Pitino thus far 6-4 at New Mexico

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Yeah I'm hoping we can just put Pitino behind us at some point. There's maybe 3-5% of this board that seriously would rather have him be our coach this season. I know this is just an informative post, but it also feels like a rub in to those that were "backing" Pitino.

The guy had to go, almost all of us knew it, and its time to let it be.
 



tmvander said:
Yeah I'm hoping we can just put Pitino behind us at some point. There's maybe 3-5% of this board that seriously would rather have him be our coach this season. I know this is just an informative post, but it also feels like a rub in to those that were "backing" Pitino.

The guy had to go, almost all of us knew it, and its time to let it be.
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Moving on will be much easier with how the team has played under Johnson so far. It was clear that Pitino needed to go but the Johnson hire was met with very little enthusiasm to say the least.

Had the team struggled there would have been tons of griping from the already upset fanbase. Because the team has blown away even the most optimistic of expectations to this point the overall feeling on Johnson and his future potential here has shifted a ton.

Pitino seemed like a good guy, but Johnson's success to this point has really put a spotlight on some of the deficiencies in what Pitino was doing here. Richard may yet have a successful coaching career but it is looking right now like Coyle may have hit a Grand Slam with the Ben Johnson hire. Time will tell.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Moving on will be much easier with how the team has played under Johnson so far. It was clear that Pitino needed to go but the Johnson hire was met with very little enthusiasm to say the least.

Had the team struggled there would have been tons of griping from the already upset fanbase. Because the team has blown away even the most optimistic of expectations to this point the overall feeling on Johnson and his future potential here has shifted a ton.

Pitino seemed like a good guy, but Johnson's success to this point has really put a spotlight on some of the deficiencies in what Pitino was doing here. Richard may yet have a successful coaching career but it is looking right now like Coyle may have hit a Grand Slam with the Ben Johnson hire. Time will tell.
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I keep saying it, but we are in the honeymoon period with Ben. A couple of unexpected losses and all of the folks who were not in favor of the hire will be screaming for his head. There will be some unexpected losses because that's sports. The important thing is that what Ben has going here appears to have real substance. Let's remember that when the doubters return.
 

jamiche said:
I keep saying it, but we are in the honeymoon period with Ben. A couple of unexpected losses and all of the folks who were not in favor of the hire will be screaming for his head. There will be some unexpected losses because that's sports. The important thing is that what Ben has going here appears to have real substance. Let's remember that when the doubters return.
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Focusing on the outliers in your analysis diminishes the quality and substance of a good point. There are a handful of people who have continued to be borderline bitter in their in their disappointment with the hire. Substantially majority, whether they liked the hire initially or not, are on board and supportive of Ben and I bet really do understand the ups and downs of sports.
 



jamiche said:
I keep saying it, but we are in the honeymoon period with Ben. A couple of unexpected losses and all of the folks who were not in favor of the hire will be screaming for his head. There will be some unexpected losses because that's sports. The important thing is that what Ben has going here appears to have real substance. Let's remember that when the doubters return.
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That is the downside to winning the way we have so far, if things go sideways the trolls will have a field day with it.

That said, there has been a massive shift in the perception of Johnson on this board because he has shown he knows what he is doing. To win with a roster like we have you need to have a great gameplan with players willing to buy in and give great effort night in and night out.

If the team falls apart at some point the complaints will be back, but they won't be nearly as loud as they were when Johnson was hired. Honestly if anything Johnson needed to earn a Honeymoon phase and he has done that with the way the team has played so far. Had we come out and sucked right out the gate there would have been lots of fans ready to send him packing right away since they hated the hire when it was made.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is the downside to winning the way we have so far, if things go sideways the trolls will have a field day with it.

That said, there has been a massive shift in the perception of Johnson on this board because he has shown he knows what he is doing. To win with a roster like we have you need to have a great gameplan with players willing to buy in and give great effort night in and night out.

