Why Samson Johnson is primed for breakout year

[navery12]

I'm looking for Danny to do something innovative and special with them, beyond the simple platoon. Not sure what it will be - we may see some early version of the twin towers against the cupcakes just to see if it has legs. Luke will find something in Europe that makes sense...

Absolutely not. There's already not enough minutes for Karaban, Stewart and Abraham at the 4 spot, there's no need to plug in a worse option instead of those guys

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm looking for Danny to do something innovative and special with them, beyond the simple platoon. Not sure what it will be - we may see some early version of the twin towers against the cupcakes just to see if it has legs. Luke will find something in Europe that makes sense...

Maybe but I would have to doubt it. If you’re not going to do it with DC and Sanogo I’m not sure why they would with these 2. Too many other guys to create different lineups to even try but I guess you never know.

 

[Icehawk]

During one game DH could be heard clearly telling SJ to set screens and and not worry if they were illegal. Sometimes you trade a foul for momentum or other reasons. I think we will see less fouls this season if SJ is starting.

 

[JerseyAlum]

Really? No wonder why their offense wasn't good.

He was definitely a center coming out of high school. Reed didn't start his freshman year (2022-2023) and Dickinson averaged 32.8 minutes a game and Reed only 12.6. So I don't know how much they were on the court together as a C/PF combo.

In 2023-2024 Reed averaged the 5th most minutes on the team, the 5th most shots put up, the 5th most points (far behind McDaniel and Nkamhoua) but was their leading rebounder (0.1 per game more than their PF Nkamhoua). So he was never "the guy" for their offense. Not sure why you're saying that.

2023-24 Men's Basketball Cumulative Statistics

The official 2023-24 Men's Basketball cumulative statistics for the Michigan Wolverines

mgoblue.com

McDaniel was not allowed on road games for a good stretch. In those road games minus McDaniel, Tarris was the offense but teams knew anyway. Just lookup McDaniel game log and you will see two months of only home games.

 

[AllHusky]

I'm looking for Danny to do something innovative and special with them, beyond the simple platoon. Not sure what it will be - we may see some early version of the twin towers against the cupcakes just to see if it has legs. Luke will find something in Europe that makes sense...

DOUBLE BIGS!!! How exciting, where have I heard that before??(I really liked the idea, always pissed we never tried it)

 

[HooperScooper]

McDaniel was not allowed on road games for a good stretch. In those road games minus McDaniel, Tarris was the offense but teams knew anyway. Just lookup McDaniel game log and you will see two months of only home games.

I still don't get the argument. McDaniel missed a total of only 6 games out of 32.

Road Games McDaniel missed:
1. Maryland: Reed was 3-5 from the field, 2-2 from the FT line, for 8 points in 19 minutes. Only had 3 fouls so not sure why he only played 19 minutes.

2. Purdue: 3-8 from the field, 0-1 FT, for 6 points in 26 minutes. Did have 10 rebounds and fouled out. Obviously against Edey.

3. Michigan State: 2-4 from the field (1-1 from three), 0-4 FT, for 5 points in 33 minutes. Had 9 rebounds and only 1 foul.

4. Nebraska: 3-9 from the field, 3-3 FT, for 9 points in 30 minutes. Had 9 rebounds and 2 fouls.

5. Illinois: 5-14 from the field, 3-5 FT, for 13 points in 32 minutes. He put up 5 more shots than the next highest player so this seems to be the game that supports your assertion.

6. Northwestern: 4-11 from the field, 5-9 FT, for a total of 13 points in 38 minutes. He had the most shots of any player on Michigan.

So the Illinois and Northwestern games were the 2 he was heavily involved offensively.

I don't see how only 2 games would shape your opinion. Here is his game logs. Seemed to be heavily involved offensively a handful of times.

Tarris Reed Jr. - Men's Basketball - University of Michigan Athletics

Tarris Reed Jr. (32) Forward - Pronunciation • Respectfully requests the use “Jr.” on name references Nickname • Has a nickname of “Hoss” dubbed by former U-...

mgoblue.com

I didn't watch more than a game or two of Michigan's last season so I will defer to you even though your argument seems suspect based on the statistics. Am I missing something?

I expect Reed to rebound well and be a complimentary player on offense this season. He definitely won't have to carry the load.

 

[Methalius]

Jeez, so many negative people out there. Give Hurley and the coaching staff some credit. A lot of the fouls Johnson commits are easily fixable. He has abilities that you cannot teach. He is a freakish athlete. He has a motor that doesn't stop. I firmly believe if he plays more like Igohdaro, he's someone that could be a lottery pick. He has so much ability and if his skills have improved as this story has eluded to and if he is able to improve his positioning and has learned some better habits the sky is the limit for this kid. I know it's a lot of if's but I think he can do it.

 

[Lambeau]

The fouling is easily fixable I hope--but it is his fourth year working with this elite coaching staff.

 

[husky429]

The fouling is easily fixable I hope--but it is his fourth year working with this elite coaching staff.

I call it 3. The injury year was a wash. And it's hard to improve until you really start playing... in my mind he's kind of like a 2nd-semester sophomore at this point in experience, not a senior.

