Pitino Blog: Checking In From Home

Good afternoon Gopher fans,

Hopefully everyone is safe as our country goes through these uncertain times. My family and I are laying low at our home in Edina. We had a postseason family trip to Disney planned but canceled that one. Plenty of board games and family walks are helping us pass the time!

What a bizarre ending to a season filled with ups and downs. Fresh off two blowout Big Ten wins we sat in our Indianapolis ballroom on Thursday with great excitement that we could make a run. I truly believed if we beat Iowa and Illinois we would be back in the hunt for a third NCAA tournament berth in four years. Obviously those wins aren't easy by any stretch but it still would have gotten interesting!

With that being said it was clearly the right decision to cancel all the postseason tournaments. I feel bad for Michael, Brady, and Alihan as they weren't able to finish their senior seasons. Alihan was unfortunately just seven points away from 1,000 career points. Congratulations are in order to Daniel Oturu and Marcus Carr. To receive all-conference honors as sophomores in this league is remarkable. Obviously Daniel being the school's first All-American in 21 years is something he should be extremely proud of. Also congrats to Gabe Kalscheur on tying the record for most 3's made in a game with eight. Another congrats to Marcus Carr on breaking the single-season school assist record!

Since I have time on my hands I decided to dive into our KenPom numbers from this season as well as past Gopher teams. Obviously I know the most important record is your overall record, with that being said, advanced analytics can give you a good barometer of where your system is at and where you need to improve. These ratings go all the way back to 1997.

Kenpom Rank: 27 (Fourth highest since 1997. Our programs overall average ranking since 1997 is 54.)
NET ranking: 42
Offensive Efficiency Rating: 30
Defensive Efficiency Rating: 41
Strength of Schedule: 3. Toughest strength of schedule in school history!
Experience: 291
Luck: 351, yikes!
FT %: 243
FT point distribution: 303. 16 points per game isn't enough.
Bench Minutes: 330
Offensive Reb %: 70. I thought we could have been better here. Especially with all the bricks we were throwing up from three!

As you can see the numbers support that we are not far off. The free throw line really hurt us down the stretch in critical moments. Bench minutes being ranked at 330 is a problem and that's on me. Huge offseason for our guys as they continue to grow and improve. The improvements of guys like Jordan Murphy and Daniel Oturu in recent years shows you that if you come here you are going to get better!

Frequently Asked Questions

How has the Coronavirus affected your basketball program moving forward?
Normally when the season ends we hit the road recruiting right away. All on-campus and off-campus recruiting has been halted for everyone. All recruiting will be done on the phone. Our staff has to find creative ways to connect with these players. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that a lot of student-athletes, especially transfers, may have to choose a school without visiting campus. Our current student-athletes have been sent home. Some are still in the Twin Cities while others are in a holding pattern at their homes. Our staff will be working from home indefinitely.

What is Daniel Oturu's status?
Daniel and I met earlier this week to talk about his process moving forward. The most important thing to do is receive the proper feedback from the NBA. Social media, media and mock drafts are not the decision makers. Agents are recruiting you so they are going to tell you what you want to hear. All that matters are the presidents and general managers. Trust me, those guys don't want anyone to know who they want to draft. In recent years, the NBA has done a much better job of educating the players about where they potentially stand. The hard part is knowing what the timeline would be for pre-draft workouts, combines, etc. My assumption would be it all gets pushed back. My message to Daniel is to go through the process, gather the information and make an informed decision for what's best for himself and his family.

Are you done recruiting?
We are currently looking to add the right piece or pieces this spring. Besides the uncertainty of the Coronavirus there are also new transfer rules that may change the game as well. I anticipate the immediate eligibility transfer rule to pass. We will wait and see like everyone else. Obviously we have to explore all options as Daniel's situation evolves.

Do you regret playing a tough schedule?
I regret having Oklahoma, at Butler, and at Utah all in one week for sure. That travel was just too hard for our guys. Unfortunately there a lot of factors out of your control in scheduling. With that being said, 12 of the 14 teams in the Big Ten were all in the top 20 in strength of schedule so we were always going to be challenged in the toughest conference in all of college basketball. Can't wait to get back to work!

What are your thoughts on Rick Pitino getting the Iona job? Will you play him next season?
I'm fired up for the opportunity my father is getting at Iona. It gets him closer to family which is great for us but it's also a perfect spot for him at this stage in his career. I know he is pumped to be back in college basketball. As for playing him, we briefly spoke about putting something together for next season at the Barn. I think it would be pretty cool for both programs and hopefully we can make it happen!

Go Gophers and be safe!

Richard Pitino

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Marcus Carr

Gabe Kalscheur

Jordan Murphy

Daniel Oturu