What I Liked Most -Michigan Postgame

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gopherlaney

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First let me start by apologizing to Ben and the team. Like most on here, the Crow Chili is hot for me, and hot is great!

My favorite thing about yesterday’s game was the business like approach. They walked off that court with a confidence that said to me, they knew they were going to win.

No screaming, minimal celebration, just walked off like it was no big deal we won in Ann Arbor for the first time in 10 years.
 



I thought the kid from Stewartville went to ISU.
 

Eli King from Caledonia is going to ISU.
Tschetter from Stewartville is at Michigan, but not seeing many minutes
 




I was only able to watch parts of the first half. (I hate getting roped into social engagements when the gophers are playing!) Through the first nine games, this is the most composed college team that I think I've ever seen. Even when they lost to MSU, the game was played at their pace. They control pace and "temperament," which is particularly important on the road. They don't get rattled, they don't make mistakes and they play disciplined defense for the full thirty seconds. They can also shoot. That compensates for the lack of size, athletic ability, depth and rebounding.
 

jamiche said:
I was only able to watch parts of the first half. (I hate getting roped into social engagements when the gophers are playing!) Through the first nine games, this is the most composed college team that I think I've ever seen. Even when they lost to MSU, the game was played at their pace. They control pace and "temperament," which is particularly important on the road. They don't get rattled, they don't make mistakes and they play disciplined defense for the full thirty seconds. They can also shoot. That compensates for the lack of size, athletic ability, depth and rebounding.
Click to expand...
In 9 games Johnson has established an identity for this team in a way that Pitino failed to in 8+ years. At this point we know they are going to take care of the ball and play great defense. If the shots are falling they will be a tough out for pretty much any team they come across this season.

In all likelihood, injuries and fatigue will catch up to this team eventually. But it is exciting to know we have a coaching staff with an eye for talent and an ability to get guys to buy in to playing smart team basketball as opposed to whatever it was that Pitino tossed out there on a nightly basis.

And i don't mean to make this seem like an attack on Pitino. In general I liked him as the coach, was just frustrating that his teams never had an identity and always seemed to fall apart at some point in the season. What Johnson is doing this year bodes really well for the future of the program under his leadership.
 



I’m in shock-the good kind. Like another poster here, I was roped into a social event and missed the game. When I snuck out to check the score, I thought I was experiencing dyslexia. Did this bunch just beat Michigan? On the road? Unbelievable! Except now, people better start believing. Now, I’m looking forward to the next over-confident team we upset on the road by our well-coached, hard-working, good-shooting, low-mistake, team-oriented ragtag bunch of little-recruited low-major players. I LOVE THIS TEAM! Go Gophers.
 


1) The way they defended Dickinson in the second half. He was 7 for 8 and 14 points in the first half and 2 for 7 with five points in the second.

2) The second half period from 9:54 left to to 6:22 left. This was the game's decisive stretch. After a Dickinson layup at 10:22 cutting the Gopher lead to 5 points, the Gophers outscored Michigan 11-0 to take a 16 point lead. Michigan chipped away but could get no closer than 6 points the rest of the way. Fabulous stretch on offense and defense. On offense, the Gophers smelled blood and poured it on quickly.

3) Another second half critical stretch was from 3:16 to 1:12. At 3:16, Eli Brooks scored to cut the lead to 6 points. Over the next two minutes, neither team scored and Michigan turned the ball over with 1:15 left. Michigan fouled Willis and he hit two free throws to make the lead 8 points with 1:12 left.
 

Gopher in Texas said:
Really good interview with coach.
forum.umhoops.com

Video: Ben Johnson recaps win at Michigan

forum.umhoops.com forum.umhoops.com
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Great listen.

I really like the comment by one of the interviewers in that the Gophers never played like a underdog, and were very confident that they were going to win the game. That is coaching!

Ben really shows how a positive attitude, paying attention to the details and hard work can create a winning program.
 




alchemy2u said:
Great listen.

I really like the comment by one of the interviewers in that the Gophers never played like a underdog, and were very confident that they were going to win the game. That is coaching!

Ben really shows how a positive attitude, paying attention to the details and hard work can create a winning program.
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All of what you said Combined with smart players who buy into your system and are willing to play as a team
 

Have to repeat.....no more stupid and wasteful timeouts.....yay!
 

Went through a Michigan game thread. Like most fan game threads, there were far more comments criticizing the home team's failings than complimenting the opponent's performance. However, there were quite a few comments giving props to the Gophers. This compliment for the coach was amusing and probably not far off from similar thoughts of posters on this board before we got to know these players better:



bebopson
14h

"Gotta hand it to Ben Johnson though. His hire was panned, but he’s making it work with a team full of spare parts."

Although I think our spare parts are working quite well, I would disagree with the "team full of" part. Our parts inventory is pretty lean.
 

For me it’s how they handled Dickinson. He is a premier big in the conference and looked average overall. Was a non-factor in the second half
 

MNVCGUY said:
In 9 games Johnson has established an identity for this team in a way that Pitino failed to in 8+ years. At this point we know they are going to take care of the ball and play great defense. If the shots are falling they will be a tough out for pretty much any team they come across this season.

In all likelihood, injuries and fatigue will catch up to this team eventually. But it is exciting to know we have a coaching staff with an eye for talent and an ability to get guys to buy in to playing smart team basketball as opposed to whatever it was that Pitino tossed out there on a nightly basis.

