Thank You! Coach Johnson for Your Success Plan Underway!

[BarnBurner]

He does go back and forth on this though.

Why did he bring on so many transfers last year? Why did he not give Thiam and Thompson more run last year? Instead of all those minutes to Sutherlin, Stephens, and Willis, why didn't he bring in and take a run on some FR wing/pg?

We were told on one hand he is doing this intentionally slow. While I disagree with that strategy, it's a strategy. But then on the other hand, he brought in 7 transfers last year and barely played his FR.


Lastly, we aren't mediocre. We're a bad Big 10 basketball team. That's okay if it's part of a process that gets us somewhere greater, but we can't hide from what we are now, a bad basketball team.

Suggesting mediocrity at this point in time is simply a subtle protection of the coach.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Ben's strategy is absolutely the right one for 2010. Today it is much more difficult to sustain a build from scratch. Players are free to go to greener pastures if the losing gets to them. Fans expect quicker improvement because they see other teams go to the portal and turn things around quickly. He has one more year to show that he has this thing ready to roll. After that his momentum and sales pitch of building a big winner, are lost.

Worse yet he already faces a critical period with the fall signings for the 2024 class. The data set those recruits have is this year. How does he make them believe that we are close to winning if we finish 2-18 in the Big Ten? That's why this strategy is so risky in this crazy free agency era. I hope it works out.

I agree but even in 2010 we wouldn't have added 7 transfers in year 1. So it's hard to tell what really is Ben's strategy.

 

[Gopherfan84]

He does go back and forth on this though.

Why did he bring on so many transfers last year? Why did he not give Thiam and Thompson more run last year? Instead of all those minutes to Sutherlin, Stephens, and Willis, why didn't he bring in and take a run on some FR wing/pg?

Because there was not enough time to get any good prep recruits. Really feel there were two options for last year.
1. Build a roster of mostly 1 year guys
2. Try and keep the roster already in place.
Honestly 2 wasn’t much of an option and I think #1 was appropriate.

We were told on one hand he is doing this intentionally slow. While I disagree with that strategy, it's a strategy. But then on the other hand, he brought in 7 transfers last year and barely played his FR.

His freshman were bad last year. I don’t know what/who else he could’ve gotten.

Lastly, we aren't mediocre. We're a bad Big 10 basketball team. That's okay if it's part of a process that gets us somewhere greater, but we can't hide from what we are now, a bad basketball team.

Agreed. Mediocrity was too kind. We’ve been awful for the most part of the last 30 years.

 

[bga1]

I agree but even in 2010 we wouldn't have added 7 transfers in year 1. So it's hard to tell what really is Ben's strategy.

Well in 2010 the whole roster wouldn't have bolted and sat out a year- so I get that part of it. I would have like to seen him pick up a couple of solid frosh that first spring, but these days its tough in the spring unless you are Duke or Kentucky that waits for the 1 and dones to pick.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Because there was not enough time to get any good prep recruits. Really feel there were two options for last year.
1. Build a roster of mostly 1 year guys
2. Try and keep the roster already in place.
Honestly 2 wasn’t much of an option and I think #1 was appropriate.

His freshman were bad last year. I don’t know what/who else he could’ve gotten.

Agreed. Mediocrity was too kind. We’ve been awful for the most part of the last 30 years.

For the first part, that's not really my point. My point is that Ben Johnson isn't playing it any slower than any other coaches. Ben isn't playing the long game any more than any other coach is. He cared about last year or he would have played Thiam and Thompson more minutes.

As far as Thompson, he was losing a ton of minutes to Charlie Daniels. Why? If we only cared about the future.

As scary as it is to think about, do we really think Thiam couldn't help us now? He is putting up decent numbers at High Point. Ben couldn't find 10-15 minutes per game from Stephens, Loewe? Why didn't he?

As to mostly getting transfers for 1 year, does that really matter if we backfill with more transfers? We backfilled PG with another transfer (with 2 seasons of eligibility). We added Parker Fox (2 years). We brought in Garcia (3 years). Battle (2 years). We still haven't landed a HS recruit at PG.

