204 thoughts on “Clemson at Pitt Open Basketball Thread”

  3. And another bitch… why did we spend a small fortune to refit the entire university in new colors and then dress the team in black???

    I’ll be a lot less cranky when we open a double digit lead at the 10 minute mark.🤣

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  4. The Panthers need to come out fast and with energy. This is no time for a Clemson upset. Things still need to fall right to get an NIT bid.

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  7. This one is a must win if they want an NIT bid IMO. One of the few “easy” games left on the schedule.

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  11. Very surprised to see Pitt in a 1/4 offensive set vs man D as opposed to the Flex. Saw it a bit last game. It truly is the most effective offensive for getting the ball inside vs man D.

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  14. Dan: it looked to me like Skippy hit Hamilton right in the hands and Hamilton wasn’t looking for the pass.

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  20. Here’s how you beat this D of Clemson. You must make your man play you when you have the ball. You can’t just look to pass. Make a move or fake a shot.

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  26. It’s not like we haven’t seen a team pack in a tight D and make us beat em from outside. Pitt seems intimidated by this team D from Clemson. Skippy still in a coma!
    We better come up w answers soon of Clemson will have a 7 game winning streak. Just awful play by X

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  28. Game is certainly not over. But this is not our best effort. We consistently play at the level of our weaker opponents.

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  33. Pitt getting clowned by Clemson. I can live w getting beat but I’m seeing a lack of effort by Pitt I’ve not seen before. I’m also starting to believe the X vs Skippy feud. X simply will not pass home the ball. Right now I sit X. Maybe for the duration. I need a break …back in 15.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Boooooooo! What a disaster!

    I won’t call out any players in case the PC police are monitoring this blog – but I will call out the coach – tonight, Capel was out coached by a bad Clemson coach.

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      1. You can say someone is having a bad game or cannot drive.. whatever. It’s calling them names that bothers me. The pros have bad games too. How about we agree on that?

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      2. No Annie – while in the doctor’s waiting room today I stumbled across a bunch of arguing bloggers discussing why you shouldn’t call out players – I don’t recall seeing your name, so to be perfectly honest, it was a general statement to the public at large…

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  37. Still don’t have anyone in double figures. Could use the kid from Cleveland who scored 52 the other night.

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  49. This one’s over. Clemson blowing us off our own floor. Beyond disappointed. I would never let X take another shot with that streetball amateur jumper from chest high. In fact X would sit a lot if I were coaching. H2P. Get em this weekend

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  50. X would get like 90% of his shots blocked in the NBA. He could never play with that low release point on his shot. That talk at the end of last year was ridiculous. McGowens the same. Not ready for Prime Time Players.

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  53. Worst performance of the season. Played very flat on both ends…no sense of urgency. This is a disappointing loss.

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  56. See my first comment. When the only way a team can beat you is with threes and you don’t even bother to guard their shooters you get crushed by a team that shoots 54% from the field. 0 basketball IQ. Someone said it earlier. How on earth did Pitt win 15 games???

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  57. Even though we’re getting some much needed Bigs next year. Capel really needs to recruit a true PG. He’s gotta know that. Right ?

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  58. X & Mac Attack went a combined 2 for 20 from the field. And we lost by 20. To those that went to the game, Pitt should offer a refund or at least a box of skittles.

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  59. Capel needs to learn how to coach imo. Fool me once your fault, fool me twice or fourth or fifth etc…… my fault.

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  60. They knew before the game that they are on a very thin margin if they want to make the dance. And so they come out, at home, against one of the poorer teams in the conference, and give us the worst effort of the season. Clemson made 50 percent of their threes because for the most part they were uncontested. A pathetic performance.

    Liked by 3 people

  61. The men better not look at social media after this game. But you know some will. And then some will have their fragile egos bruised. Such is life.

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  62. Even positive Koolaid drinkers on social media have soured

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  63. Extremely disappointing to see them play this bad when the post season is on the line. They can look so ordinary sometimes. Clemson took their entire game away.

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  64. The biggest takeaway for me was coaching – the team was not ready again at the start of the first AND second halves. They also finished both halves with a thud.

