Gophers Basketball

[Gunner55]

Caught part of the 1st 1/2 & they were down pretty big early. Garcia's slow start didn't help matters any.

[Dotch]

IF Mitchell gets healthy, that will help but it's still going to be a long season. They're awful but at least they're consistent. Ben is MN's version of Todd Lickliter. The best this team can hope for in the B1G is to surprise someone on the wrong nite. 

[dutchboy]

Go find Clem, he knew who to pay.

[fishwidow]

You can look for Clem in Circle Pine, Coon Rapid, Columbia Height, maybe Arden Hill or North Oak.

[Dotch]

No surprise from Willum Arena tonite...🦨

[Dotch]

All the sudden the Gophers have won 3 straight in the B1G, 2 against ranked teams, Michigan & Oregon, with an upset over the Hawkeyes in IA City sandwiched in between. Happy for Dawson Garcia. He could've taken a lot more NIL $ elsewhere but chose to stay at MN. Will it be enough to save Ben Johnson's job? Not yet but pull off more of these upsets then somehow get into the Big Dance & it might do the trick. Can always dream...

[LPS]

My brothers are big fans so we tuned in at the end of the game.  Was a fun finish.  May have to watch more of them.

[Dotch]

Well, Ben may as well start packing his bags. After showing signs of life, getting beat by the B1G's best, Michigan St., I understand. But lose to the worst team in the B1G on your home court next? Not so much. Coyle better be making plans for his replacement so they can hit the ground running. They'll have a lot of work to do. There are rumored to be several interested, including Tom Crean & Ryan Saunders. Seemed like a good idea at the time but Ben makes a good assistant coach or recruiter someplace else. He's not a head coach unfortunately.

[Dotch]

Gophers are still awful after showing faint signs of life. Gophers lose 95-74 to Illinoise at The Barn. Putrid on both ends in the 2nd half. This season can't get over fast enough to fire Ben Johnson, get a real coach & some athletes. Let's go! 

[dutchboy]

Well, Ben may as well start packing his bags. After showing signs of life, getting beat by the B1G's best, Michigan St., I understand. But lose to the worst team in the B1G on your home court next? Not so much. Coyle better be making plans for his replacement so they can hit the ground running. They'll have a lot of work to do. There are rumored to be several interested, including Tom Crean & Ryan Saunders. Seemed like a good idea at the time but Ben makes a good assistant coach or recruiter someplace else. He's not a head coach unfortunately.

Coyle overpays Fleck for his smoke & mirror show. Johnson balances the books.

[Dotch]

If that's the case, the U must be run by some of the farmers I know! 

[Dotch]

Pissed that away in Piscataway. Disgusting finish to a disgusting regular season. Missed free throws have killed this team all season long. Waste no time. Fire Ben ASAP & reload. Quit dicking around.

[LPS]

We just started watching Gophers BB in the middle of the season.  Been a fun watch and we will tune in next year too.  Rookies. 

[dutchboy]

Being the devoted basketball fan I am ( ) are they now eliminated from the NIT also?

[Dotch]

Gawd I hope so. They likely need to win a couple in the B1G tournament to be considered. They are 15-16 on the season.

[mike89]

Well, Ben may as well start packing his bags. After showing signs of life, getting beat by the B1G's best, Michigan St., I understand. But lose to the worst team in the B1G on your home court next? Not so much. Coyle better be making plans for his replacement so they can hit the ground running. They'll have a lot of work to do. There are rumored to be several interested, including Tom Crean & Ryan Saunders. Seemed like a good idea at the time but Ben makes a good assistant coach or recruiter someplace else. He's not a head coach unfortunately.

he's gone

[Dotch]

Yay! Let's hope Coyle doesn't make a mistake like that again. Before all this NIL baloney started, I thought Ben had a chance. Once it did, could see the handwriting on the wall. Liebert has his early blurb out about who's on their list. Conspicuously absent is Tom Crean who had expressed interest before the New Year. Liebert was wishy-washy prior to Ben's firing so not convinced he's necessarily the best source of information. X has been lighting up all nite with comments about this and that, including tear down The Barn. Go ahead but a new venue doesn't mean squat if you don't get (1) a decent coach and (2) decent players. Nebraska is a case in point. Fred Hoiberg is a decent coach but they're still not getting the players they anticipated to compete even with the new facility.   

https://www.si.com/college/minnesota/gophers-basketball/10-early-candidates-to-be-the-next-gophers-head-coach-01jp7r59wxyt

https://www.si.com/college/minnesota/gophers-basketball/10-early-candidates-to-be-the-next-gophers-head-coach-01jp7r59wxyt

[Steve-o]

Unless they are willing to overpay for a proven winner who is willing to take the MN job, stick with Ben - or you'll be in the same boat 4 or 5 years down the line.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.

If the U is unwilling to ante up... we all need to lower the bar and our expectations.  Let a good coach become a better coach, and if he ever becomes a great coach, maybe he'll have some loyalty to the school for believing in him.

Update:  mike, he IS really gone, not just that you think he should be gone.     Again, it shows y'all what I know.  Nothin.  Absolutely nothing.

[Rookie]

 Ben fired at 1:00 this morning.

Unless the U has more NIL money it won't make a difference who the coach is except in Hockey. The "State of Hockey" has plenty of good hockey players. And they think it's a privilege to play for the U. Minnesota's NIL money is not competing .  They will be in the bottom half of the Big Ten no matter who the coach is.

[Steve-o]

Yep, so the AD and Regents need to do something to protect their phoney-bologna jobs and pay lip service to building a winning Men's Basketball program.  So they fire the coach.  Again. 

NIL AND the transfer portal changed everything.  Unless you are willing to commit the financial resources equivalent to a major professional league sports franchise, sustained success will be beyond your grasp.

[Dotch]

Given the brain trust at the U, it'll be a tall order. Ben tried but he was overwhelmed. Could've possibly learned how to coach if the NIL money wasn't part of the equation or if there had been enough NIL $ to keep the group of players he lost this last go round. Trying to learn how to coach and attract more NIL $ was more than most rookie coaches would be able to handle. His stubbornness about subbing in game situations was a major issue, not to mention a team that was at the bottom of the B1G in free throw %-age. While he wasn't the guy shooting the FT's, he was the guy in charge and ultimately responsible.

One guy I've seen mentioned as a possibility is Will Wade. He's probably a longshot & has lots of recruiting violation baggage, a la Kelvin Sampson-type stuff. In this day and age however, that suddenly doesn't seem to matter. I watched in total disbelief a few years ago when Izzo at Michigan St. came out of sexual assault allegations against his players squeaky clean although many in the media thought he was toast. All gone, never happened. Really? Now do Reggie Lynch at MN. Point being, hiring a Will Ward would never fly given the pure as the driven snow, self righteous, guilty until proven innocent rule making hierarchy at the U. However, after looking at his record, would guarantee hiring him would put butts in the seats.