Pitino's buyout: $4.05 million

OK, let's go through the list (including only those who have played).

The good: Mason, Murphy, Coffey, Lynch (That's still not anywhere close to top of the conference talent for three recruiting classes)

Might be very good: Washington

So-so: King, McBrayer

Might be decent: Harris

A longer list:

McNeil
Dorsey
Martin
Morris
Konate
Diedhou
Gilbert
Hurt
Fitzgerald

He has some good "hits" but he has even more bad "misses."

Difficult to argue with this post.
 

OK, let's go through the list (including only those who have played).

The good: Mason, Murphy, Coffey, Lynch (That's still not anywhere close to top of the conference talent for three recruiting classes)

Might be very good: Washington

So-so: King, McBrayer

Might be decent: Harris

A longer list:

McNeil
Dorsey
Martin
Morris
Konate
Diedhou
Gilbert
Hurt
Fitzgerald

He has some good "hits" but he has even more bad "misses."

I would think most teams have more role players than stars. I would also add Curry, Mathieu, and Springs to the list of good recruits, and maybe Lofton to the bad ones, since I see Dorsey and McNeil, and I don’t think they were bad basketball players, just had character issues. Carlos Morris wasn’t great but I don’t think he was awful either. Hurt and Fitzgerald would have been alright as the 8th or 9th guys on this team like we thought they would be prior to the season.
 

Unless Eric Musselman would agree to take this job I would be inclined to give Pitino another year. A dismissal would likely mean losing some players on the current squad and at least some members of the incoming class. It would take three years to get back to where we are now, which isn't much of anywhere.

The reason I list Musselman as the exception is that I think the remaining players on the team kind of gave up this year. The things they could control, body language and effort on defense, didn't look so good. I think Muss would have gotten more out of this team.
 

Under Coyle the following programs have been destroyed:


-Wrestling
.

that damage was done before Coyle. the drug scandal part that is.

Finally new facilities and Eggum has the second ranked recruiting class, after PSU.
 

I would think most teams have more role players than stars. I would also add Curry, Mathieu, and Springs to the list of good recruits, and maybe Lofton to the bad ones, since I see Dorsey and McNeil, and I don’t think they were bad basketball players, just had character issues. Carlos Morris wasn’t great but I don’t think he was awful either. Hurt and Fitzgerald would have been alright as the 8th or 9th guys on this team like we thought they would be prior to the season.

Agree on Curry, Mathieu and Springs. Disagree on Morris. He absolutely killed ball movement. Fitzgerald didn't even end up as the eighth or ninth player on the depleted team by the last couple of games. Hard to say what Hurt's ceiling will be. He has some skills, but the biggest issue appears to be a lack of confidence.
 


OK, let's go through the list (including only those who have played).

The good: Mason, Murphy, Coffey, Lynch, Curry, Springs (That's still not anywhere close to top of the conference talent for three recruiting classes)

Might be very good: Washington

So-so: King, McBrayer

Might be decent: Harris

A longer list:

McNeil
Dorsey
Martin
Morris
Konate
Diedhou
Gilbert
Hurt
Fitzgerald

He has some good "hits" but he has even more bad "misses."

Decided to add Springs and Curry to your list since as I would consider both of them to be good. I am not sure I would consider McBrayer "so-so." Going to be a starter averaging double figures for 2.5 years.

Obviously the depth of this team was putrid and when players got hurt it was exposed, but I have no problem giving Pitino another year. He's probably going to bring in another freshman and possibly a grad transfer. I am guessing either Fitz or Harris will transfer, but more likely Fitz as he's a shell of his former self. Wouldn't be surprised if he grad transfers or simply retires with his knee issues.
 

You do have to give Richard next year in my opinion. But Coyle does need to have an idea of what he's looking for in terms of 1) on-court eye-test product, 2) next year's record, and 3) long-term outlook. It's useful to note that Smith was fired, not for any one season, but for his six-year conference record and the assessment that the program wasn't trending better than those six years. Tubby won an average of 7.67 conference games; being generous and tossing out this season as an aberration, Richard has won an average of only 6.75 in four seasons.
 

I would also add Curry, Mathieu, and Springs to the list of good recruits, and maybe Lofton to the bad ones, since I see Dorsey and McNeil, and I don’t think they were bad basketball players, just had character issues. Carlos Morris wasn’t great but I don’t think he was awful either. Hurt and Fitzgerald would have been alright as the 8th or 9th guys on this team like we thought they would be prior to the season.


