Anybody listening to the Pitino show?


This is pathetic. Posts like this will keep the Gophers down. Why can't we be a consistent winning program. The team to our East has and is a consistent winner and it makes me SICK to my stomach that post like this are on this site. We should be a winning program that wins the right way with good student athletes that stay out of trouble and maybe we should get some of the GOOD Minnesota high school kids to play for the Gophers. People that post this stuff should be banned. Let's have the gophers bb team make us proud consitently.

Pathetic & sick to your stomach, seriously? I just laid it out that less than half the teams (6) in the Big 10 have made it to the NCAA 3 out of the last 5 years.

Reach THAT goal and as I said, I would change my expectation. 3 of 5 at least gives a team consistent opportunities in the big dance.

Walk before you run.
 

Giving reasons why a team is losing is not the same thing as making excuses
 

Making excuses just makes the coach look small. I know coaches want to defend their programs but fans are aware of the situation, no need to always bring it up. Gophers have a proud tradition of excuse making including Jerry Kill referring to injuries every other sentence and PJ with year zero.
 
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This is pathetic. Posts like this will keep the Gophers down. Why can't we be a consistent winning program. The team to our East has and is a consistent winner and it makes me SICK to my stomach that post like this are on this site. We should be a winning program that wins the right way with good student athletes that stay out of trouble and maybe we should get some of the GOOD Minnesota high school kids to play for the Gophers. People that post this stuff should be banned. Let's have the gophers bb team make us proud consitently.
BMF- The best thing fans can do is to support the program through thick and thin. The AD knows what our options are and he will make the best decision he can based on all of the information at hand. What if he decides to keep Pitino? Then are the fans that are angry helping the program? Is it creating a positive attitude in the community to complain all year long and quit on the coach and team? You want a guy banned for saying let's start by making the NCAAs 3 out of 5 years and then up the goals from there? Wow! I think that is pretty reasonable considering program history.

I expect that Pitino will probably be fired at the end of the year. I hope that we nail it with the replacement if that happens and if so we might be back in business in short order. Usually, however, that is not the case. Nebraska, Indiana and OSU are examples of what switching coaches looks like and two of those programs are on far more sound footing historically than we are. What happens around here is that people give the coach a year or two of grace. But if things are not looking great by year three, then the next coach is back on the hot seat and we start the cycle again. It just isn't easy.
 

For my money, Fleck highlights Pitino's biggest shortcoming: the apparent lack of situational coaching. I don't see basketball players who "choke," I see players who have been poorly prepared at how to execute during crunch time. Players who don't attack the full-court press that everyone knows is coming, instead they simply try to survive the press.

Fleck on the other hand, has made a point of working on situational football: short-yardage plays, 3rd-and-long plays, etc. And it shows, his players don't choke, they execute in those situations, because they've been prepared to do it.

I think the U can do better.
I am a PJ fan but we could have easily been 0-3 at the start of last year against teams we were supposed to win easily. We were not executing very well in those games. Sure we ended up 10-2 for the regular season but we had a fairly soft conference schedule. As for players not choking what about the dropped pass in Iowa that cost us the game. Kind of like a missed free throw I guess. Point is if we had lost those first three games you guys would have dropped your oars and jumped out of the boat. I would also say we did not execute very well against Wisconsin which was a game we should have been really pumped up for. PJ has a defense to rebuild this year. I hope he gets the job done.
 

For my money, Fleck highlights Pitino's biggest shortcoming: the apparent lack of situational coaching. I don't see basketball players who "choke," I see players who have been poorly prepared at how to execute during crunch time. Players who don't attack the full-court press that everyone knows is coming, instead they simply try to survive the press.

Fleck on the other hand, has made a point of working on situational football: short-yardage plays, 3rd-and-long plays, etc. And it shows, his players don't choke, they execute in those situations, because they've been prepared to do it.

I think the U can do better.
He also has the option to punt in those situations. :p
 

We suck. But we were expected to suck! Four more years!
I know, right?

