Some National Pub-Sports on Earth on Coach Pitino

[coolhandgopher]

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63538724/

Quickly, Pitino established a positive vibe. "He's one of the most energetic people I've met, all the time," Andre Hollins said. "There have been no down energy days with him. Everyone on the staff is energetic from the jump. They don't want us to be down. They don't want us to be sad. It's refreshing. It's brought a lot of energy to me, and that's what we need."

"Some things I do look for in a coach are some of the things he shows," Austin Hollins said. "There's a lot of balance. When we're not doing things right, he's straight to the point. He tells us what we need to hear. And when we're doing things right, he praises us. He has a real good balance, and I think all the guys appreciate that."

 

[joshvanklomp]

I've never heard of "Sports On Earth", but that was awesome to read!

This gets me every time I hear/read about it:

Minnesota lacks a basketball practice facility, which in past years forced players to go off-campus to shoot when Williams Arena was unavailable. Instead of griping about it, Pitino called dibs on a lightly-used court across the hall from the basketball office in the Bierman athletic administration building. A wall and curtains were installed for privacy, and players were given 24-hour key card access to the court and adjacent weight room. A university spokesman could not explain why Smith and his staff never did this.

That's the nice thing about hiring someone like Pitino, who came from a much smaller program: you work with what you have, and don't gripe about what you don't have

 

[Bad Gopher]

That's the nice thing about hiring someone like Pitino, who came from a much smaller program: you work with what you have, and don't gripe about what you don't have

I really think that's it. It comes into focus when you see the pictures of the Smiths' Minneapolis residence when they came up on the realty site. This guy might have had humble beginnings, but after a while you become accustomed to first class, and you have a hard time going back to scratching and clawing.

 

[SelectionSunday]

That's the nice thing about hiring someone like Pitino, who came from a much smaller program: you work with what you have, and don't gripe about what you don't have

Excellent point.

Though I would add, you don't gripe about what you don't have (publicly). You do that stuff with your bosses and the big hitters behind the scenes. Nobody wants to hear excessive public whining, at least I don't.

That's an instance where Tubby lost me a little bit. ... when after playing poorly (and losing) he took that opportunity to (paraphrasing) talk about his players having to walk outside in the cold Minnesota winter because of the lack of facilities. That one rubbed me the wrong way, especially the timing.

Little Richard definitely appears to have inherited his father's savvy, and he's certainly a smooth operator, something Tubby never was or will be. That's not a strength of his. Not so with Pitino. His smoothness quotient should help him behind the scenes as he tries to get the facilities upgraded.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Excellent point.

Though I would add, you don't gripe about what you don't have (publicly). You do that stuff with your bosses and the big hitters behind the scenes. Nobody wants to hear excessive public whining, at least I don't.

That's an instance where Tubby lost me a little bit. ... when after playing poorly (and losing) he took that opportunity to (paraphrasing) talk about his players having to walk outside in the cold Minnesota winter because of the lack of facilities. That one rubbed me the wrong way, especially the timing.

Little Richard definitely appears to have inherited his father's savvy, and he's certainly a smooth operator, something Tubby never was or will be. That's not a strength of his. Not so with Pitino. His smoothness quotient should help him behind the scenes as he tries to get the facilities upgraded.

To be fair, Tubby didn't go public with his gripes until year 4, I would be pissed too if something I had been promised from day one wasn't even a pipe dream in year 4. Perhaps it was his way of putting pressure of Maturi to deliver or dare I say do his job. Tubby had a boring offense and at times was way to passive for my taste, he probably should have retired after the 2010-11 season in hindsight, but I will always agree with him about the need for a facility and I had no problem with what he was willing to do to get it.

 

[howieramone]

If we continue to have the worst facilities in the B1G, I fully expect Coach P. to leave at the first sign of success. I heard his father say, he had all the confidence in the world the facility would be built. In other words, it's been promised again. If we want a big time program, we need that facility. Maybe if we lose a HOF coach and a Pitino, it will finally sink in.

 

[GopherJake]

Maybe if we lose a HOF coach

You know Tubby was fired, right?

 

[joshvanklomp]

I really think that's it. It comes into focus when you see the pictures of the Smiths' Minneapolis residence when they came up on the realty site. This guy might have had humble beginnings, but after a while you become accustomed to first class, and you have a hard time going back to scratching and clawing.

But unlike Tubby, Richard isn't going to sit around just waiting for the facility. He saw the court in Bierman being underused, and made-do with what he had. Tubby never had the vision to do something like that. Players have 24-hour access to the gym and weight room, just like at any other program. Only difference is that it's not new and shiny.

But if that's all Pitino cared about, he wouldn't have coached at FIU, and he wouldn't have come here.

 

[Monty519]

But unlike Tubby, Richard isn't going to sit around just waiting for the facility. He saw the court in Bierman being underused, and made-do with what he had. Tubby never had the vision to do something like that. Players have 24-hour access to the gym and weight room, just like at any other program. Only difference is that it's not new and shiny.

But if that's all Pitino cared about, he wouldn't have coached at FIU, and he wouldn't have come here.

Well, it's not like Pitino had his choice of jobs or something. FIU was probably the best he could do last year. And Minnesota is most certainly the best he can do now. He isn't in any position to rant and whine about facilities when he's coached a grand total of a year lol.

I'll admit, I wondered about that Bierman court area, but I was always under the impression that different sports had access to it, and it couldn't be used full-time for basketball. Obviously, if you do some creative architecture, it can be done, so credit Pitino for having the foresight to do that. It may not be the full scale facility that they eventually need to build, but at least they got a hoop and weights to hit up ANYTIME they want without having to go to the Rec and share with the "common" folk, so to speak, when they just wanna focus on working on their game.