You Can't Spell Cardinals Without NCAA

My apologies to the Ol' Ball Coach, but I had to borrow and tweak his line for this thread. Earlier tonight Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals got flat out embarassed by Notre Dame. The Cards were lucky they didn't lose by 20.

Since joining the Big East, Louisville is now 6-12 against conference opponents. It gets worse. Louisville has not won outside of Freedom Hall since last January. By the time the Cards travel to South Florida for their next game, it will have been a full year since their last road/neutral court victory. And it's not a lock that UofL will beat South Florida.

One day after the football team established a new pinnacle, the men's basketball team is on the verge of establishing a 50-year-low. Since taking the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2004, Pitino has made several bold statements about the basketball program. He has failed to make good on any of them.

Yes, the Big East is an incredibly tough conference -- perhaps the toughest in the nation. But Louisville came into the conference off a great season, with a great tradition and with allegedly a great coach. Now you can argue that Louisville is as relevant in the college basketball scene as it was during Denny Crum's final seasons.

No one expected Big East titles immediately, but fans expected (and deserve) competitive teams. While there are still 15 games left, the 10-5 Cardinals appear headed for their second straight NIT and third in Pitino's six years at Louisville. Pitino has offered a lot of excuses, but you have to wonder how much of this is his (and not the players') responsibility. And you also have to wonder what Pitino will do to rectify the situation -- or if he is the coach to do it.

EDIT: Thread title appropriately updated.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Pervis Ellison is not walking through that door! Milt Wagner is not walking through that door!

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Darrell Griffith is not walking through that door! The McCrays are not walking through that door!

(Steve Masiello, however, is already in that door. And, boy, did he put the "UK" in suck when he was playing for the 'Cats. ... Now he's an assistant for Pitino. )

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

That's all Pitino needs.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Pitino's one of the biggest phonies around.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Yeah but he has Nick Saban to thank for making him look like less phony.

And Pitino is a human being to the media, from what I can tell.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

sebastan telfair isn't walking through that door either. he's in pitino's old stomping grounds...

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

"Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're going to be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and we're going to improve. People don't realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that (locker) room playing their asses off.

"I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap. I wish we could buy the world. We can't; the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that's in this town sucks. I've been around when Jim Rice was booed. I've been around when (Carl) Yastrzemski was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy. The only thing that will turn this around is being upbeat and positive like we are in that locker room ... and if you think I'm going to succumb to negativity, you're wrong. You've got the wrong guy leading this team."

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Awesome. Totally awesome. Thanks Wicked.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Since Pitino left Kentucky he has only has continued to regress as a coach. Maybe, he should retire and recharge his batteries because if this keeps up he will have ruined what was once a promising coaching career.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Ruined a once-promising coaching career?

He's won a national title at Kentucky, he took a probation-ruined program to the Elite Eight in two years and he brought tiny Providence to the Final Four. He doesn't have to do anything else to walk into the Hall of Fame.

Ruined? Shut up.

 

Re: You can't spell Pitino without NIT

Last i checked Pitino was in the Elite 8 two years ago. three NCAAs and two NIT appearances are hardly ruining a promising career..