128 thoughts on “BB GAME THREAD: Pitt vs USCB”

  2. May the Force be with Otis and may his Rockports act as light sabres against the evil California team from the West. But do not go into the Light my friends. Chill ,have a few beers, kick some arse. Have some fun dispatching Evil.

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  3. anything to motivate this team and to make me stay awake without popping pills. I will use my Imagination. Reality will eventually set in the next day.

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  9. I actually feel bad for these program. It is no longer even enjoyable making fun of Otis. I’m just sad and embarrassed.

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  10. I hear all 9 fans cheering.

    Parker Stewart sounds like he should be a guitarist with John Cougar Mellancamp.

    Can’t watch this game any longer. It is making me stupid and less athletic.

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  12. Sad part is the Gaunchos are terrible.

    Duke and the ACC will beat us by 40. Lines in games will be Pitt +39

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  15. i’m downing a bottle of Jack and pills right now
    i’m going to dream and let my imagination take control
    i’ll expect unicorns, rainbows, kittens and fairies to appear
    much like many of you who see them while awake when watching our football team

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  16. Is there another team in all of Division I hoops (351 teams) that would go oh-fer in this 3 game stretch:

    @Navy
    vs Montana
    vs UCSB

    Could we be the single worst team in the country?

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  17. I forgot the start time on this game. I wanted to take the Gauchos plus the points and on the money line. I hope against hope that the Fighting Rockports can make a comeback and make me feel like I saved money.

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  18. I just want to say Gauchos Gauchos Gauchos……

    You guys are cracking me up.

    I’m donating money to the Basketball team for a new team barber.

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  31. we may seriously not win a game this year
    thank yu BoT
    thank u Gallagher
    no disrespect to Otis
    Pitt created the mess
    Jesus would also fail
    dont e-mail me ever again heather asking for money
    i dont give money for abortions

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  33. I can see it now. She has a basketball painted yellow under her arm. And she’s walking out to center court to honor former Pitt legend Chris Seabrooks, who’s in town because he didn’t choose to have itchy gauchos, but he did choose UPMC.

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  36. Son….. We love your ability and want you to come to school here. We want you to be a Gaucho. I thought you would never ask Coach. Let me tell the Panthers no.

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  38. Barnes is much more responsible for this than Gallagher (yeah I know, Gallagher hired Barnes, we all know its BS), but what about the coach making $2 million a year? Yeah, let’s let Stallings off the hook again, it’s not his fault, all he did was accept the job, wah, wah, wah… And one more comment to add, it takes a real sissy to sit behind an internet board and criticize the kids, they’re the least of the problem right now.

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    1. But isn’t desire and effort what everybody wanted or expected to see out of this team? I mean Young and Artis (the supposed cancers) are gone.

      Luther with a 3rd of Pitt’s rebounds. Milligan (the total scrub that Dixon recruited) leading the team in points.

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  40. I had to look it up because I thought UCSB may have changed their mascot to the Gauchos. But I was thinking we were losing to the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. Best mascot of all time.

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  41. The Gauch lay-ups happen so quickly after a miss by Pitt. The Gauch rebound and chuck the ball to the other end where their guy is out-hustling all Pitt defenders.

    How is this more effort that last year’s team.

    Same coach, different players.

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  44. The Gauch with 13 more shots than Pitt and leading in offensive rebounds 13-2. That all equals that the Gauch are leading in effort and desire.

    Sorry to be so blunt. Otis is not motivating these players to play hard and smart. Recipe for losing.

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  46. Offensive rebounding – Gauch 16 PITT 2

    Total rebounding – Gauch 37 Pitt 25 with 6 minutes left in the game

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  50. This team won’t win 5 games. But I’d rather watch them than the group last year that quit on Dixon in ’15-16, and again on Stallings last year. A couple of these guys have talent. But developing cohesiveness as a basketball team, particularly on defense, takes time. It’s going to be a very long year. The second half of this game is painful to watch. Very painful.

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  63. This from ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla after the game –

    This is not a knock on Kevin Stallings. It’s just not a basketball school right now. Sorry. twitter.com/franfraschilla…
    6minutes ago

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  64. The Gauch loses and PITT covers.

