STrib: Gophers men's basketball excited about its potential if the core stays together

[BleedGopher]

Per Marcus:

"If we get everybody back, the way this team has played this year is there a chance we could really take a step next year?" Johnson said.

Finishing strong could give the Gophers momentum going into the offseason, but it also might just help keep their core intact. A big piece to why Johnson's team made a considerable jump from 9-22 last season was the growth of players such as Payne, a sophomore big man.

"It's very important to end the season the right way," Payne said. "If we can take these wins and reflect on the whole season and take it into next year, we can probably do something [big]."

Jeremy Olson

Jeremy Olson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering health care for the Star Tribune. Trained in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, Olson has covered politics, social services, and family issues.

m.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[skiumah1]

Per Marcus:

"If we get everybody back, the way this team has played this year is there a chance we could really take a step next year?" Johnson said.

Finishing strong could give the Gophers momentum going into the offseason, but it also might just help keep their core intact. A big piece to why Johnson's team made a considerable jump from 9-22 last season was the growth of players such as Payne, a sophomore big man.

"It's very important to end the season the right way," Payne said. "If we can take these wins and reflect on the whole season and take it into next year, we can probably do something [big]."

Jeremy Olson

Jeremy Olson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering health care for the Star Tribune. Trained in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, Olson has covered politics, social services, and family issues.

m.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

Well at least it sure sounds like Payne will be back.

 

[USAF]

"It's very important to end the season the right way," Payne said. "If we can take these wins and reflect on the whole season and take it into next year, we can probably do something [big]."

Jeremy Olson

Jeremy Olson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering health care for the Star Tribune. Trained in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, Olson has covered politics, social services, and family issues.

m.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

Ruh-roh.

 

[washgopher]

not with a bang but barely a whimper

 

[Spaulding!No!]

It is as tho Pitino never left.

 

[EG#9]

First of all, Ben's answers come off as so entitled to me. You cannot miss the NCAA tournament 4 years in a row and stay employed, "a step" isn't optional for you no matter what your roster looks like at any point next year. Transfers, injuries, whatever, you are completely out of excuses. You are incredibly lucky to have been put in this position with your resume and even luckier to apparently be getting a 4th season (I still hold out some hope that a first game BTT tournament exit will spur change).

Aside from the losing, the false narratives about Ben's tenure drive me crazy. " A big piece to why Johnson's team made a considerable jump from 9-22 last season was the growth of players such as Payne, a sophomore big man."

Pharrel in that 9-22 year played 22 minutes a game, averaged 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds shooting 69% from the floor. This year Pharell played 23.4 minutes a game, averaged 9.7 points and 6.1 rebounds shooting 61% from the floor. Blocks were up, steals and assists were down slightly. Stength of schedule was easier this year.

Did he make a jump? Is there anything in those stats that suggest one of the worst seasons in Gopher history was necessary last year? It's certainly not true with JOJ who started 24 of 31 games last year and now does not get off the bench. It's certainly not true for Jaden Henley who transferred only to struggle on a terrible DePaul team. It's certainly not true for Battle or Cooper who were given all the minutes they wanted last year and then transferred to start elsewhere (arguably both on better teams). Even the player I actually think made the biggest jump, Braden Carrington, actually hasn't really improved from a statistical standpoint (5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20 minutes last year vs 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21 minutes this year).

There is just no evidence to suggest that "going through the suck" to quote Ben Johnson was necessary. It would have been completely fine last season for Payne to be in an 8 man rotation and the other 3 (Henley, Carrington, JOJ) to spend the year sitting on the bench. Nobody took some massive leap that was only possible by playing 20 minutes a night on a historically bad basketball team. I would argue it would have helped these guys more to compete in practice every day against better basketball players and then play in/experience real high major basketball games with real stakes in '22 as opposed to having minutes handed to them in games that often times were not even competitive.

 

[Go4]

First of all, Ben's answers come off as so entitled to me. You cannot miss the NCAA tournament 4 years in a row and stay employed, "a step" isn't optional for you no matter what your roster looks like at any point next year. Transfers, injuries, whatever, you are completely out of excuses. You are incredibly lucky to have been put in this position with your resume and even luckier to apparently be getting a 4th season (I still hold out some hope that a first game BTT tournament exit will spur change).

Aside from the losing, the false narratives about Ben's tenure drive me crazy. " A big piece to why Johnson's team made a considerable jump from 9-22 last season was the growth of players such as Payne, a sophomore big man."

Pharrel in that 9-22 year played 22 minutes a game, averaged 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds shooting 69% from the floor. This year Pharell played 23.4 minutes a game, averaged 9.7 points and 6.1 rebounds shooting 61% from the floor. Blocks were up, steals and assists were down slightly. Stength of schedule was easier this year.