If the team falls apart at some point the complaints will be back, but they won't be nearly as loud as they were when Johnson was hired. Honestly if anything Johnson needed to earn a Honeymoon phase and he has done that with the way the team has played so far. Had we come out and sucked right out the gate there would have been lots of fans ready to send him packing right away since they hated the hire when it was made.
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Most didnt hate the hire. Most were disappointed coaches with experience were ignored. Big difference.

Honeymoon phase? How long should that last?
 

tmvander said:
Yeah I'm hoping we can just put Pitino behind us at some point. There's maybe 3-5% of this board that seriously would rather have him be our coach this season. I know this is just an informative post, but it also feels like a rub in to those that were "backing" Pitino.

The guy had to go, almost all of us knew it, and its time to let it be.
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That 3-5% is insane as we got rid of a him at least one year later than we should’ve

We should’ve gotten rid of him when we finished 9-11 with Coffey, Murphy, Oturu, all on the same roster: he was never going to have a roster better than that again and they were 7th in the conference. Time to go.

One of the more likable coaches in my memory in MN sports from a personality standpoint. Just didn’t get it done save for one year:

in 2016 we were 11-7 in conference. All other years combined 43-89 (33%). 1 11-7 every 8 years not worth 33% the other 7.

I foresee him doing okay at New Mexico and making the tourney everyone once in a while. Maybe winning a game or two in the tourney when his guy gets hot. Hard to sustain his style against tough competition though.
 

jamiche said:
I keep saying it, but we are in the honeymoon period with Ben. A couple of unexpected losses and all of the folks who were not in favor of the hire will be screaming for his head. There will be some unexpected losses because that's sports. The important thing is that what Ben has going here appears to have real substance. Let's remember that when the doubters return.
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I half expected a "Fire Ben Johnson" thread to have been created after the Mich St loss.
 



I still follow Richard on Twitter and will always consider him a member of the Gopher family. Once family, always family. (Certainly more than the local athletes who rejected the U and are now trying to get back in good graces by claiming they'd have played for the Gophers if it hadn't been for THAT GUY.)

I want him to be successful. I'm glad Mashburn is doing well. They both chose Minnesota, they did their best while here, and they deserve some warm regards from us.
 

BarnBurner said:
Most didnt hate the hire. Most were disappointed coaches with experience were ignored. Big difference.

Honeymoon phase? How long should that last?
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Honeymoon for any new coach should last multiple years. Football should be a minimum of 4-5 years, basketball is probably a little shorter since you can turn around a basketball program far quicker due to needing fewer players. But a new basketball coach should get at least a couple of years to prove they can do the job before the vultures start circling.

As for Johnson....the level of complaining here was off the charts in regards to this hire. Might not all have been specifically directed at Johnson but there were very few people excited or even optimistic about the hire.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I still follow Richard on Twitter and will always consider him a member of the Gopher family. Once family, always family. (Certainly more than the local athletes who rejected the U and are now trying to get back in good graces by claiming they'd have played for the Gophers if it hadn't been for THAT GUY.)

I want him to be successful. I'm glad Mashburn is doing well. They both chose Minnesota, they did their best while here, and they deserve some warm regards from us.
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Well said, plus Pitino left with class, actually quite favorable for Minnesota in terms of the buyout. No bridges burned, I wish him well in the Mountain West.
 

Unexpected losses? Wasn’t that supposedly all the games against D1 teams?
Most the negativity was based on the roster. These guys have surprised so far and really have bought in to the coaching.
Hopefully it continues.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I still follow Richard on Twitter and will always consider him a member of the Gopher family. Once family, always family. (Certainly more than the local athletes who rejected the U and are now trying to get back in good graces by claiming they'd have played for the Gophers if it hadn't been for THAT GUY.)

I want him to be successful. I'm glad Mashburn is doing well. They both chose Minnesota, they did their best while here, and they deserve some warm regards from us.
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Fuck that. Pitino sucked, got at least 3 years if salary he shouldn't have, and left this program in shambles.
 


