David Mutaf

[cjbfbp]

Just doesn't make sense to do something stupid like that. Especially when you have to win games in order to save your job.

Why not? Pitino insisted on using two players to get the ball safely up the court because neither one of them was a good enough ball handler to trust against defensive pressure instead of giving Isaiah Washington any playing time at all in the latter part of his soph year. Washington had his flaws but he was clearly the team's best ball handler. It's telling that when Pitino finally put him in games at the end of the season, he felt no need to provide another player to assist him in that task.

Pitino was a stubborn jerk.

 

[cjbfbp]

The coaches aren't using 9 minutes of garbage time to evaluate the player.

I wasn't referring to the coaches. I was referring to fans who were implying they could spot a player's significant defensive deficiencies under those circumstances.

But, if you're asking whether I have much respect in Pitino's judgement, the answer is "no" and, frankly, I don't know why anyone should after 8 years of evidence. I'm also less than confident that Pitino would have listened to his assistant coaches very often if he had a contrary view.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Why not? Pitino insisted on using two players to get the ball safely up the court because neither one of them was a good enough ball handler to trust against defensive pressure instead of giving Isaiah Washington any playing time at all in the latter part of his soph year. Washington had his flaws but he was clearly the team's best ball handler. It's telling that when Pitino finally put him in games at the end of the season, he felt no need to provide another player to assist him in that task.

Pitino was a stubborn jerk.

Isaiah Washington who is now on his 3rd college team? I looked at that 2018-19 roster. If you make Washington the primary point guard on that team it means taking one of the following out of the starting lineup - Oturu, Murphy, Gabe (when he could still shoot), Coffey, or McBrayer....

Washington was clearly a selfish player who was out for himself. He might have been the best ball handler of that group but he wasn't the best point guard option.

Pitino made mistakes, lots of them, but I am still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when it came to deploying the players he had at his disposal.

 

[cjbfbp]

Washington was clearly a selfish player who was out for himself. He might have been the best ball handler of that group but he wasn't the best point guard option.

That first sentence is your bias showing. Washington had by far the highest assist percentage on the team during his soph year (34.2%). The next highest was our de facto point guard Coffey at 19.8%. His freshman year percentage was #2 on the team just very slightly below Mason's.

Washington was a lousy shooter, a poor finisher, and not a particularly good defender (although I didn't think his defense was as bad as the Pitino apologists always maintained) but he was a willing passer as well as a very good ball handler. He was one of the few guards on the team who actively would try to set up Bakary and Hurt and when he succeeded it looked great.

If you're going to argue with me, then try to come up with something a little better than the usual homespun, pedestrian, knee-jerk beliefs. I can swat those down like slow moving flies.

 

[GFBfan]

Hey, don’t knock those crushes. My 5th grade crush was eventually voted Best Looking in her senior class. Mutaf would have been a starter by February. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little.

Which part the 5th grade crush being best looking or Mutaf starting?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

That first sentence is your bias showing. Washington had by far the highest assist percentage on the team during his soph year (34.2%). The next highest was our de facto point guard Coffey at 19.8%. His freshman year percentage was #2 on the team just very slightly below Mason's.

Washington was a lousy shooter, a poor finisher, and not a particularly good defender (although I didn't think his defense was as bad as the Pitino apologists always maintained) but he was a willing passer as well as a very good ball handler. He was one of the few guards on the team who actively would try to set up Bakary and Hurt and when he succeeded it looked great.

If you're going to argue with me, then try to come up with something a little better than the usual homespun, pedestrian, knee-jerk beliefs. I can swat those down like slow moving flies.

#1: Assists are not a good stat in determining if a player plays selfishly. Guys that play hero ball and then dish at the last second often have high assist numbers. They are still a black hole on offense. That said, I'm not going to go out of my way to blame Washington for that's clearly how Pitino likes his PGs to play.

#2: Washington (IMO) was one of the worst defenders I've seen. He lacked the athleticism to challenge (same reason he couldn't finish at the rim) and he seemed to get lost. He was such a liability defensively that I don't think Pitino could afford to play him. This was a bigger issue than his inability to shoot/finish.

 

[cjbfbp]

#1: Assists are not a good stat in determining if a player plays selfishly. Guys that play hero ball and then dish at the last second often have high assist numbers. They are still a black hole on offense. That said, I'm not going to go out of my way to blame Washington for that's clearly how Pitino likes his PGs to play.

#2: Washington (IMO) was one of the worst defenders I've seen. He lacked the athleticism to challenge (same reason he couldn't finish at the rim) and he seemed to get lost. He was such a liability defensively that I don't think Pitino could afford to play him. This was a bigger issue than his inability to shoot/finish.

You're correct that he wasn't a great athlete and that hampered him on both ends of the court but I think he concentrated more on playing defense after his first year here.

