STrib: Gophers coach Ben Johnson called the Nebraska win the most important of his career

BleedGopher

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Per Marcus:

After a jovial locker room celebration with players Wednesday night, coach Ben Johnson didn't hesitate to call the comeback vs. Nebraska, the most important win of his Gophers tenure.

There are several layers to that statement.

The Gophers men's basketball team (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) beating the Cornhuskers at home might not seem like a major achievement. After all, Nebraska placed higher than 11th in the Big Ten just twice in the past decade. The Gophers finished at least that high four times under Richard Pitino, whom Johnson replaced in 2021.

The win was significant because the Gophers overcame losing their leading scorer, Dawson Garcia, to an ankle injury. They also battled back after trailing by 15 points at halftime. They were 1-19 last season and 0-2 this season when trailing after 20 minutes.

"We're far from a finished product," Johnson said. "But we can get so much better, it's scary. I'm happy about this because this is something they can fall back on. And it shows that they can win and can pull through. They're tougher than they think."

What else made Wednesday's Nebraska victory so meaningful? Perception is everything. It muted Johnson's critics for a night after earlier U losses to Missouri, San Francisco, and Ohio State.

"I know what the narrative is if we're playing bad," Johnson said, referring to chatter that Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle might have to make another coaching change.


Go Gophers!!
 

Got to assume they get to 10-3
Play defense and take care of the ball.
 


There is no doubt that this is the biggest win of his career...it essentially pulled his career, for the moment, out of a death dive. The axes would have been sharp all around town had the second half gone differently.
 
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Amazing that a win at home against Nebraska is the most important of his career, is significant enough to “change the perception”, and is worthy of an article. Is this the bar now?
Amazing and all true!! I had a helluva Good time watching the 2nd half comeback win at the Barn on Wednesday. I think I may take a hiatus on CBJ bashing, and just surf out the remainder of the season on some tasty waves and a cool buzz.
We’ll reassess in March.
 
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Amazing and all true!! I had a helluva Good time watching the 2nd half comeback win at the Barn on Wednesday. I think I may take a hiatus on CBJ bashing, and just surf out the remainder of the season on some tasty waves and a cool buzz.
We’ll reassess in March.
That’s a bold statement, GoodasGold.
 

Amazing and all true!! I had a helluva Good time watching the 2nd half comeback win at the Barn on Wednesday. I think I may take a hiatus on CBJ bashing, and just surf out the remainder of the season on some tasty waves and a cool buzz.
We’ll reassess in March.
comedy-fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.gif
 



Amazing that a win at home against Nebraska is the most important of his career, is significant enough to “change the perception”, and is worthy of an article. Is this the bar now?
Exactly what I was thinking.
 

Ben is at the point now where almost anything he says is teeing it up for a faction here on GH. Still, I can see his point. Garcia is out for the rest of the game and they are down big at halftime. Nobody thought they had a prayer; but they won; his players might have discovered something about themselves; we're delighted. It can be a building block. We'll soon see.
 

Amazing that a win at home against Nebraska is the most important of his career, is significant enough to “change the perception”, and is worthy of an article. Is this the bar now?
For a bad program, the bar is set low. As we improve the bar will rise.

And maybe Ben was not just talking about a home win against Nebraska but instead, coming back to win the second half 52-26 without his best player. Context matters, as Ivy League Presidents like to say.
 

Coaching isn't the issue. The issue is player-acquisition.

And no, that's not the coach's job anymore. Talented players now come with a price-tag.
 

For a bad program, the bar is set low. As we improve the bar will rise.

And maybe Ben was not just talking about a home win against Nebraska but instead, coming back to win the second half 52-26 without his best player. Context matters, as Ivy League Presidents like to say.

The context is his team got down 26 at home to a bottom tier conference opponent. The comeback is impressive. But he and his players are the reason the comeback was needed. They didn’t take over for some other team down 26.

Did the gophers blow the Missouri game? Did Nebraska blow that game? Or did Missouri do something amazing to comeback and the gophers also did? As you say, context matters.

People championing a home win to a bad P6 team is a low bar.
 

The context is his team got down 26 at home to a bottom tier conference opponent. The comeback is impressive. But he and his players are the reason the comeback was needed. They didn’t take over for some other team down 26.

Did the gophers blow the Missouri game? Did Nebraska blow that game? Or did Missouri do something amazing to comeback and the gophers also did? As you say, context matters.

People championing a home win to a bad P6 team is a low bar.
You should probably watch the games before spouting BS like being down 26 points which never happened.
 

The context is his team got down 26 at home to a bottom tier conference opponent. The comeback is impressive. But he and his players are the reason the comeback was needed. They didn’t take over for some other team down 26.

Did the gophers blow the Missouri game? Did Nebraska blow that game? Or did Missouri do something amazing to comeback and the gophers also did? As you say, context matters.

People championing a home win to a bad P6 team is a low bar.
Who had a 26-point lead on the Gophers at home?
 

The context is his team got down 26 at home to a bottom tier conference opponent. The comeback is impressive. But he and his players are the reason the comeback was needed. They didn’t take over for some other team down 26.

Did the gophers blow the Missouri game? Did Nebraska blow that game? Or did Missouri do something amazing to comeback and the gophers also did? As you say, context matters.

People championing a home win to a bad P6 team is a low bar.
We were down 26?? Wow what a comeback that was
 




Ben is at the point now where almost anything he says is teeing it up for a faction here on GH. Still, I can see his point. Garcia is out for the rest of the game and they are down big at halftime. Nobody thought they had a prayer; but they won; his players might have discovered something about themselves; we're delighted. It can be a building block. We'll soon see.
For starters, he should try not to bring up the “narrative” as if it’s undeserving after a 2-17 conference season.
 


We beat Nebraska at home was essentially a gimmie under previous two regimes..... sad really
 

We beat Nebraska at home was essentially a gimmie under previous two regimes..... sad really
Not after being down 15 points at half with our best player hurt. Your point is taken and understood but there is a context here.
 






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