You're right. My bad! Certainly Mathieu, Springs, and probably Curry (we only have one year of observations with him) belong in the "good" category. When it comes to Springs, though, I would argue that wasn't a difficult talent evaluation. He demonstrated in three previous seasons that he could play at a high level and he was physically mature. And I didn't think Carlos was awful either but he did belong in that group of players (including Elliot and Andre Hollins) that actually played worse under Pitino over time.

Of course I realize that a team can't recruit all stars, but a coach has to recruit and develop a competent team. A coach can't just ride the talent of the top four or five players. Pitino has done that, more or less, throughout his time here. You have to have a bench.

Everything counts so Dorsey and McNeil are clearly misses regardless of whatever basketball talent they may have. Again, you have to be good and/or lucky. Pitino has had an awful lot of "bad luck." Eventually, one has to wonder if that is all a matter of "bad luck" or bad judgment and/or poor player management skills.
 

Hard to say what Hurt's ceiling will be. He has some skills, but the biggest issue appears to be a lack of confidence.

Yes, lack of confidence is a serious issue but so is lack of athletic ability. This is a conference for elite athletes.
 



Pitino’s in the mix for multiple 5 stars, is already bringing in a great class and y’all want to fire him? Give him a healthy team and this team is fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1000


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Pretty sure he's talking about Dan Hurley, who inherited a terrible Rhode Island squad, took them to the second round in year 5, and now may take them even further in year 6. It's crazy how some coaches actually continue to get better results the longer they're at a program!

I'd love Dan Hurley here, but he's lived, worked, and played his entire life/career in the Northeast - I'd be shocked if he left that area to go anywhere else, especially to come here.

OK that makes more sense. Thanks
 

+1000


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow, seriously? Because we are on the list of some 5 stars we should keep him, c'mon man. We have been on 5 star lists a lot in the past few years, what has it gotten us. The team on the floor speaks volumes about Pitino's ability to actually coach, but we should ignore that because some 5 stars are considering us? I just hope the AD doesn't think like this. Brewster 2.0
 

I'd keep Pitino around for next season, and am optimistic about our team.

But he needs to make the tourney and/or post AT LEAST a .500 Big Ten record. If not, it'll clearly be time to cut the cord.
 



Hockey was destroyed before Coyle. Football is in the best shape it’s been in in the last 50 years. Coyle didn’t hire Pitino. Go back to your cave.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Best shape it's been in in the last 50 years? The football program isn't even in the best shape it's been in the last 5 years.
 

Go back to your basements and keep drinking everyone. Y'all seem to think Minnesota is this blue blood program where we win championships on the regular. Stop acting like we have such a prestigious record of coaching and recruiting successes. Pitino has improved in recruiting every year. He is slowly locking down the MN border (which I could care less about unlike gopherhole, get me talent over local kids any day). Yes this year sucked, but if not for injury, things could look much different. The bottom of our roster is bad because we had to take a few fliers early on in his tenure. It's unfortunate that they got forced into action heavily, rather than being role players as intended. And for those clamoring on about how Pitino can't coach, watch his play calling out of timeouts. We score at a high percentage. I agree our offensive playcalling needs revised, but it would have looked a lot different with a full squad. I'm pissed and hating the hot takes here tonight(and after any loss), so I'm logging out. I plan on doing a deep dive into statistics soon to prove these wannabe AD's don't actually know anything about cbb tho
Yeah! Let's celebrate mediocrity some more!
We're not this. We're not that. Let's erode the fan base's confidence more.

We want to believe in this program. We think we deserve better.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

I'd keep Pitino around for next season, and am optimistic about our team.

But he needs to make the tourney and/or post AT LEAST a .500 Big Ten record. If not, it'll clearly be time to cut the cord.

Sorry to say, that's unrealistic in a rebuilding year. They'll be starting a sophomore point guard who had his struggles as a freshman, and they'll be starting a freshman center. If an NCAA berth is the only thing that you say will save Pitino's job, you might as well dismiss him now.
 

