160 thoughts on “Pitt vs St Francis open Game Thread”

  1. First…..Calling Jackagain….game not on the boob tube in this locale. Sure could use a streaming link.,.,,
    brother. I see best solaris is not doing NCAAB apparently.

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  3. Being shown via ACC NX…which must be something new via ESPN/ACCN

    Pitt off to rocky start 2-10 St Francis

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  4. Same mistakes as last year, not getting out on shooters, no inside game, Johnson w a heave from his bellybutton, god awful defense. Ugh…SF w a pt lead. It’s early but if Pitt plays ACC teams like this, they won’t win a game.

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  10. Dan – you’re the coach but this team does the same as last 3 years. Bad defensive spacing, horrible slides, ball warxhing, etc.

    They will win this game big but if you played any basketball you have to ask for the 3rd year in a row what they do in practice??

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    1. Lack of any discipline is embarrassing. On offense standing around watching the dribbler, no screens, no picks. Frankly I don’t see Pitt winning this game. SF won 27 last year. 8 tos got Pitt

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    1. Oh brother. I’ve seen this show before. Hey, it’s only 12 min in but I’ve seen nothing. Just awful spacing, Johnson out of control early as usual. He’s just a hot mess. Maybe 13th is too high. Aw, they’ll win, but I hoped for more.

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  12. Not having a point guard will end Capel’s career at Pitt. They have not improved – ball handling is poor…

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  13. There is no crispness at all to Pitt’s play on either side of the court. What do they do at practice ?

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  19. Not only do they not handle the ball well, space the floor well, or shoot well, but they play pretty crummy defense. St. Francis on track to score 80+ points.

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  21. So the problem doesn’t appear to have been..the kid who went to Nebraska.

    Hard to believe Capel didn’t recruit a real PG. Cause this team is ultra disorganized on offense.

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  22. Bad shooting night happens.

    Happens to pitt all the time.

    Capel is a good recruiter – supposedly. But the lack of discipline in every gane for 3 years straight shows a “players coach” who is best suited as an assistant and good recruiter.

    The lack of discipline on this team is not a fluke and not abnormal.

    Too bad. I had high hopes.

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  23. They were so high on this Horton kid, lol. Never, ever believe anything Pitt puts out. Capel never did crap without the Blake Griffin, and spare me the OD stuff. I have seen nothing. They are getting schooled by St. Francis. Sad.

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  26. So Frauduzzi and Capel walk into the Unemployment Office. Both are gross but all we here is Heather hired a gem. Year 3 and we still stink. Or is this year 4?

    Capel should worry more
    About winning than making videos and locking the gates.

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  27. I expected better. Very poor and embarrassing. When will they ever have a shooter. Toney is their best shooter. Go figure.

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  28. Games not over but I swear Whipple or Watson is calling the offensive plays for Capel.

    Maybe the governors ban on alcohol sales is on their minds?

    I’m grasping for straws here, they look horrible versus the little sisters of the poor tonight.

    We’re still in the ACC right?

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  29. 12 turnovers, 13 FGs for Pitt in the worst half of basketball I’ve seen in years for Pitt. Beaten in every facet of the game, out shot, out hustled, out boarded, and falling for every street ball trick play ever run. Johnson and Terrell Brown utterly worthless, the rest, not much better. Pitt zone totally ineffective. Again totally horrible at foul shooting. SF has yet to miss at the line

    Agree with those who say WTF are they doing at practice!!

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    1. Maybe at practice they are studying the Pythagorean theorem maybe? The triangle offense?

      Math 22?

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  30. This is exactly what happens with a players’ coach with mediocre players. Slogans and advertising only go so far. Mediocre players need a coach that knows the game and demands effort and execution. Jeff wants buddies.

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  31. They recruit from AAU where it is a lot of showboating and little fundamentals. Get a couple of shooters. Horton has shown me nothing so far.

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  32. Everyone else in the ACC so far…. crushed their Rent-A-Win opponent today. Closet game was VT over Radford by 15 points.

    Maybe we can reform the Eastern 8 and invite CCAC.

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  33. I’m not sure what I just watched. I don’t recognize this team except for X man who hasn’t changed at all. That shot of his remains horrible. Four guys to one under the glass and they still lose the rebound. Giving up 46 pts in a half to this team is pathetic.

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  35. HCPN: Hey Jeffers, how bout doing your pal a solid and tanking tonight. Sure would take the heat off my back.
    HCJC: No problemo, Patster. Your crappy teams have been taking the heat off me for two years.

