Thoughts on team as we head into Big Ten games

[march madness]

It seems like MN, hasnt fired coaches so fast in the past. They get plenty of excuses for extensions. So based on the past, I can see Ben sticking around even if they only get 5-6 B1G wins.

Next year you would have:
PG Hawkins, Asuma
SG Carrington, Mitchell
SF Christie, JOJ
PF JOJ, Ihnen
C Payne

Team would really need a SG who can light it up, and a backup center for 2004-2005.
If Carrington cannot find his shot, he is not a starter on a decent team.
Mitchell and Hawkins are to small to play together against almost all B1G teams, they will get hammered down low by those guards.
IF they found a SG who can shoot, they could surround Payne with 4 capable 3 pt shooters, which would be a first for the gophers. Sometimes we have guards who cant shoot, non the less a stretch 4 who can.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

At this point, I can only go by the past and the past makes me skeptical of success in the future.

The past is rarely of any help in detecting a significant team turnaround. No one was predicting Northwestern to place second in the conference last season after five straight losing seasons and few, if any, predicted Minnesota would win 24 games in 2017 after winning 8 in 2016.

I don't know yet if Minnesota will have a significant turnaround this season but I do know that I can't look to the past to determine that.

 

[gopherguy15]

0% chance

If you truly believe this, then you haven't been watching much of the Big Ten this year...

 

[CentralGopher]

This team is so untested I struggle to remain optimistic for anything more than 4-6 wins in conference

 

[SplitDecision]

It seems like MN, hasnt fired coaches so fast in the past. They get plenty of excuses for extensions. So based on the past, I can see Ben sticking around even if they only get 5-6 B1G wins.

Next year you would have:
PG Hawkins, Asuma
SG Carrington, Mitchell
SF Christie, JOJ
PF JOJ, Ihnen
C Payne

Team would really need a SG who can light it up, and a backup center for 2004-2005.
If Carrington cannot find his shot, he is not a starter on a decent team.
Mitchell and Hawkins are to small to play together against almost all B1G teams, they will get hammered down low by those guards.
IF they found a SG who can shoot, they could surround Payne with 4 capable 3 pt shooters, which would be a first for the gophers. Sometimes we have guards who cant shoot, non the less a stretch 4 who can.

We should really watch this season unravel, and see the improvements made weekly. This team could win 10 conference games, finish 19-12 and that would change the whole dynamic during the offseason. I am not sure why most on this board seem to think Garcia will leave after this season, but if there is some solid intel instead of rumor and intuition, I'd love to see it.

 

[GoodasGold]

We should really watch this season unravel, and see the improvements made weekly. This team could win 10 conference games, finish 19-12 and that would change the whole dynamic during the offseason. I am not sure why most on this board seem to think Garcia will leave after this season, but if there is some solid intel instead of rumor and intuition, I'd love to see it.

Pure speculation is the fuel that feeds the GopherHole.

 

[MNVCGUY]

The past is rarely of any help in detecting a significant team turnaround. No one was predicting Northwestern to place second in the conference last season after five straight losing seasons and few, if any, predicted Minnesota would win 24 games in 2017 after winning 8 in 2016.

I don't know yet if Minnesota will have a significant turnaround this season but I do know that I can't look to the past to determine that.

Yep....last two years sucked....nothing will change that but this is a very different team so assuming they are also going to suck isn't fair to the current players.

There definitely has been improvement from last year to this year. How many wins that translates to is anyone's guess.

 

[bga1]

We should really watch this season unravel, and see the improvements made weekly. This team could win 10 conference games, finish 19-12 and that would change the whole dynamic during the offseason. I am not sure why most on this board seem to think Garcia will leave after this season, but if there is some solid intel instead of rumor and intuition, I'd love to see it.

In the age of NIL we could pay Garcia to stay on and it might well be competitive with Europe- not the NBA. He is out of transfers without sitting I think(?)

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

In the age of NIL we could pay Garcia to stay on and it might well be competitive with Europe- not the NBA. He is out of transfers without sitting I think(?)

Not if he graduates.

 

[bga1]

Not if he graduates.

good point...

 

[Unregistered User]

We have one B1G win and that was a come from behind win at the Barn. The jury is still out on what kind of a team we have. At this point, I can only go by the past and the past makes me skeptical of success in the future. The kids will have to change my mind.

I hope you don’t invest on your own.

 

[GopherBlood777]

We should really watch this season unravel, and see the improvements made weekly. This team could win 10 conference games, finish 19-12 and that would change the whole dynamic during the offseason. I am not sure why most on this board seem to think Garcia will leave after this season, but if there is some solid intel instead of rumor and intuition, I'd love to see it.