    That is coaching IMO…

    The second biggest takeaway, and I’ll be careful not to name players, was the lack a shooting talent.

    The coaches recruit the players and help them refine their skills in practice.

    Wait until next year???

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I never thought Capel was a good coach. He reaches very high when recruiting because he carries that “Duke Aura” with him. And to be frank not bringing a capable point guard by his second season brings into question what he’s been thinking about even on the recruiting from.—-For the NCCA playoff dreamers that flew out the door yesterday and perhaps even the NIT dreamers did also.

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  65. I had to turn it off. That was hard to watch. To the casual observer, maybe the uniforms could be mistaken for Purdue????? Those uniforms are awful, just awful! Was the weather a factor for attendance or are the paying fans able to see what became very evident tonight? The kids dont play together. Same mistakes by our guards this year as last year…..like tino running out of ounds for a 4 yard loss instead of throwing the ball away.

    Id take Krauser and Levance any day…..but thats just me. Our guys are the best we got but it is becoming obvious that the most consistent thing about their games is their inconsistency.

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  66. Exactly, EE.

    This team not good enough for any post-season play. I’ll say it again — this year is practice/development for next season. Just too limited right now…

    Go Pitt.

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  67. The uniforms, as ugly as they were, are incomplete. They should have had a gold “U” next to the “P”! Agree w Dino1. Why spend all the $$$ on a new look only to not use it on National tv?? Only at SOP.

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  68. Just got home from the game. By far the worst performance of the year. Sleep walking the whole game. No movement at all and just run the motion of fence on the outside These teams know there are no shooters on the team and they play accordingly. Absolutely no inside presence and no movement in the box. Will Brown ever learn to go straight up instead of putting in on the floor? Not enough talent to be relevant. They may loose their last 5 games. I don’ t See a win anywhere. They will be lucky to score 30 against the Va. defense.

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  69. Just listened to Capel’s post game presser. He is very careful not to throw individual players under the bus. But he is clearly exasperated. Not happy that they are so inconsistent and seem to lose focus easily. I loved his comment on how he hates to lose and won’t sleep tonight, while most of the players were on their phones (Instagram, Snapchat, etc) within minutes after the game and put the game in the rear view mirror immediately. I really like him a lot. I think it’s harder to coach when you are playing with half a deck, which I think he is.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. missingwlat— couldn’t agree more.

      Fortunately more “cards,” and hopefully a few “aces,” are on the way…

      Go Pitt.

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  70. More bad news — the baseball team opens the season on Friday in Florida. Just kidding about the bad news… 😊

    The home opener – and I kid you not – is March 3rd against YSU. Bees in the handle!

    Sounds like there may be as many as 4 Junior college transfers in the starting lineup as the Coach tries to revamp the team.

    I wish the baseballers all the best. 👍

    Go Pitt.

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  71. Still pissed over the game. Right before He runs this team til they drop tomorrow, Capel should make the starting 5 play half court against a 6 man zone until they score 30 points. Never have I seen such hesitation and ineptness vs a simple 2/3 zone. X is the main problem. His ineptness/selfishness at creating plays has the rest of the team standing around in utter frustration. Put McGowan at the point Sit X. Please!

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  73. Just a terrible effort last night.

    Amazingly the chance to cut it to six late was there and Hamilton blew an easy layup. To make matters worse he sprained his ankle near the end and who knows his availability for Saturday. Hamilton is needed because I cannot watch Brown for long spurts. He is useless when it comes to rebounding. He cannot do it and is really soft for a junior. Clemson’s bigs ate him alive.

    The shooting was horrendous, as was the perimeter defense once again. A road win Saturday is a must to have a shot at the NIT.

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  74. Although many of them can score there is not one player that you are surprised when they miss a shot. We are surprised when they make one.

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  75. When Clemson fed the low post, Pitt players had to double down, creating a wide open shot for the guards and the wings. The few times Pitt fed the low post, this did not happen. And the reason is the lack of underneath talent continues to kill this team ….. both offensively and defensively.

    And when the rest of the team …. not only the 2 soph guards ,,, aren’t playing well, then you see what happens. The 2 guards, the soph and freshman wings did not play well, and of course, going down low is fruitless.

    So people can blame the 2 guards all they want …. and they didn’t play well, but remember this:

    — they were end of the year pick ups and since they began as frosh, they have had the weight of this program on them

    — Skippy? He can’t even get a shot off for the 2nd or 3rd time in ACC play

    — Champ is a frosh and Audiese is a soph. There is no upperclassmen or underneath leadership / presence on this team. NONE

    — any chance that MacGowen’s young brother Bryce, a 4-star, joing Pitt had left the station a long time ago

    — X never claimed to be ready for the NBA; that all came from his coach

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Everything you said is true, per usual. Except the last thing about X. I saw an interview when he said it, and I believe Capel commented about it thereafter.

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  76. To me this Clemson game was the basketball equivalent of Pitt’s football game with BC this year. Lots to play for but the team wasn’t interested.

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  77. just read the list of players on the Big33 roster…lot’s of boys moving on to forward their education at excellent institutions…only one is going Big time and that is our own Mr. Sunseri…

    Relax on the BB season ..it will get better next year. Need more fire-power, a deeper bench a a quarterback. You can get your “Basketball Jones” on next year.

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    1. Syracuse’s OOC schedule — I had to look…

      At Rutgers
      At Western Michigan
      Colgate
      Liberty

      Well done, Orange! Looks like a chance for another top-twenty season… 😊

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Rutgers an easy P5 win. Western Michigan a Mac school. And then two schools you’re paying between 500k and one million for a rent a win

        Jersey for recruiting. A Mac school with home and home is iffy

        Good scheduling by their AD. Not perfect but far better than Pitt.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I find it curious that all ACC teams but two populated the last spots on the poll. I assume that there was some math analysis made, and I’m well aware that many ACC teams have easy OOCs (as I have been telling you guys for years) …. but, how in the hell is Clemson ranked so low when they have both ND and So Carolina on its schedule? As I said, really curious?

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  81. I guess some of you are right, it’s always, we will get them next year. Yet I always believe that to be true, especially for 2020-2021. I think the future is bright across all fronts. For some, it’s not dark yet but it’s getting there. Made me think.

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  82. I’m certainly glad that Capel is Pitt’s HC and look forward to the next few years. However, he made one big error in judgement when assumed the position. He likely thought that he could pull in the really big recruits like he did at Duke. And you may recall that he went after only the top centers and power forwards, even Zion, probably thinking that he could get at least one … but he struck out.

    And remember, while Hugley was a highly thought of big man, he wasn’t sought after by the likes of Duke, UNC, Kentucky or even Oh St. Thank goodness for the early signing period because chances are that OSU would be all over him right now …. and he might go the route of Henry Parrish.

    And Capel now has a much better perspective

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    1. I kind of like Coach Capel shooting high, so to speak, in recruiting. Aside from bribes, and unlike football, we can check the boxes for a BB recruit.

      On the women’s side, Coach White also seems to be aiming high in recruiting – with a top-100 forward coming in next season.

      I agree with ike that, while shaky now, the future is bright for both BB teams…

      Go Pitt.

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      1. but Capel brought in no big guys at all last year …. none. The 2 centers were Brown and Chukwuka, who are really power forwards, Even if he was able to bring in a 3-star center last year who could defend, this year’s team would be so much better off.

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          1. Antigua lured that big, Cockburn, to the Illini. Orlando couldn’t recruit to save his life when an assistant at Pitt and maybe Dixon had something to do with that. Capel went after “big fish” and missed on all of them.

            Bigs are on the way but won’t be saviors since they’ll be just freshmen. Next year’s team goes as far as Horton’s ability to shoot, Gerald and AKC’s improvement and Hugley being somewhat competent at center. Definitely more depth will be on the roster, which will help.

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  83. Good morning POVers. The one play I saw over and over in my pissedoffness last night was …..Pitt had cut the lead to 7 with 6:38 to go and after a couple of empty trips, X man gets the inbound pass sprints up the floor and charges 1 on 3 into the Clemson defenders for a charge. No pass, no look to involve others ..just a selfish charge into the pack. Right there, if I’m his wing or post player, I just I just mentally throw in the towel. X is becoming a cancer on this team. It is problem number 1.

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    1. Well Dan and a good point. I hate to bring up Skippy but there is absolutely no reason to play Skippy as the PITT mafia sophomores will not throw him the ball while he is open for a shot. I watched Clemson and I think his name is Akim, dish the ball to the open man over and over again. Now, I do not blame the players here, Capel has to get/TAKE back control of this team and run an offense that looks like a P-5 basketball team should be playing.

      Now to really piss everyone off I’ll say this… Narduzzi would be held to the cross for a team performance like PITT displayed last night. or should I say mis-played last night?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. This is Capels second year. Not 5th. And Capel is getting scrutinized Ike. As well as his players who take to social media to complain how fans are negative and being too mean. My delivery of diapers is in the mail.

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  84. X seems to be an all about me kinda guy… I never enjoyed playing with those types… basketball on the O side should be about getting the ball to the player with the best chance of scoring….

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  85. Right BigB and a correction for wwb…. Xavier said that he and his father had a talk prior to coming to PITT that their plans were to turn pro asap. In other words, he started the NBA talk. Bravado is good if you back it up, otherwise as the saying goes…………. bullschitt walks. Again, he’s not being coached up imo.

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    1. IMO, X-man will not taste the NBA…maybe see the Europeqan league…he has terrible shooting mechanics for one thing and seems to lack the team play concept…maybe we get a really good point man and all that changes next year for the X-man and McGowens…I know they both play hard and a lot of time out of control…that could all change with a good Big guy and a guard who can distribute the ball to the player with the best chance of putting it in the hoop….

      Love watching Champ play..solid all-around contributor

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      1. Well Biggie, PITT has a couple good big men coming in next year and a nice guard that could play the point? College players need to be coached in the system designed by the coach. Dixon was good at this for quite a while. PITT does have talent if used correctly.

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  86. I don’t think Capel is taking the heat and he should be. According to most on the POV it’s the players. Capel’s players. imo the coach should be putting more on his shoulders and making big changes.

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    1. So you bench X and replace him with who?

      Pitt needs a true point guard with a high basketball IQ. Until they get one, Pitt will continue pitting games.

      Nothing Capel can do at this point.

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      1. You don’t bench him, you coach him hard and lay down the law until he learns or then you send him to the showers. Again, this is all Capel.

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        1. You don’t think he’s tried that already.

          He has nobody to step in if benched. He’s their best option unfortunately.

          Some players just aren’t coachable. He’s obviously one of them.

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          1. Hell yes I know Capel has tried it but he’s failed to get what he wants inside Johnson’s head. You think coach K or even Bobby Knight would have this kind of trouble communicating his wants? That’s laughable.

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  87. Ike, please tell me what changes you would make? I’d like to know. Also, Skippy can’t even get open for his own shot. Standing in the corner waving your hands doesn’t mean you’re open.
    People get distracted by bright shiny things. Yes, the guards are athletic and can drive, but their bb is is awful. As Dan said, 1 on 3 is not winning bb. This team is so thin there are very limited moves to make. Every change you might want to make opens another can of worms. Capel is frustrated also.

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    1. ^^ JoeK: That’s what C-Penny and Toney do, stand in the corner waving their arms. The sophomore mafia seem to have no problem finding them. That is, when they feel like throwing a pass. Again, my bottom line is that Capel just doesn’t have the control over his players like he should have and he coaches a horrible offensive scheme against a zone. I think he gets out-coached almost every game. I don’t know much about coaching basketball but I know crap when I see it, touch it, and smell it. I’m sure not going to taste it to be completely sure.

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  88. Continues: Capel spends more time coaching during the game than most, and he shouldn’t have to. X is a terrible decision maker with a 6th grade shot. Trey is slightly better. Skippy is limited defensively, Toney can’t really shoot, Brown is ErinGrey his first 2 years. You have very limited options. I think you see some strange sets because he’s trying anything that might work. Heck, at this juncture I might try playing Skippy at the point, it’s about the only thing he hasn’t tried.

