in Pitt Football 504 Words

New comment/ Article on the BB Season

(Reed’s Editor note) Here is a great comment by UlteriorMotifs in the last POV article- discuss…

“This was always a game but flawed team that found a way to hide its deficiencies for most of the season. One-trick ponies eventually get revealed though and Pitt was no different. Other Pittsburgh teams (Steelers, Penguins) are like this: they do one thing one well but midway through the year, one opponent brings a particular style or finds an attack that neutralizes their strength and the Pittsburgh team has no counter, plan B, or fallback. At least the Pirates don’t tease us with initial success, they have the decency to make it plain they’ll suck from the outset.

It’s a shame because the biggest issue with this Pitt team besides a lack of inside strength and overall athleticism (problems most college teams have) is that their ballhandling is ATROCIOUS. It’s not nearly as hard to find a capable ballhandler who can penetrate as it is to land a solid big man.

I guess they found that in Dior but he removed himself from the equation. If Pitt had even one strong ballhandler that made defenses pay for over-defending the three point-line and exposing the underbelly of their defense, it would open up so much offensively and unlock the stagnant three-point shooting. Really, it’s almost impressive in a perverse way that Pitt scores as much as they do being so one-dimensional.

The other big problem, and maybe it’s been the biggest one over the last month, is the defense. If you’re going to give up 80-plus points to every single team you play, you might as well mix in more zone. You allow a gang of offensive rebounds even in man-to-man and it’s not like teams aren’t hitting deep shots anyway, so what do you have to lose?

All in all, it’s been a disappointing end to the season, but for the first time in many years there’s at least reason to anticipate Selection Sunday. I think Pitt’s done enough (NET ranking of 56 and wins against probable tournament teams like UVa, Northwestern, Miami, NC State ) to get into the tournament, but really there’s no complaint if they miss out.

Pitt needed to be competitive with Duke to solidify its position. A respectable loss would have gone a long way, but Pitt was completely overmatched from the opening tip. Combine that with the lingering stench from the loss to woeful Notre Dame and you’re at the mercy of some pretty subjective decisions on who should fill the last 6 or so spots in the dance.

Even so, I’ll have fond memories of this team as one that restored some level of excitement to Pitt basketball, played hard, overachieved (how many opponents have they played where Pitt was clearly more talented, not many) and flew pretty close to the sun before burning their wings. Let’s hope they get to fly one more time.”

#H2P

170 thoughts on “New comment/ Article on the BB Season”

  3. Thanks again U. M. All and all, PITT was/is a couple bricks shy of a load. Were the needed extra bricks sitting on the bench hurt?

    The Duke freshman center showed us what a freak center can do. Hoping Feddie can develop by gaining some good weight. Same as the brothers who already show they have a high basketball IQ.

    North Carolina State is so underserving of the respect they are being given without merit. Just as the lack of respect PITT did not receive all the second part of this year.

    The PITT hoops helped me get along until spring football time and I am grateful for that. Capel has earn a reprieve for now imo. Give credit where and when it is due.

    Liked by 5 people

  4. Gordon, my post on the last thread was a clumsy response to those that want JC gone…it was a rhetorical question.

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  6. Thanks for posting this UM post Reed.

    Pitt’s game this season was outside shooting and with Burton taking it to the hoop on occasion. Teams figured out how to defend this and the result was losing 4 of their last 7 games. Once this got difficult it looked to me like they got frustrated and gave up the fight. If Pitt’s rebounding and defense was better they may have won a couple of those games they lost, like the terrible ND loss and maybe Miami.

    Fact is that Cummings and Elliott are too short and slow to be effective anymore in the ACC. Elliot can make 3’s but not much else. It will be addition by subtraction when they go on about their life’s work. It was nice after watching Dixon’s teams that Capel can bring in shooters.

    Next season Pitt needs to develop an inside game and get some meat on the bones of FF and the Twins. That will open up the outside game. Having a real athletic 6’3″ PG will go a long way too. Having Dior play PG and working on team rebounding will improve this team further. Capel was saying that 6’7″ Jeffress was the best defender on the team. Hopefully he will pick up where Nike left off on defense. Since it looks like Hugley is out, Capel needs to bring in another big body to back up FF and let the twins face the basket until they can put on 50 lbs or so.

