Reusse: Pitino’s second season as Gophers coach was an unequivocal disaster.

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Gopher Warrior said:
The craziest talk I have seen this year from Gopher fans - and a lot of them say it - some even in this thread - is "we were so close!" No. They were nowhere close. And there were a ton of super-close games. A lot of contested games, as you'd expect with so many teams near each other on paper.
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We weren't one or two games away from making the tournament.....but yes.....we had a TON of close losses this year. A few more bounces go our way....and yes....the Gophers could have finished .500 in conference and made the tournament.

Nowhere near close would be Marquette.
 

The "we were THIS close" analogy.
The cry of Viking fans for years.
 

Unreal. This thread is insane. Pitino doesn't even have a full recruited team yet and people are asking for his head. I'll give him 2 more years to make some headway.

Yes this season sucked...it happens.
 

Gopherbbdude said:
Unreal. This thread is insane. Pitino doesn't even have a full recruited team yet and people are asking for his head. I'll give him 2 more years to make some headway.

Yes this season sucked...it happens.
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The voice of reason.

I haven't checked, but are folks in Florida calling for Billy Donovan's head after this season of disappointment?
 

tinyarch said:
The voice of reason. I haven't checked, but are folks in Florida calling for Billy Donovan's head after this season of disappointment?
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I sure as hell am not calling for Pitino's head (a tad premature, to say the least), but this sure as hell is one dumb-assed comparison.
 


tinyarch said:
The voice of reason.

I haven't checked, but are folks in Florida calling for Billy Donovan's head after this season of disappointment?
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I haven't seen anyone (except maybe a few trolls who were bent on hating whoever replaced Tubby) calling for Pitino's head. What a lot of people are saying is that Pitino did a crappy job this year. I know he failed to meet my expectations, and I'm pretty sure he failed to meet his own too (if he met his own expectations, then we probably should be calling for his head). He took a step backwards for the second straight year, and we haven't seen him take a step forward yet. This was a bad year, and I don't think Pitino disagrees (thought he is too image conscious to admit it publicly).
 

A team belongs to, and is an expression of, the players as much or more than the coach. We will never know to what degree Pitino failed this year until we understand what was going on amongst the players. From my viewpoint there seemed to be a split into at least two factions. One player in particular seemed willing to share the ball only with one of two other players. At times this year the team reminded me of a playground game where certain players didn't want some others on the floor with them and so pretended they weren't there. And exactly how does a coach force senior leadership? Plenty of blame to go around and players must accept their share.
 

Yes we made the ncaa tourney and beat in uninspired team without their 2nd best player the year before. But do you honestly believe tubby would have had a better season last year with his two recruits than Pitino had? That team lost Mbakwe and Rodney.





bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I haven't seen anyone (except maybe a few trolls who were bent on hating whoever replaced Tubby) calling for Pitino's head. What a lot of people are saying is that Pitino did a crappy job this year. I know he failed to meet my expectations, and I'm pretty sure he failed to meet his own too (if he met his own expectations, then we probably should be calling for his head). He took a step backwards for the second straight year, and we haven't seen him take a step forward yet. This was a bad year, and I don't think Pitino disagrees (thought he is too image conscious to admit it publicly).
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maxwellsmart said:
A team belongs to, and is an expression of, the players as much or more than the coach. We will never know to what degree Pitino failed this year until we understand what was going on amongst the players. From my viewpoint there seemed to be a split into at least two factions. One player in particular seemed willing to share the ball only with one of two other players. At times this year the team reminded me of a playground game where certain players didn't want some others on the floor with them and so pretended they weren't there. And exactly how does a coach force senior leadership? Plenty of blame to go around and players must accept their share.
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If you are going to make allegations of freeze outs and selective passing, you should be specific.
 



indygopher said:
What made this season so frustrating was how close we were to having a pretty good season, in spite of our shortcomings. Just 8 more points total against OSU, Iowa and Penn St in The Barn and we would have been 9-9 in the B1G. 21-11 overall going into the B1G tourney. In fact, just 36 more points over the B1G schedule and we would have been 14-4, 26-6 overall with a double bye in the tourney.

