And who were the best players on those teams?

Kenny Pickett....New Jersey
Jordan Addison....Maryland
Calijah Kancey....Florida
Israel Abanikanda....New York
Damarri Mathis...Florida
SirVocea Dennis...New York
Rodney Hammond....Virginia
Jared Wayne.....Canada
Brandon Hill....Florida

There are more and a few WPIAL players that have been big contributors (Petrishen and Devonshire come to mind) but I think the point is made here.

Of course Pitt needs to continue to pursue WPIAL players but they have absolutely proven that they can succeed and be led by players from outside Western PA. I don't get too hung up on WPIAL players going elsewhere.

** This Panther win today wasn’t exactly perfect. But it was actually kinda perfect.

** Today the Panthers needed precisely this type of win to rekindle the notion that they are indeed a solid squad, and a true NCAA Tournament contender. An 11 point ACC road win certainly fits the bill.

** Additionally, it was the Panthers first win ever in Atlanta, which seems a little tough to believe until one recalls that we haven’t actually sported a winning record in this league since the first year we arrived.

** I think I’d be more inclined to call this a perfect Panther victory had we not turned the ball over. But instead we fans had to endure three such mishaps for the entire duration.

** Think about that though. The Panthers turned the ball over just three times. Of course that ties the Panther record. And with the way the Panthers typically move the ball with the dribble, it’s actually pretty difficult to believe.

** During any basketball game, since no team is perfect, there are the things they need to do really well to make up for the things they don’t. And for the second straight game, our Panthers were not very good on the defensive glass.

** Largely because of Tech’s offensive rebounds, they were able to shoot 10 more field goals than the Panthers. Along the same lines, the Yellow Fellows doubled up the Panthers from beyond the arc. More often than not, these are numbers that add up to a loss instead of double digit conference road win.

** Yet, the field goal differential was offset because the Panthers made 17 more free throws than their foes who made, well, none. And the Panthers weren’t perfect from the foul line. But gosh, 85% is pretty close to that.

** Still, I can’t recall a game when a team recorded nary a free throw. That’s probably the more remarkable number than the Panthers' three turnovers.

** And this number is a strong testimonial to the notion that the Panthers played almost perfect interior defense. This was likely the best defensive game the Fede has played as a Panther. It’s worth noting that Georgia Tech doesn’t pose much of a thread in the paint. Still to man, the Panthers did near perfect job of keeping their man in front of them.

** Along the same lines, perhaps as many as four or even five of Tech’s threes were a result of offensive chaos or off of scrambles from offensive rebounds.

** One number which still has me a bit perplexed however is the paltry sum of just five assists for the good guys. I suspect this could have a little to do with an overly stingy statistician. But we should also recognize that only five assists is largely indicative of our style of play which looks to break down defenders off the dribble, or sometimes relies a little too much on straight up jump shots. This concerns me some, but it also didn’t appear that Tech offense moved the ball that much better than we did, and they were credited with 15.

** Fortunately, Nike Sabande hit his share of straight up jump shots. It’s great to see him coming on the way he has of late. He’s averaging 11.7 ppg over his last four while shooting 44.4% from three over the same stretch.

** Nike’s an easy guy to root for because he plays with all of his energy and emotions on his sleeve and his shorts. And he’s been through a lot during his days as a College Basketball player, but he’s stuck around for a long time when he really didn’t have to.

** It certainly would be a nice thing to be able to reward Nike at the end of his career with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The same can certainly be said as well for Blake, Jarmarius and Nelly who have been through their own career journeys too.

** From this point on, the Panthers definitely don’t need to be perfect to make the NCAA Tournament. Going 8-5 the rest of the way will probably be good enough to do the trick. And more less-than-perfect performances like we got today should be good enough to get us there.

** And at the moment, we sit behind the perfect Clemson Tigers tied for second place in the ACC. It's a pretty nice place to be, and without a doubt, a much better place than we've been for quite a long, long time.

Thought he played the best game of his Pitt career tonight.

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Great tickets + deals available.

So here is the deal - my Dad is a season ticket holder (been so for years). Typically he parks in town and walks / takes T to the game. He is turning 70 this year, and me and my siblings wanted to get him a parking pass for the season as a gift. Called the ticket office, and right now they are only renewing current lease holders and not selling any new spaces (mid April is when new leases will be sold). His b-day is at the end of this month, so we are thinking options (perhaps an I.O.U. for a parking pass).