Wow, seriously? Because we are on the list of some 5 stars we should keep him, c'mon man. We have been on 5 star lists a lot in the past few years, what has it gotten us. The team on the floor speaks volumes about Pitino's ability to actually coach, but we should ignore that because some 5 stars are considering us? I just hope the AD doesn't think like this. Brewster 2.0

Yes seriously. Other than Mathew Hurt list the many 5 stars we have been in on in the past few years. The incoming class looks to be very solid and one of his best. Besides Mason we are losing pretty much nothing but dead weight. Much better season ahead of us. The team played hard despite being out manned in most games after losing that many players so yes that does reflect pretty well on the coaching.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Wow, seriously? Because we are on the list of some 5 stars we should keep him, c'mon man. We have been on 5 star lists a lot in the past few years, what has it gotten us. The team on the floor speaks volumes about Pitino's ability to actually coach, but we should ignore that because some 5 stars are considering us? I just hope the AD doesn't think like this. Brewster 2.0

Vein considered by a 5 star recruit isn’t the sole reason to keep him, but he did mention he’d like to visit here, which would be further than we’ve gotten with a recruit of that caliber in quite awhile, not to mention we already have a decent class signed for 2018. I also don’t believe he’s the dreadful in-game coach that others do, but I’m no basketball strategy expert.

I’d also add that Brewster never beat a rival, never won a postseason game, and never went over .500 in conference. Did Brewster ever beat a ranked team? I don’t recall, but Pitino has done all of those things.
 

I am excited for next year
I would love to see a grad transfer added though
 

Yes seriously. Other than Mathew Hurt list the many 5 stars we have been in on in the past few years. The incoming class looks to be very solid and one of his best. Besides Mason we are losing pretty much nothing but dead weight. Much better season ahead of us. The team played hard despite being out manned in most games after losing that many players so yes that does reflect pretty well on the coaching.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Regardless how out-manned they were losing 14 out of 16 and the losses by a average of 16pts per game does not reflect well on the coaching. Especially in such a down year for the B1G.
 

Sorry to say, that's unrealistic in a rebuilding year. They'll be starting a sophomore point guard who had his struggles as a freshman, and they'll be starting a freshman center. If an NCAA berth is the only thing that you say will save Pitino's job, you might as well dismiss him now.

I totally disagree that next season is a "rebuilding" year.

The freshman center you speak of is a highly touted recruit and will have to earn his starting position, it's not like we won't have other viable options (Curry, Stockman).

We're also likely to bring in another PG as competition for Washington (who incidentally finished his freshman season on a high note).
 

I totally disagree that next season is a "rebuilding" year.

The freshman center you speak of is a highly touted recruit and will have to earn his starting position, it's not like we won't have other viable options (Curry, Stockman).

We're also likely to bring in another PG as competition for Washington (who incidentally finished his freshman season on a high note).

We will see.
 

I am excited for next year
I would love to see a grad transfer added though

Ryan James tweeted that he expects someone to transfer out, so a grad transfer and a decent (top 150 or 4 star) freshman could be in the cards.
 


Hot take


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My specialty!

I've seen enough freshmen and sophomores to know how this works. I saw the Fab Five sputter during their freshman season before they righted the ship and got hot in March.
 

Give Pitino one more year and if the team sucks next year, can him.

He does need to do a better job at locking up the best players from MN. Too many of them flee. There's a great kid at Lakeville North (Tyler Wahl) that is being looked at by teams such as Ohio State, but not one look from the Gophers from what I'm hearing. I don't get why we let so many of these players flee the state.

Here is his 247 recruiting profile:

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Oki9RKr.jpg" width="50%" height="50%">
 

Yeah! Let's celebrate mediocrity some more!
We're not this. We're not that. Let's erode the fan base's confidence more.

We want to believe in this program. We think we deserve better.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Celebrate mediocrity? I wish the Gophers were at least mediocre.
 

If he doesn't get let go now, do you have to extend him by one year in order to make him an effective recruiter going into 2019?

I am not sure what is the right way to go here. I have confidence in Coyle (thank god we are out from under the dark cloud that was Norwood), and like others have said, if he is confident that he can line up the right guy, I would have no problem cutting ties now.

Norwood really messed things up here. He hurt football ticket sales and he set the basketball program back big time.
 

My specialty!

I've seen enough freshmen and sophomores to know how this works. I saw the Fab Five sputter during their freshman season before they righted the ship and got hot in March.

Haha. I hear ya. Just giving you some grief.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Haha. I hear ya. Just giving you some grief.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You almost got me monologuing about the Fab Five! I remember being able to draft them in our office pool because they were so undervalued. People had labeled them a disappointment and given up on them, and then they took off in the tourney.
 




Top Bottom