I feel sorry for coach Pitino

We must be the most unathletic team in the BIG. Mo & EE likely have a combined vertical of 10" and the one win, two wins now, PSU bigs were easily able to reject numerous shots in the paint. King is a merely guy to pass the ball too and he can't wait to get rid of it. Mason has not performed even though he has been rewarded with more PT. #4 has been a totally different player from last year.

Buggs gives the team some energy which is sorely needed. Yet RP gives him limited PT. Morris is a enigma but has more talent than most.

In spite of it all, the Goph's should have/could have easily won this game. Enough meandering.

I think Gopher fans need to take a deep breath and hope that the newbies next year fit in and Mason, Morris, Konate and Diendoh(sp) improve.

Other than perhaps NW I believe this to be true. Penn State went right over the top of everybody but Buggs. We have some speed but not an overall athletic team and definitely not physically strong.
 

This was a really great post by BFGopher. I am not sure why Matheu is such a shell of himself this year, but it is a really shocking regression. For a player like this to take such a huge step forward, then turn to crap in a few months is shocking. Watching Hollins play like a 16 year old scared kid this year then suddenly become himself again is odd.

I blame a lot of the strangeness we have seen this year on the coaching staff. Of course, when players on deeper team check out, a good coach can turn to the next guys, and this team is limited, but what a piss poor season this has been.

The performance of all seniors on this team so far has been miserable. I almost miss Ralph III after seeing this. Okay, that was too much, I never want to see RSIII again. So does anyone know, is RSIII making 300K a year playing in China or Slovakia?

No probably,,,,,

I hated watching Ralph play but he would look pretty good on this team.
 

I agree with your original post as well for that reason; there is generally no offense created out of it
 

So here it is, RSIII for the MaineRed Claws, certainly playing with a lot of passion:


Pos.

#

Name

Height

Weight

DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)

From


G 14 Babb, Chris (I) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1990–02–14 Iowa State
G 15 Brown, Sherwood 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 1991–08–02 Florida Gulf Coast
G 7 Calliste, Jason 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 171 lb (78 kg) 1990–01–27 Oregon
G 17 Dawkins, Andre (NBA) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1991–09–19 Duke
C 42 Dixon-Tatum, Asauhn 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1991–02–01 Auburn
G 10 Frazier, Tim 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1990–11–01 Penn State
F 24 Johnson, Omari 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1989–11–26 Oregon State
G 20 McGruder, Rodney 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1991–05–21 Kansas State
C 50 Sampson, Ralph 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 244 lb (111 kg) 1990–01–05
Minnesota
F — Schachtner, Michael 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1986–09–19 Green Bay
G 11 Stringer, Andre (I) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1991–12–04 LSU
F 21 Watford, Christian 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 232 lb (105 kg) 1991–04–28 Indiana
 




I feel a lot worse for the players than the coaches. They are getting well compensated to coach Big Ten basketball.

Yeah, except that the big problems with this team may well be player driven. This looks like a team with locker room trouble or, worse yet, away from the court player turmoil that the coaches may not be able to deal with. Senior leadership is a big deal Off the court.
 

Yeah, except that the big problems with this team may well be player driven. This looks like a team with locker room trouble or, worse yet, away from the court player turmoil that the coaches may not be able to deal with. Senior leadership is a big deal Off the court.

I honestly think they don't have high basketball IQs outside of Hollins, Mason and to a lesser extent King (for the first 36 minutes of each game)
 

We must be the most unathletic team in the BIG. Mo & EE likely have a combined vertical of 10" and the one win, two wins now, PSU bigs were easily able to reject numerous shots in the paint. King is a merely guy to pass the ball too and he can't wait to get rid of it. Mason has not performed even though he has been rewarded with more PT. #4 has been a totally different player from last year.

Buggs gives the team some energy which is sorely needed. Yet RP gives him limited PT. Morris is a enigma but has more talent than most.

In spite of it all, the Goph's should have/could have easily won this game. Enough meandering.

I think Gopher fans need to take a deep breath and hope that the newbies next year fit in and Mason, Morris, Konate and Diendoh(sp) improve.

I'd like to see more Buggs at this point just to see. Joey brings qualities, and I don't want to bash effort, but he just isn't able to rebound. He plays 30ish mpg (in conference) at PF and has 20 rebounds in 9 games. Only 2 games with more than 2.
 



I'd like to see more Buggs at this point just to see. Joey brings qualities, and I don't want to bash effort, but he just isn't able to rebound. He plays 30ish mpg (in conference) at PF and has 20 rebounds in 9 games. Only 2 games with more than 2.

Right!
 

I think people forget we were in the NCAA tournament two years ago.

If Richard's name was Bob Smith would we be this patient?

Unless we're Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky or the coach is doing some bad things behind the scenes, they almost always deserves at least four years to try and turn things around.

I think for most the excitement of his last name has worn off, and that doesn't have much influence on our opinion of him. We're 2-7 in the Big Ten right now regardless of what his name is.
 

Yeah, except that the big problems with this team may well be player driven. This looks like a team with locker room trouble or, worse yet, away from the court player turmoil that the coaches may not be able to deal with. Senior leadership is a big deal Off the court.

Why does a team not playing well have to mean there is some behind the scenes trouble going on? It could just be as simple is we just aren't playing very well.
 

My sense is that almost every player on the team is playing like they have no confidence. They're thinking instead of reacting, which by definition makes you play a step slow. Andre H is about the only player who gets the ball and lets fly. everybody else, they get the ball and you can see the wheels turning: "should I shoot.......should I pass.......?"

