Pitino post NU - That was not the team that I was proud to coach for the past 3 wks

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Here are the quick notes from Pitino's post game interview with Mike Grimm and Spencer:

Richard Pitino:
• We couldn't make a shot, and that was really delating us, in the 1st half, we were getting good looks. We came out at the beginning of the 2nd half with some wacky TO's and fouls, sealed the deal a little bit. That was not the team that I was proud to coach for the past 3 weeks, that was the most disconnected we've been. I thought they'd snap out of that funk. Their best players, they stepped out and were really good.
• After the game - Very simple, as much as we're not happy with losing, those past 5 games we were fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win the game, we didn't today. We're not shooting the well obviously. It's a collection of things, I thought we'd gotten over the hump.
• On Senior Leadership - It's not that it's their fault, I don't think it's in their disposition to do that. It's difficult, and that's my job to be the leader, it's hard for a college kid to step up and sustain that.
• On Murphy foul trouble - he wasn't wise, those 2 fouls he got, he shouldn't have gotten them. It's just freshmen mistakes, and he needs to stop
• We were playing good bball, that was a step back today, gotta live in the gym, work on the game, and get better.
 

Northwestern had 19(!!!!!!!) points on their first 7 possessions of the game and Pitino wants to talk about the Gophers allegedly missing "good looks" on the offensive end. Everything about this game was pathetic including the coaching. There was little plan on the offensive end and guys blowing assignments on defense. The fact that you have to go zone against a slow team like Northwestern is an indictment on the players and the staff. Some tough decisions are going to have to be made at the conclusion of the season in terms of roster and staff construction if Pitino is around.
 

Thanks for the effort, GL. But the many responses to this thread shows how tired we are of hearing the same recycled blather every game. Interest in this team is at an all time low. People are officially completely indifferent. If we had an AD he'd be pressing a red panic button.
 

EG#9 said:
Northwestern had 19(!!!!!!!) points on their first 7 possessions of the game and Pitino wants to talk about the Gophers allegedly missing "good looks" on the offensive end. Everything about this game was pathetic including the coaching. There was little plan on the offensive end and guys blowing assignments on defense. The fact that you have to go zone against a slow team like Northwestern is an indictment on the players and the staff. Some tough decisions are going to have to be made at the conclusion of the season in terms of roster and staff construction if Pitino is around.
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Pitino's quotes are really a good indication of his interests, he just has no idea on how to develop any kind of defensive prowess, I really don't see an improvement in talent to change that.
 

howeda7 said:
Thanks for the effort, GL. But the many responses to this thread shows how tired we are of hearing the same recycled blather every game. Interest in this team is at an all time low. People are officially completely indifferent. If we had an AD he'd be pressing a red panic button.
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Let me get this straight: the number of responses within a few hours to a thread started at 11:19 PM directly measures interest in the team as being at all all-time low? That's one of the more peculiar conclusions I've ever seen on here. Since when do these threads elicit a lot of responses? Why are the rest of the posts on the board not indicative of interest in the team?
 


underground629 said:
Let me get this straight: the number of responses within a few hours to a thread started at 11:19 PM directly measures interest in the team as being at all all-time low? That's one of the more peculiar conclusions I've ever seen on here. Since when do these threads elicit a lot of responses? Why are the rest of the posts on the board not indicative of interest in the team?
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If not this, then the 8 page game thread might be an indication.
 

The last 4 or 5 games were very encouraging........this one not so much.

Definitely a huge step backwards.:cry:
 

EG#9 said:
Northwestern had 19(!!!!!!!) points on their first 7 possessions of the game and Pitino wants to talk about the Gophers allegedly missing "good looks" on the offensive end. Everything about this game was pathetic including the coaching. There was little plan on the offensive end and guys blowing assignments on defense. The fact that you have to go zone against a slow team like Northwestern is an indictment on the players and the staff. Some tough decisions are going to have to be made at the conclusion of the season in terms of roster and staff construction if Pitino is around.
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Agreed and two pieces of info id like to add-

1) Ryan James tweeted that Northwestern made a point to attack wherever Buggs or Morris was in the zone. I still have no clue why we play zone ever. It very rarely is our most effective defensive set up.

