If you’re Coyle, why do u keep Pitino

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dpodoll68 said:
You keep advocating for the kid gloves argument. It's a poor one. Big Ten coaches aren't graded on a curve.
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You can't keep firing guys for not meeting unrealistic expectations and then expecting great coaches out there to want to come here.

Ever wonder why they had to stoop to hiring Pitino??


And yes, different expectations should be had when hiring a future HOF coach with a Natl Title to his name, and...

when hiring your 7th option, and a guy with just 2 years of experience as a head coach.



But honestly, no way they fire Pitino for having bad luck, I just can't see them doing it. So this is all a waste of time
 

minny01 said:
Even though you are 100% correct, you are never going to convince people who have their minds made up that we should win no matter what the circumstances, and if we can't, we should fire a last year's Big Ten Coach of the Year for it.
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I am not even saying he should necessarily be fired, I think he probably gets another year, but it's a legitimate question. Reasonable people can disagree. But ya can't go 5 more years without a 2-3 tournament births, right? At some point ya just have to win. Were not building a D1 football team here. And injuries happen, every coach has to deal with em. If it turns out his career is cursed with injuries, let him go be cursed with them elsewhere.
 

KillmeNow said:
You can't keep firing guys for not meeting unrealistic expectations and then expecting great coaches out there to want to come here.

Ever wonder why they had to stoop to hiring Pitino??


And yes, different expectations should be had when hiring a future HOF coach with a Natl Title to his name, and...

when hiring your 7th option, and a guy with just 2 years of experience as a head coach.



But honestly, no way they fire Pitino for having bad luck, I just can't see them doing it. So this is all a waste of time
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I think what makes it possible is the fact that there's a new AD and he has demonstrated he's not shy about firing a coach to put his guy in place. I doubt they will do it, but maybe if they lose out. How these games play out could have something to do with it.
 

Gogogopher said:
I have no shame, lol, none whatsoever. Playing well in one half of game doesn't mean much, sorry. Teams have to compete for the second half as well. There were some games where the kids really competed, good coaches don't have so many games where there teams are out played. Big time college basketball is rough business. Pitino makes a lot of money to coach this team and he is not performing. If you don't like people criticising the coach I don't know what to tell ya, maybe stay off threads about replacing the coach?
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Well, good thing the guys in charge are WAY MORE INTELLIGENT than you, lol, because you are just not getting it, are you?
 

Gogogopher said:
I am not even saying he should necessarily be fired, I think he probably gets another year, but it's a legitimate question. Reasonable people can disagree. But ya can't go 5 more years without a 2-3 tournament births, right? At some point ya just have to win. Were not building a D1 football team here. And injuries happen, every coach has to deal with em. If it turns out his career is cursed with injuries, let him go be cursed with them elsewhere.
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"IF it turns out his career is cursed with injuries"?? Last year the team went pretty injury free, cept for that very untimely injury to Springs.

I'd guess the better chance is that he got them all out of the way this year.
 


KillmeNow said:
"career is cursed with injuries"?? Last year the team went pretty injury free, cept for that very untimely injury to Springs.

I'd guess the better chance is that he got them all out of the way this year.
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Oh, you just randomly missed the word if before the quotation you used? I am done with you troll
 

Gogogopher said:
Oh, you just randomly missed the word if before the quotation you used? I am done with you troll
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Dude, sorry, didn't mean to chop off the IF. Seriously, I didn't mean to misrepresent what you said.

I know you didn't mean to say his career IS cursed with injuries, but IF his career ends up being cursed with injuries. I knew what you mean, didn't do it on purpose.

Honestly, was just trying to say something sort of lighthearted, that 3 and a half injuries/suspensions all in one year like this, I just hope that's 5 years worth of injuries all packed into one season, you know, meaning I hope we go injury free now for awhile. lol

But sure, if there are a rash of injuries next year, then something might be wrong with how he's practicing them or something?

Didn't mean to inspire you to pull out the "troll" thing.

See, I even went back and fixed it.
 

