Pitino and Iona

[quote="panther2" post=382610][quote="dee" post=382540][quote="MCNPA" post=382408][quote="panther2" post=382388][quote="mjmaherjr" post=382380][quote="Monte" post=382378][quote="mjmaherjr" post=382377]Put 8 players on a team and have any coach coach them. Pitino would have them playing better than any coach within top 5.. Not knock on any coach but he is top 5. Blaming him for cheating you might as well blame almost any coach too but he will have that 5 playing just as well if not better than almost everyone else[/quote]

Mike you think he could have done more with this group of kids this year then CMA did?[/quote]

Yes but that's not a discredit to CMA and maybe he would have only more than one or 2 more. It's not a Pitino vs CMA thing. It's just stating how good I think he is.

I think he's top 5. Its not like I'm saying I think CMA is top 200. It's just acknowledging that dont fact what he is personally just coaching Pitino is as close to a program changer sure bet as there is. And lets not ( not saying you ) but think virtually every coach doesn't cheat ( I think CMA is probably more honest than all of them or most of them )[/quote]



I happen to disagree with you Mike. I don't believe that Pitino would have had the patience and demeanor to be successful with this year's team. Coach Anderson's success was about more than just X and O's, it was about taking a group of players and molding them into a cohesive unit. It was about bonding and building character. It was about overcoming obstacles and being resilient.

How many times did those of us on this board write the season off? Heron got injured and missed a few games, came back was not himself and finally had to sit out the last part of the season. LJ was up and down all season before coming on at the end. Rutherford's role changed throughout the season but he always played hard and was instrumental in helping the team win a few games. Towards the end of the season, he was playing his best basketball. Dunn gave us all that he had, while adjusting to the Big East. Caraher accepted his role and came up big in some games. The progress that Williams, Earlington, and Roberts made this year is a product of the player development capabilities of Coach Anderson and his staff. Sears was definitely limited offensively, but never backed down from anyone. Champagnie, who very few of us , myself included, thought was a Big East player, exceeded all expectations and became a member of the All Big East Freshman team. Coach Anderson rewarded Cole for his contribution over the years by giving him minutes towards the end of the season. You better believe that the others players saw and respected this.

Coach Anderson created a positive vibe, where the players were continually encouraged and supported, while also being held accountable. The familial atmosphere around the program helped the players to bond as a team and have each others back. The results this season are a testament to Coach Anderson's ability as a coach and as a leader of young men.

I do not believe that Pitino would have had the patience or the tolerance to be successful with this group of players. It has nothing to do with coaching ability, more with his personality and sense of entitlement. These players would have been beneath him.[/quote]

I’ll go further and say that I don’t think Pitino is nearly as good as being made out to be and a ton of his success was due to his cheating. He got awesome players at most spots. It’s precisely the d
difference between a guy like Slick Rick and CMA. Give CMA the talent that Rick paid for all those years and CMA might have won a few NC’s with the talent difference. He certainly would have not been at SJU and likely some blue blood. I don’t think Rick could have done any better with this years team.[/quote]

If Pitino had been hired by sju he would not have had this team. He would have brought more talented players here. Watch what he does with iona. The sky is the limit[/quote]



Just curious as to where the more talented players would have come from. By April, the more talented players have already committed to a school. Pitino is a good coach, but he ain't walking on water. The belief that he could have recruited great players in April is "delusional".[/quote]
Transfers? Iona has the advantage of being in a lesser conference...so it should be easier for an outstanding coach to win against lesser talent.
 
Like Looie always said, the key to be a great coach is to get great players. It's a lot easier to get those players to Kentucky than it is to get them to a NY school. Especially one in new Rochelle. Pitino will have to resort to getting some players with questionable character, no pun intended, or academics. That's if he wants Iona to become a high major program. With a lot of eyes on him, I expect that Pitino's options will be limited. He can make Iona the king of their conference, but it will be a major task to eclipse what Cluess did there.
 
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[quote="Ray Morgan" post=382634]Like Looie always said, the key to be a great coach is to get great players. It's a lot easier to get those players to Kentucky than it is to get them to a NY school. Especially one in new Rochelle. Pitino will have to resort to getting some players with questionable character, no pun intended, or academics. That's if he wants Iona to become a high major program. With a lot of eyes on him, I expect that Pitino's options will be limited. He can make Iona the king of their conference, but it will be a major task to eclipse what Cluess did there.[/quote]

Pitino has re$ources at his disposal that Cluess did not have. Much like another former Iona coach who left under a dark cloud of suspicion, I except that Pitino will land some kids who would have otherwise never given Iona a sniff. I predict that he’ll have Iona in the top 25 within a few years. I don’t believe Cluess ever did that. So I do think Iona will have some more successful seasons under Pitino then they ever had under Cluess, and will make a few nice tourney runs. At the end of the day, I don’t give a damn what Pitino does at Iona. I only care what CMA does here.
 
