Seth Davis: Ben Johnson has done an incredible job with this team. One of the elite coaches in one of the toughest jobs in America.

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Gophers7633 said:
Your impression would be incorrect.

I've never rooted against the Gophers. I even said earlier in this thread I expect CBJ back. I am glad we have 7 B1G wins. I wish it meant something in terms of NCAA tournament aspirations but CBJ can't schedule and have this team perform well enough in OOC for it to matter.

I would certainly disagree with his assessment that CBJ is an elite coach. His results clearly show that.

$2.9 million dollars is nothing compared to what some of these other schools have paid to get rid of coaches. Hell didn't IU spend like $20 million to get rid of their football coach after 2023.

And IIRC, I had them winning 5/6 B1G games.
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Yes, you did 4-5 wins. But I wouldn't say you prediction was strong, in fact, I would say it was skittish at best. Here is your exact posting.

"Went with 4-5. The league schedule is MUCH tougher than it was a year ago. We were 1-8 in Q1 regular season conference games last year. 4-5 honestly might be generous. We'll see."
 


USAF said:
I think i figured this out...youre CBJ's mom, aintcha?
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I must be doing something right, since I see I am getting under the skin of the all knowing, basketball guru, USAF. And I'm still laughing at you USAF. Your level of basketball knowledge is hilarious 😆.
 

Arealgopherfan said:
Yes, you did 4-5 wins. But I wouldn't say you prediction was strong, in fact, I would say it was skittish at best. Here is your exact posting.

"Went with 4-5. The league schedule is MUCH tougher than it was a year ago. We were 1-8 in Q1 regular season conference games last year. 4-5 honestly might be generous. We'll see."
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Yeah, no shit. We were pretty terrible in the OOC portion of the schedule. I am glad to have gotten this wrong, given the league is tougher than last year. Maybe the team being terrible at home this season will aid this staff to schedule more aggressively in the OOC next year.
 

GopherPoke said:
Note: Skip this post if you don't want to read a stream of consciousness rant.

Seth Davis is a fool. If you think he's watched more than a short highlight of Gophers bball this season, you've lost some of your mind. He hasn't. He's playing a good guy with this baloney and probably didn't know the extent of his foolishness with that post because guys like him say things without thinking sometimes and it went along with a highlight of the day.

I'm a fan of Gophers sports in general. I like watching FB and BB on tv regularly and in person when I can get to town. I follow baseball as much as possible, but they aren't covered as much as I'd like. I'm not a fan who predicts W/L because I just don't care to. I follow the season and get as much joy out of it as possible.

That said, and don't @ me, but I'm one of the silent folks out here since mid Feb that find myself okay with losing out this season. Can't say I'm "hoping" for losses, but you know what I mean. I want new bball leadership. Now, I watch all the games and cheer and find myself happy when they play well and win, but that hasn't changed my underlying feelings with this staff. They are not a fun team to watch. I can't stand seeing the coach do very little on the sideline (I loathe the types who are complete opposite fools on the sideline, though, can't there be a happy medium?). Every once in a while, a coach needs to lose his shit with the refs when calls continue to evade your side (Seems like this happens a lot, no?), but our guy just makes silly faces and does nothing. I can't stand the lack of offensive minded bball, poor inbounds plays, etc. I don't see him improving this side of things. Really, none of it has changed/improved since he arrived (imo, it was equally as bad with the guy prior). It's said by a few that our incoming freshman are decent. Love it. That won't change our complete lack of offensive identity under this staff. We continue to be a 5-out offense with no ability to drive to the hoop or hit a guy posting up (yeah, Payne was open A LOT, and not much posting up occurs this year). His recruiting doesn't do it for me. Garcia, fell in lap, but he still gets credit for him. Amazing pick up, but who is replacing him? I don't think he gets lucky again.

I don't have any eye popping suggestions on who to look at next, but it's time. I don't know if Wicks would leave UW, but he definitely has some ability. He coaches non-stop and fights for his guys. He is Wyo native, so that might be tough (actually a Triple CSer, which is troublesome. Look it up and thank me later). Not set on him and probably would not be my first choice, but I like his style. I only mention him because hey, I'm also a Cowboys fan. He coaches a team the way I like and I really think there might be others out there that do the same.

Bottom line, I don't see this ride getting any better. I hate the fire threads as much as anyone, but thought I'd add my two cents.

I know it's not as simple as it might seem, plenty of things involved that I won't get into because I don't know a lick them ($$$).

