Trey Edmonds commits to MN per On3

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Formerswish said:
Agreed, he's an athlete with good strength and he can board a little, and along with Mitchell, Garcia, and Fox, they've got a decent group on the front line who can physically match up with most teams.

And while this isn't the 2011 Kentucky Wildcats here, Johnson has put together a team with limited resources (money) that will have a chance to compete, especially if Patterson signs. And they will have some depth.
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Agreed (C'mon Lu'cye, finish it off!)

Johnson took a big hit in this offseason but he dug in and faced the challenge. He might have assembled a better team under the circumstances and with the resources available than we would have expected. One visible theme of his efforts is that he went for guys who have a lot of playing experience. We likely won't have as talented of a starting lineup but we may be more consistent and dependable throughout the rotation.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Agreed (C'mon Lu'cye, finish it off!)

Johnson took a big hit in this offseason but he dug in and faced the challenge. He might have assembled a better team under the circumstances and with the resources available than we would have expected. One visible theme of his efforts is that he went for guys who have a lot of playing experience. We likely won't have as talented of a starting lineup but we may be more consistent and dependable throughout the rotation.
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What we haven't added is a true scorer.. we may be deeper.... But we didn't add anyone who can put the ball in the basket when called upon especially against better competition... Tough to see this team scoring a ton..... We will see what happens however
 

Formerswish said:
Agreed, he's an athlete with good strength and he can board a little, and along with Mitchell, Garcia, and Fox, they've got a decent group on the front line who can physically match up with most teams.

And while this isn't the 2011 Kentucky Wildcats here, Johnson has put together a team with limited resources (money) that will have a chance to compete, especially if Patterson signs. And they will have some depth.

I give the guy credit for what he's done so far, and after last year, he deserves the opportunity to coach next year. And I know many of the the Johnson skeptics will have a problem with that, but many of them wouldn't know a good coach if he came up and bit them in the ass.
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Oh, so you noticed that big ugly bite mark on Ivan's ass?
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
Agreed (C'mon Lu'cye, finish it off!)

Johnson took a big hit in this offseason but he dug in and faced the challenge. He might have assembled a better team under the circumstances and with the resources available than we would have expected. One visible theme of his efforts is that he went for guys who have a lot of playing experience. We likely won't have as talented of a starting lineup but we may be more consistent and dependable throughout the rotation.
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Don't forget the role Cam Christie had in hurting Ben's portal recruiting. A guy like Evans could not take the chance, however slim, that Christie might come back. Ben could sell on the basis Christie most probably was going in the draft but as long as he stayed out of the transfer portal no prospective transfer to Minnesota could take the chance of wasting a year playing behind Cam.

It was a very low class move by Christie to wait until the last day to go into the portal.
 

Off-GridTNgopher said:
What we haven't added is a true scorer.. we may be deeper.... But we didn't add anyone who can put the ball in the basket when called upon especially against better competition... Tough to see this team scoring a ton..... We will see what happens however
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Yes, it would appear that way. Patterson did average almost 15 points a game this past season and about 10 points the year before in a decent league. Mitchell averaged a little over 10 pts/game last season and might be able to increase that a bit. Somebody else could be a better scorer than we're seeing right now.

We really only had one big scorer last season. The other four starters averaged between 9.5 and 11.3 points per game.
 




bga1 said:
We also have three 80% shooters in Garcia, M Mitchell and Williams. Frank Mitchell and Edmunds won't be on the floor together. Ben will have to manage it down the stretch as he did with Payne. I like this pickup!
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Williams is a deep bench piece who's unlikely to play much, less still at crunch time.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Williams is a deep bench piece who's unlikely to play much, less still at crunch time.
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Maybe. If so that's a really good sign for the team. He ran circles around our guards last year.
From the looks of things- Ben is attempting to build a team that has a lot of defensive minded grinders and rebounders: Odukale, Rigsby, Patterson, Mitchell and Edmunds all being big physical types for their positions.
We were not great defensively last year.
 
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dbmn said:
Last year's guard additions Hawkins and Mitchel were unknown and appeared to be fill-ins, but they turned out quality additions. Won't know until B10 season starts whether this year's additions were quality. A lot of work to coach these additions to worthwhile B10 players.
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Very true but if they can add Pattersin I like what we have done in replacing those that departed. I think they will be average to above average, much will depend on Azuma' settling in adapting to this level of play and contributing! In time he has the potential to be better than Hawkins much better frame and good quickness and a better defender!
 

Patterson/Asuma
Mitchell/Rigsby
Odukale
Garcia/Fox
Mitchell/Edmonds

Man it would be nice if Betts could give minutes at SF, I'm just not sure he can.
 

bga1 said:
Maybe. If so that's a really good sign for the team. He ran circles around our guards last year.
From the looks of things- Ben is attempting to build a team that has a lot of defensive minded grinders and rebounders: Odukale, Rigsby, Patterson, Mitchell and Edmunds all being big physical types for their positions.
We were not great defensively last year.
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Coming from the perspective of not seeing him go off in the preseason game last year, I’ll suggest that maybe one of the reasons he ran circles around our guards was that ours had no idea what they were doing the second time they played a game together.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Williams is a deep bench piece who's unlikely to play much, less still at crunch time.
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Costa Rican Gopher said:
Williams is a deep bench piece who's unlikely to play much, less still at crunch time.
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Not sure how I got the double header action but I don't believe we have started summer workouts yet. Williams could be one of Ben's bench guys who never plays but I think there is a possibility he surprises people and earns important minutes. Call it my Shama prediction.
 