Now, I'm not blaming Ben for these decisions. I am just saying that he isn't singularly focused on the future and building through our recruits. That is a newish narrative that his apologists have made up this year.

I don't know why you just can't be honest about the team. Over the last 30 years, we've been pretty close to mediocre at baskeball (winning 43% of our Big 10 games) - no one would fault you for saying we were mediocre over this stretch.

Over the last two seasons (so far), we have won 21% of our Big 10 games. That is awful.

Just so we're being honest:

• Last 30 years --> Bad/Mediocre
• Last 2 years --> Awful

 

[MNJay]

Reggie Lynch was arrested for sexual assault.

It also did not come "suddenly, out of no-where". He was accused of sexual assault in 2016 and arrested. He returned to the team and then a year later he was accused of multiple additional sexual assaults. I know it can be confusing with him because he was accused of so many different sexual assaults throughout his time here, it's hard to keep them straight but he most certainly was arrested.

As far as you get kicked off a message board for your rape apology, yeah I'm sure you made quite the name for yourself over there.

Reggie Lynch released from jail, sexual assault case sent back to U of M Police

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office has deferred a charging decision in the case of University of Minnesota basketball player Reggie Lynch, who is accused of sexual assault. Lynch, 21, was released from the Hennepin County Jail at noon Tuesday.

www.fox9.com

Ok I guess he spent a few hours in jail. But he was never charged.

Yeah, I did make quite a name for myself over there. I was the only one who was unhappy with our best team being destroyed over an an allegation with no evidence. Everyone else is happy whenever our best teams are destroyed. They were all happy that White & Mbakwe were kicked out. And I'm sure they supported Haskins & that team destroyed.

Just wait...it will happen again in the next few years.

 

[bga1]

Ok I guess he spent a few hours in jail. But he was never charged.

Yeah, I did make quite a name for myself over there. I was the only one who was unhappy with our best team being destroyed over an an allegation with no evidence. Everyone else is happy whenever our best teams are destroyed. They were all happy that White & Mbakwe were kicked out. And I'm sure they supported Haskins & that team destroyed.

Just wait...it will happen again in the next few years.

Actually, for some reason and I don't know what it is, I feel really confident that Ben has been recruiting guys that are not likely to head down this path. One of my favorite things about Ben is that he appears to be recruiting good character.

 

[kix4kix]

I always wondered what Common Mans bit "The hope store is open" would look like on here

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Ok I guess he spent a few hours in jail. But he was never charged.

Yeah, I did make quite a name for myself over there. I was the only one who was unhappy with our best team being destroyed over an an allegation with no evidence. Everyone else is happy whenever our best teams are destroyed. They were all happy that White & Mbakwe were kicked out. And I'm sure they supported Haskins & that team destroyed.

Just wait...it will happen again in the next few years.

But you said in the Beard thread that you'd wait for the police report, why is that not enough here? The police report for Reggie Lynch established probably cause for an arrest.

You also need to fix this statement: "I was the only one who was unhappy with our best team being destroyed over an an allegation with no evidence."

• It wasn't "an allegation". It was several allegations over the course of several years. Many allegations.
• There was also evidence. Evidence is required to arrest someone - it requires PROBABLE CAUSE to make an arrest. That is a lower standard than BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, but PC is certainly an evidentiary standard.

Again, you're mixing everything up.

I'm not saying everyone who is arrested is guilty and I'm not saying everyone not charged/found not guilty are innocent. It requires a bit of nuance. Most reasonable people think Casey Anthony and OJ Simpson were guilty. Most reasonable people believed Jeffrey Epstein ran a child prostitution ring. None of them were convicted of those crimes. Reggie Lynch was accused of sexual assault by numerous women over the course of many years. Those accusations resulted in the University of Minnesota Police Department finding probable cause to arrest him.

As far as Mbakwe, the University did everything they could to get him to play as much as possible. They probably did too much.

• Trevor Mbakwe was convicted of punching and sexually assaulting a woman. He had to sit out a year while the trial was going, but it ended with him being convicted of sexual assault.
• He also lost a civil case against the woman.
• Two years later, he violated a no-contact order placed on him by another girlfriend and was arrested.
  • This violated his probation from his sexual assault conviction
  • It also makes one think, is it normal for a guy to have a no contact order from an ex GF?
• He is then arrested for a DUI
  • Again, violating the terms of his probation.

Despite doing all of this stuff, he still played. LOL. His career ended because he blew out his ACL. This reads much more like a school that bended over backwards for a player than it does a school looking to "get him".

The conspiracy to take down Gopher basketball would have had to include Dade County in Florida (police department and prosecution), Seattle police department (location of second girlfriend), Minneapolis police department, Minnetonka police department and the DOJ.

This would have been an Illuminati-level conspiracy to take us down.

 

[Gopherfan84]

For the first part, that's not really my point. My point is that Ben Johnson isn't playing it any slower than any other coaches. Ben isn't playing the long game any more than any other coach is. He cared about last year or he would have played Thiam and Thompson more minutes.

As far as Thompson, he was losing a ton of minutes to Charlie Daniels. Why? If we only cared about the future.

As scary as it is to think about, do we really think Thiam couldn't help us now? He is putting up decent numbers at High Point. Ben couldn't find 10-15 minutes per game from Stephens, Loewe? Why didn't he?

If you want the slow play/development argument, he didn’t play Thiam and Thompson because he wanted his freshman to earn it and set that tone. That’s my guess.

As to mostly getting transfers for 1 year, does that really matter if we backfill with more transfers? We backfilled PG with another transfer (with 2 seasons of eligibility). We added Parker Fox (2 years). We brought in Garcia (3 years). Battle (2 years). We still haven't landed a HS recruit at PG.

Now, I'm not blaming Ben for these decisions. I am just saying that he isn't singularly focused on the future and building through our recruits. That is a newish narrative that his apologists have made up this year.

I don't know why you just can't be honest about the team. Over the last 30 years, we've been pretty close to mediocre at baskeball (winning 43% of our Big 10 games) - no one would fault you for saying we were mediocre over this stretch.

Over the last two seasons (so far), we have won 21% of our Big 10 games. That is awful.

Just so we're being honest:

• Last 30 years --> Bad/Mediocre
• Last 2 years --> Awful

How am I not being honest? I literally said I was too generous saying the team was mediocre. I just added that we’ve been awful for a majority of the past 30 years. I don’t think that’s a reach. To be honest I don’t know how you can’t say the last 4 years we were awful, but it doesn’t matter.

 

[howeda7]

No, Reggie Lynch was not arrested.

I'll never forget the night my friend messaged me on Facebook that Lynch was kicked out. Pitino's best team ruined, suddenly, out-of-nowhere. I immediately went onto the Rivals Gopher board that I was a member of since 2003...but I was kicked out too. Banned. Preemptive strike. They knew I'd GO OFF on our administration for purposely sabotaging the BB team whenever they're good.

That wasn't even Pitino's best team. They had already gotten their butts kicked by Arkansas and Nebraska with Reggie Lynch and Coffey playing and lost to Miami.

Your delusion about how good some of these teams were is laughable. The 2009-2010 team had a ceiling of a Sweet 16 with White and Mbakwe. Maybe. You declare them odds on favorites to win the national title.

That 2018-2019 team would have been a bubble team with Lynch and Coffey. If Coffey had still gotten hurt (no reason to assume he wouldn't) they wouldn't have made the tournament even with Lynch.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

If you want the slow play/development argument, he didn’t play Thiam and Thompson because he wanted his freshman to earn it and set that tone. That’s my guess.

How am I not being honest? I literally said I was too generous saying the team was mediocre. I just added that we’ve been awful for a majority of the past 30 years. I don’t think that’s a reach. To be honest I don’t know how you can’t say the last 4 years we were awful, but it doesn’t matter.

