Athlon: Grading CBBs First-Year Coaches in 2013-14 (Pitino - Holding Serve)

[SelectionSunday]

He also gained the MVP of the team (Lil Dre) & a slim Mo... Replaced Joe with Malik & Joe would have been coming off the bench if he had stayed.

Knowing what we know now about Mathieu, agree that Joe would have been coming off the bench (unless Pitino wanted to go with 4 guard/wings surrounding a post), but I still think he would have been a key cog for this team. Certainly the Gopher bench would have been stronger with Joe coming off the bench in place of (or ahead) Smith. Still not sure why Joe transferred, but I have to believe he was concerned about PT with Pitino's new guys (Mathieu and Smith) coming in.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Knowing what we know now about Mathieu, agree that Joe would have been coming off the bench (unless Pitino wanted to go with 4 guard/wings surrounding a post), but I still think Joe would have been a great fit for this team. Certainly the Gopher bench would have been stronger with Joe coming off the bench in place of (or ahead) Malik.

I agree, it would have been nice to have Joe slashing and on fast breaks. Malik could have/should have been a slight upgrade if he didn't finish the season with a horrible (I believe uncharacteristic) shooting slump.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...alik-smith-who-shares-his-three-point-record/ - found this looking for how he ended the season... what was he 4/36 or something terrible near 10%?

 

[XMan]

He also gained the MVP of the team (Lil Dre) & a slim Mo... Replaced Joe with Malik & Joe would have been coming off the bench if he had stayed.

We certainly had a huge downgrade at PF, but upgrade at PG.

At the time thought Malik for Joe was about a wash, turns out this team would have been much better with Joe. Sad part is we could have had both.

 

[XMan]

I always liked Joe and was bummed to see him go. Wish him the best next season.

 

[The-Real-Truth]

Recruiting is a huge part of the job SCOUT! Pitino gets credit for bringing in the team's MVP and for Mo losing that weight and becoming a contributer. Mo said himself that Tubby never really pushed him to lose weight and he was comfortable with the way he was. Him losing weight after Pitino got here was not a coincidence. Our new coach has done a good job. Facts are facts. Deal with it.

Would you please show us the evidence that Mo has said that.

 

[Cayman]

Would you please show us the evidence that Mo has said that.

I haven't seen that anywhere either, though I'd guess that GOTR isn't lying. I did find it odd the way it seems people give 100% of the credit of Mo's weight loss to Pitino and basically guarantee that he would not have lost any weight if not for Pitino, and it kinda takes away from the fact that it was Mo who dedicated himself to doing it. Mo was the one who lost 50 pounds, not Pitino. But with how some still insist we finished 9th last year and that the team we beat in the tournament was a bunch of scrubs, perhaps trying to detract from our players' accomplishments is just something we do here.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

Would you please show us the evidence that Mo has said that.

No problem. Here you go:

Walker ultimately should hold himself accountable because it’s his body and his career. But college athletes need guidance or an occasional kick in the pants, and Smith’s staff failed to push the right buttons to keep Walker’s weight under control.

“I felt comfortable within my body that I could perform well enough,” Walker said. “I thought I could be effective at that weight. I wasn’t really pushed as hard as I should have been.”

He is now. Walker admits being “extremely nervous” before his first individual workout with Pitino this spring. He figured it would be intense with a lot of running. He didn’t guess wrong.

“I was dead tired,” he said.

Once he recovered, he knew he really had only one option if he wanted to stay.

“I need to get in shape,” he told himself. “I’m not going to make it.”


http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/212857061.html

Somehow I doubt you will acknowledge that Mo would still be out of shape if Pitino hadn't been hired.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

I haven't seen that anywhere either, though I'd guess that GOTR isn't lying. I did find it odd the way it seems people give 100% of the credit of Mo's weight loss to Pitino and basically guarantee that he would not have lost any weight if not for Pitino, and it kinda takes away from the fact that it was Mo who dedicated himself to doing it. Mo was the one who lost 50 pounds, not Pitino. But with how some still insist we finished 9th last year and that the team we beat in the tournament was a bunch of scrubs, perhaps trying to detract from our players' accomplishments is just something we do here.

Mo deserves credit for how hard he worked, no doubt, but it clearly wouldn't have happened if Pitino hadn't come here. Read what I posted in response to TRT. There are other articles saying essentially the same thing that the coaching change is why Mo wanted to lose weight.

