Pitino's recrutiing so far

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Richard said:
I didn't blame Tubby for losing guys like Royce and Paul Carter, those were basically out of his control in my mind (similar to McNeil and Lofton to an extent). It was the losses of Devoe, Cobbs, and Iverson that could be partially blamed on Tubby as they primarily seemed to be based on playing time and Tubby's coaching style. Devoe and Iverson, in particular, were already solid rotation guys that really hurt the team when they left. There might have been other off-the-court issues with Devoe that contributed to his transfer as well, but that one really killed our backcourt, especially once Nolen became ineligible.

The Martin transfer to me reminds me a lot of the Cobbs transfer under Tubby. Seemed like a kid that wasn't getting playing time and was home sick, so he bolted early. Hopefully losing Martin doesn't end up being similar to that situation however, because Cobbs turned out to be a helluva player at Cal. For the time being however, losing Martin, Lofton, and McNeil don't seem like a big deal to me in terms of talent. Those guys can be easily replaced by most 3* recruits or a transfer of our own that is brought in.

As far as Pitino's character assessment during recruiting goes, I'm fine with what he's doing. Teams like Minnesota have to take some risks to get high-level talent. We're not at the level of Duke, where we can just avoid all potential toxic issues and recruit only kids with the highest of character.
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The difference (at least from what we hear second hand) is that in the instance of Cobb- he stuck out a year, thought Tubby was crazy and so did a number of other players. Martin's decision appears to have the backing of Martin only- as far as we know. A good indication of this is how the team played last night. They came out with a ton of zip- hustling and moving the ball as well as I have seen a team from these parts in a long time. That speaks volumes. Had they have gone out and pitched up a lethargic looking win- I'd be more concerned.
 

cjbfbp said:
Agree on all points. I don't think "If some b*tch pissed you off, would you rap her good and choke her with a belt?" is, or should be, part of the standard recruit questionnaire.

If Martin was going to transfer, he couldn't have done it at a better time. Just think if he had redshirted, didn't get much playing time next year, and then decided to transfer at the end of his second season.
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That is a standard question for most job interviews.
 

bga1 said:
The difference (at least from what we hear second hand) is that in the instance of Cobb- he stuck out a year, thought Tubby was crazy and so did a number of other players. Martin's decision appears to have the backing of Martin only- as far as we know. A good indication of this is how the team played last night. They came out with a ton of zip- hustling and moving the ball as well as I have seen a team from these parts in a long time. That speaks volumes. Had they have gone out and pitched up a lethargic looking win- I'd be more concerned.
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Agreed. As someone mentioned in the other thread, I think it is actually beneficial from the Gophers perspective for Josh to leave now as opposed to stick it out a full year. It seems like his mind was made up regardless of what went on the rest of the season, and he wasn't likely to see hardly any additional playing time once the B1G games start. More practice and player development time for Bakary and Gaston. Having a player on the team that is pouting and not "all in" with the program isn't good for the morale of the team no matter how big or small of a distraction it may be. Also gives the staff more time for 2015 recruiting if they want to look at a high schooler or JC player.
 






bga1 said:
The difference (at least from what we hear second hand) is that in the instance of Cobb- he stuck out a year, thought Tubby was crazy and so did a number of other players.
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I'd love a link to a single player saying this, let alone a "number of" players.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I'd love a link to a single player saying this, let alone a "number of" players.
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A player would be idiotic to voice this to a media outlet. Some of us younger GH'ers either had friends on the team, knew a team manager, friend of a friend, etc. that voiced this.
 



Golden13 said:
A player would be idiotic to voice this to a media outlet. Some of us younger GH'ers either had friends on the team, knew a team manager, friend of a friend, etc. that voiced this.
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Sure you did. And I have a friend (and a friend of a friend) who saw Pitino at 31 Flavors and overheard him saying he's leaving for Duke next year when Krzyzewski retires.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Sure you did. And I have a friend (and a friend of a friend) who saw Pitino at 31 Flavors and overheard him saying he's leaving for Duke next year when Krzyzewski retires.
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One of your weaker replies.
 


Golden13 said:
A player would be idiotic to voice this to a media outlet. Some of us younger GH'ers either had friends on the team, knew a team manager, friend of a friend, etc. that voiced this.
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I think there will always be personality clashes for any player but I have a hard time believing Tubby turned "crazy" after a pretty solid career. I'm not generally a Tubby apologist, but if we are going to question him on Cobbs/Joseph/Iverson/others, I think it is fair to question Pitino on the Lofton miss and now Martin. Don't let your own personal bias influence your objective evaluation.
 



I'm sure any college program has players who feel underplayed, not given the playing time they expected, don't fit the coaches philosophy, etc.. When is the last season where someone didn't transfer or leave the team?

