***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS SAN FRANCISCO NEUTRAL SITE IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

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Bob_Loblaw said:
I know this talking point infuriates the CBJ apology crew - but he doesn't have a position. He needs to share the court with 3 people who are good with the ball in their hands (guards and wings). We can keep trotting out PFs as wings and it will keep being disastrous. It's why we can't create any spacing. It's why Ihnen completely disappears.

I don't care if it means having to play less talented players more minutes, if I were the coach, I would play 3 of Hawkins, Christie, Carringtin, and Mitchell at all times. I'd surround Payne, Garcia, Ihnen, and JOJ with guys who can shoot and dribble a bit.
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At least I understand your logic in what you are advocating (as opposed to Ben's) and I'd like to offer these tweaks.
I'd like to coach Ihnen....he's playing scared, guiding his shot, standing around tentatively. I'd gas em up and substitute him for Mitchell on the perimeter until he showed me he's a lost cause....Mitchell cannot defend anybody in the Big Ten.
So, I'm adding Fox to the bigs for Ihnen.
I'm posting up Payne....he's not playing 25 feet from the rim.
Im utilizing Garcia's strengths and putting him free throw line top of circle to play with Payne inside
or kick for a three. Mixing stuff up unless it is working every time and there is no reason to change.

JoJ running the baseline for dunks is money. Hawkins penetrating and throwing a lob to Payne is money....do we practice that? Because the pass was waist high, Payne pointed up and Hawkins threw it chest high. Hawkins to Payne on a lob would be money. Easy baskets...we have the talent to create them.

Maybe I get Mitchell some catch and shoot threes from special sets. Maybe we play some zone so he can be out there for offense.

We don't have many guys who look confident or like they are having fun playing. We often look scared...that's coaching.
 

60's Guy said:
At least I understand your logic in what you are advocating and I'd like to offer these tweaks.
I'd like to coach Ihnen....he's playing scared, guiding his shot, standing around tentatively. I'd gas em up and substitute him for Mitchell on the perimeter until he showed me he's a lost cause....Mitchell cannot defend anybody in the Big Ten.
So, I'm adding Fox to the bigs for Ihnen.
I'm posting up Payne....he's not playing 25 feet from the rim.
Im utilizing Garcia's strengths and putting him free throw line top of circle to play with Payne inside
or kick for a three. Mixing stuff up unless it is working every time and there is no reason to change.

JoJ running the baseline for dunks is money. Hawkins penetrating and throwing a lob to Payne is money....do we practice that? Because the pass was waist high, Payne pointed up and Hawkins threw it chest high. Hawkins to Payne on a lob would be money. Easy baskets...we have the talent to create them.

Maybe I get Mitchell some catch and shoot threes from special sets. Maybe we play some zone so he can be out there for offense.

We don't have many guys who look confident or like they are having fun playing. We often look scared...that's coaching.
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It is my opinion that one of the main reasons that Ihnen is playing as tentative as he is playing is that he doesn't not his role. He isn't capable of beating a wing off the dribble (or even an athletic 4). He hasn't shown any ability to handle the basketball. He's no threat. He knows it and it's completely paralyzed him.

Play him with Garcia or Payne and a bunch of guards. He'll get more space and he'll look more confident (IMO).
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It is my opinion that one of the main reasons that Ihnen is playing as tentative as he is playing is that he doesn't not his role. He isn't capable of beating a wing off the dribble (or even an athletic 4). He hasn't shown any ability to handle the basketball. He's no threat. He knows it and it's completely paralyzed him.

Play him with Garcia or Payne and a bunch of guards. He'll get more space and he'll look more confident (IMO).
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He starts with Garcia, Carrington, JOJ, and Hawkins. JOJ is the 3 in that lineup.
I'd start Payne, Garcia, Carrington, Christie and Mitchell at this point and hope Christie learns very fast.
 

bga1 said:
He starts with Garcia, Carrington, JOJ, and Hawkins. JOJ is the 3 in that lineup.
I'd start Payne, Garcia, Carrington, Christie and Mitchell at this point and hope Christie learns very fast.
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I think starting JOJ and Ihnen together doesn't solve the problem because neither of them create any space, can create with the ball in their hands or are any threat from the perimeter. We can call Ihnen the 4 and JOJ the 3 if we'd like, that doesn't really matter to me.

