GopherHole Poll: What grade would you give Pitino's first year with the program?

GopherHole Poll: What grade would you give Pitino's first year with the program?

  • A

    Votes: 91 54.8%

  • B

    Votes: 71 42.8%

  • C

    Votes: 2 1.2%

  • D

    Votes: 2 1.2%
  • Total voters
    166
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Some of you are probably unrealistically grading it on whether Coach Pitino could win the NCAA championship or not this year. Wake up, with the players Coach Pitino inherited, being middle of the pack in the big ten was a dream season. I for one, can't wait till Coach Pitino gets a full team of just Pitino recruits in. When your best backup PG is Mav, and your starter at #4 for most of the season is Oto, it's amazing what Coach Pitino did. Stop measuring it in terms of the NCAA. Measure it in... Did Coach Pitino get more out of his players than what was expected? Did any of you really expect this team to finish anywhere near the middle of the pack, with the old coach and the two incoming freshmen (Foster, Ellis)?
 


MadtownGopher said:
Most wins in a single season.
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+1

How is this not being made a big deal around here? In Pitino's first season he wins more games in 1 season than any gopher team ever has(of the non vacated gopher seasons). He should get a raise. Just saying. Now would I have liked those wins to come earlier and get us in the NCAA's? yes but I'm not going to be too picky about it. The grade has to be an A for this. there is no other option based on school history.
 





Minnesota basketball will be the hottest ticket in town next season. Rich gets an A. Those grading him against the past, nuff said.
 

A (A-), mainly cause the goal of this season is to set up the future. I don't think anyone can say that he didn't do that with great success. Obviously, making the tourney would have been a slam dunk A, but winning the NIT, leaving good vibes to close the year. The only last step is closing off 2014 recruiting with a couple of nice pickups.
 

"A" because as a whole we were playing better at the end of the year then the beginning. Because we lost and all-conference rebounder and post player and we still battled hard, with just two returning starters. Because the coach got a player to lose 60 lbs to become a force.
 



The Brain Trust said:
If Pitino gets an A this year Tubby gets an A+ for last season.
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Not if the grade is based on comparing results to expectations. Expectations last year were much higher. Pitino exceeded expectations, which is why people are giving him a good grade.
 

The Brain Trust said:
If Pitino gets an A this year Tubby gets an A+ for last season.
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WAT? I don't follow this logic at all. Tubby had a roster with the Big Ten's best rebounder (Mbakwe), a senior Rodney Williams, and a veteran back up PG (Welch). Tubby had the same number of Big Ten wins (8) as Pitino, and lucked out with a Tourney bid. Yes, Tubby got us a Tourney win, albeit over a disinterested UCLA team, but under the circumstances of his roster that year, the Gophers underacheived overall. That team should have been able to at least finish .500 in conference play.

Pitino essentially had the same season, but got snubbed by the Committee on a Big Dance berth (nice showing Iowa), all with the disadvantage of coming into an inherited roster and trying to install a new system with players he didn't recruit, and basically no viable starting PF on the roster. By bringing in transfers, he quickly pulled this program up to the level it was at last season, despite losing valued and skilled players like Trevor and Rodney. And instead of hanging their heads that they missed the Tourney, Coach P and Co. got the team up to play hard throughout the NIT, and win the damn thing. No, it's not equivalent to an NCAA Tournament berth, but it's the literally the next best thing a team can accomplish when they are snubbed. And all this in YEAR 1.

Your A+ for Tubby is garbage, given the circumstances.
 

B+. I think it would be tough to argue for anything lower. Those giving out A+, do you also grade papers for UNC bball players?
 

One thing about this Gopher team- it was a TEAM. There were times during the year where every single player made a huge contribution. Early in the year- EE. Most all of the year- lil Dre. Mo Walker in the second half of the season. Buggs in one game bailed us out! Maverick in the early part of the NIT. Andre before the injury. Austin early and late. Joey King came on great late in the year. Oto early in the year and then filling in admirably in the NIT. McNeil steady bench guy all year. Malik - got on fire for a while. In years past the Gophers downfall has often been a guy going down (Nolan, Mbakwe) to injury and the team would fall apart. Not this year- everybody pitched in as needed. I didn't go into games thinking- if Andre doesn't score much or gets in foul trouble- we are toast. You never knew who might lead.
 



