Richard Pitino Show

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EG#9

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Can be found here: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/gophers (In the Coach's shows section to the right)

I should have done a recap of this when listening to it as it was well worth it for most Gopher fans who visit this board.

Some things I remember off the top of my head (almost surely not in the order they were discussed on the show)

Challenge of practice without Daquein McNeil- Pitino talked about the difficulty of getting any flow to practice when he constantly now has to move players to different positions during practice (mentioned stopping an installation or a scrimmage and moving Joey to the 3(!) and Bakary to the 4).

A new walk on?- Pitino mentioned that they would probably look to add someone once they got back from the Wake Forest game. I didn't get the vibe from his answer to the question (a general, will you try to add a player?) that he had a particular guy in mind. He seems genuinely concerned about both numbers of bodies and style of play post McNeil.

"Uncle Bob". In one of the funnier moments of the interview Pitino talked about going over the film with the team and how often Bobby Knight mentioned Elliott Eliason's name (both Phil Mackey and Pitino surmised that it was because it was one of the players names Coach Knight knew). So Pitino asked Eliason is that your Uncle or something, why is he always saying your name? So according to Pitino it's "Uncle Bob" during film session. This wasn't a shot at Knight for the Bobby Knight fans on the board as Coach Pitino had nice things to say about Coach Knight though acknowledging that they've never really met.

Criticism from outside sources: Another interesting nugget that came up during film review is that Pitino will sometimes leave in the analysts comments so that players hear that it's not just their coach/coaches that think something was a bad play. An example was used of Knight (or Dakich) saying Carlos Morris took a bad shot and Coach Pitino left the commentary in there so the team heard it.

Assistant most likely to become a head coach? Question from Phil Mackey and Pitino said Dan McHale, but then also said that he thought all three assistants would eventually be head guys and that Dan is just further along experience wise so he's the closest to being ready for the shot. It was more interesting to hear Richard answer how a coach can show he's ready for a head job and his answer was recruiting. Richard said he got jobs because of the players they got at Louisville and then said that behind an unsuccessful coach is almost always a staff who has failed him by not bringing in players. He says that we're not on a level (YET) of UNC, Kentucky, or Kansas and that it's not just about bringing in 5 star guys but finding the best guys you can bring in to fit your system (mentions not all 5 star guys would fit his system) and cites Kimani Young bringing in Nate Mason as an example of a guy who was underrated but looks like he's going to be a very good player.

Andre Hollins struggles: Coach said he met with Andre after the NIT and asked him during all his struggles, did he (Pitino) ever play him less? Hollins answered "No" and then Pitino said that as long as he has confidence in him, that Hollins should ignore other voices. Also praised his Andres defense.

Charles Buggs: Pitino specficially mentioned fans wanting him to play Charles Buggs more. This was interesting because he specifically mentioned that Charles was making defensive mistakes (and it was implied over and over again) and he just can't leave a guy on the court who is doing that.


Anyways its worth a listen if you have the time.
 

Thanks. I look forward to listening, and really appreciate your recap.
 

EG#9 said:
Charles Buggs: Pitino specficially mentioned fans wanting him to play Charles Buggs more. This was interesting because he specifically mentioned that Charles was making defensive mistakes (and it was implied over and over again) and he just can't leave a guy on the court who is doing that.


Anyways its worth a listen if you have the time.
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Add in the almost every possession correction on placement and you've got a coaches nightmare. Guy trots back on defense and in my opinion only wants to shoot threes and run the fast break.

Soo much talent soo little game iq and desire.
 

Richard really needs to stop talking about how short-handed they are. Who recruited McNeil and Lofton, neither on the team right now? Don't want to hear excuses.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Richard really needs to stop talking about how short-handed they are. Who recruited McNeil and Lofton, neither on the team right now? Don't want to hear excuses.
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Are you inferring that he is complaining? The facts are what they are, he knew he would be tight, but with two guys out and a couple others sick, it can make practice a little more interesting.

He is just real open and tells it like it is, he is not making excuses. It makes it a lot more interesting getting insight into the details then to just have him just make up crap and spewing cliches... He talked about how they installed the match-up zone defense on the fly for the first time that allows him to switch out players responsibilities. It is interesting details and stories, much more refreshing than typical coach speak!
 


SelectionSunday said:
Richard really needs to stop talking about how short-handed they are. Who recruited McNeil and Lofton, neither on the team right now? Don't want to hear excuses.
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It's kind of hard to tell that an 18 year old you recruited will be charged with felony domestic assault before his 21st birthday. Zach Lofton was a local kid who wanted to come here and fans always seem to like that, so I don't think he should be blamed for that either.
 

Good recap EG#9. Thank you.

Go Gophers!!
 

Thanks for the recap.

I haven't listened... did it sound like Richard was complaining about being shorthanded? Just reading, I didn't get that vibe. Saying it's difficult with so few players isn't necessarily complaining.
 

I didn't get the vibe that Coach Pitino was complaining at all. I do agree that being short-handed at 1-3 can't be used as an excuse. The roster construction appeared to be a problem when discussing this season in the Spring.

