** As fans, we’ve done plenty of complaining about our Panthers Hoopers so far this year. We’ve all grumbled plenty about how we feel fed up seeing our Panthers underperform and come away with losses.
** But seeing the faces of our Panther players close up during today’s first half reminded me of something a little more important. These losses take an even greater toll on our players. These guys didn’t sign up to play poorly. They didn’t sign up to lose games.
** I’m guessing most of you who read these boards played on a sports team at some point during your teen years or beyond. And during that time, you may have had a coach you didn’t like all that much. But I really doubt anyone made a choice to play poorly just to spite the coach.
** Having said this, how and why the Panthers looked so poor for an extensive stretch of today’s first half is a little hard to fathom.
** During a ten minute stretch, we were outscored by the Hornets 28-8. Keep in mind this is clearly a substandard Alabama State team who is really devoid of legit basketball size. Of their eight players, two are listed at 6-7 and one at 6-8, but Blake Hinson listed at 6-7 was noticeably taller than all three of them.
** This 10 minute stretch was a failure on both ends. We left Hornet shooters go uncovered, while allowing easy penetration into the lane.
** On offense, it was frequently three or four perimeter passes followed by a not so wise three. The Panthers were 1-9 from three during the aforementioned stretch. While the Hornets hit four straight at one point.
**
@BballinsiderfromPitt has suggested he thinks this Pitt team is as bad worse as the infamous 0-18 squad. I’ve resisted that notion, but that 28-8 stretch brought back memories of that year. A loss today would have cemented the thought.
** So eventually the Panthers righted the ship. Most importantly, they started moving the ball in and out of the zone instead of listlessly tossing it around the perimeter. It wasn’t great. But it was enough to show they aren’t packing it in.
** I’m not sure if our defense improved so much after going down 12 as much as the Hornets returned to the level at which they typically fly. And for the most part, in the second half they truly looked like the #350 ranked team on Pomeroy. In fact, some of their attempts at the rim were so off they were actually cringeworthy.
** But a particular shout out should go to Nike Sibande who certainly came after alive as this game when forward. He was the difference maker for the Panthers this day.
** I think we are nowhere near to having a clear idea where we might set this team’s ceiling. But contributions like this from Nike can mean a win or two here or there.
** Blake played well enough, but I think he would have better served his team by trying to do damage down low instead to playing on the perimeter, especially during the stretch when the Panthers were reeling.
** The same can be said for John Hugley, who clearly has quite a way to go to improve his conditioning. One doesn’t have to sit courtside to realize this. And when you have a 3 inch and 40 pound advantage on your opponent, why settle for a 15 foot jump shot?
** A big shout out goes to Jorge for hitting both of his threes. He had a nicely productive 20 minutes and it looks like his confidence is growing. This can be an interesting team when he plays the three with Blake and John on the court.
** Another shout out should go to the other 500 or so Pitt fans who joined for this game. We all did a lot of complaining, especially in the first half, but we were there.
** I’d also like to give a nod to my courtside seat neighbor Mike. I promised him I would promote his brilliant idea to employ a falcon to scare off the pigeons at Acrisure. He even offered the sponsor dollars. Heather?
** Among the many cool perks of sitting courtside is the opportunity to chat a little with the refs and I got to do this with Roger Ayers ,who is one of the very few best in college hoops. As he ran by us, we gave him kudos for spotting a heel on the sideline. He responded with: “hey I’m 2 for 2 today!”
** I suppose another shout out should go to referee Jenna Reneau who I believe is the second woman ref to do a regular season men’s basketball game at the Pete, following Clare Aubry who did the UT-Martin game. Fortunately, the day may be not so far away when such milestones no longer need mention.
** Another courtside perk is better beer than you can get otherwise in the Pete. I’m usually not one to drink on Sundays but why not have a Levity Brewing Medulla Oblongata sitting courtside if you can?
** Before departing, I’ll offer my sincere thanks to my benefactor who allowed this game to be much more enjoyable than it would have been sitting higher up.
** And I’ll close with a congrats to our Panther players on a win, albeit one that was at least halfway disturbing. But at least they met their goal today in the second half and could walk away without a greater toll on their psyche.
