Shama: Sources say Coyle had decided to fire Pitino, reached out to possible replacements, "(probably) spared by the pandemic"

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cjbfbp said:
Probably, but we won't know for sure until the season plays out. Everybody might be hurt somewhat by what is going on now and in the intermediate future. Who knows? Maybe Pitino will have a better-than-expected season next year. Stranger things have happened. One thing I will say about the guy: he may not have great luck as a coach trying to field consistently competitive teams on the court, but he has tremendous luck in retaining his job.

Think about it. First of all, he was saved by an idiotic athletic director making him too expensive to fire for several years. Then, he was saved by an amazing one-year turnaround after a historically abysmal season. Then, when his rope was fraying again, he was saved by his team clawing its way into the NCAA tournament and an opening round victory. Finally, he is saved by a once-in-a-century pandemic coupled with an environment of tremendous uncertainty and impending recession.
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Nail on the head.

Richard "Richie nine lives" Pitino
 

Shama was the sports editor of the minnesota daily when i went to school. He has been connected all his life and I am sure he has insiders near the top who know exactly whats going on.
 

bga1 said:
By the way, people that "leak" that way, are not always in the know. They will sometimes twist things to fit their own agenda, as we have found. Sometimes the leaks are real and the information is not.
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Well, sure, but the same crowd blasted an anonymous source last year saying that Coffey was leaving and didn't like Pitino. Some time later Coffey left and characterized his decision as "easy."

At the time the above report about Coffey's impending departure was released, that probability seemed less plausible than the likelihood of Pitino being fired after seven years.
 

alchemy2u said:
It may be true or it may not be true, but even the writer doesn’t know if it is true so it should not be printed.
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That's an incredibly stupid viewpoint and probably not one you would hold if it didn't conform to a view that Gopher sports is somehow sacred (It isn't).

If Woodward and Bernstein refused to deal with Deep Throat, we wouldn't have had Watergate.
 



cjbfbp said:
That's an incredibly stupid viewpoint and probably not one you would hold if it didn't conform to a view that Gopher sports is somehow sacred (It isn't).

If Woodward and Bernstein refused to deal with Deep Throat, we wouldn't have had Watergate.
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That's an incredibly stupid analogy.
 

There's really no point in engaging the pro-Pitino crowd any longer. They know all the facts - worst record overall and in the B1G since the 1940s, poor recruiting overall, lack of in-state recruits, only one season above .500 in the B1G, 1 NCAA tourney win in 7 years, etc. etc.

But they absolutely love Richard. They think he's fantastic and is bound to turn us into a good team - some year. I'm convinced we could win 5-6 games next year and their opinion still wouldn't change one iota.
 

I am baffled, if that really is their position. What has Pitino, actually, done, that would make any person love him?? Genuinely looking for responses to that.

I am more of the opinion that the keep-Pitino crowd is more motivated by the ideas that we wouldn't be able to get anyone better, that committed players would leave, that it would make a big hole that the new coach would dig out of. Those arguments ring hollow for me, but that's what I get from them.
 

cjbfbp said:
Well, sure, but the same crowd blasted an anonymous source last year saying that Coffey was leaving and didn't like Pitino. Some time later Coffey left and characterized his decision as "easy."

At the time the above report about Coffey's impending departure was released, that probability seemed less plausible than the likelihood of Pitino being fired after seven years.
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This is a classic example of believing what you want to believe! Yes Coffey left for the NBA and he did say it was an easy decision. From all reports, he made the decision because he got very positive reports from his visits with NBA teams, thus it was easy. And since he signed an NBA contract and has played in the NBA that looks to be true. Nobody ever confirmed that Coffey didn't like Pitino and in fact all of Coffey's discussions about Pitino have been positive.

So maybe you need to look in the mirror to find the person who is letting their opinions influence what they want to believe.
 



MplsGopher said:
I am baffled, if that really is their position. What has Pitino, actually, done, that would make any person love him?? Genuinely looking for responses to that.

