45 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball Open Game Thread – Northern Illinois”

  3. Tarp that section………

    @Major – I think you need to expand your signature and change it to “Go Pitt, beat Dairy”. Candidly, I think all pitt players should end their interviews with Go Pitt, beat Dairy, or H2P, beat Dairy”. Wanna rekindle a rivalry….. Go Pitt, Beat State Penn!

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  7. Would be really nice if Capel would recruit some guys who can actually shoot from beyond the land.
    Sheese, another horrendous shooting half , 33% fg and 10% 3’s.

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  9. This color announcer….wow. Capel hasn’t achieved anything as of yet at Pitt. I mean i like the guy and i hope he succeeds, but he hasn’t recruited any big men yet that are on campus and he hasn’t recruited any real shooters. So much still in doubt.

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  11. Is this the interest level in this team ? 11 games in, this team is horrendous. Only way they could win an aCC game is if the game is fixed. I know…FSU. lol
    Reminds me of the BC team of the late 1970’s. Knew the Swissvale BC kid who helped fix those BC games.
    So yea it happens……all the time.

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    1. We had them all day he way, the Panthers were just toying with them and us of course.

      😂

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      1. Yea either NIU layed down at the end or Pitt was dogging it. What was the spread on this game ?
        Since all the players are easily bought it can be hard to tell. lol

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  14. Nice run to end the game but that was brutal. Amazing how these guys can’t shoot. Murphy can’t even score against non power teams. Bench time…

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  15. I started writing in game comments and just didn’t have the energy. Skippy is really bad. I know people like players for a lot of different reasons, but this kid is a stiff. He adds nothing. I’m sure he will have a big game sooner or later, but he is what I saw. Sorry, hope he doesn’t kill them. Terrible to have no options.

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  16. NIU didn’t score for the last 6 minutes.

    Must have been about when Scooter flipped his lucky Pitt shirt… 😊

    Go Pitt!

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  17. Somehow an unfulfilling win. Seemed to me NIU folded it’s tent when Champagne Life got the easy dunk and easy lay, basically uncontested. 38% FG inflated by some of those easy uncontested hoops at the end.
    So what did NIU get ($) for being a victim ?
    Having played hoops at a high level, these games fundamentally are pure garbage.

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  18. Oh and I’m not picking on Pitt…basketball in general is played at a fundamental, garbage level. Can’t watch any of it anymore(nba is even worse)….only watch the alma mater and that interest is waning as well.
    ok here we go….H2P….yippee !

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  19. That was an ugly win. Luckily they were ice cold down the stretch or we lose that game. That German was a real nice player. But not much else around him.
    we were lucky to win that.

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  20. agree with PittExpos on the lack of fundamentals EVERYWHERE on the Pitt team. There have been others praising JC and I hope he becomes the great recruiter Pitt has never had, but as far as coaching basketball, pffft, not expecting much. I bet the kids like him and play the kind of ball that talented kids like,,,,playground style.

    I’ll take Dixon’s team ball on offense and tough defense any day but maybe that’s half the reason talented kids didn’t come to Pitt. UVA plays it with Tony Bennett, but I see it less and less nowadays.

    8-3, I’ll take it for now. Hoping for 15 or more wins this year and development of the kids there.

    H2P!!!

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  21. I watched an espn higlight of the milwaukee all world player who took 3 very long steps with the ball on his way to a dunk and not one comment about traveling. I can’t watch bball until the tournament. Basic offensive fundamentals and solid defense should beat most teams nowadays. Duquesne is beating teams. I don’t know if the teams they are beating are any good. but the coach seems like he stresses ball protection and fundamentals. No primaddonna’s.

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  22. Tomlin is 8-6, but 0-6 against teams that had a .500 record when the teams played. Yet the media is pushing him for coach of the year. Not going to happen!

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  23. Major. We were there along with Wolfe…Scooter was loud and the sound carried.
    Haha.
    The pregame at Fuel and Fuddle plus Hemmingways takes a lot out of me.

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  24. Obviously some raw ability with these players, but I have to agree that their has been a very fundametal lack of discipline, bad footwork and shooting fundamemtals, and almost unbelievably bad off-ball movement. These coaches can’t be this ineffective, can they?

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  25. OK, the team is now 8 and 3. How many pretty wins? Face it, a pretty win involves good shooting. This team is athletic, plays defense, plays hard … but can’t shoot. This team may end up with 16 or 17 ugly wins this year (hopefully) …. enjoy it

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    1. I agree. This team has to win with good defense, good rebounding, and a lot of trips to the foul line.