It may take a few years, but I'm looking forward to seeing what results Richard can bring.
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PSU was 38 pts away from being 13-5 in conference. Northwestern was 39 pts away from being 15-3. This is a fun game.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I haven't seen anyone (except maybe a few trolls who were bent on hating whoever replaced Tubby) calling for Pitino's head. What a lot of people are saying is that Pitino did a crappy job this year. I know he failed to meet my expectations, and I'm pretty sure he failed to meet his own too (if he met his own expectations, then we probably should be calling for his head). He took a step backwards for the second straight year, and we haven't seen him take a step forward yet. This was a bad year, and I don't think Pitino disagrees (thought he is too image conscious to admit it publicly).
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Most of what you've written here is about as perfectly stated as can be in my opinion. The only thing I disagree with is the "step backwards for the second straight year" part. I didn't think last year was a step back especially considering the significant losses from the 2013 team. The conference record was the same as 2013 and in some ways the NIT championship felt like more of an accomplishment than the one NCAA tournament win against the UCLA team with major issues.
 

justthefacts said:
PSU was 38 pts away from being 13-5 in conference. Northwestern was 39 pts away from being 15-3. This is a fun game.
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Good discovery. There really wasn't much difference between them and us. We were a true bottom tier team that had a few good wins in us.
 



GopherJake said:
I sure as hell am not calling for Pitino's head (a tad premature, to say the least), but this sure as hell is one dumb-assed comparison.
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Yes, of course, Billy Donovan like Beilein is a proven winner with a long record of accomplishment. It's easy to know they are good coaches and to forgive them for occasional down years.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, of course, Billy Donovan like Beilein is a proven winner with a long record of accomplishment. It's easy to know they are good coaches and to forgive them for occasional down years.
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I wonder though, Did people call for Billy Donovan's head after he started 27-32 and 11-21 in the sec during his first 2 years(at florida)? his 3rd year he was better 22-9, 10-6 SEC and the rest is history
 

Tim1406 said:
I wonder though, Did people call for Billy Donovan's head after he started 27-32 and 11-21 in the sec during his first 2 years(at florida)? his 3rd year he was better 22-9, 10-6 SEC and the rest is history
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Today is different. It is the "I want it and I want it now" generation.

We have forgotten that patience is a virtue.

I am at the age where I might be dead before Coach Pitino gets us there. But I will be patient and supporting while he is working on getting us there.

GO GOPHERS!!!
 

Yeah I agree with the difference in times. Take a look at how we(as minnesotans) treat our coaches. Anyway sometimes it's best to stay the course (I did think tubby should have gotten 1 more year so don't call me a hypocrite just cause i support Pitino now.)

I don't think we really support our team when times get tough. Minnesotans are there for you when we win but as soon as a challenging season happens it's "fire the coach", or "this person isn't good enough".

At least we gave Gardenhire a few bad years. I still can't believe we fired Dwayne Casey from the Timberwolves a few years back. The Wild have churned through their fair share of coaches. And Yeo's seat was probably getting a little hot until this run we've gone on. And I shouldn't even start with the Vikings post Denny Green era.

My point is maybe we as a state should take a break from saying we have to win and win now give a coach some time and treat Pitino to the same respect we have given Jerry Kill(Though i believe there were calls for him to step down after the 2013-2014 season due to his seizures, I'm looking at you Strib).
 

Tim1406 said:
I wonder though, Did people call for Billy Donovan's head after he started 27-32 and 11-21 in the sec during his first 2 years(at florida)? his 3rd year he was better 22-9, 10-6 SEC and the rest is history
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I have no idea the answer to that specific question. I would note, however, that no one is calling for Pitino's head. I honestly don't think I've seen a single person suggest he should be fired. There are lots of people who suggest that more was expected of the team and some/much of the blame should be laid at his feet. There are lots of people who look at this season and wonder whether it's indicative of a larger issue. But I'm 100% certain those same type of questions were asked after Donovan's first two years by fans as avid as the ones who post here regularly.
 

Tim1406 said:
I wonder though, Did people call for Billy Donovan's head after he started 27-32 and 11-21 in the sec during his first 2 years(at florida)? his 3rd year he was better 22-9, 10-6 SEC and the rest is history
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Well, maybe. I feel pretty confident that Pitino won't match that third season record though.
 

Tim1406 said:
I don't think we really support our team when times get tough. Minnesotans are there for you when we win but as soon as a challenging season happens it's "fire the coach", or "this person isn't good enough".
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I'll just repeat what others have said. No one is saying to fire the coach (that would be pretty ridiculous after two years; even a completely God awful coach like Todd Lickliter got three years at Iowa). Pitino probably earned a minimum of four years with his NIT championship and his pretty good (at least on paper) recruiting class this year (hope he isn't done yet). Until then, for better or worse, we are stuck with him unless next year brings a complete meltdown coupled with mass departures. People are saying that they thought he did a subpar job this year and that this team should have been better. I agree with them. Some are wishing that the AD would have hired someone else. I can't completely disagree with them either.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Pat:

I can guarantee that there was no one in the Williams Arena club room on that Monday – not one of us – who would have thought it was possible for the efficient, ball-stealing, 11-2 Gophers to become the stumbling, choke-in-the-clutch, 18-15 Gophers that would not be among an even 100 teams selected to participate in either the NCAA tournament, or the consolation NIT.