I'm not saying Pitino has lost the team, but it certainly doesn't feel like he is pushing the right buttons now - or even knows what buttons to push. Hopefully, we can chalk this season down to growing pains for a young coach - but that doesn't make it any easier to watch.
 



I'd like to see more Buggs at this point just to see. Joey brings qualities, and I don't want to bash effort, but he just isn't able to rebound. He plays 30ish mpg (in conference) at PF and has 20 rebounds in 9 games. Only 2 games with more than 2.

One thing that makes Buggs so fun to watch on the court is just that fact that he is the only guy we have that is capable of making a big time above the rim play. This team so lacks that- every team we play plays above us around the basket. Buggs is actually starting to get it. People love to focus on his errors- but man the team I see out there has a whole lot of guys making errors. Loved what I saw from Buggs tonight. EE, Buggs and Hollins. Pretty much everyone else was awful.
 

Unless we're Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky or the coach is doing some bad things behind the scenes, they almost always deserves at least four years to try and turn things around.

I think for most the excitement of his last name has worn off, and that doesn't have much influence on our opinion of him. We're 2-7 in the Big Ten right now regardless of what his name is.

Todd Lickliter only got three years. Having said that, I do agree that Pitino is no Todd Lickliter.
 


We play in the most physical league in basketball and we have one of the weakest lineups in all of the big conferences. Thus, when we dont force 20 turnovers, get 12+steals, and make a decent % of 3's we will lose. Look at the heights and weights against Iowa, Nebraska, and Penn St. I am going to give the running presssing style a few years, but right now it is ugly. I think we overachieved last year as this style was new to opposing teams.
 

I don't feel sorry for Pitino anymore than Pitino feels sorry for Pitino. If you want the big job and the prestige and the money, then you have to take the bad things that come with it like being gone recruiting all the time, the second-guessing of your every move and the people that want you gone. It comes with the territory and I think he understands that.
The only thing that I am starting to get concerned with is the open desire to be more athletic and to get out and run and cause havoc on defense but then the contradictory stance of playing Joey King and Mo Walker down the stretch of games. Non-athletic, non-quick, non-rebounders. Normally heady guys that have played alot of minutes, so you would like to think you could trust them down the stretch but look at the results this year. Joey needs to realize he is on the floor to shoot as a stretch 4 and quit shot-faking and driving into a blocked shot or a missed lay-up. If he isn't going to take the open shot, put Konate or Buggs in and get more athletic. My thought is Pitino knows he has a bunch of seniors that should be pretty good so he isn't coaching fully committed to his own style and plan for the future, he is coaching to try get the most out of the seniors-- and it isn't working.
 

I just don't really see it when I look at this team.

Andre is a nice player. I torched him a while back but I am happy to see he pulled through that horrid stretch and is really shooting the ball now. That said, he is an atrocious ball handler under heavy pressure, and is nearly zero threat to penetrate and finish.

Morris is a bit of a chucker but frankly if he didn't shoot sometimes I don't know if we would even get a shot off.

Mo Walker might be more of a liability than a positive. Sure, he scores 12 ppg or whatever. How much does he cost us? 2 offensive fouls per game, about 5 offensive rebounds given up right over his head, seems to turn the ball over consistently, etc. He is the one of the softest 250lb guys I have seen. He literally has two versions of one move. A. Turn left and B. Turn right. In both cases if the other guy can stop him from bulling his way to the rim, he's screwed. He is a bad starter or very good reserve center in the BIG in my opinion.

Mason is going to be good, but, well, he looks like a freshman right now. And I'm OK with that.

Buggs, as someone else stated, might be an egghead but at least he can compete physically. When Penn State is more athletic than your team, its not a good sign.

Eliason is a glue guy, nothing more. He tries hard and wants to do the right things.

Mathieu was my guy last year but I think its obvious to everyone he is a shell of that player.

King...another guy who just cant do it. He should come in for a few minutes and shoot the open jumper.

As someone else stated, this has to be one of the dumbest basketball teams I've seen from a basketball IQ view....when they are scuffling, it is simply unwatchable.

At this point I would love to see more of Konate, Buggs, Mason, Gas, etc. It doesn't have to be a case where the upperclassmen don't get to play, but I think Richie could up the youngsters' minutes a little bit.

Its hard for me to decide if Pitino worked magic last year, or if he's part of the problem. The holdovers from Tubby are pretty crappy, other than Andre. But honestly Richie's first recruits (Little Dre, King, etc.) are nothing special either. Granted he simply needed bodies to fill the roster at the time.
 

The team is filled with players with terrible hands.

The team is filled with players who can't finish at the hoop.

This team is filled with players who can't jump.

This team has lots of positives, but it is tough to overcome the above.
 


Apologize if someone's already posted this, but I wonder what kind of advice and assistance he's getting from the old man during this trying time.
 


Apologize if someone's already posted this, but I wonder what kind of advice and assistance he's getting from the old man during this trying time.

Dad told him that if it wasn't for Twitter, his team would be undefeated.
 



Apologize if someone's already posted this, but I wonder what kind of advice and assistance he's getting from the old man during this trying time.

Not sure about Rick, but the brother already told him, "Damn, you're ruining my chance to wear the chicken suit again."
 

Apologize if someone's already posted this, but I wonder what kind of advice and assistance he's getting from the old man during this trying time.

If Rick talk to his son the way Richard talks to his players, I bet he calls him up immediately after the buzzer and screams "win the f%&*ing game!"
 


Not sure about Rick, but the brother already told him, "Damn, you're ruining my chance to wear the chicken suit again."

I'm too lazy to go find the picture right now, but there was a picture of Pitino's youngest kid at the game in a chicken suit tonight. It was pretty cute.
 




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