I am more of the opinion that the keep-Pitino crowd is more motivated by the ideas that we wouldn't be able to get anyone better, that committed players would leave, that it would make a big hole that the new coach would dig out of. Those arguments ring hollow for me, but that's what I get from them.
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You are very misguided. Many fans think Pitino is a very good coach that is learning from earlier mistakes. This is just meant to inform, I do not want to go into another meaningless argument about the coaching acumen of Pitino.
 

What has Pitino, actually, done, that would make any person think he is a very good coach??

Just list those things, please. No commentary, from you, or me.
 

John Galt said:
There's really no point in engaging the pro-Pitino crowd any longer. They know all the facts - worst record overall and in the B1G since the 1940s, poor recruiting overall, lack of in-state recruits, only one season above .500 in the B1G, 1 NCAA tourney win in 7 years, etc. etc.

But they absolutely love Richard. They think he's fantastic and is bound to turn us into a good team - some year. I'm convinced we could win 5-6 games next year and their opinion still wouldn't change one iota.
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So does the AD. And the ad didn't make a change.
 

MplsGopher said:
What has Pitino, actually, done, that would make any person think he is a very good coach??

Just list those things, please. No commentary, from you, or me.
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1. Kids are going to class
2. Kids appear to be successful in class
 



Coyle seems like a competitive/aggressive guy so even if we did make the NCAA tournament next year, I could see a scenario where Coyle lets him go. I think it depends on how well the team is playing down the stretch, gaining momentum or just hanging on for a bid. It would be difficult to fire him if they did find a way to make the tournament though. Basically all the players would be back for the following year besides Willis. The core would remain the same and just get better you'd think.

Pretty obvious if we don't make the tournament he won't be back.

I think the big question is what does Pitino have to do to keep his job?

*Would be nice to see Craig Smith have another good year without this years senior class
 
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Whether we like it or not, most of journalism - sports and otherwise, relies on sources. It's up to the reporter and their editors to determine whether a source is credible.

Sure, Shama's source could be an over-served booster. But, until given evidence to the contrary, I tend to believe that a writer is not going to print a rumor - without clearly labeling it as a rumor. So, I am prone to believe that the source for this story was someone in a position to know what is going on inside the world of Gopher Sports.

If you are a Pitino fan, look at it this way - Pitino has an opportunity to show he deserves to keep his job. Let's see what happens.
 

Coyle is
skiumah1 said:
Coyle seems like a competitive/aggressive guy so even if we did make the NCAA tournament next year, I could see a scenario where Coyle lets him go. I think it depends on how well the team is playing down the stretch, gaining momentum or just hanging on for a bid. It would be difficult to fire him if they did find a way to make the tournament though. Basically all the players would be back for the following year besides Willis. The core would remain the same and just get better you'd think.

Pretty obvious if we don't make the tournament he won't be back.

I think the big question is what does Pitino have to do to keep his job?

*Would be nice to see Craig Smith have another good year without this years senior class
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Coyle is a turd burger who himself is looking for "better" gig. Ask Syracuse. Not having a rolling one-year autoextension for a coach is just bad business.
 

Block M said:
Coyle is


Coyle is a turd burger who himself is looking for "better" gig. Ask Syracuse. Not having a rolling one-year autoextension for a coach is just bad business.
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Not a fan I see. Syracuse has nothing besides basketball.

Even he is, let's bring a solid basketball coach in here.
 

Block M said:
Coyle is


Coyle is a turd burger who himself is looking for "better" gig. Ask Syracuse. Not having a rolling one-year autoextension for a coach is just bad business.
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So Block H, spreading the love around a bit I see. I am sure sure you also have a reliable well connected source to back up your comments. Have your ever actually met Coyle, spoken to him? I have. He is a great guy and IMO the best AD we have had here in quite some time.
 


I
BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

Did circumstances caused by the coronavirus prompt Golden Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle to announce last week that basketball coach Richard Pitino will return for another season?

A sports executive, asking for anonymity, told Sports Headliners a couple of weeks ago he heard Coyle had decided to fire Pitino, who was completing his seventh season leading the Gophers. Another source, with close ties to the University of Minnesota, said rumors this winter were Coyle had reached out to potential replacements.