Garcia was being introduced as a redshirt junior during the pre season tip off event. Garcia corrected this stating firmly he is a senior implying he feels this is his final year. Kind of weird to do that otherwise.This was 2 months ago. I doubt he's back short of a major pay increase. This is no slight on Ben. Under normal circumstances this would be Garcia's final year of eligibility anyway. Not everyone wants to stay in college forever and he will have options.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Under normal circumstances this would be Garcia's final year of eligibility anyway. Not everyone wants to stay in college forever and he will have options.

True. Not everyone who was eligible for that 5th year took it. Isaiah Washington didn't and he would have had fewer options than Garcia.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Garcia hurt his ankle on the 6th. Next game is the 21st
Thinking he will be back for some minutes against Ball State.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Garcia hurt his ankle on the 6th. Next game is the 21st
Thinking he will be back for some minutes against Ball State.

If everyone else is healthy, we could wait until Maine. According to multiple ratings, Maine is the 3rd best nonconference team we play this season (granted, there is a big gap between #2 and #3) and Garcia should have at least a tune up game before the full conference season starts.

 

[mngolf]

Pure speculation is the fuel that feeds the GopherHole.

Along with stupidity.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

If we have

Garcia was being introduced as a redshirt junior during the pre season tip off event. Garcia corrected this stating firmly he is a senior implying he feels this is his final year. Kind of weird to do that otherwise.This was 2 months ago. I doubt he's back short of a major pay increase. This is no slight on Ben. Under normal circumstances this would be Garcia's final year of eligibility anyway. Not everyone wants to stay in college forever and he will have options.

Another conflicting piece of info- in the new Dinkytown Athletes radio spot, Dawsone clearly introduces himself as "Junior forward, University of Minnesota".

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

If everyone else is healthy, we could wait until Maine. According to multiple ratings, Maine is the 3rd best nonconference team we play this season (granted, there is a big gap between #2 and #3) and Garcia should have at least a tune up game before the full conference season starts.

Yeah, 8 more days if they wait until Maine. Probably the best scenario. (I’m greedy and want to see him out there.)

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

If you truly believe this, then you haven't been watching much of the Big Ten this year...

I suspect he hasn't watched much Gopher basketball this season either.

This team clearly is better than last year's team. I don't know how much better yet but they're clearly better. Really, the team has blown only one game: Missouri. They were beaten pretty badly by San Francisco but USF is a credible team and that was the Gophers' first road game of the season. Ohio State appears to be one of the better conference teams this year and a 10 point loss to them on the road during early season is reasonable.

We've played more than our fair share of weak teams this season but we're handling them much more easily than we did last season. Last year's team crossed the 70 point mark only 8 times during the regular season and never crossed the 80 point mark. This year's team has crossed the 70 point mark 8 times in the first 11 games and the 80 point mark 5 times during that span.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Yeah, 8 more days if they wait until Maine. Probably the best scenario. (I’m greedy and want to see him out there.)

Garcia certainly is our premier player but I'm enjoying the way that they are playing without him (at least in the very short term).

 

[Block M]

I suspect he hasn't watched much Gopher basketball this season either.

This team clearly is better than last year's team. I don't know how much better yet but they're clearly better. Really, the team has blown only one game: Missouri. They were beaten pretty badly by San Francisco but USF is a credible team and that was the Gophers' first road game of the season. Ohio State appears to be one of the better conference teams this year and a 10 point loss to them on the road during early season is reasonable.

We've played more than our fair share of weak teams this season but we're handling them much more easily than we did last season. Last year's team crossed the 70 point mark only 8 times during the regular season and never crossed the 80 point mark. This year's team has crossed the 70 point mark 8 times in the first 11 games and the 80 point mark 5 times during that span.

With the qualifier that I have not watched much Gopher basketball the past few years (since before Covid, really), this does appear to be Ben's best team at MN. This, combined with the fact that college basketball has more parity, more unpredictability, and much less "mature" talent than it did even 10 years ago leads me to think the Gophers have a chance to do something THIS season and much more NEXT season if the key players all return. I think they can hit 6-10 conference wins with some good fortune.

 

[GopherBlood777]

If we have

Another conflicting piece of info- in the new Dinkytown Athletes radio spot, Dawsone clearly introduces himself as "Junior forward, University of Minnesota".

Selling hope for NIL $$, personally I hope he returns. I just don't think it's likely. Huge win for Ben if it happens.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Selling hope for NIL $$, personally I hope he returns. I just don't think it's likely. Huge win for Ben if it happens.

If I were him and able to be a graduate transfer that intended to play one more year, would be heading to a spot with the most money.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I suspect he hasn't watched much Gopher basketball this season either.

