Pitino and the state of the program

bga1

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I have been a Pitino supporter, but started to lose confidence in him earlier in the conference season. I started to think he wasn't going to make it and maybe it would be for the best in the long term. But now, since the Illinois road game, I am seeing improvement in the way the team plays defense, the intensity is better and the offense is flowing better. Guys are getting a little better on shot selection, IW is improving. I now think that the best thing for the program is that he wins enough this year to stay. He is an improving coach who I think will continue to get better. Sometimes the moments when your back is pressed against the wall is when you see what you have. I like his reaction so far.

A little perspective on the situation:

1. His record in conference at this moment is virtually identical to Clem Haskins at this point in his tenure...sans the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight squad (which is a big deal). Haskins was a really good coach here and without the scandal, would have retired here after a great career.

2. Last year was not Pitino's fault and that team was a bit better in terms of overall talent and experience than this one. The problems with Lynch and the injuries to Coffey, McBrayer and Curry were not survivable by anyone. Without that happening we would be not be thinking about canning Pitino.

3. The outlook for next year is bright. We'll have a strong starting lineup assuming Coffey stays, which I would think he will do. There has been some concern on the recruiting front considering that we only got one in the Fall. However, it looks like Tre Williams is a steal at this point. Carr and Willis will be added. We need another big guy who can give us minutes and a shooting guard or wing and we should be good.

To me the optimal scenario is for the team to get hot right now, steal a few wins they are dogs in and lock it in people's minds that we will be in the tournament. That would create a positive feeling among prospective recruits for the spring as well as the great 2020 group. I'd love to see this happen and start to build some continuity and growth in this program as opposed to watching flight patterns of private jets in early April.

Go Gophers!
 

Great post! I agree. I want to see Pitino succeed, and I hope that a tournament berth will help convince some of the all-important 2020 recruits to stay.
 

I'm one of those who jumped off the ledge after the first Illinois game. But I landed on an awning halfway down, shook myself off, and now I'm Jason Bourne-ing my way back up.
 

2. …..Nate Mason was also injured


I am (and not shy about it) a Pitino supporter.

I've talked to a couple of former players and they tell me he knows what he is doing and have confidence that, if given longevity, he will win here. Albeit, the first 2 years were a large learning curve for him.
 

good outlook....couple things

why do we need another shooting guard? we already have gabe & Williams. Plus Willis is a combo guard. And cant Carr even play off the ball?

We no doubt need a big who can come in and be counted on for next year. Oturu, Curry, & Omersa are it at this point. We in reality probably need 2 guys

And IMO we need to find a SF/wing in this class. With Coffey & Hurt being seniors next year I would really like to see a guy added so he has a year to learn behind coffey.
 


I have been a Pitino supporter, but started to lose confidence in him earlier in the conference season. I started to think he wasn't going to make it and maybe it would be for the best in the long term. But now, since the Illinois road game, I am seeing improvement in the way the team plays defense, the intensity is better and the offense is flowing better. Guys are getting a little better on shot selection, IW is improving. I now think that the best thing for the program is that he wins enough this year to stay. He is an improving coach who I think will continue to get better. Sometimes the moments when your back is pressed against the wall is when you see what you have. I like his reaction so far.

A little perspective on the situation:

1. His record in conference at this moment is virtually identical to Clem Haskins at this point in his tenure...sans the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight squad (which is a big deal). Haskins was a really good coach here and without the scandal, would have retired here after a great career.

2. Last year was not Pitino's fault and that team was a bit better in terms of overall talent and experience than this one. The problems with Lynch and the injuries to Coffey, McBrayer and Curry were not survivable by anyone. Without that happening we would be not be thinking about canning Pitino.

3. The outlook for next year is bright. We'll have a strong starting lineup assuming Coffey stays, which I would think he will do. There has been some concern on the recruiting front considering that we only got one in the Fall. However, it looks like Tre Williams is a steal at this point. Carr and Willis will be added. We need another big guy who can give us minutes and a shooting guard or wing and we should be good.

To me the optimal scenario is for the team to get hot right now, steal a few wins they are dogs in and lock it in people's minds that we will be in the tournament. That would create a positive feeling among prospective recruits for the spring as well as the great 2020 group. I'd love to see this happen and start to build some continuity and growth in this program as opposed to watching flight patterns of private jets in early April.

Go Gophers!


Well said, think many of us would agree with this.
 

