Pitino's Coaching Options?

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MennoSota

MennoSota

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After an apathetic and terrible game against Northwestern, what options does Coach Pitino have to get this team to be competitive? Last night the team looked like the 14th best team in the league. How does Coach Pitino get this team to compete as a team? What would you do in this situation?
 

Take it back to basics. Learn to guard someone, rebound and play hard. For quite some time now even before these guys were out, all of that was lacking. I don't know why it is so hard for Division 1 level guys to play hard.
Tom Izzo would not stand for it, I know that. He has to demand more from his entire team effortwise, otherwise let the walk ons and scrubs play and just forfeit the season.
 

After watching the game last night i would have to say right now we are the 14th best team in the league. I do expect to improve and play hard though. Will expect nothing less! Would love to see more of the future and less of konate and gaston. Play fitz at the 5 why not. Getting nothing out of gas and konate. Obviously they have to play, but play them as little as possible.
 

Demand more, play with determination, grab the bull by the horns, come through in the pinch, hit the court running, play smart basketball, don’t let your teammates down, box out, step up, man up, see the court, be the ball, cover the outs, smother the ins, don’t double dribble!
 

GoodasGold said:
Demand more, play with determination, grab the bull by the horns, come through in the pinch, hit the court running, play smart basketball, don’t let your teammates down, box out, step up, man up, see the court, be the ball, cover the outs, smother the ins, don’t double dribble!
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Watch the backdoor, play your game, dive for loose balls, fight till the whistle, clear out, hit the outlet, fill the lane, screen and pass away, don't foul under your own basket, pressure passing lanes, front your man, post up, look for the mismatches, watch the shot clock, go up hard but shoot soft, crash the boards and for God's sake DON'T GET CAUGHT WATCHING THE PAINT DRY!
 


Play defense ! When your building your program you have to establish a identity to hang your hat on every single possession and that has to be defense. Shooting comes and goes. Plus defense defines your toughness and effort. Not a single up and coming program built any sustainable success in a power 5 conference without a great defense. With injuries i get the losses but the poor effort is not acceptable.
 

The hard part is that you have to figure out how to protect Murphy and keep him out of foul trouble which is going to be really tough since he is really the only skilled big guy available at the moment.

May as well give younger guys as many minutes as they can handle and try to limit Konate and Gaston since they will be gone next year anyway. Unfortunately if they don't play those two there really isn't another option at center because I don't think Fitzgerald is big enough to take the pounding down low.

Any team with size is going to give us major problems for the rest of the year. If/When Coffey comes back we can maybe be ok playing small ball but again that will really only work against teams that don't have a good option at center.
 

Otis said:
Watch the backdoor, play your game, dive for loose balls, fight till the whistle, clear out, hit the outlet, fill the lane, screen and pass away, don't foul under your own basket, pressure passing lanes, front your man, post up, look for the mismatches, watch the shot clock, go up hard but shoot soft, crash the boards and for God's sake DON'T GET CAUGHT WATCHING THE PAINT DRY!
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They played a nice stretch of defense in the second half with Harris in there. Considering that Harris can shoot 3s, and that we will be zoned, they may as well take a chance on giving him 20 minutes and go smaller. We are getting scored on at will with the bigger guys anyway. Also, play Fitz 25 minutes and spread the floor on offense. With Konate or Gaston in, go zone where they can cover an area and not get beat so badly.
 

I might agree about not playing Konate and Gaston, but.... My guess is that with the # of wins we had already, that he was still trying to save the season. And IF it can be saved, then why not play the best players as much as possible? If it gets to the point where the season can't be saved, then absolutely, play the underclassmen as much as possible. Focus on the future.
 



Go Gophs said:
Take it back to basics. Learn to guard someone, rebound and play hard. For quite some time now even before these guys were out, all of that was lacking. I don't know why it is so hard for Division 1 level guys to play hard.
Tom Izzo would not stand for it, I know that. He has to demand more from his entire team effortwise, otherwise let the walk ons and scrubs play and just forfeit the season.
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Here, here. It's not about defensive scheme but instead about effort and fundamentals. They were better last year because Akeem Springs was a better defender than any perimeter player on this year's team, and he was a better on-court leader than anyone on this year's team. No reason, though, that people can't step up their games from both standpoints of effort and leadership.
 

bga1 said:
They played a nice stretch of defense in the second half with Harris in there. Considering that Harris can shoot 3s, and that we will be zoned, they may as well take a chance on giving him 20 minutes and go smaller. We are getting scored on at will with the bigger guys anyway. Also, play Fitz 25 minutes and spread the floor on offense. With Konate or Gaston in, go zone where they can cover an area and not get beat so badly.
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Harris has made maybe 10% of his 3's. I get he came in as a good shooter, but he has been horrendus so far. If I am an opposing team, I would love to let him shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. He has to prove he can make some before anyone starts to take his shooting ability seriously
 

Go Gophs said:
Harris has made maybe 10% of his 3's. I get he came in as a good shooter, but he has been horrendus so far. If I am an opposing team, I would love to let him shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. He has to prove he can make some before anyone starts to take his shooting ability seriously
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Harris is shooting 41% from the 3pt stripe. Check the stats, you might be a little off on that one.
 

