Rand: Is Pitino doing more with less?

Donate To GopherHole
station19

station19

Moderator
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
22,605
Reaction score
1
Points
36
"The differences between this year’s Gophers men’s basketball and last year’s team are numerous, starting of course with head coach Richard Pitino taking over for the fired Tubby Smith.

That said, the similarities are also pretty striking — even if this year’s squad seems to be giving off far more of a positive vibe with the fans. That’s a credit to Pitino, since expectations for this season were lower than they were a year ago, but still: Let’s take a look."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/244813431.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue
 



I'd add, so far the Gophers haven't dropped any complete tirds on the road (other than 2nd half of Iowa game), games where it looked like they weren't interested in being there. They've had some ugly moments on the road this season, yes, but the team is "competing" much better. There's been a noticeable difference in consistency of effort. ... that's where it all starts.
 

I was listening to Pitinos show last night on 1500, he made a good point. They are VERY young. Playing in the B1G is completely different from playing at a JUCO in Arizona or even for FIU. Based on that, he said really, they only have 2 players good experience playing in the B1G, The Hollins. I think he has done A LOT with what he has. As I have mentioned numerous times, if Lil Dre and Malik are the type of players he will seek out and attract, I am really hopeful for the future. Loved his reference to his "idiot family" sitting behind him. He seems so down to earth and so happy here...I hope he sticks for a long time.
 


This year's team has gaping holes in the lineup, notably forward. Last year's team had gaping holes in individual players' skill sets (Williams, Coleman).

In the final analysis, achieving about the same record and Tournament seed as last year's team, which had overall better talent, would be a major accomplishment. Not that they will, but...
 

Yes injuries are part of the game but losing your leading scorer for basically four games hurts. Without the ankle sprain we are 8-3 right now.
 

station19 said:
. ... without the ankle sprain we are 8-3 right now.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, that's easy to say, but difficult to prove. Do you take into account other teams' injuries, problems, suspensions, illnesses?

The Gophers' record is what it says it is.
 

expectations

In addition I think it should be noted that last years team included a 6th year player who did many things off the court that made him being eligible a lucky thing. Also last year we had quite a few experienced players that we were waiting to blossum as upper classmen. Last year was the year, very few injuries, etc.

Also as athletic we were with Rodney and Trevor in the frontcourt we were undersized up front, and slow in the backcourt.

I think most preseason magazines had us predicted to finish in the top half of the conference last year, while this year it was 8-12 spots. If we finish anything above 8th, nationally Patino will have overachieved. Locally, who knows the maroon colored glasses may make people expect a lot more.


Bad Gopher said:
This year's team has gaping holes in the lineup, notably forward. Last year's team had gaping holes in individual players' skill sets (Williams, Coleman).

In the final analysis, achieving about the same record and Tournament seed as last year's team, which had overall better talent, would be a major accomplishment. Not that they will, but...
Click to expand...
 



SelectionSunday said:
Respectfully, that's easy to say, but difficult to prove. Do you take into account other teams' injuries, problems, suspensions, illnesses?

The Gophers' record is what it says it is.
Click to expand...

Yes other teams lose players also, but how many teams have we played this year that were without their leading scorer? We lost three games by a total of 8 pts. One game was 3 ot's.

We lost our leading scorer(and only back-up pg) at a position we have little depth.
 

Good point station 19. I am amazed at what Izzo gets done with the injuries for Michigan st with Payne, Dawson, and now Appling all missing quite a few games and the team is still quite competitive. Hopefully Patino can get this team to have enough depth in future years to do the same.
 

station19 said:
"The differences between this year’s Gophers men’s basketball and last year’s team are numerous, starting of course with head coach Richard Pitino taking over for the fired Tubby Smith.

That said, the similarities are also pretty striking — even if this year’s squad seems to be giving off far more of a positive vibe with the fans. That’s a credit to Pitino, since expectations for this season were lower than they were a year ago, but still: Let’s take a look."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/244813431.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that B1G is so weak this year. Sounds like a Fraudulent statement????
 

StCroix said:
I was listening to Pitinos show last night on 1500, he made a good point. They are VERY young. Playing in the B1G is completely different from playing at a JUCO in Arizona or even for FIU. Based on that, he said really, they only have 2 players good experience playing in the B1G, The Hollins. I think he has done A LOT with what he has. As I have mentioned numerous times, if Lil Dre and Malik are the type of players he will seek out and attract, I am really hopeful for the future. Loved his reference to his "idiot family" sitting behind him. He seems so down to earth and so happy here...I hope he sticks for a long time.
Click to expand...

I think we need to stop considering this team young. For most of the year they've started four juniors and a senior. This is ancient by today's college basketball standards.
 



StCroix said:
I was listening to Pitinos show last night on 1500, he made a good point. They are VERY young. Playing in the B1G is completely different from playing at a JUCO in Arizona or even for FIU. Based on that, he said really, they only have 2 players good experience playing in the B1G, The Hollins. I think he has done A LOT with what he has. As I have mentioned numerous times, if Lil Dre and Malik are the type of players he will seek out and attract, I am really hopeful for the future. Loved his reference to his "idiot family" sitting behind him. He seems so down to earth and so happy here...I hope he sticks for a long time.
Click to expand...

