96 thoughts on “Pitt at Virginia: Basketball Open Game Thread”

  2. Pitt volleyball wins first set 25-23. Kayla Lund with only one dig and a service error. Kylee Levers not playing. Rachel Fairbanks is the second setter.

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  3. Pitt replaces Kayla Lund with Valeria Vazquez Gomez in the second set. Pitt jumps out to a 6-0 start!

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  4. The Pete looked fairly empty for the Penn State match, from what you could see on TV. It looks like a nice crowd for the Pitt match. Is that right, Annie? If so, I’m surprised that PSU didn’t bring more fans.

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    1. PSU fans are not expecting a good result in the potential match tomorrow. I still expect them to show up in good numbers.

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  6. I’m told that Femi is out with his ankle injury tonight. That will present us with a bit of a challenge.

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  8. Pitt wins the 2nd set: 25-13. Coach Fisher uses some of his bench. Sabrina Starks, Cat Flood, and Jordan Lockwood all get play. Need to win the 3rd set in similar fashion and get rested up for tomorrow.

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  11. Dawa couple PSU fans walking around. Also saw 2 people wearing both Pitt & PSU. Obviously conflicted people.

    Decent crowd. Definitely pro-Pitt. I would hope for more tomorrow but with the football game at 8 Idk who will show up. I gave my tickets to a friend who was so excited to get them. I’ll be suffering at a 50th anniversary dinner….

    Kayla looked rusty. She was swinging hard during her warmups though.

    Rachel Fairbanks is really impressive.

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    1. Rachel Fairbanks is going to be the ACC Player of the year in the future! She is really coming on at the end of the year. Thanks for the “on-the-spot” reporting Annie!

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  14. The PSU match was at 4pm. Hard for the average fan to get here by then. I expect more fans tomorrow since neither their football or mens soccer teams will be playing … haha

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  20. Pitt wins the third set 25-18 and the match 3-0. Freshman Emmy Klika and Red shirt Sophmore Anastasia Russ see action in the third set.

    Pitt takes on Penn State tomorrow at 7 PM. If you do not have ESPN+, you can listen to the PSU radio feed.

    Based on today’s match, Pitt is a much better team without a limited Kayla Lund than they are with her. She needs another week of practice/healing. Hopefully Coach Fisher thinks the same way!

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    1. Question for you, John. Kayla and Chinaza were All-Americans and it is awesome that they returned for an extra year. But from my uninformed eye, Leketor Member-Meneh looks to be the most valuable player on this years team. I know Kayla has been injured, but still. What say you?

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      1. I’m not John but I’ll give you my 2 cents. I would agree with you, Lek is quite a force this year. Adding Serina Gray was also a great pickup, as she is a threat serving as well as at the net.

        Pitt can’t start out tomorrow like they did in set 1 or it will be another sad outcome in the 2nd round at the Pete.

        PSU left in the middle of the 2nd set. I hope they are nervous after seeing that beatdown.

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      2. Farmers: I agree with your very informed eye. Leketor Member-Menh has carried this team on her back more than once this season. As Annie states, the pickup of Serena Gray has also been a big part of Pitt’s success this season.

        Tomorrow Serena will be playing against her former teammates. She knows their tendencies and they know her tendencies as they were when she played and practiced with them. She has grown since she left PSU, so I think Pitt will have a slight advantage with the present arrangement.

        PSU is a very dangerous opponent and their coach has won seven NCAA championships. Pitt needs to play very well tomorrow to bring home a victory. Even without Kayla Lund, I believe we have enough depth to do it. Hail to Pitt!

        I will be one of the few who will stay with the volleyball match until it ends before starting to watch the recorded ACC Championship game. I trust everyone else can carry the football team through the first half!

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  23. Pitt BB playing surprisingly well. I thought Virginia might try a full court press on us with Femi out.

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  26. Pitt shooting 6 of 13…from 3. Capel must have had Larry Bird come in, to give some shooting tips.

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  43. Yep, we blew that game. I know there will be much consternation about this loss, but…there is something building here with this Pitt team.

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  45. So….. great game by Pitt vs an average UVA team. Total bonehead play by Pitt at the end but a short 5 second call by refs (will Pitt ever stop getting screwed by ACC refs?)

    Awful situational basketball. The one thing yo can’t let happen….happened. Turning the ball over under your own basket.

    Your up one w 9 seconds left. You get one fake and then have a Pitt player long and you throw it the length of the court and even if UVA intercepts , by the time they get the ball back in their side, time has run out!

    Hard to practice that but I promise Capel will never let that happen again! Tough lesson to learn. Especially when you’ve played way over your head all night. Hope it’s not a precursor.

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    1. Dunno about that never happening again. Capel’s teams have year after year,,,,given up easy baskets on inbounds plays. At least 2 more again tonight….that I remember.

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  50. Okay, I don’t know if Pitt had a time out but typically your inbounder counts to 2004 and calls time out.

    Problem is, refs called 5 second penalty with only 4 seconds gone. I just timed it on replay. Pitt can’t beat UVA, WF and the refs! Enough!

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  53. “ACC refs.” Other than $$, it was the main reason Maryland left the ACC.

    Traveling thru NC in my 30s and 40s, I fell in love with ACC Basketball. Specifically Maryland Basketball, loved Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams but they were considered the Northern team and I watched game after game year after year with UNC and Duke as Maryland got absolutely “homered”

    I’ll bet there were at least 20 questionable ref calls on Pitt Football this season. The game tonight was a classic example and Capel should have planned for it. A game altering ref decision and bonehead play cost Pitt the game tonight. The refs no longer hide it, it’s so blatant.

