in Pitt Football 403 Words

2020 Spring Practice Day 3

Sorry folks.  A day late on these.  Better late then never I suppose.

Pat Narduzzi

“You have six great plays but then you give up two big plays.  I don’t care how good you think you are, it doesn’t matter”

Randy Bates

“I started doing [pushups] the week after I was cleared from surgery, and that was 36 weeks ago, and every week I do one more, so I’m up to 36.  Reminds me of how far I’ve come”

Chase Pine / Phil Campbell

Pine – (about reading keys) “The coaches tell us small keys, small eyes.  Focus on yours”

Campbell – “Seeing it on film and doing it are two different things.  You definitely need the practice reps.  If you can’t do it at practice how are you going to do it in the game?”

MM Note:  Compare Pine’s seeming confidence with Narduzzi’s comments about Pine’s inconsistency.  Pine still has a long way to go.  Hope the lightbulb goes on this spring or we are going to be seeing a lot more long runs by opposing running backs.  

Shocky Jaques-Louis

“Naw I wasn’t surprised, I’d seen the coverage so I knew I was going to be open.”

MM Note – Was this against the 1’s or the 2’s?  If against the twos well then he damn well better be beating them.  Regardless, it’s nice to see how Shocky’s presence has improved each year.  We know he’s got the physical tools.  He’s got as good a chance to breakout as anyone.  Check out this year’s interview versus the previous two springs’.  

Last year after spring game:

Spring camp 2018 (true freshman year)

 

Keyshon Camp

“This defensive line could be very lethal, but we just have to continue putting the work in every day”

Izzy Abanikanda

“I just didn’t want to get caught from the back”

Same question as Shocky.  Highly doubt this was against the 1’s.  Still, it’s encouraging to see the cut and the speed.   With that being said, I really like how this guy carries himself.  

Obligatory hype video:

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo Monteleone

204 thoughts on “2020 Spring Practice Day 3”

  1. I thought these practices were closed. It sounds like the reporters saw all the plays and were commenting on them. This new RB sounds good. I’m really looking forward to September.

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  2. Great work Maestro…dont know how you find time.
    Looking forward to the Spring Game.

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  3. A few things:

    I agree with Jack, that’s a lot of information for a “CLOSED” practice.

    Abracadabra Izzy Abanikanda looks good…. (against backups)

    Surprised Bates anointed players after only one practice in pads.

    Back to the supposedly “CLOSED” practices. I would be handling this the exact same way. Which of course means nothing. After-all, I make zero dollars coaching a P-5 football program, you know, like most of us here at the POV.

    Spring practices means very little in the grand scheme of things. Can’t wait to see the vanilla spring game. The tailgate I really look forward to though.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Maybe pitt thought closed practices meant no sense given the recent violations that went down with closed practices. So openness was a good thing in light of probation. Anything else would be pitt thumbing their nose to the NCAA. And Pitt doesn’t want to anger them because pitt knows they don’t make the NCAA money with their brand and fan following. Pitt is near dead last in P5 revenues for a reason. Makes perfect sense to me.

      Tex

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    2. 4.45 laser is elite running back speed at any level

      I believe the combine is laser times but pro days are not. Could possibly see him turn in some hand timed speeds lower than 4.45 in the future but a 4.45 laser is just fine with me

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  6. Obligatory or not, I’ll watch all the Pitt FB hype videos I can find…

    No. 2 and No. 3 getting a lot of camera time… I guess they’re earning it…

    Hoping No. 2 has some pass blocking ability – so that’s not a reason to keep him off the field…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Izzy, Krull, Addison, Shockey and don’t forget Vincent Davis who I believe scored the only long run TD last year (vs GT) can be the HR hitters this year …. something sorely missing last season

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    1. Also, Mack the Knife and John Wayne. (I might be “misremembering” some names…)

      Mack’s catch to win the Bowl game was pretty damn spectacular— especially considering that the word was he wasn’t practicing much later in the season…

      Go Pitt.

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      1. Jared …. I see both of them as more of possession receivers but Mack is great at catching when covered.

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  8. —How time flies — Shocky is already a Junior.

