Coach Pitino is back with another blog update at RickPitino.com. In today’s post Pitino discusses politics, hoops and preparation.
Below is an excerpt from the post where Pitino discusses the areas of improvement for the team and also what each player has been working in over the summer. Visit RickPitino.com to read the blog post entirely.
Lets Talk Basketball:
Schedule – We had the second toughest schedule in the nation last year. This season is much more difficult.
Polls – Only matters early on in football, not hoops.
Things Coach’s should never do:
1) Judge freshman bigs – Some need time and develop late.
2) Judge players by individual instruction – It is to teach proper fundamentals, but it’s a mistake to judge who is playing well.
For Example:
-Jared Swopshire would put on a clinic with his footwork and moves.
-Russ Smith- After watching an individual workout, you would believe he would never get any minutes.
3) Take guarantee games just to make money. The administration at Savannah State should be held accountable for subjecting their athletes to such mismatches. Oklahoma St. 80, Savannah State 0. This week they play Florida State and they are a 70 point underdog. Surely money cannot be that important. The welfare of their athletes must come first. There are no lessons that are being taught. In basketball, coaches play their benches early with mismatches. In football they run it up to move higher in the polls.
4) Recruit athletes without passion. Passion leads to a strong work ethic. A strong work ethic leads to improvement.
5) Pay attention to social media. Anyone can be a critic. Anyone can be an expert. Anyone can have an opinion. Insulate from all that is being said. It serves no purpose positively or negatively. It is banned from our meetings!
Areas we are focusing on the most:
1) Nutrition – A major key to conditioning. Very underrated in training to be physically fit. It’s our fuel that makes our engine roar. More emphasis this year with this on what we put into our bodies.
2) Defensive closeouts – Almost cost us the Final Four against Florida.
3) Passing – Turnovers were our Achilles heel last year.
4) Shooting technique – Peyton and Kevin Ware have made the biggest strides.
*Angel Nunez – Has skills that can really help us. He just has to let the game come to him.
*Chane Behanan – Has improved his defensive skills. Really needed!
*Wayne Blackshear – Never been in great condition. Terrific understanding of how to use his body around the rim. Once his conditioning gets to the Louisville level, watch out!
*Gorgui Dieng – Stronger and smarter.
*Montrezl & Mangok – Want to see them away from individuals to see where they stand.
*Luke Hancock and Mike Marra are back to work. Contact on October 1st.
Preparation and Passion
As I turn 60 next week, I wake up with John Wooden’s quote each day:
“Treat each day as if you had one to live. Learn each day as if you will live forever.” I think about that every morning as I wake up.
Now how to master that quote…
1) Insulate yourself from negative and cynical people. Choose your associates who will lift your spirits and will not deflate.
2) I chart my course the night before. As I write this blog, my exciting agenda is set for tomorrow’s passionate day.
3) In writing:
6:15-6:35 am –Wake up on the elliptical
6:45 am – Head to Starbucks and work.
(BTW – Starbucks people are so upbeat. Great philosophy behind the company.)
7:15 am – Staff Meeting- Cover every detail with recruits visiting campus.
9:30 am – Media meeting
11:00 am – First individual instruction
12:00 pm – Workout
2:45 pm – Speak to women’s soccer team
3:00 pm – First recruit arrive on campus
4:00 pm -Second individual instruction
5:00 pm – Third individual instruction
8:30 pm – Dinner with recruit and family.
10:00 pm – Stop in to congratulate Vinny the Vest on making it to age 40. Minor Miracle!!!!
Plan your day to make it organized and passionate. Outside of reading in the evening, I am not interested in rumors in our world of College basketball. Like the conventions, I would need fact finders to discover the truth.
September 7, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Your comment, “Plan your day to make it organized and passionate.” is a great philosophy. One thing I really like about you as a coach is that you can see that you really care about your players, on and off the court. I have always been a U of L fan, even when you coaches at UK, and you definitely know the rivalry there, but I am a former basketball coach and athletic director and do know my way around a court and I can see what is going on. I attend several games a year, even though I live in eastern KY. Again I applaud you for caring about your young men on and off the court and for last years GPA’s they received. That was awesome!!!!
I was so proud to be a UL fan last year (But I am always proud to wear the red and black) with their winning season and with their classroom achievements! WTG CARDS!!!!
September 9, 2012 at 12:05 pm
You’ve hit on one of the recent changes in Pitino that I like the best. And, it isn’t that he suddenly is the type of Coach you recognize and admire, it is that he is letting all in on how he feels for his players while they are still pulling on the sneakers. We came to know his affection for such former layers as Billy the Kid, but that expression became common knowledge later rather than during the playing years. (or, so it seemed to this non-Providence fan) Pitino has loosened up recently, and his willingness to joke around with his players, and allow them the same privilege is refreshing, even if that type of relationship has to be rebuilt with each new individual. He no longer seems determined to get the organized part just right even if at the expense of the passion.
A big part of that is recruiting, getting kids who care, kids who are willing to learn, kids who have passion, and especially kids who understand that they are students first all contribute to making our recent teams full of people we are proud to know. And, people who help to reveal the excellence of the U of L brand.
September 9, 2012 at 11:56 am
Coach said, “*Angel Nunez – Has skills that can really help us. He just has to let the game come to him.”
“Let the game come to him”, is one of those phrases which is just too compact to not have meaning, but, for the life of me I don’t know what that means. Coach RP needs to work on defining that in specific ways for the kid, (and me
), because it almost sounds like he wants the player to be more static, which can not possibly be what he wants. He may mean that Angel needs to be patient, as the game is still fairly new for him. So, then it would be advice to stay patient and eventually the repetition will imprint on his brain and one day the game will be a natural part of his thought process; thereby allowing his thinking to catch up to his physical skills.
I like my last interpretation for this player’s present state of development, but, that doesn’t assure that I understand what Pitino is attempting to impart. Maybe, I just need to let PitinoSpeak come to me.