Pitino post game - I know people make fun of us, but I'm proud of them.

[TruthSeeker]

I will give Pitino one more year if he wins at least 1 Big Ten game. If he loses every game, then he needs to be fired. I don't think he will be fired because of the AD situation regardless of what happens. But I will fully support him being fired if he loses every game.

 

[MadtownGopher]

Last night was the first full-length Gopher game I have watched this year and I came away impressed (and less than thrilled with Iowa's performance). Your squad got after it defensively and on the boards. Woodbury was hampered by fouls all game long but he only managed five boards and one point despite averaging 11 boards his last seven games.

I was skeptical of the "next year will be much better" banter I often hear from my friends but dang, I think that's true. Once the current underclassmen stop making freshmen mistakes you guys should be on your way to greener pastures.

Thanks!

 

[Maximus]

I find it a little sickening that some of you are ok with losing all of our games so long as we continue to lose by less over the course of the season.

Psst....no one is ok with it.

 

[book]

reason for loss King 1 for 8 shooting...

 

[Winasota Gopher]

I'm writing this because its therapeutic and I live in Sconny-ville

Here's the crux of the issue.

Tubby was fired too early from a historical sense of when is the right time to fire someone. Generally speaking, you let someone run their play and don't meddle and hope that the guy that was put into the spot to do the job can do the job. If/when he fails then you pull the trigger. Teague did not hire Tubby, he apparently didn't like where Tubby was going or how he was handling the job so he decided to part ways with Tubby early. We can all argue for days and we've actually done it for 3 years, about whether or not that was the right decision. Personally, it's pointless because it already happened. But it's good to understand that Tubby was fired earlier than you generally would, it's weird to fire a coach who just got a team to the tournament especially when it's not a team that typically makes it to the tournament. You shouldn't forget that it happened, but you should stop trying to determine whether or not it should have happened.

This is why the board/media/fanbase is divided and why this is such an interesting case and it makes putting the state the program is in today so complicated and difficult to digest. Had Norwood gone the conventional way and let Tubby coach this team in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and assume that Tubby got the exact same results, he would likely have been fired after last year. Let us assume Pitino came in and got his new recruits and got the exact same results. The fanbase would be optimistic about the future of Pitino ball and likely be excited about the direction of the program.

So that puts us in the interesting spot of determining how good Pitino is, and what his record is. People that are steadfast against him like to attribute those first two years as a regression, or situations where he did worse than the prior year. A typical brand new coach would be applauded for winning the NIT in year one, not Pitino because he's coaching a tournament team from the prior year. And not just a tournament team, but one that won a game in the tournament. Add that mindset to this terrible season and you've got a strong case for firing and a strong case for this guy sucks. 3 straight years of losses, and one year that is the worst in the history of the program. In a vacuum, totally convinced me, I'm on board, fire this guy.

He doesn't get credit for winning the NIT because those weren't his guys, and even if they were his guys they did worse than the guy before him did with them. 99% of 1st-year coaches that win the NIT are looked at very favorably. That said, 99% of the coaches that lose all of their conference games are looked at very negatively.

It's a convoluted situation, how do you rate Pitino, and what were those 2 years after Tubby really about? What really happened there? Tough to say, and for that reason, I think it we should shut the board down until we see what Pitino recruits for 2017 and how this team performs in the nonconference schedule next year before we pass any absolute judgment. Pitino is having a bad year, but he hasn't been a failure, that's horse****. This team is terrible, but is the program really the worst in history? That's not true unless you look solely at the box score of one season.


Why did I write this? I'm as frustrated as you guys are and I'm sick of dealing with employee reviews... Somone should fire me early.

 

[Blackhammer]

I will give Pitino one more year if he wins at least 1 Big Ten game. If he loses every game, then he needs to be fired. I don't think he will be fired because of the AD situation regardless of what happens. But I will fully support him being fired if he loses every game.

One game really in the scheme of things means very little.I would love to get a win for the players sake and so we quit hearing about it to open every article or segment on the team. Although I suppose it would be replaced with the one win Gophers with maybe a side bite we were lucky to have one win. The idea of firing Pitino now is stupid. Next year will be much better and if it's not we can bring in another coach and fire him in three years. With two most likely starters sitting out the year and Coffey along with two other very good recruits with some pretty decent freshman and sophs getting experience. Why wouldn't there be reason to be excited?