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which poster is the Greek guy here ? Sirvoo ? Someone last year had talked about taking over a perennial crap greek team and them in a year becoming excellent and winning some cup there
 
[quote="newsman13" post=382626][quote="panther2" post=382610][quote="dee" post=382540][quote="MCNPA" post=382408][quote="panther2" post=382388][quote="mjmaherjr" post=382380][quote="Monte" post=382378][quote="mjmaherjr" post=382377]Put 8 players on a team and have any coach coach them. Pitino would have them playing better than any coach within top 5.. Not knock on any coach but he is top 5. Blaming him for cheating you might as well blame almost any coach too but he will have that 5 playing just as well if not better than almost everyone else[/quote]

Mike you think he could have done more with this group of kids this year then CMA did?[/quote]

Yes but that's not a discredit to CMA and maybe he would have only more than one or 2 more. It's not a Pitino vs CMA thing. It's just stating how good I think he is.

I think he's top 5. Its not like I'm saying I think CMA is top 200. It's just acknowledging that dont fact what he is personally just coaching Pitino is as close to a program changer sure bet as there is. And lets not ( not saying you ) but think virtually every coach doesn't cheat ( I think CMA is probably more honest than all of them or most of them )[/quote]



I happen to disagree with you Mike. I don't believe that Pitino would have had the patience and demeanor to be successful with this year's team. Coach Anderson's success was about more than just X and O's, it was about taking a group of players and molding them into a cohesive unit. It was about bonding and building character. It was about overcoming obstacles and being resilient.

How many times did those of us on this board write the season off? Heron got injured and missed a few games, came back was not himself and finally had to sit out the last part of the season. LJ was up and down all season before coming on at the end. Rutherford's role changed throughout the season but he always played hard and was instrumental in helping the team win a few games. Towards the end of the season, he was playing his best basketball. Dunn gave us all that he had, while adjusting to the Big East. Caraher accepted his role and came up big in some games. The progress that Williams, Earlington, and Roberts made this year is a product of the player development capabilities of Coach Anderson and his staff. Sears was definitely limited offensively, but never backed down from anyone. Champagnie, who very few of us , myself included, thought was a Big East player, exceeded all expectations and became a member of the All Big East Freshman team. Coach Anderson rewarded Cole for his contribution over the years by giving him minutes towards the end of the season. You better believe that the others players saw and respected this.

Coach Anderson created a positive vibe, where the players were continually encouraged and supported, while also being held accountable. The familial atmosphere around the program helped the players to bond as a team and have each others back. The results this season are a testament to Coach Anderson's ability as a coach and as a leader of young men.

I do not believe that Pitino would have had the patience or the tolerance to be successful with this group of players. It has nothing to do with coaching ability, more with his personality and sense of entitlement. These players would have been beneath him.[/quote]

I’ll go further and say that I don’t think Pitino is nearly as good as being made out to be and a ton of his success was due to his cheating. He got awesome players at most spots. It’s precisely the d
difference between a guy like Slick Rick and CMA. Give CMA the talent that Rick paid for all those years and CMA might have won a few NC’s with the talent difference. He certainly would have not been at SJU and likely some blue blood. I don’t think Rick could have done any better with this years team.[/quote]

If Pitino had been hired by sju he would not have had this team. He would have brought more talented players here. Watch what he does with iona. The sky is the limit[/quote]



Just curious as to where the more talented players would have come from. By April, the more talented players have already committed to a school. Pitino is a good coach, but he ain't walking on water. The belief that he could have recruited great players in April is "delusional".[/quote]
Transfers? Iona has the advantage of being in a lesser conference...so it should be easier for an outstanding coach to win against lesser talent.[/quote]]

In April?
 
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=382671]which poster is the Greek guy here ? Sirvoo ? Someone last year had talked about taking over a perennial crap greek team and them in a year becoming excellent and winning some cup there[/quote]

Not sure about that

6 EuroLeague
37 Greek Championships
19 Greek Cups
1 Intercontinental Cup
2 Triple Crowns
 
[quote="Monte" post=382670][quote="Ray Morgan" post=382634]Like Looie always said, the key to be a great coach is to get great players. It's a lot easier to get those players to Kentucky than it is to get them to a NY school. Especially one in new Rochelle. Pitino will have to resort to getting some players with questionable character, no pun intended, or academics. That's if he wants Iona to become a high major program. With a lot of eyes on him, I expect that Pitino's options will be limited. He can make Iona the king of their conference, but it will be a major task to eclipse what Cluess did there.[/quote]

Pitino has re$ources at his disposal that Cluess did not have. Much like another former Iona coach who left under a dark cloud of suspicion, I except that Pitino will land some kids who would have otherwise never given Iona a sniff. I predict that he’ll have Iona in the top 25 within a few years. I don’t believe Cluess ever did that. So I do think Iona will have some more successful seasons under Pitino then they ever had under Cluess, and will make a few nice tourney runs. At the end of the day, I don’t give a damn what Pitino does at Iona. I only care what CMA does here.[/quote]

I don't mean to sound disrespectful of Iona but unless Pitino does some supernatural recruiting I don't see Iona becoming a top 25 program when he will be in his 70's. Given the fact that they play in a very weak conference they would have to win most of their out of conference games against top programs to earn votes. I'm sure there's a temptation to compare them to Davidson with their outstanding coach but even they have had passing success when it comes to national rankings and tournament success. Of course there is a possibility that he stocks Iona with UNLV type head cases with limited academic standing and under the table deals but that reputation will drag Iona basketball to the gutter level and that success will be extremely short lived in the NY metropolitan area with competing programs like St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers and a dozen other Division I programs within 30 miles breathing down their necks.
 
[quote="Moose" post=382703][quote="mjmaherjr" post=382671]which poster is the Greek guy here ? Sirvoo ? Someone last year had talked about taking over a perennial crap greek team and them in a year becoming excellent and winning some cup there[/quote]

Not sure about that

6 EuroLeague
37 Greek Championships
19 Greek Cups
1 Intercontinental Cup
2 Triple Crowns[/quote]

Yeah I just found his post and it wasn't exactly what I thought but still not bad At least I was able to remember the poster was Sirvoo and he was greek :)

Sirvoo " I follow the Greek league as I am 100% Greek. This guy took a team in Panathinaikos who were absolute dogshit this year and brought them to the Euroleague playoffs. Won the Greek Cup with them."
 
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=382671]which poster is the Greek guy here ? Sirvoo ? Someone last year had talked about taking over a perennial crap greek team and them in a year becoming excellent and winning some cup there[/quote]

Definitely Sirvoo

*Whoops, a bit late. Guess I was idle on this page a while.
 
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[quote="Class of 72" post=382708][quote="Monte" post=382670][quote="Ray Morgan" post=382634]Like Looie always said, the key to be a great coach is to get great players. It's a lot easier to get those players to Kentucky than it is to get them to a NY school. Especially one in new Rochelle. Pitino will have to resort to getting some players with questionable character, no pun intended, or academics. That's if he wants Iona to become a high major program. With a lot of eyes on him, I expect that Pitino's options will be limited. He can make Iona the king of their conference, but it will be a major task to eclipse what Cluess did there.[/quote]

Pitino has re$ources at his disposal that Cluess did not have. Much like another former Iona coach who left under a dark cloud of suspicion, I except that Pitino will land some kids who would have otherwise never given Iona a sniff. I predict that he’ll have Iona in the top 25 within a few years. I don’t believe Cluess ever did that. So I do think Iona will have some more successful seasons under Pitino then they ever had under Cluess, and will make a few nice tourney runs. At the end of the day, I don’t give a damn what Pitino does at Iona. I only care what CMA does here.[/quote]

I don't mean to sound disrespectful of Iona but unless Pitino does some supernatural recruiting I don't see Iona becoming a top 25 program when he will be in his 70's. Given the fact that they play in a very weak conference they would have to win most of their out of conference games against top programs to earn votes. I'm sure there's a temptation to compare them to Davidson with their outstanding coach but even they have had passing success when it comes to national rankings and tournament success. Of course there is a possibility that he stocks Iona with UNLV type head cases with limited academic standing and under the table deals but that reputation will drag Iona basketball to the gutter level and that success will be extremely short lived in the NY metropolitan area with competing programs like St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers and a dozen other Division I programs within 30 miles breathing down their necks.[/quote]

Not saying it’s gonna be easy for him, especially with him being under the NCAA microscope. But he has succeeded pretty much wherever he’s gone, and I don’t think he’ll be content unless he can elevate Iona to a top 25ish program. Having said that, this will by far be the biggest challenge of his career. Much tougher then PC IMO.
 
I’m glad we have CMA. I love the direction of the program. I love the style of play. Hopefully we’ll make some more shots next season. Post season dreams in my head today.
 
ok, especially at a mid major, any kid being recruited at that level would jump to play for Pitino. He has a great eye for talent and is a good enough salesperson to convince a 3 or 4 star talent to come play for him and be the focal point rather than just one of three or four guys. I expect him to win, and to approach ranked status in 2-3 years. Believe me he will be hot on grad transfers, and some guys will hop to play for him.

Doesn't change my mind though. I'm happy with what we have. IF we ever cut down the nets it won't be because of a stench on them.
 
[quote="Knight" post=382727]I’m glad we have CMA. I love the direction of the program. I love the style of play. Hopefully we’ll make some more shots next season. Post season dreams in my head today.[/quote]

Given the loss of players like Mustapha Heron and two others who could have been contributors late in the season I was satisfied that coach Anderson got the most out of his players to yet another winning season at 17-15. Considering that we lost 5 games by 3 points or less I see nothing but positives for the future.
The good thing about Slick Rick at Iona is that the national media will be more focused on the basketball being played in the New York metro area where I think we will dominate in the coming years. Our real competition for local talent are Rutgers and Seton Hall because of their conference affiliation. Iona will need to be successful in a tough OOC schedule to be relevant nationally since the MAAC will always be a one bid conference.
It would be interesting to see if MSG will make any attempts to organize pre-season tournament similar to the old ECAC holiday festivals of the past with all the local D1 teams like Iona, St. John's, Rutgers, Columbia, Manhattan, Seton Hall, Fordham and others.
 
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We made a solid hire in CMA and I'm excited to see where we can go with him with more talent after an impressive first year. That being said, I had no idea Pitino would've come here. Seems like 90% of the posters on this board said that as if it was pie in the sky. If he's going to Iona, obviously he would've come here. I think that's what makes this so shocking. I haven't seen Iona hammered at all in the media for this hire. That was the other thing...those who said even if he came here we'd get killed in media. Well, Iona got their guy and no one cares. If anything there's support not outrage by in large. This makes things harder for us and it just goes to show that no one really cares. Cheaters like Wade, Pitino, etc. win basketball games and that's all kids care about. They care about getting to the NBA. They care about how much they can make. They couldn't care less what he did to his wife or what hooker was around. If anything they see him as more of a rockstar. This isn't 1940. There aren't many morals out there anymore and Iona will go on to win big in our backyard. That's what hurts. We went with the safer hire and I hope to god it pays off. The final nail in our coffin would be struggling still while Iona becomes the Gonzaga of the east coast.
 
Just watched the replay of the classic Kentucky vs Duke 1992 Elite 8 game.( the Christian Laettner game). 2 horrendous coaching errors by Pitino on the last play. No pressure on the inbound and 2 men playing behind Laettner instead of one in front.
 
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[quote="Mike Zaun" post=382827]We made a solid hire in CMA and I'm excited to see where we can go with him with more talent after an impressive first year. That being said, I had no idea Pitino would've come here. Seems like 90% of the posters on this board said that as if it was pie in the sky. If he's going to Iona, obviously he would've come here. I think that's what makes this so shocking. I haven't seen Iona hammered at all in the media for this hire. That was the other thing...those who said even if he came here we'd get killed in media. Well, Iona got their guy and no one cares. If anything there's support not outrage by in large. This makes things harder for us and it just goes to show that no one really cares. Cheaters like Wade, Pitino, etc. win basketball games and that's all kids care about. They care about getting to the NBA. They care about how much they can make. They couldn't care less what he did to his wife or what hooker was around. If anything they see him as more of a rockstar. This isn't 1940. There aren't many morals out there anymore and Iona will go on to win big in our backyard. That's what hurts. We went with the safer hire and I hope to god it pays off. The final nail in our coffin would be struggling still while Iona becomes the Gonzaga of the east coast.[/quote]

Exactly my points and I said last year we should have got him. You can mark this down now. While Pitino is at Iona st John's will be second fiddle. His teams will roll over us and he will outcoached CMA. Do i want that? NO. But i am realistic.
 
[quote="dee" post=382951][quote="Monte" post=382725]first 2 offers

[URL]https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/...e-in-one-of-first-moves-as-iona-coach/?fbclid[/URL]=IwAR3hXf-HYfBncBFP4v6X4gOpmGrkotAnEuHQ3iK_x-OHeATszBVSV20pRVI[/quote]

This is only the beginning. Iona will be a power team. I am disappointed because our administration was too stupid to see this. Plus Pitino is highly motivated in this comeback.[/quote]

Agree this is likely the beginning. Completely disagree that administration(and most of our fan base) was to stupid to see this. First of all, unless you have a crystal ball, you have no way of knowing how this will play out. None of us do. Second, SJU and the large majority of our fan base were not willing to make a pact with the devil in the hopes of reviving our program. Iona was. Frankly your repetitive posts have not only becoming insulting towards CMA, but they have also become offensive towards most of our fan base, who think that CMA was the right hire.
 
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