As to your first point, I agree with it. I don't mind him making the FR earn their minutes. I guess I just don't think this exactly jives with the idea that he is playing the long game.

As to your second point, I shouldn't have said "honest", I should have said "accurate". I don't think we've been awful for the last 30 years is accurate. I think we've been mediocre the last 30 years, we've been awful the last 4. My bad on saying "honest" rather than "accurate".

 

[bga1]

As to your first point, I agree with it. I don't mind him making the FR earn their minutes. I guess I just don't think this exactly jives with the idea that he is playing the long game.

As to your second point, I shouldn't have said "honest", I should have said "accurate". I don't think we've been awful for the last 30 years is accurate. I think we've been mediocre the last 30 years, we've been awful the last 4. My bad on saying "honest" rather than "accurate".

I think last year hurt Ben in a couple of ways. I think he got to thinking, after the great start, that he was going to win a lot of games and maybe even compete for the NCAAs - stunning everyone. He got sucked into an ultra tight rotation.

Furthermore, he was working an offense with no post play and now that he has it, it doesn't feel like he has adapted. It seems like he is running the same deal as last year but with guys that can't run the offense. Last year he was heavy in experienced guards and Willis was clutch for him and thus helped Battle.

 

[Crappie]

If you want the slow play/development argument, he didn’t play Thiam and Thompson because he wanted his freshman to earn it and set that tone. That’s my guess.

How am I not being honest? I literally said I was too generous saying the team was mediocre. I just added that we’ve been awful for a majority of the past 30 years. I don’t think that’s a reach. To be honest I don’t know how you can’t say the last 4 years we were awful, but it doesn’t matter.

You continue to sugar coat and make excuses. That's how.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I think last year hurt Ben in a couple of ways. I think he got to thinking, after the great start, that he was going to win a lot of games and maybe even compete for the NCAAs - stunning everyone. He got sucked into an ultra tight rotation.

Furthermore, he was working an offense with no post play and now that he has it, it doesn't feel like he has adapted. It seems like he is running the same deal as last year but with guys that can't run the offense. Last year he was heavy in experienced guards and Willis was clutch for him and thus helped Battle.

Yeah, I agree with your assessment. I don't even really disagree with Ben's decisions (except I would have moved some of Daniels' minutes to Thompson), I'm just saying that Ben hasn't always played the long game. Tightening the rotation was done to win last year and I am okay with that.

My post wasn't a criticism of Ben's decision as much as it was a criticism of the idea that we shouldn't expect results because Ben is obviously playing the long game here.

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

But you said in the Beard thread that you'd wait for the police report, why is that not enough here? The police report for Reggie Lynch established probably cause for an arrest.

You also need to fix this statement: "I was the only one who was unhappy with our best team being destroyed over an an allegation with no evidence."

• It wasn't "an allegation". It was several allegations over the course of several years. Many allegations.
• There was also evidence. Evidence is required to arrest someone - it requires PROBABLE CAUSE to make an arrest. That is a lower standard than BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, but PC is certainly an evidentiary standard.

Again, you're mixing everything up.

I'm not saying everyone who is arrested is guilty and I'm not saying everyone not charged/found not guilty are innocent. It requires a bit of nuance. Most reasonable people think Casey Anthony and OJ Simpson were guilty. Most reasonable people believed Jeffrey Epstein ran a child prostitution ring. None of them were convicted of those crimes. Reggie Lynch was accused of sexual assault by numerous women over the course of many years. Those accusations resulted in the University of Minnesota Police Department finding probable cause to arrest him.

As far as Mbakwe, the University did everything they could to get him to play as much as possible. They probably did too much.

• Trevor Mbakwe was convicted of punching and sexually assaulting a woman. He had to sit out a year while the trial was going, but it ended with him being convicted of sexual assault.
• He also lost a civil case against the woman.
• Two years later, he violated a no-contact order placed on him by another girlfriend and was arrested.
  • This violated his probation from his sexual assault conviction
  • It also makes one think, is it normal for a guy to have a no contact order from an ex GF?
• He is then arrested for a DUI
  • Again, violating the terms of his probation.