 

[jovs]

They played a good game against Iowa, it was good to see McBrayer and Gilbert hit a few three's, maybe they are gaining a little confidence.

The disappearance of King and Morris is troubling, it almost seems like there is a huge taper for seniors under Pitino, Dre Hollins senior year was a bit off, Mathieu had a terrible senior year, EE disappeared, even Walker tapered a bit last year, with the same thing happening this year it makes me wonder, not only lack of development but confidence seems to be taking a big hit with the seniors.

 

[MadtownGopher]

They played a good game against Iowa, it was good to see McBrayer and Gilbert hit a few three's, maybe they are gaining a little confidence.

The disappearance of King and Morris is troubling, it almost seems like there is a huge taper for seniors under Pitino, Dre Hollins senior year was a bit off, Mathieu had a terrible senior year, EE disappeared, even Walker tapered a bit last year, with the same thing happening this year it makes me wonder, not only lack of development but confidence seems to be taking a big hit with the seniors.

Dre was hobbled by injury by the time he was a senior. Mathieu had a new-born to worry about. EE simply gave up. And Walker was pretty productive for us. Not buying your theory. And King and Morris were somewhat desperate attempts to fill the roster and neither have been all that great as Gophers, regardless of their year in the program.

 

[bga1]

They played a good game against Iowa, it was good to see McBrayer and Gilbert hit a few three's, maybe they are gaining a little confidence.

The disappearance of King and Morris is troubling, it almost seems like there is a huge taper for seniors under Pitino, Dre Hollins senior year was a bit off, Mathieu had a terrible senior year, EE disappeared, even Walker tapered a bit last year, with the same thing happening this year it makes me wonder, not only lack of development but confidence seems to be taking a big hit with the seniors.

Mo Walker - Junior year 7.8 ppg/ 4.5 rpg Senior year 11.8 ppg/ 6.7 rpg
Joey King - Junior 9.7/3.0 Senior 11.3/3.5

Hollins was hobbled last year but he also lost Austin and Trevor and he became the big focal point of every defense and couldn't get himself free enough
Lil Dre just had a bad year- didn't coem ready to play.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Dre was hobbled by injury by the time he was a senior. Mathieu had a new
Dre was definitely hobbled, I think with Mathieu guys just started keying on him and with a hobbled Dre and Austin graduating, no one was there to bail him out in the backcourt. I always wonder how the last two years would've played out if Gasser hadn't stomped on Dre's ankle. I think EE lost his confidence when Walker emerged, tough to be a back up for five years, lose your starting job three times. Plus wasn't their a stat proving we were one of the three unluckiest teams in the country last year?

 

[builtbadgers]

He has to come back. The only problem i have is in his time here he has failed to develop a identity for his program. I am a firm believer that it has to be defense and toughness and those go hand in hand. The other issues i have are not his fault. Poor facilities and being hired. I can not fault him for taking the job but Norwood TEAGUE was a terrible athletic director.
I really like the next class,not love it but he has to have the chance to coach that group. I could never give credit for winning the NIT. It is simply a tournament for teams that were not good enough. Fans deserve to aim much higher than that as well as accepting that Jerry Kill did a great job. He did a ok job.

 

[scher215]

He has to come back. The only problem i have is in his time here he has failed to develop a identity for his program. I am a firm believer that it has to be defense and toughness and those go hand in hand. The other issues i have are not his fault. Poor facilities and being hired. I can not fault him for taking the job but Norwood TEAGUE was a terrible athletic director. I really like the next class,not love it but he has to have the chance to coach that group. I could never give credit for winning the NIT. It is simply a tournament for teams that were not good enough. Fans deserve to aim much higher than that as well as accepting that Jerry Kill did a great job. He did a ok job.

Agreed for the most part. He has stressed that they need to master defense and rebounding as an identity, although it certainly hasn't shown itself on the court quite yet.

