Gophers Beat Writer All In On Buzz

[bradley center bat]

18-14 at FIU. Made a run in the Sun Belt tourney to lose in the finals.

[CAGASS24]

Great comment on the Minn article about the hire:

"Talk about desperation....should have just handed it to Saul! At least his daddy doesn't bone bimbos in restaurants after closing time...."

[NotThosePackers]

Looks Like we got all scared for nothing

[MerrittsMustache]

Think about it: Minnesota and UCLA dumped proven winners to hire two schlubs. Talk about getting what you deserve.

Actually, they fired coaches who had hit their ceilings and hired young, energetic guys who are going to take the program to the next level. Just ask the administrators  

[IrwinFletcher]

The only people happy with the hiring of Pitino are the fans of Northwestern. 

[TedBaxter]

The only people happy with the hiring of Pitino are the fans of Northwestern. 

I think this is a great hire.  He has the name, the basketball pedigree and the personality to possibly get boosters to contribute to a new practice facility and with success, may be able to get a replacement for ancient Williams Arena.  Doesn't hurt that there are 3-4 top 100 kids in Minnesota's 2014 class. 

Great year this year.

http://www.fiusports.com/Sports/MensSports/MBasketball/Article/tabid/417/Article/20033/The-Season-FIU-Men’s-Basketball-2012-2013.aspx

[NotThosePackers]

The only people happy with the hiring of Pitino are the fans of Northwestern. 

You cant judge a hire from the get go

Will Pitino win the press conference, and are the boosters going to be creaming their Gold and Maroon overalls? Probably not.  When the they hired Tubby that is what happened.  They won press conference and 5 years later couldnt get over the hump and fired him.

Who did MN fans think they were going to get anyways?

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

[NotThosePackers]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

Exactly.

[jsglow]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

Yep.  I hope he has success. 

But this is a good lesson for all.  Remember that 'small handful of good jobs' comment by Buzz?  The media is just insane when they throw out names like Brad, Shaka, and even more incredibly Buzz every time a middle tier Big 6 job opens.  I have a very good friend who attended Minny.  I sincerely hope he's excited today and not disappointed that some unreasonable expectation wasn't met.

[San Diego Warrior]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

But Marquette did fire a respectable good coach to hire an assistant.  Gophers had to pay out 3.5 million to Tubby.  Maybe he didn't take them to the top, but they're definitely in a better place now than before they hired Tubby.  Paying out that kind of money is definitely not going to help with funding new facilities.

[San Diego Warrior]

But Marquette didn't fire a respectable good coach to hire an assistant.  Gophers had to pay out 3.5 million to Tubby.  Maybe he didn't take them to the top, but they're definitely in a better place now than before they hired Tubby.  Paying out that kind of money is definitely not going to help with funding new facilities.

[hairy worthen]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

Sometimes it is better to hire an up and coming guy instead of an old retread. I hope he does well and recruits those pastey Minn traditionals away from Bo.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

But Marquette did fire a respectable good coach to hire an assistant.  Gophers had to pay out 3.5 million to Tubby.  Maybe he didn't take them to the top, but they're definitely in a better place now than before they hired Tubby.  Paying out that kind of money is definitely not going to help with funding new facilities.

That's fair criticism.

I don't know what the thought process was on dismissing Tubby, but I can't imagine it was with hopes of landing Richard Pitino.

[Windyplayer]

I have a friend who is high up in the athletic dept at minnesota sent him a text saying "there is no way buzz is going to Minnesota". He basically agreed, wouldn't tell me who they are targeting, but basically said there was no way buzz was going there.

Anyway, take that fwiw...

The relevant quote should have been his response. But I will take it for FWIW.

[MU82]

Looks Like we got all scared for nothing

I hope you meant to put that in teal.

Because most of "we" knew Buzz was never going to Minne-freakin'-sota.

[NotThosePackers]

I hope you meant to put that in teal.

Because most of "we" knew Buzz was never going to Minne-freakin'-sota.

Well just I did; I guess.

But than again I get scared with every Buzz Rumor

Seems like this "Buzz Not happy Stuff" was just message board fodder that people needed to fill up threads with after the season was done

[ChicosBailBonds]

Think about it: Minnesota and UCLA dumped proven winners to hire two schlubs. Talk about getting what you deserve.

Again, So Cal recruits weren't going to play for Ben any longer so it was going to happen no matter what.  Alford might not be the right guy, who knows, but Ben was gone regardless.

[Pakuni]

Again, So Cal recruits weren't going to play for Ben any longer so it was going to happen no matter what.  Alford might not be the right guy, who knows, but Ben was gone regardless.

