Pitt hits the road to take on North Carolina State.  Lets go Pitt!

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

101 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball: Pitt vs NC State Open Thread”

  2. If Capel gets this team to win its first ACC road game, and thus a 2-game win streak, they should sign him to a lifetime contract, and buy him a house in Shadyside.

    JK, but only a bit.

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  3. Spread is 12.5 State. This will be a very difficult game. NCStates MO is to speed up the game and force mistakes. Brown again is the key. He cannot foul out!

    Go get em Pitt!!!!

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  17. Pitt applying backcout 3/4 press. Pressing teams hate pressure and being pressed back. Something I used to get all over Dixon for. His teams would just stand around and take it.

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  20. Pitt took the lead and now down 1 at the half. Capell agenius going to the 2/3 matchup zone. Slowed State to a crawl. We’re in this to the end. Let’s go Pitt!!

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  24. Considering X was on the bench with foul trouble most of the first half, things are looking up. If the guards get going and can drive to the rim then NC State is in trouble with their guys in foul trouble. Things are looking up at the half.

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  27. Folks, we have a chance to steal one on the road. Pitt’s zone and patience are killing NCState. Pitt up 3 w the ball.

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  30. looking good
    making FT’s
    NC St doesnt look as good as their record
    why the spread so large in this game

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  31. I have never seen a team handle the ball so sloppily and be outrebounded by so much, yet hold a lead this long against a highly ranked team.

    I’m perplexed, yet intrigued by this young Pitt BB team.

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  34. This is a lucky break that NC State has 2 starters out and their bigs in foul trouble. The opportunity will never be greater to steal one on the road.

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  35. Have you ever heard worse announcers? Worme was on a local news station a few years ago. He was horrible then and horrible now. Hoping that Pitt can hold on. Playing very tough. Need a big to rebound.

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    1. Hold on to what? The ball? The lead already got away.

      Needing a big to grab a rebound or how about any Pit player grabbing a rebound. Do we have any rebounds in the 2nd half?

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    2. I thought the play announcer was biased towards NCS – no doubt. But I didn’t think Bonner (color) was

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  54. Capel needs to start recruiting for some depth. He needs a couple guys so he can pull guys like Frame when he needs to and to rest guys more. Thank God N’Dir is back.

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  56. Good game. Pitt is essentially an incomplete team. Being competitive is a first step to relevance. I’m beyond satisfied so far.

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    2. And all 9 points were with one player – so in essence, Pitt played with six today.

      Off topic with FB – maybe Pitt’s next OC just got freed up –

      Wyoming: Source tells FootballScoop offensive line coach Scott Fuchs is not expected to return.

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  61. The future would look a lot brighter with some recruits. The rebounding issues need corrected with some bigger bodies. It seems like it is Wahab or bust and the grad transfer market. Would a really good post player go to Pitt with Blue Bloods sniffing around?

    The three guards are such a pleasure to watch and Brown certainly will improve to be a serviceable ACC player. Kham Davis will also play a role during his career.

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  62. PITT played a strong game. Let’s not talk about who NCS had lost in the game. PITT’s best player only played 8 or so minutes in the first half. ….. but a loss is a loss but I do believe in how the game is played as being important. The team is one or three bricks shy of a load at this time but I like the way this team competes. Capel has won me back and now he has to get a few good recruits for next year and PITT will be good to go,

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  63. I have thought for several years that only other teams were allowed to have guards who are lightning quick and can not only drive to the hoop, but actually make the shot!

    We’re starting to look more like Louisville and NC State than Louisville and NC State…

    Go Pitt.

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  64. FSU blew a late lead and lost to Duke by 2. They are going to take this out on us I’m afraid…

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  66. Last year we only lost by 4 to NCST at the Pete, but that was after having a 10 point lead at the half. We only scored 25 in the second half.

    Oddly enough, JWF scored 22 in that game….

    Go Pitt.

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  67. Pitt cannot continue to get killed on the glass like they did today. A ton of second chance points given up. Brown is serviceable on the offensive end, and does block some shots, but he has no arm strength to fight bigger guys for the ball. He definitely needs to get stronger. Frame is a real disappointment so far. After some good games against lesser competition, his shot has dried up against ACC competition.

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  68. Watching the National Fixed League – KC must be the commissioners choice today – holding by the Chiefs on every play – makes it hard to watch.

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  70. Interesting game. Toney with a strong performance. Brown getting better, but not enough vs the real strong men of the ACC. Chukwuku disappeared. Foul shooting kept them in the game. Frame being Frame, just not ACC level player. Same with Ellison, not enough talent. They lost the rebounding and three point battles today. With two NCST down and out early.

