Richard Pitino Blog: Breaking Down First Look Scrimmage

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Pitino's latest blog - lots of good nuggets, in the link below, including:

Overall-
I am very happy with the strides we are taking as a team. We got much tougher this scrimmage. I showed the team a couple of clips from Louisville's scrimmage last week that my father sent me. We tried to explain to the guys that if they wanted to compete with the best they had to be as physical as the best. I also showed them the clip of Torii Hunter trying to rob David Ortiz of a home run in the playoffs. They responded very well after watching both films. The maroon team won the game because they were the better "team." They played together offensively and defensively. Gold did a lot of good things but tried to do it by themselves. I was impressed and grateful for the crowd that showed up Friday night. That's what makes this job and program so special.

The goal over the next couple of weeks is certainly to continue to develop on the fundamentals. One glaring issue is the turnovers.

http://www.gophersports.com/blog/richardpitino/

Go Gophers!!
 

This is hilarious

Malik Smith
Positives-
He didn't hurt any of our great fans with his errant passes.
He will be fine.

Love that Pitino offers these little pot shots, but never intentionally hurtful.
 

Remember when people were saying we shouldn't expect much from Mo this year. I thought that was ridiculous then and even more so now. Based on this latest blog post it sounds like he'll be a huge part of our team and may even push EE for starting center.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Remember when people were saying we shouldn't expect much from Mo this year. I thought that was ridiculous then and even more so now. Based on this latest blog post it sounds like he'll be a huge part of our team and may even push EE for starting center.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I think Walker and EE will end up averaging about the same amount of minutes and will be interchangeable, assuming he is able to consistently get up and down the floor.
 

Can only assume Mo missed screens because he is...ummm...siginificantly less horizontally large than he is used to.
 


MadtownGopher said:
Remember when people were saying we shouldn't expect much from Mo this year. I thought that was ridiculous then and even more so now. Based on this latest blog post it sounds like he'll be a huge part of our team and may even push EE for starting center.
Click to expand...

I was one of them. I never said he "couldn't" contribute, but look at what it took for him to get there. Amazing transformation of body. Gladly admit that he proved me wrong. At this point. Let's play some games and seal the deal!
 

I really like Pitino trying to connect with the fans like this. I also like how he talks about each player. Tries to stay positive with everyone, but isn't afraid to criticize in a respectful way.
 

Malik Smith
Positives-
He didn't hurt any of our great fans with his errant passes.

Loved that statement. So, a caution warning. When Malik is in the game, fans in attendance had better pay attention to what is going on on the floor and not ogling the dance team.
 

I love these blogs. Last year's team was more talented no doubt, but I am more excited for this season with the new guys and the coaching staff
 



I just hope TT has as "much" success with Tubby as we did. I know we will have more success (entertainmentwise) this year than we did the past 2 or 3 years with the Tubster.
 

I really like that Pitino does this and puts it out for everyone to see. They all seem like honest assessments and even when someone plays terribly he adds some humor to the comments so the kid doesn't walk away feeling too bad about things but still realizes that he must improve. He seems far more open than Tubby's vague and generic comments. As a fan, I really appreciate this.
 


It was interesting that Coach Pitino mentioned getting tougher as a team. I have been thinking a lot lately about the Gophers potentially having too many nice guys on this roster. It's certainly a credit to Tubby that he recruited a lot of guys who seem to be very good kids. That said, Trevor was the only guy on last years team that I would describe as playing with an edge.

From the player comments, while Charles Buggs is only a freshman, this is his third year removed from high school. It's tough to hold out continued hope for a huge jump in his game as he's to the point now where "late bloomer" seems like a stretch. It's not like Buggs has to earn time over guys like Trevor and Rodney anymore. The comment about King being a step slow on his attempts to take charges could just be Joey getting used to the speed of the athletes at the B1G level. I love that Pitino is stressing efficiency both with shooting the ball and with assist/turnover ratio. It will be interesting to see if we have enough athletes/basketball talent to shoot the ball efficiently this year.
 



Dr.Don said:
I just hope TT has as "much" success with Tubby as we did. I know we will have more success (entertainmentwise) this year than we did the past 2 or 3 years with the Tubster.
Click to expand...