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  39. Maybe there is a 2 star athlete out there who can be a two sport player – for FB he is a TE and for BB he is a PG.

    Pitt is probably the only D1 program without a PG – and it shows…

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  42. Ya know, there are literally hundreds of point guards out there every year that could help this team, but it sure looks like that is just one of many, many issues this team has. People, this isn’t Duke or NC, it’s St Francis, of Pa. Oh my.

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  44. As a 16 year former ball coach who drilled fundamentals, this Pitt team assaults my senses. I’ve been a supporter of Capel to this point, now I’m starting to question him as a HC. This isn’t Duke we’re playing. Pitt is 29-0 vs St Francis until tonight.

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  45. Capel looks to be in disbelief. As a fan of Pitt BB, I almost switched to another team just to enjoy college BB again. I haven’t watched March Madness since Stallings was hired – watch it for 30 straight years prior to that.

    Capel is not showing me he is a winning HC.

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  49. I was watching the game and a thought occurred to me: I better come over to the POV and check on Dan72. I’m about to throw things at the TV. I’d imagine Dan might be into his second bottle of Bourbon. This is BAAAAAAD!!!!

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  50. I don’t think Stallings loses this game.

    Wow!

    Looking for a threesome tonight – Duzz, Capel and Lyke…fire all three.

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  51. This is quite painful to watch. The lack of fundamentals is striking for a college team. Let alone one in the ACC. Capel knows Xavier isn’t a PG, yet recruited no PG’s. Not even a 3 star or even a 2 star one.
    Really don’t understand it. If it’s obvious to me and many of us, it should be as subtle as an anvil on the head to Capel.

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  54. Dan – i played and coached a little so no expert by any stretch. BUT, Capel’s teams have ALWAYS lacked discipline, effort and accountability. So what does everyone see in this guy when he gets out recruited and outcoached by the St. Francis head coach.

    Anyone still think we were “disrespected” by our ACC pre-season rankings?

    They know!

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  55. The worst part of this whole game has been the defense over the last few minutes. You would think if there was a time they would clamp down and get stops it would be now. But Saint Francis has still been able to get easy baskets

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  56. Capel sucks. People give narduzzi A hard time for losing close games to NC State and Boston College (sometimes deservedly so). But he has never gotten blown out by a garbage team like this. This is next level bad

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  58. We are seeing one very well coached team. I would be proud to be HC of SF. Pitt down 15 with 21 turnovers. It’s never be close. Read my basketball write up tomorrow. I think you’ll find it amazingly accurate. Pitt will not win a single ACC game this year. Wish I could drink a bottle of scotch. Frankly I’ve never seen worse basketball by a Pitt team.

    A huge embarrassment for all of us.

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  59. My wife graduated on full scholarship from SF back when they were really good. They may be getting close to that again. We bad.

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  61. Coach is smiling that Pitt is on the schedule twice.

    Anyone miss Skippy. At least he hustled and made a few threes.

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  63. I’m stunned. This team was not ready to play. The Freshmen look like they have some talent but clearly they don’t understand the speed of the game. 22 turnovers says it all.

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  64. Capel getting hammered by the announcers and rightfully so.

    Year 3 and the team is made up of Capel’s players.

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  68. 17 seconds without fouling is very poor coaching, after the jeffress 2. Foul on toney 17 seconds later. Need to understand the rest of the game is about time. Pitt is awful.

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  70. 1:16 left in game, behind 10 and we let 17 seconds go before fouling. This is the Narduzzi of bball. Coaches are at fault here. Does the TE Recruiter also recruit Point Guards?

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  72. I hope these players are going to class. Embarrassing loss.

    Can someone name a good coach the Lyke has hired?

    Wrestling is the only one I can think of…

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  74. 14 seconds left and everyone knows Pitt needs a 3 –

    X-man drives to the lane and wastes 3 or 4 seconds.

    First time in 30 tries does SF beat Pitt.

    Thank you Jeff Capel and Heather Lyke!

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  77. Who is the Ike of the basketball thread that can tell me everything will be ok?

    Ike, I know it’s not you but there’s no positivity on here!!

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  78. I feel like we’ve been gut punched. The Freshmen played a lot of minutes which is not a vote of confidence for the starters. Horton was a disappointment. I thought he was a 3 pt shooter. Brown just doesn’t have it and never will. X man hasn’t improved and never will. Looking forward to Dan’s report tomorrow.