The parallels (to Tubby) of defections is alarming, but as many have posted, they aren't coming from irreplaceable players. Where this hurts is if we get in foul trouble or injuries this season, and obviously impacts our depth moving into next season. All 3 of the defections from the team (Lofton, McNeil, Martin) hurt heading into next season. I think the jury is out until we see who he replaces these guys with.
 

golfing18now said:
I think there will always be personality clashes for any player but I have a hard time believing Tubby turned "crazy" after a pretty solid career. I'm not generally a Tubby apologist, but if we are going to question him on Cobbs/Joseph/Iverson/others, I think it is fair to question Pitino on the Lofton miss and now Martin. Don't let your own personal bias influence your objective evaluation.
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Agreed. I don't actually think that Tubby became crazy over time. I just bit on the dpo bait lol.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Imagine you they make you CEO at your company. Would your first hire be a guy who'd been to prison for drug trafficking? I'm not saying Kimani Young is a bad guy, or that he shouldn't be part of the program, but I am saying it was a bold hire. If you think Pitino didn't have to go to Woody's office & explain himself, you're nuts.

Also, no one is more open to legalization of marijuana than I am, but It is not like he was caught with an ounce. It is not now & never will be legal to posses 100lbs of marijuana regardless of what state you're in. Cartel kingpin? He may not have been, but he was certainly doing business with them. You don't just buy 100 pounds of weed on the street corner. Even at wholesale prices that's hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana. Any way you slice it that's high level drug trafficking.
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I know I'm quoting the wrong post but Johnson brought loft on in and martin was recruited by McHale. Maluk followed pitino from fiu along with kimani. If you're gonna put kimani on trial gave your facts straight
 

dpodoll68 said:
Sure you did. And I have a friend (and a friend of a friend) who saw Pitino at 31 Flavors and overheard him saying he's leaving for Duke next year when Krzyzewski retires.
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You know some unfortunate news has hit the Gophers when dpo makes an appearance.
 

mplarson7 said:
You know some unfortunate news has hit the Gophers when dpo makes an appearance.
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Yeah, I have over 11,000 posts and only post in response to bad news. Boy, that's some sound logic you have there.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I'd love a link to a single player saying this, let alone a "number of" players.
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I remember a tweet from Cobb to another player (Can't remember who) in which Cobb said Tubby was crazy, and the two joked back and forth in some sort of twitter gibberish about it.
 



dpodoll68 said:
So idiotic. So clueless.
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Absolutely. I am definitely idiotic and clueless.

My comment was more aimed that you haven't been on the basketball board since the season started, then a couple days ago some issues popped up and suddenly you're all over the place. Pure coincidence, of course. I bow to your non-name calling and logical brilliance.
 

mplarson7 said:
Absolutely. I am definitely idiotic and clueless.

My comment was more aimed that you haven't been on the basketball board since the season started, then a couple days ago some issues popped up and suddenly you're all over the place. Pure coincidence, of course. I bow to your non-name calling and logical brilliance.
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100% false. Thanks for further confirming your ignorance.
 


Not interested in the Tubby back and forth. The only real issue I have with Pitino's recruiting to date was giving Zach Lofton a scholarship and not making an immediately eligible to play transfer a priority this past Spring. I believe this year is extremely important for the program/Pitino as a rebuilding year following two seasons of missing the tournament is not a good look. This is not a second guess, it was a first guess and I wasn't alone in questioning the roster construction/decision making at the time.

Malik Smith had some good moments early in the season and also knew Pitino's system from FIU. He struggled badly during the second half of B1G play and in the NIT, but it's not like his scholarship could have been used by a better player given this situation.

Not comfortable at all with calling McNeil a mistake or miss until he has his day in court.

Slightly concerned about the Martin transfer in regards to whether we end up having to replace him with an equally raw player who will be one year behind in development compared to where Martin currently is. It's a little bit alarming to me how raw both Konate and Martin have looked during game time. Konate's development between now and the start of B1G play next season will speak volumes about Pitino and his staffs ability in skill development.
 

I think Konate has looked pretty darn good considering he was thrown into the fire from Day 1. Martin's situation reminds me a lot of the kid from Rice Lake. Very good athlete unable to accept that thats not enough, especially early in the process. You need to beat guys out in practice.

While on this topic, kudos to Charles Buggs who has no doubt received a lot of tough coaching and "constructive criticism" from Coach Pitino and has hung in there. He'll be better for it and can hopefully be a big part of the success this year.

I am not too concerned by the loss of Martin or Lofton; shows to me that Pitino runs a tight ship with high expectations.
 

Block M said:
I think Konate has looked pretty darn good considering he was thrown into the fire from Day 1. Martin's situation reminds me a lot of the kid from Rice Lake. Very good athlete unable to accept that thats not enough, especially early in the process. You need to beat guys out in practice.

While on this topic, kudos to Charles Buggs who has no doubt received a lot of tough coaching and "constructive criticism" from Coach Pitino and has hung in there. He'll be better for it and can hopefully be a big part of the success this year.

I am not too concerned by the loss of Martin or Lofton; shows to me that Pitino runs a tight ship with high expectations.
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Buggs seems to have a drastically different demeanor and body language, so not surprised he has stuck it out. He seems to have way more energy during games (on the court or on the bench)...just seems like he is having fun regardless. Martin never did.
 

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