That being said, can anyone share what they paid for a lease in one of the garages near the stadium (he doesn't tailgate so garage is fine) - i.e. the gold 1 garage, red 5 garage? Surface lot is fine too, but the closer the better. Bonus points if you know the 2023 rates. We are trying to get an idea on pricing (even if it is last year).

Thanks all!

What a team win. I don’t care that UL can’t beat a middle school girls team right now, we needed that win. Never ever winning in that building and getting a huge road win is impressive. This team is so unselfish!!! They don’t care who scores and tonight Greg who has been struggling was amazing. Nike was huge in the first half. Great team win and a phenomenal night at the Yum!! Hail to Pitt and thank you to all the players and coaches who signed stuff for my kids and took pics with them. This team is different and it’s fun to be good again.

R....!

Capel is ....

I believe this spread was set correctly by Vegas.... Pitt is clearly the more talented team and should win on the road tonight.

First ten minutes of the contest will be key however. They need to come out playing great defense on Ellis and not allow him to get in a rhythm as he is a threat to score 25+ on his own.

Really hoping for a solid 10+ pt lead all game that will allow more minutes from the twins along with building Santos confidence on the floor. Pitt needs to use their role guys in games like this to keep their starters fresh for the stretch run in the ACC.

Gotta love pay for play

How many players we have left to put on for next year. We will need I think a Sr guard to replace Burton. Not just a player but hopefully someone that can be the guy. Maybe Capel can show someone hey you can come here and be the guy

Noticed they have baseline available front row behind net for 80 bucks on their site. Considering supporting them with some Pitt gear on the road.

In Pitt's 12/20 win over Syracuse, Nike Sibande was held scoreless and finished with 0 points. In the five games since, Sibande is averaging 11.6 points per game.

Attendance Saturday ? Clemson wasa large crowd tough to get a beer at marios

I have a home expo in Louisville at the same time Pitt is in town. Eating some oysters at Doc Crow's next to YUM center. Picked up center court seats for $40. Great bars and people. Feeling good. H2P!

Here are the win-loss records for each ACC team to this point with regard to the schedule each has played only in conference:

Clemson 21-27
Miami 17-31
Virginia 26-23
WF 21-23
SU 15-33
Pitt 30-19
NC St 27-21
Duke 28-21
UNC 18-29
Va Tech 27-15

So far, we have played the hardest schedule of the best teams in the conference.

Here is the remaining schedule for each team:

Clemson 39-51
Miami 47-42
Virginia 36-54
WF 52-39
SU 46-43
Pitt 35-55
NC St 42-44
Duke 41-48
UNC 54-37
VT 42-56

We also have the easiest schedule remaining.

Nate Santos has been providing some things off the bench for Pitt lately, and today @StephenGertz is looking at what Santos has been doing well - and what he can do going forward.

A few thoughts this morning:

- I expect Daejon Reynolds to announce his commitment to Pitt any day now. I haven't heard that anything has changed, and as far as I know, he should be in Pittsburgh right now; it seems like the only thing missing is him announcing it.

- I don't get the sense there's a lot of urgency in getting another transfer receiver right now. I don't think the staff is opposed to it, and if one of the other targets were to express an interest in visiting and/or committing, they wouldn't say no. But from what I can see, they're not pushing for it right now. I'm sure they're keeping an eye on the portal - who goes in, who's available, who would fit, etc. - simply because that's what every staff is doing at every position, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting another receiver, but it doesn't seem like there's a heavy emphasis on it right now.

- If that's where things end up, then the receiver room will be very much relying on youth in 2023. Konata Mumpfield and Bub Means are the only returning scholarship players with any kind of meaningful experience. Reynolds has about 12 career catches, which is still more than anybody else behind Mumpfield and Means. And then there are four freshmen coming in. I'm guessing at least two of those four play enough to burn their redshirts, and if the current situation stands, I could see at least one of the freshmen being a top-4 receiver.

- Of course, there's a long way to go between now and August, so this is far from settled. But that scenario is at least one possibility that seems likely.

Eats our lunch. Let’s hope some MAC team tries to hire him as HC soon. He is an awesome WPIAL recruiter.

Michigan has placed co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss on leave amid a University of Michigan Police Department investigation into alleged computer access crimes that occurred at Schembechler Hall in December.

#legendsandleaders

Could someone please remind me when the full schedule usually comes out

Going to be a fun one!
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