Who cares?
Dude had nation's top recruiting class last year. If that's not good enough for UCLA people because they're not from California, then it's just another reason they deserve everything they're going to get from Alford.
Also, Cali recruits are overrated.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Who cares?
Dude had nation's top recruiting class last year. If that's not good enough for UCLA people because they're not from California, then it's just another reason they deserve everything they're going to get from Alford.
Also, Cali recruits are overrated.

You may be right.  Keep in mind it wasn't just the fact that they can't get the So. Cal recruits, but they also have had a massive transfer problem plus the SI expose was not good.  Think about our Chicago Tribune story X10. 

The kids they did land for this year, one is threatening to transfer (Parker), Muhammed is going pro, Andersen is threatening to leave...this on the heels of 5 star Josh Smith transferring in December already.  Tyler Lamb also transferred at the beginning of the season. 

Lots of stuff.  I like Ben, worked with him a bit when I ran our college basketball product.  UCLA expects more, just is what it is.

[Niv Berkowitz]

A lot of people doubted Buzz when MU hired him.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

I think Minnesota realized they faced a crossroads - hire an older, mid-major success of a coach w/a proven track-record that would keep the program at least at .500 or better, or, put their chips on table and go for a young, energetic, up-and-comer of a coach, hope he's successful, then pay him accordingly based on that success in keeping him around for the longevity of the program.

While I don't think Pitino is that guy, it's not the worst decision. Somewhat like Crean at MU. Get a guy in when he's young, hungry and trying to prove himself. Hope for success and then try to keep him. If he bolts, the program is at least better off than it would've been.

Not a bad decision IMHO. A reach, but an understood one that's worth the risk.

[MUMountin]

But Marquette did fire a respectable good coach to hire an assistant.  Gophers had to pay out 3.5 million to Tubby.  Maybe he didn't take them to the top, but they're definitely in a better place now than before they hired Tubby.  Paying out that kind of money is definitely not going to help with funding new facilities.

Which may also be the reason to go with a young, relatively unproven guy in Pitino--$$.  They basically have to pay two coaches at once, so they probably did not have a ton of money to throw around (especially if they weren't able to get a Smart, Stevens, or Williams).

Its a value buy--the name and family connections brings some buzz-worthiness (no pun intended) to keep people talking and intrigued, yet I'm sure they can get him at a pretty low salary (haven't seen reports on his new salary, but he only made $250K at FIU) while they work on paying off Tubby. 

If they happen to catch some success with him, great--they can give him a raise later on to match it.  If not, they give him a short leash, wait and see how he does for a few years (2-4), and then cut their losses if he doesn't show signs of improvement.  Then they'll have more financial flexibility to hire someone slightly more established.  If they are planning on making upgrades to facilities in the meantime, also allows for the time and resources to do that in time for the next coaching change. 

That said, I'm a bit astounded that he is only 30 years old and landing a job like this.  Just can't imagine that even with his dad's mentoring that he's ready to take on something of this scale.

[Schmidtyfactor]

I think this is a great hire.  He has the name, the basketball pedigree and the personality to possibly get boosters to contribute to a new practice facility and with success, may be able to get a replacement for ancient Williams Arena.  Doesn't hurt that there are 3-4 top 100 kids in Minnesota's 2014 class. 

Great year this year.

http://www.fiusports.com/Sports/MensSports/MBasketball/Article/tabid/417/Article/20033/The-Season-FIU-Men’s-Basketball-2012-2013.aspx

Actually it is the problem. I think this is what many die hards are concerned about.  How will a 30 yro newbie convince 2 ESPN top 10 local kids and the 40th ranked player to stay home.  (Tyus Jones #2). Flip Saunders would have been able to say, listen I know what it takes to get to the Association. Can Richard say that? All 3 probably gone now. Duke, Kent, UNC in the running.

[Litehouse]

Actually it is the problem. I think this is what many die hards are concerned about.  How will a 30 yro newbie convince 2 ESPN top 10 local kids and the 40th ranked player to stay home.  (Tyus Jones #2). Flip Saunders would have been able to say, listen I know what it takes to get to the Association. Can Richard say that? All 3 probably gone now. Duke, Kent, UNC in the running.

I saw a comment from the Howard Pulley coach saying players of this caliber are more likely to play for the father than the son.

[warriorchick]

I saw a comment from the Howard Pulley coach saying players of this caliber are more likely to play for the father than the son.

I think it is doubtful for a number of reasons that Rick and Junior will be going after the same recruits, at least in the short term.