 

[uh-no]

Jeez, so many negative people out there. Give Hurley and the coaching staff some credit. A lot of the fouls Johnson commits are easily fixable. He has abilities that you cannot teach. He is a freakish athlete. He has a motor that doesn't stop. I firmly believe if he plays more like Igohdaro, he's someone that could be a lottery pick. He has so much ability and if his skills have improved as this story has eluded to and if he is able to improve his positioning and has learned some better habits the sky is the limit for this kid. I know it's a lot of if's but I think he can do it.

so why hasn't he fixed them yet if they're so easily fixable? He's had 3 years to do so....or maybe it's not so easy to fix.

 

[AllHusky]

Johnson Hoops IQ not great. Watching Cam, he was always so heady, didn't make mistakes(often). Samson just can't sense what he needs to do in different situations, If you have to think about it, it's too late.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Who couldve guessed that a thread titled "samson johnson primed for breakout year" would turn out like this

 

[HuskyHawk]

Johnson Hoops IQ not great. Watching Cam, he was always so heady, didn't make mistakes(often). Samson just can't sense what he needs to do in different situations, If you have to think about it, it's too late.

Not really a reasonable comparison. Johnson is from Togo. He likely didn't start playing the game with decent coaching until he got to prep school. He's been improving. He has a good feel for pick n roll. I'm excited to see what he can do this year. Spencer was a 5th year player who has probably played all his life.

 

[dennismenace]

Does SJ have a 5th year of eligibility?

 

[JerseyAlum]

Johnson in 2023-24

16.1 min/game
3.0 fouls/game

He fouled out of 3 total games last season: St. Johns, Marquette, Purdue.

Let's give him a bit of a break that he will work hard to reduce fouls and let's give the coaching staff a break that they can help.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Johnson in 2023-24

16.1 min/game
3.0 fouls/game

He fouled out of 3 total games last season: St. Johns, Marquette, Purdue.

Let's give him a bit of a break that he will work hard to reduce fouls and let's give the coaching staff a break that they can help.

Maybe I’ve missed it, but I’m not sure I’ve seen someone being unfairly negative to SJ. It is very fair to discuss this as a question mark for this year’s team. Everyone on this board is certainly rooting for him to take a big step forward in that area this year.

 

[Palatine]

In about a week we'll see how DH wants to used Reed.

 

[HooperScooper]

Does SJ have a 5th year of eligibility?

No. The Covid year was 2020-2021. Johnson was a freshman in 2021-2022 so this year is his 4th and last year. In hindsight it probably would have been a good idea to redshirt his sophomore year after the foot injury since he played sparingly once he came back. He played a total of 46 minutes in 12 games that season so I don't think he qualified for a redshirt after playing in that many games.

 

[uh-no]

In about a week we'll see how DH wants to used Reed.

ehhhh I think this year, far more than last, we won't necessarily see the team's final form until later into the year.

 

[Samoo]

Absolutely not. There's already not enough minutes for Karaban, Stewart and Abraham at the 4 spot, there's no need to plug in a worse option instead of those guys

So no chance Reed and Johnson see time together during cupcake season?

 

[AntG168]

So no chance Reed and Johnson see time together during cupcake season?

No

 

[HuskyHawk]

So no chance Reed and Johnson see time together during cupcake season?

Why would you do it? Unless Johnson has found his 3 pt shot, which Dan hasn't suggested, neither of them are 4s. The guys I expect to see in cupcake season are Ross and Abraham.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Who couldve guessed that a thread titled "samson johnson primed for breakout year" would turn out like this

Who wouldn't?

I'm wondering how many posters who 19 months ago thought Hurley couldn't coach big games, or that it was great that we had 15 fouls to give at the center position with Johnson & Singare backing up previously foul-prone Clingan are freely commenting in this thread as though they never said any such things.

And then we have the guys who argued or approved of the notion that without it being okay to voice confident, predictive opinions about things that cannot yet be known but will be increasingly better known in the next couple months why bother having a message board.

No

Is your "No" a double negative that results in a Yes answer that we will see two bigs?

 

[jibsey]

Every season is like this now where we have great new players mixing with returning guys who are stepping up in PT and responsibility. It will take a few weeks to start to get some answers but that’s not going to stop many who profess to “know” from telling us all how it’s going down.

 

[gtcam]

Jeez, so many negative people out there. Give Hurley and the coaching staff some credit. A lot of the fouls Johnson commits are easily fixable. He has abilities that you cannot teach. He is a freakish athlete. He has a motor that doesn't stop. I firmly believe if he plays more like Igohdaro, he's someone that could be a lottery pick. He has so much ability and if his skills have improved as this story has eluded to and if he is able to improve his positioning and has learned some better habits the sky is the limit for this kid. I know it's a lot of if's but I think he can do it.

without a mid-range shooting game, he isn't going to the league,
When he first came to Storrs we were told the kid would be a NBA prospect due to his athleticism and his perimeter and mid-range shooting ability.
So far, that shooting ability has not been seen.
Hopefully that is being worked on.