It takes no talent to hustle, or work hard, or to give a bleep. At the very least, this team needs to show they give a bleep the rest of the way.

And stop yapping at the refs. That accomplishes nothing.
 



bga1 said:
They played a nice stretch of defense in the second half with Harris in there. Considering that Harris can shoot 3s, and that we will be zoned, they may as well take a chance on giving him 20 minutes and go smaller. We are getting scored on at will with the bigger guys anyway. Also, play Fitz 25 minutes and spread the floor on offense. With Konate or Gaston in, go zone where they can cover an area and not get beat so badly.
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I agree with spreading the floor. Michigan runs a 4 out, one in, offense. I could see placing four guys around the circle and letting Murphy roam down low.
The problem is that only one kid can score from beyond the arc. We could pull this off if Harris and Washington start hitting shots. Have Mason, Washington, Harris and Fitz around the arc.
 

Washington is the poor shooter. One of the lowest efg in the country.
 

The morale on this team is probably irretrievably shot and I am not sure there is any salvation this year. I think Mason in particular is in bad shape since this was supposed to be "the year".

Too many hits for the team to absorb beginning with Curry's injury and culminating in the Lynch disaster. Unfortunately the freshmen have not been very good this year and just not enough talent to compete.
 

I just checked and you're right. My bad. I maybe didn't see some of the shots he made against the poor teams. I have seen a few really bad misses though, maybe that's what caused me to think that way.
Either way, I think the guy needs to see some more time if nothing else but to get him going for next season.
 

Go Gophs said:
I just checked and you're right. My bad. I maybe didn't see some of the shots he made against the poor teams. I have seen a few really bad misses though, maybe that's what caused me to think that way.
Either way, I think the guy needs to see some more time if nothing else but to get him going for next season.
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You are right that there have been some bad misses and I think these have been mostly bad shot selection...shooting it from way too far out. He thinks he can nail it from anywhere, he gets few minutes and he is short so he too easily settles for some NBA range shots. But he definitely has a sweet shot.
 


I think a lot of folks hit the nail on the head when they said get back to fundamentals and play better defense. Stretches of the Northwestern game reminded me of 2 years ago. Pitino needs to get these kids motivated. Injuries are 1 thing, but they can still play like a team, play defense etc. Maybe Pitino needs to hire a coaches coach, someone to give him some pointers. This is his 5th year as coach and we have 1 NCAA tournament bid and 1 winning record in the big ten. If someone told you 5 years ago what his record would be would you want him hired?
 

bga1 said:
They played a nice stretch of defense in the second half with Harris in there. Considering that Harris can shoot 3s, and that we will be zoned, they may as well take a chance on giving him 20 minutes and go smaller. We are getting scored on at will with the bigger guys anyway. Also, play Fitz 25 minutes and spread the floor on offense. With Konate or Gaston in, go zone where they can cover an area and not get beat so badly.
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Agree 100%
To me that was one of the few positives from last night.

I would describe Pitino as a players coach. He doesn’t want to be negative for fear of making the players get down. It would be a good time to reward the guys that are getting it done on defense and who are key to the future.
 

Go Gophs said:
I just checked and you're right. My bad. I maybe didn't see some of the shots he made against the poor teams. I have seen a few really bad misses though, maybe that's what caused me to think that way.
Either way, I think the guy needs to see some more time if nothing else but to get him going for next season.
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You're right -- he's capable of looking bad. Pitino has said he's the best shooter on the team, but he's a freshman who hasn't played much. He needs minutes to feel comfortable, become more accustomed to the speed at this level and learn when to let it fly. It's hard to get comfortable when you sit for three games, then play for 30 seconds and get yanked due to one mistake.

With the season heading south, he's one guy I'd like to see a lot more of.
 

I'm guessing that the teams effort will improve, it is human nature to feel sorry for yourself while all of this is happening around you. As far as Pitino and what he can do...coaches are very easily evaluated by a few things.

1. Recruiting - won't help him now, but these are his players that he recruited, not Tubby's.
2. Defensive effort & unified group of defenders (not leaving guys on an island, group adjusts together) - very questionable over his tenure
3. Offensive adjustments & sharpness - can you maximize your personnel? Do you cut with pace, a purpose, do you screen bodies? - subpar

When talent is good, some of those things are hidden by a team's athleticism and abilities...as soon as your talent isn't as good, those things are exposed quickly. I watched Michigan vs. Purdue and those teams each play with it's own personality, and you can tell that they have a game plan and a system to their programs...They have an "Identity". I still haven't put a finger on Pitino's identity as a coach or a program.
 

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