(NCAA-WEST/Providence) #10 Arkansas, Sat., Mar. 22, 2:40p, CBS

logen said:
Many posters have emphasized that Luis took poor shots, didn’t play within the offense, etc., etc.
What have you been watching for two years? This is a revelation, an epiphany to you finally? We all, including Pitino and staff, have seen this movie for that long, less this year but it was still clearly there. So THIS was the game and situation to deal with it?
There was poster criticism for Luis, mostly last year, but pretty much just aside comments occasionally this one.
NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, ever posted they thought Luis should be benched and someone has to explain to me why they agree that was the time and situation for Pitino to make his NO MORE stand because to me it was one of the most asinine, selfish coaching moves I have ever seen.
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I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
 
lawmanfan said:
I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
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First possession after entering Prey made a nice move on the baseline for a dunk. It’s not like he entered and screwed things up.
 
logen said:
Many posters have emphasized that Luis took poor shots, didn’t play within the offense, etc., etc.
What have you been watching for two years? This is a revelation, an epiphany to you finally? We all, including Pitino and staff, have seen this movie for that long, less this year but it was still clearly there. So THIS was the game and situation to deal with it?
There was poster criticism for Luis, mostly last year, but pretty much just aside comments occasionally this one.
NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, ever posted they thought Luis should be benched and someone has to explain to me why they agree that was the time and situation for Pitino to make his NO MORE stand because to me it was one of the most asinine, selfish coaching moves I have ever seen.
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Calling Pitino’s decision to bench RJ “asinine” is fair. I do not agree, but those are our opinions.

However, it is a tough to call his decision “selfish”, when Pitino’s number one priority is winning. What does he get for being “selfish”?

He saw RJ’s head was not in it. And not just offensively. He was lost defensively and didn’t box out on an Arkansas miss a little earlier, which cost them a basket.

Also, Pitino obviously looked at Kadary and Zuby as his two trusted leaders, and that picture of Zuby trying to implore RJ will leave an indelible mark. Maybe that and his assistants, whose job it is to monitor and keep the players engaged may have sensed RJ was just off.

If you want to call Pitino “selfish” about anything, it is probably that he wants at least one more final four as much as he ever has, just to give a big middle finger to everyone who laughed, ridiculed, and thought his career was over, while he was exiled in Greece.
 
lawmanfan said:
I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
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Fair points, and no doubt a tough decision in the heat of the moment. Kind of a perfect storm game where we never got on track, had our main playmaker saddled with fouls and eventually fouled out, and the pressure of being a two seed with high expectations after decades of irrelevance and disappointment. Arkansas played a frenetic, sloppy, yet high level athletic game that gave us the chance to still be in it with 4+ minutes to go. A lot of broken plays, missed shots, and emotions led up to the decision to keep RJ on the bench. Every player on our team (and coaching staff) deserved a better exit after an epic season, but they'll all need to make peace with what happened and (maybe for some) with each other.
 
lawmanfan said:
I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
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So he never had that belief in ANY game all year until this one, did not do it ONE time. You play who got you here, period, you don’t go CYO coach.
With all due respect, it was most certainly asinine because the proof it was a bad move was clearly revealed by the results. SJU didn’t have a shot with Richmond and Luis both out.
We just disagree.
 
kranmars said:
Calling Pitino’s decision to bench RJ “asinine” is fair. I do not agree, but those are our opinions.

However, it is a tough to call his decision “selfish”, when Pitino’s number one priority is winning. What does he get for being “selfish”?

He saw RJ’s head was not in it. And not just offensively. He was lost defensively and didn’t box out on an Arkansas miss a little earlier, which cost them a basket.

Also, Pitino obviously looked at Kadary and Zuby as his two trusted leaders, and that picture of Zuby trying to implore RJ will leave an indelible mark. Maybe that and his assistants, whose job it is to monitor and keep the players engaged may have sensed RJ was just off.

If you want to call Pitino “selfish” about anything, it is probably that he wants at least one more final four as much as he ever has, just to give a big middle finger to everyone who laughed, ridiculed, and thought his career was over, while he was exiled in Greece.
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He was selfish IMO because I know how I would have felt playing those last five minutes without our two best players, one the BE POY and 2nd team AA because the coach chose not to play him.
 
Looking at Stats, you could make a case for everyone playing poorly , except Zuby.

Not just RJ. Comments like his head wasn’t in the game or , he reverted to hero ball are easy to assess but , notably he didn’t play any different than he has all year.

Driving to the hoop is his game . The one thing he failed to do was stop for the pull up jumper or , put up a few 3’s . Like he’s fine all year .

Calipari had a great game plan that Pitino didn’t counter in my opinion.

Cal wanted KR out of the game . Period the end . He did that by taking Kadary out of the game for most of the 1 st half .
KR has been the straw that stirred the drink . Without him on the Court , our offense stalls and we don’t have a lot of options .
KR also gets Zuby loose for the put backs by driving into the lane . Smith can’t and didn’t do that .

There is a lot more to say on Luis but , still absent RJ telling Pitino “ F. You ,” it’s hard to justify a All American on the bench in a 2 point game for the last 4 plus minutes.

That’s on Rick , not RJ.
Luis still was our best chance to grab the lead and win . No matter the 36 minutes before .
 
logen said:
He was selfish IMO because I know how I would have felt playing those last five minutes without our two best players, one the BE POY and 2nd team AA because the coach chose not to play him.
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I absolutely understand your point.

But I also know how I would have felt if one of our two best player’s head was not fully engaged, when he was needed more than at any other moment in the season, with our other best player had already fouled out.
 
lawmanfan said:
I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
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Come on.

RJ is most decidedly NOT a one trick pony. On either end of the floor. Yes, that's dependent on his head being right and no it doesn't appear that it was up until that point. But with the season on the line, you have two choices- use your alleged master motivator skills to get his head right enough to help the team, or shrug your shoulders and say welp, I guess I can't help him, put in Lefty or Ibine Ayo or whoever (actually it was Prey that subbed in for him at 4:56, but that still left someone who was not as good as RJ on the floor WITH THE SEASON ON THE LINE.) The master motivator chose B. It would have been great to hear his explanation for that decision, but he dedcided to snap at the two reporters who dared question him.

You're entitled to your opinion of course but I'm just shocked anyone could conclude that sitting him was the better decision.
 
Luis played thirty minutes and had zero assist. Zero. He was all one in one. Last shot he drove into three guys and threw up air ball with Zuby open. Maybe he felt pressure to
Make up for loss of KD. But we had better chance of running with Luis on bench that game. Rick thought so clearly and I agree for what it is worth. And I love Luis.
 
Pitino is a Hall of Fame coach, so I will not complain about who he decides to play during crunch time. I do have a big problem with the way he handled the after game press conference, where in my opinion, he came off as angry and selfish. He should have been clear in his statements that RJ did not bring his “A” game today so he decided after 30 minutes to go with other players.

He then should have expressed that RJ had a great season earning player of the year, and sometimes players just have bad games for some reason. Instead, he decided to talk about how three other players gave it their all, attempting to leave the impression that RJ was less than motivated. That is what a coach with less ego would have said.

Those would have been correct statements and everyone, including the players could have started the healing process, understanding that it was a truly great season! This game would not have become a stain on a magnificent season.

Now CRP has needlessly ended the season on a negative note, very possibly might drive a great player into the portal and he will have to explain away what happened to every player who they try to reel in from the portal. All that I can say is that going into the portal season we are in worse shape than prior to that press conference due to this self inflicted wound!
 
lawmanfan said:
I don't think Pitino benched him to send him a message.

Pitino benched him because he decided that RJ was not going to help him win the game. RJ is largely a one-trick pony and that trick had not worked and there was no evidence that it was going to work (unless you count turning the ball over as "working").

There's no way to know whether Pitino was right or wrong, but I'm inclined to agree that he was right. It was definitely not "asinine." And it was not selfish unless you consider trying to win games - basically the only thing Pitino cares about - as selfish.

If you want to say that there was nobody on the bench Pitino could play that was likely be a positive contributor, you can say that. But he obviously reached the conclusion that (at least for this game) RJ was a negative contributor and even a net neutral would be an improvement. And it was a fair conclusion.
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Very well said LMF
 
tnice said:
Come on.

RJ is most decidedly NOT a one trick pony. On either end of the floor. Yes, that's dependent on his head being right and no it doesn't appear that it was up until that point. But with the season on the line, you have two choices- use your alleged master motivator skills to get his head right enough to help the team, or shrug your shoulders and say welp, I guess I can't help him, put in Lefty or Ibine Ayo or whoever (actually it was Prey that subbed in for him at 4:56, but that still left someone who was not as good as RJ on the floor WITH THE SEASON ON THE LINE.) The master motivator chose B. It would have been great to hear his explanation for that decision, but he dedcided to snap at the two reporters who dared question him.

You're entitled to your opinion of course but I'm just shocked anyone could conclude that sitting him was the better decision.
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RJ has a total of 3 offensive moves:

1. Drive into the paint and score or get fouled based on superior athleticism.
2. Get an offensive rebound and score based on superior athleticism.
3. Shoot a 3 off a feed from a teammate.

He has zero recognition of idea that you can draw the defense and then pass the basketball.

So in this game options 1 and 2 were not working because when matched up with equal athletic talent (which he did not face at any point in league play), the only thing that's left is for him to go stand in the corner and shoot a 3.

It would have been reasonable for Pitino to play him on that basis - don't put the ball on the floor, just stay on the perimeter and if you get a good look take the shot - but then you lose his offensive rebounding and you probably can't trust him not to revert to type and drive the lane anyway.

One of the problems with this team from the beginning was that it had no reliable offense outside of Zuby playing heroic basketball every night and "give the ball to RJ and he'll make something happen." Kadary can't shoot. Wilcher and Scott were inconsistent at best. Deivon Smith was hurt and he's also not the most structured basketball player in the world. Dunlap out for the year. Glover unable to defend and then hurt, out for the year. Liotopoulos, same problem as Glover until late in the season.

I think Pitino rode the horse he had as far as he could - and they STILL could have won that game despite the Kadary issue and RJ struggles if they just hit a few more layups or free throws.
 
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