Chip Scoggins: Gophers wasted chances all season long

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BleedGopher

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per Chip:

We’re not ready to buy the notion that Pitino is overmatched by the job. He deserves more time before we cast complete judgment on his coaching acumen.

By the same token, those who hailed Pitino as a savior because of his last name and fretted that he would win big overnight and then bolt for greener pastures should realize that he’s still a young coach learning the ropes in a power conference that features some terrific coaches.

Pitino tried different tactics, hoping to save the season. He benched seniors, changed point guards, even banned players from Twitter.

Nothing worked long enough to make the Gophers relevant late in the season. Now they know they must beat long odds and win the Big Ten tournament to avoid another trip to the NIT.

The Gophers never looked like a great team. But having to listen to Wisconsin fans chant “NIT!” in their home arena wasn’t what anyone expected, either.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/295288081.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Chip:

We’re not ready to buy the notion that Pitino is overmatched by the job. He deserves more time before we cast complete judgment on his coaching acumen.

By the same token, those who hailed Pitino as a savior because of his last name and fretted that he would win big overnight and then bolt for greener pastures should realize that he’s still a young coach learning the ropes in a power conference that features some terrific coaches.

Pitino tried different tactics, hoping to save the season. He benched seniors, changed point guards, even banned players from Twitter.

Nothing worked long enough to make the Gophers relevant late in the season. Now they know they must beat long odds and win the Big Ten tournament to avoid another trip to the NIT.

The Gophers never looked like a great team. But having to listen to Wisconsin fans chant “NIT!” in their home arena wasn’t what anyone expected, either.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/295288081.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
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For the most part, this is really good article from Chip but the "we" thing really bothers me. This has become a trend with certain sports writers where they use "we" to give more weight (in the eyes of some) to the article they write. This is your opinion Chip, this isn't a "we" thing unless you had a co-writer or two that were uncredited in this piece.

As for the article, I agree this was a hugely disappointing season and there is no way that Pitino can avoid some criticism for not making the NCAA tournament with this group given the state of the B1G. That said, the praise Pitino received last year when many fans had zero expectations for this team was justified. I still believe in Pitino as a coach, what he did in year 1 with in a much better B1G despite an injury to Andre Hollins was impressive. I don't doubt his ability at all to diagram a good play in a close game and I don't doubt that he will work really hard on the recruiting trail. I am concerned about how successful he will be on the recruiting trail going forward with no NCAA tournament berths and two losing conference seasons on his resume. I also am concerned about how many guys appeared to take a step back this year and that the inability to execute in the clutch was a recurring theme. I feel like the answer is better, tougher (mentally and physically) players, but the question is whether he can land those guys. I feel like we will (finally) be in for some good years if that question is answered positively.
 

EG#9 said:
For the most part, this is really good article from Chip but the "we" thing really bothers me. This has become a trend with certain sports writers where they use "we" to give more weight (in the eyes of some) to the article they write. This is your opinion Chip, this isn't a "we" thing unless you had a co-writer or two that were uncredited in this piece.

As for the article, I agree this was a hugely disappointing season and there is no way that Pitino can avoid some criticism for not making the NCAA tournament with this group given the state of the B1G. That said, the praise Pitino received last year when many fans had zero expectations for this team was justified. I still believe in Pitino as a coach, what he did in year 1 with in a much better B1G despite an injury to Andre Hollins was impressive. I don't doubt his ability at all to diagram a good play in a close game and I don't doubt that he will work really hard on the recruiting trail. I am concerned about how successful he will be on the recruiting trail going forward with no NCAA tournament berths and two losing conference seasons on his resume. I also am concerned about how many guys appeared to take a step back this year and that the inability to execute in the clutch was a recurring theme. I feel like the answer is better, tougher (mentally and physically) players, but the question is whether he can land those guys. I feel like we will (finally) be in for some good years if that question is answered positively.
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Good analysis. This season makes his job that much harder. Nate Mason, the improvement in Konate, and the freshmen next year give me some hope. But Mo on Kaminsky, Joey on Hayes, and Carlos supposedly guarding Dekker was damn near depressing last night--not to mention all those a**holes in red behind us.
 