What a difference a year makes. Last year our improvement from the prior year earned Coach Pitino Big Ten Coach of the year honors. With most players returning and a solid incoming class, a couple of national sportscasters were even suggesting that Minnesota was a dark horse final four candidate. But then the injuries and a suspension came, and suddenly last summer’s concerns that Pitino might be hired away gave way to calls to fire him. I think that would be a colossal mistake. In my opinion, we’ll never succeed by constantly starting over. Pitino is young and undoubtedly has much to learn, but he strikes me as poised and talented. Plus, he has solid ombudsman in his father and Billy Donovan. With new state of the art facilities and continued successfully recruiting, I believe he can mature into a first rate Big Ten coach. I seriously doubt that we have a better alternative at this point in our development.
 

I haven't read through any of this thread, but one big risk to a coaching change would be losing our signees for next year. Those are recruits I'd rather not lose.
 



KillmeNow said:
You can't keep firing guys for not meeting unrealistic expectations and then expecting great coaches out there to want to come here.

Ever wonder why they had to stoop to hiring Pitino??


And yes, different expectations should be had when hiring a future HOF coach with a Natl Title to his name, and...

when hiring your 7th option, and a guy with just 2 years of experience as a head coach.



But honestly, no way they fire Pitino for having bad luck, I just can't see them doing it. So this is all a waste of time
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I just can't believe you are doubling and tripling down on the "lower expectations for Pitino" thing.

I don't even know where to begin so I'm not even going to try.
 

Cool, KillmeNow I appreciate it.

About the career cursed with injuries, i just meant that if there are a lot of injuries for years in a row at some point, even though it's not exactly fair, ya gotta move on. I don't like to believe in curses, so I was being a bit tongue in cheek, but after a certain amount of time there are no excuses. Injuries, tough schedules, scandals there are a lot of factors outside of a coaches control that they just have to deal with. It's a high pressure high reward environment he's operating in and at some point ya just gotta win.
 

scools12 said:
The who you going to hire that is better than Pitino and no one would want this job are pretty lazy takes.

This is a decent enough job in a power conference. Brand new facilities and more than enough instate talent if you convince them to stay to home you can be consistently competitive.

If Coyle decides to move on from Pitino unlikely he will have to go as far down the list for the hire as Teague did.
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+1
 

KillmeNow said:
Someone else already addressed the idea that Tubby was basically just mailing it in at the end of his time here, so I won't expand on that.


But my comment about lowered expectations for Pitino was referring to his first 5 years as a whole, compared to Tubby's first 5 years. Tubby was a Natl Title winning coach, and a future HOFer, so YEAH, HELL YEAH in fact, the expectations for him should be higher than for Pitino.

Pitino was a nobody basically. 2 yrs as a HC??? I'm not saying he shouldn't be making progress by now, he should, and HE DID, LAST YEAR!!! This year would have been additional progress, had everyone not gotten injured or suspended. And next year will be more closer to last year than to this year, easily. As long as 3-4 guys don't get injured or suspended that is.


Expecting results for this years squad, right now, down so many players completely out of the games, others hobbled and not even practicing? Is just not fair.


If in game 6 of the Vikings season, the QB, RB and #1 WR all went out, for the rest of the season, would you expect them to have still gotten to the NFC title game???


And that is just 3 out 20+ starters, not 3 out of just 6.
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You simply will not admit the absolute horrific job he did by not teaching defense, emphasis on defense and compromising character. More excuses. What would you say in year 5 that identifies the program, the one thing it is known for ? Lock down defense ? Discipline ? Efficient offense. Poised, model student athletes ? Please name one 5 years in because 5 years is a long time to not have anything positive associated with you brand.
 



If anything, should Pitino be *LAUDED* even more for overachieving with last year's group?

Moral of this story is that this season's group was overrated. We all knew that by the end of the Miami and Nebraska games. Last year's bunch was in reality a 7/8 seed type of team - we got some favor from the committee. This group minus Springs from last year was about a 9/10 seed. Subtract Lynch and throw in a few injuries and it's all over.

Murphy is playing like a high 4-star player, Mason is maaaaaaayyyyyybe playing like a 4-star (generous 3 star).

Coffey and McBrayer are playing like 3s.

The rest of the bunch are playing like 2 star players.

We average about a 2.5 to 3ish star team. We will finish with about 4-6 B1G wins. About right for that talent level.

It sucks to admit, but they aren't who we thought they were.

