Ola-Joseph has played less than 10 minutes over the past 10 games.

[BleedGopher]

Per Greder:

“It’s more of, (we) only got so many minutes and I think Parker (Fox) has been playing really well,” Johnson said. “It’s hard when Parker (and) Dawson at that (power forward) spot are playing well. We’ve looked at (Ola-Joseph) as playing (there), so when those guys are rolling, you have to make a decision as a coach on what you want to do. It’s a numbers game. That’s it more than anything.”

What happened to Gophers forward Josh Ola-Joseph?

Minnesota travels to play its regular-season finale at 8 p.m. Saturday at Northwestern,

www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[short ornery norwegian]

part of the mystery has been explained. Johnson said that JOJ was having headaches and was diagnosed with concussion symptoms. that is why he didn't play in the last game.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

You are more likely to see D.B. Cooper than see JOJ.

 

[USAF]

You are more likely to see D.B. Cooper than see JOJ.

Can DB play defense?

 

[BarnBurner]

part of the mystery has been explained. Johnson said that JOJ was having headaches and was diagnosed with concussion symptoms. that is why he didn't play in the last game.

Yet he's dressed for every game, iif I'm not mistaken.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

Yet he's dressed for every game, iif I'm not mistaken.

He was in sweats last game.

 

[scools12]

You’re not suppose to talk about JOJ’s lack of playing time. I was told if you do you’re someone who has never “laced’em up”.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

You’re not suppose to talk about JOJ’s lack of playing time. I was told if you do you’re someone who has never “laced’em up”.

Have you ever "laced them up?"

 

[scools12]

Have you ever "laced them up?"

Does my making my 7th grade basketball team count? How about playing in a 3 on 3 rec league at the local high school gym?

If so, then yes, yes I have laced’em up.

Though I do appreciate a GHole basketball expert such as yourself asking the question. I wouldn’t want to break the “laced’’em up” rule.

 

[Block M]

Per Greder:

“It’s more of, (we) only got so many minutes and I think Parker (Fox) has been playing really well,” Johnson said. “It’s hard when Parker (and) Dawson at that (power forward) spot are playing well. We’ve looked at (Ola-Joseph) as playing (there), so when those guys are rolling, you have to make a decision as a coach on what you want to do. It’s a numbers game. That’s it more than anything.”

What happened to Gophers forward Josh Ola-Joseph?

Minnesota travels to play its regular-season finale at 8 p.m. Saturday at Northwestern,

www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!

A numbers game? LOL. The Gophers have lost games due to fatigue. Still not convinced CBJ knows how to manage playing time or get the best out of his roster.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

Does my making my 7th grade basketball team count? How about playing in a 3 on 3 rec league at the local high school gym?

If so, then yes, yes I have laced’em up.

Though I do appreciate a GHole basketball expert such as yourself asking the question. I wouldn’t want to break the “laced’’em up” rule.

Just a question. Sorry you took it as an attack. I thought your initial comment to the "laced em up" accusation was just fine

 

[scools12]

Just a question. Sorry you took it as an attack. I thought your initial comment to the "laced em up" accusation was just fine

I did take your question the wrong way.

That’s on me for getting it wrong. There was no need for the GHole expert shot at you.

 

[MNVCGUY]

A numbers game? LOL. The Gophers have lost games due to fatigue. Still not convinced CBJ knows how to manage playing time or get the best out of his roster.

I mean it is a numbers game. If you put JOJ in you are taking Fox, Garcia or Payne off the court to make room for him. JOJ's numbers have gone down as Fox's numbers have gone up and based on the little we have seen of JOJ it is tough to argue that he deserves more time than Fox right now.

That said, it feels like there is more to the story.....maybe they are trying to get something across to JOJ that he is just not picking up. There is a certain way he needs to play to be effective but he seems unwilling/unable to find that gear a lot of nights..

Kid has a lot of raw athletic ability but he looks lost out there right now. Hopefully they can find a way for him to return to being an active part of the rotation as that would help the team's depth a lot. But for whatever reason, right now it just isn't working when he is on the court.

 

[Bad Gopher]

I mean it is a numbers game. If you put JOJ in you are taking Fox, Garcia or Payne off the court to make room for him. JOJ's numbers have gone down as Fox's numbers have gone up and based on the little we have seen of JOJ it is tough to argue that he deserves more time than Fox right now.

