Chip: Brace yourself, Gophers basketball team faces long, uncertain road ahead

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BleedGopher

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per Chip:

The Gophers introduced dozens of former men’s basketball players at halftime Saturday at Williams Arena. Famous names and role players from different generations filled the court for a salute.

Richard Pitino should have checked to see if any of them had eligibility remaining. He’s running out of players.

A team depleted by injury and suspension fought hard, but the Gophers were a shell of themselves in a 75-71 loss to a bad Indiana squad.

A panicky possession by Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy with less than 30 seconds left and the deficit at three doomed any hope of a happy finish on a difficult day. In a weird sequence, Mason and Murphy rushed long jumpers as if a school bell rang and they wanted one more shot before leaving the gym.

The loss served as an exclamation point at the end of a thud.

“We’re getting tested right now,” Pitino said.

Amazing how much has changed. The roster, the mood, expectations … everything feels deflated.

http://www.startribune.com/brace-yo...am-faces-long-uncertain-road-ahead/468230713/

Go Gophers!!
 

No Big Dance this year. And Pitino will be out of here with first decent offer.
 

Mick Turition said:
No Big Dance this year. And Pitino will be out of here with first decent offer.
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Yeah it must suck having the best facilities in the country, an instant impact recruiting class coming in next year and unparalleled highschool talent in the state for years to come. The grass has to be greener elsewhere.
 

Mick Turition said:
No Big Dance this year. And Pitino will be out of here with first decent offer.
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Pitino's conference record at Minnesota is currently 29-46. And might get worse with 15 games remaining. Any high major program that offers him would foolish and desperate. I would think he'd have to show a lot more sustained success before anyone serious comes calling.
 

Mick Turition said:
No Big Dance this year. And Pitino will be out of here with first decent offer.
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Exactly where is Pitino going to get this decent offer from? Hasn’t done a whole lot at the U for others to come calling.


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Gophs only lost their 2nd or 3rd best player. Teams lose players all of the time. If Coffey played today we'd be looking at a 3-1 B1G record. Hurt, Konate, Gaston, Isaiah still have more growth on the way with an uptick in responsibility. Not saying these guys are going to drastically improve, but they certainly won't regress with more experience in their new roles.

Last year's team hit the mark/maybe slightly overachieved. Without Lynch this year, the team is still looking like a legitimate tournament candidate.

The only games you could mark as sure losses with Coffey in the mix would be MSU on either court, @ PUR and maybe at @ OSU and @ Michigan. This team can compete with everyone else and there is no reason why 9-9 or better is realistic.
 

topos said:
Yeah it must suck having the best facilities in the country, an instant impact recruiting class coming in next year and unparalleled highschool talent in the state for years to come. The grass has to be greener elsewhere.
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OK this is a little far:

Instant impact? They have one top 100 recruit, that's just barely top 50 (49 per 247 composite) Its not even a top 25 class based on 247 composite. It's a nice class, and they might help, but let's take it easy. People thought Washington and Harris were going to be instant impact also.

Unparalelled high school talent? In relation to Minnesota in the past, or the nation? Because there are plenty of better recruiting areas around the country. We've had like 1 or 2 top 100 guys per year the past few years, aside from the Tyus/Vaughn/Travis class....which was 3. It's pretty good....far from unparalleled.

We know of two excellent recruits coming up in the future (Hurt, Suggs). There is no guarantee that we get both of those guys. It's even a long shot that we get one, IMO. Not sure what that does for us if they leave. He'll go out of state then, probably. He seems to like recruiting the east coast heavily where he has connections, anyway.

Best facilities in the country? What do we have that numerous other schools don't? Kentucky Bball has their own luxury dorm. Good facilities, sure, but not the best in the country.

Minnesota hasn't turned into basketball Mecca, I'm sorry. There are plenty of greener pastures.

He's not leaving because he'll make more money here than he will anywhere else next year. He hasn't earned an offer from a better program, or more money. He may like living here. That's about it.
 

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bfast said:
Gophs only lost their 2nd or 3rd best player. Teams lose players all of the time. If Coffey played today we'd be looking at a 3-1 B1G record. Hurt, Konate, Gaston, Isaiah still have more growth on the way with an uptick in responsibility. Not saying these guys are going to drastically improve, but they certainly won't regress with more experience in their new roles.

Last year's team hit the mark/maybe slightly overachieved. Without Lynch this year, the team is still looking like a legitimate tournament candidate.

The only games you could mark as sure losses with Coffey in the mix would be MSU on either court, @ PUR and maybe at @ OSU and @ Michigan. This team can compete with everyone else and there is no reason why 9-9 or better is realistic.
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Hate to break it to you, but 9-9 in the B1G isn't sniffing the tournament this year.
 




Gotta give Little Richard a few more years to get his players out of the courts and on the court!
 

GibsonSG said:
Pitino's conference record at Minnesota is currently 29-46. And might get worse with 15 games remaining. Any high major program that offers him would foolish and desperate. I would think he'd have to show a lot more sustained success before anyone serious comes calling.
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You bring up the ONLY statistic that gives an accurate picture of Dick Pitino as a BIG TEN COACH...his conference won-loss record. In this 2017/2018 season his conference mark is 2W & 2L. Overall he has a .38666667 BT winning percentage. This fifth season is a VERY important season for the coach.
 

Heracles said:
Instant impact? They have one top 100 recruit, that's just barely top 50 (49 per 247 composite) Its not even a top 25 class based on 247 composite. It's a nice class, and they might help, but let's take it easy. .
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I agree with your post overall but there is one scholarship left (maybe more if someone transfers). Get an impact grad transfer point guard and this incoming group could turn out to be very good. Look at the difference Lynch, Coffee, Curry, and Springs made last year from the year before. Granted, we are unlikely to have someone come in with the instant impact of Lynch, but when the freshmen big men join Murphy, Curry, and Stockman we should have the deepest front court we've had in years. All we need to do is shore up the backcourt with an experienced quality player.
 




GibsonSG said:
Pitino's conference record at Minnesota is currently 29-46. And might get worse with 15 games remaining. Any high major program that offers him would foolish and desperate. I would think he'd have to show a lot more sustained success before anyone serious comes calling.
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Coyle would be foolish to keep him. Perfect time to hire a qualified coach.


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Some Day...Maybe said:
Coyle would be foolish to keep him. Perfect time to hire a qualified coach.


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No, I don't think he will be fired for the following reasons:

1) He has a hefty buyout (always among the most important factors; remember, when you're calling for someone to be fired, you're not putting up any of your own money);

2) the incoming class is pretty good and has a chance to be better with at least one scholarship left;

3) Pitino won't be blamed much for the disappointing season because it will be viewed as mostly the result of injuries and a critical suspension.
 

The B10 is so down this year. Even after Lynch being suspended this could have still been tourney team. Once Coffey was announced out, it was game over from there. Konate and Hurt are not BIG talent. So so frustrating. So much promise.


"We're going to win the Big Ten championship and we're going to take the Gopher Nation to Pasadena. That's my dream, that's my goal and that's my belief. It will happen here sooner rather than later." -- Tim Brewster
 

Yeah, let’s fire the reigning Big Ten coach of the year. Great plan.
 

Lol Yeah! 3 days ago we were 13-3 everything on the upside. Great recruiting class coming in! We lose lynch and Coffey let alone curry earlier and now everyone wants to get rid of pitino. Laughable! The program was in great shape 3 days ago and pitino is the reason. I say let's get rid of pitino and really put this program in a huge hole! Lol come on people!
 

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