Urbandale said:
I think we need to stop considering this team young. For most of the year they've started four juniors and a senior. This is ancient by today's college basketball standards.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify Pitino(and others) stated the Gophers are not a young team but they are an inexperienced team. Mathieu was at a JC - Malik was at FIU, not the Big Ten - King was at Drake in the MVC - EE and Oto played little - Big Mo didn't play. The two Hollins were the only experienced Big Ten players.
 

station19 said:
Just to clarify Pitino(and others) stated the Gophers are not a young team but they are an inexperienced team. Mathieu was at a JC - Malik was at FIU, not the Big Ten - King was at Drake in the MVC - EE and Oto played little - Big Mo didn't play. The two Hollins were the only experienced Big Ten players.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarification but EE and Oto didn't play little.
 

The-Real-Truth said:
Forgot to mention that B1G is so weak this year. Sounds like a Fraudulent statement????
Click to expand...

Weak?!?!?! That's ridiculous. These conference teams only started to running into trouble once they started playing other Big Ten teams. Just ridiculous.
 


Is spelling our coach's name "Patino" a bit on here that I don't understand? Especially, when the thread they are posting on has the coach's name spelled correctly in it...I can understand "Nolan" for Nolen, or "Otto" for Oto, but this family (mostly his dad) has been a staple of college basketball for my whole lifetime (30+ years).
 

Shawn Bradley Guy said:
Is spelling our coach's name "Patino" a bit on here that I don't understand? Especially, when the thread they are posting on has the coach's name spelled correctly in it...I can understand "Nolan" for Nolen, or "Otto" for Oto, but this family (mostly his dad) has been a staple of college basketball for my whole lifetime (30+ years).
Click to expand...

+1 (is it a Common Man thing?)
 

station19 said:
Just to clarify Pitino(and others) stated the Gophers are not a young team but they are an inexperienced team. Mathieu was at a JC - Malik was at FIU, not the Big Ten - King was at Drake in the MVC - EE and Oto played little - Big Mo didn't play. The two Hollins were the only experienced Big Ten players.
Click to expand...

You're right, I used the wrong word and coach made a point of saying INEXPERIENCED.
 

Shawn Bradley Guy said:
Is spelling our coach's name "Patino" a bit on here that I don't understand? Especially, when the thread they are posting on has the coach's name spelled correctly in it...I can understand "Nolan" for Nolen, or "Otto" for Oto, but this family (mostly his dad) has been a staple of college basketball for my whole lifetime (30+ years).
Click to expand...

It annoys me as well. Moe and McNeal are two more. I think most of the time the misspellings are on purpose from posters that don't like the players/coach and/or are trolls trying to disrespect the player/coach and team as a whole.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I'd add, so far the Gophers haven't dropped any complete tirds on the road (other than 2nd half of Iowa game), games where it looked like they weren't interested in being there. They've had some ugly moments on the road this season, yes, but the team is "competing" much better. There's been a noticeable difference in consistency of effort. ... that's where it all starts.
Click to expand...

Arkansas? I guess technically that was a "home" game, but...
 

I should have included Chaminade. That was a true road game, albeit vs. a non-DI opponent.
 

The-Real-Truth said:
Forgot to mention that B1G is so weak this year. Sounds like a Fraudulent statement????
Click to expand...

As much as I hate to acknowledge something good Wisconsin did, the #3 ranked Florida Gators have only 2 losses this year. One of those came against a team that is going to be .500 in the B1G after Thursday. The B1G ain't weak.
 

I think the B1G is weaker than usual at the top, but the bottom and middle is probably as tough as it has ever been.
 

MadtownGopher said:
It annoys me as well. Moe and McNeal are two more. I think most of the time the misspellings are on purpose from posters that don't like the players/coach and/or are trolls trying to disrespect the player/coach and team as a whole.
Click to expand...

The misspellings annoy me too, but I get the feeling they're more ignorance than anything else. I remember still seeing Julian Welch referred to as "Welsh" even as his career as a Gopher was coming to a close. Seriously? Welch and Welsh aren't even pronounced the same.

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
As much as I hate to acknowledge something good Wisconsin did, the #3 ranked Florida Gators have only 2 losses this year. One of those came against a team that is going to be .500 in the B1G after Thursday. The B1G ain't weak.
Click to expand...

Florida was also missing two significant contributors that game, one who is averaging over 33 minutes and 12 points a game, the other 25 minutes and nearly 10 points.

Got a bit confused when I looked up Florida's team stats and saw that it said Billy Donovan was averaging 3.2 minutes per game. I guess he's the coach's son. After seeing it I had to wonder if there were any statistics showing how many minutes a game Tom Crean spends on the floor. :)

MadtownGopher said:
I think the B1G is weaker than usual at the top, but the bottom and middle is probably as tough as it has ever been.
Click to expand...

+1 Was going to say exactly this. Not as much top end power, but not really any complete scrubs at the bottom either.
 

Oh, don't forget the almost daily loose vs. lose screw ups. Their/there/they're...fine, but loose/lose? C'mon.
 

mnsports1 said:
Oh, don't forget the almost daily loose vs. lose screw ups. Their/there/they're...fine, but loose/lose? C'mon.
Click to expand...

Haha, that one always amazes me too and I see it on every sports message board I read (ie more than just GH).
 

If Patino had Nolan as back up point guard, they would never loose. There bench would be to good.

Actually, I think EE has to be added to the mix on players having B1G experience. He had played in 28 Big Ten games with double digit minutes coming into this season. The Coleman defection subtracted experience, obviously, but this is more of what he's doing with the roster he has rather than the roster he inherited. (Dang, I hope I used "than" correctly after being a smarta$$ with the first part of my post.)
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom