Re Pitino's post game pressers: For two years in college I worked in security in the men's locker room at the US Open. A random assignment on my first day on the job turned into a permanent assignment, by not letting anyone into the men's locker room who didn't belong. Imagine being a 20 year old kid being around the world's all-time best tennis players, and being tasked with keeping celebrities (Alan King, Cosell, politicians and others) out of the locker room. When my supervisor came around to check, players were slinging compliments, so they kept me there for 2 tournaments. But I digress.
I've seen players like Jimmy Connors repeatedly politely asking reporters to give him a little time until he showered after a 5 set loss to answer all of their questions, then blowing up when they stepped on his clothes as he undressed to shower, not giving him an inch. Of course, some would write what an asshole Connors was, but I saw the difference.
In college basketball, no one takes losing harder than coaches. They are paid to win, and unlike players, who can play well and move on, there are few silver linings for coaches. Someone close to Mullin told them that losing was eating Chris alive, and I believed it (no Mullin comments please). To expect coaches to be composed, reflective, and say all the right things a few minutes after a big loss, is often asking too much. CRP came to the Garden expecting to win, saw probably 100 things our guys did or didn't do that annoyed him, and was likely very very annoyed coming off the court. I'd cut him some slack for any of his comments.
The game itself at parts were awesome. Our fans, (I would say 60-40 SJU, and much more in lower bowl) were awesome, and even when behind looked to rally the team at every opportunity. UCONN fans were largely silent until they took a lead. It seemed every Johnnies fan in attendance was determined to show this is is OUR home court, and for our team to hear them. Great job.
The game itself? Well, damn, UCONN is the defending national champs, played a very solid game without Karaban, and would likely have beaten any team in the country yesterday. Our guys held their own for 32 minutes, until UCONN stopped missing on nearly every possession. We can hate them, but they are a great team with a very good (whining) coach.
Having been a veteran of many ankle injuries, I know these can take months to heal, so I would cut Alleyne some slack. In terms of Luis, I would agree that he needs to make better decisions going to the basket. I'd also say though, if there was one guy on the court who could do something simply amazing at any given moment with the ball in his hands, it's Luis. It's almost as if the only person capable of stopping Luis is Luis, and that's only by his propensity to turn nothing into nothing driving into a crowd. However, when he turns nothing into something, it's often dazzling. Also, on the bench, the trainer was working on Luis' legs when he was off the court. My guess is he isn't even close to 90% at this point, so again, would cut him some slack.
Finally, Soriano has looked a lot more like Joel of two years ago lately, and he can do much better. End of story.
Lastly, on the big MSG dilemma, if the Big East insists we play our home game vs. UCONN at the garden, I thing they should play their home game vs. us at the Garden too. It would be a lot more even then as a two game series. and it would be fantastic for the Big East. And a lot fairer for us.
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