There are many reasons why Rick Pitino is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Giving some of the most rousing halftime speeches is definitely on the list.
The St. John’s men’s basketball coach is the subject of a new Vice TV show called “Pitino: Red Storm Rising.” The program’s first episode showed a frustrated Pitino giving a halftime speech during his team’s Dec. 20 contest against Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.
In his fiery speech, Pitino blurred the lines between the game of basketball and life itself.
“Dig in and be a basketball player. Dig in! Every time you miss a shot, your game deflates. We don’t care about your missed shots. Play f—ing defense! You guys keep blowing opportunity upon opportunity upon opportunity,” said Pitino.
“You’re like children with bad things happening. Instead of digging in and being tougher, you wilt! Where is your f—ing toughness? Where have you guys been raised that you’re so weak mentally that you just f—ing give up when something doesn’t go right for you? Don’t you know what adversity is all about? That’s the f—ing game of life, not the game of basketball. You don’t f—ing get down when things go wrong. You dig in and get tougher. Your whole life’s going to be adversity. Learn how to f—ing deal with it!”
St. John’s trailed Providence 42-29 at halftime. After Pitino’s speech, the team flipped the script in the second half to eek out a 72-70 victory.
Pitino may have been extra motivated to win at Providence, given that he had coached there for two seasons before taking the New York Knicks job in 1987.
Two years ago, Pitino accidentally gave away his phone number when he was briefly shown in an ESPN broadcast of a Knicks playoff game. He revealed he got over 300 messages from the incident, most of them being positive. His phone is now probably buzzing once again over his resurfaced halftime speech.
