Richard Pitino: “I’ve always said, if you play the games, they’re going to want you to win. And if you don’t win enough, you’re going to get fired."

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In my opinion if Pitino were still here we would be excited about the upcoming season. Most of last years players would still be here and we probably would have pulled a couple of decent players from the portal. But that is water over the dam. As a big basketball fan I hope things work out well for RP and the Gophers.
 

jblass said:
In my opinion if Pitino were still here we would be excited about the upcoming season. Most of last years players would still be here and we probably would have pulled a couple of decent players from the portal. But that is water over the dam. As a big basketball fan I hope things work out well for RP and the Gophers.
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Would have continued to cheer for the team but would have cut off all financial support to the program. To continue the financial support would have been supporting a less than mediocre program. Thrilled for a fresh start.
 

jblass said:
In my opinion if Pitino were still here we would be excited about the upcoming season. Most of last years players would still be here and we probably would have pulled a couple of decent players from the portal. But that is water over the dam. As a big basketball fan I hope things work out well for RP and the Gophers.
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So besides being healthy what would’ve been the difference? To be fair Carr and Kalchaeur weren’t coming back no matter what. Pitino wouldn’t have gotten Battle. I would’ve been more apathetic to be honest because I know there wouldn’t have been a priority on defense and would’ve been watching Mashburn try to be Carr/Nate Mason.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
well, stating the obvious - you can be a good guy and at the same time, not be a good coach.

I think Richard would have been better served to spend more time as a top assistant at a P5 program - NOT connected with his dad or any cronies - and really learn how to coach - how to make adjustments, etc.

In that sense, Richard is somewhat in the same situation as Tim Brewster - a personable guy with a lot of connections, but lacking development in some of the real "skills" of coaching, who ultimately became a head coach before they were ready. Richard had the Pitino name - Brewster had the rep as a hot recruiter, and that allowed them to skip a few steps in the process. but those steps are necessary in other to build the base of coaching knowledge you need to succeed.
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You nailed it. Being an assistant coach longer at the P5 level, and then go to coach at a lesser conference school would have served his development. Being a head coach of a basketball program is multi-faceted.

He is affable and it is difficult not to like him on a personal and professional level. His family loved it here.
 

hungan1 said:
You nailed it. Being an assistant coach longer at the P5 level, and then go to coach at a lesser conference school would have served his development. Being a head coach of a basketball program is multi-faceted.

He is affable and it is difficult not to like him on a personal and professional level. His family loved it here.
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Richard all but said it in an interview. His dad even said “what have you done?”
When he asked him if he should take the MN job. Here is the other thing I would add. He needed to be an assistant with someone not established. He knows basketball, not sure he knew program development and building player relationships. He was great to guys in the media, but there was a reason he had transfers. He’s never had to really grind like many of the players he recruits. It’s tough to understand and build relationships with that mentality when you’ve never experienced it.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
Richard all but said it in an interview. His dad even said “what have you done?”
When he asked him if he should take the MN job. Here is the other thing I would add. He needed to be an assistant with someone not established. He knows basketball, not sure he knew program development and building player relationships. He was great to guys in the media, but there was a reason he had transfers. He’s never had to really grind like many of the players he recruits. It’s tough to understand and build relationships with that mentality when you’ve never experienced it.
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We hope that in the case of Ben Johnson, he has Thorson on board to mentor him. My hunch is they will implement a system similar to the one at DeLaSalle HS that won nine titles. BJ is well connected with AAU and on the recruiting circuit. He will be more successful at recruiting than his predecessor.

We have seen this rodeo before over and over. We went thru this with Monsoon, Tuby Smith, and Pitino. But, I think this time it will different. At least we hope that Ben Johnson can turn this BB program around.
 
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hungan1 said:
We hope that in the case of Ben Johnson, he has Thorson on board to mentor him. My hunch is they will implement a system similar to the one at DeLaSalle HS that won nine titles. BJ is well connected with AAU and on the recruiting circuit. He will be more successful at recruiting than his predecessor.