2) Doogie tweeted before the game Nate Pomeday was in charge of the NU game plan. Not sure if he was in charge of the first one or not, but wonder how many more games he will get after this.
 

Hard to imagine we can play Indiana down to the wire then get blown out by Northwestern. What is it with Northwestern lately? They have handled us very easily lately and this is a team with only two other big ten wins. Is it the type of defense they play?
 



EG#9 said:
Northwestern had 19(!!!!!!!) points on their first 7 possessions of the game and Pitino wants to talk about the Gophers allegedly missing "good looks" on the offensive end. Everything about this game was pathetic including the coaching. There was little plan on the offensive end and guys blowing assignments on defense. The fact that you have to go zone against a slow team like Northwestern is an indictment on the players and the staff. Some tough decisions are going to have to be made at the conclusion of the season in terms of roster and staff construction if Pitino is around.
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Amazing to me how game to game the comments can change so dramatically on here. It can go from "no stopping us now" to "blow the thing up" in one 40 minute game. In my opinion, this team isn't as good as the team that showed up at Indiana and is better than the team that showed up last night. Sometimes momentum within a game is a funny thing. You can ride a wave in either direction and the end result doesn't accurately portray the two teams. Watch the film, pick up on your mistakes, and move on. This team is still trending in the right direction.
 

XMan said:
Hard to imagine we can play Indiana down to the wire then get blown out by Northwestern. What is it with Northwestern lately? They have handled us very easily lately and this is a team with only two other big ten wins. Is it the type of defense they play?
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I was trying to figure out why Northwestern is such a bad match up as well. They have some good outside shooters who were left wide open partly because their big men could score at will against Konate, Murphy, or Joey.
Minnesota has also played horrible offensively both times out vs NU. How many open three pointers did the Gophers miss in this game before the score was lopsided?
 

golfing18now said:
Amazing to me how game to game the comments can change so dramatically on here. It can go from "no stopping us now" to "blow the thing up" in one 40 minute game. In my opinion, this team isn't as good as the team that showed up at Indiana and is better than the team that showed up last night. Sometimes momentum within a game is a funny thing. You can ride a wave in either direction and the end result doesn't accurately portray the two teams. Watch the film, pick up on your mistakes, and move on. This team is still trending in the right direction.
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I don't think EG#9 was making his comments in a one game vacuum. In spite of a perceived uptick in performance the last couple of weeks (prior to last night), a call for change in the staff (a new assistant or two) or some roster movement, seems like a necessity for any team currently 0-11 in the Big Ten. While I think we have improved over the last few weeks prior to last night, at the end of the day, you are what your record says you are and at 0-11, I would hope we wouldn't enter next season with the exact same staff we have now, and with the exact same roster we expect to have right now (meaning no transfers or spring additions).

Go Gophers!!
 

Post game quotes from Murphy:

His players used a simpler phrase to describe the collapse: disconnected.

“You can say that without a doubt,” said forward Jordan Murphy, who led the Gophers with 14 points. “We didn’t play with enough energy. It’s back to the drawing board.”

King said they tried to play for pride at the end. As for how the Gophers let it get so bad in the beginning, there are still those confidence questions remaining.

“I don’t know,” Murphy said. “I just don’t think we came out ready to play. We felt sorry for ourselves.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-blown-out-again-by-northwestern/367767991/

Go Gophers!!
 



You could tell this team became disinterested right before half. It's the "here we go again" syndrome. Tough for any coach, good or bad to stop that mental break down. There were spurts the defense played well in the first half-some decent adjustments and hustle. Simply, players were not coming over the top of screens(which I'm certain they were told to do) as Northwestern wasn't going to slash to the basket but rather shoot. Defensive players- all around were making mistakes that I haven't seen over the last 3 weeks like I saw tonight- losing guys in the corner, losing people behind them.... This is what happens to a young team that's lacking confidence and gets behind quickly....players loose focus, games get away quickly and fans fall quickly off the bandwagon.