Did he make a jump? Is there anything in those stats that suggest one of the worst seasons in Gopher history was necessary last year? It's certainly not true with JOJ who started 24 of 31 games last year and now does not get off the bench. It's certainly not true for Jaden Henley who transferred only to struggle on a terrible DePaul team. It's certainly not true for Battle or Cooper who were given all the minutes they wanted last year and then transferred to start elsewhere (arguably both on better teams). Even the player I actually think made the biggest jump, Braden Carrington, actually hasn't really improved from a statistical standpoint (5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20 minutes last year vs 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21 minutes this year).

There is just no evidence to suggest that "going through the suck" to quote Ben Johnson was necessary. It would have been completely fine last season for Payne to be in an 8 man rotation and the other 3 (Henley, Carrington, JOJ) to spend the year sitting on the bench. Nobody took some massive leap that was only possible by playing 20 minutes a night on a historically bad basketball team. I would argue it would have helped these guys more to compete in practice every day against better basketball players and then play in/experience real high major basketball games with real stakes in '22 as opposed to having minutes handed to them in games that often times were not even competitive.

+o4, you’re on a roll.

 

[Ski-U-Ham]

First of all, Ben's answers come off as so entitled to me. You cannot miss the NCAA tournament 4 years in a row and stay employed, "a step" isn't optional for you no matter what your roster looks like at any point next year. Transfers, injuries, whatever, you are completely out of excuses. You are incredibly lucky to have been put in this position with your resume and even luckier to apparently be getting a 4th season (I still hold out some hope that a first game BTT tournament exit will spur change).

Aside from the losing, the false narratives about Ben's tenure drive me crazy. " A big piece to why Johnson's team made a considerable jump from 9-22 last season was the growth of players such as Payne, a sophomore big man."

Pharrel in that 9-22 year played 22 minutes a game, averaged 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds shooting 69% from the floor. This year Pharell played 23.4 minutes a game, averaged 9.7 points and 6.1 rebounds shooting 61% from the floor. Blocks were up, steals and assists were down slightly. Stength of schedule was easier this year.

Did he make a jump? Is there anything in those stats that suggest one of the worst seasons in Gopher history was necessary last year? It's certainly not true with JOJ who started 24 of 31 games last year and now does not get off the bench. It's certainly not true for Jaden Henley who transferred only to struggle on a terrible DePaul team. It's certainly not true for Battle or Cooper who were given all the minutes they wanted last year and then transferred to start elsewhere (arguably both on better teams). Even the player I actually think made the biggest jump, Braden Carrington, actually hasn't really improved from a statistical standpoint (5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20 minutes last year vs 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21 minutes this year).

There is just no evidence to suggest that "going through the suck" to quote Ben Johnson was necessary. It would have been completely fine last season for Payne to be in an 8 man rotation and the other 3 (Henley, Carrington, JOJ) to spend the year sitting on the bench. Nobody took some massive leap that was only possible by playing 20 minutes a night on a historically bad basketball team. I would argue it would have helped these guys more to compete in practice every day against better basketball players and then play in/experience real high major basketball games with real stakes in '22 as opposed to having minutes handed to them in games that often times were not even competitive.

Payne looks like a better player this year overall. Injuries seem to be keeping his minutes down and maybe impacting his effectiveness a bit.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Payne looks like a better player this year overall. Injuries seem to be keeping his minutes down and maybe impacting his effectiveness a bit.

This - Payne is absolutely a better player this year than he was last year. Injuries have definitely contributed to his stats maybe not being quite as impressive but you have to look beyond the stats and trust your eyes.

 

[Holy Man]

This - Payne is absolutely a better player this year than he was last year. Injuries have definitely contributed to his stats maybe not being quite as impressive but you have to look beyond the stats and trust your eyes.

Much better avoiding unnecessary fouls this year and more confident moves around the basket are clear upgrades from last year.

 

[Gold Vision]

Payne is an absolute load and he’s extremely athletic. He just needs to work on finishing. His footwork tends to leave him directly under or behind the basket too often.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Much better avoiding unnecessary fouls this year and more confident moves around the basket are clear upgrades from last year.

Also clearly working on getting better at the line. Over his last 7 games he has gone 19-30 at the free throw line which works out to 63% so maybe finally starting to see some payoff. Not great by any stretch of the imagination but not terrible for a big guy and good enough that he wouldn't have to be pulled in every late game situation if the score was close.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Payne is an absolute load and he’s extremely athletic. He just needs to work on finishing. His footwork tends to leave him directly under or behind the basket too often.

He moves really well for a guy who is 6'9" and over 250 lbs. Has work to do but impressive how well he can move with and without the basketball for someone his size.