WI was bigger, faster, stronger, smarter and better coached. As a friend texted, "They are complete. I hate them." In spite of the praise for Pitino's "system," I still see a lot more dribbling than passing. (Wisconsin is the opposite.) It means that there are very few easy baskets. The gophers, even with four seniors and two juniors, are small and thin. Every team from the B1G that has come in this season, with the possible exception of NU, has looked taller and like it has collectively spent more time in the weight room. It looks like a lot more time in the weight room will be necessary and Pitino will need to change the culture in the locker room to get these guys to share the ball.
 

The home teams is usually about half as good as their fans believe they are. This is not that talented of a Gopher team.

Screw the location theme...............it's Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting.
 


Chip nailed it. Very fair column. Disappointing season. It all started with the gag at Purdue and Gophers never recovered. And another NIT run would do nothing to change that, would be hollow, unlike last season's NIT run.
 

Mulligan said:
Good analysis. This season makes his job that much harder. Nate Mason, the improvement in Konate, and the freshmen next year give me some hope. But Mo on Kaminsky, Joey on Hayes, and Carlos supposedly guarding Dekker was damn near depressing last night--not to mention all those a**holes in red behind us.
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I started getting excited for next year last night. Pitino had Konate, Mason, King and Morris out there together at times and they were competing with top 5 team. I started thinking that the cupboard is not completely bare and I feel confident that these guys are going to get better and the new guys will be another step up in ability. Konate is going to be really, really good as I have said before. He and Mason are a good starting point for Pitino. Next year will not be easy but it will be fun to watch- much more so than this year.
 

Anytime King is mentioned in a "I'm excited" post only means we're doomed.
 

nasa35 said:
Anytime King is mentioned in a "I'm excited" post only means we're doomed.
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I am not a big Joey King fan by any means, but he can be a role player on a good team. I am hopeful that others move past him next year and start (perhaps a guy we have or a guy we recruit this spring) but he can help a good team. You need a bench and it will not be loaded with all Big Ten players. To be better we need a starting PF that is a presence on defense and on the boards and Joey is not that.
 



jamiche said:
WI was bigger, faster, stronger, smarter and better coached. As a friend texted, "They are complete. I hate them." In spite of the praise for Pitino's "system," I still see a lot more dribbling than passing. (Wisconsin is the opposite.) It means that there are very few easy baskets. The gophers, even with four seniors and two juniors, are small and thin. Every team from the B1G that has come in this season, with the possible exception of NU, has looked taller and like it has collectively spent more time in the weight room. It looks like a lot more time in the weight room will be necessary and Pitino will need to change the culture in the locker room to get these guys to share the ball.
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The discouraging part is 'faster.' We know Wisconsin is going to have size and skill, but they out-quicked and out-athleted the Gophers last night. Of course, Sam Dekker was a five-star recruit, so there's no shame in him making plays against you. But when a team has well-rounded talent and is well coached, they're hard to beat. It would have taken better effort defensively - especially early - and it would have taken Hollins to show up...I was hoping for both and a close game that could be pulled out in the end. It's reminiscent of last year's Big Ten Tournament game. Both that game and last night's were the Gophers' last stand, and they did not play a very good game either time.
 

Absolutely nothing to lose, just let it rip in Chicago

Bad Gopher said:
. ... It's reminiscent of last year's Big Ten Tournament game. Both that game and last night's were the Gophers' last stand, and they did not play a very good game either time.
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One could make an argument that's why the Gophers were able to pull out the Michigan State game. After stinking it up vs. Northwestern and then losing to Wisconsin, there was absolutely no pressure on them heading to East Lansing. There wasn't really anything at stake, and they didn't play tight.