I've been on the bandwagon for my entire life and one rebuilding season won't change that. Despite what many believe, I do think Pitino can coach. There are several big name coaches really struggling this year who may not make the tourney. Freshmen generally are freshmen.
 

BleedGopher said:
I don't think EG#9 was making his comments in a one game vacuum. In spite of a perceived uptick in performance the last couple of weeks (prior to last night), a call for change in the staff (a new assistant or two) or some roster movement, seems like a necessity for any team currently 0-11 in the Big Ten. While I think we have improved over the last few weeks prior to last night, at the end of the day, you are what your record says you are and at 0-11, I would hope we wouldn't enter next season with the exact same staff we have now, and with the exact same roster we expect to have right now (meaning no transfers or spring additions).

Go Gophers!!
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That's fair Bleed. In truth, I didn't look back at his/her post history to see if he/she has been consistent in his/her message over the last two months. Maybe the message has been. I really wasn't trying to call EG#9 out individually. It just seems like, in general, the overreaction good or bad is so dramatic on this site.

I certainly wouldn't have a problem if they wanted to tweak the staff. But I want to see one more year with this group. My biggest desire right now is not to lose some of the key pieces they have assembled (Mason/Dorsey/McBrayer/Murphy/Gilbert/Coffey/Curry) and add to that core. Hopefully Lynch and Fitzgerald can also bring some value. I just think it would be really difficult to find real meaningful pieces in April to a historically bad team.
 

golfing18now said:
Amazing to me how game to game the comments can change so dramatically on here. It can go from "no stopping us now" to "blow the thing up" in one 40 minute game. In my opinion, this team isn't as good as the team that showed up at Indiana and is better than the team that showed up last night. Sometimes momentum within a game is a funny thing. You can ride a wave in either direction and the end result doesn't accurately portray the two teams. Watch the film, pick up on your mistakes, and move on. This team is still trending in the right direction.
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Totally agree. If you were a person who was thinking "can't stop us now" when we were 0-10 with the positives still being in losing efforts you should not be surprised with an occasional blowout.
 

XMan said:
Hard to imagine we can play Indiana down to the wire then get blown out by Northwestern. What is it with Northwestern lately? They have handled us very easily lately and this is a team with only two other big ten wins. Is it the type of defense they play?
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My theory is Northwestern is a better defensive team than IU. IU's a good match up even though they have a bunch top 50 recruits who can score, Crean can't get them to defend. While I wouldn't call NW an elite defensive team by any means, they weren't going to give us the wide open lanes IU did
 

I have had enough

I have had enouigh of Murphy getting two fouls in first 10 minutes every game. If I were coach I would now sit him the rest of the game when he does that as he just isnt getting the message any other way. That has really hurt us this year and it never ends.
 

scher215 said:
I still have no clue why we play zone ever. It very rarely is our most effective defensive set up.
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It is a poor defensive team, to be sure, but they almost have to go zone at times due to the roster limitations. I think Murphy, Konate and Diedhiou would all foul out in the first half if they played strictly man-to-man.
 

I didn't get to watch a minute of the game, but I followed it online during my daughter's meet, where they won their conference. I don't know how many conference titles they've won in a row, but it's at least 11. I don't know the last time they've even lost a conference dual meet - it's at least 6 or 7 years. Not saying this to brag; just making a point about how winning or losing can become a habit. That's how I felt as I was watching the feed from the game and watching NU rack up the points. The Gophers are a team with a habit of losing. I'm not sure if, at this point, they know how to do anything else. It's become ingrained. They lose close games to good teams. They get blown out by mediocre teams. They give up late leads. Losing has become a compulsive habit for them. I'm not even sure if I like their chances against Rutgers anymore.
 

This place is hilarious. Overreactions both ways every damn game on this board. it's a bad young team, there will be more games like Indiana and I expect more games like Northwestern. It's the same coach that had a great gameplan against the last 3 opponents that had a ****ty one against Northwestern.

