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This years team can be summed up by Carr not being quite as polished as thought (or I thought). He has shown flashes and I think that he will get better as this year progresses, but I am looking forward to next year, after he and numerous other teammates have a year of significant BIG basketball playing time under their belt. The PF position and free throw shooting is hurting them. Boxing out seems to be an issue this year. This year is by no means a throw away but I see potential and improving throughout the year and hitting stride in January.
 

The recruiting base has never been this consistently strong, the results don't match the talent base of this state. An inflation factor needs to be accounted for when comparing Pitino B1G records to those from 20-30 years ago.
 

Now with the large roster turnover, Pitino has recruited a team of young, athletic and defensive minded players that can finally play the style that he has always wanted to play.

The team Pitino recruited might be young but I would say that is debatable as there are plenty of players who have played a number of minutes.

They are nowhere near what anyone would or should call an athletic team.

I guess the style Pitino has always wanted to play involves a bunch of dribbling without any drives to the basket and jacking up 3s late in the shot clock.
 

The team Pitino recruited might be young but I would say that is debatable as there are plenty of players who have played a number of minutes.

They are nowhere near what anyone would or should call an athletic team.

I guess the style Pitino has always wanted to play involves a bunch of dribbling without any drives to the basket and jacking up 3s late in the shot clock.
I don't understand why we haven't had a solid PG since, Minneapolis native, Al Nolen. If it wasn't for Al's injury his Senior year, we would be talking about him as an all time Gopher great.
 

I don't understand why we haven't had a solid PG since, Minneapolis native, Al Nolen. If it wasn't for Al's injury his Senior year, we would be talking about him as an all time Gopher great.
Matthieu was pretty good.
 


I don't understand why we haven't had a solid PG since, Minneapolis native, Al Nolen. If it wasn't for Al's injury his Senior year, we would be talking about him as an all time Gopher great.
First
 


I liked both. Mason was more of a 2 guard and Matthieu had a good junior year but neither come close to what Nolan was before he got injured as far as the drive and dish to a big guy or an open three. Plus his Defense was way better than either.
 

I liked both. Mason was more of a 2 guard and Matthieu had a good junior year but neither come close to what Nolan was before he got injured as far as the drive and dish to a big guy or an open three. Plus his Defense was way better than either.
Nate was a point guard, 1st team all big10. That’s a fact.
 



I still am on board too. Have been for awhile. Will be off if they are terrible this year. Just don’t think they will be and he will earn an NCAA tourney bid and more time. You’re right on being more efficient offensively. I don’t see that yet, but I’ve seen marketable improvement in the defensive end
I'd like to share your optimism, but they're already up against it to make the NCAA's. We're staring at a 6-4 non-conference at best, which means we'll have to go 12-6 or 13-7 in B1G to make the NCAA's. I don't see us coming anywhere close to that.

If this season ends up 12-18 or so like I expect, Pitino needs to go. 35 games under .500 in conference play and 2 NCAA's in 7 years is not good enough. Period.
 

I don't understand why we haven't had a solid PG since, Minneapolis native, Al Nolen. If it wasn't for Al's injury his Senior year, we would be talking about him as an all time Gopher great.
Just ok in my book. Poor shot, really good defender. Better point guards left the state.
 

Just ok in my book. Poor shot, really good defender. Better point guards left the state.
Then we might have watched from a different point of view. The Gophers won the stacked Atlantis Bahamas tourney when Nolan was a SR (mostly due to his play) and then he got injured a couple games after that. They beat Wisconsin several time in his tenure, when the Badgers were really good. I have watched every gopher game since 2008 and he was the most impressive PG we have had since then.
 

I'd like to share your optimism, but they're already up against it to make the NCAA's. We're staring at a 6-4 non-conference at best, which means we'll have to go 12-8 or 13-7 in B1G to make the NCAA's. I don't see us coming anywhere close to that.

If this season ends up 12-18 or so like I expect, Pitino needs to go. 35 games under .500 in conference play and 2 NCAA's in 7 years is not good enough. Period.