Sorry for edit, but I left my main, original point out. It happens in a streaming of you know what of a post.
I'm in this for the entertainment. I love watching basketball. I love the Gophers. I want to watch a fun team, hopefully successful team, a team going places, a team that I can watch in the dance. I don't think that is selfish or out of the question. It's happened before in MN. As good of dude as we have, I don't see him getting MN bball to where I want it. That's all.

It's time to move on.
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Outside of being a (oh sorry… almost lost my lunch saying it…) Cowboys fan, this sounds about right for 90% of Gopher fans out there. Of course this board is going to have the other 10% on both sides be the loudest because it’s a fan board after all. Go Gophers!
 



Arealgopherfan said:
Why do I have the impression you were one of the 52 out of 108 people responding who predicted the Gophers would win 3 or fewer Big Ten games?

As to the Wisconsin and Rutgers games, a lot depends on Garcia's ankle, but I expect the team will lose both. I hope I am wrong, unlike many others on here, who silently hope for the Gophers to lose so that there will be more pressure to fire Johnson.

The bottom line on this thread is we are given a choice: (1) agree with Seth Davis's assessment of Johnson as a coach, or (2) come down on the side of the FBG crowd.

For me, I will go with the with the assessment of the guy who is paid to analysis basketball and talent on a national level, as opposed to a bunch of local posters who believe hiring a new, unnamed head coach is the one and only answer. Likewise, I not willing to support spending $2.9 million in buyout dollars based on local posters' pie in the sky views on a coaching change magically making the Gophers a top tier team.

Finally, will you please share your prediction for Big Ten wins back in December when the question was posed. I would hate for the board to think you were one the 8 who predicted 0 wins.
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Every person on this site watches more Gopher basketball than Seth. We can either spend the 2.9 million or whatever, on a buy out or spend it on lost season tickets and concession revenue. The right coach could surely raise revenue by that much per year.
 

jamiche said:
The first part of Davis' comment is not true. Ben has not done a "fantastic job" and hasn't done enough to keep his job. The second part of the statement is true. It's one of the worst P5 jobs and probably the worst job in the B1G.

For all the DEI folks, let it go. Nobody you wanted was coming. Johnson was a reasonable risk at the time and under the old rules. And. He. Fit. The. Budget. The pickings were slim. A $5M hire wasn't happening.

The guys who transferred out last year are not killing it. JOJ, Payne, Carrington and Hawkins are performing at or below last year's numbers, except for their bank accounts--presumably.

It would amuse me to see Coyle hire another black coach who would then hire an all female staff. The DEI's heads would explode. (Sarcasm alert.)
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We can (and do) debate which is the worst job in the Big Ten, but the fact we're even having this debate is testament to how far the Minnesota program has fallen. Make no mistake, there are inherent disadvantages for this school--and every school has disadvantages--but our arguable status as the unhealthiest in the league is largely self-inflicted, the biggest blow being the hire of Ben Johnson. Even four years ago it would have been preposterous to put us below Northwestern, Penn State, and Rutgers, but here we are looking up at all of them from the standpoint of program health, not to mention losing to NW and PSU at home.

Any situation is what you make of it. Take a look around. There are plenty of colleges around the country with inherent disadvantages--that could be conisdered the worst situation in their league if they accepted that lot--but who overcome them to achieve. What saddens me is when people like Davis bash this institution, state and city, and people in this forum flock to cheer him. How much self hate do you have to have as an alumnus and resident to log in on here and agree with him? Why do people even live here if it's such a shitty place? SMH
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
You argue like a chick. Your point was awful, so now you're doing this weird irony/sarcasm thing.

I think he could definitely coach HS or some lower level. He could also get another assistant job. It's kind of like Ryan Saunders, now that he has this on his resume (undeservedly), he might also get another smaller D1 job.

Just so you know, simply being a bottom tier B1G basketball program would be SOARING in comparison to where Ben Johnson has this program. Since Ben has arrived, we have the fewest wins in the Big 10. Every Big 10 team has been to the NCAAA tournament since our last appearance. I believe every team except Nebraska has been TWICE since our last appearance.