Blizzard said:
Pitino was a good ambassador of this program. Let's wish him well.
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100%

Richard seemed like a good guy....who just wasn't quite ready for the Big Ten. But he always came across as a respectable guy. I'm a fan of him as a person....and hope he finds success as a coach. Don't know why any Gophers fans would have thoughts otherwise.
 

Holy Man said:
Focusing on the outliers in your analysis diminishes the quality and substance of a good point. There are a handful of people who have continued to be borderline bitter in their in their disappointment with the hire. Substantially majority, whether they liked the hire initially or not, are on board and supportive of Ben and I bet really do understand the ups and downs of sports.
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I don't pay much attention to the outliers. At least they have stayed consistent in their viewpoints, mistaken or not.

I don't trust some of the folks who criticized the hire and who are now supportive. They will quickly revert when there are some tough losses or questionable decisions.
 

stocker08 said:
100%

Richard seemed like a good guy....who just wasn't quite ready for the Big Ten. But he always came across as a respectable guy. I'm a fan of him as a person....and hope he finds success as a coach. Don't know why any Gophers fans would have thoughts otherwise.
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Some people only feel good about themselves by bringing others down.
 

stocker08 said:
100%

Richard seemed like a good guy....who just wasn't quite ready for the Big Ten. But he always came across as a respectable guy. I'm a fan of him as a person....and hope he finds success as a coach. Don't know why any Gophers fans would have thoughts otherwise.
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I liked him too. He represented the university and the state well. He's one of the few people in sports who I think would be really fun to have over for dinner.

He hasn't proven that he's ready to be a successful coach at a P5 level. That's all.
 

I have nothing poor to say about Richard. He left on good terms, and I wish him the best. He's not a Jerry Kill who I hope gets curb stomped by Minnesota to open his upcoming season.
 


jamiche said:
I keep saying it, but we are in the honeymoon period with Ben. A couple of unexpected losses and all of the folks who were not in favor of the hire will be screaming for his head. There will be some unexpected losses because that's sports. The important thing is that what Ben has going here appears to have real substance. Let's remember that when the doubters return.
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As long as you can fairly and honestly divide two completely separate groups of "doubters", then that's fair.

The groups being: i) those who hated the hire and want him to fail purely for (perceived) political reasons, and ii) those who were disappointed that a head coach with previous HC'ing experience, that could've been had for the same money, wasn't the choice, at the time of the hiring.
 

ecoperson said:
Some people only feel good about themselves by bringing others down.
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Very sad. I'll admit that I invest way more heart into Gophers sports than I should. But I'm happy to be on the glass half full side of things.

I thought this would be a throw away year. But I bought season tickets for the first time. Because I believe Ben Johnson can make this team a contender.
 

USAF said:
Fuck that. Pitino sucked, got at least 3 years if salary he shouldn't have, and left this program in shambles.
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Are you saying he should have resigned in shame 3-4 years ago?
 

I'm going off memory I didn't notice anyone get too negative about Pitino until the Purdue loss in year two, and from there that snow balled into an 0-5/2-7 big ten start with the reality of what the 15-16 season was going to look like, But I remember people thinking he was a young breath of fresh air compared to Tubby and alot of people were excited about the NIT run and thought we would be a good team the next year as well. Obviously Tubby took us out of the doldrums in year one from the end of the Monson era. Point is this an base seems to give coaches an opportunity and we've also had a run coaches out kicking there coverage in year one. Hopefully Ben and Co keep it rolling unlike the previous couple staffs. Good news is Thorson's about ten years younger than I thought he was, so he should have stability with that for the foreseeable future. I think we can get two or three good years out of Jenkins and I bet he can get some HC opportunities if he wants them. Kemp has a lot of energy on the bench as well and seems pretty plugged into Wisconsin recruiting wise. Really like the staff has Ben has put together here and Ben seems like the calm cool and collective type, which you need especially when things get tough and I think players today respond to that approach better.
 


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