in Game Threads, Pitt Basketball 29 Words

Pitt Basketball: ACC Tournament Game 2 Open Thread – Syracuse

Pitt delighted the fans with a convincing win over BC last night.  Lets see if we can keep the momentum going tonight against the hated Orange.  Lets go Pitt!

119 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball: ACC Tournament Game 2 Open Thread – Syracuse”

  1. To combat Pitt’s slow start, I would open w Pitt in a full court press. Always gets players quickly involved in the flow. Simply cannot allow Cuse to dictate early. I like Pitt a lot tonight. Cuse is a man short.

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    1. Pressing will tire cuse players quicker too. They normally play 8 and Pitt plays 9. Tonight, cuse will play 7 with their leading score out with an injury.

      Run and beat the zone to the other end.

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  2. Dick Groat retiring from broadcasting after Pitt’s tourney run ends. 40 years behind the mic.

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  5. Dan, PITT will need Kham to play tonight as their bench is really thin as well. Plus Davis is a decent defensive player.

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  6. Beating the Cuse Zone is going to require Pitt to score from outside.

    Wilson Frame alone won’t be enough. And I’m not so sure McGowens can be counted on to be as HOT as he was last night.

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  9. Look… tonight is probably Pitt’s last game this year …and Groats. If so, I’m good with this season and Capels coaching but Cuse is missing their best player in Battle so it’s going to be interesting.

    Wouldn’t it be amazing if Pittwon and upset Duke tomorrow night it Groats last game.

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  10. Kinda feels like we are playing with house money tonight. Hard to be too disappointed if the game doesn’t go our way. Hopefully next year at this time my stomach will be in knots because we are a bubble team scratching for every win we can get.

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  11. Sometimes when it rains it POURS.

    McGowen has a FLASHBACK last night to early in the Season. Cuse’s LEADING Scorer by a long shot OUT!

    All of a sudden, I like Pitt’s chances.

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  13. Stop putting the ball on the floor Pitt big men. Go right up at the basket! Dare I say we’ve made all our FTs!?

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    1. they dribble when they dont have to
      they shoot instead of dunking
      cuse will foul out if Pitt plays smarter

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  14. Luv the unis
    Luv the play
    but this team still doesnt know how to break the zone
    poor passers and movement without the ball

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      1. Sorry Neil but we don’t do personal attacks on this site. And that includes telling people to ‘zip it’. Feel free to disagree but you can’t tell some to shut up. Love your passion for the team though, Tex, rightly or wrongly is entitled to his opinion. Just like you are. Thanks for understanding

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        1. To: MM; Texas Panther:
          My comments, in retrospect, were inappropriate at the time; being impassioned as I was, I felt the need to call out a fellow POV brother. And admittedly, Mike, you were correct to call me out. And I concur with your take on the matter.
          It was a scolding I issued, and and to an extent a questioning of Tx Panther’s character. (I have no right to do so in any circumstances, as the blog allows free speech and insists on measured, intelligent conversation and civility between us.)
          I regret it. And hope Tx Panther will accept my apology.

          —Neil CAS ‘93

          Liked by 1 person

    2. I mean you must have been an all American football and basketball player given the comments you post.
      Just STOP. Embarrassing.

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      1. Once more, per post:
        To: MM; Texas Panther:
        My comments, in retrospect, were inappropriate at the time; being impassioned as I was, I felt the need to call out a fellow POV brother. And admittedly, Mike, you were correct to call me out. And I concur with your take on the matter.
        It was a scolding I issued, and and to an extent a questioning of Tx Panther’s character. (I have no right to do so in any circumstances, as the blog allows free speech and insists on measured, intelligent conversation and civility between us.)
        I regret it. And hope Tx Panther will accept my apology.

        —Neil CAS ‘93

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    3. RE: Calling out a brother in Tx Panther was a mistake.

      To: MM; Texas Panther:
      My comments, in retrospect, were inappropriate at the time; being impassioned as I was, I felt the need to call out a fellow POV brother. And admittedly, Mike, you were correct to call me out. And I concur with your take on the matter.
      It was a scolding I issued, and to an extent a questioning of Tx Panther’s character. (I have no right to do so in any circumstances, as the blog allows free speech and insists on measured, intelligent conversation and civility between us.)
      I regret it. And hope Tx Panther will accept my apology.

      —Neil CAS ‘93

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  19. —The color announcer has not done his homework on Pitt.

    —Stay hot JWF!

    —Uh-oh! The Orange got the banked-in three pointer. We must overcome that…

    Go Pitt.

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  20. When as a big you get the ball down low DO NOT DRIBBLE…it pulls the D in on you. Go straight up w the ball.

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  22. low basketball iq this team
    brown has no hands
    if not for jwf, pitt would be getting blown out
    cuse is garbage though
    Pitt needs to light the match

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  25. The DIFFERENCE with Pitt seems obvious. For the second night in a row, playing much more RELAXED than previous weeks during the Regular Season.

