Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!

ZanMan said:
I am a Pitino supporter but must admit that the quotes he is giving publicly are kind of surprising to me. However, I think there is a method to his madness.

I think he is trying to set the tone for future recruits. Those who sign with us will know EXACTLY what he is expecting. Those who won't come because of what he is saying would not workout for him anyway, so this is his way of weeding out the weak. Hopefully, this helps him find the players with the personality that HE NEEDS to succeed. I think this is his way of making sure his next roster is filled with kids that match his personality (with talent).

Why do I think this? He tipped his hand at the post game presser when he was asked about the job that Coach Holloway is doing and he said, with a smirk, that he put together a team "to mimmick his personality of all tough kids. So they did a wonderful job without NILs being exorbitant. So it just goes to show you that it's not about NILs but it's about recruiting to the coach's personality."

He knows that most of these kids were hired guns for good NIL payments and those are not his type of players. Let's face it, those are the type of kids who will be all about themselves. Love him or not, but if they all had the mindset and toughness of Jenkins, we would currently have 19 wins and would be dancing. Does he frustrate me at times? YES! But without him, I really think we have 5 less "W"s.

Now, I know what many of you will shoot right back and say: HE RECRUITED THESE KIDS. However, he mentioned that he didn't have much of a choice and he had NO WAY to evaluate their level of toughness in such a short time period.

So, here is what I am doing (and I suggest you all should to save your sanity): I will wait until next season halfway through the conference schedule to truly know the state of the program under Coach Pitino. If this program is in the same rut then the game has truly passed him by and he will not get it done. Maybe I am just a pathetic optimist when it comes to this program, but I still think this man can and will bring us deeper into the NCAAs than anyone since the man who has his name on the court and building roamed the sidelines in that magical year that Patrick Ewing ruined for us!

Many of you know me, but in case you don't: I've been a fan of this program for more than 40 years. I bleed red and white. I have been a season ticket holder for many years and still go to several games a season. I will support this program until the very bitter end even if they lose every single game.
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SH essentially has 2 relevant portal recruits — Bediako and Wusu. All of the others were already there. Holloway has done a great job with a physical but very limited talent group. They play like a team that feels they were underestimated. They wont go far but deserve to make the tournament.
 
I had to let some time go before posting. But the quotes are embarrassing. Probably some other words I can use but embarrassing is the first one to come to mind. I hope Father Shanley sits him down and has a talk. If he doesn't then what the point?

This is HIS team that HE put together. I don't buy the excuse that it was put together in haste either. He managed to pull players late like Ledlum and kick Quinn to the curb. His mistake was early on settling for players who barely provided anything this year. He jumped too soon on guys. And I get it filling out a whole roster is difficult. He probably didn't even want to keep Joel or Drissa but had to show some face.

Jenkins 4/13
Conway 4/15
Alleyne 4/15
Cruz 4/16
Quinn 4/18
Taylor 4/30
Dunlap 5/1
Luis 5/6
Ayo 5/9
Dingle 5/11
Zuby 5/14
Wilcher 6/11
Ledlum 7/19

This is a whole new world with the Portal.
 
Just heard Jim Rome do his CBS Sports Minute of course he chose Pitino’s rant as his subject matter. He said he enjoyed it but if you are going to throw your staff, players and facilities under the bus you have to also take some personal responsibility.
 
MugCostanza said:
The team has gone from safely in the field to not even being on the radar in just a little over a month but we’re getting national press pretty much everywhere today. Not many 9th place teams get this much buzz in mid Feb
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How many wins does that count for?
 
I was shocked by the amount of traction this got into the night, and doesn't look like it stopped today either.

RP may not want to apologize or even think he has to, but when it goes that viral is when non-sports people start commenting on social media. And that's when the really ridiculous takes start happening.

Hopefully staff tries to talk him into some sort of conciliatory speech in practice and a half-hearted apology tour. PTI would probably be a good spot for a short interview. He can workshop some of his new comedy bits there but also slip in how he should have done it differently.
 
Section3 said:
SH essentially has 2 relevant portal recruits — Bediako and Wusu. All of the others were already there. Holloway has done a great job with a physical but very limited talent group. They play like a team that feels they were underestimated. They wont go far but deserve to make the tournament.
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The Hall returned three players that can handle and score: Richmond, Davis and Dawes. The other players play complimentary roles but bust their asses. Holloway was very lucky to retain those three talented players. The rest of the team is molded around them. We did not bring in better talent than those players. PERIOD.
They now face a more challenging end of season schedule than St. John's and I wouldn't be surprised if by tournament time our records are more similar overall.

We returned Soriano who has been a one half player. A reluctant captain who doesn't lead and is temperamental, which affects his game.
The only hard worker who has been consistent is Daniss Jenkins. Unfortunately, he has had the burden to be for St. John's what Richmond, Dawes and Davis are to Seton Hall.

Pitino ripped these guys by name because he was frustrated by their underwhelming attention to detail, given the limitations Pitino described. If you have those limitations, you damn well better listen to the coach. Finally, no reason whatsoever for two Ivy League grads not playing smart basketball.
 
Knight said:
I'm waiting for Pitino to make his MSJGA (Make St. John's Great Again) speech. I'm most disappointed in the lack of coaching adjustments. Did he not recognize that his roster was slow-a-foot early in the season?
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He did let us know right away they cant play D. That right off is half the game. I do think he said he was weak reqruiting. I forgive everything. I wish he could of tought the guys to get back and stay in front of the guy they guard.
 
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