One other note I remembered that I didn't include was Richard (playfully) chided everybody, including Grimm, for not noticing/discussing that match up zone they played in NYC which they had never used before and apparently just installed.
 



EG#9 said:
I didn't get the vibe that Coach Pitino was complaining at all. I do agree that being short-handed at 1-3 can't be used as an excuse. The roster construction appeared to be a problem when discussing this season in the Spring.

One other note I remembered that I didn't include was Richard (playfully) chided everybody, including Grimm, for not noticing/discussing that match up zone they played in NYC which they had never used before and apparently just installed.
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Great recap, thanks so much!
 

underground629 said:
Thanks for the recap.

I haven't listened... did it sound like Richard was complaining about being shorthanded? Just reading, I didn't get that vibe. Saying it's difficult with so few players isn't necessarily complaining.
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No, he did not complain. It was just an off the cuff response by SS, who I doubt even listened to the show. I would recommend everyone listen to his show, he is very honest, straight forward and entertaining. He really knows his basketball.
 

You are correct alchemy2u, I did not hear the show. I admit I may not have the quotes in proper context.

That said, my main point & apologies for not making this clear is, I don't like hearing coaches talk about being short-handed (in whatever context), even if it is true (as is the case here). Comes off as making excuses. ... "Hey everybody, we're not full strength."

Don't like it when Izzo does it -- does it frequently, it's the only thing I don't like about him -- don't like it when Pitino does it, and I especially don't want to hear it when the reason your team is short-handed is behavior related (not injuries). This is at least the second time since Lofton & McNeil were booted/suspended I've heard Pitino make reference to how short-handed they are in practice. It's a pet peeve of mine, for sure.
 

I will say that the switching he has installed on the full court press and matchup zone has been a wrinkle teams have not expected in the first half and has gotten us a TON of turnovers because of it. It's allowed our "slower" guards the luxury of being very aggressive without having to worry about getting back to their "spot" in the zone.

I also think that is going to be a short lived advantage. In the last couple games, we've gotten out to a hot start fueled in large part by massive turnover numbers by the opposition. As soon as they calm down and know where the pressure comes from they seem to make a rally back and we loose our edge. I hope Pitino has a counter punch in his back pocket for 2nd games against opponents in the Big 10 as I could see some very easy action to counter all the "back turning" our front guards due on defense. It's as simple as stepping a wing in and rotating a guard to the wing and you've got some issues with that switching.

That said, it's a fantastic wrinkle he put in this year that has net some very frustrated opposition and given us some nice leads, which we just have to get better at maintaining.
 



SelectionSunday said:
You are correct alchemy2u, I did not hear the show. I admit I may not have the quotes in proper context.

That said, my main point & apologies for not making this clear is, I don't like hearing coaches talk about being short-handed (in whatever context), even if it is true (as is the case here). Comes off as making excuses. ... "Hey everybody, we're not full strength."

Don't like it when Izzo does it -- does it frequently, it's the only thing I don't like about him -- don't like it when Pitino does it, and I especially don't want to hear it when the reason your team is short-handed is behavior related (not injuries). This is at least the second time since Lofton & McNeil were booted/suspended I've heard Pitino make reference to how short-handed they are in practice. It's a pet peeve of mine, for sure.
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I guess the point I was making is that he was not making an excuse. He was discussing how in practices he had to stop the flow as they go down the court and switch players around to see the looks he wants, etc... Would it be better for him to lie and say he did it because he felt like it, or tell it like it is because he doesn't have the right mix of players. Of course, he could not tell us those details, but I like the details he shares with the fans. You normally don't hear that from coaches.

Richard is not one to let obstacles get in his way. Just look at what he did to improve the practice facilities instead of making excuses. He likely will try to add another walk on and then he won't have to stop the flow in practice.
 

alchemy2u said:
I guess the point I was making is that he was not making an excuse. He was discussing how in practices he had to stop the flow as they go down the court and switch players around to see the looks he wants, etc... Would it be better for him to lie and say he did it because he felt like it, or tell it like it is because he doesn't have the right mix of players. Of course, he could not tell us those details, but I like the details he shares with the fans. You normally don't hear that from coaches.

Richard is not one to let obstacles get in his way. Just look at what he did to improve the practice facilities instead of making excuses. He likely will try to add another walk on and then he won't have to stop the flow in practice.
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Fair enough.
 

alchemy2u said:
Are you inferring that he is complaining? The facts are what they are, he knew he would be tight, but with two guys out and a couple others sick, it can make practice a little more interesting.

He is just real open and tells it like it is, he is not making excuses. It makes it a lot more interesting getting insight into the details then to just have him just make up crap and spewing cliches... He talked about how they installed the match-up zone defense on the fly for the first time that allows him to switch out players responsibilities. It is interesting details and stories, much more refreshing than typical coach speak!
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So true.
 

new show was recorded a couple days ago for anyone interested. usually a good show. listening to new one now
 

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