Connecticut (MSG), Sat., Feb. 3, 12 NOON, FOX

[Money]

That play frustrated me because it’s well within Soriano’s skill set and it’s always there. You can’t double Soriano without cheating on Dunlap so it forces them to pick their poison.

He has such a wide base and he can pass the ball and see the court. Why don’t we play through him? We do next to nothing to set up our shooters.

You speak of Dunlap like he's Cam Spencer... He's 3 for 14 from 3 over the last 7 games. Every single team we have played double and triples Soriano consistently. Dunlap is not scaring them, there is no poison to pick...

 

[room112]

I think it’s safe to say WCJ was a huge loss, and we never recovered from that decision — which clearly shocked the coaching staff.

The post game comments from Pitino and building team culture is still bothering me. Is he implying that some of the underclassmen have a foot out the door? It’s also hypocritical because he used this very-new NCAA to jettison an entire roster to build a culture. Now’s he’s complaining about it?

I think out of Zuby/Wilcher/Taylor/Dunlap/Luis, it would be hard to recover from if more than one leave. I see them as the nucleus of the roster in future years. Ayo, Davis, and Traore are more culture setters.

If you read the entire quote and the others that went along with it, Pitino was actually speaking generally about the current landscape of sports in the NIL and transfer era. When he says "for us", I took it to mean he was referring to college basketball coaches in general, not just him.

"They are professional athletes. Get professionally paid. It's not going away. You can't try to get loopholes, because they take you to court. That's why I say -- so I'm not knocking the enforcement staff -- they're going to get taken to court every time they try to make a rule. So it's a tough time in college basketball right now. And for us, you can't really build programs and a culture because everybody leaves."

 

[room112]

Ok - Willie was banned. Seems a decent fellow, but obviously not a #sjubb fan and thus, banned. Possibly he can find Alex whoeverhewas someplace and they can talk.

As for the loss - to me there are no new takeaways from it. We competed well for the most part, didn't execute in a key stretch mid-second-half, UConn did (why they are a top 5 team), lost as expected. I would have preferred a 5-7 point loss but it isn't as though we got blown out. Frankly I thought we did a good job taking their bigs out of the game, we just didn't take advantage of it when we did. The key is taking care of business the rest of the way now - team has to get their minds right and if they do they can finish strong and be an NCAAT team.

I have largely stayed out of the coaching discussion since it is probably well-known that I was one of the less enthusiastic (probably the least enthusiastic) posters in terms of the Pitino hiring. The concerns I had were

(1) age at a time when the trend in all major sports is to hire younger coaches who can connect with today's players;
(2) had not coached at the high D1 level for the better part of a decade
(3) huge systemic changes from the transfer portal and NIL

To me those issues raised a potential red flag about player acquisition and retention and whether the necessary adjustments could and would be made.

On the player acquisition front, I think the staff did a good job last year. They may have some regrets about the decisions they made, but they had a plan about who they wanted and they were mostly able to execute it. They also have excellent commits for next year, and I think they will again get what they want out of the portal. So at least for years 1 and 2, I have less concern about player acquisition. Year 3 and beyond is TBD, if they don't win or if there is an annual exodus then things may change on that front.

Player retention is an unknown at this point but obviously yesterday's comments were ... not encouraging. We used to have a total rebuild every 5th year; now it could be every year. Though that isn't unique to us, I suppose.

The adjustment factor is the one that concerns me the most. We have seen a whole lot of stubborn from the staff throughout the season. Some examples would be:

(1) not going to a zone when it was obvious the team can't stop the ball (see the Michigan, BC games and the press against X)
(2) refusing to take lumps to develop the freshmen
(3) a fair amount of "blame the players" comments in the press

It is entirely possible that Pitino's competitive drive will result in some self-evaluation and that the adjustments will come (next year, I don't expect to see that this year). But it is also possible that you can't teach an old dog new tricks and that the old tricks (which are great tricks) aren't teachable to today's puppies.

Not trying to make more of this than what it is - just flagging some things I have had in mind from early on and how they have / have not been allayed over the course of the season.

Great post as always. One thing that keeps me hopeful about Pitino going forward, is like you mentioned, he do a self-evaluation and evolve. I can see him doing this because he's ultra competitive and his tenacity for winning is on another level. He literally can't live with losing. So that makes me hopeful he will do what it takes to keep winning.