 

[march madness]

I give Pitino some credit for telling it like it is in a way that Mo knew if he wanted to play he had to lose weight. Then i give MO the credit for not only losing it but keeping it off for the season, likely a lifelong battle.
As far as the ncaa win over UCLA, it had an NBA player in Muhammed, but it was missing it's best defender and 2nd leading scorer in Adams. Vegas had us favored. Nice win but facts are facts.

 

[Cayman]

Mo deserves credit for how hard he worked, no doubt, but it clearly wouldn't have happened if Pitino hadn't come here. Read what I posted in response to TRT. There are other articles saying essentially the same thing that the coaching change is why Mo wanted to lose weight.

Ok I hadn't seen that, that's fair, I thought it might have just been based on general "Pitino rules, Tubby drools" sentiment.

I give Pitino some credit for telling it like it is in a way that Mo knew if he wanted to play he had to lose weight. Then i give MO the credit for not only losing it but keeping it off for the season, likely a lifelong battle.
As far as the ncaa win over UCLA, it had an NBA player in Muhammed, but it was missing it's best defender and 2nd leading scorer in Adams. Vegas had us favored. Nice win but facts are facts.

We played like three straight seasons where we were always missing at least one player for some reason or another, so I have a bit of a hard time apologizing for a win over a team with an injured player. Also it wasn't exactly close, we won by 20, so I think it'd be hard to argue based on that that we wouldn't have beaten them at full strength.

 

[SelectionSunday]

. ... We played like three straight seasons where we were always missing at least one player for some reason or another, so I have a bit of a hard time apologizing for a win over a team with an injured player.

Thank you.

The Gophers hadn't won a NCAA Tournament game since 1997, and Tubby/the Gophers/we as fans are supposed to apologize for it, all in the name of hammering Tubby as much as humanly possible? Injuries are part of the game, sometimes to your favorite team's benefit (UCLA not having Adams), sometimes not to their benefit (Nolen, Mbakwe, etc.). I'm thankful Tubby got us off the schneid in 2013. Otherwise we'd be sitting here 17 straight seasons without a NCAA tourney win.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

Yup, regardless of circumstances, that was a fun win against UCLA and there is no need to make excuses for the other team.

 

[The-Real-Truth]

No problem. Here you go:

Walker ultimately should hold himself accountable because it’s his body and his career. But college athletes need guidance or an occasional kick in the pants, and Smith’s staff failed to push the right buttons to keep Walker’s weight under control.

“I felt comfortable within my body that I could perform well enough,” Walker said. “I thought I could be effective at that weight. I wasn’t really pushed as hard as I should have been.”

He is now. Walker admits being “extremely nervous” before his first individual workout with Pitino this spring. He figured it would be intense with a lot of running. He didn’t guess wrong.

“I was dead tired,” he said.

Once he recovered, he knew he really had only one option if he wanted to stay.

“I need to get in shape,” he told himself. “I’m not going to make it.”


http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/212857061.html

Somehow I doubt you will acknowledge that Mo would still be out of shape if Pitino hadn't been hired.

Mo must be a very bad lier. How many times former players like DJ and TM said that Tubby had a very intense system that not everybody could have handled. Mo must have got a free pass from a coach whose practices are famous to be intense. Would it becasue he just came off a knee injury?

Thanks for the info.

 

[The-Real-Truth]

Ok I hadn't seen that, that's fair, I thought it might have just been based on general "Pitino rules, Tubby drools" sentiment.



We played like three straight seasons where we were always missing at least one player for some reason or another, so I have a bit of a hard time apologizing for a win over a team with an injured player. Also it wasn't exactly close, we won by 20, so I think it'd be hard to argue based on that that we wouldn't have beaten them at full strength.

Very true. Howmany times did we hear if Dre didn't injure his ankle, this team would have won many more games?????? I honestly have never seen a hate for a former coach as mush as I have seen here.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

Mo must be a very bad lier.

Huh? What are you talking about? What did he lie about?


Mo's knee is not the reason he didn't lose weight in his first 3 years here. The reason is stated above in his quotes. It's because Tubby did not motivate him to like Pitino did. He completely changed his diet and worked harder to lose the weight when Pitino got here. That's what happened. Get over it.