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Post by Tom on Mar 14, 2021 15:55:15 GMT -5
We should have hired Pitino but it was too big a pill to swallow for O'Kane/Fenwick.... When you have a chance to hire a Hall of Fame coach and pass it up for somebody with no head coaching experience. The Pitino haters are now against winning basketball. They have watched to much winning the last 2 years it must be clogging their thinking. Oh wait. This is Holy Cross and the Patriot League. Hiring Pitino would be a very definite statement that HC not only wanted to win, but wanted to win at any cost and didn't care what it took, as long as the team won. When you're a mid-major, there's a big difference between being against winning basketball and being against winning at all costs basketball
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Mar 14, 2021 16:06:58 GMT -5
When you have a chance to hire a Hall of Fame coach and pass it up for somebody with no head coaching experience. The Pitino haters are now against winning basketball. They have watched to much winning the last 2 years it must be clogging their thinking. Oh wait. This is Holy Cross and the Patriot League. Hiring Pitino would be a very definite statement that HC not only wanted to win, but wanted to win at any cost and didn't care what it took, as long as the team won. When you're a mid-major, there's a big difference between being against winning basketball and being against winning at all costs basketballReplace "when you're a mid-major" with "when you're in the Patriot League" and you are absolutely correct.
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Post by gks on Mar 14, 2021 16:24:42 GMT -5
When you have a chance to hire a Hall of Fame coach and pass it up for somebody with no head coaching experience. The Pitino haters are now against winning basketball. They have watched to much winning the last 2 years it must be clogging their thinking. Oh wait. For me, there is no one, unambiguous "right" answer on Rick Pitino. The actions under his watch are exactly why HC declined to join the Big East. Given the issues the athletic department just endured under Bill Gibbons, I can't blame the decision makers for not wanting to take the known risk of going through that again. That's a tough comparison....Bill Gibbons and Rick Pitino.
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Post by efg72 on Mar 14, 2021 17:01:48 GMT -5
When you have a chance to hire a Hall of Fame coach and pass it up for somebody with no head coaching experience. The Pitino haters are now against winning basketball. They have watched to much winning the last 2 years it must be clogging their thinking. Oh wait. This is Holy Cross and the Patriot League. Hiring Pitino would be a very definite statement that HC not only wanted to win, but wanted to win at any cost and didn't care what it took, as long as the team won. When you're a mid-major, there's a big difference between being against winning basketball and being against winning at all costs basketball Just joking here of course, but some of us are getting old and just might be willing to do a deal with the devil to get a coach that knows how to win once again and have March be meaningful remember I am just kidding, or perhaps almost serious🏀🏀🏀😱🙏✝️
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Post by Ignutz on Mar 14, 2021 18:33:11 GMT -5
Hoops I would think it would be hard to find a coach at any level who has had success didn't skate around the rules.Ive seen it at the HS level,D3 & D1. That includes all sports. Is it right, thats a totally different discussion. George Blaney won and won well - without cheating or even bending the rules. He very regularly broke the speed limit, but he didn’t break NCAA or other basketball rules and regs.
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Post by Tom on Mar 14, 2021 18:44:19 GMT -5
This is Holy Cross and the Patriot League. Hiring Pitino would be a very definite statement that HC not only wanted to win, but wanted to win at any cost and didn't care what it took, as long as the team won. When you're a mid-major, there's a big difference between being against winning basketball and being against winning at all costs basketballReplace "when you're a mid-major" with "when you're in the Patriot League" and you are absolutely correct. I think most mid majors, not just the PL When Kentucky chooses winning at any cost and hires Calipari, there are some clear benefits. There are millions of dollars at stake. A winning Kentucky team is going to spend a lot of time on ESPN. Alumni will not tolerate anything short of being part of the national championship picture. On a related note, a friend of mine went to U Miami. An alumnus donation happens when the football team plays in a major bowl. A lesser bowl means no check. Let's not even discuss no bowl at all. There are real world reasons to choose winning at any cost. When Iona chooses winning at any cost by hiring Pitino, the benefits just aren't there. In today's environment, the realistic ceiling is an appearance in the Sweet 16. Maybe a guarantee game at Duke has a shot of getting on ESPN2. No alum is going to withhold a donation because Iona didn't win the MAAC. There will be some extra donations if Iona wins with Pitino, but it will probably need sustained winning to build up sustained giving. From a practical standpoint, Pitino will be off to a bigger pond before sustained winning happens. The downside is about the same. If Pitino gets caught cheating it's about the same as Calipari getting caught. Although I think more people will overlook Kentucky bringing scandal to the school in quest of a final four than will forgive Iona bringing scandal for a more elusive quest for a sweet 16. I agree that a Patriot League school is less likely to choose win at any cost than many other mid majors. However, from a risk/reward analysis, the decision about whether or not to be win at any cost is different at most mid major schools than a program that is practically semi-pro
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Post by Tom on Mar 14, 2021 18:46:00 GMT -5
Hoops I would think it would be hard to find a coach at any level who has had success didn't skate around the rules.Ive seen it at the HS level,D3 & D1. That includes all sports. Is it right, thats a totally different discussion. George Blaney won and won well - without cheating or even bending the rules. He very regularly broke the speed limit, but he didn’t break NCAA or other basketball rules and regs. Much harder to do this century
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Post by hchoops on Mar 14, 2021 19:00:38 GMT -5
George Blaney won and won well - without cheating or even bending the rules. He very regularly broke the speed limit, but he didn’t break NCAA or other basketball rules and regs. Much harder to do this century Ralph W. did it in this century.
