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

[TwistingMyMelon]

Replacing Cooper, Samuals and Henley with Hawkins, Mitchell and Christie can't be overstated. Having a healthy Ihnen is also a big difference.

And Fox. Also Ola Joseph and Carrington are a year older and Garcia doesn't have to split the lead with a player who I will not mention.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Too early to discuss extending Ben's contract?

Thst can wait until after we make the tourney

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

You mad?

Not me, Carry on.

 

[leib0039]

We make free throws!! After last year being that atrocious from the lines it's nice to see some go in

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Well, first half looks good. Now let's see if they can play a full game.

 

[Cayman]

i only have that power when I buy stocks

thinking we're in rarified air here. maybe since the 2016-17 season when all 13 scholarships were filled and all were able to play?

Davonte Fitzgerald suffered a season ending injury before the start of the 2016-17 season.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Battle = addition by subtracting.

The ball movement is much better. He was a ball stopper.

He filled a need the first two seasons.

 

[Gophers7633]

And Fox. Also Ola Joseph and Carrington are a year older and Garcia doesn't have to split the lead with a player who I will not mention.

JOJ hitting that 3 is good. I like what I've seen from Fox. Still waiting to see Carrington take more of a leap.

 

[Drake University Gopher]

Ihnen can’t play the wing -he’s to slow

Ihnen has looked great. Certainly think it depends how we exploit the matchups

 

[VanillaThunder]

This is easily the best Gopher team in the last several years. They are depth with scorers at multiple levels. UTSA is a work in progress with 12 new players but Gophers are playing fast and aggressive. Way more entertaining than in many years. Barn will be rocking again when they really jell.

 

[60's Guy]

Best we have looked in one half for a long time. Not perfect but tons of upside visible. Fun!

 

[stocker08]

JOJ hitting that 3 is good. I like what I've seen from Fox. Still waiting to see Carrington take more of a leap.

Carrington will continue getting better. Even on nights when he's not shooting great....he can be counted on to play really good defense. That's always valuable.

 

[scools12]

You just can't help yourself lmao

C’mon man, what’s wrong with the Ben Johnson fan club taking a victory lap 1.5 games into the season.

 

[Drake University Gopher]

The announcer certainly makes us sound like a Big Ten contender… entertain me!

 

[stocker08]

C’mon man, what’s wrong with the Ben Johnson fan club taking a victory lap 1.5 games into the season.

No victory lap. Just some optimism. Don't let it bum you out.

 

[Drake University Gopher]

He missed the shot, but that was a decent out of bounds set!

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Ihnen has looked great. Certainly think it depends how we exploit the matchups

We physically look like a B10 team now

 

[stocker08]

The announcer certainly makes us sound like a Big Ten contender… entertain me!

Have to say.......while it's stupid that we have to sign up for another streaming service for these games.......at least Peacock has a good presentation. Live look in at another competitive game during half is just smart.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

All right. 54 points in the first half. That would have seemed almost inconceivable last season. Absent a complete brain fart, they should easily top 80 points for the second straight game - a total they could never score in any game last season. This team had multiple weaknesses last season but the biggest one in my view is that they simply couldn't score well enough to win games against better competition very often.

And, by the way, Christie isn't bad (I'm glad the decommit was the other guy)

 

[scools12]

No victory lap. Just some optimism. Don't let it bum you out.

Not bum out at all. There is like 30 games still to play so a little early for the told ya so.

 

[GFBfan]

Carrington will continue getting better. Even on nights when he's not shooting great....he can be counted on to play really good defense. That's always valuable.

And he's a fairly good rebounder

 

[Gophers7633]

Carrington will continue getting better. Even on nights when he's not shooting great....he can be counted on to play really good defense. That's always valuable.

Yeah, if he's fine with that being his role, more power to him. I'd say at this point he's behind Christie, Hawkins and Mitchell in terms of value. Not a knock on him just how I see it right now.

 

[atsgopher]

Ihnen can’t play the wing -he’s to slow

I agree. It Seems at least somewhat more like indecision. He’s got a huge gait. Chews up a lot of ground per step. Can get places fast, but looks clunky.

 

[GoodasGold]

Gotta say I’m impressed. All facets!
Ski-U-Mah!!

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Have to say.......while it's stupid that we have to sign up for another streaming service for these games.......at least Peacock has a good presentation. Live look in at another competitive game during half is just smart.

It is a good production but I'd like it better if they got the announcers from the first game (I actually watched the replay so I could catch some of those lines again).

 

[Drake University Gopher]

Steal and a pretty pass from Mitchell for the dunk!

 

[Dakota2]

It's almost like....having a bunch of guys injured for the entire year hurt the team....but don't tell the Ben Johnson hate club.

Yeah but some Ben Johnson apologist is going to claim having a full roster and better players makes him a better coach. Heck, anybody can coach good players and a full roster.

 

[Drake University Gopher]

Hah I just realized I’m way behind, my bad

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

I agree. It Seems at least somewhat more like indecision. He’s got a huge gait. Chews up a lot of ground per step. Can get places fast, but looks clunky.

Physically I don't think he's 100% quite yet but his confidence and his ball handling are way better than 3 years ago. I like the way Johnson is using him much better than Pitino did.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I agree. It Seems at least somewhat more like indecision. He’s got a huge gait. Chews up a lot of ground per step. Can get places fast, but looks clunky.

I was being sarcastic.

He’s incredibly athletic, look at how he drives to the bucket and gets to the rim and his release from 3 - smooth.

It looks awkward because he has such king limbs - 7’4” wingspan when he’s 6’9.