Chip off the Old Block: Pitino Jr. Has FIU Headed in the Right Direction.

He looks like his father. Works the refs like his father. Barks out orders to his players like his father. But the son has begun to make a name for himself. In Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky University (WKU) Richard Pitino, first year head coach of Florida International University (FIU), helped guide his team to an 87-82 victory improving their record to 14-12. The victory also gave FIU its ninth Sun Belt Conference victory tying them for the most in school history.

The Panthers are led by Junior Tymell Murphy who is averaging 15.3 points-per-game. The Brooklyn, NY native leads the conference and ranks No. 10 in the nation in shooting percentage, hitting 58.6% of his shots from the floor. Murphy also leads the Panthers in rebounding, averaging 7.3 rebounds-per-game. Junior Malik Smith came into Saturday’s game averaging 13.8 points-per-game. The Boston native leads the conference and ranks No. 22 in the nation in 3-point field goals made (2.8 per game). Smith also ranks No. 7 in the SBC in free-throw percentage (76.9) and No. 10 in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (34.6). Freshman Jerome Frink enters this weekend, averaging 10.0 points-per-game. The Jersey City, NJ, native ranks No. 8 in the conference in rebounding, averaging 6.6 boards-per-game.
Pitino commented during the post game press conference, “I thought we played really good basketball for 37 minutes and not so smart basketball the last three minutes. They (WKU) are a very good team. He’s a great coach. They needed that game. We needed that game. It was a battle. I’m proud of our guys. Offensively, we did a lot of great things.”

Pitino has led the Panthers to more wins in his first season than Isiah Thomas did in any of the previous three years. The former Detroit Pistons bad boy never led FIU to more than 11 wins in a single season, which may explain why Thomas was shown the door. Pitino seems to be more of a “coach” than Thomas, but maybe it’s hereditary. Pitino’s father Rick, currently head coach at Louisville, is a coaching legend. Even though Richard is just getting his coaching career started, he is off to a good start.

With the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship less than month away (March 8-11), the tournament seedings continue to take shape. After Saturday’s contest, FIU with an 8-8 SBC record is currently in the No. 5 spot in the overall conference standings. Third place in the East Division, the Panthers are six games back from first-place Middle Tennessee (14-1 SBC). Arkansas State leads the West Division with a 10-6 record and is currently the No. 2 seed overall, while South Alabama with a 12-4 mark sits as the No. 3 seed and UALR at 9-6 sits in the No. 4 spot. FIU’s best finish in the final SBC standings was a tie for third during the 1998-99 season when the Panthers finished their first season in the Sun Belt Conference at 7-7.

You think Rick might be sending some players to Ricky. Ones who he doesn't have room for but are good players. Maybe.

(02-18-2013 07:33 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  You think Rick might be sending some players to Ricky. Ones who he doesn't have room for but are good players. Maybe.

I would assume so. Little Ricky will no longer be our problem after this season, but I think he will do well at FIU. They will be taking a step-up next year. But it shouldn't be too big a deal since the "new" Conference USA will made of old Sun Belt teams and USA teams who couldn't get in a a better league.