I don't disagree and am disappointed they didn't win tonight. Turnovers were a killer to me. Take those out and then free throws and the other crap doesn't matter. I do believe this team can go 12-8 in the big ten. I see 4 guaranteed losses to OSU and MSU (Although they seem vulnerable) and I think Michigan (1 game) is almost in that group. Maryland still doesn't do a ton for me and I believe we can play with them and beat them. Otherwise I watched Iowa play twice and they don't scare me (one was a win against TT.) yet, Purdue doesn't scare me yet, Illinois, PSU, or Wisconsin are all beatable if we figure it out offensively.

Offensively I don't think the adjustments are major. I think making sure Oturo gets more touches is crucial. I also think we are very poor moving without the ball when he gets it. Too many times we do not find him a passing lane when everybody is going all in on a double in the post. I think relocating to the corners instead of clearing may be beneficial until teams stop going all in on their double. I also think that creates inside out threes. I also think as many has mentioned in the ball stops too often. We become too stagnant and allow the defense to recover. A lot of our offense is off reads and I do think this will improve the more these guys play together.

I've said it enough times as a relatively strong Pitino supporter on here. I expect this team to not be like some of the other down years. I think this team can and will defend and they need to rely on that as being their identity. Offensively I think we are seeing their worst. If I'm wrong and we go .500 in the B10 I'm all for changing staffs and that includes losing Mashburn and Mitchell too. That stuff doesn't bother me.
 
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I liked both. Mason was more of a 2 guard and Matthieu had a good junior year but neither come close to what Nolan was before he got injured as far as the drive and dish to a big guy or an open three. Plus his Defense was way better than either.

Didn't Al miss time for academic issues too? He was a plus defender, but offensively he was rough and would sadly be more exposed in todays game.
 

I liked both. Mason was more of a 2 guard and Matthieu had a good junior year but neither come close to what Nolan was before he got injured as far as the drive and dish to a big guy or an open three. Plus his Defense was way better than either.
Why are you making Al Nolan out to be some stud PG? He was an above average defender with decent rim finishing and a mediocre jump shot. Give me 1st Team B1G Nate Mason any day of the week over Al Nolan.

Saying Mason wasn't a PG is laughable...
 

Why are you making Al Nolan out to be some stud PG? He was an above average defender with decent rim finishing and a mediocre jump shot. Give me 1st Team B1G Nate Mason any day of the week over Al Nolan.

Saying Mason wasn't a PG is laughable...
. Nolan actually had trouble finishing at the rim. He was a decent point guard when he played. Had injuries and academic issues. Better than Carr so far I would say
 

I don't disagree and am disappointed they didn't win tonight. Turnovers were a killer to me. Take those out and then free throws and the other crap doesn't matter. I do believe this team can go 12-6 in the big ten. I see 4 guaranteed losses to OSU and MSU (Although they seem vulnerable) and I think Michigan (1 game) is almost in that group. Maryland still doesn't do a ton for me and I believe we can play with them and beat them. Otherwise I watched Iowa play twice and they don't scare me (one was a win against TT.) yet, Purdue doesn't scare me yet, Illinois, PSU, or Wisconsin are all beatable if we figure it out offensively.

Offensively I don't think the adjustments are major. I think making sure Oturo gets more touches is crucial. I also think we are very poor moving without the ball when he gets it. Too many times we do not find him a passing lane when everybody is going all in on a double in the post. I think relocating to the corners instead of clearing may be beneficial until teams stop going all in on their double. I also think that creates inside out threes. I also think as many has mentioned in the ball stops too often. We become too stagnant and allow the defense to recover. A lot of our offense is off reads and I do think this will improve the more these guys play together.

I've said it enough times as a relatively strong Pitino supporter on here. I expect this team to not be like some of the other down years. I think this team can and will defend and they need to rely on that as being their identity. Offensively I think we are seeing their worst. If I'm wrong and we go .500 in the B10 I'm all for changing staffs and that includes losing Mashburn and Mitchell too. That stuff doesn't bother me.
This post is mind bending. First, they play 20 games. Second, do you realize that they went 9-11 last year and made the NCAAs, which amounted to the second best season under this coaching regime? If this team gets anywhere near .500 it'll be a better conference season than last year and a miraculous recovery from how good they are right now. Oh, and the conference schedule begins a week from Monday. So, we're going to start winning games against high-major competition at a .667 clip, starting in just over a week, after not winning even one so far in four tries, after going .364 over the past 6 years under this leadership? Optimism is one thing, but this is something else.
 