That said, it feels like there is more to the story.....maybe they are trying to get something across to JOJ that he is just not picking up. There is a certain way he needs to play to be effective but he seems unwilling/unable to find that gear a lot of nights..

Kid has a lot of raw athletic ability but he looks lost out there right now. Hopefully they can find a way for him to return to being an active part of the rotation as that would help the team's depth a lot. But for whatever reason, right now it just isn't working when he is on the court.

This is not new. It's something every team has to do, there are ways to do it, and most do it better than ours.

 

[Holy Man]

This is not new. It's something every team has to do, there are ways to do it, and most do it better than ours.

And it’s one of the reasons that there are hundreds of guys in the portal every year looking for greener pastures.

Joshua is an undersized power forward which puts him behind the eight ball right away. Add that to not playing great defense and you get guy’s leapfrogging on the depth chart.

 

[Tucker32]

A numbers game? LOL. The Gophers have lost games due to fatigue. Still not convinced CBJ knows how to manage playing time or get the best out of his roster.

So dumb. Look at 90% of the teams in the conference and country. They are playing 7-8 guys, with 6-7 having the vast majority of minutes. Almost no one plays more than 8 and few play 8 consistently. Purdue plays primarily six, with 1-2 more guys playing just around 10 minutes. Illinois plays 6-7. Wisconsin plays six, with 2-3 more players getting around 5 minutes. Could go on and on.

This is not the NBA.

 

[SHGopher]

part of the mystery has been explained. Johnson said that JOJ was having headaches and was diagnosed with concussion symptoms. that is why he didn't play in the last game.

This, if it's true.

 

[Gopheritnow]

So dumb. Look at 90% of the teams in the conference and country. They are playing 7-8 guys, with 6-7 having the vast majority of minutes. Almost no one plays more than 8 and few play 8 consistently. Purdue plays primarily six, with 1-2 more guys playing just around 10 minutes. Illinois plays 6-7. Wisconsin plays six, with 2-3 more players getting around 5 minutes. Could go on and on.

This is not the NBA.

Thank you!

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

So dumb. Look at 90% of the teams in the conference and country. They are playing 7-8 guys, with 6-7 having the vast majority of minutes. Almost no one plays more than 8 and few play 8 consistently. Purdue plays primarily six, with 1-2 more guys playing just around 10 minutes. Illinois plays 6-7. Wisconsin plays six, with 2-3 more players getting around 5 minutes. Could go on and on.

This is not the NBA.

Well, Indiana played 11 guys against us. 2 of those only played a minute each but that still leaves 9 who played more than that. 3 of their guys off the bench played 14 or more minutes. That sure seemed to work well for them as they could maintain intensity throughout the game when our guys were wearing out and couldn't risk getting in foul trouble.

I never think much of these arguments based on "other teams do it!" I only care about us and our guys, especially the guards, seem to be wearing down as the conclusion of the regular season approaches and there isn't much available to provide momentary relief for them.

 

[MNVCGUY]

This is not new. It's something every team has to do, there are ways to do it, and most do it better than ours.

I don't disagree, at times it definitely feels like we could make better use of the bench. That said, we don't have all the info on what may or may not be going on behind the scenes that is leading to the way the rotations are setup.

Something happened after the Penn State game on 1/27. Up to that point Ola-Joseph was starting and playing 20 plus minutes a game. After that point his minutes cratered to less than 10 per game.

Payne doing a better job staying out of foul trouble, Fox giving quality minutes, something off the court we are not aware of......could be a number of factors going into it but right now JOJ is just not a key part of the rotation.

 

[BarnBurner]

A numbers game? LOL. The Gophers have lost games due to fatigue. Still not convinced CBJ knows how to manage playing time or get the best out of his roster.

The numbers game line simply doesn't add up.

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

I mean it is a numbers game. If you put JOJ in you are taking Fox, Garcia or Payne off the court to make room for him. JOJ's numbers have gone down as Fox's numbers have gone up and based on the little we have seen of JOJ it is tough to argue that he deserves more time than Fox right now.