And i don't mean to make this seem like an attack on Pitino. In general I liked him as the coach, was just frustrating that his teams never had an identity and always seemed to fall apart at some point in the season. What Johnson is doing this year bodes really well for the future of the program under his leadership.
Click to expand...
I really liked PItino as an interview, Twitter follow, and seemed like a great guy to have a beer with. Was always frustrated with the coaching though as game after game and year after year, no matter the players, it was the same mistakes on both sides of the ball. He has a fresh start at NM and hope he takes advantage of it.

I wonder about the depth as well, and will be a problem if injuries. However, I also remind myself that many successful coaches like Jay Wright at Villanova, and Rick PItino (dad) rarely play more than seven guys year to year. They have depth if injuries happen maybe, but game to game they historically rarely play more than that. Looking at Villanova box scores this year, in any close game, they are playing five guys, with a sixth player getting a handful of minutes. Iona it is mostly six to seven players for Pitino.
 

Tucker32 said:
I really liked PItino as an interview, Twitter follow, and seemed like a great guy to have a beer with. Was always frustrated with the coaching though as game after game and year after year, no matter the players, it was the same mistakes on both sides of the ball. He has a fresh start at NM and hope he takes advantage of it.

I wonder about the depth as well, and will be a problem if injuries. However, I also remind myself that many successful coaches like Jay Wright at Villanova, and Rick PItino (dad) rarely play more than seven guys year to year. They have depth if injuries happen maybe, but game to game they historically rarely play more than that. Looking at Villanova box scores this year, in any close game, they are playing five guys, with a sixth player getting a handful of minutes. Iona it is mostly six to seven players for Pitino.
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Pitino's roster always seemed to have a fatal flaw of some kind that they just couldn't overcome. Johnson's roster has flaws in it as well (lack of size, not real deep), the difference is that through 9 games they have shown an ability to overcome those flaws and still play at a really high level.

That is a combo of great coaching and smart experienced players.
 

cjbfbp said:
Went through a Michigan game thread. Like most fan game threads, there were far more comments criticizing the home team's failings than complimenting the opponent's performance. However, there were quite a few comments giving props to the Gophers. This compliment for the coach was amusing and probably not far off from similar thoughts of posters on this board before we got to know these players better:



bebopson
14h

"Gotta hand it to Ben Johnson though. His hire was panned, but he’s making it work with a team full of spare parts."

Although I think our spare parts are working quite well, I would disagree with the "team full of" part. Our parts inventory is pretty lean.
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Duct tape a piece of machinery as much as you want, it's still just one part. :cool02:
 

gopherlaney said:
First let me start by apologizing to Ben and the team. Like most on here, the Crow Chili is hot for me, and hot is great!

My favorite thing about yesterday’s game was the business like approach. They walked off that court with a confidence that said to me, they knew they were going to win.

No screaming, minimal celebration, just walked off like it was no big deal we won in Ann Arbor for the first time in 10 years.
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Did you see the locker room celebration? Not minimal. They soaked Ben. Looked like a hoot.
 

jamiche said:
I was only able to watch parts of the first half. (I hate getting roped into social engagements when the gophers are playing!) Through the first nine games, this is the most composed college team that I think I've ever seen. Even when they lost to MSU, the game was played at their pace. They control pace and "temperament," which is particularly important on the road. They don't get rattled, they don't make mistakes and they play disciplined defense for the full thirty seconds. They can also shoot. That compensates for the lack of size, athletic ability, depth and rebounding.
Click to expand...
In that regard, after the 10 second violations did you see super calm Ben telling and signaling to his players to calm down. That man is soooo composed! I've coached...I'd be yelling and screaming what to do as would so many other mediocre coaches like me (ie. Pitino).
 


MNVCGUY said:
In 9 games Johnson has established an identity for this team in a way that Pitino failed to in 8+ years. At this point we know they are going to take care of the ball and play great defense. If the shots are falling they will be a tough out for pretty much any team they come across this season.

In all likelihood, injuries and fatigue will catch up to this team eventually. But it is exciting to know we have a coaching staff with an eye for talent and an ability to get guys to buy in to playing smart team basketball as opposed to whatever it was that Pitino tossed out there on a nightly basis.

And i don't mean to make this seem like an attack on Pitino. In general I liked him as the coach, was just frustrating that his teams never had an identity and always seemed to fall apart at some point in the season. What Johnson is doing this year bodes really well for the future of the program under his leadership.
Click to expand...
It will be super interesting to see how he coaches next year's team. (Yes, I know I'm jumping ahead.) In all likelihood, it will be a much younger squad. It has to be very different coaching 19 year olds instead of 23 year olds.
 

cjbfbp said:
3) Another second half critical stretch was from 3:16 to 1:12. At 3:16, Eli Brooks scored to cut the lead to 6 points. Over the next two minutes, neither team scored and Michigan turned the ball over with 1:15 left. Michigan fouled Willis and he hit two free throws to make the lead 8 points with 1:12 left.
Click to expand...

Yes, I loved how they closed it out, zero panic. Even when MI created a couple of turnovers.
 



I agree with your observation. There were times the bench was celebrating after certain plays, but it wasn't over the top. I also like that the players on the court didn't celebrate live ball scores/big plays they seem to have a confidence that they will make those plays and a composure to continue to play after making them. How much of that is simply having a bunch of 4th, 5th, and 6th year guys and how much of that is learned/coached behavior from this Spring on? Tough to know.
 

gopherlaney said:
First let me start by apologizing to Ben and the team. Like most on here, the Crow Chili is hot for me, and hot is great!

My favorite thing about yesterday’s game was the business like approach. They walked off that court with a confidence that said to me, they knew they were going to win.

No screaming, minimal celebration, just walked off like it was no big deal we won in Ann Arbor for the first time in 10 years.
Click to expand...
Agreed! Act like you've been there before. Love it.
 

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