Pioneer Press: Gophers coach Pitino wants a mulligan for last year

[BleedGopher]

per Greder:

After their first official practice last week, Richard Pitino offered a golf comparison for how the Gophers men's basketball coach felt about his team's prospects this season.

"So far, so good — but it's early," Pitino said. "It's the same as hitting a good drive on the range; it's not the same as the course."

Pitino learned that lesson last year as a promising 13-3 start came to a 15-17 finish. Given his and the program's success in 2016-17 — a 24-10 record and an NCAA tournament appearance — Pitino feels like a mulligan is in order.

"I love where we stand," said Pitino, the Big Ten coach of the year in 2016-17. "Two years ago, we had a terrific regular season, one of the best they've ever had. Last year, we were sitting at 13-3 after 16 games and then you know, you hear and you read things and it's, 'Oh, the bottom fell out.'

"Well, why did the bottom fall out? People who pay attention understand that, so I think that this program is really, really strong, and I like where it's going, so I think we are in great shape."

http://www.dglobe.com/sports/basketball/4506477-gophers-coach-pitino-wants-mulligan-last-year

Go Gophers!!

 

[MennoSota]

Yes, we had a number of season ending injuries and the removal of a player due to Title IV.
That does not excuse the inability of the coaching staff to make adjustments to fit the personnel. There is a reason we have a new set of assistant coaches. I hope to see a better job by our coaching staff.

 

[macgopher]

Yes, we had a number of season ending injuries and the removal of a player due to Title IV.
That does not excuse the inability of the coaching staff to make adjustments to fit the personnel. There is a reason we have a new set of assistant coaches. I hope to see a better job by our coaching staff.

I predict that we will be happily surprised this year. Maybe not so surprised. Healthy the whole year, this will be a 14-15 conference win season. Unhealthy, that I don't know.

 

[gophereric30]

Yes, we had a number of season ending injuries and the removal of a player due to Title IV.
That does not excuse the inability of the coaching staff to make adjustments to fit the personnel. There is a reason we have a new set of assistant coaches. I hope to see a better job by our coaching staff.

There is no doubt in my mind we would have made tournament without all the injuries, suspensions, etc. Are you saying that it's good that ben Johnson is gone?

 

[MennoSota]

There is no doubt in my mind we would have made tournament without all the injuries, suspensions, etc. Are you saying that it's good that ben Johnson is gone?

I'm saying our coaching staff did not do a good job adjusting game plans to the personnel they had available. I'm saying that may have lead to a coaching shake-up.
I do think our present staff is more experienced and we should see improvement in our defense as well as in game planning against our opponents.

 

[60's Guy]

I'm saying our coaching staff did not do a good job adjusting game plans to the personnel they had available. I'm saying that may have lead to a coaching shake-up.
I do think our present staff is more experienced and we should see improvement in our defense as well as in game planning against our opponents.

All that might be true but we were not left with much to game plan with last year. Hiding liabilities works in high school....not as easy in the Big Ten. Impossible to make many adjustments when the guys playing are walking wounded and can't practice...plus, trust me the thought of losing one more good player to a practice injury is terrifying...so you do lots chalkboards and walk throughs. There are tons of issues without healthy, capable, viable candidates to play. Right now we have 11 almost healthy candidates...if we remain healthy and lose....rip away but, until that happens reality is last year we had no ammunition to fight with.

 

[howeda7]

It's fine to want a mulligan. But our roster is again constructed where one injury to the wrong guy will be devastating. That's on Pitino. I hope we have better luck this year.

 

[MennoSota]

All that might be true but we were not left with much to game plan with last year. Hiding liabilities works in high school....not as easy in the Big Ten. Impossible to make many adjustments when the guys playing are walking wounded and can't practice...plus, trust me the thought of losing one more good player to a practice injury is terrifying...so you do lots chalkboards and walk throughs. There are tons of issues without healthy, capable, viable candidates to play. Right now we have 11 almost healthy candidates...if we remain healthy and lose....rip away but, until that happens reality is last year we had no ammunition to fight with.

Running the Globetrotter weave with the Generals is not great offense. The coaches had enough time to scheme for the personnel they had. They just didn't do a great job with it. I expect the new coaches will be much better.

 

[EG#9]

Pitino has acknowledged in a couple of interviews that they should have been better after losing the guys last year, so I am not going to harp on it. That said, he got his mulligan for last year: he's getting a 6th year despite having a worse conference winning percentage than Dan Monson. It's up to him to prove that giving him that mulligan was the correct decision.

 

[Thomasthetank]

Pitino has acknowledged in a couple of interviews that they should have been better after losing the guys last year, so I am not going to harp on it. That said, he got his mulligan for last year: he's getting a 6th year despite having a worse conference winning percentage than Dan Monson. It's up to him to prove that giving him that mulligan was the correct decision.

