To my fellow Pitino "haters"

So actual winning doesn’t matter now. Isn’t that why you hate Pitino because he had a real bad season about 4 years ago?


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What's his B1G record? The previous three HC all have better B1G win %.
 

Be pretty tough to recruit if the the players think you might be gone by the end of this season or at best you have one to prove yourself. Kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. "you have one more year to prove you can attract good players... or we fire you"

Especially with some of the negative fans.

That's why I think this is a 2-year decision. Either you cut bait now or get gets 2 more years. And he probably earned the later.
 

Don't try to use some post that was obviously either a troll or someone being sarcastic as fuel for your agenda.

What’s my agenda again? I forget.


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What's his B1G record? The previous three HC all have better B1G win %.

Pitinos first six years of Big Ten play are almost identical to Clem's. Maybe Coach P's best years are ahead. Maybe not. We'll see.

Pitino 40-70
Haskins 39- 69

Clem ended up being a great coach here.
 


Pitinos first six years of Big Ten play are almost identical to Clem's. Maybe Coach P's best years are ahead. Maybe not. We'll see.

Pitino 40-70
Haskins 39- 69

Clem ended up being a great coach here.

That's the reason to keep him.........bwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwah

He might be Clem? Oh, and Clem disgraced himself!
 

Pitinos first six years of Big Ten play are almost identical to Clem's. Maybe Coach P's best years are ahead. Maybe not. We'll see.

Pitino 40-70
Haskins 39- 69

Clem ended up being a great coach here.

Clem had a sweet 16 and elite 8 in that stretch.
 

Pitinos first six years of Big Ten play are almost identical to Clem's. Maybe Coach P's best years are ahead. Maybe not. We'll see.

Pitino 40-70
Haskins 39- 69

Clem ended up being a great coach here.

You obviously weren't alive in the late 80's....or at least not a Gopher basketball fan at that time. This one goes into the category that you can use statistics to prove anything you want to prove.
 

That's the reason to keep him.........bwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwahbwah

He might be Clem? Oh, and Clem disgraced himself!

No. I think the reason to keep him is that he is young, he was brought here as a long term solution and I think he shows signs of getting better as a coach. I think his future is ahead of him. If we have some sure fire option out there and we fire Pitino because of it- that's fine with me too.

How does he show signs of getting better? The team has played better defense than in prior years and has won enough games to be in the NCAAs despite being a terrible shooting team. He needs to continue to improve and to recruit better balanced teams that have usable depth and good shooters. Too many guys on this team can be ignored on the perimeter (Murphy, McBrayer, Coffey, Hurt, Washington). We all saw how much better things look when players hit shots as they did yesterday.
 



No. I think the reason to keep him is that he is young, he was brought here as a long term solution and I think he shows signs of getting better as a coach. I think his future is ahead of him. If we have some sure fire option out there and we fire Pitino because of it- that's fine with me too.

How does he show signs of getting better? The team has played better defense than in prior years and has won enough games to be in the NCAAs despite being a terrible shooting team. He needs to continue to improve and to recruit better balanced teams that have usable depth and good shooters. Too many guys on this team can be ignored on the perimeter (Murphy, McBrayer, Coffey, Hurt, Washington). We all saw how much better things look when players hit shots as they did yesterday.

Pitino recruited and coached all these players. I'm trying to follow you here...
 


You obviously weren't alive in the late 80's....or at least not a Gopher basketball fan at that time. This one goes into the category that you can use statistics to prove anything you want to prove.

I have been going to Gopher games since the Musselman era. I know fully the difficulties Clem faced coming into this. However, he was given one gift by Dutcher - a really good frosh recruiting class (Burton, Newbern, Schick). That is something that Pitino did not get from Tubby (zero recruits). That's why the trouble started in year three and not in year one. I would take the no pressure hand Clem was dealt every time. He got to start over with a giant grace period. And to his credit he did a great job of it.

Pitino's problems started early when he tried to win too fast and took some reach players like Gaston, Konate, McNeil and others after missing on wild swings at 5 star guys from the east coast.

Pitino has done a pretty good job with this squad. I think all of us would have taken it prior to the start of the year if we were told they would finish 7th, get into the tournament and have 21 wins despite being one of the poorest shooting teams in memory. For Pete's sake they just went on a nice tournament run and beat Purdue twice in a little over a week, yet people cannot stop whining about him.
 

Clem had a sweet 16 and elite 8 in that stretch.


