Pitino on IW: Yeah, he’s healthy, with Isaiah, a lot of it is Amir, playing good

[BleedGopher]

per Greder:

As the season has progressed, Richard Pitino has tried to minimize the importance of a point guard, often calling on Coffey and Dupree McBrayer to share the responsibilities of bringing the ball up the court.

Washington, meanwhile, hasn’t played at all in the past three games. He played in four of the previous five, sitting out the game he missed with a tailbone injury. In those four games, he played a total of 20 minutes, with one assists, three turnovers, three rebounds and zero points.

Washington has maintained a positive attitude through it all. He was a fill-in for family members when Norwegian center Matz Stockman was honored on senior night. After the Gophers lost 69-60 in the Big Ten regular-season finale at Maryland, he wrote in a tweet: “Bounce back time we are going to get the net one just watch #gophers.”

Pitino said he doesn’t have as much of a pregame plan for how he will play his bench as many observers might think, but said practice habits will influence who he trusts in games.

“It’s every little thing that you do to establish trust with the head coach,” Pitino said. “That’s when you are put in the game and you provide value and you provide trust in all those things, a coach is going to give you a little bit more leeway.”

Is Washington heathy and staying ready?

“Yeah, he’s healthy,” Pitino said. “Again, with Isaiah, a lot of it is Amir (Coffey). Amir is playing pretty good.”

https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/...ten-basketball-tournament-with-a-short-bench/

Go Gophers!!

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Good for him. Besides the boneheaded decisions he makes sometimes, his biggest weakness is understanding how to score at the D1 level. Its like he doesnt understand defenders are allowed to block his shot

 

[gopherguy15]

I don't know what to think about this situation. Look, I completely understand and agree when coaches say that practice leads to playing time, meaning that if you practice hard and are coachable, you'll most likely get some playing time. Unfortunately we don't know anything about IW's practices with the team. All we have are his rare on-court appearances this year, and yes he definitely has struggled at times. At some point though, you need to give him the chance to play and get better. Pitino seems to pick a player to be in his doghouse every year, while allowing others to make multiple mistakes before going to the bench. If you don't trust IW to play much, play him for a couple minutes every 1st half, and see how he's doing that particular game. Remember, Nate Mason (no, I'm not saying IW is as good as Mason, just a recent guard in our memory) really struggled at times his freshman year. He was thrust into playing time because the lack of options, and we needed a spark off the bench. Actual playing time did wonders for Nate, and he not only played well his sophomore year, he was flourishing by his junior year. IW is the only true PG on the team right now, it's not like he's buried down the depth chart.

Again, I go back and forth on the IW situation. Just don't want Pitino to completely give up on the kid...

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Good for him. Besides the boneheaded decisions he makes sometimes, his biggest weakness is understanding how to score at the D1 level. Its like he doesnt understand defenders are allowed to block his shot

Not just how to score, but when to attempt is an issue...

Who knows, maybe Carr (and others) is pressuring him and he turns it over like crazy in practice. That would lead to not trusting him or playing him in games.

Your not going to play a guy you don't trust, in games that you need to win just to get him more experience and make him better.... That's not how it works.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Not just how to score, but when to attempt is an issue...

Who knows, maybe Carr (and others) is pressuring him and he turns it over like crazy in practice. That would lead to not trusting him or playing him in games.

Your not going to play a guy you don't trust, in games that you need to win just to get him more experience and make him better.... That's not how it works.

Good points. Also, IW is getting beat out by a swingman (2/3) who cant go to his right. That tells you where IW sits

 

[Otis]

Coffey went to his right just fine in the final 9min 17sec against Maryland! Maybe he was baiting the defense?

 

[fmlizard]

Yeah, the IW comment is BS. He doesn't play because he is super inefficient and pretty bad overall.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Amir playing good alright

 

[upnorthkid]

With how Amir looks tonight, the kid deserves some minutes. Can’t be worse

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

Would be shocked if IW isnt gone once this season ends. Been following his IG and he's dropping too many hints. Also over the last couple games and specially today, he doesnt even stand up when the rest of the bench gets up to cheer.

 

[theczar]

Pitino lying through his teeth once again..IW is a lot better than Stull

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

With how Amir looks tonight, the kid deserves some minutes. Can’t be worse

Guess not, because what Amir did the final 8 mins was why he has a long leash.

 

[e.bigelow]

Pitino lying through his teeth once again..IW is a lot better than Stull

Stull was REALLY good on defense tonight I thought in his extended stretches. Especially in the first half. Provided good depth when Gabe went down early with fouls.

 

[upnorthkid]

Guess not, because what Amir did the final 8 mins was why he has a long leash.

Lol glad to be wrong, but to act like IW didn’t deserve minutes is silly

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Lol glad to be wrong, but to act like IW didn’t deserve minutes is silly

Why? He doesn't deserve anything.

If Pitino thought IW gave them a better chance to win he would play him. He doesn't. Plain and simple.