This is what the Pitino bobos are reduced to: somehow the fact we were expected to suck in year 7 is actually a reason to keep the man.
 



I think it is better than 50/50 that he gets fired, but I still like him and I still think he could be successful here or elsewhere. I see no reason for people to hate on him like we see here. I see nothing that is evidence of a lack of work ethic or that he has lost the players. I think that what he has done with this squad, based on what people thought going into the year (down year/dumpster fire) after Coffey left, has been a pretty good coaching job and perhaps a half dozen free throws and made Gabe 3's from it being a great year.

Those who have been decent about it and are just ready for a new guy...I have no beef with those people. As you say, arguments can be made both ways.

#1 problem right now is perception of fans and recruits, not his ability. If he keeps the job it has to be because he convinces Coyle he is in good shape to keep and sign the help needed to win next year. If he can't show that to Coyle convincingly, I think that Coyle probably has to move on because Pitino would be lame duck all next year if he isn't able to land good players in the spring who can help right away.
If he has a winning year next year, I think that the corner is turned and he is off the hot seat. Hot seat coaching is tough.
Agree on the hate but know that there is a wide perception among basketball folks and recruits that are not impressed in anyway by his coaching. You do understand that only a select few are gifted teachers and great coaches that surpass him in every way.
 

Would we be any better with Curry? He always limped around.. every succesful program has athletes leaving early.. Look at Virginia and TTU this year..
Umm. I think you could pick better examples to prove your point.
Both teams took significant steps back due to early departures.
 

Agree on the hate but know that there is a wide perception among basketball folks and recruits that are not impressed in anyway by his coaching. You do understand that only a select few are gifted teachers and great coaches that surpass him in every way.
So does that mean 75 percent of coaches don’t impress recruits with their teaching and coaching. Or does it mean Pitino is in a select group of coaches who are not respected?
 

What did you think they would finish this year?

Progress isn't linear. Year One < Year Two < Year Three < Year Four < Year Five < Year Six < Year Seven
Doesn't work that way.

Virginia/North Carolina/Texas Tech/Michigan State/Purdue/many others will all finish lower this year than last. None of them forgot how to coach. Not trying to compare us to them. Clearly their peaks have been higher than ours.
Some of those programs have had higher lows than our highs. That is why so many are disappointed as we have been mediocre or worse for a very long time. The other issue is simply opinions on what great is, what good is, what is average and what is terrible.
 



The only thing I'd say about this is that I think a coach in college basketball can change everything. I understand the program as a whole over the past 20 years hasn't been good but it literally is all about coaching. You bring in the right guy and you could jump Iowa and Wisconsin in a couple years consistently.
This isn't in total disagreement of what you're saying, I just think a coach has that big of impact.
Great post. It is everything. The programs that were garbage like ours turned it around by hiring great coaches.
 

Umm. I think you could pick better examples to prove your point.
Both teams took significant steps back due to early departures.
UVA took a big step back all the way to 13-5. They have a offense ranked in the 200's after losing 3 tremendous shooters by playing out of this world defense that is stressed everyday in a way that is very detailed and difficult to get buy ins. They are fully loaded with development and recruiting for the next several years as they identified tremendous fits and talent in the next class and sit great with the following one. They instilled a identity day one. Beard has done the same thing.
 

Agree on the hate but know that there is a wide perception among basketball folks and recruits that are not impressed in anyway by his coaching. You do understand that only a select few are gifted teachers and great coaches that surpass him in every way.
Getting one of the select few is the tricky bit, eh. I'm in. Lay those names on us....the available ones.
 

Getting one of the select few is the tricky bit, eh. I'm in. Lay those names on us....the available ones.
When the season is over i will give a few names of guys that i think will deliver consistent over .500 conference records. There is no one who can promise a Bennett, Beard or Wright. There are dozen that will do more in 7 years that what has been done here.
 