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  79. You want positive – the 17 year old from Erie was the best player on the court for Pitt – #24 Jeffers

    He will look good in a UNC uniform some day soon.

    Sorry, that is all I have from Capel’s Folly tonight.

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  80. hey, trending up, we won the 2nd half 37-34 , just ran out of time, needed 4 more halves 😦

    can’t even laugh at this, as much as Narduzzi probably is not the answer, Capel looks worse

    the criticisms are many including what many say about having NO POINT GUARD, nobody with a handle anywhere on the court, no big with any hands let alone hops or shot, poor effort on D and no team effort with ball and player movement on O

    not much to look forward to for a long, long, long time at Pitt
    sad

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  81. On the bright side….at least Heather and Capel….didn’t schedule Robert Morris. Or that streak would have ended too !

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  82. Capel has been all BS, puffery and platitudes. More worried about his image because he really can’t coach or manage a team.

    Probably a better politician than basketball coach. You don’t need any talent to be a politician. But mostly a recruiting assistant coach.

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  86. It only finished being a 10 point game, because St Francis was letting Pitt score, rather than foul them.

    It was on the order of extended garbage time in the NBA. A lot of uncontested layups and putbacks.

    Take away that and Pitt shot about 30% FG for the game was worse from 3(officially 25%).

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  87. This staff can’t even file a waiver correctly, so I expect them to be able to coach?

    The golden days are so far removed and a revitalization under Capel likely isn’t in the works.

    No point guard brought in this most recent class is puzzling. Johnson can’t get it done.

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  88. Have you ever seen a more out of control pg than Johnson? With a lower bb iq? Or a kid who only hustles on cherry picks than Chapaine, or is slower and worse on defense. Aw heck, they played bad, and ever their performance was better than the coaching job. Articulate, seems genuine, but can’t coach worth a crap.

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    1. Every time I see Johnson get all crazy like that I’m reminded of Jerry McCullogh, except Johnson is faster and more athletic. But just as greedy and out of control.

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        1. Mr. NBA needs to realize he is not on the playground, he needs to play more within a structured offense and play solid defense but that takes coaching.

          It’s going to be a very long season but I’m looking forward to some great observations and discussions here.

          Happy Thanksgiving all!

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  89. Happy Thanksgiving to the POV! Thankful for each and every one of you. Not currently thankful for Heather Lyke, Pat Narduzzi or Jeff Capel. Tonight was a disaster on multiple levels.

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      1. Yes. I preached to give him time. If he can’t win this year, it’s probably time to move on. Just like this was narduzzis show me the money year.

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  91. I posted previously that Pitt doesn’t have a decent point guard. It hasn’t had one for several years. There are many problems to be addressed with this Pitt squad but without any QB leadership at that point guard position # 13 in the ACC sounds about right if not being too generous.

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  92. From PSN article post-game:

    first lost in 30 all-time games against the nearby squad (SF)?from Loretto, Pa.

    “Right away, they were able to get into a rhythm offensively,” head coach Jeff Capel said. “We didn’t pressure. We didn’t contest. They were able to drive (on) us. I was surpised by that. … They smacked us right in the mouth.”

    Hey Jeff, what SF did last night was compete, run fundamentally sound BB plays, played D and mixed in plenty of hustle. Pitt did none of those four basic elements of BB. Most of that is worked on in practice.

    What do you, your coaches and players do in practice?That is the question that really needs asked, and coach Capel needs to answer.

    Also, I’d Heather still the Pitt AD?

    No wonder Capel did not want to play Duquesne – they have a much better coach in Dambrot, much better…

    EE who is pre-heating the oven and trying to cool my brain after the SF smackdown last night.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Also, I’d Heather still the Pitt AD?

      spell check – “IS Heather still the Pitt AD?”

      Not meant to be a joke question – coming from a Pitt athletic financial doner, former Pitt scholarship athlete and Pitt grad…

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  93. Remember when Capel got the job and landed X, Toney and McGowens? That was impressive so soon on the job. Then, instead of doing what coaches should do, landing a really good class in his first full recruiting cycle, Capel did not and it led to a lethargic year two.

    Now, we have two juniors, one being a point guard who hasn’t improved one bit since his freshman season and a bunch of newcomers in need of meshing.

    How is there not a true backup point guard to turn to when X is struggling? No shooters either. So much for a staff compiled of former head coaches.

