Now that our 22-23 roster has new homes....

Beasts of the East

Beasts of the East

Well-known member
2023 $upporter
Two tears ago at this point the program looked rock solid. 10-9 in conference, Big east coach of the year. A bunch of mostly unheralded players outhustling and locking down opponents. A freshman dynamo, a junior sophomore star with nba hopes. So many kids playing so far over their heads that when they hit the portal they drew interest from mid major programs. Some did well at the right level, others didn't kill it.

Roll forward to 2023. Dreadful season. Mass exodus. When they hit the portals, huge interest from major conference programs from most players.

Big question, since other programs clearly liked our talent, who quit on who? Did our kids quit on the staff and just couldn't wait for the season to end? Did the coach stop coaching kids up, as apparently had happened to a host of kids with names like Williams, Earlington, even Champagnie.

Could it really be more than one or two toxic players, or maybe the kid who said they weren't being coached was right.

I don't have the answers here but it's sort of crazy that our kids ended up at big east schools, ar wisconsin, memphis, usc and other notable places.

It actually appears that we had a talented squad with players other programs wanted. The season was like watching a train wreck, and we will be saying for a while "What the hell happened?" We had a coach who in 2 seasons went from turning lemons into lemonade, to turning chariots into pumpkins.

There is a time to put this into the rear view mirror but this is mind boggling.
 
Last year's team was less than the sum of its parts. Some individual talent, but not nearly enough shooting/ability to space the floor to score consistently in the half court set. Too much iso/hero ball. I ran into former D1 coach I know last summer. He was very bearish on the roster due to lack of shooting/complementary players. Also, who knows how big of a role some of the outgoing talent will play with their new teams. Transferring to Memphis doesn't mean that Jones will play 26 min a game there. But he also might fit the roster better. Ultimately the buck stops with the staff as they both built and coached the team.
 
It is an apt comparison. When we had the mass exodus two years ago, I didn't think much of it because all those kids went to lower programs and, in some cases, there was obvious logic behind the move (Williams going home, even though he was the most "high major" of that group IMO, Earlington getting to play a more prominent role in a different position at a mid major, etc). And we brought in kids who looked like good fits, and in some cases were, like Wheeler. Classic example of a high-major kid come back "home" (or closer to "home" in our case) who would benefit from the system and change of scenery.

I don't think there was a huge misjudgment of the talent we had coming into last season. The Curbello and Posh dynamic was questioned repeatedly, and ultimately the consensus seemed to be acquiring the talent was worth the risk of the roster fit. That obviously blew up and I think probably made everything else much worse. And with Jones -- honestly I don't know what happened there. We needed those 2 to work out, and neither did. And so you end up with a poorly constructed roster and mediocre team, despite our Center coming out of nowhere to be better than any of us envisioned.

But Jones wasn't considered one of the best transfers last year, nationally, for no reason. Posh wasn't picked first team preseason all Big East for no reason. Storr wasn't considered a touted prospect that could help right away for no reason.
 
I'd agree we had the talent to dance considering where our kids landed. FWIW, Curbelo may have been the most talented, though to say so is like looking at a Picasso covered with mud and still seeing the geniys.

Lack of intervention to deal with problems before they festered into a mess. Some of it is astounding, not necessarily in player actions but the absence in dealing with things.

One thing i never observed was any interactions between Anderson and coaching staff during games. Also Zendon was a special assistant, but unlike Keady who sat next to Lavin, Zendon was relegated to end of bench next to Father Rock. Considering the mic'd up Mike timeout directions "Play hard!!, etc." perhaps assistants should have had a greater voice in games.

Seems Anderson was not the same coach in year 4 that he was year 1 and 2. Maybe a little Bobby Bonilla-Dave Parker-Ken Holtzman syndrome who all became quite ordinary when protected by multi year guaranteed deals.

Concerning Holtzman, his lack of passion so enraged Billy Martin, he yanked him from the starting rotation to little used bullpen mop up. Holtzman's response? "I don't care. I'm still making a million per year."

Not saying that happened with Anderson, but he certainly feels entitled to every penny in his contract despite 2 pretty horrible seasons coaching.

Pains me to say this but Monte was right about Anderson in year 3.
 
Pinzon- Bryant
Stanley - Boise State
King - Tulane
Keita - Fairfield?
Curbelo - Southern Miss
Wusu- Seton Hall
Jones - Memphis
Posh - Butler
Storr - Wisconsin

I see a collection of five mid-majors and with the exception of Memphis, projected bottom feeder Power conference teams. I'm not sure why this would be considered a large amount of Big East talent based on new homes. But kids move up and down the ladder now for various reasons, so I wouldn't say it means they aren't talented individually either, or that none of them will do very well in their new programs. Time will tell.

Biggest thing is they were brutal as a group, they didn't fit together well at all. Two small guards that can't shoot from the outside? With a small forward who couldn't shoot from the outside?

I don't see any mystery at all why last years team struggled. The roster was a collection of non-complimentary players. Surround Posh, or Curbelo, with shooters and they become dangerous. The opposite was done, starting with playing them together.
 