      Tough way to win BB games, and makes for a long season…

      Go Pitt.

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    1. This JUCO TE looks quicker off the line, and out of breaks, than our TEs who played this season.

      This guy, plus the Florida transfer, look like an upgrade at TE for next season —but only time will tell.

      After what Whipple did at UMass with that nit transfer, you’d think “pass-catching” TEs would have a lot of interest in Pitt, but let’s find a big-time HS TE and get off this transfer cycle…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  27. So I could not watch the game but listened on the Pitt App. I think Capel did what many coaches do when their team cannot shut down a hot shooter with basic man defense. Keep in Man until they figure it out. Capel knew he could go to zone any time but is trying to reinforce good man to man qualities..learning help side defense, learning to communicate on picks, and moving your feet….all things this Pitt team is horrible at. Some coaches (me) are willing to almost lose a game to reinforce/set their man to man defense properly. They only way to learn it is to do it in a game. This is one athletic but lazy Pitt team.

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  28. Pitt is a volleyball school. And even the women were upset in the second round at home. Pitt sucks at sports. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I have a revolver and a bullet with Lucy’s name on it.

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  29. Pitt Basketball is simply unwatchable period from my standpoint at least.—-On our new TE Mortega from California I understand that Pitt beat out no one for his services. As I understand it he had no other offers. Let’s hope it works out for the best and we are getting another Morrissey(unrecognized talent by others) and not another Clark(recognized talent by others that never produced a thing).

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  30. Re Hoops, surprised at the critical comments of Capel, because anyone who has even halfheartedly followed this team has seen a trend of a much better Pitt performance in second halves then in first halves of games, particularly over the past several games, and a willingness by Capel to do whatever it takes, including yanking players that lack discipline (like yank X for the last 8 minutes last night?), in order to make things click, and the team is now 8-3, hopefully heading for 11-3 and 2-1 in conference to start the year. It’s easy to look at one game in a microcosm, but sometimes we need to step back like grownups and try to see the big picture. I do agree that this team serious lacks shooters, and especially 3 point shooters; short term I’d love to see Drumgoole back and given opportunity, because at this point we have nothing to lose in trying him out.

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  31. Playing the game with just good athletes and not good shooters is like trying to win a race with only one good leg.

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    1. Indeed. And I think this is why JC is preaching effort, toughness, defense and rebounding, so they can get turnovers, hold down scoring and give themselves a chance to win (ugly). The other element IMHO they need to develop is: “the extra pass”. They are starting to be less selfish for sure, there are definitely signs, but there are too many times where they don’t move well enough without the ball and do too much one-on-one. And I think the two are related, if you play on a team that doesn’t share the ball enough, it de-incentivizes (sp?) movement away from the ball. I believe this is one area where X should be expected to improve pronto.

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  32. After two years of Stallings I don’t get all the angst. I thought it was very cool how they pulled that one out at the end. McGowens was pretty amazing for the last few minutes and just took over the game. Stallings teams never won this kind of game, even in his first year.
    They are going to get crushed most nights in the ACC, just not enough talent, but getting better year to year.
    The unreasonable expectations are amazing.
    If the games are too painful to watch, don’t watch them.

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    1. I’m not sure if this team is going to get crushed most nights. The ACC is way down and if Carolina is still down its two guys when we play that game is even winnable.

      Nothing will be easy, but just Louisville and Duke appear to be the two teams who will crush us.

      Pitt should be 10-3 come the first game in January versus Wake at home. That would be a devastating loss.

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  33. Agree with Dan but didn’t want to go all the way to the term lazy…but it looks a lot like that many times.

    Gordon- agree that Stallings would have lost this game by 15 points! But, there are a lot of very very fundamental things (and Coach Dan is much more qualified than me, so I always look for his observation). I think the critical voices you hear are happy with 8-3 for sure, but confused by all the fundamental lapses which require no talent.

    In terms of watching – this team is much more entertaining than anything from Stallings. I will always watch any team with Pitt on the jersey, but just a matter of how much I cringe.

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    1. I get that the games are tough to watch, but Pitt BBall wasn’t going to be fixed overnight.
      Dan’s evaluation is spot on but some of the other complaints are over the top.
      Seems some never give the other teams any credit. German is a very good player, who can obviously score the ball.

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  34. Interesting

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