This team clearly is better than last year's team. I don't know how much better yet but they're clearly better. Really, the team has blown only one game: Missouri. They were beaten pretty badly by San Francisco but USF is a credible team and that was the Gophers' first road game of the season. Ohio State appears to be one of the better conference teams this year and a 10 point loss to them on the road during early season is reasonable.

We've played more than our fair share of weak teams this season but we're handling them much more easily than we did last season. Last year's team crossed the 70 point mark only 8 times during the regular season and never crossed the 80 point mark. This year's team has crossed the 70 point mark 8 times in the first 11 games and the 80 point mark 5 times during that span.

I feel very confident in saying that this team would have kicked the crap out of last year's team, especially the early season version of last year's team.

The Carrington situation puts a little bit of a cloud on things because he has proven to be a really valuable part of the current squad with his defense, rebounding and effort. If he returns and they can manage to stay healthy I honestly think this team has a shot of finding its way to the middle of the pack in the conference and maybe even to the fringe of the tournament.

In the end it comes down to playing smart and protecting the basketball. When they do that they have looked really really good. They have gone on some impressive runs and scored in bunches. If they can avoid those stretches where they get careless and turn the ball over a ton....they have a chance to be decent.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Every decent team has been able to drive to the bucket at will against us. Actually, even most of the bad teams have.

This is my biggest concern with this squad. Hawk is a huge liability with this part of our D and Mitchell isn't much better. Now with Carrington sitting Christie will be getting more minutes but we all know he is green.

Ben has to have a couple of zone D's ready or switch things up some way. After watching what Thornton did guys like Buie, Hoggard, etc will have field days.

 

[Gophers7633]

I feel very confident in saying that this team would have kicked the crap out of last year's team, especially the early season version of last year's team.

The Carrington situation puts a little bit of a cloud on things because he has proven to be a really valuable part of the current squad with his defense, rebounding and effort. If he returns and they can manage to stay healthy I honestly think this team has a shot of finding its way to the middle of the pack in the conference and maybe even to the fringe of the tournament.

In the end it comes down to playing smart and protecting the basketball. When they do that they have looked really really good. They have gone on some impressive runs and scored in bunches. If they can avoid those stretches where they get careless and turn the ball over a ton....they have a chance to be decent.

Middle of the pack isn't gonna be good enough this year. We've gotta finish in the top 6 to have a chance at the tournament. Maybe even top 5. League has been that bad, and the OOC is terrible.

 

[kix4kix]

It seems multiple numbers of u take pleaaure if the University of Minnesota does poorly! I feel sorry for you.
This group of players has a chance to be a decent Big Ten team. And funny they seem to be improving under a coach most of u label as a disaster or incompetent!
My prediction they will win 17-20 games overall and be in the NIT. And Ben is going nowhere. He will be back next year!

I am an alumn of Carlson and am proud of it, Hope they bounce back and do well but I am sorry this team is unwatchable. I sincerely wish these kids the best and they do have some bright spots. Payne looks great! But the staff seems in over their heads and are worse today than Patino's last year.

I really am a half glass full kind of person and I get reading negative reviews gets old, but I am sorry I just don't see where this optimism is coming from. We have people bragging about beating...Nebraska


I mean look at this clip here, and compare it to the games today, doesn't even look like the same school. We had a losing Big Ten record that year btw....I miss this

 

[jovs]

We should really watch this season unravel, and see the improvements made weekly. This team could win 10 conference games, finish 19-12 and that would change the whole dynamic during the offseason. I am not sure why most on this board seem to think Garcia will leave after this season, but if there is some solid intel instead of rumor and intuition, I'd love to see it.

$$$

 

[jovs]

I am an alumn of Carlson and am proud of it, Hope they bounce back and do well but I am sorry this team is unwatchable. I sincerely wish these kids the best and they do have some bright spots. Payne looks great! But the staff seems in over their heads and are worse today than Patino's last year.

I really am a half glass full kind of person and I get reading negative reviews gets old, but I am sorry I just don't see where this optimism is coming from. We have people bragging about beating...Nebraska


I mean look at this clip here, and compare it to the games today, doesn't even look like the same school. We had a losing Big Ten record that year btw....I miss this

You are cherry picking a bit, that game was the best performance of a Gopher basketball team in the last two decades.

 

[Holy Man]

You are cherry picking a bit, that game was the best performance of a Gopher basketball team in the last two decades.

The era he chose was also one where the game overall was played by better and more mature players than it is now. The Gophers are down. The B1G is down. But all of college basketball is down too. It’s quickly becoming apples to oranges comparison between eras.