Fast forward to last night, now again there's a sliver of hope of finding a path to the NCAA w/o the benefit of an automatic bid, and they essentially lose the game in the first 10 minutes. Granted, Wisconsin is a national champion caliber team, but generally speaking this squad has not performed well when there's been the most at stake. ... @ Purdue (tone-setting loss in conference opener), Ohio State (home opener after 0-2 start), Northwestern (game you have to win after an encouraging road split of Iowa/Indiana).

IMO the Gophers should be the loosest, most foot loose & fancy free team heading to Chicago. There is no pressure on them whatsoever. A NCAA bid is out of the question barring an improbable run to the title, and either a NIT bid or CBI bid (if they choose to accept it) is waiting for them whether they win 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 games. Let it rip. The pressure will be on the opponents they're most likely to play. ... Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue, etc. If the Gophers play tight next weekend, there are bigger issues than we're aware of.
 

station19 said:
The home teams is usually about half as good as their fans believe they are. This is not that talented of a Gopher team.

Screw the location theme...............it's Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting.
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Sure, but let's remember that Ryan has been at this a long time and has made Wisconsin into a brand name. Even so, this is his best team ever. I'd guess that he's even a bit surprised at how good Kaminsky, Dekker, and so far, Hayes have turned out. This Gopher team had a fair chance of beating one of Ryan's average teams last night but not this one. There's no guarantee that Ryan will have another team this good during the rest of his tenure.
 

SelectionSunday said:
One could make an argument that's why the Gophers were able to pull out the Michigan State game. After stinking it up vs. Northwestern and then losing to Wisconsin, there was absolutely no pressure on them heading to East Lansing. There wasn't really anything at stake, and they didn't play tight.
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I think they lost to Wisconsin twice simply because Wisconsin is so much better of a team and is coached by a Hall of Famer. There are very few teams in this country that have close to an even shot or better of beating this Wisconsin team when it's at full strength. Of Wisconsin's 15 Big Ten wins, 11 have been by double digits. I think the Gophers would have had a fair shot at beating one of Ryan's average teams. Michigan State is a good team but not close to one of Izzo's best. They've lost 10 times this year and 4 of those losses were at home.
 



Gee, thanks.

I know what a Final Four/national champion caliber team looks like when they come to Williams Arena, and the Badgers certainly look the part. Precision surgery, efficient, poise, and most importantly, talent & coaching.

My question would be, does Bo ever have an average team? We're having enough trouble producing even one team to match one of his average ones.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gee, thanks.

I know what a Final Four/national champion caliber team looks like when they come to Williams Arena, and the Badgers certainly look the part. Precision surgery, efficient, poise, and most importantly, talent & coaching.

My question would be, does Bo ever have an average team? We're having enough trouble producing even one team to match one of his average ones.
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His average team is never any worse than fourth in the conference. We haven't breathed that rare air since 1997.
 


SelectionSunday said:
Gee, thanks.

I know what a Final Four/national champion caliber team looks like when they come to Williams Arena, and the Badgers certainly look the part. Precision surgery, efficient, poise, and most importantly, talent & coaching.

My question would be, does Bo ever have an average team? We're having enough trouble producing even one team to match one of his average ones.
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I said that this Gopher team would have had a fair chance of beating one of his average teams. His average teams were always good but also beatable. One of his average teams lost to #12 seed Mississippi and another one lost to #12 seed Cornell after beating #13 seed Wofford by 4 points in the NCAA tournament. I remember watching another one of his average teams lose to one of Todd Lickliter's woeful Iowa teams. This is his best team ever and is extremely unlikely to lose to a significantly lower rated opponent.

I repeated those obvious points not to inform you but to remind you that there are significant obvious distinctions between this Badger and Gopher team and one doesn't have to dig into team psychology to explain them. If you give me a choice between a confident and loose machine gunner and a less confident and anxious tank commander in a battle, I'll choose the tank commander every time. And, frankly, there shouldn't have been much pressure on the Gophers last night because no one thinking rationally would have thought they had a chance in hell of winning.
 

This Gophers team was not very talented and had no margin for error during the season. The outcome is no shock to me. Mildly disappointed.