We aren't just a bottom tier B1G basketball program, we are the worst program in the B1G. The worst.
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“You argue like a chick…” Bob_Loblaw gets my award for the dumbest thing ever posted on GH. I'm blocking this loser.
 

bga1 said:
Every person on this site watches more Gopher basketball than Seth. We can either spend the 2.9 million or whatever, on a buy out or spend it on lost season tickets and concession revenue. The right coach could surely raise revenue by that much per year.
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Here we go again with the "right coach" solution. No names, just anybody but Johnson. In that case, I'm hoping the "Fairy Godfather" can be hired. It's as much of a strategy as an abstract right coach approach. And I hate to break it to you people in FBJ crowd, but hiring the right coach depends on their availability, willingness to coach at the U, and the compensation package being right for their accepting the job. So please give us some names of "right coach(es)" that fit those requirements.
 

Gophers7633 said:
Yeah, no shit. We were pretty terrible in the OOC portion of the schedule. I am glad to have gotten this wrong, given the league is tougher than last year. Maybe the team being terrible at home this season will aid this staff to schedule more aggressively in the OOC next year.
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After watching dozens of games this year, it’s hard to take claims of this league being "tougher" seriously. Physically, the conference appears soft—almost gooey, like a s'more. This entire generation of players seems ill-suited for anything demanding, beyond a light jog to their designated positions to play a round of catch-the-ball. Movement is minimal. One could almost imagine lounge chairs installed courtside for players to rest while they deliberate their next pass.

The league, as a whole, feels like it’s waiting for a concierge to facilitate each pass and a valet to guide their drives to the basket. It's as if players are hoping someone else will take the effort to run for them—DoorDash for basketball, if you will. The game seems to have lost some of its edge, trading grit for comfort.
 




ShushPush said:
After watching dozens of games this year, it’s hard to take claims of this league being "tougher" seriously. Physically, the conference appears soft—almost gooey, like a s'more. This entire generation of players seems ill-suited for anything demanding, beyond a light jog to their designated positions to play a round of catch-the-ball. Movement is minimal. One could almost imagine lounge chairs installed courtside for players to rest while they deliberate their next pass.

The league, as a whole, feels like it’s waiting for a concierge to facilitate each pass and a valet to guide their drives to the basket. It's as if players are hoping someone else will take the effort to run for them—DoorDash for basketball, if you will. The game seems to have lost some of its edge, trading grit for comfort.
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When I say tougher, I mean there are more good teams. Last year the league sent 6 teams to the tournament. This year it's looking like 9/10 will. We also had to play MSU and Wisconsin twice, the two best teams in the league. Last year we only played Purdue, Illinois and Wisconsin once. Conference schedule was much easier last season.
 

disco said:
But overall, people in this state don't really recognize that college hockey is a very niche, very regional sport. Like baseball and softball in the SE and California, and lacrosse in the NE and Mid-Atlantic, there really isn't a lot of national interest in college hockey. Attendance figures bear this out. ND, Wisconsin and Minnesota are really the only teams that draw significantly.
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Yes, I realize that but the "national" feelings about college hockey are not relevant to what I'm saying. I'm talking about THIS state ONLY because that is what is relevant to the question of whether college hockey in this state has more fan and donor support than gopher basketball.

I can say this. Over the 20+ years I've lived in this state I have very rarely seen gopher basketball on the TV screens when I've gone to small town bars and restaurants but I've seen gopher hockey on those screens quite often.
 

Arealgopherfan said:
I must be doing something right, since I see I am getting under the skin of the all knowing, basketball guru, USAF. And I'm still laughing at you USAF. Your level of basketball knowledge is hilarious 😆.
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I think you are aiming too low by just attacking his basketball knowledge. When one considers all of his flaws, I don't think that one even ranks within the top 5. I haven't seen his posts for some time now but I would guess that they're every bit as worthless and miserable as they've always been.
 


Gophers7633 said:
When I say tougher, I mean there are more good teams. Last year the league sent 6 teams to the tournament. This year it's looking like 9/10 will. We also had to play MSU and Wisconsin twice, the two best teams in the league. Last year we only played Purdue, Illinois and Wisconsin once. Conference schedule was much easier last season.
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I agree with that. I also think, despite initial appearances, that the nonconference was tougher too. North Texas has had a fine season, Wake Forest has done well in the ACC, Yale cruised in the Ivy League, Omaha leads the Summit, and Cleveland State still is in the hunt for the Horizon championship. Wichita State went through a terrible mid-season slump but they've seemed to stabilize more recently.

I think the biggest difference between this year and last is the team performance on the road. Haslametrics ranks the Gophers as the 13th best road team nationally and the Gophers are one of only 4 conference teams with a winning road record.
 

