Pitino post game: I'm amazed to be honest with you that we were that close with...

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some of those turnovers.

I'm not at the game, but these are notes from the 1500 interview. Pitino's mic has technical difficulties, so this is all I got:

• We were doing things that you can't win on the road or home doing. I'm disappointed for our guys because they played really hard. It's difficult, we're in a little bit of a rut. Guys are giving good effort, but 17 TO's crushed us.
• MI was trapping Walker, we needed to get a defensive stop at the end, it's difficult but you've got to give MI credit and we made some mistakes.
• I'm amazed to be honest with you that we were that close with some of those turnovers. Dan McHale put together a great scouting report, it just comes down to valuing the bball, and not turning over.
• You can't do it and win (TO's) we're going to look back and be frustrated. I'm not sure how much I can get from it, we made some silly mistakes.
 

Thank you Captain obvious....Any action to change it, lineup changes, style changes....etc?

Guys are giving a good effort
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....My coach said the same thing to us in middle school ball.
 

What else can he say- he has a mentally fragile team. These guys are playing scared and down on themselves. Need to go out and get some tougher players.
 


Thanks as usual GL.....Anyone have any info on why Pitino was reading Ben the riot act and pointing his finger at him?
 


1997vacatedfinalfour said:
Thank you Captain obvious....Any action to change it, lineup changes, style changes....etc?

....My coach said the same thing to us in middle school ball.
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In case you wanted another Captain Obvious response:

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

GopherPop said:
Thanks as usual GL.....Anyone have any info on why Pitino was reading Ben the riot act and pointing his finger at him?
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I haven't heard anything yet...guessing a lot of it was just frustration. How we're all feeling.
 

1997vacatedfinalfour said:
Thank you Captain obvious....Any action to change it, lineup changes, style changes....etc?
Click to expand...

What do you expect to change? The players aren't going to magically get better as the year goes on. There is no hidden gem waiting to get eligible. We've taken a step back from the team we were last year. That's easy enough to see. It isn't going to much better this year. I assume the NIT is still in play...
 

GopherLady said:
In case you wanted another Captain Obvious response:

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



I haven't heard anything yet...guessing a lot of it was just frustration. How we're all feeling.
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Thanks GL!
 

• We were doing things that you can't win on the road or home doing. I'm disappointed for our guys because they played really hard.

This sums it up. Pitino states that players were doing things that you cannot do in order to win on the road or at home. I assume (although cannot be 100% sure) that he is referring to the teams inexcusable turnovers, missed free throws, blown defensive assignments and an inability to have sny sense of a half court offense. Ok, maybe a little harsh here but that's the reality of what they've consistently done in the B1G this season thus far.

Yet we continue to hear that the kids are playing very hard and he's disappointed for them. I understand the sense of bring a positive leader and trying to build his teams confidence without losing their desire. However, someone needs to be accountable for their lack of improvement. I'm sick of hearing how hard they are playing. Because I don't see it on the court. I see people standing around on offense, I see Mo jogging back on defense and I see King out of position routinely on defense. In fact, there were multiple times today where Hollins was defensively screened and couldn't get back quick enough on defense to either switch assignments or recover to his own man. He was caught standing on several plays looking lost.

This team has not only been beat physically but more so mentally. They continually make unforced turnovers and they are the furthest from being a fundamentally sound team. Poor passing, poor FT shooting, poor rebounding, etc.

This is a fault of both the players and their coaching. Blowing double digit leads in 3 out of 4 B1G games is atrocious. Fortunately for the Gophers this can be turned around. I just don't know if this staff has the ability to facilitate this. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I cannot stand the Badgers, but Bo Ryan would have these kids on the bench as soon as they made their mistakes to emphasize the importance of playing mentally tough. For example, when Deandre Mathieau is running around the court like a mad man and throwing crazy passes and turning over the ball every 15 seconds, he should have been pulled every time from the game to think about his mistake. When Mo Walker gets the ball ripped from his hands from a defender, he should be taken out and coached on how to become more physical with the ball. This teams needs to learn and mentally grow to recognize the importance of each possession. Learning on the court, which has been the norm this year, has shown to be ineffective and unfortunately very costly.

This isn't an NCAA tourney team...it's a team that needs to learn discipline. And until they do, I can't agree with coach that they've been playing hard. Rather, they've been playing reckless and un disciplined.
 



Sparlimb said:
What do you expect to change? The players aren't going to magically get better as the year goes on. There is no hidden gem waiting to get eligible. We've taken a step back from the team we were last year. That's easy enough to see. It isn't going to much better this year. I assume the NIT is still in play...
Click to expand...

+1,000........What happened to SMU? Started out the year top 25 (don't know why) Wouldn't that be something if we were to play them in the finals of the NIT again.....UGH
 

Blitzkrieg said:
•
I cannot stand the Badgers, but Bo Ryan would have these kids on the bench as soon as they made their mistakes to emphasize the importance of playing mentally tough. For example, when Deandre Mathieau is running around the court like a mad man and throwing crazy passes and turning over the ball every 15 seconds, he should have been pulled every time from the game to think about his mistake. When Mo Walker gets the ball ripped from his hands from a defender, he should be taken out and coached on how to become more physical with the ball. This teams needs to learn and mentally grow to recognize the importance of each possession. Learning on the court, which has been the norm this year, has shown to be ineffective and unfortunately very costly.
Click to expand...
Who then, would you imagine, would be on the court playing the game?
 

Moonlight said:
Who then, would you imagine, would be on the court playing the game?
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Great point...obviously the Gophers depth isn't great. It's not like Pitino needs to take them out for 5 minutes at a time, but they do need to be held more accountable. I think MN goes at least 2 deep in every position so there should always be somebody to sub in, if for only a couple of possessions.
 

1997vacatedfinalfour said:
Thank you Captain obvious....Any action to change it, lineup changes, style changes....etc?

....My coach said the same thing to us in middle school ball.
Click to expand...

And if he says "The guys aren't playing hard", everyone would be saying he is throwing the players under the bus.
 



Blitzkrieg said:
Great point...obviously the Gophers depth isn't great. It's not like Pitino needs to take them out for 5 minutes at a time, but they do need to be held more accountable. I think MN goes at least 2 deep in every position so there should always be somebody to sub in, if for only a couple of possessions.
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We've been using an 8-man rotation as of late so this wouldn't be the case.
 



rivergopher said:
Whose fault is his lack of depth? Injuries are one thing, recruiting misses and bad characters are another.
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I think his point is most of the team isn't playing well. So if we sit everyone who isn't playing well, we'd only have two or three guys on the court.
 


GophersInIowa said:
I think his point is most of the team isn't playing well. So if we sit everyone who isn't playing well, we'd only have two or three guys on the court.
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Well maybe he should have recruited some big10 talent, this young, unproven pampered spoiled brat isn't fit to coach this team!

/sarc
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Well maybe he should have recruited some big10 talent, this young, unproven pampered spoiled brat isn't fit to coach this team!

/sarc
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I do not think anyone would call him spoiled or pampered. I think most people base their criticism on what is in front of them being that he has no proven track record. Again if there have not been some flags on his end the last 4 games than I do not what to tell you. We are 0-4 and looking like we will miss the tournament for a second consecutive year, you argue you have to let him show his "brand" don't care who you are, winning and player development matter more than style of play to most recruits.
 

Sparlimb said:
What do you expect to change? The players aren't going to magically get better as the year goes on. There is no hidden gem waiting to get eligible. We've taken a step back from the team we were last year. That's easy enough to see. It isn't going to much better this year. I assume the NIT is still in play...
Click to expand...

We don't need the players to magically get better as the year goes on. We just need them to stop getting magically worse once we have a solid second half lead.
 

We are used to chocking leads down the stretch. I watch Virginia, Iowa State, and others win on the road. they don't make turnovers and they make fts! They play with poise. We should be 3 and 1 but we wont beat anybody on the road because we will wilt the last 5 minutes of every game.
 

book said:
We are used to chocking leads down the stretch. I watch Virginia, Iowa State, and others win on the road. they don't make turnovers and they make fts! They play with poise. We should be 3 and 1 but we wont beat anybody on the road because we will wilt the last 5 minutes of every game.
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They are desperate for a win, any kind of win, in any way possible. We just don't have that go to player that wants the ball when we need a basket. At one time that player was Hollins, but because of injuries, he is just a shell of his former self.
 

GopherPop said:
+1,000........What happened to SMU? Started out the year top 25 (don't know why) Wouldn't that be something if we were to play them in the finals of the NIT again.....UGH
Click to expand...

The major difference is SMU is righting their ship and appears headed for the NCAA tourney.
 

