Pitt gets its rematch with hated Syracuse at home.  Lets see if we can figure out that 2-3 zone.

Hail 2 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.

94 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball: Pitt vs Syracuse Open Game Thread”

  3. anyone notice the NC State score? VT 47 NCS 24 … in Raleigh, I know VT has a good defensive team but Bud Foster would be happy with that score!

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  4. Cuse opened at -2.5. Up to -3.5 in Vegas now.

    I have no idea how the same Pitt team that lost big at Cuse will keep it that close? I love Capel and this team but unless he imports a few shooters or finds a new way to attack the 2/3 inside, we’re in for another long evening. But…we used to own the Orange…so there’s that! One thing…stop trying so hard to get the opening pass to the foul line….the Achilles heel of the 2/3 zone! Cuse was looking for it last game…all game.

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  5. off topic but .. The Pat Light or whatever it is called is on as of a half hour ago. It’s too early for Devonshire so my guess is a transfer

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  7. I definitely guessing transfer and hoping for the WR from VT. Limited scholarships drying up. Kamara or Kumah??

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      1. Sorry,there was an article attacked to the Filliponi story about a FB player going to Mercyhurst. I thought you were posting that, my bad…

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  19. I love Pitt and Capel but this is very hard to watch. Just walking the ball upcourt and banging your head against the wall. Over and over and over. We are just completely outmanned.

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  20. Some old same old. Pitt with more turnovers than shots made – similar to the Clemson game only cuse not shooting with a hot hand.

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  22. Game so out of hand already the announcers are going back in history to talk Cuse alums from 40 years ago. Come on guys. At least give em a game.

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  25. Thank God the Pens are coming on.

    We are just so pitifully outmanned a reincarnated John Wooden could not help this team.

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  27. However I keep thinking of the Princeton Teams that kept giving much MORE TALENTED Teams fits in the first round of the NCAAs.

    But of course they could at least shoot the Ball!

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  30. So our Pat Signal is a Kicker walk-on?

    And our BB team is getting clowned by cuse.

    Sad day to be a Pitt fan…

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  31. This is bad!I know Cuse is known for its Zone defense but come on. It’s like they never played against it. No ball movement, no motion on offense. Come on guys!

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  32. Frustrating there isn’t a strong four-man class coming in for next season. Also, it’s crazy how this is the third straight season of losing basketball. How fast the time goes. The blame falls on Barnes and Stallings but the main culprit is Gallagher.

    Capel must be thinking this job is a lot tougher than he imagined. If Pitt cannot land talented players because it won’t meet handlers demands like I’ve been reading then how will it compete?

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  38. If McGowens could have gotten anything Pitt would have had a good chance in this game. Good game by Brown…

    But the total inability to hit 3’s is still killing this team.

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  39. Pitt never had a chance tonight. Outmanned, outclassed and outplayed. This lack of recruiting thing is worrisome. I coached AAU on and off for 12 years. It’s a cesspool of street-hustlers and fake agents. Every recruit comes with a story and usually a boatload of posse. Everyone wants paid to influence. They are telling Capel, play the game or NO recruits.

    Don’t know how to get around it.

    Don’t know if there are anymore recruits without “handlers”.

    Only alternatives are transfers who’s handlers have already been paid by another school.

    I have no idea how Pitt/Capel survive this but for the 3 freshman, Pitt owes it to them to find a way.

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  43. Talk about unreasonable expectations. I think it is time to take a chill pill.

    In less than a year Capel has brought a corpse back from the dead.

    The Pete is alive again, and that is saying a lot, if you witnessed the morgue first hand last year.

    Do you really expect three freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and two transfer seniors,
    to compete in the ACC? If you do you are dumber and more incompetent than Stallings who
    left a disaster.

    At the game it was easy to see that each of our guys was up against a guy 2 to 6 inches taller than them
    and with much more athleticism across the board.

    As was mentioned Frame was our best rebounder at 6′ 5″, Their guy had to be seven foot at least.

    Syracuse while not a great team is good enough to have beaten Duke, they have athletes that we van only dream of.

    To blame coaching is hilarious.

    We are so inferior man to man it is ridiculous, we have 30% of the talent of Syracuse right now and our guys have been together less than a year. Their guys have been in the system much longer.

    I won’t talk about individual players other than every kid is doing the best they can with what they have right now and play hard. The young guys are going to get better and are ACC capable.

    I agree that recruiting is a concern, but if you think Capel didn’t know what he signed up for you underestimate him and are sorry and stupid. Recruiting to Pitt has never been easy and he knew that coming in. As far as the handlers dilemma, if Pitt wants to compete at a high level, they will do what it takes.

    I don’t think they would have made the investment in Capel, without understanding the rules of the game.

    It is disturbing that Capel has yet to sign a big guy capable of immediate production. If I recall, Jamie only got one, DeJuan Blair and even Adams didn’t contribute much as a freshman.

    I think everyone got overheated with Capel’s early recruiting success and need to understand that it may take a while to be competitive in the ACC, but we are in excellent hands.

    One last thing, it was a very weird game by the refs, don’t know how it looked on TV but it was strange.

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    1. Well said and totally agree. Not one iota blame on coaching. The fact Pitt cut it ti five was a minor miracle.

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  45. I didn’t see much of the game, but one thing I saw was the play where McGowens made a long 3 and was called for an offensive foul. And the basket didn’t count.

    Can someone explain that call and ruling to me? The announcer said something about McGowens sticking out his leg as he fell to the floor.

    Seemed like a bizarre call.

    Go Pitt.

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      1. It was a bogus, made up call. Capel never got an answer from the refs. I turned the announcers off long before that call – they were horrible too.

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  46. If you haven’t heard according to PG, Boheim told the officials to watch McGowans because he kicks out his leg on jump shots. Sure enough the ref made the call on a made 3….and took away the basket. I’ve never seen that call ever. Neither has Capel. It is Patriot like! Hope that ref gets his cash payment from Boheim.

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  48. Well I guess it’s about time once again for those that are disappointed in our under stared recruiting to chime in on our latest 2 star recruit commitment.

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    1. Did Rivals give him 2*? – good for Mr. Dennis. Welcome to Pitt, where you can win the Coastal division, get a great education and transfer through the portal system, if you so choose.

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  49. You are correct John in an earlier post…Scooter not pleased.
    Great crowd…too much standing around on offense…Brown not aggressive…not Bernies mustard color…great time at Hemingway’s with friends…gearing up for LOI event.

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  50. I saw some good with the bad in last night’s cuse game at The Pete. The most frustrating thing for me right now are the unfilled scholarship spots on the roster. The lack of at least one more serviceable big man is mind numbing – a grad transfer would probably add to our win totals and would not be taking a spot next season.

    C/F Brown – coming off strep and being a game time decision; he played 35 minutes, had 16 points, 6 rebounds (needed more) and 1 block (not aggressive enough). All in all, a nice surprise.

    G Ellison – in the starting line-up because of Toney’s hand injury; he played 26 minutes (fewest of the starters), scored 9 points but had 11 rebounds. He was mixing it up with the taller cuse players every minute of his time on the floor – his best game yet IMO.

    PG X-man – this young man plays hard and with much passion. He played 35 minutes and fouled out. He was hacked, wacked and even sacked almost the entire time on the floor. Jimmy B paid big bucks to keep his starting six out of foul trouble, with 3 being the most PF’s on a cuse player. X had 14 points, but shot only 18% from the field. If you watched the game, you had to wonder how he even made a shot. His 6 assists and 2 turnovers were an improvement and miraculous considering the hack job he received.

    G/F Frame – he passed the eye test for me with his hustle and extra efforts. JWF played 38 minutes, grabbed 7 rebounds and scored 12 points on 30% shooting (needed to be better).

    G Trey – tough stretch of recent games that he is going through after two 30 point performances. He played 30 minutes with a shooting percentage of 0% – he did make a nice 3 with a cuse player all over him, but Jimmy B called a foul on Trey and thus the basket did not count. Trey had 5 turnovers and 2 assists (not good). I’d say sit him for a bench player, but we are very thin and the bench averaged 2 points the past 2 games.

    G Toney – injured right hand; he only played 10 minutes, but grabbed 4 rebounds coming off the bench. He did not score, but had 2 assists and 0 turnovers.

    Coach Capel had a bad week – began by losing at Louisville on Saturday, lost Toney to a hand injury on Sunday, completely smoked by a bad Clemson team on Tuesday, lost a (badly needed) Center recruiting battle to Gtown on Wednesday and finished with a rivalry loss at home to the orange.

    MajorMajor – I think Coach Capel could use one of your encouragement letters right about now. Then again, we might see him at the Super Bowl tonight sitting next to Lebron and JayZ.

    H2P!

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    1. Was at another game at the same time, so appreciate the analysis!
      Checked the score from time to time and it looked like we were staying with them – even if from 7-10 points behind.

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    1. I was surprised that the kid seemed to have some quickness to him…

      But I’m concerned because I’ve seen the Doozer bring in several 200-poundish LBs who never seem to put on much muscle…

      Fingers crossed.

      Go Pitt.

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  52. Regarding Pitt Basketball. Maybe they should just pack it up and call it a Season.

    Pretty obvious they just can’t compete in the ACC… especially considering how they have yet to win a SINGLE Game.