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Post by alum on Mar 14, 2021 19:15:08 GMT -5
Hoops I would think it would be hard to find a coach at any level who has had success didn't skate around the rules.Ive seen it at the HS level,D3 & D1. That includes all sports. Is it right, thats a totally different discussion. George Blaney won and won well - without cheating or even bending the rules. He very regularly broke the speed limit, but he didn’t break NCAA or other basketball rules and regs. I agree. GB is a good guy but he recruited a lot of kids at HC who couldn't make it academically (or he didn't provide the resources to help them succeed.) There was the Richie P thing at Seton Hall, too.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Mar 14, 2021 19:28:43 GMT -5
Replace "when you're a mid-major" with "when you're in the Patriot League" and you are absolutely correct. I think most mid majors, not just the PL When Kentucky chooses winning at any cost and hires Calipari, there are some clear benefits. There are millions of dollars at stake. A winning Kentucky team is going to spend a lot of time on ESPN. Alumni will not tolerate anything short of being part of the national championship picture. On a related note, a friend of mine went to U Miami. An alumnus donation happens when the football team plays in a major bowl. A lesser bowl means no check. Let's not even discuss no bowl at all. There are real world reasons to choose winning at any cost. When Iona chooses winning at any cost by hiring Pitino, the benefits just aren't there. In today's environment, the realistic ceiling is an appearance in the Sweet 16. Maybe a guarantee game at Duke has a shot of getting on ESPN2. No alum is going to withhold a donation because Iona didn't win the MAAC. There will be some extra donations if Iona wins with Pitino, but it will probably need sustained winning to build up sustained giving. From a practical standpoint, Pitino will be off to a bigger pond before sustained winning happens. The downside is about the same. If Pitino gets caught cheating it's about the same as Calipari getting caught. Although I think more people will overlook Kentucky bringing scandal to the school in quest of a final four than will forgive Iona bringing scandal for a more elusive quest for a sweet 16. I agree that a Patriot League school is less likely to choose win at any cost than many other mid majors. However, from a risk/reward analysis, the decision about whether or not to be win at any cost is different at most mid major schools than a program that is practically semi-pro The long-term benefits are miniscule, if they exist at all. But remember you have ADs and university presidents at the mid-major level looking to move up in the world. Loyola (IL) has had a major spike in alumni giving since the Final Four run. George Mason went from being a commuter school to a place that people actually applied to from out of state after their run. I'm not a believer in the "Flutie Effect" when it comes to already-established high academic schools. But I do think athletic buzz can and does make a difference at mid-to-lower tier schools. Same logic applies for academic and character standards for student athletes. Schools looking to move up in the NCAA DI athletics pecking order often have to "get in the gutter" in an effort to obtain results on the court or on the football field. And this would include G5 schools, some FCS schools and some that we would consider "mid-major" basketball schools.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Mar 14, 2021 21:31:27 GMT -5
Replace "when you're a mid-major" with "when you're in the Patriot League" and you are absolutely correct. I think most mid majors, not just the PL When Kentucky chooses winning at any cost and hires Calipari, there are some clear benefits. There are millions of dollars at stake. A winning Kentucky team is going to spend a lot of time on ESPN. Alumni will not tolerate anything short of being part of the national championship picture. On a related note, a friend of mine went to U Miami. An alumnus donation happens when the football team plays in a major bowl. A lesser bowl means no check. Let's not even discuss no bowl at all. There are real world reasons to choose winning at any cost. When Iona chooses winning at any cost by hiring Pitino, the benefits just aren't there. In today's environment, the realistic ceiling is an appearance in the Sweet 16. Maybe a guarantee game at Duke has a shot of getting on ESPN2. No alum is going to withhold a donation because Iona didn't win the MAAC. There will be some extra donations if Iona wins with Pitino, but it will probably need sustained winning to build up sustained giving. From a practical standpoint, Pitino will be off to a bigger pond before sustained winning happens. The downside is about the same. If Pitino gets caught cheating it's about the same as Calipari getting caught. Although I think