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  89. Also, X has an NBA level,crossover but it’s all left hand. Teams take that away and he becomes an out of control unguided missle. Ya Dan , I’d sit him if there was any other option. Trey running the point isn’t a realistic option. Honestly, Skippy might just work for a few minutes. Now you know why Capel was so desperate to get a PG.

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  90. Maybe it’s me, but I thought Brown played pretty well when he was in the game. Not perfect, but perhaps Capel should revamp the offense, start Brown down low and move to a more traditional inside-outside type of offense. What we have now is a bunch of perimeter passing until the shot clock runs down.

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  91. Murphy at the point makes some sense. While he’s not a good athlete he actually looks to pass first, and could be a weapon from the perimeter if given some space to shoot. Part of it is having a true point guard mentality.

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  92. An anonymous donor has gifted little Bingingham U in NY $60,000,000 to build a baseball complex……WOW…maybe someone is out there just waiting for the right time to bequeath PITT some OCS pesos…..

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    1. Pitt could build a MPC. They don’t have the will. They’d rather go into massive debt to finance a $200 million dollar project for programs that lose millions each year. Even Gallagher said this is a mortgage on Pitt’s future and if it backfires, it could bankrupt the sports department.

      If you build anything, it must pay for itself. A MPC is a revenue engine.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Non-revenue generating sports should not receive this kind of financial attention without having the lead generating sports clicking on all revenue cylinders.

        I believe that was the reason for the large gap in time from when Heather first introduced the concept of Victory Heights to the recent Pete Event public address.

        Heather was tasked with convincing the BoT (uh-oh) and Sir Patrick G that the Pitt sporting programs would at least break-even, from a financial perspective.

        This WILL kill any chance of an OCS anytime soon, unless Pitt becomes a football juggernaut and Pittsburgh fans start supporting the team with game day attendance.

        This fan has lost his enthusiasm for Pitt FB because of the past 2 season’s and the nose dives we’ve witnessed. Here is my take on how the 2020 season will end:

        Pitt vs cuse will both be 8-3 entering Heinz Field with both teams primed for a 10 win season and Pitt having a chance to win the Coastal division. Cuse beats Pitt to go on to finish 10-3 and Pitt loses in a lower tiered bowl game to finish 8-5.

        My bar is set at no less than 10 wins in 2020.

        Hurry up – the season ticket renewal deadline is March 5th.

        Fixing WordPress with Dan72 seems more entertaining.

        EE

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        1. C’mon Rick my friend, we both know you’re going to resign back up for tickets if for no other reason to see all your Red 5-A buddies. I’ll bring my mini chicken buffalo balls to a tailgate. That ought to convince you. 🙂 Tell Rachel we said hi and feel better!

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  95. Capel built what he has to play with. He did lack some vision in my opinion. A floor general is critical I am most positive he could have recruited a true point guard in either class. Maybe not a 4 star but easily a 2 star with serious handles. That would have been his second class because he didn’t know what he had with x and trey as freshman. However, It became quickly obvious at the beginning of their freshmen year that neither was a point guard. He should have and could have brought in a high 2 star with a true point guard mentality to allow the other players to grow, instead of forcing a point guard mentality into a free wheelers mindset. That to me is a Capel miss.

    Hopefully the miss won’t cause other problems in the 2 guard development which will begin in earnest next year maybe. Need to understand that the time on campus is a short 4 years. We will be entering year 3 and those two players haven’t had the opportunity to grow. You don’t take a greyhound (quick and fast) and try to turn it into a doberman (thoughtful and smart).

    Disappointing game to wind down your year with. I would have expected that in early December, not mid-Feb. You do not dribble against zones,,,7th grade basketball. Put em on the line for some sprints Danno. Chuck Taylor….out!

    Liked by 2 people

  96. I think the players are getting worn out. We don’t seem to have a lot of depth yet, and our players have played a lot of minutes without a lot of substitutions.
    We had a stretch last week of 3 games in 7 days.
    Also the acc teams are pretty good all around this year. Georgia Tech just beat Louisville and last place unc took Duke to OT.

    Plus 59.1% shooting from 3 point land is tough to beat. Even wide open, it’s not easy to consistantly make that many. I can’t ever remember Pitt shooting that well from 3.

    Wording too if Murphy still has concussion issues. He didn’t have any points and I don’t believe he even attempted a shot.

    PittFan28. (Need to find my login again)

    Liked by 1 person

  97. The SOS article is for all regular season games, not just OOC. Obviously, the writer does not have a high opinion of ACC teams.

    wbb – South Carolina was not good last year & immediate future looks unpromising. Fire Muschump.

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  98. I know PITT shot like heck last night but their foul shooting left them down as well. I’m not giving up on Capel, just saying he has to learn to deal with and control all types of non-Duke type players.

    Also McGowens little brother decided not to follow his older brother to PITT and decided on Fla State. What’s up with that?

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    1. Some people — actually many people — like a warm climate.

      Maybe he got better comments on-line from Seminoles’ fans…😊

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. c’mom Ike, are you not paying attention? Just the other day, Trey was complaining about the what was said on social media about X and him Do you think he coaxed his younger brother to come join him?

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  99. Whoever would be hired as MSU HC would have leverage and sure enough, Tucker’s new salary is reportedly $5.5M, That is well over $2M more than what HCPN makes. Some of you may want to keep that in mind

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    1. Michigan State also has much higher revenues than Pitt.

      One can argue Narduzzi is fairly compensated now. A penny more would be over valuing his mediocrity.

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    2. Narduzzi makes over 3 M and who knows, maybe that little talk with Heather amounted to even more. Dixon used to use interviews for more cash for years.

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  100. So in theory.. Narduzzi basically turned down a 2 million dollar raise to stay at PITT? That goes against what I’ve read on the POV and not just recently but well in the past. The man makes 3.5 million bucks a year. When does someone say……. I’m doing ok here, my family likes it here and I have coaching stability here, so I’ll be sticking around for awhile? Maybe in spite of a few… < I threw that in myself.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Who says sparty made him an offer. They might have made a call to gauge interest. They might have given him a generality about compensation. But the only firm offer we know are to two coaches. The first turned them down. The second turned them down initially until the offer on paper was sweetened.

      Narduzzi was no where along the path of negotiation. They were doing a courtesy call to see if he’d be interested. Those calls don’t include specifics on the potential contract.

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      1. I believe you are right Tx, it was a gauge of interest and Narduzzi responded unequivocally …. NO not interested. You have your thoughts that is mine. I have no doubt he was seriously approached.

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        1. He was probably on their list of top 3 candidates. It’s good that he slept on it. And good that he quickly came out with not interested. If State wasn’t a dumpster fire, I bet he would have bolted for that kind of money.

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          1. Dumpster fire or not I would have bolted for that kind of money. It’s not like he wouldn’t have had other options in the future if things didn’t work out at MSU. Narduzzi might not have been in $ negotiations with MSU but he was probably one of the first calls made to by the MSU AD. I also believe he was contacted before the Dantonio PR was even issued. PN clearly left a good bit of money on the table when he broke off negotiations with MSU.

            Liked by 1 person

      2. In addition, they may have asked for his input on some of their current assistants as well……….i.e. Tressel, etc.

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  102. Well, when your leader’s name is Michaelangelo Monteleone and have the Huff the Third (doesn’t that sound medieval) and all the different screen names and posters personalities while we all are so different it only seems to suggest: to lighten the mood up. For those that don’t have good cpu speakers and don’t like music, I apologize. A little. I’m just everybody else so forgive me to all the lines I have crossed and friendships I have lost!

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  103. Kinks got to be the most eclectic band ever…

    “You Really Got Me” to “Lola” to “Oklahoma, USA”…

    Go Pitt.

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  104. OT, but does anyone know when spring practice starts? A friend of mine is a big MIA fan and he says their practices begin the last week of February. That sounds early to me though.

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    1. it’s not too early in Miami where the temperature is now 76. Almost all southern schools begin in Feb, probably some may even start next week.

      If memory serves, Pitt usually has a 5-week practice schedule … 3 per week. It begins in early March and the spring game is mid April. My guess is practice will start the week of March 9 and the spring game is 4/11.