Despite doing all of this stuff, he still played. LOL. His career ended because he blew out his ACL. This reads much more like a school that bended over backwards for a player than it does a school looking to "get him".

The conspiracy to take down Gopher basketball would have had to include Dade County in Florida (police department and prosecution), Seattle police department (location of second girlfriend), Minneapolis police department, Minnetonka police department and the DOJ.

This would have been an Illuminati-level conspiracy to take us down.

And now he is the interim Eden Prairie head boys basketball coach because the main one (who was the Gatorade coach of the year in 2020) said an insensitive word during social media training. What is worse?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

And now he is the interim Eden Prairie head boys basketball coach because the main one (who was the Gatorade coach of the year in 2020) said an insensitive word during social media training. What is worse?

Eventually all this crap just ends up eating itself. It's somehow more PC to have a convicted rapist, woman beater who has violated no contact orders as the coach than someone who said something insensitive.

What a world.

The answer to your question of which is worse, it depends on what the person who did it looks like. There is a hierarchy of the oppressed, it's always changing, but it exists.

 

[Gopherfan84]

You continue to sugar coat and make excuses. That's how.

Shhh… this was an adult conversation.

 

[Gopherfan84]

And now he is the interim Eden Prairie head boys basketball coach because the main one (who was the Gatorade coach of the year in 2020) said an insensitive word during social media training. What is worse?

Wow I’m so out of the loop. Flom is out? Dang he was a really good dude.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Wow I’m so out of the loop. Flom is out? Dang he was a really good dude.

Yeah, he read something out loud quoting someone who said the N word. Probably stupid, but by all means he is a good person.

If you want to read some rubbish, listen to how the process is described by KSTP. This would seem Orwellian in an Orwellian Universe.

Can you imagine a school district paying a complete idiot like Seena Hodges a dime?
__________________________________

Cultural competency experts explained words have consequences and they should be chosen carefully.

“Having a greater understanding of the cultures of other people makes you less likely to make mistakes, less likely to say things that offend people and less likely to engage in behaviors that are harmful,” Seena Hodges, Former Minnesota Department of Education cultural competency trainer, said. “Cultural competency is really important.”

Hodges is also the founder and CEO of “The Woke Coach.” The mission is to help people deepen their analysis and develop and understanding around issues of racism, bias and injustice.

“When someone says the N-word, it’s really harmful because we know historically and currently that that word is a very hard word. That word is layered and loaded,” Hodges said.

Hodges explained even reading the racial slur out loud can still be harmful to the black community.

“Especially for a white identified person, it’s not a word that you should have access to. It’s not one that you should use in any way, shape or form because the consequences of that word are too great,” Hodges said.

Eden Prairie basketball coach suspended amid district investigation, allegedly used racist phrase

The head coach of the Eden Prairie boys basketball team has been suspended while the school district investigates a complaint that he used racist language during a team meeting.

kstp.com

 

[Gopherfan84]

Yeah, he read something out loud quoting someone who said the N word. Probably stupid, but by all means he is a good person.

If you want to read some rubbish, listen to how the process is described by KSTP. This would seem Orwellian in an Orwellian Universe.

Can you imagine a school district paying a complete idiot like Seena Hodges a dime?
__________________________________

Cultural competency experts explained words have consequences and they should be chosen carefully.

“Having a greater understanding of the cultures of other people makes you less likely to make mistakes, less likely to say things that offend people and less likely to engage in behaviors that are harmful,” Seena Hodges, Former Minnesota Department of Education cultural competency trainer, said. “Cultural competency is really important.”

Hodges is also the founder and CEO of “The Woke Coach.” The mission is to help people deepen their analysis and develop and understanding around issues of racism, bias and injustice.

“When someone says the N-word, it’s really harmful because we know historically and currently that that word is a very hard word. That word is layered and loaded,” Hodges said.

