Pitino and the state of the program

It's hard to care too much about this team.

I'm kind of in the apathy area.
 

Not necessarily something I think is comparable, but sure? I've been on here many times saying if we don't get to the tournament, we need to move on, I'm not going to overreact to s loss to a Wisconsin team that is playing really well. I'll wait and let the rest of the Big 10 season play out. I still think we win 4 more in conference, but if not and there is someone good who is actually willing to come here, then yes move on. I'm not interested in just moving on for the sake of moving on though.

That's the wrong way to look at it. Whether or not to fire Pitino, and who we would hire to replace him, are two completely separate decisions. If the evaluation is that Pitino isn't performing the job at an acceptable level, he needs to be fired. If we miss the Tournament (again), and Pitino is retained, we're sending the message that 1 appearance in 6 seasons is acceptable at Minnesota. I personally don't feel that production is acceptable here regardless of the coach's last name.
 

Tubby was at least competitive against Wisky, 4 wins in 10 games. Pitino is 2-9.
Let's just all move on from the tubby Pitino comparison. Dont get me wrong, I'm a pitino backer, but im starting to think also it's time to move on. I personally dont think we would be in any better shape with tubby as our coach. The foster, Ellis recruiting class was gonna be the start of the downfall! I think it's absolutely fantastic that tubby beat Wisconsin 4 times! At 4-6 against them I'm not sure why there isn't a statue of him outside of William's arena! Is this gonna happen every game we play when we lose? Pitino is whatever against nebraska, but tubby beat them so many times. Let's move on from tubby! He's not our coach anymore.
 

I blame none of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.
 
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If he can't get a big juco 3 point shooter for next year then it's time to fire him.
 


I blame non of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

Perhaps the game plan and execution aren't his fault; but the roster composition certainly is. The guard play is really bad, and this team will likely win 2-3 more B10 games. This year is supposed to be an "up cycle" season for Pitino; it's turning into a another poor season. Unless this team somehow gets hot, it's time for a coaching change.
 

I blame non of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

I don't know how you can't say it's not Pitino's fault. IMO, Happ is the best player on either team. After that, I would take Murphy, Coffey and Oturu over anyone on Wisky's team. I think we are more talented, and he fails to get the most out of his players. We look completely incoherent on offense and any success we have is due largely to the players individual abilities to score and not due to running a competent offensive scheme. I'm more than ready to end the Richard Pitino era...
 

I blame none of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

What? Did you just defend Pitino??

I do agree. you can't make players make shots. it seems everyone is slumping at the same time.. Gabe, DuPree, Coffee

Curry did not look comfortable last night, noticeable limp
 

I blame none of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

You obviously know and watch tons of basketball. You also know that he's the one that recruits. He just doesn't recruit enough good shooters. His roster management catches up to him all the time. He just cannot stop himself from doing it.
 



I don't know how you can't say it's not Pitino's fault. IMO, Happ is the best player on either team. After that, I would take Murphy, Coffey and Oturu over anyone on Wisky's team. I think we are more talented, and he fails to get the most out of his players. We look completely incoherent on offense and any success we have is due largely to the players individual abilities to score and not due to running a competent offensive scheme. I'm more than ready to end the Richard Pitino era...

Not only do we have a more talented roster, we also have a far more athletic roster. How do you allow yourself to be pulled into the pace of play that wisconsin dictates? That's asking to lose. We should have been playing 10+ guys and running up and down the floor.
 


That's the wrong way to look at it. Whether or not to fire Pitino, and who we would hire to replace him, are two completely separate decisions. If the evaluation is that Pitino isn't performing the job at an acceptable level, he needs to be fired. If we miss the Tournament (again), and Pitino is retained, we're sending the message that 1 appearance in 6 seasons is acceptable at Minnesota. I personally don't feel that production is acceptable here regardless of the coach's last name.

Name that comes to mind is Fred Holiberg. He, proved at Iowa State that he can both recruit and coach. And most importantly, he is available. And He might coach for a dollar.
 

What? Did you just defend Pitino??

I do agree. you can't make players make shots. it seems everyone is slumping at the same time.. Gabe, DuPree, Coffee

Curry did not look comfortable last night, noticeable limp

Will defend him when i see fit. I try very hard to be fair about every team and every coach i see. When the team is up i do not suddenly think he is a top 50 coach and when we lose i do not think he is a bottom 100 coach. For him to get big props from me it will not be one tourney run. Hell Porter Moser did that, it will be winning the conference for top 50. Sure the roster is his but the plan for last night was great, the scouting great. I know some will complain about playing slow but it damn near impossible to speed up UW. It is so much easier to slow someone down than to speed them up. We just did not make shots, we executed very well.
 




I think the gophers took a hit when they lost a couple assistant coaches. The recruiting has lost some strength and our offense is worse than when we had so called less talent
 

For me, it boils down to this: either we make the NCAAs, or he's gone. I agree completely with DP that 1 tourney in 6 seasons is unacceptable. My bar is set higher than that.

My top complaints:
1) Lack of consistency from game to game. How in the GD can we win at Wisconsin and go to Illinois and lose by 27? How can we take periods of time off from game to game? Why the F can't we still consistently beat a zone defense? How can a team with an identity built on rebounding and tempo crap the bed in both like we did last night? It makes you seriously question the mental toughness on this team...a question that only shines brighter after last night's slugfest.
2) The lack of improvement across an entire season. According to my unscientific eye test, the Gophers don't seem to improve from January to March like almost every other team in the B1G. Look at Illinois....Rutgers...Sparty...Purdue...even Wisconsin. They are the primary examples, but even Indiana, Maryland, Iowa, etc. are showing improvement despite their circumstances. These are teams that improve from game to game, week to week, and the effort is always there no matter what. The Gophers just don't seem to do that. I put that 100% on the coach. We've had plenty of sample size to see this is a trend, not a mirage.

I don't hate Rick. I just expect more.
 

Not only do we have a more talented roster, we also have a far more athletic roster. How do you allow yourself to be pulled into the pace of play that wisconsin dictates? That's asking to lose. We should have been playing 10+ guys and running up and down the floor.

Agreed.

The only problem was we were getting out rebounded or at least appeared so, without looking at the stats.

One note - walking the ball up the court really irks me.
 

It’s a bit of a catch-22 trying to run against Wisconsin or Virginia. Yes, there’s a chance you can take them out of their game. But there is a far greater chance that you’ll turn the ball over a bunch trying to run and the game will get away from us quickly.
 

Six years is plenty. Team theoretically built to run up and down the court plays Wisconsin ball....poorly. Ability to shoot a jumper seems the last priority in recruiting. Stull turns out to be a shorter Konate. NCAA bid or he should be sent packing. If he was smart he would fly dad up for the rest of the season and get some volunteer coaching help. I was really hoping this would work as he is a funny likable guy. Brutal schedule ahead.
 

I think the gophers took a hit when they lost a couple assistant coaches. The recruiting has lost some strength and our offense is worse than when we had so called less talent


They've had a couple historically bad seasons with the other assistants.
 

I blame none of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

That point was reached long ago and the coach is too stubborn do change. Tubby did the same thing when Nolen got hurt and he insisted that Hoffarber play PG. But his only alternative was a freshman Maverick, so you can at least sympathize that he was probably screwed either way. This is just pure stubbornness. And the fact that we only have one good shooter on the team is indeed Pitino's fault.

Still sticking with "12-8 minimum"?
 

I think the gophers took a hit when they lost a couple assistant coaches. The recruiting has lost some strength and our offense is worse than when we had so called less talent

That is probably why we're sitting with 3 open scholarships, but I don't think Ben or Kamini were here for their X's and O's.
 

That is probably why we're sitting with 3 open scholarships, but I don't think Ben or Kamini were here for their X's and O's.

Recruiting is the biggest thing for me wanting a new coaching staff. Pitino has shown he can't be even a little consistent getting quality players. There are too many on this roster that shouldn't be.
 

Recruiting is the biggest thing for me wanting a new coaching staff. Pitino has shown he can't be even a little consistent getting quality players. There are too many on this roster that shouldn't be.

This is life for a program that isn’t a blueblood or paying players with shoe contracts (major overlap there).

I never expect to get the Matthew Hurts of the world that often. It’s impressive enough that we got Coffey, Oturu, Washington, etc.

I was never a Washington guy but remember how excited everyone was?

Coaching leaves a little bit to be desired and beyond that, we’re playing a game on the 3rd tier that a bunch of other major teams are playing.
 

Circling back to one of the themes of this thread, I feel like I could scout and recruit for Wisconsin. I know exactly what they do, how they do it, what they need, and how they'll use them. On the other hand, if I were told to recruit for Minnesota, I wouldn't know where to start except - as 60s Guy said - get a list of the top 200 players and see who might consider coming here, and then we'll sort them out once they get here.
 

I was never a Washington guy but remember how excited everyone was?
What I now wonder when we get our "best" recruits, and they so often don't pan out... Did the other coaching staffs see what was going to happen and that's how we get them in the first place?
 

I blame none of last nights game on Pitino. Play defense like that, subbing for defense made sense. The game looks ugly because both teams shot it poorly , we got good looks considering it is against a very good defense. Coach can not make shots. One more for us, one less for them and we win. I despise losing but the scouting was there, the plan was great. Turnovers were low. Players need to make shots. He is stuck choosing between Dupree and IW. IW brings the ability to get in the gaps but often gets in trouble there and he had a very poor decision on a shot he took. Worse, Pitino just can not trust his defense. The season does reach the point where he may have to roll with IW. Last night was not Pitino's fault.

I do agree, for the most part. But on the other hand, one characteristic of coaching matters a great deal in a game like this: playing smart and mistake-free to the greatest extent. Besides the shooting situation, the Badgers made fewer mistakes and made more good decisions. I can only remember one or two bad shots they took. Meanwhile, whether it's a small mistake (Gabe passing to Murphy on the fast break instead of taking it himself and letting Jordan rebound) or a big mistake (Murphy trying the exact same high-low pass to Oturu a second time after it resulted in a turnover the first time), the smarter team is going to win that type of game almost every time. That does reflect on the coaching staff's ability to teach situations and judgment on the fly.
 

Recruiting is the biggest thing for me wanting a new coaching staff. Pitino has shown he can't be even a little consistent getting quality players. There are too many on this roster that shouldn't be.

Overall I would define Pitino as an above average recruiter and a below average X's and O's coach. I'm not sure that combo works here. If he could land the Hurts' and Jones' (or even just 1/3) it might. But as is, it's not. Give me an average recruiter who can still keep the Kaslshuer and Oturu types and is good with the X's and O's.
 

Overall I would define Pitino as an above average recruiter and a below average X's and O's coach. I'm not sure that combo works here. If he could land the Hurts' and Jones' (or even just 1/3) it might. But as is, it's not. Give me an average recruiter who can still keep the Kaslshuer and Oturu types and is good with the X's and O's.

Hey he got 1/4 Hurts/Jones lol
 

Not only do we have a more talented roster, we also have a far more athletic roster. How do you allow yourself to be pulled into the pace of play that wisconsin dictates? That's asking to lose. We should have been playing 10+ guys and running up and down the floor.

I agree partially, the offense was very frustrating again to watch last night. However, Wisconsin does that to nearly everyone, regardless of talent or athleticism.
 




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