    —Interesting to me that right now, Pitt has 15 red-shirt Seniors and 5 Seniors on the roster… That’s encouraging, seems to me…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Pitt Basketball avoids the basement. Will play Wake Forest at 4:30 Tuesday on the ACC Network.

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  10. Pitt should beat Wake. Just put a pacifier in Treys mouth and tell X that he’s Y for the day. Easy breezy and wins will come easy.

    Tex who knows babies and the alphabet.

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  11. Wake has been playing better as of late. Beat Duke and NC recently, 2 of their biggest rivals. Hate to be negative, but I don’t have much hope of us getting past them.

    MM, great work on the fb coverage. Who cares if it’s a day late- no need to apologize!

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  12. FYI the practice was closed except for about 9 or 10 offensive plays. And that’s when the Shocky and Izzy big plays took place. I believe Narduzzi also said later in the practice V Davis had a big running play.

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  13. High school / recruit update

    — Hugley played his final HS game as Brush lost to Mentor in the district finals 71-69. He finished with 35 pts and 15 reb

    — Hood-Shifino, 2021 Pitt commit, had 25 pts yesterday

    — Wm Jeffress, who most ‘experts’ expect to take Pitt’s open schollie, had 22 pts yesterday.***

    — the above 3 are all 4-stars, and appear to be pretty legit so far

    — Dayon Hayes was awarded Class 3A state player of the year yesterday

    *** If the one time recruit rule is enacted, look for Pitt to be involved. As long as Camp and Toney isn’t involved, it would appear will win out …. but again, maybe not

    Lastly, there appears a be a legit Western Pa basketball superstar in the making and he is only in 9th grade. Rodney Gallagher from Laurel Highlands scored 36 pts in front of Capel Fri night who offered him a schollie Fri night. He already has offers from Illinois and URI …. and will no doubt get many. many more. If Capel is able to get this team to be a good level in the next 2 years, then Pitt may well have a good chance

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  14. Found this when watching the Lucas Krull interview. If Lucas handles his position the way he handles an interview, we got a good one.

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    1. GC — unfortunately, i don’t think interviewing skills translate into holding onto passes while getting clobbered, or when not getting clobbered, for that matter…😊

      But I am constantly impressed by how the vast majority of Pitt football players handle interviews. And I’m especially impressed when true freshmen do a good job…
      (I would have been stuttering all over the place…)

      Go Pitt.

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      1. I’ve talked to you many times in person John and never once heard you stutter…. apparently you are not in awe of my presence. 🙂 🙂 But I would be with this guy:

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  16. ^^ Good stuff gc.

    ^^wwb, my good buddy was at Greensburg Salem the other night to see Rodney Gallagher. He told me he is the real deal and has an excellent pull-up jumper. Told me Gallagher is only around 6′ but I’m guessing he may grow a couple inches. He also shook hands with coach Capel and said he was real nice. BTW, that game was completely sold out.

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  17. Capel just needs more ACC level talent. I think he’s more focused now recruiting. Recruiting need and fit. And I still believe he’s an above average coach. But a very good recruiter. Talent wins.

    In addition to not having the talent in key places, Pitts so called leaders don’t listen and don’t seem to care about anyone but themselves. Those two who regressed in both play and attitude this year.

    I expect Pitt to pleasantly surprise in the ACC tourney.

    Tex

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  18. Watched the Livewire videos of THE Clemson game and first PSU reunion game. Pitt sure could use a James Conner, George Aston, and Scott Orndorff! PittPT

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Mac Brown continues to clean up at the QB position at NC. Just got his third high level QB. A flip from Alabama.

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        1. He coached well at Carolina long ago when he never had a QB and won with just a suffocating defense.

          He won with Simms and Applewhite. Good college QBs though Simms played in the NFL.

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        2. A great QB can make a coach look like a genius.

          Will be interesting to see how belicheat performs once Brady leaves.

          Tex

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          1. He’s 14-6 without Brady since 2001. I sure hope we found out this season because I want that dynasty to end.

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  23. HW Thomas wins back to back ACC titles. How’d the team competition end up – Pitt with 3 champions out of 10 classes.

    EE

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Pitt baseball lost big today to Miami, giving the Canes a three-game sweep of the series.

    Not surprising — even if Miami wasn’t ranked in the top ten…

    Go Pitt.