    Maybe viewing Post Season as a FRESH start.

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  29. Pitt is exerting their will – taking what the Syracuse Zone gives and punching them in the gut.

    WF is en fuego but give the other players kudos for recognizing it and keeping him well fed.

    Will need something from Johnson and Trey in the second half. Syracuse is having to space out a bit more because of Wilson-Frame’s hot hand – the points need to come out in the second half and take advantage by driving – should be able to drive and tag a few more early fouls on the Orange bigs if nothing else.

    Anyway great game to watch – Pitt is getting a lot of good attention from the on court and studio talking heads too. No matter what happens as long as Pitt players keeps busting tail the program is going to get a lot of good
    PR tonight.

    H2P

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  31. who was it earlier this year poo poo my comment that I was glad JWF stayed here and that his Senior leadership was invaluable?

    What say you now.

    I am damn proud of these guys tonight…it reminds me of the heart that Howland’s early panthers played with before they became a tournament regular.

    HTP!

    Dave

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  39. Dan,

    Is it me or does everybody not names JWF seem to lack confidence when they have the ball? I mean they drive, stop turn around and look for someone behind them.

    Or am I missing something.

    They just look tentative even when they are in the post going up.

    I mean when the game started they got their bigs in foul trouble which got Syracuse off their game.

    Dave

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  40. Syracuse’s zone with their length is just an awful matchup for us. Jwf being unconscious has kept this a game but it is about to get ugly.

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  43. —Brown really struggling…

    —Another game where we give away several points because we have the ball under the basket and can’t score.

    —The Panthers may be challenged, skill-wise, but you have to love their effort…

    Go Pitt.

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  47. Jimmy Boeheim has the refs ear now. Sidygets pounded on the way to the hoop, no foul. Cuse player drives into the paint and gets touched, foul on Pitt.

    Tough to win when that happens…

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  49. The Freshmen don’t know how to compete two nights in a row. This team is looking really tired now. If they somehow survive this game tomorrow’s game against Duke would be ugly.

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      1. I don’t know if it makes them look good, but I personally think they have come a long, long way from a year ago.

        So I think they look good because as Reece Davis said this program was left in tatters a year ago.

        I think the future looks bright.

        Dave

        Liked by 1 person

  50. Expected Cuse to start going inside with its BIG Man being allotted some space around the basket in the first half.

    But why do it when you obviously think you can simply shoot BETTER the other Team.

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  60. Poor showing by X tonight. And McGowens was invisible. That’s game, set and match right there. Arrow is pointing up though. Nice to see JWF finish strong. Would like to see him get one more three. On to spring football POVerts…..

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  65. Sadly, this will look Lyke a blowout in the morning.

    Sadly, it was a blowout in the second half.

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  72. Yeah let’s blame the coach…

    Who has had less than a full year to recruit. That was given an empty shell of a program.

    I know here is an idea…let’s fire this guy because Sean Miller is gonna get canned and we can hire him.

    I implore you to go back and watch in the Dixon golden years and how he attacked the Syracuse 2-3 zone.

    the guy in the key who got the pass either took the jumper or dished it inside. Yes occasionally they would dish it outside for the 3

    Almost 90% of the time tonight they hesitated and looked to pass the ball back.

    Dan72 said it best, the players looked intimidated…and it showed.

    I don’t blame the players…they played their hearts out. I don’t blame the coach he is doing a pretty damn good job given the dearth of talent he has right now.

    Finally, I think anyone who thought that somehow this team had a run in them was kidding themselves.

    I think being a 14th seed that 1.5 wins (last night and the first half tonight) is about as good as it was going to get for this team.

    Sorry for being a smart aleck, but I really think being negative given where this program was with Otis to me is ridiculous.

    Dave

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    1. Dixon almost always had a decent to very good center and a guy who could shoot from the key. Capel has zero…

      He actually had Toney at the key. He can’t shot at all…

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  74. Pitt’s defense is predicated on everyone playing as a team and getting back quickly in defensive position. Pitt’s legs were shot second half and Cuse broke down Pitt’s ragged defense in every conceivable way. Still not bad for 3 players and 10 walk ons! H2P

    NOw go get some recruits !

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  75. Face it fellas… Capel is ONLY as good as his Players. Nothing less and certainly nothing more.

    Tough PILL to swallow. I get it.

    But history shows that’s what he is.

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  76. I guess I made a friend with Neil today. Seriously, what is your problem. That was my opinion. And it was validated with Pitt’s play today. Would luv to meet you at a Pitt game one day. But attacking a fellow Pitt alum is just not cool. Did I steal your girlfriend back in the 90’s?

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  77. TX… simply attacking a fellow Pitt alum is not that bad. WORSE is when someone actually posts LIES in a desperate effort to discredit you.

    That’s about as LOW as it gets.

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  78. JWF would make a great TE athletically.

    To answer one of the posts above, I do think it is possible to coach really well on one night and the next night, coach poorly. Same as playing. The idea I think, is to get consistent.

    Tough end to the season. Just didn’t have the horses. Maybe we land some bigs this next week.

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  79. Hey Neil, FWIW, about 4 or 5 years ago, I actually thought UPittBB was a WVU troller based on all of the negative comments. I’m serious. I didn’t know how an alleged Pitt fan could be so anti. Then with the addition of TxPanther. I concluded it was a Texas thing.

    Fact is just like in politics or music or you name it, everyone has a different viewpoint and has a different way of expressing it … and especially when it comes to venting frustrations. Some are glass half full, and others are glass half empty.

    Here is my viewpoint from last night …… Done in by Buddy Boeheim; It probably would have been better if we lost Tuesday evening. But seriously, I see this program getting back on its feet … maybe not as fast as any of us would wish, but it will get there

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  80. Of course coaches are better when they have better players. Coach K is much better when Zion plays than when he doesn’t. Is he less of a coach without Zion?

    While I agree with the tired legs, that is caused by having no depth, even less last night without Chukwuku. However, without a guy that can beat the zone by making shots at the foul line you will never beat Syracuse. Jamie had Boeheim’s number because he always had a guy who could do this. You get the ball to the foul line make the shot or dish underneath, another problem area for Pitt, or back outside for the three. Unfortunately, neither Ellison or Toney can make the shot. Brown’s weak hands and lack of quickness to the hoop was on display as well. Yes it is the players that can’t execute the game plan. Even our excellent guards can’t routinely drive past the outstretched arms of Chukwu, plus we don’t have anyone that can make a 10-15 foot jump shot.

    JWF kept them in the game until they put a blanket over him in the second half. I still don’t understand why McGowen going strong to the hoop, with the intention of getting Chukwu to foul out didn’t seem to be part of the game plan.

    But no matter how you slice and dice it, Pitt just doesn’t have the horses to beat the top half of the ACC teams

    Time for Capel to go get some more that can.

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  81. the big difference between playing BC and Syracuse is the athleticism of their bigs. I don’t know how many blocks there were last night, but it had to be close to a record.

    It was mentioned last night that 10% of Pitt’s shots taken this year were blocked, the most in the NCAA. That’s the way the 2 frosh guards play, they attack the rim. Heck, McGowens passed up a couple of wide open shots.

    Hopefully, there are more options next year than the 2 attacking guards and JWF …. because that is all they had this year. They need an athletic big man and a few more shooters to begin with

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  82. On the merits of Coach Capel with respect to actually coaching, I thought Pitt showed progress last night against the Orange zone. That is, in the way they tried to attack it. They either drove or passed the ball to inside the foul line area, I thought more than in their previous games.

    Agree with others that we just don’t have that high-post player right now – though Toney gave some hope on the first couple of possessions, and Ellison actually did a couple of good things – (surprising me).

    If we had a big with hops, we would have been in that game to the finish – not that that’s a great accomplishment, but our big easily cost us about 10 points, I thought.

    And on McGowens driving, I thought you could hear Coach Capel telling him, after an unsuccessful early attempt, “they’re waiting for you in there…”. Seemed like Coach wanted him to shoot from the outside or pull up or dish…

    Go Pitt.

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  83. So PITT hoops is done for another year but I have a sneaky suspicion the off season will be every bit as suspenseful as the games were? PITT and Capel badly need reinforcements and btw, PITT only played 7 players last night. Tired legs indeed. Capel needs to do some serious recruiting and by that I mean talent for the future and a few players that can help out immediately.

    It’s not so much the negativity as much as it is the barrage and volume of it. Trust me I’m chuckling to myself right now when I say, it’s the same thing and point made over and over and over and over again. Now I’m ain’t saying each and everyone of us doesn’t deserve the courtesy and respect if we take the time to write on the POV, we all do. I’m just saying I can understand how frustrating it is to read the constant sour grapes from the same posters day in and day out. Kind of like I drive so many posters crazy with my thoughts. So lets play on, nothing to see here….

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  84. Looks like we just got our next hoops recruit ike! The better of the two (as of right now) Champagnie twins, with the other going to school for one more year… Now we have to shooters coming, Drumgoole and Champagnie…. H2P

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  85. I see that now 1618, thanks for the heads up. Looks like the brother will be coming the year following. Definitely the better of the two coming next season. They need a big center that doesn’t have hands made of wood.

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  86. This season was a good step in the right direction. Trey and X need to work on their outside shooting in the off season. Great that a few good recruits have been added. A couple more with a shooter or two would be very nice. 4 total ACC wins is about what was expected. Could have been a couple more if we had BC, GT and WF at home. H2P! On to football!

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