Minnesota Basketball: The case for Richard Pitino

I hope they keep him around regardless of what happens in the tourny this year. I do however think they need to hire an assistant that specializes in inbounding the ball. We have got to be the worst team ever at inbounding.

You obviously forgot Tubby's BLOBs. They were gross. Plenty of things to critique Pitno on and he'd deserve them, but his plays out of TO's are actually really good and his BLOBs are fine. Scouting capabilities have made BLOBs very hard to score on in college basketball. Most BLOBs lead into a secondary offensive set or are meant to just get the ball in so the team can run their offense.
 

You obviously forgot Tubby's BLOBs. They were gross. Plenty of things to critique Pitno on and he'd deserve them, but his plays out of TO's are actually really good and his BLOBs are fine. Scouting capabilities have made BLOBs very hard to score on in college basketball. Most BLOBs lead into a secondary offensive set or are meant to just get the ball in so the team can run their offense.

Stop saying BLOB
 

I watch a lot of college basketball, more than I should and many if not most teams have "bad breaks" along the way. Some cope with them and some don't. I can't recall a program or it's fans that gives complete passes to the coach on a season, or Pitino's case a career, if some guys get injured, suspended or don't pan out. Strange.

That being said, I think Pitino might have done enough to save his job. Next year I think will have to be a year though that he outperforms the expectations and that is regardless of whether someone gets hurt. Because if we are waiting for a year were everything goes absolutely right to evaluate Pitino then that is just silly.

If the amount of disruption equates to half a season of one of your starters and a game or two due to a concussion for one of your reserves, no. That is pretty typical for any program. If the amount of disruption is equivalent to four of your top six players for the majority of the conference season, then yes. Context matters Tim.
 

to follow up on what someone said about the bench.

I don't expect every player on the roster to be all-world. But it would be nice to have a couple of reliable guys on the bench who can come in and give the team 10 decent minutes - make a shot, get a rebound, do something positive.

Pitino's benches have had way too many guys that you never wanted to see on the court - and when they did come in, they did nothing.

OK - went back and looked. Using minutes played and points scored as a baseline, Pitino's teams at MN have all used a 6 or 7 player basic rotation. after that, it really drops off in minutes played and points scored. In 6 years, they have not had a team that had more than 7 functional players. And that depends on whether you count guys like Buggs or Konate as functional. A couple of years, they were in the top 7. Obviously, 2 years ago, the minutes played were more spread out, but that was because bench guys picked up minutes after the starters were injured or suspended. otherwise, most of those guys would not have seen nearly as many minutes.

As someone said, he doesn't have to recruit superstars - but just find some guys who don't make you cringe every time they enter the game.
 

I really don't see it that way. Washington isn't a miss..yet. Mismanaged??...would you like him to play the second best point guard..... that can't guard very well and can't shoot the 3?

When a 4-star highly recruited PG can't see the floor as a sophomore and you're playing a SF out of position at PG, it's a miss.
 


Pitino has badly mismanaged the roster through 6 years.
Pitino has seemed to be an average in game coach.

Pitino has had IMO mediocre results.
I am fine giving him another year though.
 

If the amount of disruption equates to half a season of one of your starters and a game or two due to a concussion for one of your reserves, no. That is pretty typical for any program. If the amount of disruption is equivalent to four of your top six players for the majority of the conference season, then yes. Context matters Tim.

True but this seems to have been the refrain every year. We haven't missed 4 out of top 6 six every year of the Pitino reign.

And I assume you are referring to 2017-18, I'll agree that the injuries and Lynch loss were huge, but to say that team would have been a huge success if it had stayed in tact is a pretty big assumption. They would have been a lot better, but full strength, they had already lost to Miami, Nebraska, and Arkansas and had some tight ones against Drake and an Alabama team with 3 guys on the court. We don't know for sure what that team would ave been, but all the rewrite histories seem to assume that team would have been a world beater. Maybe? But there were cracks before the injuries/Lynch problems hit.
 

Pitino has badly mismanaged the roster through 6 years.
Pitino has seemed to be an average in game coach.

Pitino has had IMO mediocre results.
I am fine giving him another year though.

You’re just an average guy :rolleyes:
 

I didnt want to rewind, but in the interview yesterday for the tourney, pretty sure he confused Jarvis Johnson for Omersa.
 



When a 4-star highly recruited PG can't see the floor as a sophomore and you're playing a SF out of position at PG, it's a miss.
He's a sophomore....2 years left.. it's only a miss if he leaves hear without contributing.

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True but this seems to have been the refrain every year. We haven't missed 4 out of top 6 six every year of the Pitino reign.

And I assume you are referring to 2017-18, I'll agree that the injuries and Lynch loss were huge, but to say that team would have been a huge success if it had stayed in tact is a pretty big assumption. They would have been a lot better, but full strength, they had already lost to Miami, Nebraska, and Arkansas and had some tight ones against Drake and an Alabama team with 3 guys on the court. We don't know for sure what that team would ave been, but all the rewrite histories seem to assume that team would have been a world beater. Maybe? But there were cracks before the injuries/Lynch problems hit.

I agree but I'm guessing that probably goes on everywhere. We just pay more attention to what happens here. However, I roll my eyes too if I hear about the "adversity" we have had this year, for example. Other than Curry, the Gophers have been very healthy this year. The Dupree situation was tough obviously but I won't use excuses for this year or really any other year except 2017-2018 as being out of the norm for college basketball. The 2017-2018 was really extreme and the exception for me. The team that finished up the year was a shell of what it was on paper. But you are right.....we don't know for sure what it would have been. But to blindly pretend it didn't happen isn't fair either, in my opinion.
 

He's a sophomore....2 years left.. it's only a miss if he leaves hear without contributing.

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Maybe he likes it on the bench:confused: “play me or keep me”
 

He's a sophomore....2 years left.. it's only a miss if he leaves hear without contributing.

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Really? I guess we have different definitions of a miss. A competent PG on the roster this year would have given us 3-4 more wins imo. We didn't have one on the roster, and Pitino wouldn't play IW.

Would you also argue that Michael Hurt isn't a miss yet?
 



Really? I guess we have different definitions of a miss. A competent PG on the roster this year would have given us 3-4 more wins imo. We didn't have one on the roster, and Pitino wouldn't play IW.

Would you also argue that Michael Hurt isn't a miss yet?

so if he has a break out year next year....he's still a miss in your eyes..... I see the logic....NOT!
 

Really? I guess we have different definitions of a miss. A competent PG on the roster this year would have given us 3-4 more wins imo. We didn't have one on the roster, and Pitino wouldn't play IW.

Would you also argue that Michael Hurt isn't a miss yet?

I guess we can stop chasing taking the lesser player older brother in hopes of luring the younger higher profile brother route. We are 0 for 2 on those.
 

Why is the expectation to be 7th 8th in year 6?

Does anyone know?

So if someone predicts 10th next year heading into the season and we finish 8th or 9th, I guess we have yet another successful season.


Great point Goldteam. It is hard to measure off expectations unless it is year 1 or 2. I believe in a fair assessment of a coach, like them or dislike them. If you are doing a fair accounting of Pitino to date, there are some positive and negative entries being registered (and I'm no accountant!). I honestly think the current recruiting class will be the most predictive of his future. A good class can demonstrate growth/possibility and a not so good class will likely be more of the same (which is perfectly fine if that is what the university equates to success). I truly hope he is successful, but that is anything but a forgone conclusion based on what is available for public consumption.
 


You obviously forgot Tubby's BLOBs. They were gross. Plenty of things to critique Pitno on and he'd deserve them, but his plays out of TO's are actually really good and his BLOBs are fine. Scouting capabilities have made BLOBs very hard to score on in college basketball. Most BLOBs lead into a secondary offensive set or are meant to just get the ball in so the team can run their offense.

I didn't say anything about the plays he runs to get scoring opportunities out of TOs. I said we are the worst team I've ever seen at inbounding the ball. Most of the time we don't even try anything or there is no play called to get the ball in, everyone just stands around until the guy decides who to try to lob it to. It's unbelievably bad.
 




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