How many more mulligans are we going to give him? After 3 poor years to start with, a bunch of recruiting debacles including Bakary, Gas, Morris, 2017 and now 2019, I'm getting tired of this nonsense.

Win this year or else.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Yes, we had a number of season ending injuries and the removal of a player due to Title IV.
That does not excuse the inability of the coaching staff to make adjustments to fit the personnel. There is a reason we have a new set of assistant coaches. I hope to see a better job by our coaching staff.

U don't think there's a strategy in the world when you roll out a line up of Mason Hurt Harris Fitz and Murph other than praying that Mason goes han every night like he did vs Iowa

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[alchemy2u]

All that might be true but we were not left with much to game plan with last year. Hiding liabilities works in high school....not as easy in the Big Ten. Impossible to make many adjustments when the guys playing are walking wounded and can't practice...plus, trust me the thought of losing one more good player to a practice injury is terrifying...so you do lots chalkboards and walk throughs. There are tons of issues without healthy, capable, viable candidates to play. Right now we have 11 almost healthy candidates...if we remain healthy and lose....rip away but, until that happens reality is last year we had no ammunition to fight with.

Correct! Poor recruiting decisions his first years haunted him with no depth last year.


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[hungan1]

Pitino cannot continue to ask for mulligans involving players misbehaving off the court. This will be his downfall. I don't know if it is not being thorough on checking player backgrounds, or if he is not instilling a tight discipline of his team. Another sexual-related player incident will probably get him fired.

It is quite amazing that the nexus of the Gophers' success last year was Reggie Lynch.

Hopefully, the guys that they have this year are not going to be troublesome off the court. You take a risk when you accept a transfer even if he is a local home grown product.

The incidents involving his other recruits, I wonder if he could have prevented that from happening. Are these former assistant coach Kimani Young's recruits?

The Gophers certainly have had their share of troubles off the court.

Per ISU Pantagraph:

"Pitino has had plenty of off-the-court trouble to deal with involving his program over five years with the Gophers. Three players, including current starting guards Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer, were suspended late in the 2015-16 season for their involvement in a sex video posted briefly on the social media accounts of another player, Kevin Dorsey. Mason and McBrayer were reinstated in the offseason, and Dorsey transferred."

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/minnesota-ex-isu-star-lynch-suspended-amid-assault-probe/article_2c38ba17-c56a-5f3f-9226-63e9fd208e22.html

Per Star Tribune: What we know about Reggie Lynch and his sexual assault investigations
http://www.startribune.com/what-we-...-his-sexual-assault-investigations/468169263/

 

[Moonlight]

Personally, I dislike headlines that put words in peoples mouths. I'd like to see the actual quote.
I think that's the writer's impression, extracted from a golf reference. Doesn't sound like Pitino to me. Not funny enough.
Is it really necessary to start the year pissed off about last year? There's plenty of time for anger, disappoinment and blame when the season arrives.

 

[MennoSota]

U don't think there's a strategy in the world when you roll out a line up of Mason Hurt Harris Fitz and Murph other than praying that Mason goes han every night like he did vs Iowa

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Many other schools do more with less.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Many other schools do more with less.

You're ****in high, two of those guys transferred and Hurt will be a rotation at best this year. Maybe that line up wins the Patriot League but this is the Big Ten

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[MennoSota]

You're ****in high, two of those guys transferred and Hurt will be a rotation at best this year. Maybe that line up wins the Patriot League but this is the Big Ten

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The point is that other coaches develop their offensive and defensive scheme's around the personnel they have to work with.
Last year's staff did a poor job adapting to the change in personnel.
I am not saying we would have won more games, I am saying our coaching staff did not do a good job last season...and that is one reason why there are new coaches this year.
I expect this new staff to be improved over last year's staff.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I think the smartest thing Pitino can do is just say, last year is in the books. Let's look forward.

Fans, and the media, have a way of adjusting evaluations based on success. A coach may have a lot of success early in his career, but if he has a string of bad years, that early success doesn't look so good.

Conversely, a coach may have some bad years and off-court problems early in his career, but if that coach goes on to win a conference title, or make a big run in the NCAA tournament, then suddenly those earlier seasons seem less important, and are written off as growing pains.

there are no mulligans. your record is your record. lots of teams have injuries. a number of teams have off-court issues. do we give them all mulligans?

Personally, I would rather have some mulligan stew right now. And Pitino needs to go out and win a lot of games - especially B1G games, and if he does that often enough, Reggie Lynch becomes a footnote in Gopher history - not a permanent blemish on Pitino's record.

 

[hungan1]

Did you ever eat Haggis, the Scottish national dish?