That said, it feels like there is more to the story.....maybe they are trying to get something across to JOJ that he is just not picking up. There is a certain way he needs to play to be effective but he seems unwilling/unable to find that gear a lot of nights..

Kid has a lot of raw athletic ability but he looks lost out there right now. Hopefully they can find a way for him to return to being an active part of the rotation as that would help the team's depth a lot. But for whatever reason, right now it just isn't working when he is on the court.

Maybe a dumb comment…shouldn’t fox have better numbers than JOJ…I mean he is 25 almost. At some point CBJ should weigh the thought of fox’s Better numbers vs JOJ’s potential production over the next two years. JOJ showed flashes as both a freshman and sophomore, and it’s hard to potentially see that exit when your playing a 25 year old instead…one who in all reality should’ve been out of college basketball for 2 years already.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

a lot of coaching is feel - and trust. in the end, the coach - in most cases - is going to play the players he feels will do the best job, and whom he trusts to do the job.

for the Gophers, it seems clear that Johnson trusts Fox more than JOJ. is that based on things that happen at practice? is it based on attitude?

here's a theory - going into the season, Johnson just wasn't sure how Fox would hold up. as the season has gone on, and Fox has shown he's holding up physically, he has received more minutes - and those minutes have largely come at the expense of JOJ.

 

[SHGopher]

Joshua Ola-Joseph didn't play because of a concussion, according the CBJ.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Maybe a dumb comment…shouldn’t fox have better numbers than JOJ…I mean he is 25 almost. At some point CBJ should weigh the thought of fox’s Better numbers vs JOJ’s potential production over the next two years. JOJ showed flashes as both a freshman and sophomore, and it’s hard to potentially see that exit when your playing a 25 year old instead…one who in all reality should’ve been out of college basketball for 2 years already.

I can't say that you're wrong and Ben Johnson, like most Gophers coaches in recent history, failed to recruit and/or develop a bench that was dependable enough. Having said that, the coach has little margin for error as the season comes to a close and he can't afford to sit one of the players who actually is producing at a higher level. Because Johnson failed to declare to himself that "THE FUTURE IS NOW" earlier this season (or even in the offseason recruiting) he's having to do that in crunch time.

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

I can't say that you're wrong and Ben Johnson, like most Gophers coaches in recent history, failed to recruit and/or develop a bench that was dependable enough. Having said that, the coach has little margin for error as the season comes to a close and he can't afford to sit one of the players who actually is producing at a higher level. Because Johnson failed to declare to himself that "THE FUTURE IS NOW" earlier this season (or even in the offseason recruiting) he's having to do that in crunch time.

They missed the tourney, it was decided most likely in the Nebraska blowout. At that point, JOJ should’ve had his minutes started to tick up. But this starts at the beginning of the year and ultimately should never have happened

 

[Ski-U-Ham]

 

[Gopheritnow]

Well, Indiana played 11 guys against us. 2 of those only played a minute each but that still leaves 9 who played more than that. 3 of their guys off the bench played 14 or more minutes. That sure seemed to work well for them as they could maintain intensity throughout the game when our guys were wearing out and couldn't risk getting in foul trouble.

I never think much of these arguments based on "other teams do it!" I only care about us and our guys, especially the guards, seem to be wearing down as the conclusion of the regular season approaches and there isn't much available to provide momentary relief for them.

Yet, here you are. "Other teams do it".

 

[Gopheritnow]

Well I guess if you have JOJ and Carrington out on concussion protocol, that could explain a short bench? That said it just seems the most logical reason for JOJ dearth of minutes when healthy was his disinterest in defense and not rebounding anywhere near to his capability. He has the talent no doubt, he needs to use it.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

They missed the tourney, it was decided most likely in the Nebraska blowout. At that point, JOJ should’ve had his minutes started to tick up. But this starts at the beginning of the year and ultimately should never have happened

I never believed they had much of a shot at the tourney but their NET ranking was never in a true "safety" range for the NIT. Most of us here want to see the team participate in at least one of the post-season tournaments (haven't had one since 2019 and have had only 3 in the prior 10 years). If you're one of those who think of the NIT as the "NOT IMPORTANT TOURNAMENT," fine, but don't count me among you.

I won't argue that Ola Joseph shouldn't have played more but the question is moot for tonight's game because he's still out with concussion symptoms.