Gophers7633 said:
Patterson/Asuma
Mitchell/Rigsby
Odukale
Garcia/Fox
Mitchell/Edmonds

Man it would be nice if Betts could give minutes at SF, I'm just not sure he can.
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I'm right with you on what you have here.

I do think Betts will find his way into minutes this year. He's a talented kid and he needs to make it happen. Ben needs to give him that chance as well.

I'm hoping some way, some how, Williams can earn minutes as well. It would just be great to see if he truly earns them and can be effective.
 

best case scenario - I see Williams as the Gophers' version of Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson - a guy who comes in for 4 or 5 minutes to hopefully provide instant offense and give the team a spark if the offense bogs down.

the key with a player like that is not playing him so much that you expose his limitations.
 

Gophers7633 said:
Patterson/Asuma
Mitchell/Rigsby
Odukale
Garcia/Fox
Mitchell/Edmonds

Man it would be nice if Betts could give minutes at SF, I'm just not sure he can.
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We might be deeper, but it's hard to say it's better. It's likely a downgrade at the 1, 3 and 5 spots and an upgrade at the 7th and 8th spots.
 

Gophers7633 said:
Patterson/Asuma
Mitchell/Rigsby
Odukale
Garcia/Fox
Mitchell/Edmonds

Man it would be nice if Betts could give minutes at SF, I'm just not sure he can.
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Why don't you think he can? Have you noticed something during practice you didn't like?
 

RockChalk said:
Why don't you think he can? Have you noticed something during practice you didn't like?
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I don't think Betts is quick or fluid enough for that. He has a nice looking shot but looks like he's outgrown being able to play on the wing, on either end.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
I don't think Betts is quick or fluid enough for that. He has a nice looking shot but looks like he's outgrown being able to play on the wing, on either end.
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So in his practice role against his teammates you don't like what you are seeing?
 
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Zeppelin Gopher said:
I'm not sure about his practice "roll", but I'm fairly certain his role on the floor will be as a stretch 4.
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haha, thanks for sharing my incorrect use of the word.

Can you expand on your thinking of his role? Do you feel you watch enough of him in practice or a big enough sampling in games to see where he fits next year?
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Williams is a deep bench piece who's unlikely to play much, less still at crunch time.
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Given multiple weak free throw shooters on the team, I could see him entering a game in the closing two minutes if we have a modest lead. I also could see him entering a game shortly before halftime to take free throws or an open three.
 

Any good news is welcome! I have never heard of this guy but he wants to be here so welcome!
 



bga1 said:
Maybe. If so that's a really good sign for the team. He ran circles around our guards last year
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bga1 said:
From the looks of things- Ben is attempting to build a team that has a lot of defensive minded grinders and rebounders: Odukale, Rigsby, Patterson, Mitchell and Edmunds all being big physical types for their positions.
We were not great defensively last year.
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- Williams also scored 5 pts against St Mary's of Mpls, and 6 pts against St Olaf. The real Caleb Williams lies somewhere between those crappy performances, against crappy opponents, and his out-of-his-mind performance against the Gophers. I don't believe he was brought in to be part of the rotation. He's our 5th guard, and the 10th-11th man on the bench. Anything more than keeping a high GPA, good attitude & showing up to practice with intensity everyday will be a bonus.

- It's an interesting point about the roster maturity. I'm going to make an analogy that may be off a bit, but I think you'll get the point. Years ago the Gopher hockey team used to dominate with local 18-19 y/o stars. Eventually teams like Michigan Tech & Lake Superior St (from memory) realized they couldn't compete with teams like us talent-wise, so they started recruiting guys who were 21-22 y/o who'd already played a few seasons in the rough & tumble Canadian Juniors. Their maturity/experience/physicality could & often did, bridge the talent gap against the younger, more talented Gophers. Maybe that's the approach CBJ's taking?
 
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Costa Rican Gopher said:
Their maturity/experience/physicality could & often did, bridge the talent gap against the younger, more talented Gophers. Maybe that's the approach CBJ's taking?
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I think that's the approach most teams are taking today if they can. 12 of the 18 current Big Ten teams have 2 or fewer freshmen recruits when I checked recently.

If you can't get enough raw talent get the experience and physical maturity. The strategy might be a bit less effective when the optional 5th year will be sharply reduced after next season.

You certainly can't blame Ben for adopting this strategy considering that only one of his five 2022 freshmen recruits remained past his soph year and that one had no record to sell on the transfer market.
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
I think that's the approach most teams are taking today if they can. 12 of the 18 current Big Ten teams have 2 or fewer freshmen recruits when I checked recently.
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The value of prep players has really fallen off in the era of unlimited portal transfers & Covid years. What value is there to bringing in a Freshman other than the handful of immediate impact Freshmen that exist? If they don't play right away, they leave. If they play well right away, they leave. In this climate you're better off recruiting players with a proven track record.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
The value of prep players has really fallen off in the era of unlimited portal transfers & Covid years. What value is there to bringing in a Freshman other than the handful of immediate impact Freshmen that exist? If they don't play right away, they leave. If they play well right away, they leave. In this climate you're better off recruiting players with a proven track record.
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yup. the whole system of roster construction has been altered by the current rules.
Priority for major-conference teams:
1. best portal players available
2. 5* or top 4* HS recruits
3. remaining portal players
4. all other HS recruits

for mid-major teams, there will be more emphasis on HS recruits - because they will need an influx of talent every year to replace the players who leave via the portal, or because they can't afford to pay for the higher-priced talent.
 

It's basically turning college ball into the baseball leagues. D3 or Small conferences are like A ball, mid majors or low end major conference teams are AA and Blue Bloods and big spenders will be AAA.
 

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