***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

Maybe but they've both indicated they want to come back and it would be a very dick move not to let them after all they've been through. It's not like they're not "focused on school" now.
Again, just an option. Ben could have some frank conversations with them about playing time and such, and that could open up another scholly. Giving someone a path for free education isn't such a bad option for a student. Much better than say trying the portal and not landing anywhere. Focus on school versus pursing an NBA career that isn't going to happen, and get a degree. Not a bad deal...
 
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You guys are hilarious. Nobody on the roster can shoot, Cooper can't play defense, and team basketball IQ is nil, you say, yet you are wringing your hands about where any minutes will come from for five or six additions next year.
Both being bad now and being concerned about minutes distribution next year can be simultaneously true. It’s not a difficult concept. If the new guys are better, they should play. That will come at the returners’ expense because nobody who’s playing is currently leaving. If you’re a returner whose role will be reduced, you look at the portal. And, if the new guys are better, then that’s an acceptable cost of doing business.
 

Maybe but they've both indicated they want to come back and it would be a very dick move not to let them after all they've been through. It's not like they're not "focused on school" now.

Why is that? Fox came here as essentially a grad student. Why is a grad student entitled to 3 years of an athletic scholarship? Next year would be his 7th year of college I believe. Ihnen is a little different. Next year is only his 5th year and he was the only roster player (other than Curry who was brought out of retirement) who agreed to stay. I would say that Johnson owes Ihnen something but Fox nothing. If Fox wants to continue to have subsidized education, then give him a grad assistantship if he qualifies.

I don't know what Johnson will do but I wouldn't give Fox another athletic scholarship year if I were coach.
 

Why is that? Fox came here as essentially a grad student. Why is a grad student entitled to 3 years of an athletic scholarship? Next year would be his 7th year of college I believe. Ihnen is a little different. Next year is only his 5th year and he was the only roster player (other than Curry who was brought out of retirement) who agreed to stay. I would say that Johnson owes Ihnen something but Fox nothing. If Fox wants to continue to have subsidized education, then give him a grad assistantship if he qualifies.

I don't know what Johnson will do but I wouldn't give Fox another athletic scholarship year if I were coach.
Your confident ignorance is impressive.
 

Why is that? Fox came here as essentially a grad student. Why is a grad student entitled to 3 years of an athletic scholarship? Next year would be his 7th year of college I believe. Ihnen is a little different. Next year is only his 5th year and he was the only roster player (other than Curry who was brought out of retirement) who agreed to stay. I would say that Johnson owes Ihnen something but Fox nothing. If Fox wants to continue to have subsidized education, then give him a grad assistantship if he qualifies.

I don't know what Johnson will do but I wouldn't give Fox another athletic scholarship year if I were coach.
For me, with these guys, it's kind of like they got hurt at work. I don't think it's a good look to move on from guys who were injured working for you. I do understand your point and a big part of me agrees with you.
 



Both being bad now and being concerned about minutes distribution next year can be simultaneously true. It’s not a difficult concept. If the new guys are better, they should play. That will come at the returners’ expense because nobody who’s playing is currently leaving. If you’re a returner whose role will be reduced, you look at the portal. And, if the new guys are better, then that’s an acceptable cost of doing business.
It's not a difficult concept if you're a standup comic. Not all young guys who have reduced time due to more talent coming in will jump to portal. Most will dig down and work harder to play. Purdue has bench guys who could play elsewhere, including maybe here. They won't all be in the portal.
 

For me, with these guys, it's kind of like they got hurt at work. I don't think it's a good look to move on from guys who were injured working for you. I do understand your point and a big part of me agrees with you.

I get your point but he wouldn't have gotten more than two years if he had been healthy.
 

Fox and Ihnen are both RS-Jrs. Hoping they both can come back and contribute. Would like to see what Fox can do to help our inside game scoring and rebounding. We don't need any more bigs standing 20 feet from the basket. However, I haven't seen enough from Ihnen in his first two years to think he'll be a consistent SG, that might be wishful dreaming from Ben. We definitely need at least two shooters and a point guard. (We could sure use Luke Loewe right now, far better than Samuels.)
 



