StandingO

Progress needs to be made, expectations need to be set higher, and players and coaches need to step up to their potential. It needs to get better—it just does. And quite frankly, it can’t get too much worse. Under Ben Johnson at the helm, the Gophers have gone 22-39 overall and 6-33 in the Big Ten. It takes time to build a program. We all know that. But what I saw from the team in year two compared to year one was not progress. 

In year one, there were guys competing for a full 40 minutes playing above their skill level. They fought hard on the defensive side and were tenacious for loose balls. All these fundamentals added up — without much talent on the roster — kept them in games they shouldn’t have. That first-year team only suffered three 15+ point losses. However, that was not the case this past season. In year two, the Gophers were walloped for ten 15+ point losses. And that came in a year when there was a ton of disparity throughout the Big Ten. But there was one thing for certain…the Gophers were bad. 

Yes, injuries did play a major factor in this team’s lack of success. But every team goes through injuries. What concerned me the most were the fundamentals and the rhythm. Or lack thereof for that matter. There was just no fluidity on the floor for much of the season. We saw little spurts here or there but nothing that amounted to a full game. There was a significant drop-off in terms of offensive efficiency according to the KenPom statistics. This past year the Gophers ranked just 235 out of 363 as opposed to 93rd the year prior. 

A major contributor was the team’s youthfulness. Freshmen were littered up and down the roster and were given minutes that might have been too tough to handle to start a college career. Four freshmen averaged over 20 minutes a game (Carrington, Henley, Ola-Joseph, Payne). But they gained experience. And that experience needs to translate and make the jump into the next season. Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen will be back, but after both not playing competitive games in over two years, they can almost be treated as inexperienced newcomers also.

One area of focus for next year needs to be the conference play. Plain and simple this team needs to improve in the Big Ten. It’s a grueling conference to play in, but every team has to go through it and grow. Ben Johnson took part in it himself during his collegiate playing days with the Gophers and contributed to a couple of successful Big Ten seasons. Now he needs to carry that experience into the coaching realm, which just hasn’t worked out yet. That’s not to say it won’t but the time is ticking with a tiresome fan base in the background. 

This team doesn’t have the talent and experience level yet to compete with the top teams in the conference. But it does have enough to take positive strides in the right direction. And it needs to come to fruition in 2023-24. The goal for Johnson and his staff should be to, at minimum,  match the combined conference wins through the first two seasons(6). Rebuilding a program comes with ups and downs. However, Johnson needs to turn these one step forward and two steps back into two steps forward and one step back.