84 thoughts on “Miami at Pitt Basketball Game Thread”

  6. nice run to get back then scoring lull but they are seemingly maintaining intensity on both ends

    let’s at least see THAT continued effort,,,, and Gueye hopefully return

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  8. I saw 4-14 and turned it on. Looks pretty even. 18-24 now. Missed goaltending call has benefitted Pitt with the refs…..

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  12. Hugley will be on sportscenter tonight…….That dude was a high flyer on the slam.

    0-19 points off turnovers

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  14. Reminder it is Pitt Day of Giving—— we have a great University —— there is much more to Pitt than our lousy basketball team.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. 27-47 at half. We got em where we want em now!

    Felton said that in order to win, we need to keep them in 60’s. I’m saying we still have a chance!!

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  16. This staff stinks.

    Good luck finding a successful coach.

    Pitt stinks at finding coaches, too.
    The ineptness is frustrating to say the least.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Turnover points is the difference. We’re giving it away.

    Gotta LIKE that (comment by MM, not the BB giveaways)!

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  21. Agree with voice. Very difficult to watch. Candidly on both sides. Miami isn’t a bunch of smooth operators. Perhaps they lost their competitive spirit when they went in at halftime up 20. Maybe the AD extends the coach…..

    If you are supposed to get better throughout the season….this is really bad.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Is this the time when Pitt makes a last minute run to finish within 10 points, and then claim a moral victory?

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  23. no challenge from our defense. they let them go to the hoop! Used to love jay bilas when he would say you better bring your helmet when you play pitt.We are soft.

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  24. First words I hear from announcers on turning on the game “there’s a lot of holes in this Pitt Defense!”

    No kidding. Mo with the Ole D.

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  25. Turnovers for Pitt with 8 minutes left in the game – 16

    Free throw % for Pitt – 45.5%

    Priceless…

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  26. Bench scoring for Pitt = 0 at the 7 minute to go mark (with ONE shot taken).

    Three point shooting – 15%

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  29. miami has put their subs in with 4 minutes to go. Usually it is only the last minute. If we keep our starters in, we can get this into the high teens……

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  30. What has happened to Femi? Didn’t he score big at the end of last season? He has not improved this year. He’s a turnover machine that can’t shoot.

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  31. Femi is not a PG nor is any other player on scholarship, besides EZ, the former walk-on.

    Capel however is a former PG.

    Femi would be a good 2 guard. Pitt has several 2 guards. Non are very good ball handlers.

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  32. Good question Voice. Remember Femi only got good for a few games last season. He’s too tall for a point Guard, has horrible footwork on defense, a high dribble, can’t use his left hand, below average foul shooter and a streak long distance shooter. Other than that…

    Liked by 3 people

  35. Truth be told, Odukale is without question the MOST talented of the current Pitt Players.

    The fact that he is the MOST often cited/criticized game in and game out supports that simple fact.

    It is not Odukale’s talent or lack thereof that is the problem. As with the whole of Pitt Basketball it is… how can I put this… COACHING!

    What a waste of talent. What a waste especially considering he has a person as Coach who played the position well yet seems so TOTALLY incapable of raising his level of play.

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  37. Doubtful I’m back for next year unless crap changes…left at halftime AGAIN.
    Have season tickets since 1977.

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    1. Now that is a big-time statement about the state of Pitt basketball…

      If Lastrow is out the door, significant changes must be made…

      Go Pitt.

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      1. Heather lost her marketing guy to Marshall yesterday. She’s got other things to be more concerned with than stinking men’s BB.

        Pfff…

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        1. I heard he put in for just about every job opening for the last three years. Good for him. Sometimes these AD’s push their guy and support them to get a job, instead of having to fire them. It’s a fraternity! Not saying whether that is the case or not, I have just heard about that on the circuit. Conversely, he may have been looking to get out of a sinking ship that can’t give bball tickets away.

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  39. The team “appeared” to have quit on the coaches again. By the sound & sight of it, many, many fans have done the same.

    The appearance of a team that quit on it’s coaches is just that (a look, a feel, a mirage?). Only the individual player can answer for his effort in his own mind. What we fans see, ends up being distorted, but our wallets do talk loudly about what we see.

    Anyone wishing they’d see Capel popping Larranaga in the head for running up the score and then getting a five game suspension or fired?

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    1. not going to lie….i had a thought.

      femi is a good point guard but has no talent to work with except for Hugley. Burton was a turnover machine today it seems…

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  40. This POD fraternity would be a good deal larger if Narduzzi’s FB teams performed at the same level of Capel’s BB teams.

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  41. Burton being an “amazingly bad passer” actually aged well, unfortunately 😦

    Femi had a slightly better night than usual as he wasn’t tasked with ball handling as much as usual because Burton was given the job of ball (mis)handler

    if Femi were surrounded by better talent, he’d not see the court

    Femi’s good night included that he actually finished ONE drive at the rim, he’s progressing 😦

    Hugley got stuffed underneath by a Miami guard, stuffed! That among his handful of other misses underneath

    Horton and Gueye are the best talent Pitt has, and both have deficiencies but would be better and likely more consistent contributors with surrounding talent if it existed

    Jeffress, 😦 , I’ll let the play speak for itself, 😦 😦 probably studying way too much and a great STUDENT athlete who happens to be tall, he may never step on a court after he finishes at Pitt, may not even lead his team at work in 10 years 😦

    didn’t watch the Capel post game but my guess is the hollow vessel that is Jeff Capel(and staff) has little to say, he needs to pull a few(like 3-4) rabbits out of the transfer portal hat and unfortunately he ain’t no magician

    I wish I were wrong on everything above

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  42. Jeffress may very well be a great kid and student, and by all accounts he is. But has anyone on this blog who knows anything about basketball seen anything from him that suggests that he’s a power 5 or ACC caliber player? Aside from appearing to have zero offensive skills, he never appears to display any emotion and constantly has that “deer in the headlights” look about him.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. He is one of Pitt’s best defenders and he just turned 18 years old.

      In a Jamie Dixon type system, he could be on a trajectory path similar to Gilbert Brown or Lamar Patterson who were late bloomers.

      Way to early to judge such a young talent. His unfortunate circumstance is being tied to Jeff Capel and Pitt BB.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. And plenty of others who sat the bench for their first two years. With the portal, I don’t think that is possible anymore.

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      2. Lamar and Gilbert could shoot, what makes you think Jeffress can?

        one of Pitt’s best defenders? low bar but I don’t see that either, maybe true because you really need to defend as a team and we don’t seem to do that much and certainly not consistently so hard to really judge but he sure doesn’t stand out to me, can’t rebound strong or even seem to have a physical presence including effort underneath(of course he is listed as a GUARD, which I don’t quite understand)

        I do agree it is early so development CAN happen but if he comes anywhere near a Gilbert Brown or Patterson I’d be shocked

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  44. Our guards outclassed by the best in the conference, no surprise there.
    Capel needs to pull an inside straight with the portal, while keeping his best guys
    and getting the rest to leave out the back door. Doesn’t seem remotely possible.

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    1. Pitt had their best game UNC their worst. For whatever reason Pitt’s defense has disappeared as had any offense from their guards. And of course poor coaching has returned (sarcasm)

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  46. In Pitt’s wins Femi and Burton shared the point guard duties and played very well. Defense was strong, ball movement was good. In the last two games that has not occurred.

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  47. There is no question that Jeffress still has time to develop. But given his status as one of the top high school players in PA, isn’t it reasonable to expect that he could shoot an 8 foot jumper? He looks lost on the floor. I hope I’m proven wrong, but I see him being recruited over.

    Liked by 2 people

  48. Reed. Here is my 2 cents FWIW

    The Ga Tech loss was predictable after an emotional win, especially when everyone but Gueye (who had foul issues) played very well. It certainly didn’t help UNC that the Pitt game came right between two critical games

    So Pitt feeling very good about themselves get to play the worse team in the league. And everyone but Gueye can’t hit the broad side of the barn. As I wrote here after the UNC game …. Western Michigan is gong to be tough on Saturday

    The last night was the worst possible matchup. Pitt, the turnover machine, plays against the team that creates the most turnovers. I just heard on ACCN that Miami scored 30 points as a result of turnovers

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  49. Turnovers, turnovers, and guess what? more turnovers. Bad passing, lack of ball control (especially when driving to the basket), and no sense of positioning on the floor. I don’t know where Pitt ranks in team turnovers per game. however, my guess is that we are somewhere in the top 10-15% in Div 1 >>>>nothing to be proud of///shameful.

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  50. And…….the turnover disease extends to the Lady Panthers>>>>the Pete is a terrific facility being occupied
    by tenants who should be playing for the most part in a high school gym learning the basics. The number of points opposing teams score off Pitt turnovers is almost beyond belief.

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  51. I did a quick search…
    Pitt is averaging 13.9 turnovers per game and ranked at 278 in D1…
    Jamie’s TCU averages 14.6 and is ranked at 310.
    Last is Prairie View at 18.1 and 350.
    (ncaa.com/stats/basketball)
    *I felt like Richard for a couple of minutes) 😃

    I assume all the other teams, or at least the great majority, have actual point guards running the offense.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Admit it, it feels good to look up stats. You beat me to the stat in question (but only because I also looked up turnovers forced (309 = #264) and turnover margin (-3.2/game = #331).

