Ewert86PC said:
What will be the rhetorical message that the "non-existant" pro-Ben media cabal will be spouting tomorrow?
Click to expand...
Marcus didn’t wait til tomorrow, he says we should be patient like NW was with Collins and they were rewarded with two straight NCAA appearances, in his article about the game tonight. Sorry but he needs to be fired and the sooner the better for all involved.
 

Outsider said:
Marcus didn’t wait til tomorrow, he says we should be patient like NW was with Collins and they were rewarded with two straight NCAA appearances, in his article about the game tonight. Sorry but he needs to be fired and the sooner the better for all involved.
Click to expand...
Unless Marcus is buying several high-caliber players that we are unaware of, he needs to shut his yap. This is putrid, and that is being generous.
 



Outsider said:
Marcus didn’t wait til tomorrow, he says we should be patient like NW was with Collins and they were rewarded with two straight NCAA appearances, in his article about the game tonight. Sorry but he needs to be fired and the sooner the better for all involved.
Click to expand...
Of course they also made the tournament in Collins 4th season.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Of course they also made the tournament in Collins 4th season.
Click to expand...
Yes but then they had 5 putrid ones and that’s the just of Marcus's line. There is no semblance of any offense, the defense is horrid and guys die on the bench when they should try anything to light a spark. He needs to be gone now!
 


gopherdudepart2 said:
This take by Lavelle E Neal didn't age well.
Click to expand...
I'm sure he'd double down on the idea that running this back for a fifth year is still the only possible answer. Arrogant people are that way, and he's not just an arrogant prick but a no-talent, fat fuck. As much business as we gave Myron when he started this beat with only rudimentary writing skills, at least that dude has developed into a competent writer with enough valid insights to legitimately hold a job. Neal is more of a disaster as a columnist than Johnson is as a coach, and that's saying something.

Neal doesn't give a shit about the health of the program or the plight of its dwindling fanbase or the precariousness of the financial base of the athletic department due to the failure of one of its revenue sports. He just eats and eats and eats and shits out sports dreck.
 

Outsider said:
Marcus didn’t wait til tomorrow, he says we should be patient like NW was with Collins and they were rewarded with two straight NCAA appearances, in his article about the game tonight. Sorry but he needs to be fired and the sooner the better for all involved.
Click to expand...
Marcus or Ben?
 




Bad Gopher said:
I'm sure he'd double down on the idea that running this back for a fifth year is still the only possible answer. Arrogant people are that way, and he's not just an arrogant prick but a no-talent, fat fuck. As much business as we gave Myron when he started this beat with only rudimentary writing skills, at least that dude has developed into a competent writer with enough valid insights to legitimately hold a job. Neal is more of a disaster as a columnist than Johnson is as a coach, and that's saying something.

Neal doesn't give a shit about the health of the program or the plight of its dwindling fanbase or the precariousness of the financial base of the athletic department due to the failure of one of its revenue sports. He just eats and eats and eats and shits out sports dreck.
Click to expand...
This might be my favorite post I've ever read on here. :clap:
 




Lack of NIL dollars is a major hurdle that won’t be rectified by hiring a new coach. Any replacements will see that as a barrier unless they are coming from a mid major with less NIL. That’s also why they lost Payne and Hawkins, and were unable to replace them with equally as talented players. Also a new coach would likely need to be paid more than Johnson, and Johnson has a buyout that I think is around $2.9 million. I don’t think this athletic department will pay a buyout that large, at least not yet.
 

Bobek said:
Lack of NIL dollars is a major hurdle that won’t be rectified by hiring a new coach. Any replacements will see that as a barrier unless they are coming from a mid major with less NIL. That’s also why they lost Payne and Hawkins, and were unable to replace them with equally as talented players. Also a new coach would likely need to be paid more than Johnson, and Johnson has a buyout that I think is around $2.9 million. I don’t think this athletic department will pay a buyout that large, at least not yet.
Click to expand...
$2.9 million is a tiny buyout. If that's a reason to keep the worst coach in team history, drop out of the B1G and fold the program.
 

Bobek said:
Lack of NIL dollars is a major hurdle that won’t be rectified by hiring a new coach. Any replacements will see that as a barrier unless they are coming from a mid major with less NIL. That’s also why they lost Payne and Hawkins, and were unable to replace them with equally as talented players. Also a new coach would likely need to be paid more than Johnson, and Johnson has a buyout that I think is around $2.9 million. I don’t think this athletic department will pay a buyout that large, at least not yet.
Click to expand...
Maybe. What is guaranteed is keeping a terrible coach won’t rectify the lack of NIL dollars.
 

Bobek said:
Lack of NIL dollars is a major hurdle that won’t be rectified by hiring a new coach. Any replacements will see that as a barrier unless they are coming from a mid major with less NIL. That’s also why they lost Payne and Hawkins, and were unable to replace them with equally as talented players. Also a new coach would likely need to be paid more than Johnson, and Johnson has a buyout that I think is around $2.9 million. I don’t think this athletic department will pay a buyout that large, at least not yet.
Click to expand...
What would you suppose the reasons are that the football program is in better shape with NIL money and player retention than the basketball program? Or is that my imagination?
 

Bobek said:
Lack of NIL dollars is a major hurdle that won’t be rectified by hiring a new coach. Any replacements will see that as a barrier unless they are coming from a mid major with less NIL. That’s also why they lost Payne and Hawkins, and were unable to replace them with equally as talented players. Also a new coach would likely need to be paid more than Johnson, and Johnson has a buyout that I think is around $2.9 million. I don’t think this athletic department will pay a buyout that large, at least not yet.
Click to expand...
Disagree on the buyout part, 2.9 sounds like a ton of money but in terms of buyouts it is peanuts.

As for the rest.....I agree that just hiring a coach won't solve all the issues but it is clear that it isn't working under Johnson so you have to try something else. Hopefully they can find a coach like Fleck who is able to overcome some of the NIL limitations here as compared to some other schools.

Johnson has had multiple chances to build the roster and hasn't been able to build one good enough to compete with the best in the Big Ten or make a NCAA tournament. Next year the roster is basically starting over again, perfect time to bring in a new coach to try something different and see if they can succeed where others have failed.

I'm all for giving coaches time to work things out, it is why I was on board with giving Ben year 4, but after this season it is time to move on.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom