Rand: Nebraska loss could impact Richard Pitino's job security which just isn't right

per RandBall:

The Gophers last night at Nebraska? They played well enough to win, but sure they could have done more before the final minute, when a flurry of three questionable calls — the last one being the most damaging and the most questionable — added up to a 62-61 loss.

The Gophers could have been more consistent up to that point in the season, banking 2-3 more victories in winnable games to ease the implications of every game going forward.

But here’s the thing: Sometimes one play is just that simple. For as many caveats and moments led up to Amir Coffey getting called for a foul while being jumped into by Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr., and Palmer sinking both free throws with 1.1 seconds left … and for whatever benefit of the doubt you can muster for an official trying to make that call in real time … and for whatever opportunity still exists for the Gophers with six regular-season games left and the Big Ten Tournament to make its NCAA case … that one play might not just change the game.

It might change lives.

You don’t have to squint too hard to see a Selection Sunday future where that game means the difference between the Gophers (16-9, 6-8 in the conference) getting into the NCAA tournament and missing it. And you don’t need a hot take to wonder if missing the tournament for the fifth time in six years would mean the end of Pitino’s tenure as head coach.

It is what it is, as players and Pitino said postgame. But whatever you think of Pitino’s tenure to this point, what “it is” in this case … is just not right.

http://www.startribune.com/nebraska...job-security-which-just-isnt-right/505839602/

Go Gophers!!

I was as frustrated as anyone last night, but don't have that Big Ten record, don't have the optics of a rudderless team/program, don't go into a season fighting for your job and land one marginal recruit...............

p.s. On a possession that might cost you your job, don't ask Jordan Murphy to dribble from 30 feet out and go one on one. If you want him with the ball, get the ball to the wing and get him the ball in the post. WHERE HE IS COMFORTABLE!!!!

Six years of training wheels coaching and he should get more time? Um, no.

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The decision to fire or retain Pitino should not and of course will not be based on this one game. Sure someone could look back and say the Nebraska loss was the one that kept us out of the tournament but there were other winnable games along the way that could have gotten the job done so you can't pin it all on the one loss.

My gut feeling from the beginning of the season was that it was NCAA tournament or bust for Pitino. The team can still get in to the dance but the margin for error is razor thin at this point. If they fall short I won't be surprised to see a new head coach running the team next season.

This, too, feels like a bit of a straw man argument. Who ever even said that Pitino's hiring or firing was going to be based on one game and, in particular, this game?

What you're looking for is a pattern of actions and inaction that systematically loses you games. From this particular game, the obvious, glaring, fatal error was the time management and play call of that last offensive possession. You could hypothetically cite that and perhaps others to establish a pattern.

Eric Musselman tweeted a few weeks ago that the head coach makes a lot of mistakes because a lot is asked of him/her - so many decisions, judgments; so many permutations of things they can choose to do or not do. As it is in sports - or life - in general, the question is whether the overall quality of your decision making and leadership is inferior or superior over the course of time. That and other head coach-specific factors tend to make the difference between, say, a 35% conference winning percentage and a winning conference record.

Bad Gopher said:

This, too, feels like a bit of a straw man argument. Who ever even said that Pitino's hiring or firing was going to be based on one game and, in particular, this game?

What you're looking for is a pattern of actions and inaction that systematically loses you games. From this particular game, the obvious, glaring, fatal error was the time management and play call of that last offensive possession. You could hypothetically cite that and perhaps others to establish a pattern.

Eric Musselman tweeted a few weeks ago that the head coach makes a lot of mistakes because a lot is asked of him/her - so many decisions, judgments; so many permutations of things they can choose to do or not do. As it is in sports - or life - in general, the question is whether the overall quality of your decision making and leadership is inferior or superior over the course of time. That and other head coach-specific factors tend to make the difference between, say, a 35% conference winning percentage and a winning conference record.

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I agree with this statement 100%!

However, proper game planning helps minimize in-game mistakes. Running man to man on a team shooting horrendously even from a Gopher standpoint and letting them get 26 points on lay-ups doesn't allow for a margin of error.

I guarantee we re-run that Nebraska game with a match-up 3-2 or 2-3 zone and make them prove it from the outside, we win by 10 easy.

Otis said:

Running man to man on a team shooting horrendously even from a Gopher standpoint and letting them get 26 points on lay-ups doesn't allow for a margin of error.

I guarantee we re-run that Nebraska game with a match-up 3-2 or 2-3 zone and make them prove it from the outside, we win by 10 easy.

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That was being discussed on this board during the game. It reminded me of the story Richard told often in his first couple years here but that I haven't heard from him lately: when he was an assistant at Louisville and yelled at the head coach at halftime that he needed to go zone in order to win the game. Who's the assistant yelling at Richard during halftime about things like this?

Bad Gopher said:

That was being discussed on this board during the game. It reminded me of the story Richard told often in his first couple years here but that I haven't heard from him lately: when he was an assistant at Louisville and yelled at the head coach at halftime that he needed to go zone in order to win the game. Who's the assistant yelling at Richard during halftime about things like this?

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When you have long players with limited lateral speed (i.e. Coffey, Kalesheur, McBrayer) a match-up zone negates their weakness and maximizes their strength.

We should hire Boehiem.

The thing is even losing this game means nothing if we could realistically see the Gophers finishing the rest of the season strong. Most likely though, it won't happen based on past success, or lack there of. Generally, through Pitino's tenure, this type of loss will put them in a tailspin. Hell, even the game against Wisconsin where it was close and emotional. Losing that one led to a kindergarten effort against Michigan State. Most can see this and are predicting more of it in the games to come.

That said, should he rally the troops and make it happen, get in the dance and win a game or 2? Then yes, let's see what he can do for another season.

Otis said:

When you have long players with limited lateral speed (i.e. Coffey, Kalesheur, McBrayer) a match-up zone negates their weakness and maximizes their strength.

We should hire Boehiem.

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yup....you basically play 3 wings at all times....match up zone....2-3 zone...do a 1-2-2 press...use your length to your advantage....I am all for playing man to man most of the time....but mix in some zone....mix in some press like they did against Nebraska on a few occasions

Go Gophs said:

The thing is even losing this game means nothing if we could realistically see the Gophers finishing the rest of the season strong. Most likely though, it won't happen based on past success, or lack there of. Generally, through Pitino's tenure, this type of loss will put them in a tailspin. Hell, even the game against Wisconsin where it was close and emotional. Losing that one led to a kindergarten effort against Michigan State. Most can see this and are predicting more of it in the games to come.

That said, should he rally the troops and make it happen, get in the dance and win a game or 2? Then yes, let's see what he can do for another season.

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Be a hopeful fool or not i am still thinking 5 wins, 2 more in the big 10 tourney and a sweet 16. I Like so much about this roster but they have been so soft in fight. Not giving up and no matter if he returns as coach and i think he will he will not win a Big 10 title (regular season ) in his career.

Even as a pretty ardent supporter of Pitino on this board, I agree the premise of this article is pretty ridiculous. The decision shouldn't be based solely on one result whether that result leads to the difference of an NCAA berth or not. That's the same reason I felt so strongly about some of the strong opinions written after the Illinois game. One game shouldn't define a season, a resume, or much less a coaching career.

The argument made by many that past failures shouldn't define the expectations going forward is certainly fair. I completely understand that logic. However, it is really hard to make a sustained leap to excellence in college sports. You can't tank games in the hopes of getting more ping pong balls. You can't just spend more money to paper over weaknesses. Lower division teams often remain lower division teams. How many examples do we even see of college basketball programs coming from the depths to sustained excellence? Gonzaga is the one that comes to mind. Wisconsin to a lesser degree.

Not trying to make an argument for keeping Pitino in this post. But to suggest we can make a phone call and all of our fortunes will be changed is ignoring the reality of college sports. It could happen but there are many more examples of situations where it hasn't fundamentally changed.

I hope we can we stop with this narrative , that well they just should not have put themselves in that position at the end. Especially on the road. Like we should be up by 10 points with a minute left against every team that is struggling. Didn't Michigan just lose to Penn St? Its not that easy on the road , even against poorer teams. the gophers did what they should, which was they put themselves in a position to win the game at the end.

balds said:

I was as frustrated as anyone last night, but don't have that Big Ten record, don't have the optics of a rudderless team/program, don't go into a season fighting for your job and land one marginal recruit...............

p.s. On a possession that might cost you your job, don't ask Jordan Murphy to dribble from 30 feet out and go one on one. If you want him with the ball, get the ball to the wing and get him the ball in the post. WHERE HE IS COMFORTABLE!!!!

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That last possession was tragically inept.

whogoofed said:

I hope we can we stop with this narrative , that well they just should not have put themselves in that position at the end. Especially on the road. Like we should be up by 10 points with a minute left against every team that is struggling. Didn't Michigan just lose to Penn St? Its not that easy on the road , even against poorer teams. the gophers did what they should, which was they put themselves in a position to win the game at the end.

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Stuff happens. We benefited from bad calls in other games, and no one is asking us to apologize for winning those games. I bet every national champion ever has been hosed by plenty of bad calls throughout the season.