Here we go again.
One hopes Bobby Knight is right about the Big East Tournament being tougher to win than the NCAA Tournament. Some of the best teams in college basketball beating each other down over a three- to five-day stretch. Without much relevance to the national tournament seeding and matchups.
Twenty years after their origination, conference tournaments still defy logic.
Especially tough for the University of Louisville were the late night games, a couple of them starting around 10 o’clock and finishing after midnight, keeping the players from getting to bed until 1 or 2 a.m. Up again early the next day for the pre-game rituals.
Killer schedule. It takes a couple of days to recover from that, even for younger guys, including finely tuned athletes. Especially with all the emotion involved, specifically for the team that finished second. Players going at it with sprained ankles, aching knees, sore wrists, seemingly fueled by willpower alone. But don’t forget Rick Pitino with the glare and his incessant demands.
(On a personal note, the observer saw what the schedule did to son Steve, his wife Casey and three kids in New York to get the ceremonial keys to the Volvo S60 for winning the Biggest Fan of the Big East Contest. Getting around in the world’s largest city is rigorous enough without all of the emotion involved and getting the kids to bed in the wee hours. But there was always that vision of a new car in the driveway to keep them motivated.)
Louisville is battle tested, having endured so many injuries, finishing third in the nation’s best basketball conference, even coming close to winning the Big East Tournament despite the sleep-deprived nights. The NCAA Tournament, in comparison, is almost a vacation, with its afternoon games and days off between games, even if a team has to get acclimated to a mile high atmosphere.
These players should be ready to have a little fun.
Overreact much?
The coaches and players have to share this loss. How they could come out so flat on such a big stage is just beyond me.
U of L is paying Rick Pitino way too much money.
Pitino is a poor motivator, horrible at getting his team mentally ready to play in big games. He is one of the worst “bench” coaches in the country, especially with less than two minutes to go in a game. Because he is very much disliked by most referees, his teams are the victims of more bad or marginal calls than any other team in the country. Pitino has never been able to recruit or coach big men. He micromanages and cannot see the big picture. Furthermore he is an extremely bad example to players and is often distracted by his own off court situations. He is definitely not U of L caliber.
It is past time for Pitino to go.