Here is another good post-game piece by Dan72 I’ve added links for background info.

There’s an old saying in all of sports which I never personally cared for:

“You’re never as bad as you look when you lose and you’re never as good as you look when you win!”

Pitt Basketball has rarely looked better than the victory tonight over a previous 13-3 Virginia Tech Hokie Team and… they never looked worse than the North Carolina and Notre Dame losses of last week. 

Xavier Johnson (XMan with 32 pts; 5 rebounds & 7 assists) sat on the bench to open and I may never start him again! Femi started at point guard and the team looked amazingly balanced to start. Then… like a Matador at a Bullfight in comes XMan…hitting three 3’s and running point guard the way John Wooden (UCLA Legend) drew it up.

He slowed the team down when they started to run amok and sped them up when VA Tech (VT) made their own runs. In between he distributed the ball brilliantly to open players, many times instead of taking a contested shot. He drove the basket and made acrobatic shots that drove Tech nuts!

He was the best athlete on the floor for either team (here is a video to prove it) and played great defense on top of it all. I cannot remember a better Pitt Point Guard performance ever. He is the first player to come off the bench and score 30+ points in twenty five years for Pitt. 

Others played very well for Pitt also. Horton missed his first three three point attempts and then, instead of sulking, hit four of his next five three pointers finishing with a total 15 points. Toney had a terrific game in support with six hard fought rebounds and 14 points. 

I have a sixth sense about when a player is hurt or not 100% no matter how they appear in general. Champangnie seemed to favor his left side a few times and I think he hasn’t been himself for a few games now. Still he scored 13 points and 10 rebounds. Someone on POV said it was his knee and they could well be right. He was doubled any time he had the ball as Tech was not going to let him beat them. 

VA Tech has a nice team but they are nothing special. No point guard and no tall big man inside. They had their star 6’9” Aluma inside with 30 points and a bunch of role players to assist him. 

Pitt is off to UVA this weekend as Covid has caused new  scheduled games and Florida State is a mess with the virus. Game time Saturday for the University of Virginia Cavalier team is 4:00 PM. 

Congratulations to Coach Capel and staff on some terrific coaching. It’s no small thing to turn a team around after the kind of poor games we played over the last eight days with losses to Wake Forest 76-75, UNC 75-65 and then Notre Dame 84-58. 

Hail to Pitt!!!