Rich Pitino’s second season as Gophers coach was an unequivocal disaster.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/296431031.html

Go Gophers!!
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Truth hurts. Reusse's a Gopher fan. He wants to win as much as we do. He's just telling it like it is.
 

A point worth making is that Teague needs to be part of the conversation. Pitino was his hire - and yes, he may not have been the 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, but in the end, Teague hired Pitino, and that becomes part of his resume. Based on early returns, I like the hire of Stollings for the women's team. (but she came in with a LOT more D1 experience than Pitino.)

I haven't heard much from Teague lately. Presumably, he's out trying to raise $ for the new facilities. But, I think some type of statement in support of his Men's BB coach would not be out of order.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
A point worth making is that Teague needs to be part of the conversation. Pitino was his hire - and yes, he may not have been the 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, but in the end, Teague hired Pitino, and that becomes part of his resume. Based on early returns, I like the hire of Stollings for the women's team. (but she came in with a LOT more D1 experience than Pitino.)

I haven't heard much from Teague lately. Presumably, he's out trying to raise $ for the new facilities. But, I think some type of statement in support of his Men's BB coach would not be out of order.
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He was out and about talking last week. (Saying that the facilities are "old and outdated"... doesn't help Pitino much by yelling that to the general public.)
 

indygopher said:
What made this season so frustrating was how close we were to having a pretty good season, in spite of our shortcomings. Just 8 more points total against OSU, Iowa and Penn St in The Barn and we would have been 9-9 in the B1G. 21-11 overall going into the B1G tourney. In fact, just 36 more points over the B1G schedule and we would have been 14-4, 26-6 overall with a double bye in the tourney.

It may take a few years, but I'm looking forward to seeing what results Richard can bring.
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I can understand the knee-jerk reaction to a tough season of rationalizing losses and easing the pain by articulating how many close defeats they had. But the bottom line is this: Winning close games is a skill, and the Gophers did not possess this skill. Second, just about every team has a handful of games -- like the Gophers -- that could have gone their way that didn't. This was a bad team destined for a bad season after dropping a bunch of "winnable" games early. I don't look at the Gophers and see a team anywhere close to 21-11; much less 26-6.
 

Cayman said:
We were also 1-4 against Nebraska, Penn State, and Northwestern. We should at least be able to win against those teams at home.
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No; no "We" shouldn't have. Minnesota was a bad team this year and simply didn't have enough skill to beat PSU, Nebraska and Northwestern. It's OK. Things will only get better...
 

I think a thing people are failing to see is the lack of talent Pitino was handed after the tubby era. I am not defending him as I to thought this season was a let down as well. However years teams lacked seniors who could take over games and rarely demanded the ball when the game got close. The closest we had to that was Mason, a freshmen. However, I am looking forward to next years incoming class who possess tons of athleticism and fit Pitino's system much better.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
He was out and about talking last week. (Saying that the facilities are "old and outdated"... doesn't help Pitino much by yelling that to the general public.)
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Because, you know, there's no need to know the facilities are "old and outdated." If we could just put a big blue tarp over The Barn and not let anyone in, Richard would be able to recruit anyone and the money would just appear.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
He was out and about talking last week. (Saying that the facilities are "old and outdated"... doesn't help Pitino much by yelling that to the general public.)
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huh? would he really be raising $100+m for facilities that aren't old and outdated? you are really clueless. i've got some thoughts on how clueless you are, but i don't want to share them now. anyone that wants to know my opinion, send me a pm :clap:
 

Go4 said:
huh? would he really be raising $100+m for facilities that aren't old and outdated? you are really clueless. i've got some thoughts on how clueless you are, but i don't want to share them now. anyone that wants to know my opinion, send me a pm :clap:
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I'm not into using pm's. Any chance you could start leaving cliff hanger of posts based on no actual information and blog about it somewhere else?
 

Tim1406 said:
I'm not into using pm's. Any chance you could start leaving cliff hanger of posts based on no actual information and blog about it somewhere else?
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you must be new around these parts. i was being sarcastic as cliff hangers with no actual substance, thoughts, facts and acting like he has special secrets he can only share on pm are what gw has been doing for years.
 

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