Recap of Pitino interview on 1500: talked 1st practice, Joey King, operating in chaos

BleedGopher

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Pition was on 1500 late this afternoon. These notes are not verbatim, but close (I skipped some initial talk about the NBA playoffs)

Pitino on the first practice yesterday...When summer school starts, we are allowed to go two hours per week. We did an hour yesterday and we'll do an hour tomorrow. It went great, the guys had a great attitude. We don't want to burn them out, but more trying to establish our culture.

Pitino on what he's learning about the team...Haven't been able to grasp a whole lot yet. We can watch a lot of film, but until we get them a little adversity, that's when we'll know how they react.

Pitino on "operating in chaos"...
It's when you're tired, when the tank is almost empty, can we execute. At the end of the day, who is going to be the team to make the right play. We try to take our guys out of their comfort zone in practice as that happens in games.

Pitino on Big Ten style of play...We can play uptempo if we have the right players. We have to have the right players to be able to do it. It will take a little time, a couple of recruiting classes to do it. As long as we have our type of players, we can play our style.

Pitino on Andre Hollins...
We've communicated a lot. He's really an easy kid to talk to. He's the epitome of a student athlete. He's going to have a huge role for us. He'll be one of the better returning guards in the Big Ten if not nationally.

Pitino on offense...Ideally we'd have a balanced scoring attack, so if they try to take Andre Hollins out of the game we'll have someone else. It's all about recruiting.

Pitino on Malik Smith and Joey King...Malik knows the plays, he is comfortable doing that. He stood out yesterday. Joey really impressed me. He reminds me of Luke Hancock at Louisville. When he walks on the court he thinks he's the best player on the court. He comes with a chip on his shoulder and I'm really excited about him.

Pitino on his own age/experience...I think being younger helps. Was Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart too young? It comes down to the players. I'm going to be young if I don't have good enough players. It's an advantage that I feel I can relate to these players on the court, off the court and in recruiting. What I have a benefit of is growing up learning from my Dad and Billy Donovan. Look at Billy, he was 29 when he took over. They have helped me telling me what I'm going to deal with.

Pitino on what he learned from his Dad and Donovan...
Recruiting. Great coaches have to have great players. You have to recruit the right type of players for the way you want to run a system.

Pitino on what he learned last year...You can never prepare for what it's like to walk on the sidelines during a game.

Pitino on analytics movement in coaching...I like it a lot. I've talked to Brad who uses KenPom which is a good indicator of the type of style we'll play. Last year steals were extremely important. We were 8th in the country in steals and that gets us more possessions.

Pitino on Mo Walker's conditioning...I give him a lot of credit. He gets all the credit. He looks great, but still has a ways to go. A lot of credit to him, very proud of him. Also proud of Charles Buggs who has put a lot of weight on.

Pitino on the play of his big man...I want a 4-man who can shoot. We need a 5 man who can score in low post, pick and roll.

http://www.1500espn.com/ondemand/

Go Gophers!!
 

Dude, you're a machine. Thanks for keeping on top of the local interviews.
 

Pitino on Mo Walker's conditioning...I give him a lot of credit. He gets all the credit. He looks great, but still has a ways to go. A lot of credit to him, very proud of him. Also proud of Charles Buggs who has put a lot of weight on.

Go Gophers!!

That's great to hear.
 


Most impressive recap. I truly appreciate your effort on our behalf. Great stuff.

I love what our coach has to say about Joey King. He keeps repeating that the key is recruiting and getting the right players on the team. He obviously felt that Joey fits into the big picture by giving him a scholarship as a sophomore. I can't wait to see who we bring in for 2014.
As a fan it is important for me to hope and dream. Thanks Coach for allowing me to do that again.
 


Love reading stuff like this, thanks for putting in the time Bleed.
 

Most impressive recap. I truly appreciate your effort on our behalf. Great stuff.

I love what our coach has to say about Joey King. He keeps repeating that the key is recruiting and getting the right players on the team. He obviously felt that Joey fits into the big picture by giving him a scholarship as a sophomore. I can't wait to see who we bring in for 2014.
As a fan it is important for me to hope and dream. Thanks Coach for allowing me to do that again.


Well said Emil! This is why good coaches like Tubby and Carmody get fired. Fans in both areas stop seeing a dream for better. Pitino is pumping new hope and energy into the program and that's fun.
 

His response to the style of play question was interesting to me. He makes it sound like we may not see the up tempo style in the first year or two. I guess I was expecting it right away, but that probably isn't realistic.
 

Joey really impressed me. He reminds me of Luke Hancock at Louisville. When he walks on the court he thinks he's the best player on the court. He comes with a chip on his shoulder and I'm really excited about him.

Hope he can contribute as a solid roll player right away, I think he will.
 



Joey really impressed me. He reminds me of Luke Hancock at Louisville. When he walks on the court he thinks he's the best player on the court. He comes with a chip on his shoulder and I'm really excited about him.

Hope he can contribute as a solid roll player right away, I think he will.

FWIW, Luke Hancock started at George Mason where he averaged 7.7 and 10.9 PPG and 3.5 and 4.2 rebounds per game at George Mason. He ended up doing pretty well at Louisville.

For those concerned with King's numbers at Drake.
 

His response to the style of play question was interesting to me. He makes it sound like we may not see the up tempo style in the first year or two. I guess I was expecting it right away, but that probably isn't realistic.

I think he doesn't really know at this point, as he's said, he's kinda still learning this team, and seeing how guys adjust to him. I have a hard time believing this team isn't more equipped for up tempo ball than slower play though. We have good athletes, I think our issue may be whether we have enough bulk down low to get rebounds to start breaks and whether the ball handling will be good enough to execute as well. Defensively, I just think that was when we were at our best, when they got up in people, full court, pressuring them. If they have the fitness to do it, I think we'll see it.
 

Richard Pitino ‏@MNCoachPitino 2m
MVP of both practices goes to Joey King. Took 5 charges in two hours of practice.

Starting to think King might have a legit shot at starting.
 




It is incredible to me how focused Pitino is when it comes to recruiting. Honestly, he sounds like a Lion ready to attack prey. I love the intensity & energy of Rich, the guy is going to be a legend! And in a few years Kimani will be known as a beast in the recruiting world too!
 


I have to say, I like Pitino more and more every time I hear him speak. I definitely wasn't sold after the initial press conference and thought he was just full of hot air, but all of his subsequent interviews have me excited. It's refreshing to hear a coach speak somewhat honestly about what we have and what we need to do to get better. It definitely seems like he's motivated to build a winning program here.

Great work as always Bleed.
 

I wonder how likely his waiver is for next year and when we will hear about the NCAA's decision.

I think it's highly likely he'll play this fall. As for timing... could be later this morning, could be a loooong time.
 

I have to say, I like Pitino more and more every time I hear him speak. I definitely wasn't sold after the initial press conference and thought he was just full of hot air, but all of his subsequent interviews have me excited. It's refreshing to hear a coach speak somewhat honestly about what we have and what we need to do to get better. It definitely seems like he's motivated to build a winning program here.

Great work as always Bleed.

Definitely a nice change from a coach saying that he is going to like coaching for a school that won't complain about only getting 20 wins.
 

Feel the same way.

I remember when you first posted he might come. I kept thinking......don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I like EE, Buckles/King, and Buggs at SF giving us good B1G size when needed.
 

Pitino on Mo Walker's conditioning...I give him a lot of credit. He gets all the credit. He looks great, but still has a ways to go. A lot of credit to him, very proud of him. Also proud of Charles Buggs who has put a lot of weight on.

I was out last weekend and ran into both Mo and Buggs and I have to say they both look considerably different. Mo has certainly slimmed down and you can definitely tell. Buggs is finally starting to put some muscle on and it's beginning to show.

If they can both keep that up, they seem like they will fit right into Pitino's system.
 

I was out last weekend and ran into both Mo and Buggs and I have to say they both look considerably different. Mo has certainly slimmed down and you can definitely tell. Buggs is finally starting to put some muscle on and it's beginning to show.

If they can both keep that up, they seem like they will fit right into Pitino's system.

Thanks! I was hoping someone had seen them. At times this board has a pretty long reach.
 

I think it's highly likely he'll play this fall. As for timing... could be later this morning, could be a loooong time.

Thanks. I had no idea if these cases are always slam dunks or not...and I had heard just a bit about an ill family member but it was confusing that he was also checking out St. Louis and Creighton.
 

I was out last weekend and ran into both Mo and Buggs and I have to say they both look considerably different. Mo has certainly slimmed down and you can definitely tell. Buggs is finally starting to put some muscle on and it's beginning to show.

If they can both keep that up, they seem like they will fit right into Pitino's system.

Great to hear, thanks for sharing.
 


I was out last weekend and ran into both Mo and Buggs and I have to say they both look considerably different. Mo has certainly slimmed down and you can definitely tell. Buggs is finally starting to put some muscle on and it's beginning to show.

If they can both keep that up, they seem like they will fit right into Pitino's system.

Are you okay?
 


I peaked at Joey King's game log and being that he was a freshman, his numbers -- and minutes -- were wildly inconsistent. He followed a 21-point effort against Xavier with a goose egg (in points) and four fouls against Nevada. His minutes went up and down and he seemed to get in foul trouble a lot, registering three or more fouls a whopping 17 times. He reached four fouls quite a bit and fouled out three times. I'm hoping these issues get rectified when he reaches the U and his minutes become more consistent. He is also listed at 6-foot-9. I've seen him as short at 6-7.
 

I peaked at Joey King's game log and being that he was a freshman, his numbers -- and minutes -- were wildly inconsistent. He followed a 21-point effort against Xavier with a goose egg (in points) and four fouls against Nevada. His minutes went up and down and he seemed to get in foul trouble a lot, registering three or more fouls a whopping 17 times. He reached four fouls quite a bit and fouled out three times. I'm hoping these issues get rectified when he reaches the U and his minutes become more consistent. He is also listed at 6-foot-9. I've seen him as short at 6-7.

But what we really what to know, is why you don't feel he would be a dominate player at Winona.
 

I peaked at Joey King's game log and being that he was a freshman, his numbers -- and minutes -- were wildly inconsistent. He followed a 21-point effort against Xavier with a goose egg (in points) and four fouls against Nevada. His minutes went up and down and he seemed to get in foul trouble a lot, registering three or more fouls a whopping 17 times. He reached four fouls quite a bit and fouled out three times. I'm hoping these issues get rectified when he reaches the U and his minutes become more consistent. He is also listed at 6-foot-9. I've seen him as short at 6-7.

He is definitely 6-9, little taller with shoes. About 220 Lbs.
 

He is definitely 6-9, little taller with shoes. About 220 Lbs.

Let's not get into the shoes/without shoes b.s. again. We play the game with shoes, so there should be no further need to indicate w/wo shoes.
 




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