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  105. What is the feud between Murphy and x about? I keep reading that. I can remember the last second play against wake where took a bad shot instead of passing to Murphy. Is there a feud?

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  106. The Jeff Capel Show is the best sports talk in Pittsburgh since Myron Cope!

    Tonight’s guests were Kirk Bruce and then Julius Page. Good stuff from both. Bruce said whoever they played, Billy Knight was the best player on the floor. He also said that Coach Ridl was a great guy who never raised his voice — but Coach Grgurich was another story. Coach Grgurich would show up at their dorm room after a poor performance!

    Julius talked about his dunk over Bumjte-Bumjte. Said he went in soft on his previous drive so he decided early that this time that he was going to dunk it no matter what…

    Julius also talked about him having disagreements with Brandon. Said Brandon was he favorite former teammate, but they had their moments. But said it was all in an attempt to make the team better… (Julius said that Donatas was just “goofy”…)

    You could sense Coach Capel’s ears perk up when Julius started talking about relationships between players, and how you need to do whatever you need to do to win…

    At the end of the show, Coach said he’s going to get the audio of Julius’ remarks and have the team listen to them… Hummm…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Grgurich should been Pitt’s coach well into the 90s. Great teacher of defense and perfect for Pitt’s entrance into the Big East.

      Pitt has terrible luck with coaches.

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      1. Grgurich and the amoeba defense……..? He ended up with Tarkanian, right? Recruited Armon Gilliam if memory serves me correctly.

        I remember playing 1 on 1 against Armon Gilliam (who was at unlv at the time). He was the biggest dude I played against. Great games, every saturday morning.

        Liked by 1 person

        2. I think Buzz Ridl came up with the defense then Tim took it to UNLV under Tark. Tim hated being the head guy and preferred the assistant’s role. He is regarded as one of the best NBA assistants of all time.

          Just rotten luck that Pitt had one of its own who could have been there 25 years, but he never wanted it. I think Grgurich was the guy who set Gilliam up in a JuCo before bringing him to UNLV.

          Heck yeah Gilliam was big. Those shoulders and arms. He wasn’t called The Hammer for nothing.

          Like

    2. I agree John.. I could listen to Coach Capel all day. He just seems very relaxed and comfortable in his skin.

      Like

  107. Julius Page’s daughter is a Sophomore basketball player at Char Valley. She’s supposed to be pretty good. Word is that Pitt is interested.

    Julius said he pretty much stays quiet watching his daughter’s games, but he did jump up and run onto the floor when she hit a game winning basket — then he said to himself, what am I doing…

    Would be cool to have Julius’ daughter playing on the hardwood for Pitt…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  108. I met Julius and he was the most friendly, coolest guy you could ever meet. Humble is not a strong enough word to describe him. He made me feel like he was honor to meet me. Strange as that may sound.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. ike — I have had that same reaction to my interactions with Pitt athletes. Can’t remember a bad interaction.

      Just recently, it was with Twyman, Ford, and Hamlin at the LOI event…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  109. Women’s BB team — the bad news is they lost to Duke tonight by 17. Since both our starting PG (Harris) and starting shooting guard (Bugg), were out with injuries, the result and margin were not at all a surprise.

    The good news — 6-4 Freshman center played a lot and had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Forward AB Brown, who should be playing wing, had 11 points and 9 rebounds.

    Like the men’s team, this season is practice and development time for the women’s team… (But I’m kind of glad the ladies only have 5 games left…😊)

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  110. If the mens team keeps practicing for two more years, oh……most will be graduated. Wash, rinse, repeat..

    Personally, i hope not, but my sense is that forcing the 2 guards to play point guard has stunted their development and they will need a full year to recover and then poof, graduation.

    Like

    1. True. But the two guards will leave a very different team, and a much better team, than they joined…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

      1. Agreed Major so long as recruiting keeps bringing in some BIG fish. The idea is trying to balance out your recruiting so you have real good guard play at the same time you have real good big play. My point above is that by the time the incoming bigs get acclimated, the guards will be gone. So, I wouldn’t want to have very good bigs, but noone to feed them….or the bigs have no space to work because the littles can’t shoot, etc….what a dilemma! A balanced recruiting effort so there is some overlay in talent.

