When did you feel the best about the Pitino Era?

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EG#9

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Trying to end my posts for the night with a good memory. On January 19, 2017 Daniel Oturu committed to the Gophers. It was the first early commitment of the Pitino era of a "big fish" from the state of Minnesota and came on the heels of him missing out on the John/Sims/Reuvers class. About 2 weeks later, the 8 game winning streak would start. The peak of that streak for me came on Feburary 22, 2017 at Maryland for the Gophers 6th win in a row. I had zero faith that they would win this game. It was on the road. It was against a ranked Maryland team. It was precisely the type of game where we would typically go in and suffer a loss that showed us once again that there were levels to this game and the Gophers were not on that level. Except they did win. Not only did they win, but they pulled away late in emphatic fashion and left no doubt they were the better team. Final score Minnesota 89 Maryland 75. Gophers move to 21-7 on the year and 9-6 in conference play. The Gophers are for real...and they've got everybody but Springs returning for '17-18 and the best player in the state locked up for the '18-19 season. It looked like Gopher Basketball was about to take off!
 

November 2017 when we were running a ranked Alabama team out of the gym...
 

howeda7 said:
November 2017 when we were running a ranked Alabama team out of the gym...
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yeah probably at that moment, ranked 14. In the first half. Then the 5 on 3 second half where they held their own against us and made a comeback was the first signs that maybe things weren’t as good as they seemed. Turns out that was the peak.
 


Well....earlier this year things were looking pretty good. I thought we were two deep everywhere. I have just woke from a coma. What happened?
 


Four times:

2014 when they just won the NIT and had most of their players returning

2017 when they won 8 of their last nine in the regular season (after dropping five in a row), received a bye in the Big Ten tournament, and then beat Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Summer of 2020 when I felt he did a really good job in the spring recruiting market

Earlier this year after those big victories

But, as Spottedmuskie mentioned, all of those moments of achievement and promise were followed by periods of crushing disappointment.
 


The year we were a 5 seed in the dance with everyone returning the following year. We started the year ranked like 17. That was a good feeling even though we lost that game to middle tenn
 

For me, it was exactly what EG posted in the OP. If you'd go back and look at posts here from around Selection Sunday, it felt to many like a breakthrough and that it was looking way up from there. Even the loss to MTSU didn't dampen the spirits, as we were suddenly bitten by key injuries and the opponent was better than their seed. I think back to those days now and wonder if things could've gone differently after that.
 



Pre-game at Sally’s on 11/30/2017
Key factors: I was pretty drunk. Gophers were ranked 12. Miami was ranked 10. 8pm tip-off of memory serves.
First year we had season tickets. Wife and I went early to eat and have some beers. Students lined up hours before the game to get their seats.
Culpable buzz on campus. Sally’s was packed.
Lost a winnable game by 5, without Dupree. Wheels fell off that season but that was my peak.

Tons of other fun games and moments. Some great wins and individual performances. Never sustained success.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Pre-game at Sally’s on 11/30/2017
Key factors: I was pretty drunk. Gophers were ranked 12. Miami was ranked 10. 8pm tip-off of memory serves.
First year we had season tickets. Wife and I went early to eat and have some beers. Students lined up hours before the game to get their seats.
Culpable buzz on campus. Sally’s was packed.
Lost a winnable game by 5, without Dupree. Wheels fell off that season but that was my peak.

Tons of other fun games and moments. Some great wins and individual performances. Never sustained success.
Click to expand...

Ah the “gold out” game. Fond memories in deed. Of course, in true MN sports fashion, nobody had any idea where Dupree was and it took until after the game to learn about his leg infection. IW got a lot of run this game and it was not pretty.

I was at BWW before the game and we had to resort to having a few beers on the staircase leading down to the bathroom because seating (and standing) was also at capacity.

Feels like ages ago.
 

I’d have to say it was in the 2016/2017 season when we beat Purdue in West Lafayette in OT. Freshman Eric Curry shut down Swanigan in OT after Lynch fouled out.

The future looked bright with Coffey and Curry as standout freshman, plus Mason, Lynch, Dupree, and Murphy were only juniors.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Pre-game at Sally’s on 11/30/2017
Key factors: I was pretty drunk. Gophers were ranked 12. Miami was ranked 10. 8pm tip-off of memory serves.
First year we had season tickets. Wife and I went early to eat and have some beers. Students lined up hours before the game to get their seats.
Culpable buzz on campus. Sally’s was packed.
Lost a winnable game by 5, without Dupree. Wheels fell off that season but that was my peak.

Tons of other fun games and moments. Some great wins and individual performances. Never sustained success.
Click to expand...
Dang, I forgot about that game. It felt like a linchpin in the season then, and it definitely feels like a linchpin for Pitino's tenure in retrospect.

What it goes to show, though, is that excitement for this program can be massive and is just below the surface waiting to emerge.
 



cjbfbp said:
Four times:

2014 when they just won the NIT and had most of their players returning

2017 when they won 8 of their last nine in the regular season (after dropping five in a row), received a bye in the Big Ten tournament, and then beat Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Summer of 2020 when I felt he did a really good job in the spring recruiting market

Earlier this year after those big victories

But, as Spottedmuskie mentioned, all of those moments of achievement and promise were followed by periods of crushing disappointment.
Click to expand...

Basically this thread is pointing out the fatal flaw of the Pitino era. There have been some really good moments but for one reason or another there just isn't the sustained success.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Pre-game at Sally’s on 11/30/2017
Key factors: I was pretty drunk. Gophers were ranked 12. Miami was ranked 10. 8pm tip-off of memory serves.
First year we had season tickets. Wife and I went early to eat and have some beers. Students lined up hours before the game to get their seats.
Culpable buzz on campus. Sally’s was packed.
Lost a winnable game by 5, without Dupree. Wheels fell off that season but that was my peak.

Tons of other fun games and moments. Some great wins and individual performances. Never sustained success.
Click to expand...
That Miami game was awesome. I know we lost, but it is still the most fun I’ve ever had at a basketball game. The atmosphere was awesome and the game was played at a high level.
 


tmvander said:
The year we were a 5 seed in the dance with everyone returning the following year. We started the year ranked like 17. That was a good feeling even though we lost that game to middle tenn
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly Middle Tennessee was favored to win
 

Spottedmuskie said:
If I remember correctly Middle Tennessee was favored to win
Click to expand...
How can that be possible, for a 12 seed over a 5 seed?

I must be forgetting something. Was someone out due to injury or something?
 

MplsGopher said:
How can that be possible, for a 12 seed over a 5 seed?

I must be forgetting something. Was someone out due to injury or something?
Click to expand...
I tried looking it up, can't find info. I thought Middle was -1 or -1.5

Edit: middle tennesee -1.5 https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/middle-tennessee-minnesota-odds-march-16-2017-779697

This one has Minnesota -1
mybookie.ag

Middle Tennessee State Vs Minnesota Prediction, Pick & TV Info

The 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders will look to pull off the classic, 12-seed vs. 5-seed upset when they take on the fifth-seeded Minnesota Gophers in their West Region opener on Thursday. Now, let’s find out where the NCAA basketball odds value in this intriguing opening round...
mybookie.ag mybookie.ag
 
Last edited:



EG#9 said:
Trying to end my posts for the night with a good memory. On January 19, 2017 Daniel Oturu committed to the Gophers. It was the first early commitment of the Pitino era of a "big fish" from the state of Minnesota and came on the heels of him missing out on the John/Sims/Reuvers class. About 2 weeks later, the 8 game winning streak would start. The peak of that streak for me came on Feburary 22, 2017 at Maryland for the Gophers 6th win in a row. I had zero faith that they would win this game. It was on the road. It was against a ranked Maryland team. It was precisely the type of game where we would typically go in and suffer a loss that showed us once again that there were levels to this game and the Gophers were not on that level. Except they did win. Not only did they win, but they pulled away late in emphatic fashion and left no doubt they were the better team. Final score Minnesota 89 Maryland 75. Gophers move to 21-7 on the year and 9-6 in conference play. The Gophers are for real...and they've got everybody but Springs returning for '17-18 and the best player in the state locked up for the '18-19 season. It looked like Gopher Basketball was about to take off!
Click to expand...
Well said. I was feeling good then as well
 

Like others, I probably was the most optimistic following the 2016-17 campaign because it appeared we had a good shot at seeing a really good team the following season. But any positive feelings I had following the 2016-17 campaign quickly disappeared after the Alabama debacle the following year.

That game in and of itself was one of the worst displays of college basketball coaching I've ever seen. It was becoming increasingly clear Richard was freaking clueless as that game unfolded. In fact, it was astonishing how awful a job he did in that game.

Sneaking into the NCAAs and beating Louisville in 2018-19 was nice, but I felt like it wouldn't make a difference long term.

Other than that, it's been a mess for most of the eight years he's been here.
 

MplsGopher said:
How can that be possible, for a 12 seed over a 5 seed?

I must be forgetting something. Was someone out due to injury or something?
Click to expand...

A lot of pundits were picking Middle TN State and that flowed through to the betting markets. That MN team was good (clearly Pitino's best) but, as usual, it had absolutely no depth (less than this team). They had only 3 true guards and when Springs went down late in the Big Ten quarterfinal victory against Michigan State, I had a real feeling of dread. In the semi-final loss to Michigan, they played only 6 players (Michael Hurt, the 7th, played only 1 minute). Their two remaining guards (Mason and McBrayer) played the entire game
 

topos said:
Akeem springs blew is Achilles in the BIG tourney. He was our best perimeter defender by far and a great leader. Plus Mason was dealing with his hip.
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cjbfbp said:
A lot of pundits were picking Middle TN State and that flowed through to the betting markets. That MN team was good (clearly Pitino's best) but, as usual, it had absolutely no depth (less than this team). They had only 3 true guards and when Springs went down late in the Big Ten quarterfinal victory against Michigan State, I had a real feeling of dread. In the semi-final loss to Michigan, they played only 6 players (Michael Hurt, the 7th, played only 1 minute). Their two remaining guards (Mason and McBrayer) played the entire game
Click to expand...
Thanks, forgot that Springs blew a Spring. :(

Nate Mason. Dude could make unlimited shots .... when you didn't need him to. As soon as you needed him to hit a big shot, brick.
 


topos said:
Akeem springs blew is Achilles in the BIG tourney. He was our best perimeter defender by far and a great leader. Plus Mason was dealing with his hip.
Click to expand...
The two teams were already pretty evenly matched in terms of computer rating, MTS being under-seeded and the Gophs over- seeded. Should've been a 8/9 match-up. Then Springs goes down and Mason was playing hurt. To add insult to literal injury, the team came out flat.
 

MplsGopher said:
Thanks, forgot that Springs blew a Spring. :(

Nate Mason. Dude could make unlimited shots .... when you didn't need him to. As soon as you needed him to hit a big shot, brick.
Click to expand...

That's a bit unfair. Nate was first team All Big Ten and I'm pretty sure he hit a number of big shots at Mackey alone to beat Purdue in that OT thriller in 2017 (just an example from memory).
 

Beginning of year 2 of Reggie Lynch experience.

that team coulda been a contender!

Stella! Did that ever go wrong.
 

2014-15 they finished 6-12 in conference but I remember a game at Iowa the Gophers were running some 3/4 court zone press after made baskets. I thought this is the future of Gopher basketball. Once Pitino gets the players to run this type of D on a nightly basis this is going to fun to watch.

Not sure I have seen Pitino run that type of defense since.
 

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