Tuesday's Practice

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Lou Hudson

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We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
 

Tempering my expectations for Samuels. We’ve seen reports of players being great shooters in preseason practices before that don’t materialize. At least this way if he does well in season I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
 

Lou Hudson said:
We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
Click to expand...
Thanks Lou. Needed a 2022 BB fix. Let's go!!
 

Lou Hudson said:
We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
Click to expand...
Perhaps Samuels may get the "veteran" nod at 2? Hopefully, the youngins are making it a difficult decision for the staff.
 




I don't think the zone drills were an indication that it's going to play a major role in their game. It looked more like - "We're going to throw it in once in a while, so we better be good at it."

Treyton looks stronger, but definitely doesn't looked ripped. He IS moving better. Runs the floor more smoothly, not like a stick-man that he showed last year. He's playing with more confidence.
 





Lou Hudson said:
We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
Click to expand...
Thanks Lou! No Talon Cooper?
 



Did not see Cooper at 1 in any of the sets, but that doesn't mean anything. Crowd asked Ben about his current starting lineup, and he laughed. Said the only for-sures were probably Battle and Garcia.
 



Lou Hudson said:
We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
Click to expand...
Good news on Samuels. That would be big if we have two good point guards. Emphasis on zone D a little surprising. Maybe it was just the day Ben had marked down to work on zone.
 

CentralGopher said:
Tempering my expectations for Samuels. We’ve seen reports of players being great shooters in preseason practices before that don’t materialize. At least this way if he does well in season I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...
He doesn't need to be a great shooter. Not his job.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Thank you for posting!
Was Treyton as ripped as he was in the Twitter photo?
Click to expand...
Flexing as he was in the photo will tend to make a lean person look a lot more ripped than they really are. I would think that in a passive stance he probably still appears to be a lean person.
 

Not surprised to hear they are practicing zone defense at all.

The team is longer and lankier than past lineups which really helps block the passing lanes in a match-up zone. Also lessens the speed advantage smaller and quicker guards might have. I’m sure it will be a mix and not just a set defense.

Zone would be all Id run once Evans is on campus to free him up to guard the rim.
 


Lou Hudson said:
We attended yesterday's practice at the Barn, and got a glimpse of Ben's new team. All in attendance were there using one of their Loyalty Program perks. Summary of observations:
  • Love the new floor. Not as dark as the original, but feels more like the Barn.
  • The practice was 95% drills. No scrimmaging. Big emphasis on running an aggressive zone defense. Also, several rebounding drills, i.e. blocking out.
  • The practice moved quickly from one drill to the next. Well organized.
  • Battle and Garcia are studs. Payne is a natural rebounder. Good instincts. Samuels is going to be more than OK at the point. Very smooth, and a better shooter than I expected.
  • The offense sets work hard at setting up the shooters in "their spots." We'll see Battle shooting lots of shots from the corner, and the top of the circle. Same for Garcia, and to some extent Thompson.
  • Not sure who the 2 will be. Henley moves well, and seems more confident than Betts or Carrington. All three are going to be major players for the Gophs. They're young. Next year they will play a major role.
  • The team is young. It will show when January comes around.
  • Ben took questions. Talked a lot about momentum in the program. He couldn't talk about Christie or Evans, but he commented that big time signings really impact recruiting for 24 & 25. It leads to people (media, HS coaches) talking about what MN is building.
  • Ben is THE GUY!
Click to expand...
Appears this was open to all as this was the Golden Dunkers season tip-off, right? There was an increased registration fee if you are not a Golden Dunkers member. Pretty bummed as I was looking for an announcement earlier in the month and didn't see anything. They announced it on twitter 5 days before the event... Did this in 2019 and had a great time, would love to do it again. Thanks for sharing.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
I'm disappointed in my De La Salle boys for not playing MAN to MAN!!!!!!!

All jokes aside, I am surprised to see Coach Thorson involved with a team playing zone
Click to expand...
They're just messing with people so that their true defensive sets are unknown to the enemy.
What I expect is a mix of defenses to cause disruption. Matchup zones intermixed with man-to-man. This works best if we are running similar height and agility at all 5 positions. Here is where we will miss Ihnen and Fox as they were perfect components for such versatility.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
And then Lou posted this

I don't think the zone drills were an indication that it's going to play a major role in their game. It looked more like - "We're going to throw it in once in a while, so we better be good at it."
Click to expand...
We also won't be very deep and the zone can help preserve some energy.
 


CentralGopher said:
Tempering my expectations for Samuels. We’ve seen reports of players being great shooters in preseason practices before that don’t materialize. At least this way if he does well in season I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...
Vs Stanford last year.

Samuel 22pts, 7/8 FT, 7/13 Fg, 3 TO, 2 asst
 


JimmyJamesMD said:
Thats a solid assumption
Click to expand...
MennoSota said:
They're just messing with people so that their true defensive sets are unknown to the enemy.
What I expect is a mix of defenses to cause disruption. Matchup zones intermixed with man-to-man. This works best if we are running similar height and agility at all 5 positions. Here is where we will miss Ihnen and Fox as they were perfect components for such versatility.
Click to expand...
Also might mean Thompson is going to play in the regular rotation.
 


I was there as well. Good recap, Lou.

I’ll add- Treyton looks way more natural and confident than he did last season. Could just be practice, but he looked good.

Payne was impressive. Did not look like a kid that was just in HS. I have no idea what he’s like offensively, but even if he’s not a high offensive producer his freshman season, he’ll get minutes as an inside presence. Free throw stroke was very smooth and natural, but he did miss 2 of the 4 i saw him shoot. I came away very excited to see him play.

With 2 sets of 5 guys running the drills, Betts was the “odd man out” as the 11th guy who helped out with the practice squad guys during numerous drills. Ramberg was running more with the top 9 others than him. Take it for what it’s worth.
 

forever a gopher said:
I was there as well. Good recap, Lou.

I’ll add- Treyton looks way more natural and confident than he did last season. Could just be practice, but he looked good.

Payne was impressive. Did not look like a kid that was just in HS. I have no idea what he’s like offensively, but even if he’s not a high offensive producer his freshman season, he’ll get minutes as an inside presence. Free throw stroke was very smooth and natural, but he did miss 2 of the 4 i saw him shoot. I came away very excited to see him play.

With 2 sets of 5 guys running the drills, Betts was the “odd man out” as the 11th guy who helped out with the practice squad guys during numerous drills. Ramberg was running more with the top 9 others than him. Take it for what it’s worth.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Cooper?
 



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