        If Hugley and hopefully Jeffries are that good, we would still need a true point guard to help them be successful. I think Capel can achieve that balance.

        Farm – UNC this year is awful in hoops, just awful. But, they will bounce back. This has to be the first year in which they haven’t won 20 games in like 25 years. I think Roy Williams has always won 20 whilst coaching there or does it just seem that way. I can’t remember who he replaced but regardless, this is just a blip on the screen in my opinion. They will be back next year provided Cole comes back.

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        1. This kid may be of some guard help for PITT next year? >> Ithiel Horton, don’t know if he will help at point guard but he looks ready to be a nice upgrade in scoring options.

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  111. Duzz and Wanny both on the FAN 10th anniversary show this am. Wanny still misses coaching and loves Heather.
    No word on a date for the spring game but the FAN will be there doing a live show.

    Like

  112. At the risk of interrupting a good doom and gloom fest, I’d note that we have a lot of players with the talent to almost single handedly carry this team to a win. We have seen Trey and X do it. Champ has done it. Toney scores 27, although in a loss at Duke. Murphy scores 28 in the loss to Nicholls State. If Ryan misses the game winner against BC, that game goes to overtime. With Pitt having just given up a 10 point lead in the final 4 minutes, hard to imagine they could have won the overtime. Brown scores 13 in the second half to beat Florida State. We have some very good players.

    But as we’ve also seen, when no one steps up, we are hosed. I don’t think this is anything we shouldn’t expect when working on a total rebuild.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. True Farmers but we really don’t have a cohesive team with a good point guard to run the show. Anyone can get really hot and win you a game. Then the next game they could be almost unbearable to watch with their undisciplined play.

      Like

  113. Remember when Carolina’s troubles were mainly attributed to their one-and-done point guard, Cole Anthony, being out with an injury? He has now been back for four games. Has averaged 20 points per game in 36 minutes per game. And Carolina has lost all four.

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  114. lastro, you ‘apparently’ missed this

    Jerry DiPaola@JDiPaola_Trib
    2hr
    When @colin_dunlap introduced @CoachDuzzPittFB on @937theFan and said the coach is “apparently” staying at Pitt, Narduzzi said “Apparently?”

    Liked by 2 people

  115. Looking back to when Capel was first hired, what were the win expectations for year 2? I think most fans would have felt that 16 wins would be more than acceptable. We may potentially exceed that number. So Capel is certainly on track to rebuild the program.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I agree. But I think we win one more game, at most. And we will need a hot shooting game to do that…

      I doubt Pitt is favored in any of the remaining games.

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  116. Min of 18 with stretch goal of 21

    NIT possibility

    So I think Capel has slightly exceeded my expectations

    Pitt could still blow a NIT invite if they tank. That would be extremely disappointing.

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  117. Trouble is that there are many NIT possibilities just in the ACC alone. So even with 17 or 18 wins, CBI would also be a possibliity

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    1. I don’t believe CBI allows P6 teams anymore.

      Not 100% sure where I read that and I really don’t care.

      EE

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    1. I always wondered what happened to our CBI trophy after beating Washington State. There should be a banner too. A tournament win is a tournament win. God bless the River City Rivalry Trophy.

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      1. Hey Dixon coached teams that won the CBI and NIT.

        He gets the trifecta if he can get the Horned Frogs the NCAA crown.

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      2. It’s in Pitts trophy case right beside their participation trophy for winning the Coastal division.

        Tex

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  121. Scooter stole the CBI trophy and video stole the radio star… Get your wine out people cause this is cheesy….

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      1. I tried to post the link twice. It’s on pantherlair. It’s one of his free articles. Very insightful particularly about the need to win. As a former coach of league teams across multiple sports, I get it. Capel is a keeper.

        And look at the offers for football recruits. No more holy cross and Elon please.

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        1. Well you are better than that but WordPress “apparently” is not 🙄

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      1. I haven’t been able to post a link in months. I can’t even copy a long comment to word & then copy back to WordPress & repost.

        Like

        1. Ah that sucks. At this point it’s impossible to change the platform tho

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