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  94. Anyone want iek’s good news? Well, I ain’t got any. PITT looked embarrassing, un-disciplined and poorly coached. The small tidbit of good news is………. It is only one and the first game.

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone.

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  95. Happy Turkey Day to all. Two former Pitt players now with Nebraska contributed to their win last night – T.McGowens with 14 points and S.Stevenson with 12 points. Both played about 20 minutes each.

    Trey with an ESPN highlight reel slam dunk to boot. He is settling in nicely in his new role as the PG. Go figure…

    I’m hearing some predictions that this Pitt team may not win an ACC game this season. The two teams picked below Pitt in the preseason – W_F and BC both played well last night. W_F won big over their rent a win and BC lost a close game to #3 Villanova.

    I did not think we could get worse than Kevin Stallings.

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      1. I was in the same camp. What do yin’s Texans eat for Thanksgiving? Being from Indiana PA, I assume you are a turkey guy.

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        2. Not just turkey. Fried turkey

          And then of course cornbread, greens and other fixins like stuffing, mashed potatoes. I also like roasted veges.

          Tomorrow was always the day the women shopped and the men headed off to their ‘mountain’ camps for the start of deer.

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  96. in 2008, Pitt FB opened with a loss to Bowling Green. It ended up with 9 wins

    in 1973-4 Pitt BB lost its first game to WVU, then went on to 22-4 record losing to eventual champ NC State in Elite 8

    That’s all I have!

    except Happy Thanksgiving

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    1. I give thanks to keeping my pessimism in 2020. In no other year has it been spot on as the POV. You can’t go wrong with vinegar in a covid season.

      I’m done drinking the Koolaid for basketball.

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  97. I love how it was hinted the problem was McGowens and after he transferred it would all get better. What a crock. Hoiberg will utilize him smoky he better because he is 10 times the coach than Capel and staff.

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    1. The Ryan Murphy was also hinted at….to be the problem. Kid hits the game winning shot against BC and then something went array. A fight in practice, he gets injured, misses a few games and then they never or almost never pass him the ball.

      Must have been that Equality thing, Pitt has on the back on it’s shirts.

      Liked by 2 people

  98. That was quite a Stallings impression last night.
    I was concerned that the wrong guy transferred last year, although unsure.
    PG is not there but other than Toney, it was pretty much a team effort.
    Abysmal shooting by us, wonderful shooting by them.
    Absolutely no defense, which is mostly hustle, Zone was awful. That was the most
    Stallingsesque. Extremely hard to watch.
    I think X’s missed slam said it all.
    Surprised they didn’t say the whole team had the flu.
    Hard to have patience with Capel at this point.

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  99. Maybe Babers can switch to coaching basketball and PITT can hire him to replace Capel? Here we go people, a winter of TEX and his grandiose ideas. 🙂

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  100. The box score is really hard to look at but one thig stands out Points from turnovers Them 27, Us 8.
    Highly spoke of Horton was no answer. You have to wonder how much they miss Sibande and Femi,
    for leadership and scoring. But the lack of defense is the most disturbing.

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  102. PSN adds to the bad smell of Pitt’s effort last night –

    “Disappointing was probably an understatement. The Panthers entered as 15-point favorites, the Red Flash were picked to finish sixth in the Northeast Conference this season — and second among St. Francises, behind St. Francis College in Brooklyn, and KenPom.com rated St. Francis as the No. 210 team in the country and the second-worst on Pitt’s entire 2020-21 schedule.”

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  103. Happy Thanksgiving to the entire POV family! May you all eat your fill and enjoy fellowship with friends and family be it in person or virtually!

    Liked by 2 people

  104. Posted on another blog “looks like this game might have taken some pressure off of Narduzzi.” I’m thinking thats a pretty fair statement.

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    1. Narduzzi is very thankful this morning. Capel is 100 percent on Heather right now. Her meal today probably isn’t going down so well.

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  105. Haven’t checked this year’s coaching staff…to see if any changes. But the last several years, Capel’s staff has included like 2 or 3 former HC’s. Granted they were losers wherever they coached. But still….

    Also Xavier never played or rarely played PG in High School. He was a 2 guard, that couldn’t shoot from the outside.

    So in effect…….Capel has NEVER recruited a PG in his time at Pitt ! And indeed that is quite remarkable.

    Remarkably bad !

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    1. The problem this year is; there are not a bevy of non-conference rent-a-win games for Pitt’s players to gain any confidence (ikr), nor for Capel to pad his Win total.

