Pitino and Iona

[quote="Beast of the East" post=384592][quote="jerseyshorejohnny" post=384527]https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1247202870912581634?s=20

Iona attempting to play Kentucky and Minnesota at MSG[/quote]

There is no question at this point that Pitino has plenty of gas in the tank. Remember that Calipari and Pitino are close friends, and Calipari is a Pitino disciple. Cal would definitely be a solid bet to help Pitino out with a home and home series.

Strong moves by Pitino out of the gate.[/quote]

I was under the impression they couldn’t stand each other.
 
Riveting debate in these sheltering times between Beast and Monte about what does Pitino do once he redeems himself?
I kept mumbling 'but how old will he be' following his 'breakout' at Iona?
He turns 68 this year. It might take even Pitino 3 - 4 years to break into the Top 25 from a MAAC school, by which time he'll be 71.
I think Monte's right about Pitino's consummate ambition to triumph at the highest levels of the sport (which includes the NBA of course) and Beast to gauge that 'age' may be a factor both for Rick and for his next destination.
Seems to me he'll itch to move on from Iona...and the NBA may be a more realistic option at 70 - 71 than a premier Power Conference school. But who knows?
One thing for sure, the ball's in Rick's hands at this point--which is where he likes it.
 
[quote="Chicago Days" post=384624]Riveting debate in these sheltering times between Beast and Monte about what does Pitino do once he redeems himself?
I kept mumbling 'but how old will he be' following his 'breakout' at Iona?
He turns 68 this year. It might take even Pitino 3 - 4 years to break into the Top 25 from a MAAC school, by which time he'll be 71.
I think Monte's right about Pitino's consummate ambition to triumph at the highest levels of the sport (which includes the NBA of course) and Beast to gauge that 'age' may be a factor both for Rick and for his next destination.
Seems to me he'll itch to move on from Iona...and the NBA may be a more realistic option at 70 - 71 than a premier Power Conference school. But who knows?
One thing for sure, the ball's in Rick's hands at this point--which is where he likes it.[/quote]

Slick Rick got lucky to recruit these 2 and 3 star players before the COVID-19 era stopped sports in its track.
Try recruiting to play in an empty MSG. My prediction is he takes a pro job within the time it takes to develop a Covid vaccine.
 
Makes you wonder why a guy like Pitino--all that drive & talent--has to cheat. Guessing his ID won't let him leave anything to chance.
 
I would think Kentucky vs Pitino (Iona) is not only a MSG draw but also a huge tv draw.
So while Kentucky can get big $$ in any arena, I'm sure they could negotiate a much bigger windfall from the television payout for that battle of the champions.

If Iona is TOP 20 in say 3 years...the challenge to make a Final Four with an "out of nowhere" college could be a tempting reason to stay down the road. We shall see.
 
I already witnessed Iona vs Kentucky at MSG.
It was the 1995 Holiday Festival and Tim Welsh Iona beat Brian Mahoney's SJU (with Felipe and Zendon) in the first round to play in the championship against Pitino's Wildcats.
It was a nightmare.
 
[quote="redmaninalbany" post=385406]I would think Kentucky vs Pitino (Iona) is not only a MSG draw but also a huge tv draw.
So while Kentucky can get big $$ in any arena, I'm sure they could negotiate a much bigger windfall from the television payout for that battle of the champions.

If Iona is TOP 20 in say 3 years...the challenge to make a Final Four with an "out of nowhere" college could be a tempting reason to stay down the road. We shall see.[/quote]

Huge? Unless Rick attracts top 100 talent, it's a massacre on paper at least. Unless he attracts top 25 talent, its not a tossup game. You really think a national audience would consider this a must see game. I don't.

Top 25 talent isn't coming to iona to play in the MAAC. He is going to scoop enough enough talent to easily get the automatic bid by winning his conference tourney, higher level talent than Cluess did. But Cluess did an amazing job, including recovering from a 2-9 start to win his conference and tourney. Still Pitino will have to go deeper than 1 and done in the tourney before top shelf talent will go there.

I wouldn't bet for or against him.
 
Just a question ,is Pitino totally clear with the NCAA or is his case still ongoing and could they come back at him is something develops
 
[quote="Chicago Days" post=385396]Makes you wonder why a guy like Pitino--all that drive & talent--has to cheat. Guessing his ID won't let him leave anything to chance.[/quote]

Good question. Look at all the coaches who have repeatedly cheated, in one way or another: Wooden, Tarkanian, Sutton, Crum, Williams, Boeheim, Calhoun, Miller, Self, every LSU coach, etc., etc. They can all coach well enough to be successful, even very successful, but I guess the thought process is to win at the highest level, you have to cheat. The rationale for this is that your competitors are conducting business in this manner.
 
[quote="MainMan" post=385408]I already witnessed Iona vs Kentucky at MSG.
It was the 1995 Holiday Festival and Tim Welsh Iona beat Brian Mahoney's SJU (with Felipe and Zendon) in the first round to play in the championship against Pitino's Wildcats.
It was a nightmare.[/quote]

I did like the part where Iona tried to full-court press them and it took Kentucky two seconds to break it.
 
[quote="usguard" post=385413]Just a question ,is Pitino totally clear with the NCAA or is his case still ongoing and could they come back at him is something develops[/quote]

I haven't heard of him being cleared, and I expect it would have been well publicized by now if he had been.
 
I think one thing we can all agree on is that Pitino is a lightening rod for attracting attention and publicity. This thread is a good example. As of now, 395 replies and over 18.3K views. Probably exactly what Iona was hoping for.
 
[quote="Tonyinfairfield " post=385482]I think one thing we can all agree on is that Pitino is a lightening rod for attracting attention and publicity. This thread is a good example. As of now, 395 replies and over 18.3K views. Probably exactly what Iona was hoping for.[/quote]

For them it is risk reward, but with lower risk and higher reward than it would have been for us.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=385485][quote="Tonyinfairfield " post=385482]I think one thing we can all agree on is that Pitino is a lightening rod for attracting attention and publicity. This thread is a good example. As of now, 395 replies and over 18.3K views. Probably exactly what Iona was hoping for.[/quote]

For them it is risk reward, but with lower risk and higher reward than it would have been for us.[/quote]

Don't disagree with that.
 
RP is the master of drumming up support, given Kentucky (his old school obviously) hasn't yet committed to a game but he's gotten so many talking it.

Beast is correct about the risk/reward being different.

Keep in mind that another coach who won a championship at Kentucky, Tubby Smith, just finished his first season at low major High Point. He finished 9-23.
 
[quote="Adam" post=385500]
Keep in mind that another coach who won a championship at Kentucky, Tubby Smith, just finished his first season at low major High Point. He finished 9-23.[/quote]

Guess he didn't have Rick's players from the season before. :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top