Press conference video from Ben Johnson

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Anybody think to ask this numbskull how his 6'11" B1G Player Of The Week doesn't touch the ball on either of the team's last 2 possessions? Against a small team with the bonus+ in effect?
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
Well, look at the bright side. Last year we would have lost that game by double digits. Tough, tough loss but we have the players to do better. They just have to be put in a position to win.
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Yeah. This is true, there is a team there. They are athletic and look like a Big Ten team. I don’t know if it’s a good Big Ten team, but we shouldn’t be physically dominated this year. That is encouraging and it was fun to watch tonight.

I just can’t get over the end. I had other rotation gripes throughout the game but the ending is making it hard to keep in mind the good we saw.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Well, look at the bright side. Last year we would have lost that game by double digits. Tough, tough loss but we have the players to do better. They just have to be put in a position to win.
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I guess, but Hawkins, literally, might be the ONLY returning college player on this team from a team with a winning record AND he’a a point guard that can draw fouls and cans his free throws.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Well, look at the bright side. Last year we would have lost that game by double digits. Tough, tough loss but we have the players to do better. They just have to be put in a position to win.
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True, but we got 6 free points from them committing technical fouls. If they don't do that, I be they win by double digits.
 








Holy Man said:
And makes threes. You and I could have coached that for a lot less money!
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Just back from the game. Honestly that game was more clearly lost by the coach than any college game I have seen. He had them playing not to lose, stalling, with 7-8 minutes to go. We got to 10 fouls on them. You take that ball into the paint either with Garcia or Payne or off the drive.
I don't care how good you think your freshman, Christie is, he had not made a basket all night and he was 2-4 on FTs, not exactly in a groove and he got put in a position to win or lose the game twice in a row by the coach. That's astounding.

Ben has put together a nice squad, good talent, shooting and size. They deserved to win tonight and this is a clear case where the coach let the players down. I like Ben but there is no spinning this one.
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
I guess, but Hawkins, literally, might be the ONLY returning college player on this team from a team with a winning record AND he’a a point guard that can draw fouls and cans his free throws.
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100% insane not to have Hawkins on the floor at the end. If he was concerned on the defensive end, switch him out. I would trust Hawkins over anyone on that team to hit a dagger shot.
 

I guess with Hawkins he did have some wild turnovers in the game and also there was one play defensively in transition where he had to pick up a bigger guy and it was an easy dump in and score for Missouri. I can kind of understand Johnson's fears of Hawkins getting caught in switches but A. You kind of signed up for that by bringing in a 5'9 kid to be your starting PG and B. The ballhandling was so shaky with him out of the game that Missouri was getting their points in transition more often than not. Gates really took advantage of individual matchups better than Johnson. There was another play where their freshman Pierce got the ball in the corner at the 3 point line and took it off the bounce right past Payne for a potential and 1. In both these cases the scorer wasn't a primary offensive option for Missouri on the night but the particular matchup provided an opportunity. Minnesota was unable or unwilling to get the ball to Garcia either on the block or the wing with space to make a play for himself. Payne was very effective in the paint but only played 14 minutes and didn't get many/any of the post up look he got last season.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah. This is true, there is a team there. They are athletic and look like a Big Ten team. I don’t know if it’s a good Big Ten team, but we shouldn’t be physically dominated this year. That is encouraging and it was fun to watch tonight.

I just can’t get over the end. I had other rotation gripes throughout the game but the ending is making it hard to keep in mind the good we saw.
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Yeah.....that was a game Garcia could have/should have been able to take over and for whatever reason he was not getting the ball late. The 10 second call on Garcia can't happen, he is way too experienced to not get the ball across midcourt. Cam Christie is going to be very good but Garcia needed to have the ball in his hands at the end and he should have been the guy taking the final shots.

It will get overshadowed by the final result but there was a lot to like about this team last night. Ihnen looks like he is going to be a difference maker, Carrington, Payne, and JOJ all seem to have improved, Hawkins is amazingly quick.....this actually looks like a team that should be able to compete most nights, which is no small feat after the last 2 years.

Hopefully the players and coaches learn from this one and when in position to put a game away again in the future they get it done. But man it was fun to see a Gopher team look really good for stretches last night. This team is fun to watch.
 

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