Not only that, he became coach of a program that they had talked about eliminating the basketball team altogether. This is GopherHole talking about the team he took over:

"Notes: Coached by Jim Dutcher through the Northwestern forfeit, and by Jimmy Williams as interim coach for the rest of the season.This season served as a low point in Gopher basketball history. Following the win at Wisconsin, three Gophers were charged with raping a woman in her dorm. The University's President Kenneth Keller decided to forfeit the upcoming game at Northwestern and raised the possibility of eliminating basketball at Minnesota altogether. Angry at the lack of administrative support, Coach Jim Dutcher resigned. Assistant Jimmy Williams was faced with the task of coaching out the rest of the season. The three Gophers involved in the accusation were eventually acquitted of the charges of rape, but were still kicked off the team immediately for violations of team rules. Two other players were suspended for the rest of the season for violating team rules, and one player had already been declared academically ineligible for the rest of the season. The remaining players were dubbed the 'Iron Five' - Marc Wilson, John Shasky, Kelvin Smith, Ray Gaffney, and Tim Hanson were the second group at the University to be called by that nickname, but in this case, it was a deserved title. Jimmy Williams recruited a few Gopher football players to sit on the bench in case of an emergency. The following game against Ohio State remains as one of the greatest and most emotional Gopher victories of all time. The Iron Five had a grand total of two minutes of rest among the five players through the course of the game."


They won 6 games total Big Ten games his first two years. Then they made the Sweet 16 in year three and Elite 8 in year 4. They were a Kevin Lynch missed three pointer at the buzzer away from making the Final 4 in a 93-91 lose to Georgia Tech, who had Kenny Anderson and Dennis Scott. Haskins and Pitino's first 6 seasons at Minnesota aren't even comparable.
 



Pitino recruited and coached all these players. I'm trying to follow you here...

No doubt and he has made some roster mistakes. He has to get better on that score. However, one would have thought that Curry would have helped, that Washington would have been better than he has been (after finishing strong last year) that Stull (a 14 point per game scorer at Milwaukee) would have helped or that Carr would have been eligible and none of that happened yet we are still going to be an NCAA team.

He needs to get better shooters going forward. I think that the big progress this year is that he has focused more on defense, successfully.
 

You obviously weren't alive in the late 80's....or at least not a Gopher basketball fan at that time. This one goes into the category that you can use statistics to prove anything you want to prove.

Yeah. Defend Pitino all you like. But saying his first 6 years are the same as Clem's based on conference record is silly.
 

Pitinos first six years of Big Ten play are almost identical to Clem's. Maybe Coach P's best years are ahead. Maybe not. We'll see.

Pitino 40-70
Haskins 39- 69

Clem ended up being a great coach here.

Totally different circumstances when Clem took over.

Clem has a Sweet 16 in year 3.


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No doubt and he has made some roster mistakes. He has to get better on that score. However, one would have thought that Curry would have helped, that Washington would have been better than he has been (after finishing strong last year) that Stull (a 14 point per game scorer at Milwaukee) would have helped or that Carr would have been eligible and none of that happened yet we are still going to be an NCAA team.

He needs to get better shooters going forward. I think that the big progress this year is that he has focused more on defense, successfully.

So after six years, he needs to get better at recruiting and coaching. Progress over last year is a very low bar. They have regressed from 2016-17.
 

A quick note to all the Pitino haters.


Whose your daddy?

Richard Pitino is your daddy!

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]John Beilein [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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My issue with Pitino is that I believe this year is his ceiling. Does anyone see a path where we finish better than 9-11 again next year in the Big Ten?
 

So after six years, he needs to get better at recruiting and coaching. Progress over last year is a very low bar. They have regressed from 2016-17.

Has Coffey regressed? Murphy? I don't see regression. I do see a team that was unable to replace Nate Mason. Again, if they have some sure fire coach on the radar, and they hire him, no problem for me. I view Pitino as someone who has been a little inconsistent but is young and has a lot of potential. I don't see him as a bad coach nor do I see him as the finished product, I'll trust the AD on this. My guess is that he stays.
 

Totally different circumstances when Clem took over.

Clem has a Sweet 16 in year 3.


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Yeah but he had 0 conference semifinals appearances.

Dicky 2
Clem 0
 


My issue with Pitino is that I believe this year is his ceiling. Does anyone see a path where we finish better than 9-11 again next year in the Big Ten?

He already has had a higher ceiling- he was 11-7 two years ago. Yes, I see a lot of paths to a better year next year. It is going to require two or three good spring signings and a full recovery by Curry who was never himself this year. It would require Coffey to come back- which I think he will.

I think Oturu will be a beast.

Oturu
Curry
Coffey
Gabe
Carr

Need another shooter or two (we have Williams and Willis coming but need more)
Need another center
Need Omersa to make big strides and be a strong defensive player and rebounder
 

I have been going to Gopher games since the Musselman era. I know fully the difficulties Clem faced coming into this. However, he was given one gift by Dutcher - a really good frosh recruiting class (Burton, Newbern, Schick). That is something that Pitino did not get from Tubby (zero recruits). That's why the trouble started in year three and not in year one. I would take the no pressure hand Clem was dealt every time. He got to start over with a giant grace period. And to his credit he did a great job of it.

