Pitino coached well through Sypher mess

ESPN's Eamonn Brennan (who has the same birthday as Jim Thome and I do):

Interestingly enough, Shaun Assael, author of new ESPN Insider blog The File*, requested the full testimony from Pitino's embarrassing trial this summer. Why? To check out the more obscure, less salacious details from Pitino's extortion. What did Assael find? In his own words:

What it shows is something that hasn't received a lot of attention: Pitino managed to have one of the best seasons of his coaching career while watching his personal life fall apart.

The ensuing entry is very detailed and very long, so you should probably just go over and read the whole thing. But the general gist is this: At nearly every successful step of Louisville's undeniably very successful 2008-09 campaign, Pitino was simultaneously coaching his team to big road wins, leading the Cardinals to the top of the Big East tournament and notching a No. 1 seed while at the same time -- oftentimes just minutes before games -- receiving threatening phone calls, envelopes with lists of demands, and even a phone call from Sypher's mother asking why her grandson's car hadn't yet been bought. Yeah. It went there.

Anyway, if Louisville fans were worried that last year's doldrums and the coach's previous recruiting drought were products of the Sypher mess, rather than the usual year-after some elite programs go through from time to time, it's probably fair to dispel that notion. The 2009-10 Cardinals had a very good season during the midst of what was perhaps the most intense chapter of Pitino's Sypher story. Apparently the man can multitask.

over 1 year ago Mike Rutherford 10 comments 0 recs |

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One time at work

my boss asked me to review and send her my thoughts a report, but a bug flew in and landed on my desk.
I didn’t know what to do, so I just sent her a note saying "everything looks good!" and just hoped it worked out.

by Blocky on Sep 23, 2010 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

Alright

who’s taking the hit and sleeping with Pitino so we can distract him again?

by Chris Redman is my hero on Sep 23, 2010 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

The only time I thought it might have affected him was the Michigan State game.

by CardinalDude on Sep 23, 2010 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

same here

wasn’t that around the same time his name will still floating around with the NBA rumors?

by Card-in-nati on Sep 23, 2010 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Insider

User Name & PW?

I tired to activate an account using ESPN the Mag subscription but was denied.

by The_Ville on Sep 23, 2010 11:34 AM EDT reply actions

agree with CardinalDude

Specifically: the obvious tension between coach, twill and e5, and noting coach’s failure to adjust to the way the game was going. I was there in person, and watching them closely. Something felt very wrong.

by 97E3LPL on Sep 23, 2010 11:41 AM EDT reply actions

MSU -- so many breaks that just didn't go our way.

Although we led for a good portion of the first half and early in the second half against MSU, we never (amazingly) extended to a two-possession lead, despite numerous golden opportunities to do so. IMO, the most critical play in the game was an early second-half steal and long outlet pass that was deflected by MSU (and somehow saved from going out of bounds on the baseline), leading to a layup on the other end. On another similar early second-half play, Jerry appeared to get fouled on a layup attempt (no call), and Samardo blew the 3-foot putback with nobody on him. Inexplicable and costly.

Even with all the Suton 3s, and even with all our offensive mistakes in the first half, if we could have converted on just one of those opportunities to take a two-possession lead, I think our guys would have relaxed and our superior talent would have taken over. Instead, we never got any breathing room, and when MSU was the first team to extend to a multiple-possession lead, our guys panicked and collapsed. The remainder of the game had a feeling of inevitability to it that I cannot explain but was unlike anything I had seen in our earlier close games that year. Something was definitely wrong that day, although I still can’t put my finger on it.

by cardsinindy2010 on Sep 23, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions