STrib: Big Ten media has modest expectations for P.J. Fleck's first Gophers team

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Yep...was waiting for someone to try and use that comparison.

Pitino failed to make the NCAA tournament until year 4, which is what Tubby did in his final year. They went backwards before they are now taking big strides forward, and it was 100% the right move.

The only reason the win total is more is because Pitino made the NIT. If he would have went 1 and done in the NCAA tournament his record would have been 20-14, also worse than Tubby's final record.

 

[Iceland12]

Pitino failed to make the NCAA tournament until year 4, which is what Tubby did in his final year. They went backwards before they are now taking big strides forward, and it was 100% the right move.

The only reason the win total is more is because Pitino made the NIT. If he would have went 1 and done in the NCAA tournament his record would have been 20-14, also one game worse, and the same Big Ten Conference record as Tubby's final record.

Yada, yada, yada..

 

[PMWinSTP]

Yada, yada, yada..

It is pretty amazing, the never-ending pivoting and massaging. Tubby made NIT twice at the U. Didn't realize the NCAA doesn't count NIT games...oh, wait. 25* wins...

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

It is pretty amazing, the never-ending pivoting and massaging. Tubby made NIT twice at the U. Didn't realize the NCAA doesn't count NIT games...oh, wait. 25* wins...

I know, you try to pivot your way into backwards logic every single day. Next you'll try to tell me making the NIT is better than making the NCAA tournament.

 

[GFBfan]

Isn't this the football board?

Pitino was also given a chance to turn things around. Partly because of his large buy out.
Had Coyle been here earlier wouldn't he have wanted "his own guy" as the BB coach as well?

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Isn't this the football board?

Pitino was also given a chance to turn things around. Partly because of his large buy out.
Had Coyle been here earlier wouldn't he have wanted "his own guy" as the BB coach as well?

Maybe? You could see that bad year coming from a mile away when Tubby left nothing for underclassmen and Pitino aimed high and missed his first year of recruiting. I still think that's a big reason why he got the large buyout. Going into 15-16 you knew they were going to play pretty much all FR and SO, and wait on the two transfers.

It's hard to win in B1G basketball with a bunch of FR/SO, just like it is in football. I don't think we're going to see the giant step back in football that we saw in year 3 of basketball, but Fleck is going to be forced to play a lot of young guys at our thin positions the next 2 years.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Maybe? You could see that bad year coming from a mile away when Tubby left nothing for underclassmen and Pitino aimed high and missed his first year of recruiting. I still think that's a big reason why he got the large buyout. Going into 15-16 you knew they were going to play pretty much all FR and SO, and wait on the two transfers.

It's hard to win in B1G basketball with a bunch of FR/SO, just like it is in football. I don't think we're going to see the giant step back in football that we saw in year 3 of basketball, but Fleck is going to be forced to play a lot of young guys at our thin positions the next 2 years.

I would quibble with the use of the word "forced." every coach has options, including recruiting JUCO's or going after grad transfers. If Fleck chooses to play lots of true FR or redshirt FR, that is a choice on his part. Granted - it's a decision that is impacted by the recruiting of the former staff, but it's still a decision. It's not like anyone will be holding a gun to Fleck's head and telling him, "play FR or else."

 

[Hates Monikers]

Maybe? You could see that bad year coming from a mile away when Tubby left nothing for underclassmen and Pitino aimed high and missed his first year of recruiting. I still think that's a big reason why he got the large buyout. Going into 15-16 you knew they were going to play pretty much all FR and SO, and wait on the two transfers.

It's hard to win in B1G basketball with a bunch of FR/SO, just like it is in football. I don't think we're going to see the giant step back in football that we saw in year 3 of basketball, but Fleck is going to be forced to play a lot of young guys at our thin positions the next 2 years.

Okay, so you say Pitino does need to take some credit for the large step back. For a coach with far less experience that one would expect for someone taking over a Big Ten program, maybe we can give him a pass on that one.

Pitino took over a program that Tubby worked hard to bring back from the depths. Tubby didn't leave him much, that's true. But Pitino also squandered some of the gains in perception Tubby made by making some recruiting mistakes of his own. The dive in season 3 didn't need to be quite that deep.

Fleck is taking over a program with a perception that is similar to what Tubby had built in basketball. But I would argue that the freshmen and sophomores they left behind are much better than what Tubby did. I guess we'll see on that. And Fleck comes in with some success behind him and a much larger paycheck.

In 2017 there's no reason not to expect a season similar to last year. We may take a step back next year -- but it shouldn't be a Pitino nose dive, either.