Blitzkrieg said:
• We were doing things that you can't win on the road or home doing. I'm disappointed for our guys because they played really hard.

This sums it up. Pitino states that players were doing things that you cannot do in order to win on the road or at home. I assume (although cannot be 100% sure) that he is referring to the teams inexcusable turnovers, missed free throws, blown defensive assignments and an inability to have sny sense of a half court offense. Ok, maybe a little harsh here but that's the reality of what they've consistently done in the B1G this season thus far.

Yet we continue to hear that the kids are playing very hard and he's disappointed for them. I understand the sense of bring a positive leader and trying to build his teams confidence without losing their desire. However, someone needs to be accountable for their lack of improvement. I'm sick of hearing how hard they are playing. Because I don't see it on the court. I see people standing around on offense, I see Mo jogging back on defense and I see King out of position routinely on defense. In fact, there were multiple times today where Hollins was defensively screened and couldn't get back quick enough on defense to either switch assignments or recover to his own man. He was caught standing on several plays looking lost.

This team has not only been beat physically but more so mentally. They continually make unforced turnovers and they are the furthest from being a fundamentally sound team. Poor passing, poor FT shooting, poor rebounding, etc.

This is a fault of both the players and their coaching. Blowing double digit leads in 3 out of 4 B1G games is atrocious. Fortunately for the Gophers this can be turned around. I just don't know if this staff has the ability to facilitate this. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I cannot stand the Badgers, but Bo Ryan would have these kids on the bench as soon as they made their mistakes to emphasize the importance of playing mentally tough. For example, when Deandre Mathieau is running around the court like a mad man and throwing crazy passes and turning over the ball every 15 seconds, he should have been pulled every time from the game to think about his mistake. When Mo Walker gets the ball ripped from his hands from a defender, he should be taken out and coached on how to become more physical with the ball. This teams needs to learn and mentally grow to recognize the importance of each possession. Learning on the court, which has been the norm this year, has shown to be ineffective and unfortunately very costly.

This isn't an NCAA tourney team...it's a team that needs to learn discipline. And until they do, I can't agree with coach that they've been playing hard. Rather, they've been playing reckless and un disciplined.
Click to expand...

Easy to analyze by listing apparent faults. How would you handle it, Bo?
 

Do we know what the story is behind Pitino dressing down one of his assistants immediately after Michigan got the easy bucket to go up 4? Did any of the reporters ask him about that?
 

maxwellsmart said:
Easy to analyze by listing apparent faults. How would you handle it, Bo?
Click to expand...

I was trying to suggest that Pitino make a more conscious effort to hold the players responsible immediately after their mistakes. The players obvious lack the importance of each possession at this juncture, or at least that's what their demonstrating.

Now, how Pitino and his assistants instill this with the players during the games is on them. I'd just like to see more of it during these stretches of ineptness. My original post wasn't to point out that Ryan would have the answer but you sure don't see his teams falling apart at the end of games and making the same mistakes over and over again, although I wish they did.

This team just doesn't understand the importance of every possession. If they did, we wouldn't make the myriad of mistakes every game...
 

I'm really, really interested in how Pitino is going to handle this. Does it become a more of a mess or does he right the ship and make something out of it? He related to the Louisville game more than a few times that it was such a good learning moment for the team, This is, in my opinion, a huge learning moment for him. All new territory for him. I think successful coaches do their best coaching when in fixes like this. He's got to keep it out of the ditch and get it back on the road.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
I'm really, really interested in how Pitino is going to handle this. Does it become a more of a mess or does he right the ship and make something out of it? He related to the Louisville game more than a few times that it was such a good learning moment for the team, This is, in my opinion, a huge learning moment for him. All new territory for him. I think successful coaches do their best coaching when in fixes like this. He's got to keep it out of the ditch and get it back on the road.
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The first 3 years at Duke, Coach K's conference record got progressively worse toward abysmal. It's early. Let's sit back and see if Pitino can right this ship, pull it out of the ditch and get it back in the fast lane. I'm a big fan of mixed metaphors.
 

GoodasGold said:
The first 3 years at Duke, Coach K's conference record got progressively worse toward abysmal. It's early. Let's sit back and see if Pitino can right this ship, pull it out of the ditch and get it back in the fast lane. I'm a big fan of mixed metaphors.
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Ha! I sure butchered those up.
 

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