quote:

ORIGINAL: Karl Juhnke

Very interesting broadcast tonight. FS1 did ‘all access’. Meaning both coaches were mic’d up and on camera and on screen in side boxes all night. They even went commercial free so you could hear the timeouts. I thought Johnson came off very well.

As for the game itself, that’s 3 close competitive Big 10 games in a row and finally got a W. They played well, until the end, blowing a 9 point lead down the stretch, allowing OSU to tie, and only got bailed out on a phantom foul call at the end.

As I said, I generally liked Johnson’s passion, knowledge and leadership on display. Only knock is, with an opportunity to ice the game with free throws we ended up with a 42% free thrower at the line. How does that happen?

quote:

ORIGINAL: twinsfan

Another loss. Decent effort. But...

Here's my problem with firing Pitino when we did. 3 of the best 20 players in all of college basketball would be on the Gophers right now if we kept Pitino. Can you imagine where we'd be right now with a starting 5 of Carr, Mashburn Jr, Kalscheur, Garcia and Battle? We would seriously be National Championship contenders. Instead....we are 1-13 in conference.

quote:

ORIGINAL: bstinger

I haven't watched a minute of Gopher BB this year. Used to be a big fan.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

quote:

ORIGINAL: twinsfan

Another loss. Decent effort. But...

Here's my problem with firing Pitino when we did. 3 of the best 20 players in all of college basketball would be on the Gophers right now if we kept Pitino. Can you imagine where we'd be right now with a starting 5 of Carr, Mashburn Jr, Kalscheur, Garcia and Battle? We would seriously be National Championship contenders. Instead....we are 1-13 in conference.

Who are the 3 of 20?

quote:

ORIGINAL: twinsfan

quote:

ORIGINAL: Phil Riewer

quote:

ORIGINAL: twinsfan

Another loss. Decent effort. But...

Here's my problem with firing Pitino when we did. 3 of the best 20 players in all of college basketball would be on the Gophers right now if we kept Pitino. Can you imagine where we'd be right now with a starting 5 of Carr, Mashburn Jr, Kalscheur, Garcia and Battle? We would seriously be National Championship contenders. Instead....we are 1-13 in conference.

Who are the 3 of 20?

Carr, Mashburn Jr. and Kalscheur

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mister Ed

Evans asked out of his commitment to the U.

More trouble

quote:

ORIGINAL: David Levine

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mister Ed

Evans asked out of his commitment to the U.

More trouble

That's devastating. Maybe the nail in the coffin for Johnson.

quote:

ORIGINAL: David Levine

Jamison Battle, Ta’Lon Cooper leaning toward moving on from Gophers

The Gophers men’s basketball program honored three players on Senior Night against Wisconsin at Williams Arena on Sunday, and it appears like it will be the final time Jamison Battle wears maroon and gold at The Barn.

Battle and Ta’Lon Cooper each have one year of eligibility remaining for the 2023-24 season, but both are leaning toward starting new chapters.

Head coach Ben Johnson told Mike Grimm on the KFAN pregame show that Battle is considering his prospects in playing professional basketball. Battle is the U’s second-leading scorer at 13.2 points per game, and Minnesota’s rebuilding project would get tougher without Battle’s leadership and contributions.

“I think he’s going to be leaning towards that,” Johnson said pregame on the radio. “When you can go and live your dream out in two ways, playing here and being able to put on the Gopher uniform and also play well enough where you can pursue your pro career, whatever that is. We are excited for him.”

https://www.twincities.com/2023/03/05/jamison-battle-talon-cooper-leaning-toward-moving-on-from-gophers/