Let's hope this next recruiting class tells a different tale.
 

So many bad takes in this thread it literally depresses me. I miss the old posters on this board. Unfortunately, so many of them moved on as the unacceptable on court performance continued through the Monson, Tubby, and now Pitino years. As to the job in general, the Gophers were able to get "THE" hot coaching candidate of the moment in Monson despite ridiculous sanctions. They were also able to keep Monson when a program closer to home wanted to steal him away (Washington). In hindsight, neither of these outcomes were "good" for Minnesota basketball, but they illustrate that the job was able to attract talent even under the worst of circumstances. To replace Monson, Joel Maturi (yes THAT Joel Maturi) was able to hire Tubby Smith. Again in hindsight this outcome wasn't good for Minnesota, but Tubby wasn't just going to take any high major job. Tubby was hired after the worst stretch of on court peformance for Gopher basketball in my lifetime. Now you get to Richard Pitino. I am not sure where this narrative from one particular poster is coming from that he was the 7th choice (not 8th, not 5th, but exactly 7th) for this job the last time it opened up. Teague/Ellis were always going to go for A. A home run hire or B. A young guy that they could have some control over and take credit for his success (the next Shaka). Some guys used this job as a way to get extensions/raises from their current school that Teague/Ellis never intended to hire. Because they weren't leaking to the press and because local favorite Flip Saunders was not who they wanted the search was looked at through a certain prism especially from the usual suspects in the media. They got turned down by Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens as did literally every other program that approached them until Stevens left for the NBA and Shaka's star started to dim a bit and he took the Texas job after turning down schools like UCLA.

Another ridiculous take is that somehow the "media" would crucify Minnesota for firing Richard Pitino. This is a terrible take regardless of who the coach is in any sport at any school and has never been shown to have any affect on the success/failure of that school going forward. It's also extremely rare that there is a consensus in the media that a school made a bad decision. Some fans like to point out Mark May being outraged about firing Glen Mason (LOL) and ignore that the vast majority of the media treated it as a regular dismissal and mentioned his dismal big ten record. So it's a ridiculous take in general but for firing Richard Pitino? That's a real special kind of ridiculous. So let me get this straight: the media is going to crucify Minnesota for firing a guy with the worst conference record at the school in at least 40 years? A guy that presided over the worst record in school history? A guy that has had 3 off the court incidents with his players make SportsCenter in 5 years? Yeah what a "shocking" firing that would be. How could anyone want that job as it's clearly too high of a bar at Minnesota...

The last thing I will say is there is a consequence to waiting on this move. Next years roster has the potential to make the NCAA's, but probably not the ability to advance as far as this years team could have. When going out and looking for a new head coach you can sell that you have Murphy, McBrayer, Coffey, Curry, and a top ~50 ish PG who will just be a Sophomore on the roster a long with at least one open scholarship to use in the Spring. That roster is appealing and gives a coach a chance to come in and turn things around in year 1. If you keep Pitino and he fails to make the tournament next year, the prospective coaches will see a roster with just Coffey/Curry(assuming his health isn't a reason why we failed)/Washington (assuming his lack of development isn't why we failed) and one highly regarded Sophomore in Oturu. Now the job is clearly a rebuild and that's not even to mention that Pitino could have put together a 2019 class that resembled Tubby's last (Foster/Ellis) while he spent this offseason on the hot seat. You need to be convinced that there is a good shot that Pitino can really turn things around in 2018 because we're starting from near the bottom (again) in terms of roster composition if he fails. Given that he's bombed in both previous years where he's had expectations (year 2 and year 5) and hasn't even established a baseline of success (winning home conference games regularly) I don't see how anyone can be comfortable with the odds of a turnaround.

I'd love to be wrong as I like Pitino as a person, but if he gets another year and he fails, this is much like the Zach Lofton transfer or the Matz Stockman transfer where it was very easy to see the mistake the minute the decision was made.
 