It's not a difficult concept if you're a standup comic. Not all young guys who have reduced time due to more talent coming in will jump to portal. Most will dig down and work harder to play. Purdue has bench guys who could play elsewhere, including maybe here. They won't all be in the portal.
Who do you think goes in the portal? Have you not been paying attention to college basketball in the portal era? Players who get recruited over, they enter the portal, probably more than they stay. Happens everywhere.

Your example, Purdue, has exactly one returning player who played before and whose minutes have gone down, Gillis. And he still plays a lot
 

I get your point but he wouldn't have gotten more than two years if he had been healthy.
You are not taking into account how Foxx's rehab is coming. Coaches have seen him in workouts before and in between injuries. They have believed he can contribute. He was a dynamic athlete and I doubt Ben wants to give up on him before knowing for sure he doesn't have ability to play.
 

You guys are hilarious. Nobody on the roster can shoot, Cooper can't play defense, and team basketball IQ is nil, you say, yet you are wringing your hands about where any minutes will come from for five or six additions next year.
Cooper leads the BIG in mpg and Battle is #7. Not a good sign. There will be minutes available for any newbie or player who deserves them. On a team like Purdue, my guess is that Cooper would not be leading the league in mpg nor Battle in the top 10.

Tenure should not a stat to be considered. BJ has to improve the quality of the product and it starts with better talent.
 

I think it’s more important to find a shooter. Cooper is a liability on defense for sure but I think he’s solid running the point if he actually has a guard playing with him that’s a threat to score.
If TT entered the portal now would he be eligible for 3 more years based on his limited playing time this season?
 



Ben needs the following next year:
  • True PG with elite foot speed
  • A highly touted, proven SG transfer
  • Another highly touted SG/CG for good measure
Cooper needs to play off the ball and be relieved of primary ball-handling duties in late-game situations, as he's a total liability on the line. Not to mention he's a liability handling the ball against heavy pressure.

You can win basketball games with raw but talented big men. That'll be our frontcourt next year (sans Garcia). You cannot win games with raw guards.

If Carrington, Henley, Ihnen, or Christe can earn meaningful minutes, I'll be pleasantly surprised and thrilled to see progress. However, if CBJ depends on those four to play impactful roles, next year is likely the end of the CBJ era.
This is almost assuredly not happening. We would need multiple big men to leave. And would require us to beat out a ton of better programs who are actually winning games.
 

You are not taking into account how Foxx's rehab is coming. Coaches have seen him in workouts before and in between injuries. They have believed he can contribute. He was a dynamic athlete and I doubt Ben wants to give up on him before knowing for sure he doesn't have ability to play.
Ben also thought carrington could shoot. Maybe he just can’t evaluate
 

If TT entered the portal now would he be eligible for 3 more years based on his limited playing time this season?
No, he’d have two years. Once you enter a game in basketball you’ve lost your redshirt. Can still get a medical hardship waiver if hurt but that’s not the case with him.
 


Carrington has exactly what to do with Foxx rehabilitating from knee surgery?
CBJ evaluating fox during his rehab. If he thought carrington was a shooter, we should be concerned that he thinks fox will help…he also thinks ihnen is a SG (yikes)
 


It was an opinion, village idiot. How can I be ignorant of my opinion? I said what I would do if I were making the decisions.
Your opinionated, confident, ignorance is impressive, alphabet soup.
 

I saw another strong effort. Played hard through the end. The Battle foul was perplexing. Not sure what he was doing but that was terrible. Still, the team played pretty good D today…just don’t have much O especially when Garcia is out.

As a sidenote, this was one of the best-reffed games I have seen in a long time.
Disagree. Maybe on the perimeter but not in the paint. Garcia had just about every call go against him and Dickinson got all the calls. Dickinson always leans on the defender but never gets called. Hunter lowers his shoulder and no call. Garcia does the same and a foul and he sits for 8 minutes. Game changer. Hunter goes to line for 9 FT's, Reed 2 and Garcia, JOJ zip. 11 fouls called against Garcia, JOJ and Payne and just 3 for Dickinson and Reed all in the paint. The Cooper drive was only overturned by the restriction zone violation and it could have been called either way.
 