Burton#34 said:
“You argue like a chick…” Bob_Loblaw gets my award for the dumbest thing ever posted on GH. I'm blocking this loser.
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Good move! I did that some time ago and I've never regretted it. I got tired of his Jekyll and Hyde act and his insistence on arguing everything, no matter how trivial, to the bitter end.
 

Arealgopherfan said:
Here we go again with the "right coach" solution. No names, just anybody but Johnson. In that case, I'm hoping the "Fairy Godfather" can be hired. It's as much of a strategy as an abstract right coach approach. And I hate to break it to you people in FBJ crowd, but hiring the right coach depends on their availability, willingness to coach at the U, and the compensation package being right for their accepting the job. So please give us some names of "right coach(es)" that fit those requirements.
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Phew...a new member who is going of the rails. So either related to CBJ, a coach on staff or some serious anger issues. Chill a bit, hes been a bad coach. It's ok, still can be a nice guy who's made millions of dollars. It's not the end of the world some of us want him fired.
 



leib0039 said:
Phew...a new member who is going of the rails. So either related to CBJ, a coach on staff or some serious anger issues. Chill a bit, hes been a bad coach. It's ok, still can be a nice guy who's made millions of dollars. It's not the end of the world some of us want him fired.
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I like his premise that many in this conversation have magical thinking that if we spinkle a little pixie dust on a new coach, the team will transform from mice to wild stallions. Termination envy is hard way to go through life.
 

Gophers7633 said:
Yeah, no shit. We were pretty terrible in the OOC portion of the schedule. I am glad to have gotten this wrong, given the league is tougher than last year. Maybe the team being terrible at home this season will aid this staff to schedule more aggressively in the OOC next year.
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Is the league really tougher than last year? 2 of the 4 teams that came in are scraping the bottom with the Gophers.
 


Arealgopherfan said:
Here we go again with the "right coach" solution. No names, just anybody but Johnson. In that case, I'm hoping the "Fairy Godfather" can be hired. It's as much of a strategy as an abstract right coach approach. And I hate to break it to you people in FBJ crowd, but hiring the right coach depends on their availability, willingness to coach at the U, and the compensation package being right for their accepting the job. So please give us some names of "right coach(es)" that fit those requirements.
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Just curious, are you related to RockRaven? Very similar posts...
 

Arealgopherfan said:
Here we go again with the "right coach" solution. No names, just anybody but Johnson. In that case, I'm hoping the "Fairy Godfather" can be hired. It's as much of a strategy as an abstract right coach approach. And I hate to break it to you people in FBJ crowd, but hiring the right coach depends on their availability, willingness to coach at the U, and the compensation package being right for their accepting the job. So please give us some names of "right coach(es)" that fit those requirements.
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Really? I had no idea that we couldn't just kidnap a good coach! Thanks for letting me know!

I have no idea who the right coach is. Ours has the worst record in the Big Ten over the last 4 years. I have said this: Invest and go big time with the next hire. If they don't plan to go big then stay with Ben. I don't want another low end coach who hasn't proven he can win in a big way at this level.
 

Arealgopherfan said:
Here we go again with the "right coach" solution. No names, just anybody but Johnson. In that case, I'm hoping the "Fairy Godfather" can be hired. It's as much of a strategy as an abstract right coach approach. And I hate to break it to you people in FBJ crowd, but hiring the right coach depends on their availability, willingness to coach at the U, and the compensation package being right for their accepting the job. So please give us some names of "right coach(es)" that fit those requirements.
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Give us the name of those that dont......
 

bga1 said:
Really? I had no idea that we couldn't just kidnap a good coach! Thanks for letting me know!

I have no idea who the right coach is. Ours has the worst record in the Big Ten over the last 4 years. I have said this: Invest and go big time with the next hire. If they don't plan to go big then stay with Ben. I don't want another low end coach who hasn't proven he can win in a big way at this level.
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Keep him or go low end and take a healthy year in an empty arena to do history’s most thorough spring cleaning on the Barn. We won’t even recognize it when they invite us back for free promotion to show us humus they have done.
 

FinnGopher said:
Is the league really tougher than last year? 2 of the 4 teams that came in are scraping the bottom with the Gophers.
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Yeah, but the other two teams added are borderline top 25 teams. This year we will have played 14 Q1 games, last year only 9 in the regular season. Not only is the league deeper, we had a more difficult schedule.
 

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