 

[bemidjigopher]

He has to come back. The only problem i have is in his time here he has failed to develop a identity for his program. I am a firm believer that it has to be defense and toughness and those go hand in hand. The other issues i have are not his fault. Poor facilities and being hired. I can not fault him for taking the job but Norwood TEAGUE was a terrible athletic director.
I really like the next class,not love it but he has to have the chance to coach that group. I could never give credit for winning the NIT. It is simply a tournament for teams that were not good enough. Fans deserve to aim much higher than that as well as accepting that Jerry Kill did a great job. He did a ok job.

I think Defense will become an identity, the young guys have started to figure it out on that side of the floor, scoring in clutch moments has been the biggest issue. No guarantee for the offense next year, but Coffey, Curry and the transfers should all bring something defensively next year.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Optimism???????????? 0-12. Never had a worst season ever. Need a new coach NOW. 3 years in and he's given us our worst season in History....and some of you are optimistic??? Effing sheep.

Is our record horrible and embarrassing? Yes. Do you fail to see the bigger picture? Yes.

 

[bga1]

Agreed for the most part. He has stressed that they need to master defense and rebounding as an identity, although it certainly hasn't shown itself on the court quite yet.

How many teams not named Kentucky that have 3 frosh and 2 sophs starting are going to look great on defense and rebounding? Not many. The huge problem he has this year is that the last two T. Smith classes yielded: Buggs. That's it. That's the upperclassmen left from Tubby. The other two were roster filling transfers. The old guys lead the charge on attitude, grit and defense on most teams. On this team the old guys have been benched for those issues.

 

[RickDornsby]

How many teams not named Kentucky that have 3 frosh and 2 sophs starting are going to look great on defense and rebounding? Not many. The huge problem he has this year is that the last two T. Smith classes yielded: Buggs. That's it. That's the upperclassmen left from Tubby. The other two were roster filling transfers. The old guys lead the charge on attitude, grit and defense on most teams. On this team the old guys have been benched for those issues.

Let's not absolve Pitino of "win now" moves for transfers that have provided little returns in terms of sustained winning and throwaway recruits like Josh Martin.

 

[Blackhammer]

Let's not absolve Pitino of "win now" moves for transfers that have provided little returns in terms of sustained winning and throwaway recruits like Josh Martin.

True but it is the nature of college basketball and about everyone has misses. A little bad luck and some bad choices and a middle of the road program can become a bottom feeder fast. Lofton hurt us a great deal. Throw Mcneal getting in trouble and Ellerson and Buggs turned out to be holdover misses. Marten a huge miss and having to fill with Gaston. The coaching part isn't the problem so much as recruiting choices. Let's make sure we got the wrong coach before firing him. Despite this season it is way to early to say that.

 

[underground629]

I will give Pitino one more year if he wins at least 1 Big Ten game. If he loses every game, then he needs to be fired. I don't think he will be fired because of the AD situation regardless of what happens. But I will fully support him being fired if he loses every game.

Wait, so if we beat Rutgers by 1 point, Pitino should keep his job, but if we lose to Rutgers by 1 point, we should fire him? You don't see how absurd that is?

This isn't directed at you, but we should compile a list of the most obnoxious, whiny, and repetitive fans calling for Pitino to be fired. Then when we're a legitimate threat to make some noise in the tournament during Mason's senior year, we can remind those neurotic, narrow-sited fans about how wrong and annoying they were. ewert, dpo, nasa, bolstad, and mennosota come to mind immediately. Others? I know I'm missing a ton (I often don't really look at usernames)

 

[Bad Gopher]

Haven't yet commented on the Iowa game, mostly because others posted my thoughts and feelings. It was a fun, entertaining, impressive and heartening performance. We have got to be the best 0-13 team in conference history or maybe in NCAA history. Unfortunately, that doesn't get you anything more than frustration. The guys really need to pull their socks up and tough out one of these games.

My main observation was of myself. Even with all the losing, I was still living and dying with the team down the stretch of that game. I was surprised how much I cared and how hard I was cheering. Not sure it's rational, but fandom probably isn't rational to start with. Glad we can still get some enjoyment out of these games.