    Bottom line is the lack of depth kills this team. They are going to fight hard, but tough defense creates foul trouble and no depth makes for tired legs.

    Glad they got that first win early, because the schedule is very tough.

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  71. Watching KC versus Indy, I’m wondering why we don’t model our offense after KC’s…

    They use quick slants, motion and counter motion. A QB who can run and scramble. Kelce is called a TE but he never blocks – Matthews would work in that roll. And they have some small, fast guys, which we have…

    Speed, speed, speed!

    We can tell Coach Duzz it’s a “Pro” offense – because it is…

    Go Pitt!

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    2. Its RPO
      Easy to learn
      Creates mismatches
      Gets your fastest players in space

      Watch Philly tomorrow
      Same thing but with less talent
      If Philly can do it, so can Pitt

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  72. I’m afraid Narduzzi is stuck in the dark ages when it comes to offensive play calling. Pitt definitely needs someone to come in and repeat what Canada did in his one season at Pitt.

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    1. How about one more season with Canada?

      I believe Duzz is trying to make that happen.

      Just saw a great interview with Aaron Donald – it was Howie Long, Michael Strahan & AD sitting down for a meal with Q&A’s. Long & Strahan anointed AD as the best at the table.

      H2P!

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  73. I know this is somewhat petty, but I wish McGowens and to a lesser extent Xman, would tone it down on embellishing the physical contact.

    I fear that the exaggerated head snaps will get our guys on the wrong side of the refs and make the refs less likely to call real fouls.

    Course it also drove me crazy the way Jamie Dixon was always out on the floor while the game was going on…

    BB pet-peeves from an old geezer!

    Go Pitt.

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  74. Was there another player that hit a three beside Kham? << who is not PITT’s outside threat, Brown is weak inside with no hands and zero conception of the play at hand.

    Agree with gc, they got tired……………..

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  76. Love Capel and this team so far. My only criticism at this point is that JWF is getting g too many minutes. It’s bad enough when he’s missing all his threes, but then he starts taking bad shots resulting in easy buckets the other way. He’s one dimensional and that becomes a liability. I’d rather see Ellison get the minutes.

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  77. one step at a time….beating ‘Ville was a good step…need to be patient. X, Trey and Toney are excellent building blocks.
    Look out if JC can recruit some sold big men

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  78. JWF is just not a starting P5 player. It’s as simple as that. Ryan Luther had the same limitations. Both played well in the non-con and struggled in conference. He may also be one of the guys who is just better off of the bench too. His best games were as a 6th man.

    Look, this team is going to struggle. It has severe limitations. Their best 3 players are freshmen and they lack a front court. The team competes hard though and you can tell they want to get better.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see JWF moved back to the bench and maybe even someone like Kham jump him. Especially as the season progresses and Capel focuses more and more on who will be here next season.

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  79. Kham appears to be the better defender and if he can keep making threes…
    If N’Dir comes back. Frame definitely gets less minutes.

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  81. Couple things on JWF:

    He really does need to start making some outside shots. He’s a defensive liability and PITT needs scoring.

    His real value though, is in keeping the younger players on an even keel. His leadership skill is a little under recognized imo

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  82. Oh and thanks EE, I forgot about Toney’s clutch 3 pointers. Still think Parker Stewert could have helped this team some?

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  83. Really good news that Toney finally had a solid ACC game, hopefully got some confidence back.
    Interesting that Frame apologized, not sure what that means.
    His poorer play coincides with his expanded minutes since N’Dir went down.
    With Frame, it seems that less is more and he needs to play within his abilities.
    I don’t know if they keep such records, but I’m guessing he set a record for missed three point shots in a season last year, and is heading in a similar direction this year. He can help the team if he plays within himself. Hopefully N’Dir gets back soon, and Frame comes off the bench as needed.

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  84. I saw JWF’s tweet … he shouldn’t have to do that. You can tell JWF is trying. I’m not worried about effort. The ACC is just a league that is one level too big for him, I’m afraid. Shooters, shoot. He has to shoot himself out of it. What i don’t like is that he has a hard shot so it’s not rim friendly. His misses tend to turn into long rebounds instead of a soft rebound. That has turned into transition points for a few teams.

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  85. I can’t figure if Ellison is as poor as his play lately or if he is in some kind of slump, but so far he hasn’t contributed a whole lot. When you look back at Stallings recruiting, over and above his poor coaching, it is mind boggling disgusting. The search firm that recruited him and his boss should be sued for conspiracy to ruin a program.

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