I'd like to share your optimism, but they're already up against it to make the NCAA's. We're staring at a 6-4 non-conference at best, which means we'll have to go 12-6 or 13-7 in B1G to make the NCAA's. I don't see us coming anywhere close to that.

If this season ends up 12-18 or so like I expect, Pitino needs to go. 35 games under .500 in conference play and 2 NCAA's in 7 years is not good enough. Period.

I have the same expectation for the season: 12-18. I think we may beat Clemson (long and athletic but not that great) but will lose to OK State and finish 5-5 in non conference. There are enough issues among the bottom six of the Big Ten that we can possibly pull out 7 wins if we add a surprise win or two from the rest. Chances are we'll have two or three games where we hit a lot of threes and win. Of course, we could win fewer conference games than that (we only play Nebraska and Rutgers once).

If we finish anything like 12-18 and Pitino isn't fired I'm going to be really disgusted.
 

This post is mind bending. First, they play 20 games. Second, do you realize that they went 9-11 last year and made the NCAAs, which amounted to the second best season under this coaching regime? If this team gets anywhere near .500 it'll be a better conference season than last year and a miraculous recovery from how good they are right now. Oh, and the conference schedule begins a week from Monday. So, we're going to start winning games against high-major competition at a .667 clip, starting in just over a week, after not winning even one so far in four tries, after going .364 over the past 6 years under this leadership? Optimism is one thing, but this is something else.
It could happen, but the team will need to cut out the pre-game drinking at Sally’s
 

I don't disagree and am disappointed they didn't win tonight. Turnovers were a killer to me. Take those out and then free throws and the other crap doesn't matter. I do believe this team can go 12-6 in the big ten. I see 4 guaranteed losses to OSU and MSU (Although they seem vulnerable) and I think Michigan (1 game) is almost in that group. Maryland still doesn't do a ton for me and I believe we can play with them and beat them. Otherwise I watched Iowa play twice and they don't scare me (one was a win against TT.) yet, Purdue doesn't scare me yet, Illinois, PSU, or Wisconsin are all beatable if we figure it out offensively.

.
This post is mind bending. First, they play 20 games. Second, do you realize that they went 9-11 last year and made the NCAAs, which amounted to the second best season under this coaching regime? If this team gets anywhere near .500 it'll be a better conference season than last year and a miraculous recovery from how good they are right now. Oh, and the conference schedule begins a week from Monday. So, we're going to start winning games against high-major competition at a .667 clip, starting in just over a week, after not winning even one so far in four tries, after going .364 over the past 6 years under this leadership? Optimism is one thing, but this is something else.
Yeah, wow. I agree with you. That was a very difficult post to take seriously.
 

Thanks for the answer. Do you think he is one of the best there is ? What if after 4 more years we continue the streak of never being competitive for the conference title ? For the record, i think we should compete for it this year.

What does it even mean to say that we "should" compete for it this year? Obviously that would be ideal, but no coach in the world would have a serious shot at the BT with this roster. Obviously that's on the coaching staff, but I just want to make sure you aren't implying that you think we have the roster to actually compete for the BT this year ...
 

This post is mind bending. First, they play 20 games. Second, do you realize that they went 9-11 last year and made the NCAAs, which amounted to the second best season under this coaching regime? If this team gets anywhere near .500 it'll be a better conference season than last year and a miraculous recovery from how good they are right now. Oh, and the conference schedule begins a week from Monday. So, we're going to start winning games against high-major competition at a .667 clip, starting in just over a week, after not winning even one so far in four tries, after going .364 over the past 6 years under this leadership? Optimism is one thing, but this is something else.