EG#9 said:
So many bad takes in this thread it literally depresses me. I miss the old posters on this board. Unfortunately, so many of them moved on as the unacceptable on court performance continued through the Monson, Tubby, and now Pitino years. As to the job in general, the Gophers were able to get "THE" hot coaching candidate of the moment in Monson despite ridiculous sanctions. They were also able to keep Monson when a program closer to home wanted to steal him away (Washington). In hindsight, neither of these outcomes were "good" for Minnesota basketball, but they illustrate that the job was able to attract talent even under the worst of circumstances. To replace Monson, Joel Maturi (yes THAT Joel Maturi) was able to hire Tubby Smith. Again in hindsight this outcome wasn't good for Minnesota, but Tubby wasn't just going to take any high major job. Tubby was hired after the worst stretch of on court peformance for Gopher basketball in my lifetime. Now you get to Richard Pitino. I am not sure where this narrative from one particular poster is coming from that he was the 7th choice (not 8th, not 5th, but exactly 7th) for this job the last time it opened up. Teague/Ellis were always going to go for A. A home run hire or B. A young guy that they could have some control over and take credit for his success (the next Shaka). Some guys used this job as a way to get extensions/raises from their current school that Teague/Ellis never intended to hire. Because they weren't leaking to the press and because local favorite Flip Saunders was not who they wanted the search was looked at through a certain prism especially from the usual suspects in the media. They got turned down by Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens as did literally every other program that approached them until Stevens left for the NBA and Shaka's star started to dim a bit and he took the Texas job after turning down schools like UCLA.

Another ridiculous take is that somehow the "media" would crucify Minnesota for firing Richard Pitino. This is a terrible take regardless of who the coach is in any sport at any school and has never been shown to have any affect on the success/failure of that school going forward. It's also extremely rare that there is a consensus in the media that a school made a bad decision. Some fans like to point out Mark May being outraged about firing Glen Mason (LOL) and ignore that the vast majority of the media treated it as a regular dismissal and mentioned his dismal big ten record. So it's a ridiculous take in general but for firing Richard Pitino? That's a real special kind of ridiculous. So let me get this straight: the media is going to crucify Minnesota for firing a guy with the worst conference record at the school in at least 40 years? A guy that presided over the worst record in school history? A guy that has had 3 off the court incidents with his players make SportsCenter in 5 years? Yeah what a "shocking" firing that would be. How could anyone want that job as it's clearly too high of a bar at Minnesota...

The last thing I will say is there is a consequence to waiting on this move. Next years roster has the potential to make the NCAA's, but probably not the ability to advance as far as this years team could have. When going out and looking for a new head coach you can sell that you have Murphy, McBrayer, Coffey, Curry, and a top ~50 ish PG who will just be a Sophomore on the roster a long with at least one open scholarship to use in the Spring. That roster is appealing and gives a coach a chance to come in and turn things around in year 1. If you keep Pitino and he fails to make the tournament next year, the prospective coaches will see a roster with just Coffey/Curry(assuming his health isn't a reason why we failed)/Washington (assuming his lack of development isn't why we failed) and one highly regarded Sophomore in Oturu. Now the job is clearly a rebuild and that's not even to mention that Pitino could have put together a 2019 class that resembled Tubby's last (Foster/Ellis) while he spent this offseason on the hot seat. You need to be convinced that there is a good shot that Pitino can really turn things around in 2018 because we're starting from near the bottom (again) in terms of roster composition if he fails. Given that he's bombed in both previous years where he's had expectations (year 2 and year 5) and hasn't even established a baseline of success (winning home conference games regularly) I don't see how anyone can be comfortable with the odds of a turnaround.

I'd love to be wrong as I like Pitino as a person, but if he gets another year and he fails, this is much like the Zach Lofton transfer or the Matz Stockman transfer where it was very easy to see the mistake the minute the decision was made.
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100% this. Spot on.
 

I like Pitino a lot, so as with everybody my opinions are colored by that bias. That being said...

There has to be concern with his ability to evaluate talent, particularly big men.

1. Johnathan Nwankwo appears to have been a bust.
2. Josh Martin appears to have been a bust.
3. Bakary Konate appears better suited to have played at a lower level.
4. Gaston Diedhiou appears better suited to have played at a much lower level.
5. Nobody in Louisville was wringing tears from handkerchiefs when Matz Stockman departed (soaking up two years of Minnesota scholarship for one year of yet-to-be-determined play).