    An NIT bid might not be too bad as it will make the team hungrier next season and get some more practice. But it would be nice to reward these seniors with an NCAA bid. I hope they don’t have to play a play-in game on Monday though. Capel said that FF tweaked a knee against Duke. Let’s pray he doesn’t need surgery. 🙏

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Jack both you and Ulterior are right on with your description of this years team. I have mixed reviews on Capel/Capel and staff because it’s ok to make an adjustment on both offense and defense to hide your decencies and promote your strengths. Pitt never even tried!!!
    It was straight man to man on defense and the same motion offense every week. It worked til it didn’t at VA Tech and onward.

    College coaches who don’t try to correct players flaws drive me nuts!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Yeah, I hate that kind of coaching. Looks like Capel’s offense works best against the zone, it leaves the 3 and outside shots open. I just wish Capel would use the zone on defense when playing much more athletic teams like Duke. At least try it sometimes.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Capel does deserve some credit for this year, but one successful season does not make a book of work. If next season shows progression then maybe he is evolving as a coach. Then do it a third third time…

        One thing to add that really bothered me was ball control. Far too many sloppy transitions, passing, etc.

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  9. Made my first eagle in a long time. Can’t reach the par 5’s in two anymore so….
    Knocked a six iron in from 150 into a 20 mph wind on Barefoot Love #10 which we started on.
    Played pretty well for a while then collapsed on the back nine. Aging is a bit$h.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. You still got it! Barefoot is a challenging set of courses. Do they still have three tracks?

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      1. Yes Love, Norman and Fazio also the Dye with a separate clubhouse. I have been playing all of them with a Snowbird membership. Golf Heaven!

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      2. I watched Players today, love that tournament and course. 2nd to watching the Masters for me.

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    3. A hole out on a par 4 is always more impressive than a one putt eagle, GC. Congrats on the accomplishment.

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  11. Add the BigWest Tournament to the PAC 12, WAC & Mountain West all being played in Las Vegas this week

    The new Mecca of College Basketball……..Sin City !

    Sign of the times I guess !

    Liked by 1 person

  12. If you lived out there you could go to all the Championship games today.

    3 pm (6pm est) MW Championship SDSU vs Utah State
    6:30 pm (9:30 est) BigWest UCSB vs Cal St-Fullerton (could leave at halftime)
    7:30 pm (10:30 est) PAC 12 UCLA vs Arizona
    8:30 pm (11:30 est) WAC Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah (you could catch the 2nd half)

    Kind of a Alphabet Soup Day. Maybe squeeze in the buffet at the MGM Grand
    after the MW Championship game, to get you through the busy evening schedule.

    If I was only younger…..only younger…….only younger ……

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  13. I would have liked to see the team use JB as the central focus of the offense a lot more than it did.

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    1. FL State with a new HC too.

      It will be a long (under .500 record) disappointing season.

      The Capel swoon at season end felt like the baseball season end that knocked us out of the NCAA tournament. Dejay-vou (sp)

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    2. The Seminoles have been a strong team for many years and baseball talent grows on trees all over Florida.

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  15. Looks like PSU will play Purdue for the B1G championship tomorrow. If we get them in a play-in game they will be plenty tired. I doubt they will beat Purdue.

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  17. Pitt ended the season 3-4 in their last 7 games. Not a strong finish and the last game was in front of all to see.

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  18. Pitt would beat Penn State by 10 if they played tomorrow. Penn State has one superstar and 4 role players. Pitt has 6 roles players, each one better than Penn States.
    Pickett, their Star point guard likes to back down defenses in the paint to score. Fede would alter his shots every time. The Nitts play mediocre defense on the perimeter. Pitt would kill them with threes. Penn State is a very good match up for Pitt. Bring it on!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Losing 4 of the last 7 is not a good look. Despite their good credentials I thought the Duke Freshmen would hit the wall and fade a bit during the final stretch. Apparently not. So why did our seasoned veterans fade? Was it simply a case of them not being very good and other teams figured them out?

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    2. Conditioning seems to be the common theme. Is it a poor job by the S&C coach or as some have said, Capel works the guys too hard in practice and they don’t get the needed recovery from the S&C coach’s program.

      The two have to go hand in hand to be successful.

      Jeff and Jason both had played for very successful programs and lived through S&C workout schedules that proved successful. They need to re-evaluate how that is being managed at Pitt.

      Tired legs when you have the last two regular season games with 1st place on the line and you ONLY need to win one of those games to be the ACC champ is inexcusable. Especially when the 1st of the 2 games is against a team who won only 2 games in the conference in 18 tries at the time.

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  21. Seems like the under in Duke UVa (125) might be a solid bet. Total of only 41 at the half.

    If Pitt had beaten Miami in the last regular season game, Duke doesn’t get the double bye …. Hmmm. What might have been.

    H2P!!!

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  23. I don’t think it took 20 games for opposing coaches to figure out how to defend Pitt. Seems to me that success in BB depends very much on match-ups and shooting confidence. Our flaws – extra heavy reliance on outside shooting, and no inside threat – makes us defendable…

    So when we move the ball and shoot well, we’re decent. When we don’t, we’re not so good.

    Lots of recruiting and conditioning work to do to get more athletic, while maintaining the shooting ability.

    And it would be nice if using analytics, which apparently Coach C. has only started paying any attention to, would help transform our Coach into more of a strategist…. (I know, wishful thinking…).

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 7 people

  24. Ben DiNucci playing QB right now for Seattle in XFL. On TV right now on FX…. Number 6.

    He’s actually looking pretty good.

    Go Pitt.

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  25. The coaching at UVA and Duke is light years ahead of Pitt. In the last 5 possessions each team has run both a different offense and defensive set. Duke hangin on by 5 w 53 seconds left.

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  27. I don’t know if I’m biased but again, I’m watching UCLA vs Arizona in the PAC 12 championship and these players look much less athletic as compared to what I see in the ACC.

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  29. Haven’t seen one “expert” bracketologist have Pitt as not getting in.
    Lunardi on a few minutes ago has Vandy and Clemson out.

    Liked by 2 people

  31. Filapowski is a beast, a man among boys. He looks NBA ready to me. Should have been player of the year, not just freshman of the year.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Interesting scenario playing out with Pitt men’s BB right now – good to see us returning to postseason March basketball. I hope we get our names called today.

    When the Panthers do take the court in their next game, the starters will be completely different except for one player if he stays (Hinson) – IMO.

    (5) – Big John hopefully returns in shape (physically & mentally) with a new car deal.
    (1) – Dior Johnson makes his 5 star debut and confirms coach Dan’s prophecy.
    (4) – Hinson (we love you in Pittsburgh and hope you stay) needs an NIL deal.
    (2/3) – two of the three new freshman will instantly rise above those returning.

    Federiko Federiko will be our new 6th man coming off the bench. When he subs for Hinson, Big John slides to the 4 and shows us his three point shooting skills.

    Back to this team playing in March 2023 – it would be nice to draw a match-up with a team that plays very little D like our Panthers – Iowa and Missouri come to mind as opposed to Iowa State or Kansas State who have lock down D’s. This will be my first time watching Selection Sunday since 2017.

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. I said the same thing earlier that Hugley could play the 4 and let FF play the 5. The Twins could sub for both of them in a nice rotation. I hope that Hugley isn’t shot though mentally and physically and will return next year. He could transfer out to a smaller school where there’s less pressure and get his degree there though if he feels he has to.

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  33. Pulled this from Chris Peak 3-2-1 article:

    “There was never a time in the entire 40 minutes where it felt like Pitt was doing anything to make the Blue Devils uncomfortable. It hardly looked like a game between a four and a five seed in the ACC, but rather it looked (like) the JV scrimmaging the varsity.

    Pitt’s better than what they showed on Thursday, but they certainly picked a very inopportune time to lay an egg. The Panthers have been reduced to being televised on the ACC Network for much of the year, largely because of their preseason expectations. But with a chance to face off against one of the sport’s biggest blue bloods in a prime TV spot during conference tournament week, Pitt (did) not equate themselves very well. It was not the type of effort you want the selection committee remembering just before the tournament field is announced.

    Pitt has had a renaissance of a season and the blowout loss to Duke on Thursday should not diminish that. The Panthers were in the conference championship conversation until the very last play of the last game of the regular season. They have already doubled their win total from a year ago and breezed past being picked to finish 14th in the conference. There were plenty of big wins, great moments, and heroic individual efforts that got Pitt to the ACC quarterfinals, and unfortunately they did nothing to showcase those traits in one of the biggest games of the year.

    If Pitt misses out in the NCAA Tournament, it won’t be because they lost to Duke, but it will rather come down to some blown chances throughout the season. Still, in a big game setting the Panthers did not show their best hand.”

    Liked by 2 people

  34. Reread the article and strongly agree with it. The more I think about it the more I think this team ran out of gas more mentally than physically. It really started with the Notre Dame loss, where Pitt could not match the emotion and intense defense. In fact the strong defense in the last three games was not matched and lead to the total breakdown of confidence in the Duke game. Taking and making three point shots has a lot to do with confidence and when you lose it and show any hesitance they don’t go down. How does Elliot only take one three point shot in the Duke game and Hinson only takes four? When they got behind they should have been taking them like crazy, the only way to get back in that game. Burton’s steady play was not nearly enough to offset the need for a point who can distribute the ball. It was also extremely tough on Fede to go against two of the best big men in the last two games. Rebounding had been a problem all year and was the final kiss of death.

    All in all, this team overperformed based on the talent level and apparent deficiencies in talent level. They won some great games against superior talent and brought excitement back to the Pete. I hope they get a chance to win a few more in the dance, they really deserve it.

    Liked by 4 people

  35. ESPN and CBS have us as an 11 seed in NCAA. Why not expand the field to 128 teams? More games at more places and the gamblers would love it.

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    1. Yale trailing by 7 midway through 2nd half but its a home game for Princeton. Elis beat them twice in the regular season. Hard to beat the same team three times in one year.

      H2P!!! Boola boola

      Liked by 1 person

  37. My year would be made if we somehow manage to face either The Hoopies and/or PSUX in the dance and we CRUSH THEM!

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    1. my year would be ruined if we lost to PSU(I’d barely tolerate WVU) and I’d consider siding with the opportunists here

      and only tolerate WVU because I do believe the B12 is super strong this year

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  39. I think at this point Sibande needs to start with Elliot on the bench, bring him in for his 3 point shooting. Sibande has proved to be a much better all around player, especially defensively. I would bring Elliot in for Cummings who also seems to have disappeared for long stretches. Hopefully Fede’s knee is not too serious a problem. Without him Pitt is probably better served in the NIT.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Pitt baseball off to a sub-par start to the 2023 season as they dropped the first 2 games to Florida State this weekend and are down 2-0 in the first today after back to back home runs.

    Tough way for a starting pitcher to begin a game.

    HC Bell may be in for a Stalling-like season going 0-for the ACC.

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  41. Let’s be honest, the best teams have one or two future NBA players if not future NBA stars. Pitt does not have any which makes their record even more remarkable. Pitt’s recent best had Blair and Young, when you look at Duke or Miami they have those kind of guys, that can elevate their game when needed and are also surrounded by higher quality college players.

    Hopefully next year DJ is that kind of player and Fede may have that potential if he continues to develop, but has a long way to go.

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  42. Liked by 4 people

  43. We are always discussing coaching and seeing The Princeton Tigers topping Yale for The Ivy League Championship today brings back memories of one of the greatest college coaches of all time..Pete Carril passed away at the age of 92 last year. The very basics of basketball were taught better by Carril than almost any other coach…think about Princeton..no scholies, extremely difficult academics, almost always undersized without any possibility of a deep bench…..but, a record of achievement virtually unmatched in any school with exceptionally strong academics… I know that Dan with his knowledge of great basketball coaching would be a Carril fan…go TIGERS!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Huge Carril fan. Practically the inventor of the back door cut. He was a fundamental teaching genius.

      My brother went to Rutgers. Princeton was their BIG game.

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      1. Our coach at Richmond, Chris Mooney, played under Carril at Princeton and has employed his offense – more or less- since his arrival several years ago. It has allowed the Spiders to punch above their weight regularly.

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    1. Pitt won’t get past Iowa State who is a top 5 defensive team.

      The play-in game will be a track meet. The legs will be shot for Thursday’s game.

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  49. I think Pitt got what it deserved. Beat ND and all would have worked out much better. Anyhow, glad we’re in and with a chance to win a few games! H2P

    Liked by 2 people

  54. I thought it was interesting to hear Seth Davis predict Pitt meeting Sean Miller and Xavier. We would need to win both the play in game and beat Iowa State in order to meet Xavier. I like the fact that if we win in Dayton on Tuesday, we would not play Iowa State in Greensboro until Friday.

