Richard Pitino made a great first impression, now he has serious work to do
Guys rarely fall on their face in the first introductory press conference. It’s a moment where everyone is hopeful, the new coach is excited, and the players crowd around to meet their new leader. (Well, on teams that have players, anyway.) Yeah, Adam Gase looked like the walls were melting during his, but that could be because he realized he was going to be coaching the Jets. And sure, Dan Campbell seemed like a crazy person in his, but it turns out he is a crazy person.
Richard Pitino didn’t do either of those things. He was calm and composed. He was confident and self-deprecating. He mentioned learning hard lessons, but also pointed out the good things he has done. He cracked the occasional joke, unless maybe Xavier is actually spending $20.5 million on players this year, and he talked about needing guys Watching his presser you came away impressed with one of the best young coaches in the game.
Pitino wants to play fast and aggressive. He mentioned it’s not hard to get guys to buy into a system where they will be the physically dominant team on the floor. That brings us to the next important thing, because winning the press conference isn’t where it ends; Richard Pitino needs a team.
Right now the roster is Roddie Anderson and Filip Borovicanin (somewhere Byron Larkin just cringed). Lassina Traore left this morning. Both freshman decommitted. Most of the roster graduated. The itinerant Ryan Conwell decamped for Louisville.
It’s important to put best foot forward in a press conference. Richard Pitino did that. The “I have a mom, too” moment was genuinely funny. His goodwill will never be higher with Xavier fans from now until he lands in the Sweet 16. The simple fact, though, is that Xavier has made it that far once in the last eight seasons. Travis Steele struggled in closing out seasons and with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Sean Miller made a good run, then couldn’t put together a roster that could stay healthy before he ran into an Illinois team on a worldie.
Richard Pitino didn’t just hit his introductory press conference with functionally no players, he hit it swimming against the recent tide. He very much feels like a guy who can turn things around, but his work is cut out for him. Revenue sharing isn’t in place yet. Xavier isn’t a New York market team that can pull in untold millions from various sources and playing games in the MSG.
There’s a lot of work to be done. This has the potential to be a very exciting spring for Xavier basketball. Coach Pitino got out of the blocks well, now it’s time to build some momentum.