Now, clearly Murphy has been a success. And Curry seemed to be headed in that direction last year. And Pitino did bring Reggie Lynch in for one year of DPOY action, despite how it turned out off the court.

But that's a disturbing number of not-even-close whiffs in evaluating big man talent. Hopefully that will change.
 

Gogogopher said:
This is a bit much, I don't think anyone expects greatness, we just want a competitive basketball team. Injuries don't mean the team shouldn't play defense. And the immediately part of your quote, really?? C'mon, man it's year 5, that's not really immediate is it? There are good reasons to not fire Pitino, but so many folks post this type of argument (Everyone expects us to win but we have a depleted roster) and a lot of folks know we aren't going to win, but we still want to be entertained when we go to Williams arena by a competitive game.
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Nicely done, captured my thoughts on that post.
 

bfast said:
If anything, should Pitino be *LAUDED* even more for overachieving with last year's group?

Moral of this story is that this season's group was overrated. We all knew that by the end of the Miami and Nebraska games. Last year's bunch was in reality a 7/8 seed type of team - we got some favor from the committee. This group minus Springs from last year was about a 9/10 seed. Subtract Lynch and throw in a few injuries and it's all over.

Murphy is playing like a high 4-star player, Mason is maaaaaaayyyyyybe playing like a 4-star (generous 3 star).

Coffey and McBrayer are playing like 3s.

The rest of the bunch are playing like 2 star players.

We average about a 2.5 to 3ish star team. We will finish with about 4-6 B1G wins. About right for that talent level.

It sucks to admit, but they aren't who we thought they were.

Let's hope this next recruiting class tells a different tale.
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I disagree with this. I don't think last year's team was a fluke. The starting five (when healthy and playing together) are extremely talented in my opinion. The team this year just isn't doing a lot of the things they did well last year. They're lazy at times and make bad mistakes at the worst time it seems. Last year's team responded when they got down. This year's team gets frustrated, starts yelling at each other and refs, hangs their heads, etc. The body language is terrible. Pitino starts ripping into the players like crazy too. You can tell the players aren't responding well to him. There's a lack of leadership with this team. And it's both the players and the head coach that are to blame IMO.

I'm mixed on Pitino right now. I would probably see how the off-season goes (who transfers) and next season, then possibly make a move then if needed.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Everything I said is true and no matter how you compare it the better recruiter is easily Pitino.
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One thing I will say: Tubby, Monson and Clem all managed to reel in a five-star recruit, something Pitino has not achieved. Need I remind people that a primary reason Teague was willing to go with an inexperienced coach was the belief that Richard was an ace recruiter, and we had an unprecedented run of five-star athletes coming down the pike locally. If you went back in time and told Norwood that Pitino would recruit nary a one, I don't think he hires the guy. Suggs is still undecided, but I don't think it's happening, people.
 

EG#9 said:
So many bad takes in this thread it literally depresses me. I miss the old posters on this board. Unfortunately, so many of them moved on as the unacceptable on court performance continued through the Monson, Tubby, and now Pitino years. As to the job in general, the Gophers were able to get "THE" hot coaching candidate of the moment in Monson despite ridiculous sanctions. They were also able to keep Monson when a program closer to home wanted to steal him away (Washington). In hindsight, neither of these outcomes were "good" for Minnesota basketball, but they illustrate that the job was able to attract talent even under the worst of circumstances. To replace Monson, Joel Maturi (yes THAT Joel Maturi) was able to hire Tubby Smith. Again in hindsight this outcome wasn't good for Minnesota, but Tubby wasn't just going to take any high major job. Tubby was hired after the worst stretch of on court peformance for Gopher basketball in my lifetime. Now you get to Richard Pitino. I am not sure where this narrative from one particular poster is coming from that he was the 7th choice (not 8th, not 5th, but exactly 7th) for this job the last time it opened up. Teague/Ellis were always going to go for A. A home run hire or B. A young guy that they could have some control over and take credit for his success (the next Shaka). Some guys used this job as a way to get extensions/raises from their current school that Teague/Ellis never intended to hire. Because they weren't leaking to the press and because local favorite Flip Saunders was not who they wanted the search was looked at through a certain prism especially from the usual suspects in the media. They got turned down by Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens as did literally every other program that approached them until Stevens left for the NBA and Shaka's star started to dim a bit and he took the Texas job after turning down schools like UCLA.