    Liked by 3 people

  56. Miss St lost their last regular season game to Vandy 77-72

    They lost in the 2nd round of the SEC tourney 72-49 to bama

    One other opponent they split with is Missouri who plays a similar style to Pitt with no D.

    If Pitt can find their legs, they should beat Miss St.

    Lastly, Miss St beat TCU and Marquette

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    1. Looks like they have a 6-11 guy who is their best player. Will 10 fouls from Federicko Federicko and Guillermo be enough? 🤔

      Also, 3 of Miss. State’s losses were to Alabama…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

    1. I have Duke winning it all! They have all the pieces and play the best defense in the NCAA. They are 17-1 when all their players are healthy.

      Liked by 1 person

  60. Pitt got a break playing in Dayton because some of our fanbase will be able to attend the game. If we go on and I think we will, Greensboro will not be a foreign venue waaay out in Pocahantas, Arkansas.

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  61. Our game Tuesday night will begin at 9:10 pm. If we advance, we would play Iowa State on Friday at 3:10 pm.

    Liked by 4 people

  62. Some potentially good news —- saw this posted on the Lair:

    “Miss. St. is dead last in the country in 3-point shooting %, at 27.3% and a little over 5 made 3-pointers per game. “

    Go Pitt…

    Liked by 6 people

  63. It turns out Miss State’s strengths are defense and rebounding. They defend the paint well, allowing 27 points per game down low.

    Down low is not our scoring strength.

    Hinson, Elliott and Cummins need to hit some 3’s early to set the tone for a W.

    Playing tight and tired legs won’t win this week. If we win, Iowa State would be our next opponent and they’re even a stronger defensive and rebounding team.

    Would rather be playing Missouri and then Iowa – neither team plays D.

    I’m not complaining as we get a chance to dance.

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  64. UNC declines NIT invite.

    I guess they don’t want to miss any more classes.

    Has a team with so much talent and experience ever underperformed this badly?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Absolutely love this! UNC taking their toys from the sandbox and going home to sulk. Such ego’s. 🤣🤣🤣

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    2. I read somewhere that they are the first preseason #1 to miss the tournament since they expanded to 64 teams.

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    1. Why is only Pitt that has tired legs? I’m not sure that there is a great deal of difference with the average of 23 for Pitt versus 19 for most of our opponents.

      Liked by 1 person

  68. Who has ever heard of truTV? Anyhow, I found that it is part of the YouTube TV lineup. So, I am set to record and watch it. Hope that you all are equally fortunate.

    I am seeing the early odds are MSU by 2ish.

    pmdH2P

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    1. They have been playing the Tournament games for a few years now. CBS bought the rights and sold some off to TTV and TBS.

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  69. Pitt ranked 47 out of 68 NCAA teams this morning. Some respect finally

    When you see the NIT field of some very good teams Pitt really lucked out and I like their path. But…. They need to win.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Dan, if I read that survey correctly, they ranked all the teams that made it into the field, not the ones that didn’t. The 12-16 seeds were the automatic bids from the small conferences which means 16 teams worse than Pitt. Not sure we actually got some respect. Miss St., also an 11, was ranked 48, which appears in line.

      I may have gotten this wrong, but do remember something like this coming across my computer. Anybody heading to Dayton tomorrow?

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  70. I hope we’re underdogs in every game, and I do hope there’s more than one.

    These guys did better when they were not favored.

    H2P

    Liked by 1 person

  71. Steeler’s defense, already with holes galore, just got worse as their best CB Cam Sutton signs with Lions as a free agent…

    Go Pitt.

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    1. Year in and year out they ignore Pitt secondary players…many of which are starters in the NFL.

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    2. It is March 13th. I suggest we wait until August to stress about the Steeler’s roster. Would you rather have Sutton or Peterson?

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      1. I don’t think the Steelers will be good for another year or two – so I’d prefer the younger guy.

        I’d be trying to set up the team for a run in 2 or 3 years. Bad timing for Cam Heyward…

        Go Pitt.

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  72. Cannot remember when the local teams all made the NCAA.
    Include MD to make 4 teams. Who goes farther?

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  73. 1-3 start.
    1-3 finish.
    A few bad losses in-between.