As of last week, developments from the coronavirus had the University anticipating $50 million or more in new expenses. It could be that Coyle, in consultation with school president Joan Gabel, decided against giving Pitino the $2 million buyout his contract demands.

Critics would have pounced hard on University leaders for spending $2 million during such difficult times at the U and throughout the state of Minnesota. Fault-finders wouldn’t care the $2 million probably would have come from the largely self-supporting athletic department, and not from tax dollars out of the University’s general fund.

Gabel and Coyle may well have sized up the situation and seen that the practicality and the perception of changing basketball coaches just now was not the way to go. “Richard was (probably) spared by the pandemic,” said the source with close ties to the U.

Was it the right decision? For years there has been a chorus of Pitino critics, speaking with conviction that the program has underperformed. This winter the noise level jumped with loud complaining and second-guessing from the fan-base. There were blown leads in games and close defeats, including to border rivals Iowa and Wisconsin. The emotions of this winter became combined with too many past seasons of frustrations that even involved misbehavior by players.


Go Gophers!!
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I KNEW IT!!!!!!

Pitino is one lucky guy - but he had better do a whole lot better or he will be gone after next year. Next year is most likely a throw away year for Gopher basketball and they will start rebuilding a year from now.
 

jblass said:
So Block H, spreading the love around a bit I see. I am sure sure you also have a reliable well connected source to back up your comments. Have your ever actually met Coyle, spoken to him? I have. He is a great guy and IMO the best AD we have had here in quite some time.
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We'll see how good he is when Fleck leaves for a better program in 2-3 years (max).
 

Gold Rush said:
I

I KNEW IT!!!!!!

Pitino is one lucky guy - but he had better do a whole lot better or he will be gone after next year. Next year is most likely a throw away year for Gopher basketball and they will start rebuilding a year from now.
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The flipping last fifty years have been a throw away for Gopher basketball. Wash, rinse, repeat.
 


MplsGopher said:
What has Pitino, actually, done, that would make any person think he is a very good coach??

Just list those things, please. No commentary, from you, or me.
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Most his players continually improve each year. There's a few exceptions (e.g., Washington), but by far most players continue to get better during the year, and each subsequent year.
 

Block M said:
We'll see how good he is when Fleck leaves for a better program in 2-3 years (max).
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So what if Fleck leaves? If he leaves us with two or three of the best years of this century, his hiring would have been well worth it.
 

Everybody has their collective undies in a single bunch. Richard's record in Big Ten play is less than stellar. If a reporter said that and suggested that he might have been fired but for the current conditions, I would say that is likely to be true. I don't think it impacts recruiting as there is no recruiting right now. There might not be recruiting for months. Civilization is changing before our eyes and you guys are so last month.
 

Livingat45north said:
Most his players continually improve each year. There's a few exceptions (e.g., Washington), but by far most players continue to get better during the year, and each subsequent year.
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The issue is results. Do they improve at a better rate than top 50 coaches, are they good enough to begin with, what about how UW recruits and then watch how they play together.
 

Livingat45north said:
Most his players continually improve each year. There's a few exceptions (e.g., Washington), but by far most players continue to get better during the year, and each subsequent year.
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builtbadgers said:
The issue is results. Do they improve at a better rate than top 50 coaches, are they good enough to begin with, what about how UW recruits and then watch how they play together.
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I agree there are players under Pitino who have developed into very good players INDIVIDUALLY. Skill is developed and they are good talents. As far as TEAM is concerned, the individual development has not translated into guys playing well together. Chemistry is nowhere near where it needs to be. Ball movement needs to be more consistent. Oturu, Coffee, and Murphy are all great examples of this. All one-on-one players that create shots and score on their own. (Murphy throwing it at the hoop and grabbing his own rebounds for dunks)
 

The coronavirus might be the anti-dote that U Basketball needs.

If Oturu decides he isn't declaring NBA unless he has a reasonable certainty of being a 1st rounder, that will be a big plus.

It mayl make Pitino's Eighth season a happy surprise that saves his job.
 


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