in Pitt Football 66 Words

POV Bracketolegy

PSN posted a poll on what seed Pitt should be. I am sure there is no shortage of opinions on this site as well.

I personally feel like Pitt is an 8 seed, but that is also a completely uneducated opinion. ESPN currently has Pitt as a 10.

What say you, dear readers?

https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2023/02/27/psn-poll-question-what-seed-does-pitt-basketball-deserve-to-be/

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2023-march-madness-men-field-predictions

125 thoughts on “POV Bracketolegy”

  1. They seem to be much better than a 10 seed, but it’s going to depend on how they play out the last two games and what they do in the ACC tournament.

    Realistically if they win the ACC tournament possibly a 6 seed, if they fall short and lose their last 2 regular season games and lose in the first round in the ACC tournament a 10 seed.

    A lot of the pundits seem to think that they are going to fail but if they continue to win out who knows.

    It’s been a fun season and they have a complete team that is competitive

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I hear you but look at that linked ESPN article … it shows us as a #9 and has us as the automatic qualifier. so, at least a tie for the reg season title and winning the acc tourney, effectively gets us a #9. wow. i saw another prediction the other day that had us as a #11 based on pre-Syracuse game results. if these “experts” are in the ear of the selection commitee .. we may be left out completely if we lose to ND, Miami and 1st game of acc tourney. H2P !

      Like

  2. One of the sites is my fair city, Columbus. I’m only attending if Pitt is playing but considering buying a ticket. If they are out I will sell it. Or should I wait and buy a ticket from a reseller if they are in?

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    1. if you have never been to a March Madness game, go – even if Pitt is not in it. A fun experience!

      I’ve been to a few and only one time was Pitt playing… midcourt seats for the game in DC versus Butler. The same one where Jamie Dixon had the Panthers milking the clock too early with a 1 point lead and a chance to increase that to three points.

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  3. I just want to say that I’d never thought Lunardi as much an idiot as I’ve this year

    same for most poll voters

    does it really matter? maybe but the draw and matchup is most important and there are a ton of possible 7’s that don’t want Pitt at #10

    maybe even more important will be the officiating crew we get game #1 and #2 and how they call it 😦

    win Wednesday!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. If we beat ND on national TV Wednesday we should lock in an double bye in ACC tourney and get an NCAA tourney spot. Of course the Miami game is for all the marbles.
    But the media and writers love to downgrade us and the ACC.

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  5. If Pitt holds ND scoreless on Wednesday and beats Miami playing 3 against 5 and runs the table in the ACC tournament, we’ll still be ranked 26th and get an 8 seed.

    H2P!!!

    Liked by 5 people

      1. But Pitt also played Michigan and lost. I think other ACC teams played b10 outside of the challenge. I’ll do some checking.

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      2. There was an additional ten ACC – b10 games besides the challenge. Most of those games were preconference tournaments. Overall ACC won 12. b10 won 12.

        Nothing for either conference to brag about, especially the b10.

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    1. I didn’t mean to hit the like button because the 25 ranking is nonsense…when you look at some of the teams above us you have to think about how STOOOPID the rankings really are.

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      1. You can always un-like. I promise I won’t take offense! Was just announcing and implying I’m happy they got some kind of recognition. My statement in no way indicates whether I think it’s a fair ranking or not.

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  8. Some of the so called “experts” are completely out to lunch in their bracket placements. I am NOT a gambler; however, I always prefer to look at how the $$$ boys place their bets. I have not seen any Vegas predictions, but when they are made, I would guess that they will look somewhat different than the marshmallow soup of Mr. Lunardi.

    If Pitt is to be a 7 or 8 seed, it must defeat The Irish and the U. In addition, the Panthers must get past the first round of the ACC Tourney (depends on where we will be placed after the 2 upcoming road games. The ACC is being disrespected and there is no way to get around it…The basketball golden boys — Duke and UNC are weak, taking luster away from the entire Conference. If Ohio State and Michigan were getting hammered and PSUX was also in trouble the Big 10 would be penalized too. Tobacco Road in the eyes of the “experts” IS THE ACC. YEAH, I REALLY MISS THE BIG EAST GLORY DAYS…THAT BASKETBALL!!

                                       Pitt is a 7 SEED!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Michigan, PSU and OSU are trash this year as is Wisconsin. Purdue is overrated too. As it happens every Tournament, the B1G gets knocked out early and the ACC does better with less teams.

      Last year we had 3 teams in the Elite 8 and 2 teams in the Final 4….and they had to play one another. Zero B1G teams in the Elite 8. They had only 2 teams in the Sweet 16 and they both lost. Yet you never hear anything about the B1G stinking….ever.

      https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2022-07-12/2022-ncaa-bracket-mens-march-madness-scores-stats-records

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      1. if we use indices like the ESPN BPI … Pitt doesn’t deserve to get in at #59 but OkSt (16-14,#37), TxTech (16-14, #42), OhSt (12-17, #44), Oregon (16-13,#48), OK (14-15, #56) and UCF (16-12, #57) certainly do. right ? why do we even bother with wins and losses, just use computer metrics.

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  10. Has Pitt ever outperformed its NCAA seeding? (Meaning advancing at least one round beyond chalk). Can’t think of a time (correct me if I’m wrong) and this would be a great year to start!

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    1. Never under Dixon. I don’t think he ever beat a higher seed. Virginia plays the same way and it doesn’t work in the Tournament. They lost opening games as a 1 seed (first time in NCAA history) and as a 4 seed back in 2021.

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  11. I’d rather be 7/10 seed than an 8/9. I’ll take a 2nd seed in round two over a 1st seed. 8/9 games are generally 50/50 where as 10/7 favor the 7 seed 60/40.

    Some interesting nuggets (thanks ChatGPT)

    An 8 seed has beaten a 1 seed 29 times
    A 10 seed has beaten a 2 seed 21 times
    A 9 seed has beaten a 1 seed 8 times
    A 7 seed has beaten a 2 seed 29 times

    7/10 game = 50 times
    8/9 game = 37 times

    Give me that 7/10 game all day every day.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. This is the best overall team Pitt has ever sent to the Big Dance. We have scoring inside and out and a huge defensive presence underneath. I think this team will overperform in the NcAAs this year. There’s not a team in the NcAAs Pitt can’t play with. Chris Peake said that on the Lair this morning.
    I think after Pitt wins the ACC regular season and the ACC Tourney, they end up a five seed!
    H2P

    Liked by 4 people

      1. Few believed my preseason write up when I said Pitt could end up middle to top of ACC ! Few still believe. This team would beat the 09 team by 10 points. Two shooters on 09 vs six today.

        In about three weeks everyone will believe!!

        Liked by 2 people

    3. i hear you but … the espn bracket has us as the aq and still only a #9 … jumping to 5 is a huge delta. maybe somewhere in between is correct?

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  14. I’ll be happy with any NCAA seeding.

    I remember before the season how most Pitt fans were wondering if we could improve enough to have a shot at the NIT.

    We wondered if, with some breaks, we could maybe win 10 games in the ACC…. (And that was with Hugley playing like one of the leagues top centers…)

    What an astonishing leap this team has made…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 7 people

    1. You are quite correct! It took me a long time this season to even get on board with this team after suffering the agony of watching the last several seasons of Capel’s teams. It seems that the POV readers have bought into this team in a huge way. What did it for me was something as simple as Pitt running and executing in-bounds passes against a pressing defense. This was demonstrated time after time in the Syracuse game. In previous years we did not even seem to have a set in-bounds play let alone executing it.

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  16. Lunardi will upgrade his brackets tomorrow. By our ranking and body of work we are a 6-7 seed right now IMO…after we take care of ND. Win, a 6. Lose a 7. Of course more will be done at the ACC Tournament but surprisingly the real committee doesn’t use those game much in determining seeds unless you lose the first game.

    None of this reflects the idiocy of Lunardi or the other clowns doing this for a living though.

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    1. Based on the several big sports websites I visit every day…..there is nary a word all year long mentioned about Pitt, despite Pitt being in 1st or near the top of the ACC all season long. And then you have additionally a great story-line here, in terms of Pitt being picked so low (14th) in the pre-season, Capel’s job was quite possibly on the line and Pitt hasn’t had a winning season for 7 years.

      You can go thru their lists of game highlite videos and you’d be hard pressed to find
      a Pitt game highlite video. You can find videos of South Dakota State playing
      North Dakota or San Jose State playing San Diego easier than finding a Pitt vid. It’s just incredulous.

      One would almost believe, this ‘nary a word’ on all the major sports sites….is not just a
      coincidence. One could almost believe it’s a planned…..total ignoring/blackout of what Pitt has done this season Plus all of them are on board, surely there would be an outlier writer of the many many out there….who would want to write a good story-line about
      Pitt’s resurgence.

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  17. As they grudgingly slide Pitt into #25. I knew they were going to leapfrog Kentucky ahead of us. And Maryland too ! Last week’s poll, Pitt was #27 and those two were behind us.

    Maryland was #29 last week and based on beating lowly last place 1-16 Minnesota and a team blew out, Northwestern…..the Twerps were leapfrogged 8 spots over Pitt into #21.

    Kentucky beat no one of note either to leapfrog us either, but it wasn’t quite the blatant fraud of leapfrogging Maryland over us.

    What a fraud. What a farce.
    (hopefully this will post as another post I spent considerably time last night writing,
    disappeared into the pov sinkhole.)

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Too hard to get too excited about any NCAA seeding now. They have to take care of business at ND on Wednesday at what will be a very hyped up ND crowd on Senior night and Brey’s last dance with ND at home. The Miami game will be a very difficult game just knowing what will be on the line for the winner of the game. Play em one at a time and let the seeding fall wherever they may fall.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. FYI Capel was on the ACC Coaches Conferce Call this morning. A transcript was post on the Lair site for those who have access to that site. I’m not sure if a transcript is available anywhere else at this point. I thought it was a very interesting read with some interesting insights on how he assembled the current roster.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I love this team, but this team loses by 30 to the 09′ team. That team was at the program peak. This team most closely resembles the Howland teams. Not in play … not in style of play, but where they are in the pantheon of Pitt teams. They could be the foundation for something great. This is the team we celebrate in 20 years for starting it all.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. I don’t remember any Pitt team that had as many guys that can score as this one. The one guy that Pitt has never had is Hinson. It seems to me that you could name another Pitt player to replace any individual but him. He is unique in Pitt history.

    But the thing that sets this team apart is how they play together and that they just got better all year, hopefully they can continue that trend. The problem with tournaments is that they are one and done. One cold night shooting or refs taking away key guys and it is all over and that has happened to this team a couple times.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Pitt had Sam Young back in ’09, but he was alone as a great shooter. Of course they got big time scoring inside from Blair to make up for that. This current team has 4-5 high scorers counting Nike off the bench.

      Yeah, sadly I expect to see a badly refed game somewhere down the line since the ACC is universally hated now for some reason. Pitt will need at least 2 guys to go ice cold with all the scorers we have to get beat. I remember that happening a while back and Nike stepped up and we still won. FT shooting is off the charts too. Heaven help the team that faces Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I agree almost. Almost. I think you’re forgetting about Sam Young. He could also hit the 3 as he avg’d 18 ppg & 19 ppg, when he finally got over 30 minutes/game. Rebound numbers are almost identical at 6.3 rpg for Young and 6.2 for Hinson. Young was a much better overall FG shooter at 54% and 55% his last 2 years. Hinson is at only 43%, but he does take more 3’s.

      But I will be more than happy if Pitt can replicate the Elite 8 run of Sam Young’s senior year.

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      1. I agree that Sam was a better all around player but I don’t remember him being as prolific at shooting threes. Of course different coach different strategy.

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        1. Oh no, you’re right….Hinson is the far more prolific 3 point shooter as far as volume of 3 point shots. Hinson averages taking seven 3’s per game on the season and he’s making almost 3 (2.8) per game. That number of 3 point attempts has been up substantially recently.
          Hinson in the last 5 games has attempted 51 3’s or 10.2 3’s per game He’s made 20 of the 51 attempted or 39%. On the season he’s hitting 38%. (almost identical to Young’s %)

          Sam Young didn’t take nearly as many 3’s, as he also had a great mid-range game and
          he was a pretty good driver to the rim, depending on the matchup. Young’s last 2 years, again when he finally got more playing time, he shot 38% & 37% from 3. Albeit on a much smaller attempt basis of 3 to 4 attempts per game.

          Liked by 1 person

  23. Major posted how many close games Pitt BB had this season that could have gone either way in the end. Just knowing that makes it difficult to see any long winning run going forward without having one of those close games not go Pitt’s way. One has to just enjoy what happen this season and whatever happens happens.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. They definitely know how to close and the foul shooting has been key.
      The one they couldn’t close was Clemson, just missed some key shots.

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  24. Using the most unscientific method possible, we would be a high seven seed as the 25th ranked team in the country, just outside of being a six seed.

    However, because that NET nonsense is more important apparently than actual record, ranking or quality wins, we would probably be a 9 seed if the selection were being made now.

    I could see us going as high as a 3 or 4 seed if we run the table and win the ACC Championship (26-8) to out of the Tourney if we lose the next two and also the first ACC Tourney game (21-11). Crazy.

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    1. I agree with your point about being left out if we lose out from here ; however, there is no way (IMHO) that we will jump to a 3 or 4 if we win out. Current brackets have us between 9 and 11 even with being the AQ from the ACC. These experts aren’t the selection committee but they give us some insight into what the committee looks at. We are in a tough situation for whatever reason. At best, we might sneak into a #7 if we win out.tn H2P !

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      1. I was waiting for someone to question my sanity for saying we could rise to a 3 or 4.

        I’m betting that a team that is BOTH the ACC regular season AND Tournament champ, who won something like 15 of their last 17 would move up in the rankings close to the top 10. Even if they were only around 15, that would put them in the conversation of being a 4 seed. At 26-8, we would have a top 10 record for sure.

        I really don’t see us running the table, so it’s really not a point worth discussing much.

        I’d like to slide in to the 7-10 game. Although 6-11 would be fine also.

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  26. To some. the out of conference games (mostly in November and December) are THE reason for all their rankings. The conference games mean little. So schedule those early games very wisely (Dixon did) and you will be rated high. Only problem you wind up with a weak NCAA.

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  28. Let me preface this by saying I think Blake and as noted above “The one guy that Pitt has never had is ” Hinson is great; BUT the statement is simply not factual …

    Blake Hinson career 3pt 35.5%; FT 71.6%

    Jason “Pitt’s arguably greatest pure shooter ever” Matthews career 3pt 45.7%; FT 87.8%. I know; I know 45.7%!! Come on Tony. Hey; Google it.

    Sean Miller career 3pt 41.6%; FT 88.5%

    Oh to be retired and all this time on my hands Tony in H, Mechanical Engineering 1974.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Percentages are fine, but they only took open shots. A different era and different coaches.

      It would be interesting to see how those guys would have done firing them up as often as Hinson.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Saw this posted on the Lair:

    “Most recent Top 25 rankings:

    @Pitt_VB – 4️⃣
    @Pitt_MSOC – 8️⃣
    @Pitt_WSOC – 1️⃣2️⃣
    @Pitt_WRES – 1️⃣5️⃣
    @Pitt_FB – 2️⃣2️⃣
    @Pitt_MBB – 2️⃣5️⃣

    @Pitt_ATHLETICS is the only school nationally ranked in all of those sports.“

    Compliance!!

    Hail to Pitt!

    Liked by 13 people

      1. Heather is terrific, not perfect, but we are Blessed to have her. Not only does she have many of our sports teams ranked but not once has she made a decision that put her opinion above Pitt fans. ( yes she kept Duzz and Capel but Pitt fans were on both side of that opinion )

        Liked by 2 people

  30. I would rather have Pitt be a 10 or even better an 11 seed than an 8 seed. If we cannot beat a 7 or 6 seed then it does not matter either way. I think we can beat almost all of the 7 seeds and most of the 6 seeds. This then gives us a fighting chance in the second round. An 8 seed means facing the 1 seed in the second round. That is a losing proposition for sure.

    For us to get a 7 or higher seed we would have to win out the rest of the regular season and then win the ACC tournament. That is highly unlikely.

    As most of you are, I am very disappointed by the poll that came out today. At least we are ranked in the top 25 in both polls for the first time in a while. Pitt just needs to worry about what they can control and keep winning. The Notre Dame game is the most important of the two remaining regular season games. A loss at Miami is much less damaging as all the “experts” are expecting us to lose that one.

    Liked by 3 people

        1. I ran her over playing touch football 25 years ago.
          Full speed looking at a guy chasing me from behind. I had the ball,
          I turn around like 25 yards downfield and Sally in kneeling with her 2 hands to touch me.
          She did a complete back flip and got right up.
          No problem

          Liked by 4 people

  32. List of the 30 AP Clowns voting in the Top 25 who didn’t give Pitt even a #25 vote.

    https://collegepolltracker.com/basketball/team/pittsburgh-panthers/2022

    Interesting of note. A lot of the BigEast beat writers….were Nyet on Pitt !

    Dickie V has Duke at #17……but NR on Pitt. Insult of insults, he has Florida Atlantic
    at #22. NR for Pitt. Has 3 ACC teams ranked 16, 17 & 18…but not the 1st place team.

    Funny enough the Penn State beat writer over at Penn Live has Pitt #11.
    And a Morgantown, WV writer has us #20

    Liked by 2 people

  33. Pitt has not released the women’s volleyball spring schedule yet, but Kentucky has. They are playing Pitt on April 16th at Olentangy Berlin HS in Delaware, Ohio. It will be interesting to see who will be playing the middle besides Jepsen.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Next year’s conundrum, Pitt obviously wants/needs Dior Johnson to be all that. Right now it will be his team for better or worse. If Hugley comes back it will be in a lesser role no longer the star of the team, can he handle that? If he accepts that he can be an important part of the team. Jeffress was a very weak link when he started a year ago. Will he improve enough to deserve many minutes? Possible but not likely with many quality guys that have passed him by.

      Capel needs two quality experienced portal guys to replace some of the productivity of the seniors on both ends of the court. Not likely to get that from the incoming freshmen.

      Liked by 1 person

  35. Looking over the box scores of our 8 losses, two recurring problems jump out at you: poor three-point shooting and foul trouble. In one game we shot 16% from the 3. I just don’t remember us having many alternatives when the 3 pointers are not falling as a team. Our solution to a shooting slump is to shoot our way out of it. As others have said we fortunately have enough shooters that a poor percentage as a team has been fairly rare. The exception is the game at Vanderbilt where we shot 48% from the three and had the lead until we were assessed a foul with 1.1 seconds remaining to give us the loss.

    In several games we had a starter foul out and 3 others playing with 4 fouls. Apparently we don’t have the depth to survive a tightly called game. There are probably not many teams who do.

    I guess my point is that if we run into a remaining game where our 3 point shooting is off, we can expect a loss. ACC tourney, NCAA tourney, if it happens we are probably toast.

    And the second thought is how are we going to replace the 3 pt shooting of Elliott, Cummings, Sibande, and to a lesser extent, Burton. We will have Hinson. Santos and the Diaz-Graham twins would have to make monster leaps forward to come close to filling those gaps. It will be interesting to see the portal pickups.

    Liked by 5 people

  36. Sibande is also going to be a hard guy to replace, the energy he brings off the bench. More than anyone he has a nose for the ball picking up many rebounds and loose balls. Plays energetic defense can shoot and jump. What a “senior” year.

    Liked by 3 people

  37. Per today Joe Lundari he has Pitt as a 9 seed and now Kentucky as a 6 seed lmfao, the Panthers have plenty of motivation to finish their season out strong and win the ACC tournament. It just boggles my mind.

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  38. I think Hugely will enter the portal. Big John has not been working out with the team and has last been seen in a high school gym in his home state. FF and the twins are clearly up-and-comers that will take many minutes of playing time away from him…the Panthers have won without him and he is NO LONGER the star. It is a shame because he has exceptional talents and had the potential to be an all ACC player…greener pastures are hopefully in his future.

    Jeffress is sadly never going (in my opinion) to become a factor for Pitt. He is coming off a major injury and prior to his being sidelined he was completely lost in his attempts to score points.. A 4**** player who was totally over-rated. Has he suddenly in practice developed an outside shot?? You tell me. He is an excellent student and should do a reverse transfer
    to pay Cogate back for Cummings coming to the 412. Colgate is a terrific school, with a very good coach, and plays a decent level of basketball. Jeffress is not in Pitt’s future.

    Liked by 2 people

    3. Far too early to give up on Jeffress. He was 17 as a freshman and this redshirt will do wonders for his development. He has a Covid year to use as well. If anything, he’ll provide solid perimeter defense for the team. He’d be foolish to give up an education from the school that developed the polio vaccine. Colgate can’t claim that invention.

      I think Hugley will be gone as well. The writing is on the wall when the team blossoms in your absence. Best of luck to him for sure and a shame he missed time as a freshman for being declared guilty before innocent. Continued terrible leadership by Pitt when it comes to player transgressions.

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  39. In Capel I trust. I see a nucleus of Dior, Federiko, Hughley and Hinson. A very nice start. Of course this depends on Dior and Hughley both returning. I’m starting to wonder about Hughley.

    We have 3 freshmen recruits, two of whom appear to have potential to contribute immediately.

    I fully expect Capel to grab 2 guys out of the portal. Given the opportunity seized by our current portal kids and the success they have achieved, I have confidence that we will pick up 2 solid players there.

    The wild cards are the twins and Jeffress. Not sure what to expect out of them. But wouldn’t be surprised if we get contribution from at least one of them.

    Maybe not the magic of this season, but certainly could be a competitive squad.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. 3 bean poles….Fede is a featherweight as well. Almost 7 foot & 220 lbs wringing wet.
        The one twin or really both of them have very good shots from outside. So they don’t exactly have to be hulking bulks. And based on their bone structure, they won’t be.
        They won’t bulk…. but they can get stronger.

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  40. If Santos can eventually play at this level, so could Jeffress. Some are quickly writing him off but he has had a year to mature as a person, and his work ethic was never in question. I think he could become the first 3 spot player off the bench if he is willing to accept that role.

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  41. I may be crazy, but I see Santos becoming a good contributor. I think he will open some eyes next season. That three-point shot is coming. 🙂

    And I’m convinced that some of the needed three-point shooting next season will come from the Diaz-Graham twins. What’s great about them being able to shoot threes is that not many defenders are going to bother their shot…

    Course replacing the current guard production and leadership is going to be impossible, IMHO.

    Go Pitt.

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  42. John you’re crazy….. just kidding…. a little. 🙂 (i know you’ll remember this to)

    On JoeL’s list of great fans this past week, don’t get too excited, Miami was tenth rated.

    Good Luck and Best Wishes Jaymar!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Canes fans will be geared up – just like Pitt, they are an “outsider” program

      Dookie fans on the bad list…. perhaps a tad bit spoiled?

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    1. Coach – would you play him if so?

      I’d be worried about missing with the on court chemistry. Its a selfless bunch of guys right now.

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      1. I would judge what I saw in practice from Dior interacting with teammates. My reading of current NCAA laws is that a team will not burn a redshirt if a player
        plays only postseason.

        But, I agree. No way Dior is here for four years!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I was thinking that last night that even if he burns a red shirt, play him. He’s not staying here 5 years…come on! Play him in the ACC Tournament some to spell Cummings and maybe Burton, who Capel said is nursing a lower body injury.

      Liked by 2 people

  45. Pitt would be in serious trouble in a one & done type situation which of course what Tournaments are all about. As noted by Farmer’s Research, most of Pitt’s losses are the result of players getting into foul trouble. If Burton or Cummings or worse case scenario, both of them got into foul trouble….we’d be in deep do do. And we’ve seen the refs call some very questionable offensive fouls on Burton, when he drives to the rim. Cummings too, but not as much.

    So if Dior has been practicing with the team and you can put him on the roster for
    both the ACC & Big Dance……you’d be foolish not to. Insurance policy !
    That would be quite the story, if he had to come in and was like Calvin Murphy or Tiny Archibald or Earl the Pearl Monroe, right off the bat.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Almost any team is in trouble in a 1 and done tournament.
      I saw BU lose the hockey title game with a team with 4 future NHL captains on it.
      Luck
      Draw
      Staying health
      Playing through high pressure
      Keeping your cool
      And…
      The worst the team you are playing has the game of a generation and there is nothing you can do about it.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Well that’s certainly all true k-man. However all of that is Out of Pitt’s/Capel’s control.
        or most of it. What he can control is his roster and having someone that can play PG in the event of either Burton or Cummings(or both) getting into foul trouble or getting injured. (Burton has been playing all season on a sketchy knee, causing him to miss 2 games)

        So since according to dan72, Dior has been practicing with the team. It would be smart
        to have him on the roster…..just in case. YOU Can Control this aspect of what ifs !

        Also I’m sure you’ll agree teams playing 6 players and no backup PG’s are at the most risk.

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        1. Agree 100 percent

          He did not supply a gun to a shooter and apparently it is fine by the NCAA to play.

          The point about being punished is proven.

          Add the depth
          As we’re are discussing, you can never have enough depth in a single elimination Team tournament.

          Liked by 2 people

  49. Vegas odds just out has
    Pitt a 4.5 fave over Notre Dame. Bray and Notre Dame have owned Pitt over the years. This is his last game and Pitt simply cannot lose this game ! H2P

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I listened to Tim O’Toole yesterday on The Fan. Sounds like he’s ready for the ND game. He expects ND to come out hot… Pitt may need to slow the pace down at the beginning to quell the Domers’ adrenalin. Hope that conveys to the kids and they don’t have a emotional victory hangover from Saturday.

      Pitt is the best story in BB this year….Fingers crossed!

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  50. As noted earlier, Lunardi now has Pitt as a 9 seed, potentially facing Purdue if we were to win the first round. He also has an “aq”, automatic qualifier, designation next to our name. I assume that means that he expects us to win the ACC Tournament and still end up as a 9 seed?

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  51. Pitt women basketballers play Clemson tomorrow afternoon in ACC tourney. Clemson beat Pitt by 15 in a game at the Pete this season.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  53. I do not know the details but somehow the Panthers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th yesterday and topped Bucknell 11-8. Game played in cold Pittsburgh and the next series of games are back in Florida….so the team is getting frequent flyer miles from the 412 to the land of sun and fun???

    NDU will be charged up to win one (not the Gipper) for Coach Brey as he retires. The crowd will be very loud and will try to intimidate us…..I believe that this is a perfect pressure game to get us ready for the ACC Tourney and the trip to wherever the NCAA Committee sends us
    to continue our super season. I hope that I am not jinxing us but like Coach Dan I still believe that we have some great games left in our blood to continue a path to make it to the Sweet 16 and then…..?

    Liked by 1 person

  56. Speaking of the “character” of the players Capel recruited, this is an excerpt from an article in the Atlantic:

    “Were receptive to being coached, and we’re receptive to being wrong,” Hinson says. “If you’re not willing to do that at the simplest level – even if it’s I left a candy wrapper on the locker room floor and my teammate says, “That’s wrong, you need to
    pick that up”- if I’m not receptive to that, that’s going to be a problem.”

    Liked by 2 people

  57. And here’s a report from the PSux/Rutgers BB game:

    You should be ashamed to send your kid to Penn State (Opinion)
    —Jeff Deminski

    “What happened at Penn State Sunday was shocking. Not the upset where Rutgers Scarlet Knights came back for a win. No, the disgusting vulgarities being hurled at them during the game by Penn State students.

    F-bombs and other vulgar words were screamed at Rutgers players. It wasn’t a one off. And it wasn’t one spectator. There were initial reports of racist slurs being hurled as well but Penn State is now claiming that didn’t happen even though a private group chat showed the student section vice-president confirming it.”

    Perhaps this is part of why the PSux student section was rated the worst in NCAA BB??

    Liked by 2 people

  59. Pitt needs to come out tonight and jump all over Notre Dame….in the 1st half. Take the crowd out of the game and the 30 Plus former ND players I see are going to be at the game.

    Beat them down early and even better than we did against two other bottom feeders, L-ville and Boston College.

    Nothing the pollsters and bracketboys would like better for Pitt to fall flat on it’s face tonight
    to justify their lack of coverage on the season.

    Knock em out early….send their fans home early. Kick some butt !!!

    Like

  60. So basically they say Pitt is lousy all year long.
    Then to prove they are right they seed them to play a 1 in the second round.
    When they lose they say we told you so.
    Like most things now it all seems illegitimate.
    I guess knock off number 1 and say F you.

    Like

    1. What’s crazy is, Lunardi has had (aq) or Automatic qualifier next to Pitt for about a month now. So he thinks Pitt is going to win the ACC tournament to get the ACC’s automatic bid.
      But then he has UVA a 4 seed , Miami a 5 seed & Duke a 7 seed. But the AQ(Pitt) is only a 9 seed ??? This is comical.
      So he thinks Pitt is the best team in the ACC since they’re gonna be the AQ.

      Yet in his seeding….Pitt is no better than the 4th best ACC team.
      You can’t have it both ways Joe.

      Interesting to is; both he & cbs’s Jerry Palm has Pitt as a 9 seed and if we get past the 8 seed, Purdue is in both their predicted brackets. Pitt’s weakness is rebounding, Purdue has a Monster 7’4″ 300 lb Center avg’g 22 & 13.

      Like

      1. Gotta remember that the final seedings and pairings hardly ever line up with these clowns that have managed to make a career out of guessing about them and pretending to do so with some authority.

        Let’s just win out and see where we land.

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        1. That sounds excellent dino………let’s win out and then I can complain some more at
          that point ! LOL

          Btw that is my favorite Pitt Panther logo head. It use to peer down on Pitt Stadium
          from the wall of a classroom bldg. Sat below it vs Ohio State, when we clobbered
          them with Ironhead !

          Like

          1. Yep. It was Pennsylvania Hall. The decrepit old hulk housed the electrical engineering dept in ancient times. But those Weinstein murals overlooking the stadium were great.

            Like

  61. If the refs call this game like they called the VT game where over 40 fouls were called, guess what.

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  62. One last thought before the ND Bray game tonight. Teams that are close knit and unselfish handle away game pressures the best. They treat all the pageantry and homerism as a coat of armor!

    If the refs let ‘Em play, Pitt should win this game. Bray has never switched on screens believing that defends the arc shooters better just as FSU and VA Tech did. So there’s that.

    Pitt CANNOT lose this game!

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  64. A Pitt fan friend at the game says ND is shooting really scary from three in warm-ups…

    Go Pitt.

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