There is still close to 2 months in the Big Ten season so 'tanking it' is not an option for our program... Losing Reggie Lynch and Amir Coffey on a team that is very thin in depth is catastrophic. Very difficult to replace their talents.. Coupled with the preseason loss of Eric Curry and that is almost too much for anyone to recover... These are realities and not excuses..
This is one situation where coaches earn their money..... If I could encourage Richard Pitino, it would have very little discussion of the present situation with the team. He knows what he needs to do.... He needs to find out who his leaders are on this team, if any... If there are not leaders on this team, that would be a HUGE FACTOR in who I would recruit for that last position for a graduate eligible player.... A leader in this case is one that helps to focus the team and keeps a "CAN DO" attitude on the bench, lockerroom, and court.... NOT someone that says "F*** it!! Nobody else is doing anything so I am going to jack up shots whether they go in or not".. Positive players with "can do" attitudes that HUSTLE THEIR BUTTS OFF is what this team needs at this time... It could be very possible that we lose most of our remaining games. But adversity has a way of revealing character for sure and building a good team attitude if done correctly.
Steve Pikiell had a horrible team last year but emphasized hustle and team play.. Did not help them last year but they should have beaten Michigan State this year... If Rutgers had a few better players and I guarantee that would have happened. They are building in the right direction.. He started from the bottom... In our case, it is tougher because there were preseason expectations. But that was before the Lynch situation and Coffey injury.. Plus McBrayer is not totally healthy either.. No depth magnifies those situation as you are asking players to play major minutes on a power 5 team that may see very few minutes at any other D1 school. The players all know that, trust me!!! I hope Richard uses the "Us against the world" philosophy to get his guys to bond closer than ever to play with a purpose to prove to themselves and others in maximizing their abilities.. That still may not be enough to win any game, I realize that. .... Instill confidence in the face of being defeated... I would have extended meetings with Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy to encourage them to continue to play as much team basketball as possible... I would ask Nate and Jordan to NOT TRY TO DO MORE THAN THEY ARE CAPABLE.. Jordan and Nate need to show poise not panic. Encourage other players on the floor.. Congratulate during every hustle play as that is the most important thing going on whether we are up or down by 30....We have to have a foundation to establish and that starts with attitude on how to do things... Sulking when life deals blows is natural but we just cant afford to remain there... We have 3 games coming up this week.... We could easily lose all 3 of these games... But I am very confident that I will be able to tell if this Gopher team will make ANY TOURNAMENT based on their attitude towards coaches and each other on the floor.... If we sulk and go through the motions while getting killed on the floor, there will be ZERO CHANCE we make ANY POST SEASON tournament...But if we show some fight and battle through, even if we lose, that will keep attention and endear fans to the team even though they may lose..
Richard seems like a confident guy so maybe he does not need the encouragement but I have a sneaking suspicion that he still needs us more than he realizes or the players realize.... Yes, the team had sucked the last few losses.. No doubt about it.. But the attitude of the leaders on this team will be what permeates through the season... It has to be an "all for one, one for all" time.... Starts with a meeting between Pitino and assistants to what they want to do on the floor. Set goals for each game and how to attain them with the talent we have now.. Then add the team leaders to the discussion.. Then bring it to the whole team. May need to scale back some of the plays that have happened in the past.. Keep it as simple and fun as can be as the guys are hurting, I am sure.. They don't want to disappoint themselves, their coaches, nor their fellow students and fans... They hear and read the same things we do... I just want to tell Richard to hang his head high and WE ARE FULLY BEHIND HIM IN THESE TOUGH TIMES. No time to lament over things but to build for the future... Nate Mason's goals may not be met at the college level as a senior but he can impact this program in a bigger way than he ever knew if he can lead by example and get the rest of the guys to join him in hustling more than ever...As fans, we know we don't have a lot of multi-dimensional 'inside-outside' players so we are extremely disadvantaged without the flexibility and ability of Amir Coffey and shotblocking presence of Reggie Lynch....But in this situation, we cant look back and ask "what could have been??" We have to look forward and say "this is the resources we have and lets do the best we can with what we have got".. That will gain everyone's respect.... But I guarantee you that the biggest and best help we can be to Coach Pitino, assistants, and staff is to say "No matter what coach, if the guys play hard and smart we are with you through in what could be a very dark time and tough season".... It makes a huge difference!!!!
