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leib0039 said:
I was one who thought we would get demolished a lot. Despite being 13th in the league I've felt better about the team. The last 9 games will be telling, no more "well they are just better ". We get the NW, PSU, NEB MD of the world. If we win 5-7 of the games I'll be pretty happy. 3-4 will be meh, if we win 2 or less I think those of us who were concerned will be proven right. I hope I'm wrong!
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I agree, but there will be piles of apologists in here if we indeed do drop a bunch of those games against the bottom feeders.

Here is what alot of folks don't seem to understand in here. We will NEVER get top talent in here until they win at a high level. What that means is that it will take superior coaching, culture, etc to win. It looks as if they have a decent chance of getting that from Ben Johnson's staff. In my opinon alot of them losing the last couple weeks has to do with fatigue. They are just so short handed that guys are getting worn down on the season.

The cries of just wait until we get better talent in here, etc. It's not happening until we win, period. That said, the depth can surely change and will help big time should he be able to bring in a few more guys that can play at least at the level of what our starting 5 can.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Iowa would be Q1.

Potentially Northwestern. But losing to us combined with other potential Ls could drop them off quickly.

Gophers NET would still be really poor if they just won the games you suggested.

Mathematically you are correct they havent(and really still are not eliminated) but the chances died long ago. Beating Iowa and both Penn State and NU(competent teams) twice im guessing was like a kenpom 3% odds

I'm just hoping they perform well against these teams and win enough to get into NIT contention.
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Yeah I'm not saying it was likely, but would keep the door open. Exactly, that was the couple that I was referencing. The NET would not have been great but with those wins I do think we maybe pull into the 60s? Not sure how to predict the movement on that tbh.
 

Fleckoff said:
I think we will split with Penn State and Northwestern, beat Nebraska, pick off Indiana on Senior Day, think the boys will get up for that one. Maryland, I'm not sure, it's there last game, Danny Manning's a dead man walking, who knows how they'll come out that day. I could see us sweeping Penn State, but we go at Nebraska on the 9th, home vs Penn State on the 12th at Ohio State on the 15th, at Penn State on the 17th vs NW on the 19th, tough stretch and could have tired legs with our lack of depth, but good warm up for the BTT.
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I like your optimism. I really do not see an easy game on the schedule. I think we'll steal a good win, but a fan base will be disappointed too. Nebraska is going to come at us hard.
 

stocker08 said:
By "talent" I think you are referring to recruiting rankings. But that doesn't always translate. We might not have as much star power....but the Gophers do have a lot of experience....which can go a long ways. Penn State, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Maryland are all very winnable games.
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Recruiting rankings for transfers who are five years out of high school? Hardly. We have a lot of guys from much lower levels of college basketball. They were decent players there, not great. They have the same amount of experience as a couple thousand similar players around the country.

Willis was the only transfer proven to be able to play at this level. Battle was promising and has proved out nicely. Stevens, Loewe, Sutherlin, Daniels, Thiam and some others on the bench would never be on a Big Ten roster other than in this very unusual situation of scrabbling a team together in which we found ourselves. Curry, once an exciting and athletic young player, would not be out there on pure guts and heart in any other circumstance.

We didn't get the talent this year to do more than has been done. But we did get a bunch of fabulous young men who have given all they've got and more. Their legacy will be laying the solid foundation for the Ben Johnson era of Minnesota Gopher basketball.
 


Fleckoff said:
I think we will split with Penn State and Northwestern, beat Nebraska, pick off Indiana on Senior Day, think the boys will get up for that one. Maryland, I'm not sure, it's there last game, Danny Manning's a dead man walking, who knows how they'll come out that day. I could see us sweeping Penn State, but we go at Nebraska on the 9th, home vs Penn State on the 12th at Ohio State on the 15th, at Penn State on the 17th vs NW on the 19th, tough stretch and could have tired legs with our lack of depth, but good warm up for the BTT.
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I agree with you. As others have said....we don't have the "paper" talent as some of the other bottom Big Ten teams. But we've played tough in nearly every game outside of the Illinois and OSU games. Thing is.....a lot of the other bottom Big Ten teams have done the same. There really isn't a trash team in this conference. Even Cornbraska has enough talent to keep them in games against the better teams in the league.