    Pitt got the seeding they deserved, I think. Now go prove the computers wrong. The way the the team finished kind of justified the NET ranking IMO. I don’t like saying that, but it’s hard to argue against it.

    Pitt still outperformed expectations but …

    Like I’ve said a few times, this team is more a program starter than an “all-time” team. They’ll be remember as the ones who started the turnaround if Capel can keep the momentum moving forward.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. 2 years in a row the ACC got dissed and the B1G has been overrated for years. It’s all about the Benjamins and the eyeballs. ACC cities are not big TV draws while B1G cities and alum are.

      TV draws like ND and UNC are out of it this year. Pitt can take credit for knocking out UNC. ND can take credit for almost knocking us out.

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  74. Fede nursing a knee injury and is a game-time decision for Tuesday’s game. Miss Stste’s strength is rebounding and their best player is their big guy.

    Which twin will start?

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    1. I was afraid of that. Pitt is 2 point dogs and will lose against their very good center if Fede doesn’t play.

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  78. So here is the plan if Fede is too sore to play –

    Start Guirmo (sp) twin and let him play the whole floor pulling their big guy out away from the hoop when Pitt has the ball. Let him get his 8 points on offense, foul him when needed and watch him miss his free throws. Bring Jorge twin in to keep Guirmo fresh. If foul trouble surfaces, give Fede a special UPMC shot to kill the pain and let him hack their big for a few trips.

    That’s 15 fouls, giving up 8 points and probably 18 rebounds.

    Seems like a 2 point Pitt win.

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 5 people

  79. Was more than a little perturbed when finding out Pitt has to play in one of the play-in games. The so-called First Four.
    While winning 14 games in a Major Conference and finishing 5th. Then I remembered that Wake Forest finished 5th last year in the ACC with 13 wins and got totally left out of the Dance.

    Then I came to the conclusion, that you can turn a negative (playing in the First Four) into a positive….by thinking of this, as an opportunity to have lots of the nation’s eyeballs
    on you….for really the first time all year. As Pitt has been almost exclusively on the ACCN, other than the most recent Duke game and that was in the afternoon, so less eyeballs and
    folks across the nation, other than in the ACC,…were more concerned with their own
    tournaments going on.

    So Pitt has a chance here….in front of a national tv audience to put Pitt back on the basketball map and back into the nation’s consciousness.
    And this Miss State game will actually be watched by more ppl, than the next game, if we win. As that game, will be just another game of the many games on Friday. All told 16 games on Friday. But we gotta win.
    And it would be nice, if we play & shoot well….doing it.

    Funny we’re playing Miss State & Ben Howland was back visiting at Pitt a month or so ago, for the first time since he left, way back in 2003. Hopefully Capel called up Ben to get some intel
    on Miss State.

    Liked by 2 people

  81. The Vegas line barely moved with the Fede injury news – 2.5

    Miss St showing on ESPN as a 57% favorite to win.

    The Twin Towers need to show up and combat Tolu in the middle, run him all over the Pitt side of the court and create mismatches that gain Pitt an offensive advantage.

    Go Pitt!

    Like

  83. Defending Miss St is easy minus Fede. Have the twins double the center, front and back. Deny him the ball. Their other shooters can’t hit the broad side of a barn but you could play a triangle and two zone.

    Ok …. I know Capel won’t play anything new and different but I can dream, can’t I??

    There is no worse injury than a knee to a center who spends the entire game pivoting. If Capel stays in his MAN defense and Pitt loses,
    I will lose my mind! Miss St is very beatable!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Dan – are you saying I should not stay up late tonight instead of catching a good night’s sleep before my 7:30am sales meeting tomorrow?

      Any chance we can get Dan as a Jeff Capel assistant when brother Jason leaves for another job?

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    2. I agree Dan….(please help me Lord)

      Erie, watch the first half. You should know by half time if a good night’s sleep > than the 2nd half.

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      1. Good advice.

        We all need to see a good game by the guys who play the game. Most are veteran and big game tested.

        Play at the level they can play and I’ll sleep well. I’ll try to not focus on coaching tonight.

        Go Pitt!

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  84. Dan, I said the same thing to Scooter yesterday…double the big with the twins front and back.
    Has any other team approached that strategy against Mississippi State.
    Coach has known for a few days to come up with a plan.