 

[dk423]

If you read the entire quote and the others that went along with it, Pitino was actually speaking generally about the current landscape of sports in the NIL and transfer era. When he says "for us", I took it to mean he was referring to college basketball coaches in general, not just him.

"They are professional athletes. Get professionally paid. It's not going away. You can't try to get loopholes, because they take you to court. That's why I say -- so I'm not knocking the enforcement staff -- they're going to get taken to court every time they try to make a rule. So it's a tough time in college basketball right now. And for us, you can't really build programs and a culture because everybody leaves."

I actually still interpret the “for us…” part as more of an ominous thing about how him and St. John’s in particular can’t do those things because people leave — which then gets to my initial post about it.

 

[SJUNC]

I think RJ will be a different player when fully healthy and higher in the teams pecking order. He is immensely talented and I think it would be a mistake to give up on. That said I fear the quote was directed at him and he may choose to move on.

 

[lawmanfan]

Great post as always. One thing that keeps me hopeful about Pitino going forward, is like you mentioned, he do a self-evaluation and evolve. I can see him doing this because he's ultra competitive and his tenacity for winning is on another level. He literally can't live with losing. So that makes me hopeful he will do what it takes to keep winning.

It's funny, a month or so I was listening to someone on the radio say that Saban may not hate the NIL/portal world as much as ppl think, he's so competitive that it's like someone tweaked the video game and now there's a new boss to beat and he may like that challenge.

That made sense to me - until the next day when Saban quit

Don't think Rick is there given that he just arrived and hates to lose. But food for thought

 

[dk423]

It's funny, a month or so I was listening to someone on the radio say that Saban may not hate the NIL/portal world as much as ppl think, he's so competitive that it's like someone tweaked the video game and now there's a new boss to beat and he may like that challenge.

That made sense to me - until the next day when Saban quit

Don't think Rick is there given that he just arrived and hates to lose. But food for thought

You have to hope it works the other way. He sees Coach K, Williams, (probably this year) Izzo all retire, and he sees it as one more chance to cement his legacy and win in another different era.

 

[lycidas]

I think RJ will be a different player when fully healthy and higher in the teams pecking order. He is immensely talented and I think it would be a mistake to give up on. That said I fear the quote was directed at him and he may choose to move on.

Think RJ will be a vital player in whatever success we achieve, this year or next. He is physically gifted, but trying to make up for weeks of lost court time and regular practices.

Yes, he can be maddening, but there’s a level of talent there that no one else on this team comes close to. Dealing with long absence from a broken hand and continued issues brought on by shin splints. Our patience with him will pay off (or we can drive him off with a steady torrent of hatred and he’ll score his 22 points a game for someone else next season.)

 

[dk423]

Think RJ will be a vital player in whatever success we achieve, this year or next. He is physically gifted, but trying to make up for weeks of lost court time and regular practices.

Yes, he can be maddening, but there’s a level of talent there that no one else on this team comes close to. Dealing with long absence from a broken hand and continued issues brought on by shin splints. Our patience with him will pay off (or we can drive him off with a steady torrent of hatred and he’ll score his 22 points a game for someone else next season.)

Seems like Pitino has lost patience with him. Huge red flag for me.

Unfortunately I suspect coaching staff expected more from Dingle and Luis, and both have been well short of expectations, so we have no choice

 

[Shannon]

Crazy observation, but I felt like one of the main reasons UConn was able to pull away from us is they literally did not miss a free throw until the end of the game. They shot 20-22 for 94%, which is well above their season average of 73%. In addition, their 46% from 3 was well above their season average of 36%. We really needed them to have an off day in those categories to have any shot. Frustrating

Was the same with Xavier, Claude is a 75% ft shooter, went 11-12. No excuse for our performance.

 

[Shannon]

Couldn't care less what you'd do. Get lost.

Please doesn’t cost any to be gracious.

 

[GardenCity62]

There is no one way to build a roster You can win with portals, high school recruits or a combination of both. The key is to select the right players.Most would have selected Dingle over Spencer prior to this season and what a difference this season would be if these two switched rosters prior to opening day.
Pitino had a late start during the last portal and I feel this coming portal will be more successful.

 

[RedStormNC]

At first, just reading the single quotes, thought Pitino was just sour & specific to team, but in context to question asked and all quotes Rick seemed to be talking more universally, though not exempting his own team.