As I said....four wins out of the next nine would be a big accomplishment for Ben Johnson and this Gophers team. It would keep us out of the basement. I think they can win five or six based on the way they've played at time this year.

Regardless....I think Johnson has exceed all expectations so far. His defensive philosophy of pulling guards down to keep interior passes to a minimum has worked at times....but several teams have figured out a way to exploit it. Shouldn't surprise anyone. But we're small near the rim and that's the gamble that needed to be taken.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I know a lot of fans were/are happy about the effort on defense and more movement on offense, relative to Pitino.

But those things do have a cost, in terms of physical exertion. And without much bench depth, well, these guys are human.

Anyone think there could be a factor starting to creep in of the starters are just starting to get ground down? Or not (yet)?
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All true. And good teams know if they concentrate on shutting down our big scorers we are neutered. The whole Iowa plan yesterday was to keep Battle from being a factor. We can expect this the rest of the way.
 

Dakota2 said:
Recruiting rankings for transfers who are five years out of high school? Hardly. We have a lot of guys from much lower levels of college basketball. They were decent players there, not great. They have the same amount of experience as a couple thousand similar players around the country.

Willis was the only transfer proven to be able to play at this level. Battle was promising and has proved out nicely. Stevens, Loewe, Sutherlin, Daniels, Thiam and some others on the bench would never be on a Big Ten roster other than in this very unusual situation of scrabbling a team together in which we found ourselves. Curry, once an exciting and athletic young player, would not be out there on pure guts and heart in any other circumstance.

We didn't get the talent this year to do more than has been done. But we did get a bunch of fabulous young men who have given all they've got and more. Their legacy will be laying the solid foundation for the Ben Johnson era of Minnesota Gopher basketball.
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Willis, Battle, and Loewe have all proven that they can play in the Big Ten. Stephens has his moments. Daniels and Sutherlin are no worse than what other lower Big Ten teams bring off their bench.

I saw the Gophers beat a Rutgers team while missing two of their starters and their sixth man. Did you miss that game? How could this possibly happen? How could a team with no talent beat Michigan? But here we are. MSU needed a tip to beat us. At the Kohl center...the Gophers were tied with the Badgers with less than a few minutes remaining.

We've got a ragtag group of players and Ben Johnson is figuring out a way to keep the team competitive. I really don't know what more you could ask for.
 

Fleckoff said:
I think we will split with Penn State and Northwestern, beat Nebraska, pick off Indiana on Senior Day, think the boys will get up for that one. Maryland, I'm not sure, it's there last game, Danny Manning's a dead man walking, who knows how they'll come out that day. I could see us sweeping Penn State, but we go at Nebraska on the 9th, home vs Penn State on the 12th at Ohio State on the 15th, at Penn State on the 17th vs NW on the 19th, tough stretch and could have tired legs with our lack of depth, but good warm up for the BTT.
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Going to be interesting. We've had the misfortune of playing the top of the league so far this year. Plenty of winnable games remaining on the schedule.
 



Dakota2 said:
Recruiting rankings for transfers who are five years out of high school? Hardly. We have a lot of guys from much lower levels of college basketball. They were decent players there, not great. They have the same amount of experience as a couple thousand similar players around the country.

Willis was the only transfer proven to be able to play at this level. Battle was promising and has proved out nicely. Stevens, Loewe, Sutherlin, Daniels, Thiam and some others on the bench would never be on a Big Ten roster other than in this very unusual situation of scrabbling a team together in which we found ourselves. Curry, once an exciting and athletic young player, would not be out there on pure guts and heart in any other circumstance.

We didn't get the talent this year to do more than has been done. But we did get a bunch of fabulous young men who have given all they've got and more. Their legacy will be laying the solid foundation for the Ben Johnson era of Minnesota Gopher basketball.
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Willis, Battle, Stephens, and Loewe have all proven they can play at this level.
 

stocker08 said:
Willis, Battle, and Loewe have all proven that they can play in the Big Ten. Stephens has his moments. Daniels and Sutherlin are no worse than what other lower Big Ten teams bring off their bench.

