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According to Pitt players, most improved are...

It's good to hear that Davis has made strides because he definitely has the upside to be more than a bit player. Perhaps not a starter, but a valuable 3&D guy in a rotation for sure. I'm far more skeptical about Chukwuka, he's 22 in less than a month and he sucked in Juco, but you never know when the light might go on for big men.
 
If Chewy's shot goes down he'd have been very valuable last season . They said he hit them in practice . He was the most active player Pitt had .
 
you dont have to be an elite athlete to be successful, we saw a 16th seed beat a 1 seed,the top seed without any athletic kids, they won because they believed they could win, thats a huge part of being good is you have to believe you can be, pitt lacked belief under stallings to the point where they knew they were going to loose
 
you dont have to be an elite athlete to be successful, we saw a 16th seed beat a 1 seed,the top seed without any athletic kids, they won because they believed they could win, thats a huge part of being good is you have to believe you can be, pitt lacked belief under stallings to the point where they knew they were going to loose
Believing is one thing doing is another !
 
Kham Davis and Kene Chukwuka. they say night and day. I could see the potential in Davis, but not as much in Kene. Davis has potentially elite athletic ability and has good length for a guard.


http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...lison-jared-wilson-frame/stories/201809110020

I thought Davis was better than expected last season . He was not heavily recruited
and seemed to be nothing more than a fill-in. However after watching him,
I thought he was a tough defender, and surprisingly a somewhat decent 3 pt. shooter.
I also thought he played within himself and was a decent off the bench 2 guard.
He seems to be a real team player. I'm not surprised by news of his improvement.

Chukwaka on the other hand left me totally unimpressed. I really don't care if he's
hot in practice, it's game time that counts. Now if he's really improved, that's great.
It's not 3 pt. shooting we need from this guy. It's an improved inside game that Pitt
desperately needs. He's listed at 6'9"; if that's the case, we need him inside and
on the boards, not outside firing three's. Maybe Capal has somehow toughened
him up and convinced him that his game is inside and NOT on the perimeter.
We'll see.

-
 
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I thought Davis was better than expected last season . He was not heavily recruited
and seemed to be nothing more than a fill-in. However after watching him,
I thought he was a tough defender, and surprisingly a somewhat decent 3 pt. shooter.
I also thought he played within himself and was a decent off the bench 2 guard.
He seems to be a real team player. I'm not surprised by news of his improvement.

Chukwaka on the other hand left me totally unimpressed. I really don't care if he's
hot in practice, it's game time that counts. Now if he's really improved, that's great.
It's not 3 pt. shooting we need from this guy. It's an improved inside game that Pitt
desperately needs. He's listed at 6'9"; if that's the case, we need him inside and
on the boards, not outside firing three's. Maybe Capal has somehow toughened
him up and convinced him that his game is inside and NOT on the perimeter.
We'll see.

-
 
Happy to hear about Davis...looking for Stevenson and Brown to make the GLF
But Chukwuka? Can't see it. Can't teach toughness. Won't or can't rebound.
Running around crazily is not bringing energy.
Yes, he made a few good passes and willing to believe he can shoot.
So what? Who cares? On defense, he's still the Swedish Colander.
Wish I this was wrong ... But as the saying goes, once a dud...
 
Happy to hear about Davis...looking for Stevenson and Brown to make the GLF
But Chukwuka? Can't see it. Can't teach toughness. Won't or can't rebound.
Running around crazily is not bringing energy.
Yes, he made a few good passes and willing to believe he can shoot.
So what? Who cares? On defense, he's still the Swedish Colander.
Wish I this was wrong ... But as the saying goes, once a dud...
Count me as among those who think you can improve...even at the ripe old age of 20.
 
Count me as among those who think you can improve...even at the ripe old age of 20.

If he improves like the reports say, I'll give Capel the credit. The perimeter
game he played last year was Stallings allowing him to play there. We have
hardly any inside game. He's 6'9", I gotta believe we'll see him inside this year.
If he plays D, and hits the boards, I'll be convinced of the change that
supposedly is happening. I'm gonna have to see it with my own eyes to
believe it though. LOL
 
Happy to hear about Davis...looking for Stevenson and Brown to make the GLF
But Chukwuka? Can't see it. Can't teach toughness. Won't or can't rebound.
Running around crazily is not bringing energy.
Yes, he made a few good passes and willing to believe he can shoot.
So what? Who cares? On defense, he's still the Swedish Colander.
Wish I this was wrong ... But as the saying goes, once a dud...
I saw quite a few Pitt players in the past who were "once a dud" go on to become good contributors. Don't know how Kene will play but don't dismiss him out of hand.
 