      Liked by 1 person

  52. Jeffress has unbelievable physical talent, but is a total head case. The question with him is can he overcome his mental deficiencies. Horton went 5-5 from outside the arc against UNC, but then 0-5 against Miami. What gives with that? Lastly, there was a total drop off in FT shooting . Dan may know this, but is that a result of a very tired team coming to the line?

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      1. I’ve said this all along, Jeffress seems to be a great kid, but the ratings were simply wrong, he does not have the talent, especially in terms of offensive skillset. Until I see a shred of evidence otherwise, I believe he was simply a miss, not at all different than a player like Drumgoole. Sometimes we get caught up in the ratings and assume they are correct; they are often NOT correct.

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  53. My first POV basketball comment of the year was Pitt simply does not have ACC talent on this team! Nice guys, good students but not ACC talent! “

    When your team is totally outclassed talent wise, you get blowouts like last night, VA Tech etc. It’s breathtaking to watch the individual breakdowns on defense and the loss of any awareness on the court. It’s easy to blame coaching but the coaching blame should start with recruiting. It’s been nonexistent for ACC talented players!

    For six years now we’ve asked “where’s our new point guard or our new big man?” If I’m coaching Pitt I’m finding an ACC talent point guard somewhere in the USA or Canada.Last night Pitt faced the top PG in the country. It was a huge mismatch.

    So Coach Capel, why isn’t it fixed?
    Where’s the effort? And recruiting?
    Maybe it is time for a change!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I wish I believed the problem was largely recruiting. I think it’s literally half the story; between losing the team, weak offensive sets & witnessing the same defensive problems over and over again, I think the other half of the problem is in fact coaching. It’s hard to dissect when the talent is low, but the lack of effort and discipline is not really that hard to see, and that’s where coaching/leadership comes into play. Hugley’s post game comments are telling.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I wish we had enough talent that one could actually tell if Capel and staff are competent ACC Coaches! But we don’t and we haven’t.

        When you’re completely outmatched and out-talented
        there’s no play or set a coach can call to fix it. Players feel helpless and coaches are helpless.

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  54. Used to go to a few games a year with family also have the acc network but become sick when watching. Will never go back until this poor excuse of a head coach is sent packing, they are horrible in every aspect of the game.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s putrid really but Pitt’s incompetence over the past half-decade has taught me how to enjoy the winter and early spring without Pitt basketball, without attending any games, and without donating. Of course, Lyke could care less about me or my viewpoints. She is arrogant, lazy, and pompous. Capel is an affirmative action hire and Lyke is an underrepresented group hire. I believe the US Supreme Court will be ruling on these practices this year.

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  56. First let me state that I’m fine with Capel getting the axe

    But the Kool-Aid side is that the Miami team you saw last night was 10-17 last year. It helps to have some seniors on your team (as we Pitt fan’s know)

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  57. Miami guard Charlie Moore transferred in last year from DePaul…huge addition.
    His 4th team in 5 years.

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  58. I’ve said it before Jeffress still has to think before he acts, that is why he gets stripped and opportunities close down before he shoots. On defense there is less thinking and more reacting that is why he is a little better on D. I remember a few other players with similar issues maybe Zanna.

    The question is will he overcome the problem?

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    1. No confidence. If he gets confidence he will be just fine. He was a stud in high school because it is a rarity to go against someone your size and your skill set. In college, everybody has your size and skill set. It’s a process and it’s maturity. I still think that if he gains confidence he will be fine. Best way to gain confidence is to out rebound your guy, play awesome, aggressive defense and that will lead to dunks. He doesn’t even get those because he isn’t confident enough to play full tilt yet. Maybe he never will, but I think lightbulb will go off….hopefully before his eligibility expires!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Huff, I hope I’m wrong but I haven’t seen a single thing that shows me Jeffress has the talent to even play D2 basketball let alone ACC Basketball. He has not one offensive skill set, can’t ball handle in traffic and can’t shoot beyond 6 feet.

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  59. great passers probably becoming more scarce with the way basketball is evolving

    even our very solid James Robinson wasn’t a very good passer, great FT guy and reliable ball handler and solid passer but certainly not VERY good passer

    who was our last very good or great passing point guard? probably Levance, and HIS entire team could pass well

    and we’ve definitely had some great PG’s, Knight, Wannamaker, Miller, Krauser, probably a few I’m forgetting

    Liked by 1 person

  60. Pitt sent out some nice “Thank You” videos to those who donated on the Pitt Day-of-Giving.

    SirVocea did a nice job on the football one… 👍

    Hail to Pitt.

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    1. Pitt Day of Giving raised $400,000 more dollars than last year from over 11,000 donors. I want my University to win in the classroom and in sports. H2P!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

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