      Only Drexel & Gardner Del Webb left. But they did draw the weakest team (again) in Northwestern
      for the ACC/BigJoke Challenge.

      First ACC game in 20 days at Miami.

      Happy ThanksGiving to you as well and all on the POV.

      Liked by 2 people

  107. Yes, just checked….same coaching staff as last 2 years under Capel. 3 former HC’s.

    Including his brother, Jason Capel, who was HC at App State. Where he was a sterling 53-70
    before being fired.

    So the Capel Brothers are drawing in some Large Coin from Pitt.
    We need to start getting a much better ROI !

    Liked by 1 person

  108. Kansas plays Gonzaga on Fox at 1:30. Capel, his staff and players should be forced to watch the game so they can observe how the game is supposed to be played.

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    1. Jackagain, you are so right. I just watched the first half. Both Kansas and Gonzaga disciplined. They can pass, shot, and more importantly play defense. Well coached. Capel is not for us.

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  109. What advantages does Cincinnati have that we don’t have? Top ranked football and basketball programs in a Group of 5 conference? And, for that matter, West Virginia? There may not be the talent there once was in Western PA, but there’s even less in West Virginia and Cincinnati competes with The Ohio State University which sucks up more attention than Penn State?

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    1. The administrations at both Cincinnati and WVU understand how important those two sports are to the brand and financial health of their respective universities.

      Pitt’s administration turns their collective noses to those two sports and allows enablers on its BoT from our hated rival.

      I know there are a few other reasons but right now the turkey is drawing the eyelids to a close.

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      1. Gpa’s matter more than actual wins at Pitt

        With that thinking, they might as well go private and drop down to division 2.

        The seat is getting hot for heather. Pitts AD that hasn’t made a public comment since July.

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    2. They have better coaches who recruit players for their system. Real simple. Don’t over think it. Plus scheduling helps a bit.

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  110. PITT is worse in Capel’s third yr? The players don’t look like a team. It all looks so confusing. Johnson is not a point guard. Capel is not the coach for us. Not disciplined. Recruiting is not where we should be.

    Just take a look at Rutgers and what their coach has accomplished in a few years. Capel doesn’t seem to know how to recruit the Metro NYC kids. Our best teams were kids from the metro area. In fact the history of the ACC and other winning programs (like Louisville) are based on Metro players.

    Don’t know how Gonzaga does it out in little Spokane, my wife’s Country.

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  112. A short fan poem.

    As our teams march through the valley of losses and we watch in horror on our 80 inch ultra HD TV sets, we wonder if we should change channels to watch a winning team.

    But no, we stay and watch the debacle unfold in great HD color while having a delicious cocktail that will hasten us to a slow slumber to forget what we were even watching.

    Signed,
    An unknown obscure poem writer

    Liked by 1 person

  113. MissingWlat’s take on last night:

    Sonetimes you shoot poorly. Sometimes you have lapses on defense. Sometimes you underestimate weaker opposition. Sometimes you lack the necessary energy. Sometimes you have no flow on offense. Sometimes you get outhustled. Sometimes you get out coached.

    Last night, EVERY SINGLE ONE of those things happened. I can’t remember a Pitt hoops game, ever, where all of those things occurred at once. We had a lot of stinkers under Stallings, certainly larger blowouts, but I just can’t remember anything that pathetic. I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around how epically bad that game was last night.

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  114. I still like Coach Capel, but he needs to be the recruiter and big-picture guy. He needs a staff of technicians who can teach the x’s and o’s.

    When Coach Suzie hired her sister as the assistant head coach, it did not go well. Now Coach Capel needs to look at his staff, just as Coach Duzz has to re-do his offensive coaches…

    Go Pitt.

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    1. He is the recruiter (although nobody has been recruited for 2021). Pitt isn’t even listed on the 2021 Rivals Team Recruiting rankings. Most good schools are done recruiting already for 2021.

      Pitt doesn’t have a single recruit.
      And Capel has a staff of 3 former Head Coaches in D1. So what in the heck is he doing since you know
      that O’Toole or the other 2 are running the practices.

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  115. Capel is the guy responsible. Recruit kids that can play together. Teach them to play as a team. Don’t blame the poor play on them. You coach, is the ONE responsible! Those kids yesterday were completely unprepared and undisciplined.

    Personally Coach Capel, you are not the right guy for PITT.

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