Pathetic and gutless........Making excuses again about youth and Coffey leaving, Curry hurt.....Blaming free throws.....Taking no blame for his lack of coaching execution.....7 years in and he is still a joke.
gangstas are dimwits.. this post is more evidence of such
 

I have a hard time listening to Pitino anymore and I feel like those that really enjoy his personality really only have experience with his blogs and his Twitter game. My biggest objection to the way he answers questions is he never has acknowledged how fortunate he is to still have this job. He's much like Glen Mason in that respect (only this respect) in that he feels like he's somehow entitled to keep the job regardless of his performance. There have plenty of times during his tenure where something like "Look, I know I haven't gotten you the results here, I know I would have been fired at most other jobs, and I am appreciative of getting another chance". Instead what we get is the constant "I don't want to make excuses but..."

Some things he's said on his coaches show before:

- Insinuated that Gaston Diedhiou would make a signifcant difference AS A FRESHMAN when he wasn't cleared to play early in his tenure. We believed him here and people were putting pressure on the AD to clear Gaston.

- When his 2nd year was falling apart and the Gophers were underachieving. He said that Seniors were "weird" in response to why some of his players had regressed.

- After a failed 2nd year would claim that he told the AD that the 3rd year would be bad. People, at the time, actually bought that an AD would be ok with a coach taking over a program that had been to 3 of the last 5 tournaments missing the tournament in his first 2 years and then following up with one of the worst seasons in program history in year 3...because of the previous coaches recruiting failures? Pitino would have had 3 recruiting classes to get ready for year 3, but clearly a disaster was just destiny.

- Suggested that it was important in the B1G to "get old" and "stay old" during the terrible year 3. This was after declaring that Seniors were "weird" and a reason for the underachievement in year 2.

- Called Lynch and Fitzgerald "future pros" while sitting out that terrible 3rd year. Frequently suggested Fitzgerald was the best player on the team. It's entirely possible that Fitzgerald's final knee injury robbed him of a ton of potential, but did he really go from best on the team to virtually unplayable? Possible, but not likely.

- Constantly brought up the facilities and in particular the lack of a practice facility for his first 3 years as a big reason for his recruiting struggles.

- Talked about "treating scholarships like gold". Since that time he used a scholarship on Stockman for 2 years, didn't move off Konate, Diedhiou, or Hurt, has only once filled all his scholarships, took chances on extremely low rated recruits Freeman and Greenlee late in the Spring, etc, etc.

- Takes no responsibility for year 5 and suggests it was going to be a great year. Doesn't acknowledge that they were underachieving prior to losing anyone (losses to Miami, Nebraska, and Arkansas). He lost to Indiana at home when he had everyone but Lynch. He lost to a 6-12 Northwestern team twice, he lost to a 4-14 Iowa team, and then a 3-15 Rutgers team. He had a returning 1st team All B1G point guard Nate Mason and a Junior Jordan Murphy all year. Wisconsin had Ethan Happ and their second best player was a freshman Brad Davison. They had walk-ons in their rotation due to guard injuries and were on a much lower tier than Minnesota to start the year. They still managed 7 B1G wins. This season, like season 2, was a clear underachievement in record no matter how you look at it.

- Has changed his tune on the practice facility and says that it doesn't really help at all with out of state kids and helps more with the in-state kids who were aware that "we" didn't have it and others did.

- Talks about how "young" they are this year, but never acknowledges his losing record the year before with 4 Seniors and a Junior Amir Coffey. Which is it coach? Losses on the road that year to Rutgers and a Nebraska team that was every bit as depleted as Pitino's year 5 team was.

- Doesn't acknowledge that the "youth" on this team doesn't contribute. His 4 freshman have done next to nothing except for Ihnen flashing some over the last few games. Illinois' 3 best players are a Sophomore, another Sophomore, and a Freshman. A number of teams ahead of him in the strandings have a Freshman or Freshmen contributing to their success.

-Talks about how tough it is to win on the road in the B1G, but never acknowledges how poor his HOME record is. If you want to be excused for your road record, you better not drop your home games. Gophers are just 5-4 in home conference games this year.

