Your expectations for/what you want to see for Pitino in Year 1

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Miles Tarver

Miles Tarver

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What is the major thing (be specific) You want to see out of Pitino and his team this year?

In the past it has driven me nuts to see Tubby's team regress so badly (especially on the road) in B10 play late in the year. I don't think the season is a failure whatsoever if the team doesn't qualify for the NCAAs, but I really want to see if Pitino can have his team constantly improve throughout the season.

Get better each and every game.
 

Miles Tarver said:
What is the major thing (be specific) I don't think the season is a failure whatsoever if the team doesn't qualify for the NCAAs, but I really want to see if Pitino can have his team constantly improve throughout the season.
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I agree ... I'd say continued improvement almost certainly would result in an NCAA berth, as well.
 

Better in game adjustments than Tubby (easy to do) and improve the players every week. Look at Oto. Did you see him in the MSU game? He actually looked confident and make decisive decisions. I'm proud of him!
 

I want to be nervous on Selection Sunday.
 

I'd like to have a team that I feel better about on Selection Sunday than I did on January 1.
 



I want to see steady progress and improvement whether we make the dance or not. We are bi-polar at the moment - let's see if Pitino can dial up the right meds.

If he can do that, he has nothing else to prove for this year.
 

SkinnyGopher said:
I want to see steady progress and improvement whether we make the dance or not. We are bi-polar at the moment - let's see if Pitino can dial up the right meds.

If he can do that, he has nothing else to prove for this year.
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How are we bi-polar? I'd argue we are more consistent this year than we were last year. We just don't have as much talent as last year. Last year we could knock off the #1 team in the country one game and then lose to Northwestren by double digits the next. That seems a lot more bi-polar than this current squad.
 

I have been to a few games where I was within ear shot of the bench under Tubby, and in games like the MSU game he would have lost it when Sparta took the lead and our guys would have lost confidence and folded. I saw it multiple times.

I was behind the bench today in east lansing and was extremely impressed with Pitino's moxy. Very calmn and confident at the end of the second half and his guys executed and got it to OT. We will continue to improve and hopefully fight for a middle seed in the dance.

Guards win games. Appling and Harris are the best duo in the conference and it showed in OT. I only hope we can land a couple of program changing recruits and RP sticks around, could be special.
 



No late season collapse is what I am looking for. too many of them over the last 3-4 years it seems. Whether the Gophers get 5 or 10 B10 wins, I just want to see a team that is better at the end than at the beginning. Also want to see him land a couple of higher profile recruits.
 

I want to see them win more games that they are supposed to lose than lose games that they are supposed to win.
 

not peak in January only to fade in February. Don't have the right type of players yet but become tough defensively.

If Pitino can get them to 7/8 conference wins and a NIT berth I would consider that a pretty good 1st year. Anything over that would have to consider quite the achievement.
 

I want him to take a top-five team to the limit on the road. Check.
 



This year, just beat somebody you aren't supposed to beat. He has had chances to take out MSU and Cuse and fallen just short. Opportunities are still out there.
 

I want to see this team begin to lay the framework to a contender. Install the system with some success. Develope current players within the system so we don't have to start completely over which he has done well. Make the in roads in recruiting to add the talent we need to become that contender. I like the looks of where we are at in these areas. The recruiting can't be answered at this point but the positive signs are there. The play on the court has been better than I expected but today's loss and the loss to Arkansas really hurt.
 

I think reasonable expectations are an 8-10 mark and a decent run in the NIT. I do think if everything goes right they can make the dance, but like I said 8 conference wins and a couple NIT wins and it's a positive first step.
 

Higher finish this season than last year's 9th place.
 

I have been very impressed so far. Now the guys need to learn how to finish games. They really could be 4-0 but let a couple slip away. They are in these games have have leads late because Richard has put these guys in position to win these games. EE and Little Dre haven given this team things they have not had for years. Austin and Dre need to bring there A game every week. I am starting to think Malik needs more minutes somewhere. Doesn't make mistakes, great shooter.
 

Easy, to beat a top 10 team on the road and to be nervous on selection sunday. Pitino has an amazing ability to connect with his players. Look for this team to be playing their best basketball in February and March.

His teams prepare well, he makes great in-game adjustments, and is creating a culture that promotes confidence and a winning program. I love the fact that the team does not count moral victories but looks for teachable moments in wins and losses. I applaud Norwood for this hire. What a contrast between the former regime who were content with mediocrity.
 

scools12 said:
not peak in January only to fade in February. Don't have the right type of players yet but become tough defensively.

If Pitino can get them to 7/8 conference wins and a NIT berth I would consider that a pretty good 1st year. Anything over that would have to consider quite the achievement.
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I think 8 conference wins gets you in the dance.
 

gopherlaney said:
I think 8 conference wins gets you in the dance.
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I think we would have needed a marquee win in Maui for that to happen. As it stands now, I think it would be slim to none that we get in with 8 wins.
 

Jr. needs to sign a big time recruit with substantial major offers. I don't want this turning into a Monson 2.0

All these guys are great coaches at this level; it's all about the players.
 

At the end of the season, I don't want us to need to be looking at so-called "moral victories" where we "hung in there" with good teams to find successes.
 

LesBolstad said:
Jr. needs to sign a big time recruit with substantial major offers. I don't want this turning into a Monson 2.0

All these guys are great coaches at this level; it's all about the players.
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Josh Martin had a nice offer list of some very good basketball programs.
 


MadtownGopher said:
How are we bi-polar? I'd argue we are more consistent this year than we were last year. We just don't have as much talent as last year. Last year we could knock off the #1 team in the country one game and then lose to Northwestren by double digits the next. That seems a lot more bi-polar than this current squad.
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I was referring more to the in-game ups and downs that we have seen this year. Leading Purdue by 15+, win by 3. Leading MSU by 10, lose by 12 in overtime. A lot of it has to do with shooting percentage, but there seems to be a "close-out" or confidence factor that we are lacking down the stretch of games.

If Pitino can instill this confidence (or "meds"), then he has nothing else to prove for me.
 

SkinnyGopher said:
I was referring more to the in-game ups and downs that we have seen this year. Leading Purdue by 15+, win by 3. Leading MSU by 10, lose by 12 in overtime. A lot of it has to do with shooting percentage, but there seems to be a "close-out" or confidence factor that we are lacking down the stretch of games.

If Pitino can instill this confidence (or "meds"), then he has nothing else to prove for me.
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Meh, it's called basketball. There are usually a number of runs throughout the game.
 


Gold Vision said:
12 Minute FG droughts shouldn't happen. It's a legitimate thing to work on.
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No $hit. The job of Coach Pitino is to teach the guys how to win at crunch time. We had chances versus Michigan and Michigan State. Coach Pitino is learning as well as teaching.

The learning curve is reality.
 

Gold Vision said:
12 Minute FG droughts shouldn't happen. It's a legitimate thing to work on.
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If it happens again I'll be concerned. Until then I'm not going to worry about it. 12 minute drought sounds a lot worse until you remember how many freethrows we made in that span. It was a bad 12 minutes of basketball but we were still putting points on the board.

And the original topic was how our team is "bi-polar." I don't think one long offensive drought is enough evidence to suggest that our team is "bi-polar."
 

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