That level of success would be as much success as they've had since the Bobby Knight years. Talk about a program that's in the *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ter right now. On top of it you have to live in the wasteland that is west texas
 

EG#9 said:
It was interesting that Coach Pitino mentioned getting tougher as a team. I have been thinking a lot lately about the Gophers potentially having too many nice guys on this roster. It's certainly a credit to Tubby that he recruited a lot of guys who seem to be very good kids. That said, Trevor was the only guy on last years team that I would describe as playing with an edge.

From the player comments, while Charles Buggs is only a freshman, this is his third year removed from high school. It's tough to hold out continued hope for a huge jump in his game as he's to the point now where "late bloomer" seems like a stretch. It's not like Buggs has to earn time over guys like Trevor and Rodney anymore. The comment about King being a step slow on his attempts to take charges could just be Joey getting used to the speed of the athletes at the B1G level. I love that Pitino is stressing efficiency both with shooting the ball and with assist/turnover ratio. It will be interesting to see if we have enough athletes/basketball talent to shoot the ball efficiently this year.
Click to expand...

You would be amazed at what a player can accomplish in 4 years. As a rule of thumb, I never give up on a player before he's played his first game.
 

howieramone said:
You would be amazed at what a player can accomplish in 4 years. As a rule of thumb, I never give up on a player before he's played his first game.
Click to expand...

Haha. Thank you, that's an excellent rule of thumb. The kid has 4 years left!
 

I have no doubt that Buggs will become a stud for us. Pitino has already stated that he is our best player at the front of the press.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I have no doubt that Buggs will become a stud for us. Pitino has already stated that he is our best player at the front of the press.
Click to expand...

He is perfect for that role. He should be decent on the boards.

Now he needs to develop and fit in on the offensive side. He was pretty much a non-factor in the scrimmage. Not sure what his strengths will be with the ball.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
He is perfect for that role. He should be decent on the boards.

Now he needs to develop and fit in on the offensive side. He was pretty much a non-factor in the scrimmage. Not sure what his strengths will be with the ball.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not worried at all about Buggs defensively, he's pretty quick and very long, and he was distruptive. It's the offensive side I'm more concerned with. If he's not hitting his shot, how does he still contribute on that end, moving without the ball, crashing the boards, etc...He seems to have a lot of work to do in that regard. He also seemed to be in the wrong spot a few times out there from what I could tell. It'll be interesting to see how that side of his game grows with time.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
He is perfect for that role. He should be decent on the boards.

Now he needs to develop and fit in on the offensive side. He was pretty much a non-factor in the scrimmage. Not sure what his strengths will be with the ball.
Click to expand...

Hard to get any offensive boards if you are floating around the three point line like you are the Hoff. Needs to get his A$$ in the paint or it will get sore on the bench.

Side note: Oto got ever free look he wanted with King guarding him, he looked extremely slow.
 

katze019 said:
Hard to get any offensive boards if you are floating around the three point line like you are the Hoff. Needs to get his A$$ in the paint or it will get sore on the bench.

Side note: Oto got ever free look he wanted with King guarding him, he looked extremely slow.
Click to expand...
If you just mean crashing the boards, then yes, but if you're expecting him to post up on a regular basis you're going to be disappointed. Pitino wants to play 4 out 1 in.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
If you just mean crashing the boards, then yes, but if you're expecting him to post up on a regular basis you're going to be disappointed. Pitino wants to play 4 out 1 in.
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Crashing, cutting through the paint, flashing at the elbow, etc.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
He is perfect for that role. He should be decent on the boards.

Now he needs to develop and fit in on the offensive side. He was pretty much a non-factor in the scrimmage. Not sure what his strengths will be with the ball.
Click to expand...

He didn't know where to go in the half court set in the scrimmage. I think his basketball knowledge and familiarity with this offense are his biggest weakness right now.
 

Not ogling the dance team is sacreligious.

Dr.Don said:
Malik Smith
Positives-
He didn't hurt any of our great fans with his errant passes.

Loved that statement. So, a caution warning. When Malik is in the game, fans in attendance had better pay attention to what is going on on the floor and not ogling the dance team.
Click to expand...
 

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