As for recruiting...think only way to build a long term core, will be to first recruit well, second, pay well and then ensure players know that even if year 1 is not seeing court more than few minutes, that Pitino has every intent to get them to level needed to get at least 20 min/game by year 2.

Otherwise recruit lesser talent and players that really just love game and want to improve under his teaching but no legit pro aspirations.

His system and expecting just don't seem ideal for getting in a bunch of seniors and hoping they do ok thru Jan and hoping they go into overdrive by Feb.

 

[dk423]

There is no one way to build a roster You can win with portals, high school recruits or a combination of both. The key is to select the right players.Most would have selected Dingle over Spencer prior to this season and what a difference this season would be if these two switched rosters prior to opening day.
Pitino had a late start during the last portal and I feel this coming portal will be more successful.

Getting hired in mid-March puts you at a huge disadvantage in the portal era, especially if you’re coaching staff wasn’t recruiting at that level.

The whole “if you learn about someone entering the portal from their announcement, you’re already too late” dynamic is definitely true. I’m hopeful that Matt A. will really change who we’re targeting based on NIL $$$ & knowing who’s available before it happens.

I also think Pitino was more desperate to fill roster spots than he let on, and came to regret some decisions that he made in April.

I’m not going to get my hopes all the way up like I did this past offseason with guys, but teams can win with majority transfer portal guys. You’re absolutely right, it’s just about getting the right blend of talent and attitude.

 

[classof2010]

I saw their board apparently not happy with me sleeping with some Shelton piglets. Not many Uconn fans can afford Fairfield County . Hopefully they get some ash on Marlboro sweatshirts. F Matt Norlander and all there reporters! I am not worried about Slick he’s just venting. These fifth yrs guys just old dogs can’t learn new tricks. I feel like we’re going to recruit Europe heavy. Also where do we stand with the Junior from Stepinac?

 

[rehobie]

Agreed...losing is one thing but I agree, we are absolutely regressing and you can tell their confidence is broken

“5

That’s how I am trying to stay positive we have played the toughest part of our BE schedule probably the only team that has not played Georgetown or DePaul yet. If we take care of those 4 games beat seton hall and Creighton at home we would only have to win 1 of the other road games to get to 12-8 in league play. This team still has a good chance of making the tournament which is something they really need to do just to break the streak and help this program move on.

’

A lousy half but the sky is not falling. Pitino will have some players back next year which will be an improvement over this year and I am sure he will have a shot at more talented portal players next season than he had this season.
These two facts tell me next years team will be an improvement over this years and this team is not going to compete for first place in the big east but it is not De Paul either.

disagree next years team will flourish. Centers Drissa and Zuby,
Forwards Taylor, Dunlap, Luis and Ayo. Guards Wiocher, Davis and 3 incoming frost. He has to cut bait with some of these guys so he can bring in more than 3 players.

 

[dk423]

“5

’

disagree next years team will flourish. Centers Drissa and Zuby,
Forwards Taylor, Dunlap, Luis and Ayo. Guards Wiocher, Davis and 3 incoming frost. He has to cut bait with some of these guys so he can bring in more than 3 players.

But you're assuming all of those guys are returning.

 

[paultzman]

But you're assuming all of those guys are returning.

We may want accept Drissa is undersized, good teammate, but if they don’t get someone much better than him, this is not progress.

 

[Marillac2]

Panther in the house yesterday, the man coached w Hurley Sr as an AC at 2003 Roundball HS Classic. View attachment 2028

I hope I age like these two!

 

[dk423]

We may want accept Drissa is undersized, good teammate, but if they don’t get someone much better than him, this is not progress.

I love the idea of having Drissa, Ayo, and Conway on the team. But only if they never see the floor in a competitive game. They're great culture guys, teammates, etc., and it's good to have those people. I just don't understand, and no one has had a good enough answer, why Pitino insists on playing thse guys.

"Make sure Conway is ready" -- ready for what? The guy has subpar athleticism for the Atlantic 10, was never that good of a shooter in the first place (he shot 30% two years ago), and his defense is atrocious. It's so hypocritical to your team to say every possession count, and then play him for three minutes over literally anyone else on this team.

Paultz, you really triggered me, sorry about that. /rant over.