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

SJUWillRockNYC said:
Did Cal love RJ trying to be a one man show, making it easy for his defense, just knowing that he wouldn't pass? You bet he loved that.

I'm done about the Luis benching.
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Not directed at you specifically but anyone who ever played basketball at any competitive level, including Rick, knows, that even on a horrible shooting night, something can click in great players. Maybe calmly making 2 free throws to make it a 2 point game would flip the switch.

Rick knows that, everyone does.

So maybe it was something else. We know Rick has a temper and maybe he said something to RJ that caused RJ to go off on Rick and get banished.

Maybe RJ looked so deer in headlights that Rick knew or thought he was useless.

Either way, Rick isn't going to say, but i cant believe at face value Rick would bench his MVP with 5 minutes to go in a national championship elimination game.

Reuben Prey over RJ in a big moment? C'mon, that's just not believable.
 
johnsliva said:
I was listening to the fan late nite on Saturday and the host was complaining about pitino making a rookie mistake taking rj out. He was upset that his bracket was broken and he was parroting what Steve Lappas was saying, someone who could not hold RE s jock. Lewis was having a bad and frustrating game in which he made many poor decisions. Many times he drove in one on 3 often with someone open on the wing. He wanted to be the hero. When Rick asked him to stop he continued till rick was fed up. Disobey the rules and suffer he consequences.

Also just because the put rj back does not ensure better results
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Steven A Smith said the same thing, but I don't put much stock in anything these talking heads have to say.
 
Beasts of the East said:
Not directed at you specifically but anyone who ever played basketball at any competitive level, including Rick, knows, that even on a horrible shooting night, something can click in great players. Maybe calmly making 2 free throws to make it a 2 point game would flip the switch.

Rick knows that, everyone does.

So maybe it was something else. We know Rick has a temper and maybe he said something to RJ that caused RJ to go off on Rick and get banished.

Maybe RJ looked so deer in headlights that Rick knew or thought he was useless.

Either way, Rick isn't going to say, but i cant believe at face value Rick would bench his MVP with 5 minutes to go in a national championship elimination game.

Reuben Prey over RJ in a big moment? C'mon, that's just not believable.
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Yes, you're absolutely right Beast, on horrible shooting night (and he was 2-17) but here's the thing, I'm not complaining about his bad shooting on Saturday. What irks the crap out of me is and for the last time (not going over this for the next 2 weeks), was his hero ball going in the paint, 1-3. WTF not kick it out, there gotta be 1-2 teammates open.

That's what will keep bothering me. Saturday was last year's Luis, this year was much much better in that regard. Which is why I'm wondering if his people told him that he has to show off and get attention to be a 1st draft pick.

I know we'll never know about that but I'll still wonder.
 
Redenbacher said:
The only thing that was obvious was that no one (outside of Zuby) was playing well. So why sit RJ specifically? It is a totally legitimate question and of course, Pitino doesn't want to talk badly about his players, but there are a lot of diplomatic ways he could have answered it. For the reporters to let him get away with "You know the answer" is just pathetic.

By the way, this isn't a critique of Pitino's decision- it's a critique of the obviously cowed reporters!
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Rick saying he didn’t want to speak badly about his players? Made sure to state RJ shot 3-17. When asked another question about RJ he changed the topic and talked about how great 3 other players were. Rick threw plenty of shade RJ’s way in that presser.
 
These kids as a group deserve a welcome back and thank you like the bahama fans that cheered and lifted Zuby, only with 18000 garden crazed fans.

On that note you guys who couldn't get to Providence missed a confluence of old and new fans, young and old, excited as hell to be there. It is without question the rebirth of our program, and up to the school to turn those into season ticket holders
 
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How many times during the season was Sim having bad games only to make plays down the stretch contributing to thrilling victories? RJ deserved the chance to do that more than anybody.

I think it was 2 Superbowls ago that Taylor Swift's boyfriend was frustrated at how the game was going and not getting the ball. He got in Reid's face and physically bumped into him. That's an automatic benching in 99% of games. The hall of fame coach doesn't overreact, and his star TE has a huge 2nd half and they win the Championship they wouldn't have without him.

Isn't the video of Zuby shaking RJ from right at the 4:56 mark after he'd been pulled?
 
SJUWillRockNYC said:
Yes, you're absolutely right Beast, on horrible shooting night (and he was 2-17) but here's the thing, I'm not complaining about his bad shooting on Saturday. What irks the crap out of me is and for the last time (not going over this for the next 2 weeks), was his hero ball going in the paint, 1-3. WTF not kick it out, there gotta be 1-2 teammates open.

That's what will keep bothering me. Saturday was last year's Luis, this year was much much better in that regard. Which is why I'm wondering if his people told him that he has to show off and get attention to be a 1st draft pick.

I know we'll never know about that but I'll still wonder.
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I also don't disagree with you. I know my tendency is to defend each kid, sometimes beyond reason. They're our kids, after all.

Believing your own press clippings is always dangerous. This was the biggest stage yet. National, even world wide eyes are on you. He had to play himself into the first round of the NBA draft - all true.

Whatever the reason, he tried to do too much, abandoned the plan, stopped trusting his teammates. The wild one on three jump shot in heavy traffic probably did it for Rick, but I would also say watching from about 8 minutes till his benching, he scored on a goal tend, his 3/4 freethrows, and a rebound. Zuby also cleaned up a miss for a basket. 2 point deficit.

Also factoring in that Kadary had fouled out, their most effective half court player.

The first time I saw those "Nothing Easy" warm up shirts, I thought they were uniquely for SJU, not issued to every time. In the end, even losing wasn't easy for us. As Gilda Radner's character said, "It's always something."

It was one helluva ride. A perfectly imperfect season, or more accurately, an imperfectly perfect season. We will talk about this one for a while.

In a few days, the sting will fade for us. For our players, the pain will last a long time. A few years back I chatted with Frank Alagia about the Holiday Festival game whete we came within 2 minutes of beating the eventual undefeated national champion. Immediately the decades peeled away, and he lamented that we matched up perfectly but had no answer for Indiana's Abernathy. His pain was present tense.

Warriors want to go down fighting, giving their very best in an inevitable loss that all but one tourney team endures each season. Our kids know they didn't play their best, and that in some ways is worse than the loss. RJ bears that for now, more than any of our players.

For he who has been given much, much is expected.

My daughter's best friend wrote a successful e-book, entitled "Heroes rise". For RJ, he will likely be back, as will some teammates, with a chance to prove this one bad game was just that, one game.

Heroes rise. A good theme for next season. I can't wait.
 
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