Pitino's problems started early when he tried to win too fast and took some reach players like Gaston, Konate, McNeil and others after missing on wild swings at 5 star guys from the east coast.

Pitino has done a pretty good job with this squad. I think all of us would have taken it prior to the start of the year if we were told they would finish 7th, get into the tournament and have 21 wins despite being one of the poorest shooting teams in memory. For Pete's sake they just went on a nice tournament run and beat Purdue twice in a little over a week, yet people cannot stop whining about him.

I'm not whining about him, and have said he should get another year. But a big reason Clem Haskins only won 39 games in his first 6 season at the U was because he only won 6 his first two seasons. He took us to a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in his first four seasons. Pitino has taken us to two B1G Tournament Semifinals in 6 season....who cares! Is that our goal? My goal isn't to get to two B1G semifinal games every six years. My goal would be for the Gophers to win NCAA Tournament games, make Sweet 16s, Elite 8's, Final 4's...and yes even win the B1G Championship once in a while. I think for some people on here, the goal is to become like the football team, where we go 60 plus years without winning a B1G Championship.

I have said he should get another year because we made the tournament this year, and maybe he can get some of the impressive Minnesota kids to sign from the 2020 class. Then he would most likely get more years. But if we have a bad season next year and strike out next year with the recruiting class, maybe we should start asking why we are missing out on such a high percentage of these top Minnesota players. I hope Pitino signs Suggs, Garcia, Dainja and Carlson and shuts some of the "Pitino Haters" up. Even a couple of these guys would be awesome. But is we have a 7-11th place finish again next year and strike out with those guys....I'll be disappointed. Even if we make the semifinals again in the B1G Tournament.
 


Has Coffey regressed? Murphy? I don't see regression. I do see a team that was unable to replace Nate Mason. Again, if they have some sure fire coach on the radar, and they hire him, no problem for me. I view Pitino as someone who has been a little inconsistent but is young and has a lot of potential. I don't see him as a bad coach nor do I see him as the finished product, I'll trust the AD on this. My guess is that he stays.

No those guys have been good. So have Gabe and Oturu. That's probably why I would give him another year. If Coffey, Gabe and Oturu are all back next season, I see a year where we will be in the middle of the pack again. Unless Coffey is just a superstar, which is possible.
 


here's my thought:

Let's say someone other than Pitino had been hired 6 years ago. IF the Gophers had the exact same record over the last six years, but the coach was perceived as being a jerk, or unlikable, then I think there would be a strong consensus to make a change.

I think that a lot of people like Pitino on a personal level - even people who think his coaching or recruiting has been less than ideal. And that personal connection is working on his behalf.

Pitino seems like a good dude. I'm just not sure he's a good coach. and that creates the situation that I think a lot of fans are in right now.
 

Has Coffey regressed? Murphy? I don't see regression. I do see a team that was unable to replace Nate Mason. Again, if they have some sure fire coach on the radar, and they hire him, no problem for me. I view Pitino as someone who has been a little inconsistent but is young and has a lot of potential. I don't see him as a bad coach nor do I see him as the finished product, I'll trust the AD on this. My guess is that he stays.

It is a team sport evaluated on wins and losses. Pitino has not recruited, developed, or coached his players to a higher level. Performance of the team has not gotten better compared to 2016-17.

Here are their stats. Other than PPG, almost all other game stats for Coffey are lower this year. Murphy is a mixed bag.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4066387/amir-coffey

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3911889/jordan-murphy

Don't get me wrong, individually, they are both good players.
 

He already has had a higher ceiling- he was 11-7 two years ago. Yes, I see a lot of paths to a better year next year. It is going to require two or three good spring signings and a full recovery by Curry who was never himself this year. It would require Coffey to come back- which I think he will.

I think Oturu will be a beast.

Oturu
Curry
Coffey
Gabe
Carr

Need another shooter or two (we have Williams and Willis coming but need more)
Need another center
Need Omersa to make big strides and be a strong defensive player and rebounder

I like your optimism, but don't necessarily share it. Curry was extremely disappointing this year. I realize he was coming back from an injury, but at this point any production we get from him is a bonus and shouldn't be counted on. Oturu, Coffey and Gabe will be the core - they should all be better and that's the core of the team. Carr should hopefully be an upgrade given we basically didn't have a PG this year, but who knows. Willis didn't do much at Vanderbilt. We have almost zero front court depth - Omersa needs to develop an offensive game. And we have no shooter other than Gabe. There are a lot of holes on the roster.
 




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