I'm one of those who jumped off the ledge after the first Illinois game. But I landed on an awning halfway down, shook myself off, and now I'm Jason Bourne-ing my way back up.

im with you. i threw in the towel on Pitino after the first Illinois game. now that son of a gun has me trying to get back on the wagon.
 

I'm glad I'm off the edge too.

Recruiting needs for the 3 open schollies:

1. PF or Center, need to replace Murphy's rebounding. Or get someone to make it easier for Oturu.
2. SF to help Coffey Hurt
3. another of either
 

I'm glad I'm off the edge too.

Recruiting needs for the 3 open schollies:

1. PF or Center, need to replace Murphy's rebounding. Or get someone to make it easier for Oturu.
2. SF to help Coffey Hurt
3. another of either

agreed.
 



Good post bga, definitely some solid points. I really like what you said about the injuries/suspensions last year is NOT being indicative of Pitino's ability as a coach. Usually I would cringe making an excuse for someone that large, but it was actually that bad. Your only 2 big men are toast for the year and we lose 2 of our top 3 guards for a significant chunk of the season.

For him to avoid bad down years he needs to stabilize recruiting imo. There has been 2 or 3 seasons where it seems that we whiffed on nearly everyone that was high on our list (not sure if that's accurate and depends on how you want to classify). It seems as if we've settled for some lesser recruits and it has hurt us down the stretch. Lack of bigs/ballhandlers both pop into my mind as things that have happened to hurt us.
 
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He's not a good coach. And I should know, having never played organized basketball in my life.
 


I'm glad I'm off the edge too.

Recruiting needs for the 3 open schollies:

1. PF or Center, need to replace Murphy's rebounding. Or get someone to make it easier for Oturu.
2. SF to help Coffey Hurt
3. another of either

I think we should wait until the end of the year to evaluate Pitino...but regardless of who the coach is I think one of the recruiting needs is PG


We have Washington who the coach doesn’t trust. We don’t have a backup. Coffey and Carr are out of position at PG
 



I have been a Pitino supporter, but started to lose confidence in him earlier in the conference season. I started to think he wasn't going to make it and maybe it would be for the best in the long term. But now, since the Illinois road game, I am seeing improvement in the way the team plays defense, the intensity is better and the offense is flowing better. Guys are getting a little better on shot selection, IW is improving. I now think that the best thing for the program is that he wins enough this year to stay. He is an improving coach who I think will continue to get better. Sometimes the moments when your back is pressed against the wall is when you see what you have. I like his reaction so far.

A little perspective on the situation:

1. His record in conference at this moment is virtually identical to Clem Haskins at this point in his tenure...sans the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight squad (which is a big deal). Haskins was a really good coach here and without the scandal, would have retired here after a great career.

2. Last year was not Pitino's fault and that team was a bit better in terms of overall talent and experience than this one. The problems with Lynch and the injuries to Coffey, McBrayer and Curry were not survivable by anyone. Without that happening we would be not be thinking about canning Pitino.

3. The outlook for next year is bright. We'll have a strong starting lineup assuming Coffey stays, which I would think he will do. There has been some concern on the recruiting front considering that we only got one in the Fall. However, it looks like Tre Williams is a steal at this point. Carr and Willis will be added. We need another big guy who can give us minutes and a shooting guard or wing and we should be good.

To me the optimal scenario is for the team to get hot right now, steal a few wins they are dogs in and lock it in people's minds that we will be in the tournament. That would create a positive feeling among prospective recruits for the spring as well as the great 2020 group. I'd love to see this happen and start to build some continuity and growth in this program as opposed to watching flight patterns of private jets in early April.

Go Gophers!

Nice assessment. Pretty much agree and I am a coach supporter. The first disaster season when they were young and short handed and he kept them from throwing in the towel proved to me he had what it takes to be a good college coach. I haven’t changed my mind since. In general his teams have improved as the season moves on, players get better. Both of these are upgrades from the previous administration that had better players.

I think he has been a victim of negative recruiting tied to the PR issues and scandals as well as his dads problems and internally with his connection to Norwood.

As I look back I see two recruits that slowed momentum for him. First is Josh Martin. He needed to get a hard nosed over achiever like J’son Stamper but ended up with a guy who quit on him before his first conference game.

The second is Kevin Dorsey. A good player with major character issues who lead the program into negative attention that still probably lingers in recruiting circles. I think without that situation we are probably not even having this conversation.

Not every recruit works out but they can’t drag a program down.

Pitino has been a straight shooter, accepted responsibility, been good with in game adjustments. I did think recruiting would be better by this time.

Starting over now would be a disaster.
 


I think we should wait until the end of the year to evaluate Pitino...but regardless of who the coach is I think one of the recruiting needs is PG


We have Washington who the coach doesn’t trust. We don’t have a backup. Coffey and Carr are out of position at PG
Carr is a true point guard like Washington I am fairly sure.. Willis is the one who is more of an off-ball guard, but even he can play the point.

We likely will need two big men.
 

Carr is a true point guard like Washington I am fairly sure.. Willis is the one who is more of an off-ball guard, but even he can play the point.

We likely will need two big men.

Carr started for an entire ACC season. I'd respect that on a resume for a PG.
 

I have been a Pitino supporter, but started to lose confidence in him earlier in the conference season. I started to think he wasn't going to make it and maybe it would be for the best in the long term. But now, since the Illinois road game, I am seeing improvement in the way the team plays defense, the intensity is better and the offense is flowing better. Guys are getting a little better on shot selection, IW is improving. I now think that the best thing for the program is that he wins enough this year to stay. He is an improving coach who I think will continue to get better. Sometimes the moments when your back is pressed against the wall is when you see what you have. I like his reaction so far.

A little perspective on the situation:

1. His record in conference at this moment is virtually identical to Clem Haskins at this point in his tenure...sans the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight squad (which is a big deal). Haskins was a really good coach here and without the scandal, would have retired here after a great career.

2. Last year was not Pitino's fault and that team was a bit better in terms of overall talent and experience than this one. The problems with Lynch and the injuries to Coffey, McBrayer and Curry were not survivable by anyone. Without that happening we would be not be thinking about canning Pitino.

3. The outlook for next year is bright. We'll have a strong starting lineup assuming Coffey stays, which I would think he will do. There has been some concern on the recruiting front considering that we only got one in the Fall. However, it looks like Tre Williams is a steal at this point. Carr and Willis will be added. We need another big guy who can give us minutes and a shooting guard or wing and we should be good.

To me the optimal scenario is for the team to get hot right now, steal a few wins they are dogs in and lock it in people's minds that we will be in the tournament. That would create a positive feeling among prospective recruits for the spring as well as the great 2020 group. I'd love to see this happen and start to build some continuity and growth in this program as opposed to watching flight patterns of private jets in early April.

Go Gophers!

Were any of you guys posting on here even fans of the Gophers when Clem became coach? It seems that some important information is being missed in this post. Clem took over a program that was as bleak as it's ever been in Minnesota Gopher history. The year before we had to forfeit a Big 10 game and played another where 5 guys played all but 2 minutes of the game. Dutcher had resigned in the middle of the year and three players were dismissed from the team because of the scandal in Madison. Because of this, Clem's first two years we won a total of 6 games in the B1G. The team and program was gutted. In his 3rd coach at Minnesota, Clem got the team to the Sweet 16, losing to Duke is my memory serves me correctly. That year, the Big 10 was loaded, with Michigan, Indiana and Illinois all being top 10 teams, with Michigan winning the tournament, beating Illinois in the Final Four. That was in an era when the Big 10 was at it's peak as a top basketball conference. The next year the Gophers were within a basket of making the Final Four....losing to Georgia Tech 93-91. To try and compare the position Pitino has this team in to the place Clem had the team in after 5 years is one of the most laughable things I have seen on Gopherhole. I have no problem giving Pitino another year if we make the NCAA tournament, but don't compare the coaching job he has done to the coaching job Clem did at the beginning of his tenure at Minnesota.
 
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Currently the Gophers are 16-5, two games above .500 in the Big Ten, and it's not like they don't have any quality wins (vs. Washington, Nebraska, @ Wisconsin, Iowa) to work with. I'm fine with the current state.
 

If he can get this team to play with consistent effort the rest of the season, then we will make the tourney and he will have bought himself at least another year. I’d like that because I think Pitino is a really likeable guy and could be our coach for decades if it works out.

That being said, he has to make the tourney this year and improve recruiting / roster management. This recruiting cycle has been largely disastrous to date and we have zero big man depth (not to mention zero pg depth this year). Too often we have been an injury / suspension away from a doomed season.
 

good outlook....couple things

why do we need another shooting guard? we already have gabe & Williams. Plus Willis is a combo guard. And cant Carr even play off the ball?

We no doubt need a big who can come in and be counted on for next year. Oturu, Curry, & Omersa are it at this point. We in reality probably need 2 guys

And IMO we need to find a SF/wing in this class. With Coffey & Hurt being seniors next year I would really like to see a guy added so he has a year to learn behind coffey.

Priority should definitely be bigs (probably need 2) and wing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Carr is a true point guard like Washington I am fairly sure.. Willis is the one who is more of an off-ball guard, but even he can play the point.

We likely will need two big men.

He was listed as a SG.
I will openly admit I’ve never seen him play
 

We are likely to always be a up and down team with Pitino at the helm. One year we get in to the dance. The next year they win 12 games. Until he can be a consistant recruiter this is what we will see imo. His coaching is fine. His recruiting is only ok. This isn't a recipe for the type of success most fans are longing for. Hope I'm wrong.
 

Nice assessment. Pretty much agree and I am a coach supporter. The first disaster season when they were young and short handed and he kept them from throwing in the towel proved to me he had what it takes to be a good college coach. I haven’t changed my mind since. In general his teams have improved as the season moves on, players get better. Both of these are upgrades from the previous administration that had better players.

I think he has been a victim of negative recruiting tied to the PR issues and scandals as well as his dads problems and internally with his connection to Norwood.

As I look back I see two recruits that slowed momentum for him. First is Josh Martin. He needed to get a hard nosed over achiever like J’son Stamper but ended up with a guy who quit on him before his first conference game.

The second is Kevin Dorsey. A good player with major character issues who lead the program into negative attention that still probably lingers in recruiting circles. I think without that situation we are probably not even having this conversation.

Not every recruit works out but they can’t drag a program down.

Pitino has been a straight shooter, accepted responsibility, been good with in game adjustments. I did think recruiting would be better by this time.

Starting over now would be a disaster.


Nicely done.

I would add Pitino was very unlucky with Jarvis J. A true PG that never played. I cant remember his recruiting ranking and I think is was quite high?
 

My biggest issue or concern with Pitino is the lack of consistency on offense. Every game, without fail, the Gophers fall into an offensive black hole for 5 or 6 minutes, where they look like they've never played or practiced together. when they get into these funks, almost every possession, they run the shot clock down and someone either throws up a bad 3-pt shot, or we get a kamikaze drive to the basket.

I assume they work on these things in practice - but it doesn't seem to show up on the court, and that perplexes me. Look, nobody's perfect. every team is going to have bad possessions. But the Gophers just seem to have more of them, and they still crap their pants against a zone more often than not.

maybe the players are just as dumb as a rock. But some of that is on the coaches, too - because whatever they're doing in practice doesn't seem to translate to the game.
 

With the recruiting class being what it is for the 2020 class locally, it would be idiotic to have a coaching change right now. I don't know how successful pitino will be in recruiting this class(I've personally heard encouraging things), but I know there is essentially no chance a new coach will be able to build relationship in the short of amount of time left to get any off these guys. Speaking of which it would be nice to open up 1 or 2 more scholarships for that class.
 
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Every season has its ebbs and flows. Some of the reaction after the Illinois game was absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully our AD doesn't react as knee-jerk as some posters on here had advocated. Now, if Pitino goes out and wins the game at Purdue by 30....nobody should call for a lifetime contract either. Evaluate after the year and enjoy the ride in the meantime.
 


With the recruiting class being what it is for the 2020 class locally, it would be idiotic to have a coaching change right now. I don't know how successful pitino will be in recruiting this class(I've personally heard encouraging things), but I know there is essentially no chance a new coach will be able to build relationship in the short of amount of time left to get any off these guys. Speaking of which it would be nice to open up 1 or 2 more scholarships for that class.

Like I said, you don't change coaches if the Gophers make the tournament this year. But if you hire the correct coach, we still have a good shot at the 2020 recruits from Minnesota. I can't prove it, but had the Gophers hired Flip or Hoiberg when they fired Tubby, I think we would have gotten at least two of the big four who were juniors at the time (Tyus, Macura, Travis and Vaughn). Pitino hasn't recruited Minnesota very well, that has been the problem. That said, if we somehow get Hurt, there is no way he is going anywhere.
 

Nicely done.

I would add Pitino was very unlucky with Jarvis J. A true PG that never played. I cant remember his recruiting ranking and I think is was quite high?

Jarvis was a borderline top 100 recruit and a huge local get. If he played and was successful it would have been opened the floodgates in local recruiting. Keeping the De theme going, missing out on Reid Travis was heartbreaking as a fan and probably devastating for the staff.
 




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