Disagree. Maybe on the perimeter but not in the paint. Garcia had just about every call go against him and Dickinson got all the calls. Dickinson always leans on the defender but never gets called. Hunter lowers his shoulder and no call. Garcia does the same and a foul and he sits for 8 minutes. Game changer. Hunter goes to line for 9 FT's, Reed 2 and Garcia, JOJ zip. 11 fouls called against Garcia, JOJ and Payne and just 3 for Dickinson and Reed all in the paint. The Cooper drive was only overturned by the restriction zone violation and it could have been called either way.
There was a play in the first half where Dickinson was near the basket with the ball - I think it was Ola-Joseph defending. He totally got away with a chicken wing move to get around him. I thought it was pretty blatant and they normally call those.

Also, there was one in the second half where it seemed Dickinson just pushed Garcia back out of the play in front of the rim to score that I also could have been whistled. Those are two that stuck out to me.

That said, I have watched far worse officiated games, and didn't think it was bad overall.
 

Man Carrington goes down and Henley only plays 6 minutes?

the guard spot opposite Cooper got 0 points. 5 boards. 3 assists. 0 steals. 0 blocks.

Samuals obviously has a better handle on the game then Henley. But with 12 games left in a lost season i really do hope BJ lets Henley get 15-20 minutes a game the rest of the way.
 

Man Carrington goes down and Henley only plays 6 minutes?

the guard spot opposite Cooper got 0 points. 5 boards. 3 assists. 0 steals. 0 blocks.

Samuals obviously has a better handle on the game then Henley. But with 12 games left in a lost season i really do hope BJ lets Henley get 15-20 minutes a game the rest of the way.
Unreal. If a game like this doesn't drive it into his head about team needs this off season.....
He has just has painted himself into a corner.
 

Unreal. If a game like this doesn't drive it into his head about team needs this off season.....
He has just has painted himself into a corner.
100%. The season is lost. This is a development season and we need to find out what the potential of Henley and Carrington is now and get them playing better.
 

100%. The season is lost. This is a development season and we need to find out what the potential of Henley and Carrington is now and get them playing better.
and hes realized that Cooper isnt a PG so why wouldnt he let Henley get some run there this year so he can find out if Henley can offer some back up PG minutes next year as well. We will have 4 off guards on the roster next year in Cooper, Henley, Carrington, & Christie. in a perfect world for Ben he needs one of them to be able to handle some back up minutes there.
 

We had literally a starting off guard spot for anyone who wanted it and for some reason a Power five school can’t recruit a competent guard Carrington or Henley haven’t give any indication they can play IMO
 

While the knocks on roster construction are true I don’t think it is as critical of an issue as some. I also think BJ said Ihnen was a guard due to lack of depth at that position though.

The way I see it barring any transfers we have 9 F/C players for 3 positions next year. Lots of teams play without a true center so if we have times that we don’t next year that isn’t much of an issue to me especially with the number of guys we have that can step out and hit a long 2 or a 3. 9 is a lot for only 3 positions though so if we see a transfer that will allow BJ to pick up another guard for depth.

Next year we will have 4 guards for 2 positions which most years is adequate but if someone is injured like Carrington this year it forces BJ to play someone that is either not ready or is a big drop off in quality.

That said, we will be ok with no transfers but it would benefit the roster if someone did.
 

Man Carrington goes down and Henley only plays 6 minutes?

the guard spot opposite Cooper got 0 points. 5 boards. 3 assists. 0 steals. 0 blocks.

Samuals obviously has a better handle on the game then Henley. But with 12 games left in a lost season i really do hope BJ lets Henley get 15-20 minutes a game the rest of the way.
It's bad enough Samuels is on the roster.
Actually playing him is incredibly stupid.
 

and hes realized that Cooper isnt a PG so why wouldnt he let Henley get some run there this year so he can find out if Henley can offer some back up PG minutes next year as well. We will have 4 off guards on the roster next year in Cooper, Henley, Carrington, & Christie. in a perfect world for Ben he needs one of them to be able to handle some back up minutes there.

Because Henley isn’t a PG either. Just because a guy can bring the ball up the court every once in a while, doesn’t make him a PG.
 




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