My point is that we need a lineup with 3 players on the floor who are either true guards or wings.
 

How is it possible that every guard on a team can't pass? And only one can shoot.
 



stocker08 said:
Certainly possible. Have to hope that there will be improvements made or this could be another really ugly year.
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So legit question, do you have hope this staff can do that? I'd say 2.25 years has said no, any reason outside of blind Fandom? In the only 2 games that mattered this far our coach has had 0 answers for huge runs.
 

leib0039 said:
So legit question, do you have hope this staff can do that? I'd say 2.25 years has said no, any reason outside of blind Fandom? In the only 2 games that mattered this far our coach has had 0 answers for huge runs.
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I'm not sure what it would be unless we are "saving stuff" for conference play.
I'd say possibly a zone defense but I'm afraid it would just be the the 7-11 variety.
(Hands up...gimme all the money in the till.)
 

leib0039 said:
So legit question, do you have hope this staff can do that? I'd say 2.25 years has said no, any reason outside of blind Fandom? In the only 2 games that mattered this far our coach has had 0 answers for huge runs.
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Both the Missouri and San Francisco coaches coached circles around Ben when it mattered. That's not magically going to get better. Ben is who he is.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
It is my opinion that one of the main reasons that Ihnen is playing as tentative as he is playing is that he doesn't not his role. He isn't capable of beating a wing off the dribble (or even an athletic 4). He hasn't shown any ability to handle the basketball. He's no threat. He knows it and it's completely paralyzed him.

Play him with Garcia or Payne and a bunch of guards. He'll get more space and he'll look more confident (IMO).
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But Ben says he’s one of our best guards! If Ben were smart, and wanted to utilize local basketball connections, he would call Chris Finch and have Ihnen work with Kyle Anderson (SlowMo) of the Timberwolves, who played pg in college at 6’8” - a very slow 6’8”. Why not utilize the local angle. As it stands now, Ihnen shouldn’t play as he just stands there and his wide open corner treys have been eliminated, he can’t guard, and he doesn’t rebound.
 


NO BALL MOVEMENT AT ALL!!

Our transfer guards are not the answer. 4-15 from the 3 point line.

Just not very good basketball. Ben Johnson missed in the transfer portal again. He still cannot recruit guards, or at least his evaluation of talent is not translating.

Hawkins and Mitchell have as many turnovers as assists.

Thorson is//was a great coach....I am not sure defensively what is happening with him...Ben Johnson is ruining this program. His persona and in game coaching ability is BRUTAL at best.
 



Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
But Ben says he’s one of our best guards! If Ben were smart, and wanted to utilize local basketball connections, he would call Chris Finch and have Ihnen work with Kyle Anderson (SlowMo) of the Timberwolves, who played pg in college at 6’8” - a very slow 6’8”. Why not utilize the local angle. As it stands now, Ihnen shouldn’t play as he just stands there and his wide open corner treys have been eliminated, he can’t guard, and he doesn’t rebound.
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Ihnen will play professionally, and he might find himself under capable coaching at that level. I fear he's going to leave here with a bunch of untapped potential.
 

Last night I said: he’s going to get fired. This morning I asked myself- why is he so unwilling to make any changes? He clearly has his players in the wrong scheme for who they are on both ends of the court. Yet no changes and he seems …not worried. The answer feels clear to me- he has been promised 5 years and next year he feels is the year he has the horses.
A few months back I was able to attend a practice with a few others. During the practice he commented that looking at this roster you have to think about next year when they all can return and think how much better they will be. This year is a building block year for him- in his view. And in his view- he is certain that he is right.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Ihnen will play professionally, and he might find himself under capable coaching at that level. I fear he's going to leave here with a bunch of untapped potential.
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That's ok. He can go make his 50-80K playing in Japan of Belgium. It's tax free money, but not enough to build a life on once he retires.
 

