Steedman on Johnson: It’s quickly approaching “win or go home” territory and unfortunately his best chance at winning walked out the door this spring.

BleedGopher

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Per Steedman:

Realistic Expectations​

In all honesty there aren’t any realistic expectations here for Minnesota. From a program building standpoint you want to see Johnson continue building momentum and improving. From a roster standpoint this team is in a much worse position then they were a year ago, which is unfortunate because if they had retained more of the roster they would likely be in contention for an NCAA Tournament appearance.

That of course creates the problem here...the realistic expectation for this team would be to simply remain competitive in the league while likely being penned for a bottom half finish and no postseason appearance. If Johnson can land that it would in all honesty be a somewhat successful season for him considering the cards he has. The problem is he’s four seasons into his tenure here and if the program takes another step back it’s hard to see where they go from there under Johnson. It’s quickly approaching “win or go home” territory and unfortunately his best chance at winning walked out the door this spring.


Go Gophers!!
 

I’m still not quite sure about all the negativity. I’ve been waiting forever to have an experienced roster and magically (courtesy of the new portal BS), we have just that. I’m cautiously optimistic we find a way to win 18-20 games.
 
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look, I think the real question is this:

is the Gopher roster for the 24-25 season better than the roster for the 23-24 season?

and I am going to give that a qualified Yes.

losing Hawkins and Payne definitely hurts. Christie went to the NBA, so he wasn't coming back either way. of the other guys - not much production and reportedly some bad attitudes. no big loss.

looking at this year's roster, it definitely appears to be deeper. Patterson is a different type of PG compared to Hawkins, but even if it's a drop in talent, it's not a huge drop. and Asuma should be able to give them some minutes.

Frank Mitchell IMHO provides an inside presence that should be similar to Payne.

Odukale, Rigsby and Cochran (when healthy) should collectively be able to match or exceed what they got from Christie and Carrington.

Betts should be able to at least replace what they got from JOJ. and if they get anything from Edmonds, that tops what Jack Wilson provided as a big man off the bench.

I admit there are a lot of "shoulds" and "ifs" in my analysis. but I think the potential is there for a deeper lineup.

I choose to take an optimistic view until (or if) I am proven wrong.
 




I’m still not quite sure about all the negativity. I’ve been waiting forever to have an experienced roster and magically (courtesy of the new portal BS), we have just that. I’m cautiously optimistic we find a way to win 18-20 games.
Agree! I am optimistic about this year's team. 18-20 wins possible. 20 may get us a Tournament bid.
 



The Indiana football team was predicted preseason to finish 17th in the Big Ten by the "experts".
The "experts" needed a glass belly-button to see properly with their head that far up their ass!
 






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