- Consistently mentions Amir Coffey leaving as an excuse for the poor performance this year. Ryan James had a fantastic article listing all the schools that lost a guy early after last year. Michigan lost two, Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa off the top of my head. Rutgers lost there top scorer and rebounder to transfer.

-Brings up the Eric Curry injury as an excuse for the poor performance this year. Once again a list could be made of players that were lost to injury this year around the conference and you will see that well over half the conference has lost a player at least as impactful as Eric Curry if not significantly more so. There's no acknowledgment that this year's team has been remarkably healthy: No missed games for Marcus, Daniel, or Gabe.

These are just the things I remember off the top of my head. He consistently says things that fit the narrative of whatever he wants you (the listener) to believe at the time.
 

Preach EG#9, preach brother!!
 

Pitino is safe. He should and will be back next year.

How many of you jokers predicted that we would be a better team than we are with all the youth? Not trying to count moral victories , but we have let a lot of games slip out of our hands that we should of won and would have won if not for young player mistakes. Of course Pitino is responsible for the performance of his team, but you guys are all talking like we had a final four team going into the season and he messed it up.
 

I have a hard time listening to Pitino anymore and I feel like those that really enjoy his personality really only have experience with his blogs and his Twitter game. My biggest objection to the way he answers questions is he never has acknowledged how fortunate he is to still have this job. He's much like Glen Mason in that respect (only this respect) in that he feels like he's somehow entitled to keep the job regardless of his performance. There have plenty of times during his tenure where something like "Look, I know I haven't gotten you the results here, I know I would have been fired at most other jobs, and I am appreciative of getting another chance". Instead what we get is the constant "I don't want to make excuses but..."

Some things he's said on his coaches show before:

- Insinuated that Gaston Diedhiou would make a signifcant difference AS A FRESHMAN when he wasn't cleared to play early in his tenure. We believed him here and people were putting pressure on the AD to clear Gaston.

- When his 2nd year was falling apart and the Gophers were underachieving. He said that Seniors were "weird" in response to why some of his players had regressed.

- After a failed 2nd year would claim that he told the AD that the 3rd year would be bad. People, at the time, actually bought that an AD would be ok with a coach taking over a program that had been to 3 of the last 5 tournaments missing the tournament in his first 2 years and then following up with one of the worst seasons in program history in year 3...because of the previous coaches recruiting failures? Pitino would have had 3 recruiting classes to get ready for year 3, but clearly a disaster was just destiny.

- Suggested that it was important in the B1G to "get old" and "stay old" during the terrible year 3. This was after declaring that Seniors were "weird" and a reason for the underachievement in year 2.

- Called Lynch and Fitzgerald "future pros" while sitting out that terrible 3rd year. Frequently suggested Fitzgerald was the best player on the team. It's entirely possible that Fitzgerald's final knee injury robbed him of a ton of potential, but did he really go from best on the team to virtually unplayable? Possible, but not likely.

- Constantly brought up the facilities and in particular the lack of a practice facility for his first 3 years as a big reason for his recruiting struggles.

- Talked about "treating scholarships like gold". Since that time he used a scholarship on Stockman for 2 years, didn't move off Konate, Diedhiou, or Hurt, has only once filled all his scholarships, took chances on extremely low rated recruits Freeman and Greenlee late in the Spring, etc, etc.

- Takes no responsibility for year 5 and suggests it was going to be a great year. Doesn't acknowledge that they were underachieving prior to losing anyone (losses to Miami, Nebraska, and Arkansas). He lost to Indiana at home when he had everyone but Lynch. He lost to a 6-12 Northwestern team twice, he lost to a 4-14 Iowa team, and then a 3-15 Rutgers team. He had a returning 1st team All B1G point guard Nate Mason and a Junior Jordan Murphy all year. Wisconsin had Ethan Happ and their second best player was a freshman Brad Davison. They had walk-ons in their rotation due to guard injuries and were on a much lower tier than Minnesota to start the year. They still managed 7 B1G wins. This season, like season 2, was a clear underachievement in record no matter how you look at it.