 

[Gopherfan84]

Would be shocked if IW isnt gone once this season ends. Been following his IG and he's dropping too many hints. Also over the last couple games and specially today, he doesnt even stand up when the rest of the bench gets up to cheer.

IW was on TV cheering and high fiving guys all the time?

 

[cjbfbp]

If Pitino thought IW gave them a better chance to win he would play him.

Pitino has shown a tendency to put the screws to certain players throughout his time here and they weren't all players who were incapable of playing and contributing (in fact, most weren't). I really don't know why he does this, but he's done this before on multiple occasions and if you didn't notice, you are blind, dishonest, or just plain willfully ignorant.

I'm done fretting about IW, though, and there is nothing that can be done about his situation. I wish things would have worked out better here but they didn't and it doesn't pay to get too invested in any one player. I wish him the best at his next program.

 

[Gold Vision]

Would be shocked if IW isnt gone once this season ends. Been following his IG and he's dropping too many hints. Also over the last couple games and specially today, he doesnt even stand up when the rest of the bench gets up to cheer.

Bulls shirt. He was up every time they showed the bench tonight.

 

[Rouser]

I don't know anything more than any of the rest of us, but I agree with sentiments in other threads. I think IW is transferring and he has told Pitino already and that is why he is not playing, which I bet coach also told IW. He agrees to be a good teammate until then and its not a huge distraction.

I would love to be wrong and just be that IW is in a doghouse and will work his way out.. but I doubt it.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Bulls shirt. He was up every time they showed the bench tonight.

... and he's been tweeting positive things. The guy is being as good of a teammate as he can be. That said, my heart aches for him, and I know he's capable of contributing to this shorthanded team. To paraphrase the song, this situation just makes me sick, and after I get sick I just get sad.

 

[Otis]

I dreamt last night that Stull pulled his hammy in warmups and Isaiah came in and made buckets, dished assists, and had several steals as the Gophers beat Purdue!

Make this happen!

 

[XMan]

I would love to see IW get some minutes tonight.

 

[bc2211]

I would love to see IW get some minutes tonight.

I would have loved to see IW get more minutes in Jan-feb, but even I don’t want to see the formula change again this late in the season.


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[rowdaboat]

Very likely it's he's transferring and in the doghouse. But is there any chance it's like Alabama and Tua where he's actually getting better in practice and we're saving him as secret weapon for tournament? Gabe been off a bit recently, might like our chances for an upset better with IW/Coffey/McBrayer/Murphy/Stockman and bringing Gabe and Oturu off the bench

 

[Bordergopher]

I don't know anything more than any of the rest of us, but I agree with sentiments in other threads. I think IW is transferring and he has told Pitino already and that is why he is not playing, which I bet coach also told IW. He agrees to be a good teammate until then and its not a huge distraction.

I would love to be wrong and just be that IW is in a doghouse and will work his way out.. but I doubt it.

It’s hard for me to believe anything other than this right now. In any case, IW seems to be pulling for his teammates and behaving well.


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[WorkingMyTailOff]

Stull was REALLY good on defense tonight I thought in his extended stretches. Especially in the first half. Provided good depth when Gabe went down early with fouls.

Exactly. Stull had another solid game and with him and Matz getting more minutes it has been working. I know a few of the inbounds passes were scary last night, but he made really good decisions there and I give Pitino credit for designing those in a way that Amir would get the ball, Stull for putting the ball in good places and Amir for shooting the FT so well.
IW has been a miss so far and if he transfers out that is okay. If he works hard at his game I would love to see him make the team better his last two years.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

you are blind, dishonest, or just plain willfully ignorant

This could be said about every poster that believes IW deserves playing time.

 

[e.bigelow]

Exactly. Stull had another solid game and with him and Matz getting more minutes it has been working. I know a few of the inbounds passes were scary last night, but he made really good decisions there and I give Pitino credit for designing those in a way that Amir would get the ball, Stull for putting the ball in good places and Amir for shooting the FT so well.
IW has been a miss so far and if he transfers out that is okay. If he works hard at his game I would love to see him make the team better his last two years.

Agreed. He played a lot good ball denial defense in the first half and made a lot of good decisions with the basketball. Especially in bounding the ball late in the 2nd half. Played a good game even though the box score won't reflect it. Surprising stat during the game was he had only made 9 3's this season as opposed to like 72 or something the year before. Think Crispin (who I thought was really good on color-commentary last night despite my disdain for him doing the call overall usually) brought it up after he made a 3. I thought that stat was nuts.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

Agreed. He played a lot good ball denial defense in the first half and made a lot of good decisions with the basketball. Especially in bounding the ball late in the 2nd half. Played a good game even though the box score won't reflect it. Surprising stat during the game was he had only made 9 3's this season as opposed to like 72 or something the year before. Think Crispin (who I thought was really good on color-commentary last night despite my disdain for him doing the call overall usually) brought it up after he made a 3. I thought that stat was nuts.

Yeah that was interesting. He has a nice looking shot and he’s a great sub for Gabe. This team is going to need some outside shooters to advance. He has size, can shoot, and good smarts.