    Maybe Narduzzi should start using the EXCUSE of just being Younger and Smaller than the other Guys.

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  53. Great thoughts Rick…thanks PoD, that explains his size listed at 205. Though it was a misprint. Hope the kid is a good get…ya never know.

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  55. Before the season, I predicted 4-5 ACC wins so Pitt is still on track. After the FSU win, I had hopes for 7-8 wins. At least Capel gave me hope. All Stallings gave me was a nightmare.

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  56. we are halfway thru the ACC schedule and you will not that the 2nd half is a little bit easier than the 1st half. Thus, if we go 3-6 instead of 2-7, we end up with a 15-16 record, with a chance of 16-16 with a win in the 1st round of the ACC tourney. Back in early November, we all would have taken that

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  57. Watched the game and thought PITT represented well. PITT basketball and football teams are in similar positions like a lot of sports teams, they have to play a really clean game to get the W. They don’t have to play perfect but cleaner. Lots of shots that went in and out and the refs call on McGowen offensive foul was fowl just terrible. Johnson two missed free throws late second half and you do not have a clean game. Now that the schedule lightens up bit, PITT and Capel have to capitalize on playing tougher competition and come up with a few more wins.

    The new PITT football recruit (Dennis) is interesting enough. He has some size and looks to be a hard hitter and most likely is a very smart player. Typical Narduzzi recruit. A wait and see recruit.

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  58. Our lack of offense is hard to take. Kids are open but still miss. Is it confidence or lack of practice, practice, practice. Or are they simply getting tired of the grind.

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    1. I doubt it’s practice. Confidence certainly plays a big role, but when it comes down to it, some kids have the coordination, vision, body-control and reflexes to be good shooters and some just don’t.

      That’s IMHO, of course. Similar to the ability to hit in baseball…

      Go Pitt.

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  59. Does the Peddle School count for a year of eligibility or would Sir Dennis have 4 years of eligibility?

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    1. I thought about that but I believe it’s a prep school just like Larry Fitz and Dion Lewis went to. Even though both left after 2 years, they both only had sophomore status and could have played 2 years more if they chose to do so. Was Galambos and/or Todd Thomas the same?

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      1. did a quick check and Peddie School is the same prep league as Blair Academy where Dion Lewis attended / played

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    1. I hope young Dennis is a good pick-up. Let’s hope this means nothing on the 4* Devonshire recruiting decision.

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  61. here’s my take on Sir Dennis’ recruitment …. and I’m sticking to it.

    First off … you note the he had committed to Air Force Academy and also drew interest from some Ivy League schools. Well, after MM’s scathing OpEd the other day about HCPN taking a back seat when it came to recruiting academics, PN told his coaches “the hell with finding an OL that benches 440 or a WR that runs a 4.4. Bring me a 4.0 gpa”

    And there you have it

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  62. Pitt also got a commitment yesterday from a preferred walk on punter out of Rochester, NY, Jared Cambell 6′ 2″ 200 lbs.

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  63. I saw where TE Tyrone Wheatley Jr from Michigan and former H.S. teammate of Q.Ollison has entered the transfer portal.

    Duzz had recruited this former 4* TE recruit – big Q could be an ambassador for the young MI legacy son entering the Pitt universe through the portal system.

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  64. What did the announcers say when Chukwu went down. The refs looke at the monitors but no call was made.
    Both Chukwu and Boeheim were making gestures like he was elbowed. He was down for a long time and the refs took their time at the monitors. Unusual for a crowd to boo an injured player. One of the oddities last night. Overall the refs really let them play last night, especially Syracuse who seemed to be getting a way with a lot of hacks. Then the call on McGowens which really killed any momentum for a second run.

    I personally think it will be very hard to get another win the way the schedule is set up.

    I an now hoping that Capel picks up two freshmen and two transfers, a rebounder and a shooter for immediate help. We need some beef underneath and someone that can score from outside. That would make us immediately more competitive.

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  66. Kids will leave after spring ball and summer camp. Scholarship limits don’t mean anything until the day the semester starts in the fall. That’s when you have to be in-line.

    This pickup means nothing. Sounds like a high character kid with good grades. It also sounds like he may have some upside and that injuries are what have him unranked.

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  67. Thought I hit post comment on this but it didn’t show up.

    To you Fran. I do know the contents of your glass. Always, always with the smile on… We keep going back to the well thinking it’s at least half full. When it rains? << synonym for the off season.. It fills the well up… May it keep on raining this PITT off season!

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  69. Anyone just watch Rocky Fowler take a snowman on a par 3? Erie you have to see this! Blew a 5 stroke lead pitched into the water on second shot.

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