BleedGopher
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per the Omaha World Herald:
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino has a “been there, endured that” empathy for what Nebraska counterpart Tim Miles is going through this season.
That’s why in Pitino’s press conference Wednesday, he stuck up for Miles in the wake of criticism about the inconsistent season of the Huskers, who face the Gophers on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me that somebody would want him fired,” Pitino said. “They’re extremely young, they’ve had injuries, they play extremely hard.
“They fight for him. They are recruiting well and he’s selling the place out.”
Last season, Pitino tried to compete in the Big Ten with a regular playing rotation consisting of one senior, one junior and a combined seven freshmen and sophomores.
It didn’t go well.
The Gophers finished 8-23 overall and 2-16 in the league, with one of the few comforts being that 13 of the losses were by single digits.
This season, Nebraska’s nine-man rotation consists of one senior, one junior and seven combined freshmen and sophomores. And the Huskers have struggled, going 12-16 and 6-10 with seven single-digit losses.
Now, with a year of polish and a couple of key recruits, Minnesota is making history by posting the nation’s biggest turnaround.
The Gophers are 22-7 overall, 10-6 in the league and among the nation’s hottest teams with a seven-game winning streak. They just missed being ranked in the two major polls this week, but have the Big Ten’s best NCAA RPI at No. 17. Nebraska is No. 87.
Pitino, at this time a year ago, dealt with much of what Miles is facing now — cranky calls to radio shows, questions about his strategy and speculation about his job status. He said he was unfamiliar with Nebraska’s basketball history, but he knew that Miles taking the Huskers to the NCAA tournament in 2014 was a rarity.
“So he’s got my respect, not that my opinion matters a whole lot in this,” Pitino said. “It doesn’t make much sense that people are talking like that, but we all go through it.
“I think he’ll be just fine. I hope.”
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mens-b...cle_f22396d2-fedf-11e6-b777-a76d8aef2063.html
Go Gophers!!
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino has a “been there, endured that” empathy for what Nebraska counterpart Tim Miles is going through this season.
That’s why in Pitino’s press conference Wednesday, he stuck up for Miles in the wake of criticism about the inconsistent season of the Huskers, who face the Gophers on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me that somebody would want him fired,” Pitino said. “They’re extremely young, they’ve had injuries, they play extremely hard.
“They fight for him. They are recruiting well and he’s selling the place out.”
Last season, Pitino tried to compete in the Big Ten with a regular playing rotation consisting of one senior, one junior and a combined seven freshmen and sophomores.
It didn’t go well.
The Gophers finished 8-23 overall and 2-16 in the league, with one of the few comforts being that 13 of the losses were by single digits.
This season, Nebraska’s nine-man rotation consists of one senior, one junior and seven combined freshmen and sophomores. And the Huskers have struggled, going 12-16 and 6-10 with seven single-digit losses.
Now, with a year of polish and a couple of key recruits, Minnesota is making history by posting the nation’s biggest turnaround.
The Gophers are 22-7 overall, 10-6 in the league and among the nation’s hottest teams with a seven-game winning streak. They just missed being ranked in the two major polls this week, but have the Big Ten’s best NCAA RPI at No. 17. Nebraska is No. 87.
Pitino, at this time a year ago, dealt with much of what Miles is facing now — cranky calls to radio shows, questions about his strategy and speculation about his job status. He said he was unfamiliar with Nebraska’s basketball history, but he knew that Miles taking the Huskers to the NCAA tournament in 2014 was a rarity.
“So he’s got my respect, not that my opinion matters a whole lot in this,” Pitino said. “It doesn’t make much sense that people are talking like that, but we all go through it.
“I think he’ll be just fine. I hope.”
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mens-b...cle_f22396d2-fedf-11e6-b777-a76d8aef2063.html
Go Gophers!!