He was not "a black hole on offense." He was a willing passer. Since you're a conservative, I suspect part of you just doesn't like "his type."

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Which likely means he’s 5 years younger than the other guys. Couldn’t possibly improve or even blow up to be a sensation.

Not all guys there are 24. That’s foolish. And he definitely could but I’ll be you whatever you want that he never becomes “a sensation”

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

You're correct that he wasn't a great athlete and that hampered him on both ends of the court but I think he concentrated more on playing defense after his first year here.

He was not "a black hole on offense." He was a willing passer. Since you're a conservative, I suspect part of you just doesn't like "his type."

He was atrocious on defense.

His "type"? If you're going to accuse me of being a racist because I don't think he was a good basketball player, you should at least have the balls to say it.

BTW, since you're screaming progressive who looks for race in everything, i'll help you with reading comprehension. I said I blamed Pitino for him being a black hole on offense (I didn't even blame him!), Pitino did the same thing with every PG we has under him. He likes super high usage PGs (ie "blackholes"). I know you needed to invoke race and politics into an otherwise civil conversation because logic isn't your thing. But just a touch of reading comprehension would go a long way.

PS: I also blamed Pitino for hurting Amir's draft stock. I blamed Pitino (partially) for Gabe's shooting woes. It sounds to me like the "type" you should be insinuating that I don't like is what? Italian?

 

[Some guy]

As touched on in another thread, Mutaf is currently playing in one of the Spanish pro leagues on a team located in the Canary Islands. In an admittedly small sample size (6 games) he is averaging 23 minutes and 12.2 points per game, shooting 48 percent from 2-point range and a team-leading 50 percent (12-24) from 3-point range. Keep in mind that the FIBA 3-point line is 1.4 feet further from the basket than the NCAA line (0.9 feet further from the corner).

Mutaf was recruited to the Gophers based on his shooting abilities particularly from 3-point range. On a team whose glaring weakness was 3-point shooting, I have a hard time understanding why Mutaf barely saw any playing time - no wonder why he got frustrated and decided to move on - an opportunity lost for the Gophers.

He might have been a shit practice player who made Pitino not want to play him.
he might have violated team rules.

We don’t see every day. I wish he worked out. I’ll never blame a coach for not playing a guy who I haven’t seen at practice. Because I just don’t know the whole story.

 

[cjbfbp]

He was atrocious on defense.

His "type"? If you're going to accuse me of being a racist because I don't think he was a good basketball player, you should at least have the balls to say it.

BTW, since you're screaming progressive who looks for race in everything, i'll help you with reading comprehension. I said I blamed Pitino for him being a black hole on offense (I didn't even blame him!), Pitino did the same thing with every PG we has under him. He likes super high usage PGs (ie "blackholes"). I know you needed to invoke race and politics into an otherwise civil conversation because logic isn't your thing. But just a touch of reading comprehension would go a long way.

PS: I also blamed Pitino for hurting Amir's draft stock. I blamed Pitino (partially) for Gabe's shooting woes. It sounds to me like the "type" you should be insinuating that I don't like is what? Italian?

Well, thanks for the clarification then but I think you give yourself too much credit for "civility."

 

[Chico Gopher]

He might have been a shit practice player who made Pitino not want to play him.
he might have violated team rules.

We don’t see every day. I wish he worked out. I’ll never blame a coach for not playing a guy who I haven’t seen at practice. Because I just don’t know the whole story.

Usually what happens before, during and after practice/film sessions/voluntary work-outs ect. has a lot more to do with playing time than a lot of people think. I've watched some pretty good players lose minutes and/or eventually leave because they were hurting/not following the culture/team concepts the coach was trying to create for the group. The idea being, if you show everyday in practice that you can't or won't do things the way we need them done to make our team better, you won't play much.

I have no idea if that was the case in this particular situation, because, as you pointed out, I never saw how he practiced and trained. I'm just saying that a lot of coaches feel what you do in practice is what you'll do (or not do) in an actual game.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Usually what happens before, during and after practice/film sessions/voluntary work-outs ect. has a lot more to do with playing time than a lot of people think. I've watched some pretty good players lose minutes and/or eventually leave because they were hurting/not following the culture/team concepts the coach was trying to create for the group. The idea being, if you show everyday in practice that you can't or won't do things the way we need them done to make our team better, you won't play much.

I have no idea if that was the case in this particular situation, because, as you pointed out, I never saw how he practiced and trained. I'm just saying that a lot of coaches feel what you do in practice is what you'll do (or not do) in an actual game.

I think this is probably the right answer. Even though I think Mutaf should have gotten more PT, he also looked to be about 10-15 lbs overweight. I have no idea if he was a hard worker or any of that stuff, but he didn't look like a person who worked out super hard.