more people will overlook Kentucky bringing scandal to the school in quest of a final four than will forgive Iona bringing scandal for a more elusive quest for a sweet 16. I agree that a Patriot League school is less likely to choose win at any cost than many other mid majors. However, from a risk/reward analysis, the decision about whether or not to be win at any cost is different at most mid major schools than a program that is practically semi-pro The false assumption here would be that Pitino needs to cheat to win at Iona, which could not be farther from reality. Pitino is arguably the best basketball coach in America, and Iona will have a significant advantage on the sidelines against any MAAC team/coaching staff. Pitino was done in at Louisville by two things that happen at virtually every school — using shoe companies to pay/influence recruits and questionable entertaining of recruits on visits. These are things that really just kept Louisville in line with their competition, rather than giving them any type of significant competitive advantage. Pitino will have a long line of high school, JUCO, and D1 transfers who would want to play for him, including many who would not even consider another MAAC school, and it will be more about correctly assembling interested prospects into a roster, than working with Adidas to funnel money to a top 20 prospect. He is also not an idiot and knows that this is his last chance, so he will be on his best behavior. I just hope Boston College doesn’t hire him, because I fear some here might not be able to live through that combination.
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Post by Tom on Mar 15, 2021 8:13:14 GMT -5
I absolutely agree that Pitino does not need to break the rules to win at the MAAC level. I also agree that his name recognition will give him a significant and legitimate recruiting advantage over the other MAAC schools.
However, this is also a guy who has demonstrated he is not opposed to breaking the rules to succeed. Playing fair and square, Pitino could have Iona in a realistic position to advance to the round of 32. Sweet 16 is probably a stretch. Will Pitino bend the rules to get Iona to the sweet 16? None of us really know. Maybe his legacy or desire to prove he can do it clean is more important than the sweet 16? Maybe he thinks a couple of upsets that take him to the round of 32 is enough to get him back into a major program. Or maybe the sweet 16 is important enough to do whatever it takes. We just don't know
We do know that Iona made a deliberate decision to hire someone who in the past was known to break the rules for the sake of winning. When Kentucky hired Calipari, I don't believe they did so thinking he was suddenly going to start winning clean. Maybe Iona agreed with the logic that Pitino would be clean because he could still win at the MAAC level. Maybe not. It still seems they are saying that when winning is concerned the ends justify the means
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Post by HC92 on Mar 15, 2021 13:38:13 GMT -5
Richard Pitino getting fired by Minnesota so maybe we could hire him as a compromise.
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Post by possum on Mar 15, 2021 13:51:47 GMT -5
I'm with EFG let's pull out all the stops to win, at our age by the time they catch up with us and start vacating wins we won't remember we won in the first place.
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Post by timholycross on Mar 15, 2021 14:57:53 GMT -5
Posted in another place as well, seems more at home here.
I saw Pitino's interview last night.
He, said, in so many words, that the goal he had at Iona was to upgrade the schedule so that, in effect, the MAAC was a two bid league (i.e., when they won the conf. tournament, great; but if they didn't, they had a resume that would draw attention from the selection committee).
He then listed some good games they had set for next year.
I hope Marcus Blossom and Brett Nelson were taking notes. Maybe 2021-2 is not the year for HC to do that, but, very soon. Maybe won't happen, but at least should be attempted.
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Post by rgs318 on Mar 15, 2021 15:05:46 GMT -5
He may find as RW did that no one wants to lose to a mid-major and he may have a hard time scheduling clubs that would benefit him.
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Post by thecrossisback on Mar 15, 2021 15:47:39 GMT -5
So when Justin Thomas appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt on Sunday night, Thomas provided an immediate reaction when Van Pelt brought up the NCAA Tournament. Alabama vs Iona.
"Yeah, I was not happy to hear that we got coach Pitino in the first round," Thomas said. "I think the world of him as a coach."
People that win recognize greatness and other people that also win!
You need a great coach in college basketball.
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