Looking back to first 5 years under Pitino, Tubby and Monson

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El Amin Fan

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5 years goes fast. Hard to believe Pitino has been here that long. Here is how he stacks up to his two predecessors.

Overall Record
Pitino 90-78 (.535)
Smith 124–81 (.602)
Monson 79-75 (.512)

Records vs Big Ten teams - both regular season and post-season
Pitino 34-64
Smith 45-57
Monson 31-51

NCAA Tournament Appearances
Pitino 1
Smith 2
Monson 0
 

Pitino Big Ten winning percentage during first five years: .3469
Tubby: .4411
Monson: .3780

With the negative local/national press coverage, and the loss of scholarships and recruiting restrictions/limited visitation, etc. the pall that was cast over Minnesota Men's Hoops was overwhelming following the Haskin's scandal and gave Monson an impossible situation. For the times, he was paid pretty well...and that is the only positive involving the entire Men's Hoops Haskin's scandal era that one could find during that period of time.

Winning percentage wise: Dick Pitino's current situation is most challenged of the three most recent first five year phases of Gopher Men's Hoops.

Of special interest to me would be how many of the first five years of Dan Monson's first few years in the BARN was the program BANNED from an NCAA tourney appearance? Was it even a possibility due to the sanctions, penalties AND "NEAR DEATH..." status of the program as a result of self-imposed wrath of the administration of the University of Minnesota because of the shameful scandal perpetrated by Minnesota Men's Hoops program. For a while, there was NO possibility. Minnesota self-penalized themselves as they threw themselves at the mercy of the NCAA. So did Monson even have five opportunities to take the program to the NCAA TOURNAMENT in his first five years?

The numbers along with the percentages USUALLY tell the story...or maybe... the math doesn't always tell the whole story either. Perhaps, numbers of wins and losses plus the percentages tell us how complicated the story may be. It would appear that Minnesota has not been able to "fire" it's way to prosperity in the Men's Hoops Program. Prexys and ADs and Coaches may come and they may go. Still, the overall outcomes seem to remain surprisingly rather similar.


Whether the Big Ten Winning percentage is under .350...almost .380 or even almost .450. The five year performance threshold period of Gopher Men's hoops coaches appears to NEVER be adequate for the discriminating Gopher Basketball faithful. Moving from the lower left hand corner of the graph to the upper right hand corner at Minnesota is a TOUGH thing to accomplish. Or, perhaps it is essential to appreciate the good and not dwell on the less good to stay in the game over the LONG HAUL as a discriminating Gopher Men's Hoops fan...
 

Our last 3 coaches all have had likely NCAA seasons derailed

imthewalrus said:
Of special interest to me would be how many of the first five years of Dan Monson's first few years was the possibility of an NCAA tourney appearance even a possibility due to the sanctions, penalties AND "NEAR DEATH..." status of the program due to the wrath of the NCAA re: Minnesota Men's Hoops?
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Actually, 3 of Monson's first 5 teams were headed toward and/or had plenty enough talent to reach the NCAA Tournament: 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2002-03.

2000-01 (2nd season): Gophers were off to a 13-2 start including a win over previous season Final 4 program Wisconsin in the Gophers' Big 10 home opener. Plucky squad that was looking more than capable of making the NCAA tourney. Then J.B. Bickerstaff & Michael Bauer went down with season-ending injuries, and that was the end of that.

2001-02: In terms of not making the NCAA Tournament, this was perhaps the program's single biggest 1-game choke of all time. Beat Illinois in the final regular-season game and the Gophers would have been in the NCAA. I have zero doubt about that. This was a game that felt like if the Gophers won, the program would have turned the corner under Monson. We all know what happened. All I need to say are 2 things to bring back a nasty flashback: (1) Kevin Burleson threw ball out of bounds, (2) Frankie Williams.

2002-03: Another promising team (with Rick Rickert), plenty of talent, but this was perhaps the program's biggest season-ending choke of all time. Gophers (after good non-conference wins over Georgia & Georgia Tech) were 8-4 in the Big 10 and cruising toward a NCAA bid. Then proceeded to lose their final 5 games.

To be fair, our last 3 coaches all have had likely NCAA Tournament seasons derailed by significant injuries, suspensions, and/or transfers. I'm thinking specifically of Monson's 2000-01 squad, Tubby's 2010-11 squad (IMO would have been Tubby's best team were it not for Al Nolen & Mo Walker injuries and the 6-game suspension and later transfer of Devoe Joseph), and obviously Pitino's team this season.
 

Considering the restrictions the program was under, I thought Munson did about as well as can be expected.

With Pitino, it gets back to the blessing and curse of his last name. If the Gophers' Coach was Rich Smith or Rich Jones, people would perceive the program differently. but, when the coach is named Rich Pitino, it changes the way people view the program. Daddy Rick may have been up to his neck in payoffs and hookers, but the guy had a lot of success, and that changes the way people evaluate the son. Fair or not, people expect more from a Pitino than they would from a Smith or Jones. Rich Pitino has also had advantages that Rich Smith or Rich Jones would not - exposure to major programs at a very young age. Rich Smith or Rich Jones would still be working their way up the coaching ladder. Rich Pitino is a B1G head coach.

I wonder if Rich Pitino would have been better off long-term if he had told Mega-Tongue to take a hike, and stayed in Florida, where he could have built up his coaching resume with a lot less scrutiny. (and he would not have had to worry about Reggie Lynch's penis.........)
 

SelectionSunday said:
2001-02: In terms of not making the NCAA Tournament, this was perhaps the program's single biggest 1-game choke of all time. Beat Illinois in the final regular-season game and the Gophers would have been in the NCAA. I have zero doubt about that. This was a game that felt like if the Gophers won, the program would have turned the corner under Monson. We all know what happened. All I need to say are 2 things to bring back a nasty flashback: (1) Kevin Burleson threw ball out of bounds, (2) Frankie Williams.
Click to expand...

In that Illinois game I also remember vividly the Gophers drawing a technical foul for having 6 players on the court. Now, that is an un-level playing field.
 


If you go by numbers alone Tino looks bad. Toss in external circumstances for the three coaches and I think the three even out a bit more. All three had unique issues that hamstrung their seasons. Take that into account and I'm not sure that Tino is the worst...but...then again...
 

Ope3 said:
In that Illinois game I also remember vividly the Gophers drawing a technical foul for having 6 players on the court. Now, that is an un-level playing field.
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Good one!

Too bad all we hear is silence from you and your good friend regarding unc. Telling.
 

BarnBurner said:
Good one!

Too bad all we hear is silence from you and your good friend regarding unc. Telling.
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My response on the UNC academic issue is that I do not care, thus the silence. Gophers beat them on 11/19/10.
 

If the tourney was 68 teams in 2002, Monson probably would have still got in.
 



Ope3 said:
My response on the UNC academic issue is that I do not care, thus the silence. Gophers beat them on 11/19/10.
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Dont care that the playing field is and has been flawed? Yet make the comment.

Sure thing Oh Pee.
 

I see the walrus is back to posting. Classic post by him. Loves to call Richard "Dick" because he is 8 years old. Walrus also frequently deletes dumb posts after he sleeps off the booze. *ignored*
 

ForecastingAWin said:
I see the walrus is back to posting. Classic post by him. Loves to call Richard "Dick" because he is 8 years old. Walrus also frequently deletes dumb posts after he sleeps off the booze. *ignored*
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Good ol' Wramblin' Wren!!
 

El Amin Fan said:
5 years goes fast. Hard to believe Pitino has been here that long. Here is how he stacks up to his two predecessors.

Overall Record
Pitino 90-78 (.535)
Smith 124–81 (.602)
Monson 79-75 (.512)

Records vs Big Ten teams - both regular season and post-season
Pitino 34-64
Smith 45-57
Monson 31-51

NCAA Tournament Appearances
Pitino 1
Smith 2
Monson 0
Click to expand...

Are you including all 6 years for Tubby? There's no way he had 37 more games than Pitino in 5 years.
 



MennoSota said:
If you go by numbers alone Tino looks bad. Toss in external circumstances for the three coaches and I think the three even out a bit more. All three had unique issues that hamstrung their seasons. Take that into account and I'm not sure that Tino is the worst...but...then again...
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25n2vg.jpg
 

dpodoll68 said:
25n2vg.jpg
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Relax there meme man, Pitino has more gusto in recruiting than Tubby and Monson. If you want a point of reference, look at his last three recruiting classes compared to formers you mentioned.


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Crackhouse said:
Relax there meme man, Pitino has more gusto in recruiting than Tubby and Monson. If you want a point of reference, look at his last three recruiting classes compared to formers you mentioned.
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What?
 

He is a better recruiter than those two but he is recruiting against that are miles ahead of those two. The concern is the coaching because if he out recruited those two he should win more than those two mediocre examples. There are coaches winning huge with worse recruiting ranking than Richard.
 

^^^Agreed, he is a better recruiter...which is why next year is the make or break year for Pitino. He will either do one of two things..He will show that he has control of this program, knows how to coach as well as recruit and we will be a good team next year. I hope this happens because he has started to develop great in state relationships and I think we have a great shot of landing Suggs and the other 4 star prospects in 2020 if Pitino is here.

The other outcome is that he shows that the tourney year was a fluke and this team struggles mightily again. If that is the case, Coyle will pull the plug and we get to rebuild yet again. :cry:
 


builtbadgers said:
He is a better recruiter than those two but he is recruiting against that are miles ahead of those two. The concern is the coaching because if he out recruited those two he should win more than those two mediocre examples. There are coaches winning huge with worse recruiting ranking than Richard.
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The previous concern was Tubby’s ability to coach talent. Which way do you want to fry the egg? Pitino’s crew has shown resilience and a ‘not toss my boss under the bus mentality’




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Crackhouse said:
The previous concern was Tubby’s ability to coach talent. Which way do you want to fry the egg? Pitino’s crew has shown resilience and a ‘not toss my boss under the bus mentality’




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

that has nothing to do with what i said.
 

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