    Where did Upitt run off too, nothing to whine about? I’m getting him some good cheese for that cheap wine of his.

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    1. I quit watching the game Ike as it was gross by both teams. Yeah, we barely beat a team called the Gauchos that fired their coach last year. Bring on the Tarheels!!!

      If you call that basketball I have 5 beautiful acres for you near Storybook Forest.

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  67. Oh brother , I hope Barnes screws up the Oregon State football hire and gets canned. His job search cronies won’t be able to get him a gig after that….

    Liked by 1 person

  69. I only saw the last 3 minutes, so I have no opinion about the first 37. Being down 10 at home against UCSB must have been ugly.

    To say that Pitt executed well in the last 3 minutes against UCSB is not saying much at all. However, I liked the way Pitt ended that game. JWF made a nice play on the offensive rebound and drained the 3 from the wing.

    Parker Stewart looked shaky in his first set of FT attempts with a minute left, but was bailed out by Ryan Luther. Pitt did not foul UCSB, and although they gave up an uncontested 3, they boxed out on the next possession.

    Will this team win 10 games this year? Not likely.

    Will this team be a Top 25 contender next year? Not likely.

    I was impressed with a solid final few minutes from a young team.

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  70. Good for the boys, truly glad they got the win. I’m as convinced as ever that Barnes got the wrong guy (even though we did just beat the Gauchos), but good for KS as well.

    Lets go Pens.

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  71. The D is improving but we have no inside game at all. Every game shows improvement though. We were 21-25 on Ft’s and UCSB was 10-22. If we hit 3’s we will win a few more games.

    Next we get the pedos…

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  73. A couple others and I have said before, this super young team is fun to watch. I prefer this team over the last two years any-day. I’m looking forward to watching PITT basketball and their effort this year.

    What’s not fun to watch about a young hustling BB team that have each other’s back?

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  74. Barney’s son Isaac is a freshman on the Oregon State team. Listed as from Pittsburgh and played HS ball at N. Allegheny. 6’8” 225 lbs

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  76. Great article on the PSN by Mike Vukovcan on Stallings. What I’ve been thinking and saying. Hope you all read it and or it gets some play time on the POV blog.

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    2. None of the commentators agree on that article.

      Problem is as the article says he gets credit for only good but doesn’t carry any of the bad. House Money. Year 2 and still blaming Dixon. Fans aren’t dumb. They won’t come to watch this very bad coach.

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  78. Glad to see the two seniors play well tonight. Can Milligan hold onto the point guard spot? Carr seems a little overwhelmed but that should be expected.

    Peace altered three shots in his minutes but also had three turnovers. He has some long arms.

    I have no idea why this team doesn’t attack the boards.

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  80. Ike – It’s a good read but it’s also a bit misguided. It’s 100% true Pitt fans never gave Stallings a chance. There is no disputing that. Stallings, however, never really attempted to endear himself to the fans. He clearly didn’t read the room very well after taking the Pitt job. There clearly was some work to be done with building fan trust and he did not take advantage of the window he had after taking the job. He isn’t absolved of all blame.

    In my opinion, Barnes set up both the fan base and Stallings for failure and this relationship never had a chance to be a perfect union.

    Not only was the hiring process shady and reeking of nepotism, Pitt promoted a coach who was about to be fired. Pitt is a better job than Vandy. Stallings was about to be fired at Vandy. Pitt gave a guy about to be fired at a lesser job a promotion. Yeah, that’s going to piss people off … and then when they find out about the backdoor channels and friends helping friends … Please.

    Having said that, I really hope people remember that the kids balling on the court had zero to do with this mess. Despite the train wreck, they still committed to play for Pitt.

    As Ike said, this is a fun team to watch. I’ve enjoyed the first few games way more than I expected. I don’t know if it’s because I have zero expectations or the simple fact it looks like they’re having fun out there. I haven’t seen a Pitt team having fun on the court since Wanamaker left. The last few teams have been very hard to like. Players, attitudes, effort … you name it. Something has been missing. This team is really refreshing to watch. They make a lot of mistakes. There are a lot of WTF moments but you never question effort, hustle or attitude.

    Then, when things like this pop up after a game, it makes you smile.

    The team culture has been sour for the last few years. It’s stuff like this that turns a program around.

    Before someone twists my words, I’m implying it starts somewhere and seeing a kid practicing in an empty gym after a game is refreshing … especially after a poor shooting night.

    This is a new team. It deserves a shot. Especially, if they put in the effort. This is ultimately the team we have and we can’t change it this season. They’re going to be bad. Make no mistake about it. 10 wins is probably the upper limits of what this team will reach. It’s 11 new players who have never played D1 ball before.

    Only three other times this century has this much turnover happened in one season.

    Indiana won 6 games. Colorado won 7 games. St. Johns (#3 recruiting class) won 13 games.

    Let’s just keep it real and say Pitt didn’t have the #3 recruiting class.

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    1. Great post TT….

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      1. I second Jackagain’s reply TT. I remember in the early days of Ben Howland and those teams that overachieved.

        While I don’t think Stalling is Ben Howland…If these guys play with heart and give it their all that would be far cry from the previous 2 years.

        DaveD

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    2. Tossing…Good, real time pic of where things are. You cant coaxh a team with little talent to have more talent! They do show some resilience and I am happy they got a win. I see 3 more on the schedule.

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    3. So a kid on a full ride who had a bad game shooting gets some extra work in and this is worthy of a photo from a want to be journalist? This happens after just about every game in most sports. Tossing – You should expect more from these kids. This is what is supposed to happen. Why praise what is necessary and needed?

      Liked by 1 person

  81. Dokish blocked me Twitter. LOL…he can’t take any opposing opinion…

    Never said a thing political or snarky on his tweet threads.

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  82. Tossing +1

    Look, we know that this team is going to lose. A lot. But like Tossing implied, there is something about following a team with zero expectations that is refreshing. They appear to play hard, and if Rockports/Otis is to be believed, they are a very coachable group who are buying into the coaching process. The kids themselves deserve our support, even if we all hate how we got into this position. I curse Barnes regularly. I think Stallings has no chance of surviving more than perhaps 2 more years. Until then, I will try to enjoy the games. I know this: I could not stand watching selfish guys like Jamel Artis play with no heart. He and others completely quit on Jamie two years ago (look it up) and were pathetic to watch last year. Jamie Dixon was and is a good coach. But he was the captain of a sinking ship here. He jumped on a lifeboat at just the right time. Thereafter Herman buried the ship at the bottom of the sea.

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  83. JWF took the helm and steered the ship to victory. He was missing at crunch time vs Montana & Navy – on the court, but not grabbing the helm Lyke a team leader does. If JWF showed up in the first two games in the final minutes, Pitt could be 3-0.

    Hoping last night gives JWF the confidence to be the go to guy. This team needs that badly.

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  84. Attendance fell to 2,685 in last night’s win over the Gauchos. The girls are out-drawing the men.

    In one game at The Pete the women had over 10k in attendance.

    In two games for the men’s team, only totalled less than 5.7k

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  85. The girls game had kids bussed in from local schools and without that their attendance will drop dramatically next game.

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  86. Question… does Pitt pay the Gauchos to fly all the way from California to play a basketball game… if yes – does the money come out ticket sales?
    Save money and have a home and away game with the Duquesne Dukes…

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  88. Tossing, PSN and others, I for one gave Stallings a chance. While I hated how he was hired, a year ago at this time, I was writing here that he the coach and should be supported, However, all of that changed by early Feb when he continued to bash his players after losses. This guy is making > $2M ….. buck up Otis!

    You want to know why all his players bailed out from last year …. it is because he is a whining, sniveling, don’t-blame-me SOB …. that’s why!

    Of course, he has to be humble this year — he has no choice. Otherwise, people would laugh in his face. Maybe this past year has taught him something after all of these years — I sure hope so.

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  90. TT – good post!

    I get the negative comments and many are warranted but once in a while some of you need to stop with the same garbage over and over and over. We get it! Every comment reverts back to Pitt sucks at everything. Well, no Sh@#$%$#!!!!

    Just once, watch a game and point out a positive from the players. Every team, even the worst have a few good players. I know, it would kill you to admit KS may have recruited someone better than Dixon, LOL.

    Shamiel Stevenson and Marcus Carr are legit ACC players. They are both so raw, but they will be very good in another year or two. Stevenson is fun to watch. Nothing like watching a dude that looks like a linebacker throwing down monster slam dunks.

    See, that wasn’t so hard.

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    1. Shouldn’t we see how Stevenson and Carr play against ACC competition before stating that they are “legit” ACC players? It will be interesting to see how Stevenson’s bullish game plays in the ACC. Carr struggled against Montana. He didn’t start against UCSB in favor of Milligan (who played well in a legit 28 minutes). Carr played only 13 minutes.

      Seems like perhaps Milligan may have been legit last year. How’s that for positive?

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  91. and wlat ….. if any one of his players said to him “I’ll f*ckig kill you” like he did 2 years ago at Vandy, that player would have been thrown off the team.

    http://thebiglead.com/2015/02/27/vanderbilt-coach-kevin-stallings-to-player-ill-fcking-kill-you/

    I’m tired of Young and Artis being blamed for last year. The fact that all of his other players couldn’t wait to get out of town (Including Pgh native Cam Johnson who dad was an alum) tells you ll you need to know.

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  93. Michael Young payed the entire 2nd half of his freshman year with a back fracture, and played a few games of his senior year with a face fracture … he had no business being on the court for the first 2 games after he was hurt, he couldn’t even see out of one eye.

    He was also selected to be on the NCAA Oversight Committee
    http://www.pittsburghsportingnews.com/pitts-michael-young-named-to-ncaa-mens-basketball-oversight-committee/

    and now all of a sudden, he is this bad guy. No way. Stallings can go screw himself

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  94. A good win for this team…liked that the scoring was spread around and that there is depth, which wasn’t to be found the last couple of years.. This team plays hard. They actually drive hard to the cup which is good to see. Enjoy watching them play much more than last year’s team.. Saw improvement from 1st game vs. Navy. Not as many sloppy turnovers. Montana was giving PSU a game. Within 10 late in game. Like UCSB coach. Was Paternack on the radar when Pitt was searching for a coach?

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    1. A difference of 161? I’d bet at least 50 of those were you pumping up Stallings and the players and then the deluge of frustrated replies. That should put us up over 161!

      That’s all…Barvo

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  96. Reed posted an interview of Stallings on the prior thread. I found it a bit fascinating. The body language was a bit weird – especially at first. But he didn’t seem anxious to throw the players under the bus (which was a major criticism of him last year). Is he learning? Tough to say. But my major criticism of PN is that huge chip on his shoulder and his seeming inability to adjust his style to the capabilities of the players. With Stallings, I got the feeling that he was more in tune with the skillsets of the players and ready to adapt.

    It appears like both coaches are going to win about 15% or so of their games this year. I would feel better about the one that at least is open to bending his will to the talents of the players.

    Thinking ahead, he is going to gain Ellison and Golden next year. If he plays Golden at the five, he will have a starting unit that is all in the range of four star athletes. Four of those will have good experience (Ellison played a lot at St. Johns I believe)… I actually feel a little better about the BB team’s prospects. Plus, by all accounts, they are a fun group to watch…

    I guess I am in the minority but I think wee should give Stallings a chance. Kind of like what Reagan said about the Soviets – trust (him for now) but verify (next year)… lol….

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    1. Agree, Stallings should get three years with this freshmen class. Now, if he goes 2-26 this season and wins less than 10 next year then he gets the boot for sure. I don’t think it will go down that way, but who knows.

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  97. I’ve trusted the BoT for the past 35 years. The verification has been 0 championships in any sport and a run of mediocrity.

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  98. If this team tries and hustles so hard as some seem to believe, how is it that they were beaten 19-5 on the offensive glass and 43-35 overall? Same thing against Montana and Navy, just not as big a margin.

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