I am more comfortable with a slow ascent toward a strong program than an overnight success, which usually indicates questionable recruiting tactics and low academic standards (see Iowa State). I feel that Pitino is building the program in the correct way and I have no questions about his ability to coach and motivate his team. It comes down to recruiting, which is never easy in MN where it is winter 9 months out of the year. However, I am confident he will be successful in this realm too. I am actually looking forward to new blood next year.
 

Block M said:
This Gophers team was not very talented and had no margin for error during the season. The outcome is no shock to me. Mildly disappointed.

I am more comfortable with a slow ascent toward a strong program than an overnight success, which usually indicates questionable recruiting tactics and low academic standards (see Iowa State). I feel that Pitino is building the program in the correct way and I have no questions about his ability to coach and motivate his team. It comes down to recruiting, which is never easy in MN where it is winter 9 months out of the year. However, I am confident he will be successful in this realm too. I am actually looking forward to new blood next year.
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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I know you're just being hyperbolic, but don't perpetuate the stereotype! The truth is that things are pretty nice here much of the time. We get 5 straight months where the average high temps are between 65 and 85 and six straight months where they're between 60 and 85. I'll take that over a lot of places that are unbearable for most of the summer and still manage to get some cold and snow in the winter.
 

Bad Gopher said:
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I know you're just being hyperbolic, but don't perpetuate the stereotype! The truth is that things are pretty nice here much of the time. We get 5 straight months where the average high temps are between 65 and 85 and six straight months where they're between 60 and 85. I'll take that over a lot of places that are unbearable for most of the summer and still manage to get some cold and snow in the winter.
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Not to mention that the weather in Madison isn't much different than it is in the Twin Cities.
 


Nice succinct analysis by Scoggins. One wonders how much different the year would have been if they could have found a way to sneak out a win in one of the early, close losses. Losing begets losing and not getting over the hump in games like Purdue on the road may have been more damaging than just one loss.
 

Nearly every time these Strib scribes churn out a piece of work they wasted a chance to produce something of value.
 


Bad Gopher said:
Tied for fourth, seeded fifth; close enough, I guess. Correction: We haven't breathed that rare air since Monson was coach.
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Seeded 5th is 5th place, no matter what DPO says.
 


dpodoll68 said:
Standings and seeding are two different things, no matter what Jake says. Tied for 4th is 4th. This is indisputable.
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Obviously it's disputable or you and Jakey wouldn't be having this dialogue. But, if it makes you feel better, you can cling to your tied for fourth, but seeded 5th view. In either case, Tubby sucked! :p
 


Certainly not a shock.

Block M said:
This Gophers team was not very talented and had no margin for error during the season. The outcome is no shock to me. Mildly disappointed.

I am more comfortable with a slow ascent toward a strong program than an overnight success, which usually indicates questionable recruiting tactics and low academic standards (see Iowa State). I feel that Pitino is building the program in the correct way and I have no questions about his ability to coach and motivate his team. It comes down to recruiting, which is never easy in MN where it is winter 9 months out of the year. However, I am confident he will be successful in this realm too. I am actually looking forward to new blood next year.
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Anyone could hope we had a better season. But with the current players on hand added to the unexpected departures of others, coupled with late arrival of two others, I prefer losing close to repeatedly getting blown out which did not happen. It has taken excellent coaching for us to achieve the record we have. Until we get somebody who can score when guarded you can all continue to complain about the coaching each season Pitino is here. A good number of people wished Miles was our coach earlier in the season. Guessing they no longer pine for that?
Nobody agrees with me but Pitino was a miracle worker last year. There was nothing here when he got the job. Tubby was 6 and 12, 6 and 12 and 8 and 10 his last last 3 years but the principle contributors from those teams were no longer here. Pitino started in a deep hole. He will do fine. We do need Coffey or somebody of his caliber to come on board. Somebody who makes big plays in meaningful situations. Somebody who scores consistently when guarded. Then Pitino will be a great coach in almost everyone's evaluation, I'm guessing.
 

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