Hodges explained even reading the racial slur out loud can still be harmful to the black community.

“Especially for a white identified person, it’s not a word that you should have access to. It’s not one that you should use in any way, shape or form because the consequences of that word are too great,” Hodges said.

Eden Prairie basketball coach suspended amid district investigation, allegedly used racist phrase

The head coach of the Eden Prairie boys basketball team has been suspended while the school district investigates a complaint that he used racist language during a team meeting.

kstp.com

Yeah maybe a lapse of judgement, but he is no doubt a very good man and has helped a ton of kids. He was in it for all the right reasons. Too bad for all involved (kids included)

 

[MNJay]

That wasn't even Pitino's best team. They had already gotten their butts kicked by Arkansas and Nebraska with Reggie Lynch and Coffey playing and lost to Miami.

Your delusion about how good some of these teams were is laughable. The 2009-2010 team had a ceiling of a Sweet 16 with White and Mbakwe. Maybe. You declare them odds on favorites to win the national title.

That 2018-2019 team would have been a bubble team with Lynch and Coffey. If Coffey had still gotten hurt (no reason to assume he wouldn't) they wouldn't have made the tournament even with Lynch.

The Lynch/Pitino team looked like a Final Four contender in the first few weeks. Then they started falling apart...and then Lynch got kicked out and they completely fell apart.

I wonder if the impending suspension affected the team while Lynch was still playing. Maybe they were simply good but not great.

But I stand by my opinion that White & Mbakwe on our NCAA team that returned its top 9 players would have been the National Championship favorite. That's dominant inside play...combined with deadly 3-point shooting (Hoff fired whenever he had even a half-inch of an opening)...combined with excellent & big-game leaders at the wing (Westbrook in particular, and DJ).

 

[Crappie]

Shhh… this was an adult conversation.

One adult continues his protection plan.

 

[Gopherfan84]

One adult continues his protection plan.

The other continues his stalking one. So here we are lol

 

[Crappie]

The other continues his stalking one. So here we are lol

Thought you were leaving. Guess not.

 

[Bfan]

In the Nebraska game that went to overtime, great that freshman Joshua Ola-Joseph got 32 minutes and freshman Pharrel Payne got 20 minutes. Freshman Jaden Henley played 12 minutes. Freshman Braden Carrington got 9 minutes. Great! Just think how good they will be next season and season after.

Skill slowly improves. It takes time. The one thing they can control is effort. That's what I want to see.

So here are some crucial moments at the end in OT.


Here junior Jamison Battle makes the 3 to tie the game in OT.




Later Nebraska will drive to the basket. Not much Minnesota can do except avoid the foul.


Nebraska misses. For the Gophers freshman #1 Joshua Ola-Joseph doesn’t box out correctly. Nebraska pokes the ball in on the rebound. That’s a freshman mistake there. He should have boxed out.






And then there was the pass from Battle to freshman Pharrel Payne who couldn’t handle the pass leading to a turnover. That would have tied the game.



These players are freshmen. It’s not possible to make them be juniors.



Great that freshman Ola-Joseph got 32 minutes and freshman Payne got 20 minutes. Freshman Jaden Henley played 12 minutes. Freshman Braden Carrington got 9 minutes. Great! Just think how good they will be next season and season after. They are freshmen. Great work for where they are at!


You can put 5 coaches on me and, I tell you, but I’m only going to perform however my body lets me perform. Skill is what it is and improves gradually.

In the Wisconsin game the coaches were yelling to the players to be in a certain spot on certain plays and then they weren't. Our bodies can only perform as well as they will.

Coaches can't just order this and that and it happens. They do and then it takes time for things to work and then talent level is a ceiling. It's about incremental improvement and absolute potential.

You can't coach order players to be better than they are.

This team plays a lot of freshman minutes. They are going to get better.


The one thing they can control is effort. That's what I want to see.


Super talent Dennis Evans is coming next season. A player can only be as good as the potential, and Evans is a top-5 NBA pick.