I saw the Gophers beat a Rutgers team while missing two of their starters and their sixth man. Did you miss that game? How could this possibly happen? How could a team with no talent beat Michigan? But here we are. MSU needed a tip to beat us. At the Kohl center...the Gophers were tied with the Badgers with less than a few minutes remaining.

We've got a ragtag group of players and Ben Johnson is figuring out a way to keep the team competitive. I really don't know what more you could ask for.
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I agree Johnson has done well and to say these guys wouldn't be on a big ten team is a bit misleading. That said we have guys like 3-9 on a good big 10 team. Willis and battle are good but they aren't #1 options on a big ten champ, Loewe Stephen's curry Sutherlin are good 10-20 min bench guys. That isn't a giant knock its just the truth. Again we have stuck in games but fact is we are 2-9 in conference and probably have the least amount of physical talent. I don't know if it was in this thread or another but the point was made we need more talent to win. I hope Johnson can find that but this year and likely next we just don't have that yet.
 

stocker08 said:
Willis, Battle, and Loewe have all proven that they can play in the Big Ten. Stephens has his moments. Daniels and Sutherlin are no worse than what other lower Big Ten teams bring off their bench.

I saw the Gophers beat a Rutgers team while missing two of their starters and their sixth man. Did you miss that game? How could this possibly happen? How could a team with no talent beat Michigan? But here we are. MSU needed a tip to beat us. At the Kohl center...the Gophers were tied with the Badgers with less than a few minutes remaining.

We've got a ragtag group of players and Ben Johnson is figuring out a way to keep the team competitive. I really don't know what more you could ask for.
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What the hell kind of reading disability do you suffer to say I am asking more? Idiot.
 

leib0039 said:
I agree Johnson has done well and to say these guys wouldn't be on a big ten team is a bit misleading. That said we have guys like 3-9 on a good big 10 team. Willis and battle are good but they aren't #1 options on a big ten champ, Loewe Stephen's curry Sutherlin are good 10-20 min bench guys. That isn't a giant knock its just the truth. Again we have stuck in games but fact is we are 2-9 in conference and probably have the least amount of physical talent. I don't know if it was in this thread or another but the point was made we need more talent to win. I hope Johnson can find that but this year and likely next we just don't have that yet.
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100% agree. Guys are playing beyond expectations....but the cracks are obvious. They play hard and mostly keep competitive....but it's tough when your fifth/sixth guys would probably only see single digit minutes on most teams. We've been lucky to have all-big ten play from Willis and honorable mention stuff from Battle. They have kept this team competitive.
 



Dakota2 said:
What the hell kind of reading disability do you suffer to say I am asking more? Idiot.
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Everyone already knew you were a total moron....but just to refresh everyone's memory:

Dipshit2: "Stevens, Loewe, Sutherlin, Daniels, Thiam and some others on the bench would never be on a Big Ten roster other than in this very unusual situation of scrabbling a team together in which we found ourselves."

A few of those guys would see minutes on other Big Ten teams. And at least get Stephens right before you start calling other people "idiots"....you dumb, fake Gopher fan, chud.
 

It is important to keep the schedule in mind. Every loss has been to a team projected to make the NCAA tournament.

We have played 9 games against B1G teams 1-7 and 2 against teams 8-13. Overall SOS is #11 in the country. Finally it gets easier. Time to win some games. Hopefully they aren't too worn down/discouraged to do so.
 

stocker08 said:
Everyone already knew you were a total moron....but just to refresh everyone's memory:

Dipshit2: "Stevens, Loewe, Sutherlin, Daniels, Thiam and some others on the bench would never be on a Big Ten roster other than in this very unusual situation of scrabbling a team together in which we found ourselves."

A few of those guys would see minutes on other Big Ten teams. And at least get Stephens right before you start calling other people "idiots"....you dumb, fake Gopher fan, chud.
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Blathering karen moron.
 

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