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If he improves like the reports say, I'll give Capel the credit. The perimeter
game he played last year was Stallings allowing him to play there. We have
hardly any inside game. He's 6'9", I gotta believe we'll see him inside this year.
If he plays D, and hits the boards, I'll be convinced of the change that
supposedly is happening. I'm gonna have to see it with my own eyes to
believe it though. LOL
What happens if you go blind and he averages a double double?
 
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Let's put it this way...if he averages a "double double" it would probably shock me into blindness.
If he averages a double double then we would be in really, really big trouble because the rest of our team must be unbelievably bad.
 
I'm not so sure this is good news. Davis and Chukwuka have limited ceilings, especially Chukwuka. Last year, he wasnt an NEC-level starter. So, if he made a big improvement, maybe he's an NEC 6 and 5 guy?

As for Davis, I can see him being maybe a 5th starter or valuable bench player eventually but he doesn't have the "star" ceiling. I would have hoped the most improved players would have been Stevenson, Brown, Peace, or Ellison.
 
I'm not so sure this is good news. Davis and Chukwuka have limited ceilings, especially Chukwuka. Last year, he wasnt an NEC-level starter. So, if he made a big improvement, maybe he's an NEC 6 and 5 guy?

As for Davis, I can see him being maybe a 5th starter or valuable bench player eventually but he doesn't have the "star" ceiling. I would have hoped the most improved players would have been Stevenson, Brown, Peace, or Ellison.


Basically we need all of them to improve, and improve a lot. Browne is the one who
really needs to step up. I can't imagine how Chukwaka can make a real difference
unless Capel takes him off the perimeter and gets him inside and on the boards.
He also needs to change his body, as he's pretty soft IMO. However he's listed
at 6'9", and on this team that's BIG.

I feel Davis on the other hand can be a decent sub at the 2 or 3. He's athletic and
plays pretty solid D. We're guard heavy right now, so it'll be interesting to see if
he can get off the bench and for how many minutes.
 
The choices for most improved player are

Brown, Davis, Chukwuka, George, and Peace

-They arent going to name a freshmen, a transfer, a redshirt, or are top 2 returning scorers as most improved. That leaves these 5 players.

-Im surprised Brown wasnt the name but maybe he doesnt count since he was one of our best players in ACC play last year. As a freshmen, Brown's ACC only stats were 5.3 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, 2 blocks per game and he only played 21 minutes per game in ACC play. These numbers are actually pretty dam good for a true freshmen for a big man, so maybe Brown didnt count and it was between the other 4. Id be surprised if more then 2 make it back after next year between Davis, Chukwuka, George, and Peace. The latter 3 arent good and Peace was pretty much disqualified since he weighed like 290lbs.
 
I'm not so sure this is good news. Davis and Chukwuka have limited ceilings, especially Chukwuka. Last year, he wasnt an NEC-level starter. So, if he made a big improvement, maybe he's an NEC 6 and 5 guy?

As for Davis, I can see him being maybe a 5th starter or valuable bench player eventually but he doesn't have the "star" ceiling. I would have hoped the most improved players would have been Stevenson, Brown, Peace, or Ellison.

I generally take these most improved player anecdotes from players and coaches with a grain of salt. You rarely read the most improved players in practice are the best players- usually they are the players with the most room to improve.
 
I generally take these most improved player anecdotes from players and coaches with a grain of salt. You rarely read the most improved players in practice are the best players- usually they are the players with the most room to improve.

Absolutely!
 
I generally take these most improved player anecdotes from players and coaches with a grain of salt. You rarely read the most improved players in practice are the best players- usually they are the players with the most room to improve.
Indeed.
 
The choices for most improved player are

Brown, Davis, Chukwuka, George, and Peace

-They arent going to name a freshmen, a transfer, a redshirt, or are top 2 returning scorers as most improved. That leaves these 5 players.

-Im surprised Brown wasnt the name but maybe he doesnt count since he was one of our best players in ACC play last year. As a freshmen, Brown's ACC only stats were 5.3 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, 2 blocks per game and he only played 21 minutes per game in ACC play. These numbers are actually pretty dam good for a true freshmen for a big man, so maybe Brown didnt count and it was between the other 4. Id be surprised if more then 2 make it back after next year between Davis, Chukwuka, George, and Peace. The latter 3 arent good and Peace was pretty much disqualified since he weighed like 290lbs.
You are right Steel ... those are indeed pretty good numbers for a freshman big man. They shouldn't be discounted, and I confess that I have been one who likely did discount them a bit too much.

Still, it's so hard to take much of anything from last year's numbers in my opinion. When a team is as bad as we were, most often facing large deficits even early in some games, it can be difficult to decern how well a player might perform in a tight game.

Additionally, Terrell almost never faced a double team last year and his most productive games were ones where he was left to finish easier baskets off penetration.

This isn't to discount Terrell though. He belongs in this league. But he still has progress to make before we can proclaim his role should actually be more than a legit understudy.
 
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