    Liked by 1 person

  85. Thoughts from an aging head:

    With less than zero % chance to win the NCAA championship I look at the “First Four as an opportunity more than an insult.

    Complaining about Miss State is like saying PITT is not good enough to beat a 66 rated team.

    PITT can’t get no respect, if only PITT would have won that bowl game against Northwestern.

    … and more importantly…. Where in the heck has BigB been?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. C’mon Ike. We DO have a chance to win the NCAA Championship—-I mean, who would have predicted the Big Bang before it happened a few billion years ago?

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  86. Hugley is officially in the portal.

    Announcing it the day of Pitt’s tourney game is weak sauce.

    Please, staff, find some depth at the center position this offseason. No Fede tonight would mean zero chance. Every year under Capel depth deteriorates quickly. That needs to change in 2023-24.

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  87. So much for gratitude from Hugely, who was given every benefit of the doubt to bring him back after the car incident. I think his mental problems were that he didn’t like how Fede progressed. He was slow and unimpressive in his few appearances. I predict he will not have much success at his future location, wherever that is.

    Liked by 1 person

  88. Hugely would have been a bench warmer if he returned to Pitt. I think Capel could now better utilize the scholarship he gives up now to go after another good 3 point shooter in the portal.

    Liked by 2 people

  90. John Crispen Penn State announcer,
    Calling Pitt/Miss St. Tonight. And we’re off! Can we have anymore bad omens???

    Hugley with massive mental and physical problems. No loss at all.
    Pitt needs the scholie.

    Liked by 1 person

  91. Miss State 164th in total offense.

    We all did a lot of crazy crap in college, but none of us hired hookers to live in the dorms during the summer and the steal their car!!

    Hugley was the ringleader of that group. Heather and the BOT cut him a massive break. Had they done the same with Dior, Pitt would be a five seed.

    Liked by 2 people

  92. Just heard Ben Howland say on the radio that Julius Page’s dunk over Boumtje Boumtje was the best play he’s ever seen.

    Tough to argue with that…. 👍

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  94. while MSU hasn’t been much of an offensive juggernaut, hasn’t Pitt somehow created those(for the opposition) a couple times throughout this year with their abysmal defense

    I’m glad they are rated poorly but IF we have someone have their coming out from 3 point range party, will anyone here be surprised?

    hoping not

    H2P!!!

    c’mon Elliott, I’m calling YOU out as the key tonight, everyone else just play their game and Sibande be his usual energy and all around boost

    Liked by 1 person

  95. If anyone can remember Darrelle Porter’s dunk, that was darn good but I’ll go with The Page dunk? Both better than “send it home Jerome.”

    Like

    1. That Page dunk was an “In your face disgrace!” job… Many say that it was a big turning point in the program.

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    1. Is this a joke! A half empty football stadium. A BB coach who has one above average and four disastrous years .A girls BB team who hasn’t a winning record in 5 years. An average wrestling team in the hotbed of US high school wrestling. No talk of an on campass stadium.

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  98. I found Porters dunk Uncle Iek but I’m unable to link for some reason.
    It is awesome if someone can post it.

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  99. Hugely will end up at a MAC school or lower. He’s big…but that’s about it. He has no hops and needs a better do ! Plus probably a good shrink !

    What a time for F2 to have an injury. The Twins aren’t exactly up to this yet.
    Hope I’m wrong. Hinson is gonna have to help out, since he has the beef.

    Miss State also has a 6’7″ Guard which is going to cause matchup problems in
    Capel’s Man to Man defense. If he has Cummings guard him….oh boy.

    Get the bar in order and the drinks a flowin.

    Liked by 1 person

  101. OT – Beautiful week for college baseball in Pittsburgh!

    Not!

    Tomorrow’s game already postponed. This weekend not looking so good…

    Go Pitt.

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  104. Pitt’s going to have to shoot around 50% combined tonight and 80%+ on FT’s to have a chance against Miss St. They need to double team and block out Smith too. Not having FF has me not very interested in this game right now…

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  105. At the risk of sounding sour grapes, for me John Hugley is to Pitt basketball what Rushel Shell was to Pitt football. Loads of promise but off-field issues prevent him from living up to his God given potential. I doubt his career moving forward will exceed FF’s. Let’s Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

  106. I hope Pitt’s defense is better than the Penguins. What an embarrassment ! Montreal 4 goals on 6 shots.

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