Gophers Basketball

[Steve-o]

Gophers ambush Nebraska 78 - 75 in the B1G tourney. As one astute observer pointed out, only 10 more wins and they're national champions! 

Keep bettin' that horse 'til it looses.   

[Gunner55]

  I didn't see much of it so I had to check the boxscore. They shot it good, had 4 in double figures, & won the rebounding battle. The TOs almost cost 'em though, the way it looks.

[Dotch]

That & Battle fouled out on a horrible call after Ben left him in with 13 minutes to go. Wasn't a good move on Ben's part and even worse when he got T'd up for it. Was a 4 point swing right there. They made 70% of their free throws, almost matching Nebraska's 71%. 25 assists, 12 of those belonging to Cooper. Fun game to watch for a change, outcome still in doubt until the last play. Maryland tonite. Likely be a different story. They got absolutely throttled 81 - 46 at The Barn by Maryland then only lost by a measly 18 pts. at Maryland. Game tonite is at 8 on BTN.   

[KEN W]

Gophers and Maryland right now on Big Ten Channel.

[dutchboy]

10 more wins and they might qualify for the NCAA bracket.

[Gunner55]

  Hawkeyes lose, 4-17 on 3's again.

[Dotch]

Saw that. Ohio St. deserves to be beaten at every sport no matter what it is, lying, cheating sacks of crap that they are!  Gophers season is mercifully over. They gave Maryland a game but there was no question who was the better team. Garcia & Battle played poorly, with Battle only scoring 2 pts. & Garcia with 6. The 15 turnovers were killers & the free throw shooting reverted to its former self at 64%. And they got outrebounded badly, on the offensive boards giving up way too many second chance points. On the bright side, the freshmen have grown up. Pharrel Payne has the potential to be a beast. Hopefully he stays. The freshman nucleus needs to stay if this team is to make the next step. Battle turning pro? Ya right. The way he played sometimes this year when he was supposedly healthy, be lucky to play in a YMCA pick up game. Same with Cooper. His ball handling got picked apart by Maryland's guards last nite. Not going to cut it at the next level.

This year reminded me of when Clem first took over. I'd say Ben prolly gets one more year to prove himself. The game as changed as have the rules when it comes to getting athletes to come and stay. The NCAA needs to put some kind of restrictions on this portal thing or teams that get down will never get back up without breaking the remaining rules, whatever they are.

[Steve-o]

Cow is out of the barn, man. 

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  If you are one of the have-nots, too bad, this is the big time now.

[dutchboy]

The NCAA only is concerned about hanging onto March Madness. In football they are a non-entity now. The big programs run the college game. I can see myself in 5 years not giving 2 poops about anything going on in college sports.

[glenn57]

pretty much the samr here with basketball, but i sure do like watching gopher hockey, regardless how bad they effed up those old rivalries, i still loke watching pretty much any football though.

[KEN W]

Big 5 conferences will leave the NCAA and make up their own rules.

[Dotch]

Jaden Henley has entered the transfer portal. Speculation is he'll wind up at Louisville where Evans, the 7 +ft. Gophers recruit who decommitted went. They're both California kids & had been linked prior to this for coming to MN. SSDD. 

[Steve-o]

Right now the University of Minnesota Men's Basketball Team does not belong in the Big Ten Conference. 

Sure, let them field a team, but remove all illusions that they are competing for a Big 10 Title or an NCAA tournament bit.

If they can't hire a coach that can recruit to MN and keep players, might as well let Johnson keep coaching the Big Ten B Squad until they can make the right hire.  I like Johnson, but until you give recruits a compelling reason to come to MN, talented players have better options elsewhere.

[Dotch]

Treyton Thompson enters the transfer portal. Wasn't a factor this year. Was a warm body last year who got more minutes due to injuries of his teammates. Good kid but not suited for B1G competition. A 7-footer, started 9 games, averaging 2.1 pts. & 2.4 rebounds per game. Frees up another scholarship. As one observer put it, pray for a real point guard. I wonder if Nate Mason has any eligibility left? 

[Dotch]

And there goes Jamison Battle. Not turning pro, into the transfer portal. I think there will a lot of remaining Gopher basketball fans entering the portal if this crap continues. The fear is his sister Amaya who plays for the Gopher women's BB team may do same.

May as well toss some more gas on the dumpster fire, Ta’lon Cooper will be testing the NBA Draft waters, while also entering his name into the transfer portal. Geez I hope the hockey teams do well.

[dutchboy]

Iowa looks like they might be 1 and done.

[dutchboy]

Iowa gone.   

[Dotch]

Gunner has entered the transfer portal...

[glenn57]

Gunner has entered the transfer portal...

[Gunner55]

  Got within 6 twice but ............................. 

[Dotch]

At least you have IA St. to cheer for tomorrow. Be a whole before we see a MN team in the tournament methinks. 

[roony]

I was hoping Iowacoukd beat that bunch of thugs that thought they were playing street ball.

[Steve-o]

Yeah, what's left?     Where do they go from here?   

I like Ben Johnson, but how can they NOT fire him when all of his good players left and all of the good recruits decommitted? 

He can be the best coach in the world, but if no one wants to play for him... 

[Gunner55]

I see that game is scheduled for 2:10 & Drake plays at 6:25 too. So, I'll be checkin those out for sure. Izzo's bunch plays early, with Purdue & Indiana on later. Pitino's team plays today too, so the remote will be getting a workout again today.

[Gunner55]

I was hoping Iowacoukd beat that bunch of thugs that thought they were playing street ball.

Yeah me too, refs sure were lettin 'em play. No 3 pointers early didn't help either. Penn St sure looked good, 59% from 3 will do that though. The 1 guard was 8 of 10.

[dutchboy]

Yeah, what's left?     Where do they go from here?   

I like Ben Johnson, but how can they NOT fire him when all of his good players left and all of the good recruits decommitted? 

He can be the best coach in the world, but if no one wants to play for him... 

I guess the only question to ask would be........can the new guy be worse?

[Steve-o]

That is the point - a new guy couldn't be worse.

So, can Johnson figure out how to make it better?  How long do you give 'em?  And who else they goona find?  None of the hot prospects want to come here.  They had a tough time hiring a coach when Pitino came.

I was no huge fan of Pitino, but his firing and Johnson's hiring is starting to remind me of the U firing Mason and going to Brewster.

[glenn57]

maybe Dutchy's row the boat guy could coach basketball in his free time!!!!!!!!!

[Dotch]

 

...while leaping tall buildings at a single bound! 

[dutchboy]

maybe Dutchy's row the boat guy could coach basketball in his free time!!!!!!!!!

He should for what they are paying him.