 

[NWMetroGopherFan]

The point is that other coaches develop their offensive and defensive scheme's around the personnel they have to work with.
Last year's staff did a poor job adapting to the change in personnel.
I am not saying we would have won more games, I am saying our coaching staff did not do a good job last season...and that is one reason why there are new coaches this year.
I expect this new staff to be improved over last year's staff.

Poor job adjusting to change in personnel? With all due respect, there isn't a program in the country that could win consistently losing 4 of its top 6 players 3 games into a conference season. Take 4 of the top 6 away from Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, Kansas for that kind of stretch and they all finish in the bottom half of their league.

Kimani Young headed east to be closer to home, and Ben Johnson left for a very good opportunity at Xavier.

If everyone stays healthy this year, there's no reason the Gophers can't be a top 4 Big Ten team and get through the first weekend of the Big Dance.

 

[MennoSota]

Poor job adjusting to change in personnel? With all due respect, there isn't a program in the country that could win consistently losing 4 of its top 6 players 3 games into a conference season. Take 4 of the top 6 away from Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, Kansas for that kind of stretch and they all finish in the bottom half of their league.

Kimani Young headed east to be closer to home, and Ben Johnson left for a very good opportunity at Xavier.

If everyone stays healthy this year, there's no reason the Gophers can't be a top 4 Big Ten team and get through the first weekend of the Big Dance.

Where did I say they would have won many games?
Did you watch the utter lack of game plan in late February? It was embarrassing. I believe that is why we have new assistant coaches this year.

 

[alchemy2u]

Where did I say they would have won many games?
Did you watch the utter lack of game plan in late February? It was embarrassing. I believe that is why we have new assistant coaches this year.

Something that I can agree with you on. Pitino even admitted that the game planning was not good enough last year. I think that did have something to do with the coaching changes. Pitino knows how to game plan, he did it for Louisville and Florida, he needs a good assistant to do the leg work for him.

 

[alchemy2u]

I think the smartest thing Pitino can do is just say, last year is in the books. Let's look forward.

Fans, and the media, have a way of adjusting evaluations based on success. A coach may have a lot of success early in his career, but if he has a string of bad years, that early success doesn't look so good.

Conversely, a coach may have some bad years and off-court problems early in his career, but if that coach goes on to win a conference title, or make a big run in the NCAA tournament, then suddenly those earlier seasons seem less important, and are written off as growing pains.

there are no mulligans. your record is your record. lots of teams have injuries. a number of teams have off-court issues. do we give them all mulligans?

Personally, I would rather have some mulligan stew right now. And Pitino needs to go out and win a lot of games - especially B1G games, and if he does that often enough, Reggie Lynch becomes a footnote in Gopher history - not a permanent blemish on Pitino's record.

The best thing Pitino that has said about last year, was the mocking of another B1G coach that unknowingly congratulated him on his season!


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[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Seems like he's getting a mulligan. He should take advantage and make a run in the tourney this year. I echo concerns that recruiting/roster construction has left us vulnerable to collapse if we have an injury or two in key spots.

 

[salzie]

My question on roster construction, does he spend too much focusing on higher end talent, therefore losing out on obtainable talent that can help.

 

[builtbadgers]

Seems like he's getting a mulligan. He should take advantage and make a run in the tourney this year. I echo concerns that recruiting/roster construction has left us vulnerable to collapse if we have an injury or two in key spots.

He is getting a mulligan. My question is about who even asks for one. 31-59 ! TIME TO WIN THE BIG TEN !

 

[Thomasthetank]

He is getting a mulligan. My question is about who even asks for one. 31-59 ! TIME TO WIN THE BIG TEN !

100%. Time to put up or shut up. If Pitino wins, he could stay here a long time especially if he gets the good 2020 and 2021 recruits. If he loses this yr, hes gone and he likely knows it.

 

[gopherguy15]

How many more mulligans are we going to give him? After 3 poor years to start with, a bunch of recruiting debacles including Bakary, Gas, Morris, 2017 and now 2019, I'm getting tired of this nonsense.

Win this year or else.

Huh? Since when is a NIT Championship a poor year? You can make every excuse that the team was full of Tubby's players, but a NIT Championship is not easy to win these days. Of course the years other than the NIT Championship and NCAA tournament haven't been good, but let's not get carried away here...

 

[builtbadgers]

31-59 is a incredibly poor record, especially in a modern day Big 10 with so many poor programs.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Something that I can agree with you on. Pitino even admitted that the game planning was not good enough last year. I think that did have something to do with the coaching changes. Pitino knows how to game plan, he did it for Louisville and Florida, he needs a good assistant to do the leg work for him.

Have to agree even before losing players...ability to adjust plan in game and force the other team to react was very lacking.