Great Pitino presser and Christmas praise. | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Great Pitino presser and Christmas praise.

On Rak:

"He struggled against Duke but he didn't get the calls he normally gets. He is the most feared post player in the nation... From a freshmen who you left alone to a player that worked his way into the mid first round. That is tremendous credit to him and the Syracuse coaching staff." "Nothing against Okafor; he can step out and do other things away from the basket, but he (Rak) is the most feared low post man in the country."

Pretty legit coming from a hall of fame coach. I really didn't think Okafor outplayed Rak. Okafor got some easy bunnies from strong drives which gave him a much bigger game. I believe Rak was able to get, for the most part, what he wanted to get on Okafor yet they just didn't go down or, in the words of one Slick Rick, "He didn't get the calls he normally gets." Makes one wonder if he could have fouled out both Okafor and Winslow (we know Okafor was given a few passes). I tend to agree that Rak's low post moves are much further than Okafor. Okafor probably has more of an upside although I think Rak is just now at the cusp of what he can be. I often forget he only started playing basketball as a sophomore in HS.
 
1. The whole restaurant incident. Clown.
2. Wears a white suit. Clown.
3. Criticized SU for leaving the Big East, only to do a complete 180 when LVille did the same thing. Clown.
4. Constantly stands on the court during play. Clown.

Sorry to hurt your feelings Captain Save-A-Pitino, but in my book he's a clown.
OK, I respect your personal opinion here about Pitino. Now here's mine. I hear him and see his actions locally all the time here. And I can tell you without a doubt, he is no "clown." He greatly cares for his players and wants them to mature as players and especially as young men. He is a very knowledgeable coach. He loves his community. Mistakes are made absolutely. For example, what he did more than 10 yrs ago is something that was really dumb (I agree), and something he'll always have to live with. But for people to keep bringing this up is just ridiculous. Move on. I like Pitino. And so does JB.
 
I never understood the hate for Pitino. I think he's an outstanding coach and he comports himself well in these sessions. He is always complementary of Syracuse and always very balanced about his assessment of his own team. I enjoy listening to his remarks and actually gain some insight from them, unlike a lot of coaches who just condescend. I understand he's had some indiscretions off the court, but dang.
 
Not as obnoxious IMO but he is out there nearly as much. If I were a ref I'd tell these guys before the game. "Look I know you like to be on the court out of the coaches box but I'm not putting up with it. You get one warning when I see it and then its a bench T every time. It won't get you tossed but it will cost your team."


This is literally one of my biggest pet peeves in college basketball--coaches out on the court. I'm still waiting for the time when some headstrong player intentionally plows into a coach to bowl them over when they're on the court. Then what will the refs do? T up the player? Or T up the coach who shouldn't have been out on the playing floor?

It should be an automatic technical, that would curb it in a hurry. And please note I'm not talking about the coaching rushing out to call a timeout and going on the floor to ensure they have the refs attention. I'm talking about being out on the court, 100% of the time when the game is going on.

Stay in the coaches box, or get T'd up. Simple as that. But if the refs don't enforce it, then you've got jerkoffs like Dixon / Puzz / Calhoun who flagrantly violate the rule. Its up to the refs to enforce it, and like just about everything else associated with officiating in college basketball, they do a piss poor job.
 
I never understood the hate for Pitino. I think he's an outstanding coach and he comports himself well in these sessions. He is always complementary of Syracuse and always very balanced about his assessment of his own team. I enjoy listening to his remarks and actually gain some insight from them, unlike a lot of coaches who just condescend. I understand he's had some indiscretions off the court, but dang.


I don't personally like Pitino. I hate how he "bends" the defensive rules [he was one of the first--now there are dozens of teams that emulate that defensive style and dare the officials to call fouls]. I also dislike him from the time he was the head coach of the Celtics. And I'll never "forgive" him for beating us for the national championship in 1996. So for me, that's what its about.

Definitely not "hate" -- more like disdain, but for sports reasons. Obviously, he's good friends with Boeheim, always been very complimentary about SU and his time here, his friendship with Jim, etc.
 
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On Rak:

"He struggled against Duke but he didn't get the calls he normally gets. He is the most feared post player in the nation... From a freshmen who you left alone to a player that worked his way into the mid first round. That is tremendous credit to him and the Syracuse coaching staff." "Nothing against Okafor; he can step out and do other things away from the basket, but he (Rak) is the most feared low post man in the country."

Pretty legit coming from a hall of fame coach. I really didn't think Okafor outplayed Rak. Okafor got some easy bunnies from strong drives which gave him a much bigger game. I believe Rak was able to get, for the most part, what he wanted to get on Okafor yet they just didn't go down or, in the words of one Slick Rick, "He didn't get the calls he normally gets." Makes one wonder if he could have fouled out both Okafor and Winslow (we know Okafor was given a few passes). I tend to agree that Rak's low post moves are much further than Okafor. Okafor probably has more of an upside although I think Rak is just now at the cusp of what he can be. I often forget he only started playing basketball as a sophomore in HS.

I liked how he explained Rak's performance against Duke: he didn't get the calls he should have.

On the NCAA investigation, Pitino's on the money too. No reason it should take just under a decade to determine penalties.
 
I liked how he explained Rak's performance against Duke: he didn't get the calls he should have.

On the NCAA investigation, Pitino's on the money too. No reason it should take just under a decade to determine penalties.

Especially when apparently the problems they found happened years after the investigation started. But we digress...
 
i can't believe i found myself wishing Louisville played like Louisville. It's so much more fun to beat them when they look like that fast relentless team we're used to

I haven't watched much of them this year - was last night a total anomaly because of the suspension?
 
I don't personally like Pitino. I hate how he "bends" the defensive rules [he was one of the first--now there are dozens of teams that emulate that defensive style and dare the officials to call fouls]. I also dislike him from the time he was the head coach of the Celtics. And I'll never "forgive" him for beating us for the national championship in 1996. So for me, that's what its about.

Definitely not "hate" -- more like disdain, but for sports reasons. Obviously, he's good friends with Boeheim, always been very complimentary about SU and his time here, his friendship with Jim, etc.
He may be complimentary to the program but never passes up the opportunity to trash our city and that's why I dislike him. I do appreciate his comments on Christmas though.
 
i can't believe i found myself wishing Louisville played like Louisville. It's so much more fun to beat them when they look like that fast relentless team we're used to

I haven't watched much of them this year - was last night a total anomaly because of the suspension?
I'm not sure what Louisville plays like anymore. I used to think they were FF material (and they still could be), assuming they hit a reasonable shot percentage. But lately, they seem to be falling apart. Not having Jones last night definitely hindered them without a doubt. Jones is the energy of that team, and makes Trez better (Rozier is normally very good either way, but he was off last night too). And they didn't play S. Aaron who has had ups and downs but definitely has seen PT and contributed this season.

So, Cuse played a great game last night and beat a good team, there is no taking away from that, but Ville is a weird team right now, not sure what to make out of them.
 
OK, I respect your personal opinion here about Pitino. Now here's mine. I hear him and see his actions locally all the time here. And I can tell you without a doubt, he is no "clown." He greatly cares for his players and wants them to mature as players and especially as young men. He is a very knowledgeable coach. He loves his community. Mistakes are made absolutely. For example, what he did more than 10 yrs ago is something that was really dumb (I agree), and something he'll always have to live with. But for people to keep bringing this up is just ridiculous. Move on. I like Pitino. And so does JB.

I don't, though. I'm sure a lot of people do. Just giving my opinion.

I never questioned his coaching ability. I just think he's a clown, and I enjoy it when Syracuse beats him.
 
I have to wear occasionally white suits or a white tux jacket for various work events. I like it. Does that make me a clown, LOL?

Given that that you said you "have" to wear it, I will lean towards no. Now if you "have" to wear it, but you are not thoroughly disgusted at that fate, then that may indicate some slightly clownish tendencies. You'll be happy to know that my ultimate prognosis is that you do not appear to be a clown though.
 
He wears a white suit when it's a "white out" among the fans. That's called supporting the fans and team. I applaud him for doing this, knowing people might make fun of it.

The next time we have an "orange out", I would bet Boeheim would not wear this...
dumb-and-dumber-orange-and-blue-tuxedos1.jpg


And I applaud him for that.
 
He's a great coach, and I could care less about what's in your book . Now if he sat on the bench picking his nose, you'd probably eat that up.

j-pesci.jpg
 

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