Why such a short bench in an awful effort?

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JimmyJamesMD said:
It's rare that anyone disagrees with my wonderful takes. But you make a fair point. I just think you discount getting fired a little too much.
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I am sure Pitino does not want to be fired but he's been in the game long enough now to have built up some coaching equity and confidence. I think all coaches are somewhat fatalistic. They almost all get fired at least once.
 

bga1 said:
That has been the problem for 20 years here, everyone is always coaching for their job, except Tubby Smith who often looked like he was coaching to go home to bed. Coaches here have been on the hot seat for 10 of the last 20 years it seems.
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This is an exaggeration. Monson was given a very long leash, so was Tubby since he won early and so was Pitino. This is year 7, not year 2 or 3.
 



The bench players are bad, that's about all there is to it.
 


topos said:
I remember watching that grainy footage from Italy this summer. Greenlee was better than Carr by a longshot. Handled the ball, ran the offense, played defense, only shot when open, and knocked them down. I figured it was an anomaly and that Carr was likely working out some rust.

Unfortunately, it wasn't rust. Carr is not a capable PG. I think Pitino realizes this, but with all the promoting he has done the last two years, how bad would it reflect on him if our spring signee that nobody had ever heard of is better than the savior of the program?

Pitino picks his favorites every year and does not waiver from them. It is inexplicable that the younger guys haven't gotten more run. Carr, Willis, and Gabe are probably the best guard options, but when Gabe is pouting, Carr is flailing his arms on another blown D assignment, and Willis forgets to guard Iowa's best 3 pt shooter right after halftime, you need to send a message.

For those afraid to start over, we are already bottomed out.
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Tubby did the same thing: Picked his favorites and never gave the rest a fair chance, regardless of performance. It was Tubby's undoing, and may well be Richard's as well.
 


cncmin said:
Tubby did the same thing: Picked his favorites and never gave the rest a fair chance, regardless of performance. It was Tubby's undoing, and may well be Richard's as well.
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Richard's undoing is probably going to be that he insists on signing shooting guards who can't shoot to run the point, and has missed out on recruiting most all of the MN skilled bigs over his tenure.
 

More important than the question in the thread title is the question of "why such an awful effort in our conference opener?"
 



Jaykay said:
The bench players are bad, that's about all there is to it.
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Bull! Players don't just get 4* ratings. Williams played at one of the top ranked prep schools! Now he can't play bench minutes in college?

I find it very hard to believe a player that could score 20+ against Oak Hill can't play well enough to get 15 minutes a game for a sub .500 Gopher team.
 

Unless someone like Ihnen or Williams gets serious playing time and is allowed to grow, its hard to call this a rebuilding year. It's a Oturu and the miracles year. With Oturu on display for the NBA.
 

Otis said:
Bull! Players don't just get 4* ratings. Williams played at one of the top ranked prep schools! Now he can't play bench minutes in college?

I find it very hard to believe a player that could score 20+ against Oak Hill can't play well enough to get 15 minutes a game for a sub .500 Gopher team.
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He's playing 12 minutes a game and shooting 28% from the field. Is three more minutes a game going to make him shoot better?
 

This is Richard's last chance. If he doesn't perform he's gone. Why would anyone think for a second that he's going to go to the bench, especially a razor thin one?
 



Otis said:
Bull! Players don't just get 4* ratings. Williams played at one of the top ranked prep schools! Now he can't play bench minutes in college?

I find it very hard to believe a player that could score 20+ against Oak Hill can't play well enough to get 15 minutes a game for a sub .500 Gopher team.
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Who did Tre Williams have offers from besides us?
 

John Galt said:
This is Richard's last chance. If he doesn't perform he's gone. Why would anyone think for a second that he's going to go to the bench, especially a razor thin one?
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He has to go to the bench.

In the absence of surprising us and making the NCAAs, Pitino had to do three things and all three have to happen to replace an NCAA bid:

1. He has to win enough games to show that we are decent (that alone won't work)
2. He has to land another player between now and the end of the year that gives us hope (Walton and or a notable big)
3. He has to develop the bench into a group that shows promise for the future. Not all of them but at least a couple have to show why they are the future. By the end of the year if people don't think that Ihnen and Williams are future starters then he is probably toast.
 

See how bad what we are seeing is. Now imagine worse, much worse play, that is why.
 

bga1 said:
He has to go to the bench.

In the absence of surprising us and making the NCAAs, Pitino had to do three things and all three have to happen to replace an NCAA bid:

1. He has to win enough games to show that we are decent (that alone won't work)
2. He has to land another player between now and the end of the year that gives us hope (Walton and or a notable big)
3. He has to develop the bench into a group that shows promise for the future. Not all of them but at least a couple have to show why they are the future. By the end of the year if people don't think that Ihnen and Williams are future starters then he is probably toast.
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I think they would be an NCAA tourney team next year if Oturu is back and Curry plays. I agree its also very important to establish that the underclassmen can get it done. Very surprised that Ihnen gets so little PT.
 


Jaykay said:
He's playing 12 minutes a game and shooting 28% from the field. Is three more minutes a game going to make him shoot better?
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Perhaps not. It will give him more experience and that additional experience may just allow him to get more comfortable on the court.
 

Block M said:
I think they would be an NCAA tourney team next year if Oturu is back and Curry plays. I agree its also very important to establish that the underclassmen can get it done. Very surprised that Ihnen gets so little PT.
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No offense to Curry, feel for the kid...but nobody should still be expecting him to ever contribute meaningful minutes on a basketball ball court again.

And why on earth would Oturu stick around after this season? He's gone.

Next season WILL be a rebuilding year, one way or another. Might as well start it now.
 

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:
No offense to Curry, feel for the kid...but nobody should still be expecting him to ever contribute meaningful minutes on a basketball ball court again.

And why on earth would Oturu stick around after this season? He's gone.

Next season WILL be a rebuilding year, one way or another. Might as well start it now.
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1) Yes, that expectation simply isn't warranted.
2) Yes, why would he?
3) Yes, but wait until the end of the season. That way everyone (well, most people anyway) will be really sick of Pitino and Coyle's job will be much easier.
 

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