This is one situation where coaches earn their money..... If I could encourage Richard Pitino, it would have very little discussion of the present situation with the team. He knows what he needs to do.... He needs to find out who his leaders are on this team, if any... If there are not leaders on this team, that would be a HUGE FACTOR in who I would recruit for that last position for a graduate eligible player.... A leader in this case is one that helps to focus the team and keeps a "CAN DO" attitude on the bench, lockerroom, and court.... NOT someone that says "F*** it!! Nobody else is doing anything so I am going to jack up shots whether they go in or not".. Positive players with "can do" attitudes that HUSTLE THEIR BUTTS OFF is what this team needs at this time... It could be very possible that we lose most of our remaining games. But adversity has a way of revealing character for sure and building a good team attitude if done correctly.
Steve Pikiell had a horrible team last year but emphasized hustle and team play.. Did not help them last year but they should have beaten Michigan State this year... If Rutgers had a few better players and I guarantee that would have happened. They are building in the right direction.. He started from the bottom... In our case, it is tougher because there were preseason expectations. But that was before the Lynch situation and Coffey injury.. Plus McBrayer is not totally healthy either.. No depth magnifies those situation as you are asking players to play major minutes on a power 5 team that may see very few minutes at any other D1 school. The players all know that, trust me!!! I hope Richard uses the "Us against the world" philosophy to get his guys to bond closer than ever to play with a purpose to prove to themselves and others in maximizing their abilities.. That still may not be enough to win any game, I realize that. .... Instill confidence in the face of being defeated... I would have extended meetings with Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy to encourage them to continue to play as much team basketball as possible... I would ask Nate and Jordan to NOT TRY TO DO MORE THAN THEY ARE CAPABLE.. Jordan and Nate need to show poise not panic. Encourage other players on the floor.. Congratulate during every hustle play as that is the most important thing going on whether we are up or down by 30....We have to have a foundation to establish and that starts with attitude on how to do things... Sulking when life deals blows is natural but we just cant afford to remain there... We have 3 games coming up this week.... We could easily lose all 3 of these games... But I am very confident that I will be able to tell if this Gopher team will make ANY TOURNAMENT based on their attitude towards coaches and each other on the floor.... If we sulk and go through the motions while getting killed on the floor, there will be ZERO CHANCE we make ANY POST SEASON tournament...But if we show some fight and battle through, even if we lose, that will keep attention and endear fans to the team even though they may lose..
Richard seems like a confident guy so maybe he does not need the encouragement but I have a sneaking suspicion that he still needs us more than he realizes or the players realize.... Yes, the team had sucked the last few losses.. No doubt about it.. But the attitude of the leaders on this team will be what permeates through the season... It has to be an "all for one, one for all" time.... Starts with a meeting between Pitino and assistants to what they want to do on the floor. Set goals for each game and how to attain them with the talent we have now.. Then add the team leaders to the discussion.. Then bring it to the whole team. May need to scale back some of the plays that have happened in the past.. Keep it as simple and fun as can be as the guys are hurting, I am sure.. They don't want to disappoint themselves, their coaches, nor their fellow students and fans... They hear and read the same things we do... I just want to tell Richard to hang his head high and WE ARE FULLY BEHIND HIM IN THESE TOUGH TIMES. No time to lament over things but to build for the future... Nate Mason's goals may not be met at the college level as a senior but he can impact this program in a bigger way than he ever knew if he can lead by example and get the rest of the guys to join him in hustling more than ever...As fans, we know we don't have a lot of multi-dimensional 'inside-outside' players so we are extremely disadvantaged without the flexibility and ability of Amir Coffey and shotblocking presence of Reggie Lynch....But in this situation, we cant look back and ask "what could have been??" We have to look forward and say "this is the resources we have and lets do the best we can with what we have got".. That will gain everyone's respect.... But I guarantee you that the biggest and best help we can be to Coach Pitino, assistants, and staff is to say "No matter what coach, if the guys play hard and smart we are with you through in what could be a very dark time and tough season".... It makes a huge difference!!!!
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