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

A fair point made by others was at very least RJ could have been a useful decoy attracting defensive attention & giving others better scoring chance. Otoh, Mase makes great point, we have to assume Pitino ultimately made a tough call. No one is perfect, but he acquitted himself well most of the season w tough personnel decisions.
 
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paultzman said:
A fair point made by others was at very least RJ could have been a useful decoy attracting defensive attention & giving others better scoring chance. Otoh, Mase makes great point, we have to assume Pitino ultimately made a tough call. No one is perfect, but he acquitted himself well most of the season w tough personnel decisions.
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No knock on RJ, but he can't be a decoy. Ball in his hand and he will try go score.
 
RJ is also the same player Rick called out for deviating from an end of game play where he wanted Zuby to take the last shot against Creighton.

If you’re a coach, I would understand it’s hard to trust a guy like that — especially since he’s not learning OR listening to you. And frankly, not good enough to live with.
 
paultzman said:
A fair point made by others was at very least RJ could have been a useful decoy attracting defensive attention & giving others better scoring chance. Otoh, Mase makes great point, we have to assume Pitino ultimately made a tough call. No one is perfect, but he acquitted himself well most of the season w tough personnel decisions.
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And RJ acquitted himself well enough all year to be the POY in the Big East. He acquitted himself well enough not to be pulled from a 2 point game in the last 5 minutes.

Pulling Smith from the Georgia game early in the season was a teaching moment for a newly formed team. What lesson was taught by embarrassing your team’s star player in a game that ends your season?
 
Amaseinyourface said:
You’re welcome to that opinion. I wasn’t discussing his response. I was discussing his decision. Asking respectfully, do you think there’s a situation where you’d agree with sitting him?
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Of course, but not in the last 5 minutes of a one and done game, for me, period end of story. How about the rest of the team? Luis was absolutely clutch all year, at times after playing poorly up to crunch time.
But how about them? Richmond is gone, now you BENCH Luis!!!?? Throw away your best chance to move on for your ego!! Typically, thinking nothing about nothing except yourself?
And then you go before a microphone and embarrass yourself and him. Personally, I think of Pitino much like I did Pete Rose, great, great, great at what he does, no denying, but I wouldn’t want to have a beer with him.
And just to be clear, my original comment was directed at Pope’s much more than yours but if you think benching Luis was a good decision, I would wonder how many more games you thought Luis should have been benched where he wound up very much one of the instrumental pieces in pulling the game out in the end.
Sorry, but you don’t let a guy play that way for two years and reap and glow in the clutch dividends and then pull him in that situation for any reason but blind, dumb emotion getting the best of you. He let that whole team that bled for him all season down,
Clearly my opinion.
 
logen said:
Of course, but not in the last 5 minutes of a one and done game, for me, period end of story. How about the rest of the team? Luis was absolutely clutch all year, at times after playing poorly up to crunch time.
But how about them? Richmond is gone, now you BENCH Luis!!!?? Throw away your best chance to move on for your ego!! Typically, thinking nothing about nothing except yourself?
And then you go before a microphone and embarrass yourself and him. Personally, I think of Pitino much like I did Pete Rose, great, great, great at what he does, no denying, but I wouldn’t want to have a beer with him.
And just to be clear, my original comment was directed at Pope’s much more than yours but if you think benching Luis was a good decision, I would wonder how many more games you thought Luis should have been benched where he wound up very much one of the instrumental pieces in pulling the game out in the end.
Sorry, but you don’t let a guy play that way for two years and reap and glow in the clutch dividends and then pull him in that situation for any reason but blind, dumb emotion getting the best of you. He let that whole team that bled for him all season down,
Clearly my opinion.
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There are more important things then winning games. If this helps Luis in the long run as a human. Then it was the right thing to do.
I wanted him in there and I wanted the team to win. Sometimes there are other things involved we have no idea about. And if I asked my player to play a different way and he doesn’t listen. I’d sit him too. If he comes back and he is better for it. This might be the turning point for him becoming even better player and teammate then he was this year!
 
Someone posted a tweet showing the video of Zuby literally shaking RJ trying to "wake him up." When I saw that live, I was more focused on Zuby being a leader, but when I watch the video again yesterday, I focused on RJ.

Please look at that video and focus on the look on RJ's face and his mannerisms as Zuby is grabbing and shaking him. He looks completely lost and completely shell shocked; like he isn't even aware of what is going on around him. As a father, if one of my children were in a situation where they had that look and that demeanor, I would want to remove them from the situation that was creating that mental stress. I get we view these guys as men and "professional" athletes being paid to do a job, but they are human. And at 22 years old, to me, RJ is still a kid.

RJ was in a bad way and I'm not sure he would have snapped out of it. He won us so many games this year and has been so clutch for this team, but that look on his face; a look like he was lost in the woods.... I don't think we were getting any more out of him in that game and I think it the best thing to do for RJ to remove him from that situation. Again, as a father, I would have wanted that for my kids if I saw on their face what I saw on RJ's.
 
logen said:
Bull$hit; so Hurley, Neptune, Cooley, Smart just from the BE can come under criticism here but Pitino is beyond reproach? I say again, BS.
He is a great basketball coach, NO question, but beyond criticism, not even close, absolutely comes with the territory.
And he is charming, funny and personable when on top of the world, very much less than that when not.
Luis has played that way at times for TWO years and yesterday was the time to throw him under the bus? Not in my world, in my world you sit in front of that microphone, explain professionally why you made a decision that is yours and only yours to make and then heap praise on Luis for his two years of maximum effort and significant success here.
You DO NOT classlessly throw him under the bus but I know I expect too much.
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Throw him under the bus? How many times would he charge down the GD lane and some Arkansas player would just grab the F'ing ball?
You don't think Rick to stop that bs? I guess he didn't listen, was he trying to to impress NBA scouts? All I know is he was killing the team doing that crap, so yeah I'm glad Rick benched him.

Yeah you'd kiss his ass and let him do wtf he wanted even if he continued to hurt the team.

Glad Rick is coach here and not you, you'd be another Mike Anderson letting them do whatever they wanted.
 
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