STrib: Pitino on rebuilding year: 'I didn't think it would be this bad'

[BleedGopher]

per Amelia:

But while Pitino expected to rebuild in his third season, this one has gone off the rails a bit. After missing the NIT a year ago, this year’s squad is 6-11 and has started the Big Ten slate 0-5 heading into Saturday’s home game against Indiana after getting crushed by 25 points in back-to-back games.

The struggles that have marked this season have caught even Pitino off guard.

“I thought that we would definitely take a step backwards in order to take a major step forward,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be this bad. I’d be lying if I said I did.”

Pitino also brought up “recruiting mistakes” that led to wasted energy, attention and scholarships on players that could be veterans right now. Transfer Zach Lofton, for example, was kicked off the team before the start of the season a year ago. Sophomore Daquein McNeil was arrested for felony assault and eventually dismissed as well. Freshman Josh Martin decided to transfer after just seven games.

“Now, did we make some mistakes that made it worse than it should be? Absolutely,” he said. One hundred percent …That compounded on the rebuilding part of it, so that led to it being kind of like this right now.

“The young guys are under a lot of pressure. Because of social media, because everything is on TV and it’s getting them to understand it. Maybe we should have done a better job of making sure we had some older guys in here to kind of balance that out. That’s where I look back and say ‘OK, we can’t let that happen again.’

“Whether I was right or wrong, I don’t know, but that’s where we’re at.”

http://www.startribune.com/pitino-o...464261/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Go Gophers!!

 

[IronRanger91]

Wow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tim1406]

Well. At least he is honest. Maybe not the best move to motivate your team. Many people said he would need to learn on the job here... this is one of those learning times.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

I feel like I posted this exactly numerous times already this year, even last year.

He made a couple recruiting mistakes that are costing him dearly, now the problems are presenting himself in a couple different ways. Yes, hold him accountable to that mistake, but we knew he was going to make mistakes. The key is, does he learn from it and will he make them again. If this group of transfers/juco's are as bad as his last bunch then we need to seriously think about pulling the chord. Lets hope he's as smart as he says he is and doesn't let it happen again.

Article cites some decisions they made with the final 2 scholarships. I wonder if that means/alludes to us passing on Russo/Obepka/Boucher perhaps?

 

[GopherOhana]

Pops and Donovan never went off the rails like this. He didn't learn enough from them. could have used a little more baking rather than trial by incineration

 

[Winasota Gopher]

Pops and Donovan never went off the rails like this. He didn't learn enough from them. could have used a little more baking rather than trial by incineration

Such a tired and trite arguement. Whats the point of even typing that?

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Honestly is well and good. It's a big stepping stone in him being removed in two years.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Not what you to hear from any coach.

 

[GopherOhana]

Such a tired and trite arguement. Whats the point of even typing that?

Ah, yes, indeed. After reading the article I wondered how often RP got to see how his father and Donovan work through this level of adversity. So I looked at their historical records. I was surprised to see the answer was never. Both his mentors were about .500 year one, better year two, then always 20 plus wins after that. I might have been the last one on this forum to understand this.

 

[goldengophers]

I think we need to cut our losses after this season, he clearly wasn't ready for a conference or job of this caliber. There's a possibility of him making his way back to this level someday but he's got to cut his theeth at a lower level.

In other news Andy Enfield has USC at 15-3, knocking off Arizona and UCLA the last two games.

 

[KyGopherfan]

I think we need to cut our losses after this season, he clearly wasn't ready for a conference or job of this caliber. There's a possibility of him making his way back to this level someday but he's got to cut his theeth at a lower level.

In other news Andy Enfield has USC at 15-3, knocking off Arizona and UCLA the last two games.

Pitino is basically teething at Minnesota. Teague had no business offering him the job. He had only 1 year of head coaching experience at a really small school. He should've stayed there a few seasons. This hire has been a disaster.

 

[scools12]

Not what you to hear from any coach.

What is wrong with what the coach said? Mistakes were made and he is admitting to the mistakes.

People understood their was going to be some on the job training when Pitino was hired. Now the question will be if he learns from the mistakes moving toward.

 

[Cayman]

Ah, yes, indeed. After reading the article I wondered how often RP got to see how his father and Donovan work through this level of adversity. So I looked at their historical records. I was surprised to see the answer was never. Both his mentors were about .500 year one, better year two, then always 20 plus wins after that. I might have been the last one on this forum to understand this.

Didn't Rick have some rough years in the NBA with the Boston Celtics? I don't think Donovan is off to a great start with the Thunder either.