John Shipley: Gophers’ Richard Pitino has built a good team, but the blueprint isn’t sustainable

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Sustain ... what?

Whatever level of success we ultimately achieve in 2020-21, indefinitely moving forward? Unless things change drastically, I suspect fans will want more than that level.


If it were the case that only blue bloods could reach higher than that, then maybe such desire would not be reasonable.

But schools like Wisconsin, Virginia, and Texas Tech, are not anything outside of what can reasonably be considered our athletic dept peers.
 
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MplsGopher said:
Sustain ... what?

Whatever level of success we ultimately achieve in 2020, indefinitely moving forward? Unless things change drastically, I suspect fans will want more than that level.


If it were the case that only blue bloods could reach higher than that, then maybe such desire would not be reasonable.

But schools like Wisconsin, Virginia, and Texas Tech, are not anything outside of what can reasonably be considered our athletic dept peers.
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We should expect what TT has done, frosting on the cake is what UW has done if we can match that. If we match what UVA has done that is taking the cake. 9 straight Winning ACC season. A 15 game advantage over Duke, more ACC titles than Duke or UNC, two 16-2 seasons, one 17-1 ACC record. the final 4, the National title, the 66-5 run with Hunter. That is historically elite and coming from a history similar to ours. Great run during Sampson but mostly mediocre.
 

builtbadgers said:
We should expect what TT has done, frosting on the cake is what UW has done if we can match that. If we match what UVA has done that is taking the cake. 9 straight Winning ACC season. A 15 game advantage over Duke, more ACC titles than Duke or UNC, two 16-2 seasons, one 17-1 ACC record. the final 4, the National title, the 66-5 run with Hunter. That is historically elite and coming from a history similar to ours. Great run during Sampson but mostly mediocre.
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Hopefully without losing to a 16 seed! :cool:
 

MplsGopher said:
Hopefully without losing to a 16 seed! :cool:
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TOO BAD that was the game Hunter missed ! Gladly take a loss to a 16 if we get everything they got in my post. Even that team gets the conference title and a one seed. They used that experience by owning all of that and turned it into a positive. The quote they used was getting a ticket to a place they could not get to another way. Meaning if you use your adverseries the right way it can benefit you.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
The problem or issue with building your team around transfers is that you need to keep bringing them in.

If you build with HS recruits - and you do it well - you can build a base where you might have to replace 2 or 3 seniors in a given year, but you still have a core roster of underclassmen who have been recruited and developed in your system. If you have one year where you miss on a recruit or 2, it doesn't have to cripple the program.

if you are going to base your system on transfers, you need to keep bringing in transfers who can step right in and play. If you have a year where you don't land those transfers - and you don't have that base of underclassmen to fall back on - then the program can go in the sh*tter in a heartbeat.

it's like walking the tightrope - one slip and you're Karl Wallenda.
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To me, it doesn't matter where the players come from, or even who the players are.

It is all about a system, a program, a unit, toughness, defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball, discipline.

This team we have this year is more talented top to bottom than a team like Wisconsin. It just isn't close, but they will finish ahead of us without fail.

Has nothing to do with players and everything to do with coaching, playing smart, hard every minute and execution. I have rarely seen Pitino's teams play hard for the whole game, take care of the ball, rebound well, play great defense all game or play smart.
 


You want a blueprint to success? Recruit smart guards, that can also shoot and rarely turn over the ball. That is the #1 winner time and again in college b-ball. Also recruit guys that will play all game, every game as hard as they can.

The rest falls into place over a number of years if you stick to your guns.
 

Go Gophs said:
You want a blueprint to success? Recruit smart guards, that can also shoot and rarely turn over the ball. That is the #1 winner time and again in college b-ball. Also recruit guys that will play all game, every game as hard as they can.

The rest falls into place over a number of years if you stick to your guns.
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See Smith from Michigan.
 

builtbadgers said:
We should expect what TT has done, frosting on the cake is what UW has done if we can match that. If we match what UVA has done that is taking the cake. 9 straight Winning ACC season. A 15 game advantage over Duke, more ACC titles than Duke or UNC, two 16-2 seasons, one 17-1 ACC record. the final 4, the National title, the 66-5 run with Hunter. That is historically elite and coming from a history similar to ours. Great run during Sampson but mostly mediocre.
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100% agree, but aren't there 100 other programs attempting to do the same thing? The U has never shown competency in football or hoops to compete at the highest level. I'm not convinced there has ever been the commitment to do so.
 

Go Gophs said:
To me, it doesn't matter where the players come from, or even who the players are.

It is all about a system, a program, a unit, toughness, defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball, discipline.

This team we have this year is more talented top to bottom than a team like Wisconsin. It just isn't close, but they will finish ahead of us without fail.

Has nothing to do with players and everything to do with coaching, playing smart, hard every minute and execution. I have rarely seen Pitino's teams play hard for the whole game, take care of the ball, rebound well, play great defense all game or play smart.
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Do not give up just yet on finishing ahead of UW .
 




60's Guy said:
I agree, if we lose to Michigan at home we are trending the wrong direction.
Almost gotta go 4 and 0 to close out January to be in a good spot (or 3 and 0 if no Nebraska).
We have shown we are capable and we have had a week to prepare. Big game for the Gophers!
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I am not on board with saying going 1-3 against teams that are top 6 in the nation and 3-2 against other ranked teams means we are headed in the wrong direction. We will likely lose tomorrow but then need to go 7-5 to finish 10-10 in the big ten. Very doable and will get us a good ncaa tourney seed (6 or 7 seed?). The tale of the season will be told those last 12 games. Gotta shoot better than 30%.
 
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golf said:
I am not on board with saying going 1-3 against teams that are top 6 in the nation and 3-2 against other ranked teams means we are headed in the wrong direction. We will likely lose tomorrow but then need to go 7-5 to finish 10-10 in the big ten. Very doable and will get us a good ncaa tourney seed (6 or 7 seed?). The tale of the season will be told those last 12 games. Gotta shoot better than 30%.
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I’m looking at the path to a top 4 finish. Not a 500 regular season.
We have different levels we think the team is capable of reaching.
 




LesBolstad said:
100% agree, but aren't there 100 other programs attempting to do the same thing? The U has never shown competency in football or hoops to compete at the highest level. I'm not convinced there has ever been the commitment to do so.
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Relatively new football stadium, brand new athletic village, hired established AD after Teague fiasco,
 

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