It was back on December 20th of 2012 when Rick Pitino faced his son Richard Pitino for the first time. That was the 17th time in NCAA Division I history that a father coached against his son. That was a pretty cool evening at the KFC Yum Center and it was great to be a part of that moment. Friday will mark the 18th time that a father and son will do battle in the NCAA and it will be the Pitino’s who will once again take center stage. The dads are 15-2 in these games, but the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree and this time Richard Pitino will have a team to compete.
Coach Richard Pitino has done an excellent job at creating a winning culture in Minnesota during his short time there. In his first year as their head coach they won 25 games and the NIT Championship. Returning from that team are four starters and eight letter-winners, including two of the team’s top leading scorers in Andre Hollins (13.6 ppg) and DeAndre Mathieu (12.0 ppg). In total, Minnesota returns 63 percent of its scoring and 71 percent of its rebounding from a season ago. Four newcomers will potentially make their Gopher debut in Puerto Rico in junior college transfer Carlos Morris, a projected starter, along with freshmen Bakary Konate, Josh Martin and Nate Mason.
Minnesota’s starting back-court is comprised of a pair of senior guards in Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu. Hollins ranks 17th in career scoring at Minnesota with 1,309 points while Mathieu led the team with 4.2 assist per game good for fourth in the Big Ten. Both of these guys received all Big Ten honorable mentions after last season.
They also have a very solid front-court that is led by seniors Elliot Eliason and Maurice Walker. These guys share time at the center position with Eliason leading the team in rebounds (244) and blocks (72) last season. Walker is also a solid big man and averaged about 1 block and 5 rebounds last season. They will start a junior Joey King in the forward spot and he averaged about 8 points, 3 blocks last season.
-Minnesota 2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS Offense | Defense
-POINTS PER GAME
71.2
171st
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
34.5
193rd
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
13.7
94th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.445
157th
OVERALL
2014-15 Kenpom Rankings
Overall- #37
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-95.7 ranks 59th
Offense Adjustment Efficiency
-110.5 ranks #27
-Per Kenpom game prediction he has the Cardinals winning the game 76-67 based on his indexes.
This is the toughest opening game that the Cardinals have played in a very long time. Usually these early games are that of the warm-up variety, but that won’t be the case on Friday evening. Richard Pitino is one of the best up and coming coaches in the country and he has had the privilege of learning from two of the best coaches in America. He has taken coaching qualities and philosophy from both Rick and Billy’s benches and put his own spin on it. His system features an aggressive style of pressing defense and an up-tempo style on offense. His kids play hard for him and he gets the most out of each of them and knows how to utilize their skills for the benefit of the team. Richard Pitino can flat out coach folks and it will be fun to watch him and dad go head to head.
I give Minnesota the edge at the center position. They will play two very solid veterans against some not so seasoned Louisville bigs. This will be a good measuring stick for Mango and nothing will come easy for him on Friday. I will also be interested to see how much time Onuaku gets in the first game and will Rick give any time to the Big Egyptian.
We pretty much have the advantage at every other spot but Chris, Terry, Wayne, and Montrezl will also be tested all game long. Like I mentioned above those Minnesota guys give it their all for Richard and they each know what their roles are. This is just a great first test for the Cardinals.
Other than the basketball part of this game I keep thinking of how cool it is to see a father and son in this position. As a father I can only imagine the pride and gratitude that Coach Rick Pitino feels when he looks over and sees his son across from him and carrying on the Pitino coaching legacy. Here is his son who grew up watching game tapes on his father’s knee, standing on the sidelines while his father ran practices, listening to the late-night strategy sessions and coaching beside his father for years as an assistant now starring in this moment with him. Friday night is going to be a great night of college basketball but to the two men leading their teams in battle it is going to mean much more. Cardinal fans and Minnesota fans are both lucky to share in this moment.
The Beak Prediction
Louisville 80 Minnesota 72