We have seen this rodeo before over and over. We went thru this with Monsoon, Tuby Smith, and Pitino. But, I think this time it will different. At least we hope that Ben Johnson can turn this BB program around.
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Well, so far so good, as far as recruiting anyhow. One of the main reasons given for acquiring/hiring Ben Johnson was "connections to local AAU and keeping (at least a good portion) of talent from Minnesota home". Carrington, Payne, and Ola-Joseph seem to be a good start.
 



Gopherfan84 said:
Richard all but said it in an interview. His dad even said “what have you done?”
When he asked him if he should take the MN job. Here is the other thing I would add. He needed to be an assistant with someone not established. He knows basketball, not sure he knew program development and building player relationships. He was great to guys in the media, but there was a reason he had transfers. He’s never had to really grind like many of the players he recruits. It’s tough to understand and build relationships with that mentality when you’ve never experienced it.
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Yeah Richard would have been bests erved to stay at FIU for four or five years or moved to another mid major once the sins of Isiah Thomas came out and the program went on probation. After eight years in the nations toughest conference, I think he can do well at New Mexico. Passionate fan base, he won't have to deal with the pit falls of in state recruiting, being Transfer U might work well there. Wish him the best, won't lose sleep if he doesn't do well, but I have no ill will towards him. Hopefully he has a plan at the start this time, otherwise you're always going to be playing catch up.. With Alford, Rice, Niko, Dutcher, Odom and Miles in that league he will be going up against good staffs
 

jblass said:
In my opinion if Pitino were still here we would be excited about the upcoming season. Most of last years players would still be here and we probably would have pulled a couple of decent players from the portal. But that is water over the dam. As a big basketball fan I hope things work out well for RP and the Gophers.
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Would have supported the team, and always liked Pitino as a person. However, so over their style of play - offensively and defensively. It just wasn't going to work. Also, I wouldn't have been real excited as most of the players weren't that talented, evidenced by where they went. Carr had talent but was never going to work with Pitino because he was never held accountable, Mashburn was falling into the same dysfunction, and while Liam had a couple of good games, overall he turned the ball over and couldn't guard - blocking a few shots didn't make up for all of the other times he was out of position. So, our three most talented players (I think Ihnen right with them but wouldn't have developed with Pition) were simply not going to be difference makers the way they were used.

Wasted way too much time with a long response. In a nutshell, I wish Pitino would have been successful as I really liked him, but just no evidence that it was going to ever work.
 


Fleckoff said:
Yeah Richard would have been bests erved to stay at FIU for four or five years or moved to another mid major once the sins of Isiah Thomas came out and the program went on probation. After eight years in the nations toughest conference, I think he can do well at New Mexico. Passionate fan base, he won't have to deal with the pit falls of in state recruiting, being Transfer U might work well there. Wish him the best, won't lose sleep if he doesn't do well, but I have no ill will towards him. Hopefully he has a plan at the start this time, otherwise you're always going to be playing catch up.. With Alford, Rice, Niko, Dutcher, Odom and Miles in that league he will be going up against good staffs
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What? Richard got a chance at the big lights and made $15-20 million. He is also a hot property as demonstrated by the fact he was unemployed for about 15 minutes.....
 





alchemy2u said:
What? Richard got a chance at the big lights and made $15-20 million. He is also a hot property as demonstrated by the fact he was unemployed for about 15 minutes.....
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Dads relationship with the AD gave Richard a chance at that job. Otherwise he was more likely destined for a smaller school job. Still plenty of time to change his best and build a strong strong career.
 


builtbadgers said:
Has nothing to do with the man, everything to do with the awful job he did here. Movbed on the day he was let go. The topic was related to Pitino.
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“Moving on” means let it go. Fogitaboutit.
No bitterness. Don’t care. It’s a new day.

Ignoring Pitino topics is moving on. Not, Oh boy!!!! A Pitino topic I can spew my hatred and utter disgust for the man and what he made ME endure for eight long years. Because the rest of you guys aren’t as astute as I am judging how he betrayed ME, Just ME, with his lousy coaching. So I’ll tell you. (What you do: That ain’t movin’ on)
 

To steal hungan’s term, Richard is very “affable” and a good dude, but I’m already tired of hearing about him.

The loyalty to him by some is a little disturbing since he’s one of the worst coaches the Gopher Men’s Basketball program has ever had.

I wish him future success as a good man but I’m much happier with Ben. He has a lot to prove himself, though. I’m encouraged by his start with recruiting.
 

Slim Tubby said:
To steal hungan’s term, Richard is very “affable” and a good dude, but I’m already tired of hearing about him.

The loyalty to him by some is a little disturbing since he’s one of the worst coaches the Gopher Men’s Basketball program has ever had.

I wish him future success as a good man but I’m much happier with Ben. He has a lot to prove himself, though. I’m encouraged by his start with recruiting.
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"One of the worst" hard to remember the good ones after years of losing or cheating to win.
 


PhiloVance said:
"One of the worst" hard to remember the good ones after years of losing or cheating to win.
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Or scandals. We may never have had a basketball coach that wasn't tarnished or sullied by some basketball program transgression. Not coming to mind. John Kundla the last?
 

60's Guy said:
“Moving on” means let it go. Fogitaboutit.
No bitterness. Don’t care. It’s a new day.

Ignoring Pitino topics is moving on. Not, Oh boy!!!! A Pitino topic I can spew my hatred and utter disgust for the man and what he made ME endure for eight long years. Because the rest of you guys aren’t as astute as I am judging how he betrayed ME, Just ME, with his lousy coaching. So I’ll tell you. (What you do: That ain’t movin’ on)
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Again, not hatred for the man. Plus he did not do anything to me. Just poor coaching, poor judge of character. Poor job for the program. Nothing to do with me.
 

alchemy2u said:
What? Richard got a chance at the big lights and made $15-20 million. He is also a hot property as demonstrated by the fact he was unemployed for about 15 minutes.....
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Agreed. He got an offer for a lot of money and with a shot at greatness. regardless of merit or experience, I don’t want to hire a coach who thinks the job is too much for him. Pitino got a chance to shoot his shot and he missed, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have taken the shot. Same opportunity for BJ - is he supposed to turn down the job offer so he can go try at a mid major for 5 years first?

Edit: after rereading the original quoted post - Pitino’s first major conference gig could maybe have gone better if he had grinded it out somewhere else for a while, sure, but also maybe not. I think he was already who he was going to be as a coach by the time he got here (e.g if he practices sucked, that wasn’t going to be fixed by playing at a lower level). If Pitino doesn’t learn from these past 9 years and a fresh start, no grind as an assistant would do any more for him.
 
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and here is the great unknown:

If his name was Richard Smith or Richard Jones, how would his career have been different?

I think it's safe to assume he would not have had the same opportunities available to him at such a young age. he would have had to follow the traditional route - start out in HS or a low-level college, work as an assistant for a while, and work his way up the ladder.

Unless he showed unusual aptitude, it's quite possible he might still be working as a head coach at a low to mid-major, or an assistant coach at a P5 Conference.

But, I think it's safe to say he would not have been the Head coach at a B1G school.

And - another question to ponder - who might have been the Head Coach at MN if Mega Tongue did not have Rick Pitino's son as an option...........?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
and here is the great unknown:

If his name was Richard Smith or Richard Jones, how would his career have been different?

I think it's safe to assume he would not have had the same opportunities available to him at such a young age. he would have had to follow the traditional route - start out in HS or a low-level college, work as an assistant for a while, and work his way up the ladder.

Unless he showed unusual aptitude, it's quite possible he might still be working as a head coach at a low to mid-major, or an assistant coach at a P5 Conference.

But, I think it's safe to say he would not have been the Head coach at a B1G school.

And - another question to ponder - who might have been the Head Coach at MN if Mega Tongue did not have Rick Pitino's son as an option...........?
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Honestly would've been Flip I think. Hoiberg had serious interest as well. Think Buzz and some others would've been interested too.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
Honestly would've been Flip I think. Hoiberg had serious interest as well. Think Buzz and some others would've been interested too.
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Flip and Hoiberg were interviewed/offered before Pitino...so it wouldn't have been them.
 

howeda7 said:
Flip and Hoiberg were interviewed/offered before Pitino...so it wouldn't have been them.
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No it would’ve been with a different AD. That’s the question I was answering. Flip even said so in an interview before he died.
 



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