Another ridiculous take is that somehow the "media" would crucify Minnesota for firing Richard Pitino. This is a terrible take regardless of who the coach is in any sport at any school and has never been shown to have any affect on the success/failure of that school going forward. It's also extremely rare that there is a consensus in the media that a school made a bad decision. Some fans like to point out Mark May being outraged about firing Glen Mason (LOL) and ignore that the vast majority of the media treated it as a regular dismissal and mentioned his dismal big ten record. So it's a ridiculous take in general but for firing Richard Pitino? That's a real special kind of ridiculous. So let me get this straight: the media is going to crucify Minnesota for firing a guy with the worst conference record at the school in at least 40 years? A guy that presided over the worst record in school history? A guy that has had 3 off the court incidents with his players make SportsCenter in 5 years? Yeah what a "shocking" firing that would be. How could anyone want that job as it's clearly too high of a bar at Minnesota...

The last thing I will say is there is a consequence to waiting on this move. Next years roster has the potential to make the NCAA's, but probably not the ability to advance as far as this years team could have. When going out and looking for a new head coach you can sell that you have Murphy, McBrayer, Coffey, Curry, and a top ~50 ish PG who will just be a Sophomore on the roster a long with at least one open scholarship to use in the Spring. That roster is appealing and gives a coach a chance to come in and turn things around in year 1. If you keep Pitino and he fails to make the tournament next year, the prospective coaches will see a roster with just Coffey/Curry(assuming his health isn't a reason why we failed)/Washington (assuming his lack of development isn't why we failed) and one highly regarded Sophomore in Oturu. Now the job is clearly a rebuild and that's not even to mention that Pitino could have put together a 2019 class that resembled Tubby's last (Foster/Ellis) while he spent this offseason on the hot seat. You need to be convinced that there is a good shot that Pitino can really turn things around in 2018 because we're starting from near the bottom (again) in terms of roster composition if he fails. Given that he's bombed in both previous years where he's had expectations (year 2 and year 5) and hasn't even established a baseline of success (winning home conference games regularly) I don't see how anyone can be comfortable with the odds of a turnaround.

I'd love to be wrong as I like Pitino as a person, but if he gets another year and he fails, this is much like the Zach Lofton transfer or the Matz Stockman transfer where it was very easy to see the mistake the minute the decision was made.
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I agree with most of this. And the idea that the media would "crucify" us for firing Pitino is completely absurd. We took heat for firing Tubby because he's a HOF coach and we had just been to the second round of the NCAAs. We were still justified in doing it because of the trend line we were on, but the national media's not going to look into the details. Pitino is not Tubby and this team is not going to the NCAA tournament. Yes, firing him one year after winning B1G coach of the year is odd, but his overall resume is awful. If anything, the Lynch stuff combined with his Dad's issues might make them applaud it.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I disagree with this. I don't think last year's team was a fluke. The starting five (when healthy and playing together) are extremely talented in my opinion. The team this year just isn't doing a lot of the things they did well last year. They're lazy at times and make bad mistakes at the worst time it seems. Last year's team responded when they got down. This year's team gets frustrated, starts yelling at each other and refs, hangs their heads, etc. The body language is terrible. Pitino starts ripping into the players like crazy too. You can tell the players aren't responding well to him. There's a lack of leadership with this team. And it's both the players and the head coach that are to blame IMO.

I'm mixed on Pitino right now. I would probably see how the off-season goes (who transfers) and next season, then possibly make a move then if needed.
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We can't afford to do that. Waiting and making your hire after all of the other schools have already made theirs is how you get Tim Brewster.
 

howeda7 said:
We can't afford to do that. Waiting and making your hire after all of the other schools have already made theirs is how you get Tim Brewster.
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The one saving grace is that the timing might be better to grab a guy like Medved or Nagy or someone who would feel guilty about leaving a job after only one or two years. Both those guys can coach.
 

Bad Gopher said:
The one saving grace is that the timing might be better to grab a guy like Medved or Nagy or someone who would feel guilty about leaving a job after only one or two years. Both those guys can coach.
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I'm open minded on Medved, though he's a bit too green IMO. I'll pass on Nagy, kind of for the opposite reason. I feel like both would be skipping a rung on the ladder and should probably prove it at a Mountain West-level job before trying to make in the the B1G.
 

Do not think Pitino should be fired. However, I think Eric Musselman would be a homerun hire if Pitino is in fact let go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I'm sorry, I just don't get this anymore. Trust me, I'm not a die hard Pitino fan, but it comes down to a few simple things for me:

1. Do you like the potential of next year's roster? If not, then fine, be gone with him. For those of you who seem to think that our current roster will all stick around with a coaching change, you're probably wrong.
2. Do you like our chances with local recruits (next two classes) better with RP or an unknown? If you don't think it matters, be gone RP.
3. Do you believe that last season was an aberration?

My answers:

1. Yes. While not necessarily a Sweet 16 team, I think they can compete for top 4 in conference and a berth in the tourney. Like many of you, I think if they don't show signs of growth and togetherness next season then it's probably time to reconsider.
2. RP. The scales of "it's cool to stay home in MN" have tipped a bit under RP, and I think that he's done a good job. Before Oturu's commitment, he felt like a stretch to be here, Bill Self was recruiting him. Yet we got him. Will we get Hurt, or Suggs? I'd give us a decent chance of landing one with RP, and no chance with a new coach.
3. No, I do not. IF they had stayed fully healthy, I'd like them as a 5 seed or better in this year's tourney. After Curry, I put them on a 7-9 seed. After Lynch, it was completely lost. This is on BK, GD, DF, and ultimately Pitino. However, our front court will be much deeper next season, and we won't have to witness the precipitous drop off as we have each of the past three seasons.

I'd also like to address the comparison of coaching records vs. REAL hope. While RP has the worst overall record, he did land the school it's all time highest win total last season. Again, see my answer to number three to address what could have been this season. ALSO, never at any point in time did I feel the Gophers could make a run in the tourney under Tubby, or Monson. Each of the past two seasons, I thought we had a legitimate chance of advancing, versus anybody. F**K an NCAA win if it comes versus a depleted, overrated, half A**ed UCLA team. F**K an NCAA berth if it comes with a 45% chance of beating your first round opponent. I want REAL NCAA berths. Last year WOULD have been one if Springs hadn't gotten injured two games prior to the tourney. This year WOULD have been one, and then we all know what happened.

I don't know if next year would qualify as a REAL berth, but at least there's a chance.

Who knows, maybe a different coach could do well with next year's roster, and convince them all to stay. But it would have been RP who paved the way on the recruiting trail.
 

Also, the grass is not always greener as a Gopher fan. In fact, it's virtually NEVER greener. We always want to think we just have to shake it up for things to work out. Perhaps this is a time to just wait and see. Sports fans in general have no patience. We have a history of SUCKING HARD, perhaps let's just have a bit of patience.
 

It's hilarious the lengths to which Gopher "fans" will go in order to discredit the one legitimate Tournament win we've had in many, many years.
 

dpodoll68 said:
It's hilarious the lengths to which Gopher "fans" will go in order to discredit the one legitimate Tournament win we've had in many, many years.
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Oh, did you hang a banner on your bedroom wall to commemorate it? I actually really liked the 2012-13 squad for a while. But yeah, UCLA was terrible, and that is a fact. Whether the game is played in St. Paul Central's gymnasium or in the NCAA tournament, you still only play a basketball team, and the one we played happened to be horse manure.
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
Also, the grass is not always greener as a Gopher fan. In fact, it's virtually NEVER greener. We always want to think we just have to shake it up for things to work out. Perhaps this is a time to just wait and see. Sports fans in general have no patience. We have a history of SUCKING HARD, perhaps let's just have a bit of patience.
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While I get your point, I've already waited 20 years to see the Gophers finish above the Badgers in the conference standings, and it's not gonna happen this year either. I've come to believe that there's some virtue to impatience when it comes to sports in general and evaluating coaches in particular. The Vikings fired Steckel after one year, and didn't the Packers fire Rhodes after one year as well? Those are organizations that were serious about success and didn't need to see any more in order to make a decision. The truth is that you might have to kiss a few frogs before you find a prince.
 

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