Pitino was damned if he did and damned if he didn't when he came to the U. He was saddled with extremely mediocre talent & most of that talent had another couple years of eligibility. I would have preferred he cut Dre Hollins, Mo Walker, Oto, Elliot, Buggs et al loose and just started from scratch, but he spent two years trying to plug those square pegs into round holes. What I'm getting at, is that this is essentially his first year with his recruits and they're very young, or inexperienced. Thankfully Buggs appears to be done and Morris/Joey are taking more of a a back seat to the younger guys. As I've said from the get-go, this season is about player development, not wins and losses.
Dorsey looks like he's progressing and will be a very good 4 year player. Mason is being game planned for and having the other teams best defender on him all the time, so he's had struggles, but he's handled that pretty well and has been forced into a bit of a leadership role that he may or may not be ready for. Overall, I'm happy with him & think he's also a very good 4 year player for us. McBrayer isn't as far along offensively, but does a nice job defensively, is very athletic and I see no reason to think he won't be a good player for us either. Ahmad Gilbert has shown some nice things lately, especially his understanding of the game and I'd much rather have him on the floor than Buggs. Murphy is going to get even better once he learns how to box out, put a hit on opposing players, use his strength rather than just out-jumping people for rebounds & play team defense. We really are just seeing the tip of his iceberg of talent. Bakary is getting there, slowly but surely. I'm sure Pitino would have loved to get Jalil Okafor, but what we could actually get was Bakary. Bakary needs constant basketball reps to up his court IQ and he needs to hit the weights hard. Especially his lower body. That said, I think Bakary has the potential to be a good player. Gaston might be a miss, but bigs tend to develop late. Maybe the light will go one for him at some point? If not, then he gets stuck behind Lynch & Bakary is is probably encouraged to move on. If that happens, we have the opportunity to recruit over him.
I don't even expect much next season. I figure all the new faces will take time to gel, but by season's end we should see it all coming together & perhaps even make a surprise run in the tourney? Fitz was very good as a Freshman at A & M, and if he can return to that form as a more mature player, we may have gotten a real steal. I forget the source, but have heard him referred to as the best player on the team in practices. Lynch will not wow us with his touch and skill, but he will provide a defensive presence and physicality that we are desperately missing right now. He should be a big upgrade if he can stay out of foul trouble. We also add Coffey, our first real superstar potential player, Michael Hurt a shooter that we desperately need & Eric Curry, another desperately needed big.
Firing the coach every 2-3 years is not going to make us any better. We're just going to have to endure this storm, if we want to get to the rainbow.