Thankful for these freshmen minutes.



More to come.

 

[Bfan]

To the Johnson critics, do this:

Hire a tennis coach and tell that coach to make your serves perfect every time and then scream at you when the serve is not perfect.

And then tell that instructor to coach the #234 talent in the world and make that person's serve perfect every play. In fact, demand that #234 player make the top 10.

A team is only as good as the talent.

The best you can hope for is full effort and slow improvement.

And be able to recruit top talent.

The fact the tennis serve is bad sometimes is simply what it is going to be. Don't scream at the coach.

Incremental improvement. Talent.

 

[MennoSota]

To the Johnson critics, do this:

Hire a tennis coach and tell that coach to make your serves perfect every time and then scream at you when the serve is not perfect.

And then tell that instructor to coach the #234 talent in the world and make that person's serve perfect every play. In fact, demand that #234 player make the top 10.

A team is only as good as the talent.

The best you can hope for is full effort and slow improvement.

And be able to recruit top talent.

The fact the tennis serve is bad sometimes is simply what it is going to be. Don't scream at the coach.

Incremental improvement. Talent.

Clearly you have watched my son play tennis...

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

In the Nebraska game that went to overtime, great that freshman Joshua Ola-Joseph got 32 minutes and freshman Pharrel Payne got 20 minutes. Freshman Jaden Henley played 12 minutes. Freshman Braden Carrington got 9 minutes. Great! Just think how good they will be next season and season after.

Skill slowly improves. It takes time. The one thing they can control is effort. That's what I want to see.

So here are some crucial moments at the end in OT.


Here junior Jamison Battle makes the 3 to tie the game in OT.

View attachment 22985


Later Nebraska will drive to the basket. Not much Minnesota can do except avoid the foul.


Nebraska misses. For the Gophers freshman #1 Joshua Ola-Joseph doesn’t box out correctly. Nebraska pokes the ball in on the rebound. That’s a freshman mistake there. He should have boxed out.

View attachment 22988


View attachment 22989

And then there was the pass from Battle to freshman Pharrel Payne who couldn’t handle the pass leading to a turnover. That would have tied the game.



These players are freshmen. It’s not possible to make them be juniors.



Great that freshman Ola-Joseph got 32 minutes and freshman Payne got 20 minutes. Freshman Jaden Henley played 12 minutes. Freshman Braden Carrington got 9 minutes. Great! Just think how good they will be next season and season after. They are freshmen. Great work for where they are at!


You can put 5 coaches on me and, I tell you, but I’m only going to perform however my body lets me perform. Skill is what it is and improves gradually.

In the Wisconsin game the coaches were yelling to the players to be in a certain spot on certain plays and then they weren't. Our bodies can only perform as well as they will.

Coaches can't just order this and that and it happens. They do and then it takes time for things to work and then talent level is a ceiling. It's about incremental improvement and absolute potential.

You can't coach order players to be better than they are.

This team plays a lot of freshman minutes. They are going to get better.


The one thing they can control is effort. That's what I want to see.


Super talent Dennis Evans is coming next season. A player can only be as good as the potential, and Evans is a top-5 NBA pick.


Thankful for these freshmen minutes.



More to come.

Yeah that’s great and all, but outside of Payne they are not that good of prospects at the B10 level. Every team has this level of freshmen talent on their roster year-in-year-out, but they aren’t forced to play it. Additionally, higher ranked teams in the B10 will reload with actually star prospects who will have immediate impact (much like we expect of Evans)…but lots of these prophecy’s can do it offensively. MSU has their highest ranked class ever coming in next year, and it contains the number one player in the nation. So, even if our freshmen progress, they will most likely never be as good as some of these other guys coming in at other teams or even sitting on other teams bench (who are just waiting for their chances).

 

[scools12]

Super talent Dennis Evans is coming next season. A player can only be as good as the potential, and Evans is a top-5 NBA pick.

Evans hasn’t played one minute of college basketball and he is already a top-5 NBA pick.