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  25. Pitt wrestling finished second behind NC State. 82-77?

    But Pitt will send 7 wrestlers to nationals in Minneapolis. That’s 7 out of ten weight classes.

    Pitt with a decent chance of getting one or two wrestlers to be all Americans. That would be impressive.

    Tex

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Those are team points, Tex.

      In the ACC tournament (which, unfortunately I could not watch), Pitt took 1st place in three of ten weight classes, took 2nd in one weight class, and took 3rd in at least three. We had a chance to beat NC St for the team title but fell short. Nonetheless, I view this as a successful season.

      We lose a couple of good seniors, but should be back strong in 2020-2021.

      Iowa won the Big Ten, followed by Nebraska, Ohio St. and psu.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. When I saw those points, I thought it was a basketball score.

        Pitt did well. I think the home mat advantage at the Pete helped.

        hopefully the tourney was well attended. Moreover, I hope visiting fans and schools came away impressed with Pitt campus.

        I doubt any visitors made a special trip to see the ketchup bottle and yellow seats.

        Tex

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  27. Dont know the attendance figures but on tv looked like many empty seats at the Pete…out of towners must have heard about the traffic in Oakland. 😎

    Liked by 1 person

    1. that’s how the cookie crumbles when the out of towners can’t have their pre-match tail-gate party!!! Now people like to toss the pigskin-nerf FB during a tail-gate….I guess those crazy wraslin’ fans like to get down mano e mano……

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  28. Made a quick up and back trip to Pgh for the Duquesne-Richmond BB game Frdiay night at PPG.
    Nice to see Duquesne flirting with its former greatness. Their coach, Keith Dambrot was an excellent hire.
    I sure hope Pitt includes Duquesne again on its OOC next yr. Should be a really good game for basketball fans. In fact, it wold be really smart for them to do a Western PA tournament, with Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris as fixtures and perhaps rotate some other regional schools in as a 4th. PSU, WVU or a Philly-area school.

    Shameless pitch and OT… My Richmond Spiders earned a double bye in the A10 and play in the quarterfinals Friday at 6pm at the Barclays Center. If they win that its a 330pm Saturday game. Both on CBS Sports. Happy to have any/all on the Spider bandwagon…considered a bubble team, although most bracketologists have us as an 11 or 12 once in. Crazy the way that works.

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    1. The Duquesne Coach has done a really good job finding BB talent.

      Good luck to the Spiders.

      Go Pitt.

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    2. Rooting for your Spiders while JeanieB is killing spiders in the garage…time for spring cleaning and waxing the golf clubs……Punxsey Phil hit this one “right on.”

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      1. The weather people are claiming we had 19 inches of snow this year, which is a very low number but I swear we haven’t gotten more than 9 inches in the WPA snow-belt and bottom of the ridges of Latrobe. That’s Lay-Trobe Eric.

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      2. What does the wax do for the clubs?

        I know you should not Armor All the grips – slip sliding away…

        EE

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  29. Back to the first sentence in this article. Michaelangelo, there is never a reason to issue an apology considering all that you do at the POV. Everything you do Mike and when you do it is always very much appreciated.

    Liked by 4 people

  30. Champagne not mentioned at all in ACC awards. He plays for a northern team and not ND or a one and done player.

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    2. The 7 game swamp dive to end the season did FR Champ no good – he was in the swamp with the other Pitt players and coaches – he smells just lyke the rest of em’.

      EE

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Good news Fran is that you will still fit into your costume and look the part. Save Freeport and then move it on down the lone and save Apollo.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I would think pitt could do better. When the nationals were here, ppg was sold out over three straight days.

      Dare I say very bad job marketing this event by Pitt and the ACC.

      Tex

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    2. The Big Ten is the strongest wrestling conference and probably had quite a few more in attendance. They held the Big Ten conference tourney at the Viking’s stadium, I believe.

      Iowa often sells out for dual meets during the season. psu has had some capacity crowds since 2011 when Cael came to town.

      The ACC is doing well in wrestling, but half the schools don’t participate. Wrestling seems to be bigger in the North…

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  34. Then imagine this……… PITT still won a Coastal division against all those obstacles. You guys had to see that one coming from me…. 🙂

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  35. Go Spiders!! I love a great underdog story. I’ll be rooting for the Dukes and Colonials as well……. Throw in Dayton just in case.

    Liked by 1 person

  36. So I’m making lots of comment today in this sunny 70 degree WPA weather. Not golfing but wearing sunglasses while smokin some baby backs, I get some down time here and there…. Oh yeah, been kicking out some of The Band tunes. Tempted to pull out a tank top (since no one can see me) and cracking a beer. Don’t tell Angie. Love to hear the roar of motorcycles from up the street. << Now that’s a sign of spring.

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  37. Golfing in shorts today Iek..
    Love the Harley thunder…sure miss riding the Fat Boy. Took it to a tailgate once…not my smartest moment. 😎

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Plenty of rest for tomorrow’s game. Fatigue should not be a factor, and two wins are feasible. It’s time for this team to man up, quit worrying about their own stats and bring home a couple of team wins. Or else changes will be made!

    Liked by 2 people

  39. I believe it is spring break at Pitt this week so no fb practices. Simulating a bye week .. if so, then pure genius on The Duzz’s part.

    Also, I’m hearing to boost attendance at the spring game, Pitt will be handing out hand sanitizers as you exit Heinz at the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Again, pure genius

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    1. ^^ wwb, rumor is PITT will also be handing out a dozen rolls of toilet paper to all fans that stay the whole game? and please, don’t poo poo that idea.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. The next few weeks will be telling. The game itself might be cancelled. All of Italy is in lockdown now. If I were older with health issues, I wouldn’t leave the house and go to big public gatherings. Not smart.

      Tex

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    2. That reminds me that I got a thank you card from Brandon Hill, a Redshirt Freshman DB. 👍

      Go Pitt.

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  42. I see I am spared from watching Pitt BB this afternoon … instead I will be watching a film profile on Jimi Hendrix which will be airing on TCM, of all channels.

    Don’t get me wrong,.I would love something positive happen for these guys and winning a game or two would be a shot in the arm for both them and us. FWIW, I never thought the team was as tired physically as it was mentally especially with the ‘here we go again’ mentality when things start going wrong

    Again, I think upperclassmen leadership could have really helped

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        1. On the contrary, they were buddies. Mason played on some of Hendrix’s recordings. Believe he was on Henrix”s “All Along the Watchtower” prior to recording his own version. A lot of people thnk he was a one hit wonder, but he actually has a slid background. Having siad that here, “Only You Know and I Know” would not be true.

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          1. Right you are JoeL, Dave Mason was a super star. Listening to him makes you feel alright even though we are all half left. Many hit songs.

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    2. Break out the black light, the Hendrix black light poster, some incense and a.liitle weed..you will be set for a relaxing afternoon until the munchies hit ….

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    1. Champagnie will get the Pitt freshman of they year award if that makes you feel better “Tex and dont drive”. Just because a player is our best, doesn’t necessarily mean that he is in the top 5 across the board. When we start getting 1-2 players per year….think Hugely and Jeffries, Pitt will turn the corner nationally.

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      1. I just see at least two on that list of five that don’t have the numbers that champagne has

        And I would think champagne is a major reason why pitt has 15 wins. Without him it’s probably closer to ten. He’s that important. Good player. Listens to coach. Good teammate. And leader. That’s all frosh in my Texas book. I guess the Carolina book on Tobacco Road differs from the lone stars.

        I just see it as a southern slight.

        Tex

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  45. My thank you card was from Jackson Henry. Be interested in knowing if anyone got a card from one of the bigger names? Although David Green played last year.

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    1. Just realized that Imay have breached protocol. The Hokies hate Louisville and that part of the video has an F-bomb. Apologies.

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      1. Thanks for self reporting joe.

        I’m going to make you sit out of three practice reports and you’re on probation until football season 😜

        Liked by 5 people

  48. The punishment handed down Mike seems a little (a lot) familiar. JoeL should also be required to attend tailgates in Red 5-A this coming year, that will teach you JoeL. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  52. Dave Mason was also a founding member of Traffic and as such is in R&RHOF. And among playing with the likes of Hendrix and Clapton, he also backed up Delany & Bonnie who along with The Band were one of the earliest hybrid groups of Rock (rock, country, blues, gospel, etc).

    Liked by 2 people

  53. I know it’s spring break but does anyone know when the next practice is? To me it seems counter intuitive to break it up like this. I guess it goes to show how really spring practices are about building rather than forming or solidifying a team?

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  54. Next practice the 17th. They will practice on Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Saturday’s right up to the Spring Game starting next week. Supposedly Saturday’s are closed to the press.

    Liked by 1 person

  56. What say you all? My guess is Pitt closes out its BB season this afternoon with a loss to Wake Forest. Let’s just hope Capel doesn’t lose out on any of the incoming recruits for next year based on how poorly Pitt BB ended its season.

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  67. Defense doesn’t look good but at the same time you could the same about Wake Forest. Basketballs going through the net makes every defense look bad. Good shooting beats good defense. My hopes are not high here.

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  70. 24 minutes before our first FT. Looks like Champ is pissed he didn’t get any ACC awards love….

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  71. Turned on at half, Physically turned off (TV) by being 7 down. Let’s see what happens next year. Pikiel took 4 years at Rutger to show big results. Hope Capel show good improvement next year. We need team play. More defense!

    Liked by 1 person

  74. Surprised we are hanging with a team that is shooting well and has a quality 7 footer.

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    1. The team lost 7 straight to end the regular season and Champ had some bad games in that stretch – I remember seeing a couple 2 for 23 shooting nights…

      Nice win today – Champ is a special player who needs some teammates around him.

      EE

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  79. well the Hendrix doc was pretty good but guess I missed a pretty good game. Anyone know if tomorrow’s game is on ACCN again?

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  81. I see Coulibaly scored in double digits. I’ve always like how hard he plays …. he has a ways to go but I’d keep him before Brown

    Liked by 1 person

  84. Gotta feel good for Coach Capel. He needed that.

    The situation for Champ is how the no-penalty transfer rule can be a program killer. I have to believe there is a blue blood out there who would love to have him on their 13 man roster. Sure hope Coach can keep him.

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  85. It’s amazing how much better a team plays when they turnoff the turnover machines….you can even win!!!

    I like Champaign’s hair/mane- he is the Lion(Panther)King… he is a steady , in control dude…. PITT should hand out PantherKing wigs next year… they would lookGreaaaaaaaaaaaaat!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s amazing how much better a team looks when the shots are falling.

      Pitt shot 52% from the field, 38% from three, and 70% from the foul line. That’s pretty unheard of for this group…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  86. This was only the second time this season we scored 80 points.

    The other time was against………….Canisius!

    Go Pitt.

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  87. What a game by Coulibaly! 10 points and 7 rebounds in only 15 minutes of playing time. Brown played only 3 minutes and had 1 personal foul. I doubt it was a matchup issue for his lack of playing time.

    Liked by 1 person

  88. Great game after a lot of frustrating ones. Champ the star, but everyone contributed. Coulibaly is going to be a good one. Brown played 3 minutes. Really good defense and shots were dropping.

    Glad for the team to finish with at least this win. Maybe they maintain this intensity for one more, probably be playing without Toney though, ankle sprains are tougher the day after.

    Liked by 1 person

  89. I think Biggie has a great idea for a promotion. A Champagnie hair give away. Hand out the Champ-Penny hair caps, PITT nation would go crazy!

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  90. Better focus and energy tonight…huge difference.
    Bobby Mo on ESPN2 for NEC Championship.

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  92. Tobacco Road robbed champagne of all frosh team. He proved it today. The north rose today. Take that you southern hicks.

    Tex

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  93. Happy for the players…The way the regular season ended was rough for us fans and I’m sure brutal for the players. Playing a solid game like this is a step in the right direction.

    Liked by 3 people

  97. Hip Hip Hooray PITT plays another day. Some may look at this as a punishment but I look at it as an opportunity. These young student athletes work hard in the class room and on the hardwood. Kudos to them and good luck tomorrow PITT!

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  99. So, Pitt and brackets and wrestling
    My son did it, won Maryland states Saturday at #160
    Was one of 2 kids in consideration for #160 or #152 to wrestle for MD in the Dapper Dan but didn’t get the nod – resume was 2 4th’s and this year 1st versus other kid’s 1st last year and 2nd this year in states 😦

    He’s still going to do an invitational this Saturday MD v VA

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Not likely, unless he gets into Hopkins which we will find out this week. Other schools applied to are either too high elite for his talent level or don’t even have a program. UNC, UVA, GT, Miami, UMD, Florida

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      2. and thanks EE, very proud Dad!!!
        the last few weekends were amazing
        I video all his matches and this is the final scrolling credits:

        Senior year, made it PERFECT!!!
        Howard County Champ 2020
        3A/4A Regional Champ 2020
        MPSSAA 3A/4A #160 State CHAMPION
        15 – 0 Duals Record
        31 – 0 Tournament Record
        46 – 0 Overall Record, 37 pins 2020
        fastest pin 8 sec.
        165 – 14 HS Record, 103 Pins
        most wins MRHS history
        smart, totally controlled
        PERFECTION!!!
        Will Vax #160

        Liked by 3 people

        1. Congratulations to your son! What a proud dad you must be!! I think wrestling IS the hardest sport around- not only do you have to be strong, well conditioned, flexible, and quick- you have to maintain a certain weight while doing it. There is no teammate to pick up the block or rebound you missed…it’s all on you. I’ve always loved the dedication those guys display. Congrats tVAX1!!

          Liked by 3 people

  100. From AP:

    “I felt disrespected,” Champagnie said. “I used it as motivation.”

    “Pitt coach Jeff Capel said he felt like his team had hit a wall down the stretch this season because they were the only ACC team that didn’t have a bye. Their bye came after the season.”

    “I thought Justin was one of the ones that hit the wall the hardest,” Capel said.

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  101. ACC All-Freshman Team
    Vernon Carey Jr., Duke, (a given)
    Cole Anthony, North Carolina, Only 20 games played, 38% FG
    Landers Nolley II, Virginia Tech, 15.6 ppg 5.9 rpg

    **Justin Champagnie, Pitt, 12.2 ppg 7.2 rpg **
    Cassius Stanley, Duke, 12.6 ppg 4.9 rpg
    Patrick Williams, Florida State, 9.2 ppg 4 rpg

    **A slap in the face to Pitt **

    Liked by 1 person

  102. Additionally Justin Champagnie is the first Pitt freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding
    since Pitt’s great Charles Smith, 3rd overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft.

    ACC showing a total lack of respect for Pitt’s basketball history. Totally disregarding what Champagnie
    accomplished this year in regards to Pitt basketball history.

    Liked by 1 person

  105. Happy to be wrong on Pitt BB exiting early in this tourney. I’d love for them to get by NC State today since that would at least put a positive spin for ending this season.

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  106. Congratulations, Tvax, on your son’s amazing accomplishments. Best wishes to Will as he moves on to college. I’m sure he will continue to excel whether he continues his wrestling career or not.

    PittPT

    Liked by 2 people

  108. Awesome tvax!
    After watching the tape of the last 8 minutes of the game I feel we have a chance today. Assuming Toney can play…

    Liked by 1 person

  110. As if Pitt wouldn’t likely get the short end of calls anyway, please note that NC State is listed on the Last 4 In or Last 4 Out on a handful of bracketologist ratings, meaning that they need to win this game. As bad as the ACC has been this year, they need teams to qualify this year more than ever for both financial and image reasons.

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    1. It will be the worst officiated basketball game in pitt history

      I hope Capel and his players know this and change tactics a bit to help mitigate the bad calls

      Tex

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  111. In most if not all of Pitt’s wins at least one guy stepped up to have a big game. That didn’t happen for seven games in a row. Also the rest of the team needs to have reasonably decent games. Coulibaly with 10 points and I believe 7 rebounds in 15 minutes is a great example. In other words pretty difficult for Pitt to win when everything has to go right, little margin for error.

    When they don’t win the turnover battle, make their foul shots, get enough rebounds, have a poor night shooting night, they have little chance to win. In other words they cannot win if they don’t have their A game.

    I give a lot of credit to X and Trey for playing within themselves yesterday, also when they didn’t the shots were dropping, at a nice rate.

    Also worthy of mention was Hamilton’s energy, he played well.

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    1. during their minutes on the court, the points scored by your own team compared to the points scored by opponent

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  113. Anyone else think we were lucky they didn’t give Toney a technical for the elbow?

    Also that Wake looked like a few of Pitt’s last games down the stretch?

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  114. Great win by the Panthers yesterday, shades of how they played against NC State on the road recently, with both guards doing a nice job of penetrating and dishing rather than feeling like they need to throw up out of control shots all the time, truly a team effort. And unlike the NC State game, this was often against the dreaded zone!

    I disagree that Pitt won because of one great performance, because Champ’s performance alone was not enough to win yesterday. If you look at the stats, you can see that Pitt had 5 players that played very well statistically and played with chemistry, and that’s what it takes to win (don’t get me wrong, we need depth too and don’t have it yet).

    Regarding today, needless to say this appears to be a hopeless cause if Toney cannot go, we simply don’t have the quality depth to withstand that loss. But that said, if it comes to that, I’d at least try going with 2 bigs at a time rather than bringing in one of the extra guards, at least to see how it goes. I feel bad for Murph, but I hate our defense with him in there, this team is just not a good fit for him vs ACC competition.

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      1. Pitt is not in too bad a shape in terms of talent, it’s specific skill sets and depth they are lacking. Literally adding a 3 point shooter and one big man to score and rebound inside to this roster would make this a really competitive team. And no, I’m not saying Hugley and Horton will be those guys, I think they will, but those are certainly the missing skill sets.

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  115. Skippy is of no use to this team if he isn’t making shots and he just hasn’t been. His defense isn’t great but I really don’t see him as a problem. He actually picked up a smart foul against the big kid.

    Drumgoole got beat like a rented mule last night.

    I can’t remember, shouldn’t we have beat NCS earlier this year?

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    1. Iek, Pitt lost by 4 at NC St ten days ago. May I suggest online crossword puzzles?

      Just kidding …. don’t ask me what I had for lunch yesterday.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I watched guys go right over Murphy for layups and rebounds several times, it’s not that he doesn’t try, it’s more about ability. McGowens or X are in another league defensively. Maybe it wouldn’t matter that much if we had a strong inside presence defensively, but since we don’t, defense/rebounding needs to be a team effort, and it really hurts to have a guy like him out there. Not Murph’s fault, maybe just not a great fit with our current team makeup.

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  118. Ha, tell that one to my wife VoR.

    1618, I don’t entirely disagree but Skippy is not in the game to rebound but to make shots. Unfortunately he just isn’t doing either.

    Question for Big Dan, what does a shooter need to do to get their hot hand going? << That a lawyer question (which I am not) as I already know the answer. Shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. Otherwise take a seat at the end of the bench. ;(

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    1. Matters not. What would be embarrassing is only 3 ACC teams getting to the big dance. The ACC refs will do whatever it takes. Pitt is screwed so pitt needs a game plan for bad calls and for those calls not to impact them mentally.

      Tex

      Liked by 1 person

  120. It was nice to see X and Trey scoring, but watching Trey in particular is maddening. The drive left and then shooting with the right against his body, over and over! I have an idea: go hard left and hard stop and let the defender go by, and then step to the hoop or pull up for a short jumper. That said, he made some big shots, although several had high degrees of difficulty and for much of the second half of the season he has not been making those. I have no idea why Coulibaly has not been playing more. He has energy and while he makes mistakes, I’ll take that over watching Brown and Hamilton get shoved around. I just wish he would dunk! Hoping he keeps it up today and can avoid foul trouble. If Toney can’t go, though, little chance to win this one.

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  121. right now, I would bet against an NIT or CBI taking place this year. Should the Panthers eke out a win today, they will ensure themselves of a .500 record

    I was hoping for a bit better but. at no time did I ever think it would be an overnight process. Barring some key departures, I am very hopeful for the future … and would be even more so should Capel get Jeffress and/or a good JUCO/transfer guard

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    1. Cbi just cancelled

      You’ll see the spring game for football cancelled.

      The only way countries contain the virus is by banning public events. That’s why China is no longer the epicenter.

      But here in the states we somehow know better than the health experts.

      Tex

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