I've said I know I'm in the mInority. I feel the same about plenty of others posts here too when they claim the sky is falling. I don't think last years team was as great as some others. I think we are built to defend better and we'd are built to be more efficient. I explained my rationale for this year alone. Not looking at past years as I don't find them relevant. If I'm wrong I'll gladly admit I was and I will be on board with a change (something I've also said numerous times)
 


I don't disagree and am disappointed they didn't win tonight. Turnovers were a killer to me. Take those out and then free throws and the other crap doesn't matter. I do believe this team can go 12-8 in the big ten. I see 4 guaranteed losses to OSU and MSU (Although they seem vulnerable) and I think Michigan (1 game) is almost in that group. Maryland still doesn't do a ton for me and I believe we can play with them and beat them. Otherwise I watched Iowa play twice and they don't scare me (one was a win against TT.) yet, Purdue doesn't scare me yet, Illinois, PSU, or Wisconsin are all beatable if we figure it out offensively.

Offensively I don't think the adjustments are major. I think making sure Oturo gets more touches is crucial. I also think we are very poor moving without the ball when he gets it. Too many times we do not find him a passing lane when everybody is going all in on a double in the post. I think relocating to the corners instead of clearing may be beneficial until teams stop going all in on their double. I also think that creates inside out threes. I also think as many has mentioned in the ball stops too often. We become too stagnant and allow the defense to recover. A lot of our offense is off reads and I do think this will improve the more these guys play together.

I've said it enough times as a relatively strong Pitino supporter on here. I expect this team to not be like some of the other down years. I think this team can and will defend and they need to rely on that as being their identity. Offensively I think we are seeing their worst. If I'm wrong and we go .500 in the B10 I'm all for changing staffs and that includes losing Mashburn and Mitchell too. That stuff doesn't bother me.
You say there's 4 guaranteed losses but you think they'll go 12-8. So you think they'll go 12-4 in all other games? I don't see how this team is remotely capable of that. All 4 losses were against teams we can beat and we're 0-4. We're not going to flip a switch and starting winning 75% of those. We would be doing well to win half of them and go 8-12.

I also don't want to spend the season having a Pitino death watch discussion. If we don't win at least 2 of the next 4, pull the plug and let Jeter finish out.
 

What does it even mean to say that we "should" compete for it this year? Obviously that would be ideal, but no coach in the world would have a serious shot at the BT with this roster. Obviously that's on the coaching staff, but I just want to make sure you aren't implying that you think we have the roster to actually compete for the BT this year ...
Built is playing his game.
 

I've said I know I'm in the mInority. I feel the same about plenty of others posts here too when they claim the sky is falling. I don't think last years team was as great as some others. I think we are built to defend better and we'd are built to be more efficient. I explained my rationale for this year alone. Not looking at past years as I don't find them relevant. If I'm wrong I'll gladly admit I was and I will be on board with a change (something I've also said numerous times)
I really wish I could see what you see. I just don’t.
I don’t think this team wins enough to save RP.
 

I'd like to share your optimism, but they're already up against it to make the NCAA's. We're staring at a 6-4 non-conference at best, which means we'll have to go 12-6 or 13-7 in B1G to make the NCAA's. I don't see us coming anywhere close to that.

If this season ends up 12-18 or so like I expect, Pitino needs to go. 35 games under .500 in conference play and 2 NCAA's in 7 years is not good enough. Period.
You're doing it wrong. Take account for injuries and some nebulous learning curve, then declare Pitino one of the greatest gopher coaches ever.
 

You say there's 4 guaranteed losses but you think they'll go 12-8. So you think they'll go 12-4 in all other games? I don't see how this team is remotely capable of that. All 4 losses were against teams we can beat and we're 0-4. We're not going to flip a switch and starting winning 75% of those. We would be doing well to win half of them and go 8-12.

I also don't want to spend the season having a Pitino death watch discussion. If we don't win at least 2 of the next 4, pull the plug and let Jeter finish out.

I see a team that can defend and if they stop turning the ball over and have capable shooters start hitting shots that would be a very tough team to play. I also see a down Big 10. Only 4 games that I don’t think we really have a shot at. I know it’s not likely but I can see it. I respect you can’t. I also am willing to get on board of moving on if it doesn’t turn around. I’m just saying I don’t think it’s impossible like some say.
 


Do you think he is a top 50 coach ?

Other than recruiting, I do think he is a top 50 coach. Don't think there are 50 coaches who could have exceeded Pitino's performance 2016-2017 or 2018-2019. I e Do not think he is a top 50 recruiter at this point, which may be his downfall. I
 




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