leib0039 said:
So legit question, do you have hope this staff can do that? I'd say 2.25 years has said no, any reason outside of blind Fandom? In the only 2 games that mattered this far our coach has had 0 answers for huge runs.
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No idea. But I've got a question.....why watch if you've convinced yourself that the team is going to be terrible with no chance for improvement?
 

stocker08 said:
No idea. But I've got a question.....why watch if you've convinced yourself that the team is going to be terrible with no chance for improvement?
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I'm assuming this team will improve. But so will every other Big Ten team, and you see that happening already. Right now, we're the worst team in the conference by ten miles. If you don't see that as a problem, what's your deal, man?
 

bga1 said:
Last night I said: he’s going to get fired. This morning I asked myself- why is he so unwilling to make any changes? He clearly has his players in the wrong scheme for who they are on both ends of the court. Yet no changes and he seems …not worried. The answer feels clear to me- he has been promised 5 years and next year he feels is the year he has the horses.
A few months back I was able to attend a practice with a few others. During the practice he commented that looking at this roster you have to think about next year when they all can return and think how much better they will be. This year is a building block year for him- in his view. And in his view- he is certain that he is right.
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Stubborn is as stubborn does. I have zero faith his teams will be any different since he displays a constant refusal to make in game adjustments as well.
 

stocker08 said:
No idea. But I've got a question.....why watch if you've convinced yourself that the team is going to be terrible with no chance for improvement?
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Because I love the U and specifically the basketball program. Just because I'm a realist and know the coach is a joke doesn't make me love the program less.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm assuming this team will improve. But so will every other Big Ten team, and you see that happening already. Right now, we're the worst team in the conference by ten miles. If you don't see that as a problem, what's your deal, man?
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They aren't the worst team in the conference "by ten miles".
 


bga1 said:
Last night I said: he’s going to get fired. This morning I asked myself- why is he so unwilling to make any changes? He clearly has his players in the wrong scheme for who they are on both ends of the court. Yet no changes and he seems …not worried. The answer feels clear to me- he has been promised 5 years and next year he feels is the year he has the horses.
A few months back I was able to attend a practice with a few others. During the practice he commented that looking at this roster you have to think about next year when they all can return and think how much better they will be. This year is a building block year for him- in his view. And in his view- he is certain that he is right.
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That would be beyond naive. Garcia is likely gone after this year. That alone means they will likely be worse, not better. No sane coach could be where Ben is and not be worried.
 



stocker08 said:
Kenpom means almost nothing this early in the season.
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Obviously nothing means anything at this point, come on you negative Nancy's! So what APB is 353rd in kenpom, how do we know that they aren't better than Duke and Purdue! For all we know now the final 4 could be Mizzou/SC upstate/UTSA/USF stats or rankings a month in are a joke, it's not like they are based on the actual games played.....wait.

I mean what a stupid argument 🤣🤣. What stats or rankings would you propose to use? We have played by any measure 4 of the worst teams in D1, a bottom 1/4 of the league SEC team and a 4th place WCC team. So I'm sure you can find some stats that say we are a stacked team if you twist them enough.
 

leib0039 said:
Obviously nothing means anything at this point, come on you negative Nancy's! So what APB is 353rd in kenpom, how do we know that they aren't better than Duke and Purdue! For all we know now the final 4 could be Mizzou/SC upstate/UTSA/USF stats or rankings a month in are a joke, it's not like they are based on the actual games played.....wait.

I mean what a stupid argument 🤣🤣. What stats or rankings would you propose to use? We have played by any measure 4 of the worst teams in D1, a bottom 1/4 of the league SEC team and a 4th place WCC team. So I'm sure you can find some stats that say we are a stacked team if you twist them enough.
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Never said anyone of those things. Try harder.
 

howeda7 said:
That would be beyond naive. Garcia is likely gone after this year. That alone means they will likely be worse, not better. No sane coach could be where Ben is and not be worried.
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Does he look worried? Like is he scrambling the lineup, changing defenses, tweaking the offense? Nope. He’s coaching like he has a government job.
 



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