There is 0 room for error with this roster. There isn't one player out there to dig us out of a hole, and you can't just create that, you can't coach that, they have to learn that through experience or years in the gym as elite basketball players. We don't have those kids today. He's got a team that relies heavily on one guy that gets in foul trouble A LOT! Everyone on this board admits how flawed the roster is today, now take Jordan Murphy away, how much more flawed is it? No one is coaching through a team with as little talent/experience as ours that hangs their head in defeat with every foul Murph gets, they know they are screwed once he hits the bench.

Pitino wshould get next year and I'll argue he should get the year after just from a program stability standpoint. He is not as bad as his two losses to Northwestern would indicate.

Calm the F down.
 

No veteran leadership. It is understandable that young guys will get down when things are bad. We don't have a leader who will take control when things are bad.
 

underground629 said:
Let me get this straight: the number of responses within a few hours to a thread started at 11:19 PM directly measures interest in the team as being at all all-time low? That's one of the more peculiar conclusions I've ever seen on here. Since when do these threads elicit a lot of responses? Why are the rest of the posts on the board not indicative of interest in the team?
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It's one measure. With the general Minnesota sports fan they're already a joke. This board generally represents some of the most hard-core Gopher hoops fans. It used to melt down after every loss. Certainly an embarrassing loss to a bad Northwestern team. Now it barely registers any reaction. We're all officially indifferent, it seems. That's the most dangerous place for a sports team to be with its fan base. Ask the Timberwolves. How many fans will be in the Barn on Wednesday? 6,000? 8,000?
 

GophersInIowa said:
No veteran leadership. It is understandable that young guys will get down when things are bad. We don't have a leader who will take control when things are bad.
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Problems:

No veteran leadership. The vets don't rebound or play defense. All three like to pump up outside shots.
Physically weak team that cannot rebound
Poor outside shooting team
2/3 of the production is from frosh and sophs

Again, last night is what happens when a team as described above has a bad night. This is a rebuilding year and really year one of the Pitino "era" if we get to see one. This is a comparable squad to Clem's first year and getting similar results. Maybe, according to some posters here, we should have fired Clem right then.
 

bemidjigopher said:
My theory is Northwestern is a better defensive team than IU. IU's a good match up even though they have a bunch top 50 recruits who can score, Crean can't get them to defend. While I wouldn't call NW an elite defensive team by any means, they weren't going to give us the wide open lanes IU did
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Indiana is #1 in conference-only defensive efficiency. Northwestern is #8.
 


2nd Degree Gopher said:
It is a poor defensive team, to be sure, but they almost have to go zone at times due to the roster limitations. I think Murphy, Konate and Diedhiou would all foul out in the first half if they played strictly man-to-man.
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Plus they started a man to man, the lone good stretch of D we played was in a zone
 


bemidjigopher said:
Did you watch that game, Indiana was parting like the Red Sea. You even lift bro?
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The main point of the post I responded to was that IU is generally worse at defense than Northwestern as a result of Crean not doing his job effectively. That's objectively untrue.

I'd also note that against IU the Gophers scored 0.97 points per possession. Scoring is not what kept them in that game, preventing IU from scoring was. IU scored 1.06 PPP. Last night NW scored 1.26 PPP. To put all of that in perspective, the 0.97 Minnesota scored against IU would be about 250th in the country for a whole season. The 1.26 PPP NW scored last night would be number 1 by a margin greater than that between that between 2nd and 12th
 

justthefacts said:
The main point of the post I responded to was that IU is generally worse at defense than Northwestern as a result of Crean not doing his job effectively. That's objectively untrue.

I'd also note that against IU the Gophers scored 0.97 points per possession. Scoring is not what kept them in that game, preventing IU from scoring was. IU scored 1.06 PPP. Last night NW scored 1.26 PPP. To put all of that in perspective, the 0.97 Minnesota scored against IU would be about 250th in the country for a whole season. The 1.26 PPP NW scored last night would be number 1 by a margin greater than that between that between 2nd and 12th
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Damn a lot of work to prove how ****ty we are when a simple eye test can figure that out :)
 

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