Richard Pitino Should Opt-Out of Future Games vs Maryland
The Minnesota Golden Gopher men’s basketball team went into College Park (MD) Sunday, looking for their first road win of the season. Unfortunately for them, Maryland head coach, Mark Turgeon, owns Richard Pitino like a past-his-prime father dominating his pre-pubescent son in driveway pick-up game.
After tonight’s loss, Richard is a career 2-8 vs Turgeon’s Terrapins, who came into the Big Ten for the 2014-15 season, one year after Pitino took over at Minnesota. They’ve lost those eight games by a total of 82 points and won twice by a total of 19.
Aaron Wiggins scored 17 points to help lead @TerrapinHoops to a 72-59 win over Minnesota.
— Maryland On BTN (@MarylandOnBTN) February 15, 2021
Highlights from the win: pic.twitter.com/lO6RKKHBtr
| Year | Location | W/L | Score |
| ’14-15 | College Park | Loss | 58-70 |
| ’15-16 | The Barn | Win | 68-63 |
| ’16-17 | The Barn | Loss | 78-85 |
| ’16-17 | College Park | Win | 89-75 |
| ’17-18 | College Park | Loss | 66-77 |
| ’18-19 | The Barn | Loss | 67-82 |
| ’18-19 | College Park | Loss | 60-69 |
| ’19-20 | The Barn | Loss | 73-74 |
| ’20-21 | The Barn | Loss | 49-63 |
| ’20-21 | College Park | Loss | 59-72 |
| Total | 2-8 | (-63) |
Tonight
The latest performance, which took place tonight in College Park, bordered on disgusting for 3/4 of the game. Minnesota made a run with five minutes remaining but a dagger 3-point shot by Wiggins ruined any remaining hope.
In the first half, they couldn’t shoot, they couldn’t guard and Liam Robbins was immediately in foul trouble. This team is soft. Every time they get punched on the road they crumble like a poorly constructed house of cards.
The storyline is a broken record. It’s infuriating.
Thinking outside the box
Richard Pitino has now lost SIX-straight games vs Turgeon’s Terrapins, which calls for an outside-the-box solution. There’s been a lot of talk about “opt-outs” in 2020-21.
I think Richard should use this newly-found idea as a way to avoid future losses vs the new Big Ten team out of the DC area. He’s proven his ability to coach vs Maryland.
Of course, should the Gophers miss the NCAA Tournament again, Pitino might not get another shot vs any Big Ten foes.
But if he does return as Minnesota Gophers head coach, there’s no reason to put him on the bench vs Maryland. Tell him to stay in Minneapolis. Maybe, setup a dinner with the next top-10 national Minnesota recruit that’s guaranteed to leave.
That sounds like a win/win scenario.
Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan
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