IDRAFT said:
Pinzon- Bryant
Stanley - Boise State
King - Tulane
Keita - Fairfield?
Curbelo - Southern Miss
Wusu- Seton Hall
Jones - Memphis
Posh - Butler
Storr - Wisconsin

I see a collection of five mid-majors and with the exception of Memphis, projected bottom feeder Power conference teams. I'm not sure why this would be considered a large amount of Big East talent based on new homes. But kids move up and down the ladder now for various reasons, so I wouldn't say it means they aren't talented individually either, or that none of them will do very well in their new programs. Time will tell.

Biggest thing is they were brutal as a group, they didn't fit together well at all. Two small guards that can't shoot from the outside? With a small forward who couldn't shoot from the outside?

I don't see any mystery at all why last years team struggled. The roster was a collection of non-complimentary players. Surround Posh, or Curbelo, with shooters and they become dangerous. The opposite was done, starting with playing them together.
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I agree with your assessment except Wisconsin should be a mid pack Big Ten team that makes the NCAA tournament
 
Agree Wisconsin is a high major program, but one that has struggled in recent times
 
MugCostanza said:
They had a mediocre year this past season but in the 4 years before that they were a 3 seed, 9 seed, projected 4 seed in the Covid year, and a 5 seed. Wouldn't necessarily classify them as a struggling program.
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You’re right
 
L J S A said:
Pitino has already shown the ability to make tough decisions and we haven't even started playing yet. I am not worried about behavioral issues going unaddressed as long as this current staff is here, and it will be refreshing. Onward and upward.
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Recruits having sex with prostitutes is something I would consider a behavioral issue. Katina Powell was paid by a member of Pitino's coaching staff to arrange sex parties for Louisville basketball recruits and "Powell specifically named five Louisville recruits -- Montrezl Harrell, Jaquan Lyle, Antonio Blakeney, Jordan Mickey and Terry Rozier – as some who took part in the parties and the side deals. Lyle, Blakeney and Mickey ended up signing with other schools.

Now I'm not saying you should be worried about it but that did happen under a previous Pitino led staff. Pitino is a winner but let's not nominate him for sainthood.
 
fat johnnie said:
Recruits having sex with prostitutes is something I would consider a behavioral issue. Katina Powell was paid by a member of Pitino's coaching staff to arrange sex parties for Louisville basketball recruits and "Powell specifically named five Louisville recruits -- Montrezl Harrell, Jaquan Lyle, Antonio Blakeney, Jordan Mickey and Terry Rozier – as some who took part in the parties and the side deals. Lyle, Blakeney and Mickey ended up signing with other schools.

Now I'm not saying you should be worried about it but that did happen under a previous Pitino led staff. Pitino is a winner but let's not nominate him for sainthood.
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a lot of us when we were in college would have had no problem being those recruits and what their benefits were. Heck I can name some people now depending on the hottie factor :)
 
fat johnnie said:
Recruits having sex with prostitutes is something I would consider a behavioral issue. Katina Powell was paid by a member of Pitino's coaching staff to arrange sex parties for Louisville basketball recruits and "Powell specifically named five Louisville recruits -- Montrezl Harrell, Jaquan Lyle, Antonio Blakeney, Jordan Mickey and Terry Rozier – as some who took part in the parties and the side deals. Lyle, Blakeney and Mickey ended up signing with other schools.

Now I'm not saying you should be worried about it but that did happen under a previous Pitino led staff. Pitino is a winner but let's not nominate him for sainthood.
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OK...Pitino knew how the system worked...and he played. Now the system is about NIL money. That means the kids can cash in and buy their own trim.
 
The way I see it, he's our coach now, likely the best overall coach we've ever had, and I'm rooting for him.

To litigate past transgressions or question his hiring on here is non productive. Either you support or decide to root for another team is up to the individual.

Simple as that.
 
fat johnnie said:
Recruits having sex with prostitutes is something I would consider a behavioral issue. Katina Powell was paid by a member of Pitino's coaching staff to arrange sex parties for Louisville basketball recruits and "Powell specifically named five Louisville recruits -- Montrezl Harrell, Jaquan Lyle, Antonio Blakeney, Jordan Mickey and Terry Rozier – as some who took part in the parties and the side deals. Lyle, Blakeney and Mickey ended up signing with other schools.

Now I'm not saying you should be worried about it but that did happen under a previous Pitino led staff. Pitino is a winner but let's not nominate him for sainthood.
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I care more about our guys tuning out the staff in timeouts and sneaking into the stands and press conferences, which is what I'm referring to.

But to be honest, I could not care less about who a college student sleeps with as long as it's consensual and he bags it up. I'm assuming Pitino learned his lesson and won't be throwing assistants under the bus here. Was he clean at Iona? That was the whole point of his stop there.

You'd have to be a complete moron to run afoul of the NCAA these days in the NIL era. Luckily I don't think Pitino is one.
 
Beasts of the East said:
The way I see it, he's our coach now, likely the best overall coach we've ever had, and I'm rooting for him.

To litigate past transgressions or question his hiring on here is non productive. Either you support or decide to root for another team is up to the individual.

Simple as that.
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Lapchick taught the guys who taught Pitino.
 
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