    My #1 worry for tomorrow. That’s why Pitt needs to dominate and leave NO DOUBT H2P

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  54. Regarding Pitt men’s BB – last night, this Capel-led team had a 4 point lead with 10 seconds left to play. They battled, scrapped and clawed to that point in the game. What happened in the last 10 seconds is a sad testament to the Capel era – he has not recruited a true scholarship PG yet. (McGowens, X and Femi were/are guards, but none are true PG’s). Every team needs at least two very good ball handlers on the roster for moments like last night – PG’s are smart floor generals, coaches on the court who know what to do with the ball, how to get the ball and how to protect the ball.

    Please correct me if I am wrong.

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    1. I don’t think they need 2 but they sure as heck need 1 and he needs to be able to shoot FT’s over 50 some %

      the rest of the team would be great to have able to shoot FT’s too

      what happened with Pitt women’s VB?

      Heisman voting and announcement of those heading to NY is when? thought would happen last night

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  55. I get the disappointment, but the team made 8 3 point shots, in an away game, without Femi and a walk on playing guard. Some bad luck and a questionable call at the end. Also with Hugley being stifled much of the game. Guys are starting to contribute, ball control and movement looking better.
    Seriously did anyone expect them to even be in that game, let alone have a good chance to win?

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    1. Also the fact that Hugley was 2-11, luckily he made some foul shots. Pitt got contributions from many guys to stay in the game. Defense was better too, although it helped that VA had a poor 3 point shooting night.

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  57. How did I miss Bronco Mendenhal resigning? What the heck? He’s a good dude and good coach. Feel bad for UVA. He was a good fit there. Very strange press conference, he said even his wife was surprised. Maybe he is just burned out.

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  60. Game day! I feel like I did as a kid when it was Super Bowl day and the Steelers were in it. Hail to Pitt, bring home the win.

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  61. This is really big, Pitt is the only ACC team north of the Mason Dixon line to challenge for an ACC title in Football. I’m guessing the only the only NorthEast team to challenge in a conference championship game.

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    1. Wrong again PSU won the B1G championship game in 2016, a year that Pitt beat them and may have cost them a National title

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      1. Pitt also beat the ACC champion that year….Clemscum.

        And squeezed the Orange for 76 points. And your fav OC was calling plays for Pitt. lol

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  63. Boston College played in the ACC Championship game in 2007….when it was held in Jax, Florida.

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  64. In fact BC’s best 3 years in the ACC…were the first 3 years they were a member,

    9-3 2005
    10-3 2006 (2nd in the Atlantic behind Wake) Wake won the title over GT
    11-3 2007 (lost to VT in title game) Got to #2 during the season

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  67. From PSN on last night’s men’s BB finish:

    “Committing a foul up five in the last ten or so seconds of the game is less than ideal, especially on a guy like Jayden Gardner who finishes as much as anyone through contact. While it was not a clear hack by any means, Pitt cannot change anything about the call after the fact. It was a mental lapse even making it that close of a call in that game situation.

    Then came the five second violation. Pitt now had a two-point lead, and needed to get the ball in. Sure, it is easier said than done to find someone that is open in that situation. Ok. Call a timeout. Players. Coach. Call a timeout if you have a timeout. Not being ready for that situation is inexcusable.

    Lastly, the game-winner. The possession had multiple missed shots, and multiple offensive rebounds. On the last try specifically, Virginia’s Taine Murray chucked up a deep three for the win. While the ball was in the air, only two Panthers, Hugley and Burton, found a body and boxed out. The rest stopped and stared, while four Cavaliers crashed the boards, and eventually Gardner grabbed the loose rebound which set up his game-winner.

    These are all mental mistakes that the Panthers made that caused them to lose a game in which they battled so hard to win.”

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    1. At least SIX mental lapses in the last ten seconds of a game Pitt should have won. That is really hard to do and it is really stretching it not to associate that last ten seconds to poor coaching.

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      1. Pitt had at least 2 timeouts in hand.

        You call a timeout with 9 seconds to go…to not only setup a play to get the ball inbounds, as well as to who you would like to receive it (usually a better Foul Shot shooter). in this case Burton would be the guy, as he’s your best ball handler, was 2 for 2 FT in this game and almost 80% on the season.

        Additionally to also remind (coach) the inbounds passer, as to, if you can’t get it in by 3 seconds, call another timeout.

        Very hard to believe this guy doesn’t know the basics, nor any of the other 3 former HC’s on the bench.

        Incredulous !

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        1. Come on, Jugger. You really think the Pitt coaches don’t know all that stuff. I only played playground/intramural BB and I know that stuff…

          Knowing it, reminding the players what to do, and then the players actually do it – are different things.

          I suspect the players thought they had the game won – a monumental achievement for them – and went into celebration-mode a bit prematurely…

          Go Pitt.

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          1. I don’t know what he knows, doesn’t knows or perhaps he can’t think at the spur of the moment.

            A lot of people can’t. Performing under pressure is not something everyone does well.

            Fact is….he DIDN’T CALL A TIMEOUT WITH 9 SECONDS to go…to remind the players to do
            anything.

            Which is why you do call the timeout….especially with an unproven team like Pitt with many new moving parts.

            Pitt Wins Tonite ! Kenny for Heisman !

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  70. This coaching staff is abysmal. No other way to put it. Bad losses like this dating back to his first season where only the fundamentals needed to be done. Anyone remember the loss at Wake in Jeff’s first season? No one under the basket to grab the ball since the man who was suppose to be there drifted to the foul line. That stuff happens due to poor communicating.

    Four former head coaches and the basics are not transferring onto the court. Are the coaches communicating or the players are just choking in crunch time?

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