bga1 said:
One thing about this Gopher team- it was a TEAM. There were times during the year where every single player made a huge contribution. Early in the year- EE. Most all of the year- lil Dre. Mo Walker in the second half of the season. Buggs in one game bailed us out! Maverick in the early part of the NIT. Andre before the injury. Austin early and late. Joey King came on great late in the year. Oto early in the year and then filling in admirably in the NIT. McNeil steady bench guy all year. Malik - got on fire for a while. In years past the Gophers downfall has often been a guy going down (Nolan, Mbakwe) to injury and the team would fall apart. Not this year- everybody pitched in as needed. I didn't go into games thinking- if Andre doesn't score much or gets in foul trouble- we are toast. You never knew who might lead.
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Good post. I agree. Wouldn't it be nice to have some quality depth? It seemed like Tubby's teams were always one key injury away from a lost season. I'm hoping that Rich Pit establishes quality depth for his teams, so we can endure the inevitable injuries without so much falloff. The guys he signs this spring will not only be key to immediate success, but a higher quality safety net.
 


Benadryl Brownies said:
Not true. I came here to grade Pitino's first season and I gave my vote and was called a troll by you. Apparently, if I wasn't going to give Pitino an A or B, I am not welcome here. Btw- I am not hoping for the NIT next year, I just don't share the blind Pitino optimism so many do. Hope I am proven wrong, sooner than later, but I am obviously missing something.
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I watched all 25 wins with my own eyes. Yes, you are missing the obvious.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
WAT? I don't follow this logic at all. Tubby had a roster with the Big Ten's best rebounder (Mbakwe), a senior Rodney Williams, and a veteran back up PG (Welch). Tubby had the same number of Big Ten wins (8) as Pitino, and lucked out with a Tourney bid. Yes, Tubby got us a Tourney win, albeit over a disinterested UCLA team, but under the circumstances of his roster that year, the Gophers underacheived overall. That team should have been able to at least finish .500 in conference play.

Pitino essentially had the same season, but got snubbed by the Committee on a Big Dance berth (nice showing Iowa), all with the disadvantage of coming into an inherited roster and trying to install a new system with players he didn't recruit, and basically no viable starting PF on the roster. By bringing in transfers, he quickly pulled this program up to the level it was at last season, despite losing valued and skilled players like Trevor and Rodney. And instead of hanging their heads that they missed the Tourney, Coach P and Co. got the team up to play hard throughout the NIT, and win the damn thing. No, it's not equivalent to an NCAA Tournament berth, but it's the literally the next best thing a team can accomplish when they are snubbed. And all this in YEAR 1.

Your A+ for Tubby is garbage, given the circumstances.
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Actually... Trevor was only 3rd team all big ten, Rodney did not even make all big ten honorable mention, nobody got drafted....overall very moderate graduation losses.
 

Can we drop the whole Iowa had a terrible showing in the tournament so we should have gone over them. I honestly do not think we would have fared well against Tennessee, don't forget they won their 2nd and 3rd games too and almost beat Michigan...

If we can make believe that Tubby's team wouldn't have done as well as Pitino's, you should be able to make believe and say we would have been bounced just as quickly had the committee switched Iowa and us.
 

No way you can get an A without making the tourney imo. B+ at best and that is a good grade.
 

The Brain Trust said:
Actually... Trevor was only 3rd team all big ten, Rodney did not even make all big ten honorable mention, nobody got drafted....overall very moderate graduation losses.
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Do you think Joey King and Oto are better than Mbakwe and Rodney? Do you think Malik Smith is better than Joe Coleman?
 

The Brain Trust said:
Actually... Trevor was only 3rd team all big ten, Rodney did not even make all big ten honorable mention, nobody got drafted....overall very moderate graduation losses.
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Sounds like you're saying that Tubby was pretty terrible at developing his players ;-)
 

Benadryl Brownies said:
I am not a Tubby fan, but what exactly did Pitino do that was so much greater than Smith?
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Developed a Canadian into a team player. Exceeded expectations by a WIIIDE margin, got Rick Pitino into the stands.
 

I would say Pitino's first year and Tubby's first year both held lots of promise. Expectations and success are based on the talent you start with, the talent you had a chance to recruit, the way you helped players play as a team, etc.
 

I feel bad for how lost you are on this one. The future with Tubby here sure looked bright...