- Has changed his tune on the practice facility and says that it doesn't really help at all with out of state kids and helps more with the in-state kids who were aware that "we" didn't have it and others did.

- Talks about how "young" they are this year, but never acknowledges his losing record the year before with 4 Seniors and a Junior Amir Coffey. Which is it coach? Losses on the road that year to Rutgers and a Nebraska team that was every bit as depleted as Pitino's year 5 team was.

- Doesn't acknowledge that the "youth" on this team doesn't contribute. His 4 freshman have done next to nothing except for Ihnen flashing some over the last few games. Illinois' 3 best players are a Sophomore, another Sophomore, and a Freshman. A number of teams ahead of him in the strandings have a Freshman or Freshmen contributing to their success.

-Talks about how tough it is to win on the road in the B1G, but never acknowledges how poor his HOME record is. If you want to be excused for your road record, you better not drop your home games. Gophers are just 5-4 in home conference games this year.

- Consistently mentions Amir Coffey leaving as an excuse for the poor performance this year. Ryan James had a fantastic article listing all the schools that lost a guy early after last year. Michigan lost two, Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa off the top of my head. Rutgers lost there top scorer and rebounder to transfer.

-Brings up the Eric Curry injury as an excuse for the poor performance this year. Once again a list could be made of players that were lost to injury this year around the conference and you will see that well over half the conference has lost a player at least as impactful as Eric Curry if not significantly more so. There's no acknowledgment that this year's team has been remarkably healthy: No missed games for Marcus, Daniel, or Gabe.

These are just the things I remember off the top of my head. He consistently says things that fit the narrative of whatever he wants you (the listener) to believe at the time.
I don't hear the same things that you claim to hear. He has repeatedly been appreciative of getting a P5 job very early in his career.
 

Pitino is safe. He should and will be back next year.

How many of you jokers predicted that we would be a better team than we are with all the youth? Not trying to count moral victories , but we have let a lot of games slip out of our hands that we should of won and would have won if not for young player mistakes. Of course Pitino is responsible for the performance of his team, but you guys are all talking like we had a final four team going into the season and he messed it up.
This is the lamest excuse possible. "We cant hold him responsible for this **** year, in year 7, because he has a ****** team and we should have expected ****** results."

Good lord, what drivel. His job is safe forever I guess, because he'll have teams nobody expects anything from. And by gosh, he'll deliver exactly that!
 

So does that mean 75 percent of coaches don’t impress recruits with their teaching and coaching. Or does it mean Pitino is in a select group of coaches who are not respected?
No idea what it means about the 75% you speak of.
 

Pitino is safe. He should and will be back next year.

How many of you jokers predicted that we would be a better team than we are with all the youth?

The starting five isn't young. Pitino recruited projects for his bench.
 


The starting five isn't young. Pitino recruited projects for his bench.
The real starting 5 going forward is Soph, Soph, Jr, Frosh, Soph. That's young. Oturu feels old because it feels like he is gone after this year. But the team is young.
 

The real starting 5 going forward is Soph, Soph, Jr, Frosh, Soph. That's young. Oturu feels old because it feels like he is gone after this year. But the team is young.
The starters have played more than enough minutes of D1 basketball. It is not a young starting group.
 

The real starting 5 going forward is Soph, Soph, Jr, Frosh, Soph. That's young. Oturu feels old because it feels like he is gone after this year. But the team is young.

A point guard in his third year. A shooting guard in his fourth year. Two sophomores playing 34 minutes a game. And up til now a grad transfer. That ain't young.
 

The real starting 5 going forward is Soph, Soph, Jr, Frosh, Soph. That's young. Oturu feels old because it feels like he is gone after this year. But the team is young.
BGA, the real starting 5 going forward? Seems very disingenuous. The team has basically started two 4th year players, one 3rd year player and two second year players. That is not young. Besides that, roster management is on the coach anyway. Has the coach prepared the team for next year in the event Oturu leaves? I am big on facts and honest discussion, not hyperbole and "what ifs".
 




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