Benadryl Brownies said:
Good solid C

This team was predicted to go to the NIT and did. Let's not lose sight of reality because of a few feel good wins over some other flunkies. Tubby was run out of town for similar season results.
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No offense GH, but you guys chose a horrible selection for grades. Anyone who gives under a B- is just an idiot. Too many options for outliers. His coaching was definitely between A- and B-. I'd give a B+. I'll give an A for raising my hopes of our future. Pretty impressive for a second yr head coach. Loved seeing the strong finish and winning of close games. Plus he says all the right things, players love him, he works his ass off, recognizes the importance of recruting, I could go on forever. I'll kill myself if this is Tubby in yr one all over again. Most tantalizing start. Gave me unrealistic expectations for Tubby.
 

It is amazing how similar Pitino and Tubby's first years were. Remember how good I felt about the direction of the program after leaving the 2008 Big Ten Tournament after Hoffarber's dagger to Indiana. First thought after Hoffarber's shot went down was Minnesota is no longer a doormat. Having the same thoughts now with what Pitino has shown in such a short time. Hope it turns out better this time around.

Gotta' go with B+ for a grade, though disappointed he whiffed on Macura. The NIT run (excluding High Point & Saint Mary's games) upgraded it from B to B+. The last 3 teams we beat were solid squads, the exact kind of squads we have to beat in the regular season next season (i.e. Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska) to flip that bid from NIT to NCAA.
 

The Brain Trust said:
If Pitino gets an A this year Tubby gets an A+ for last season.
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You should be smart enough to know that not all outcomes are equal. If you're being honest at all, you must consider the totality of the circumstances when comparing both teams.

We overachieved this season. Last season we underachieved, especially in the Big Ten.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
WAT? I don't follow this logic at all. Tubby had a roster with the Big Ten's best rebounder (Mbakwe), a senior Rodney Williams, and a veteran back up PG (Welch). Tubby had the same number of Big Ten wins (8) as Pitino, and lucked out with a Tourney bid. Yes, Tubby got us a Tourney win, albeit over a disinterested UCLA team, but under the circumstances of his roster that year, the Gophers underacheived overall. That team should have been able to at least finish .500 in conference play.

Pitino essentially had the same season, but got snubbed by the Committee on a Big Dance berth (nice showing Iowa), all with the disadvantage of coming into an inherited roster and trying to install a new system with players he didn't recruit, and basically no viable starting PF on the roster. By bringing in transfers, he quickly pulled this program up to the level it was at last season, despite losing valued and skilled players like Trevor and Rodney. And instead of hanging their heads that they missed the Tourney, Coach P and Co. got the team up to play hard throughout the NIT, and win the damn thing. No, it's not equivalent to an NCAA Tournament berth, but it's the literally the next best thing a team can accomplish when they are snubbed. And all this in YEAR 1.

Your A+ for Tubby is garbage, given the circumstances.
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Excellent post, and this teams accomplishments had nothing whatsoever to do with Tubby, so turn the f*cking page already, people, and let yesterdays be gone.

This was a phenomenal accomplishment by young Coach Pitino given the circumstance, so why not just let it be that, and give credit where it is so rightfully due, to himself, his coaches, and most of all his team.

Anyway, you nailed those points far better than I ever could, so kudos, cheers, and thank you.
 

Last year's gopher team should've at least gone 11-7, I thought they were going to go 12-6 and make a sweet 16 run with the way they played in the non con. On paper that team would kick the crap out of this year's squad, but games aren't played on paper. When we did our predict the season thread back in November, like every year I went with the best case scenario, and I thought that was 8-10 in conference with a deep NIT run. I'm guessing a lot of people thought this was a 6-12 team and last year was 11-12 win conference team. The fact that they both finished with 8 means this year's group got the most out of what they had and last year's group massively underachieved, but were bailed out by their early season success.
 

Benadryl Brownies said:
Ummm...pretty much every preseason magazine.
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Fist of all, not sure too many magazines predict if a team will make the NIT or not, it's usually just if a team will make the NCAA tourney or not.

Here is a list of preseason predictions from five of the more well known publications: http://www.insidethehall.com/2013/09/17/preseason-publications-like-iu-finish-5th-big-ten/.
Four picked us to finish 9th in the Big Ten standings, one 10th.

Also did a quick search for predictions from both CBS and the BTN. There were predictions made by 12 people: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/23985528/college-basketball-conference-previews-big-ten and http://btn.com/2013/10/30/btn-coms-preseason-all-big-ten-teams-predictions/.

Of the 12 predictions, one picked us to finish 7th, one 8th, six 9th, one 10th, two 11th, and one 12th. The average of all 17 rankings is 9.4. We finished 7th.
 

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