Any whispers on the Sy visit?
- Thread starter Cincypittfan
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Pitt climbed to the top of the BE with veteran teams that were physically superior to the younger more talented teams and when they got a few special players like Blair and Young they could play with anyone in the country . There’s no reason to believe that JC can’t replicate this in the ACC .
Everyone just needs to relax and be patient this is going to be a process not an overnight transformation .
Everyone just needs to relax and be patient this is going to be a process not an overnight transformation .
Yes. But we want continued upward progress. That should mean getting to 0.500 next season as an uptick from 14-19. The staff needs to complete recruiting well enough for that to happen.
Everyone wants more W’s and better players , but I until they’re ready to make a serious run to the NCAAs I don’t really care if they win 15 , 16 , 17 games next yr . They need experienced players and next yr their best players will still only be sophomores .When they’re jrs and seniors that’s when I’ll really worry about how many W’s .
UVA isn't even remotely close to being a blue blood, which completely undermines SMF's myopic proclamations about how Pitt are in such a difficult position. It wasn't long ago that UVA were a bottom feeder in the ACC. Now look at them. The basketball they play is disgusting, but the way they built their program is a road map for Pitt.
Come on now. Tony Bennett is possibly the best coach on the planet (any level). As long as he is there, UVa will be blue blood good. That is why they are in the Big 5. Those 5 are going to get all the bids and not yield enough wins to the Other 10. Duke, UNC, and UVa will be Top 10ish type teams almost every year. Louisville will be that once Mack is rolling and Syracuse will always be good.
This isnt the early 2000s Big East people. You have to realize this.
I stopped at "Tony Bennett is possibly the best coach on the planet (any level)". Yikes.
Yeah but disgusting BB? TT played viscous defense too. What is remembered about their journeys thru the tourney? Some fantastic shooting and slashing. Not disgusting imo. Pitt's dynamic duo guards would not start over UVA's. Again, my opinion.
I agree that we shouldn’t expect an immediate return to the NCAAs. However, if the trajectory isn’t continuing upward, even if in a small increment, we run the risk of sliding back with recruiting slipping to the Stallings level and then you may lose the opportunity to even eventually get back to 0.500 or above.
Tell me who is better? He is certainly in the convo. He took over a dormant, non-traditional program and turned them into a blue blood. Very few people have done what he's done. And let's not forget he had friggin Washington State as a 3 seed
Not sure what's worse...SMF actual post or the people that actually buy into it
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Tony Bennett is one of the best coaches in all of college basketball, and possibly sports in general. UVA winning a national championship?? Anyone remotely following college basketball would’ve laughed at that 10 years ago
It would be like picking any random school. If I told you Minnesota would win a Natty 10 years from now and be a consistent 1 or 2 seed, would you believe it?
Well they’ll have Marcus Carr next year, so they’re pretty much set for a championship
Jay Wright is clearly, unequivocally better.
With that said, I'm not mocking you for saying Tony Bennett is a great coach, I'm mocking you because you've missed the forest for the trees yet again.
Virginia is proof that a school in Pitt's position can accomplish great things, but you'd rather attribute that to Tony Bennett being a time traveling wizard basketball genius than recognize it for what it is: a road map to follow.
Tony Bennett is a very good coach, but you're overrating him simply to feed your ridiculous narrative about the ACC being two conferences.
Pitt fans can learn a little patience by looking at Virginia’s path to success . Va three previous head coaches had sub .500 career conference records and Terry Holland had a .519 conference record . In Bennett’s stay at Va. it wasn’t until his 5th yr that the program took off winning big , they won 5 ,7 ,9 & 11 games in his first four seasons until breaking through with 16 in his 5th yr . I don’t follow Va bb closely , but I’m willing to bet you that Va had a better roster when Bennett took over than when JC took over at Pitt .
Arguing that what Bennett’s has built in Va doesn’t put him in that small group of elite coaches seems silly it’s like arguing whose the most beautiful woman in the world , there’s no Wright answer .
Arguing that what Bennett’s has built in Va doesn’t put him in that small group of elite coaches seems silly it’s like arguing whose the most beautiful woman in the world , there’s no Wright answer .
Jay Wright is absolutely not a better coach but yes, he is a HOF'er. Not to take anything away from Wright but he plays in a weak conference (what did he do in the old BE besides that 1 FF), racks up a ton of regular season wins to ensure a very high NCAAT seed and to his credit, he has cashed in. But put Nova and Wright in the ACC and we aren't having the same convo. He has taken advantage of his situation. Nova and Wright are basically Gonzaga and Few. That's another great coach but like Nova, they dont play a real schedule.
Tony Bennett has made UVa become Duke and UNC. That's unheard of. There is no roadmap for Pitt to do this. Forget it, it's not going to happen. Sure, every once in awhile, an Other 10 school like Pitt will have a great season and may even win the ACC but that will be rare. Nobody will ever do what Tony Bennett has done and build a blue blood program from scratch......and sustain it. Period.
UVA is NOT a blue blood! A blue blood is a school that keeps recruiting and winning when they change coaches. If UVA is a blue blood, then Pitt would have been a blue blood if Dixon had won one championship with Blair. UVA is a really good program at present, but Bennett is their program at this time.
No, UVa is not a "blue blood" because they dont have the historical success and aren't a brand name program with people all over the country wearing their gear. Those are Duke, UNC, Kentucky, and Kansas. But that doesnt really matter because as long as Tony Bennett is there, they are going to win at a blue blood level so it doesn't matter what you call them.
I don't know what is so hard to understand. The ACC has 2 blue bloods plus UVa who will win 30+ games most years and perform at a blue blood level. Louisville will be Louisville again under Mack which is "near blue blood" status and Syracuse has the brand name and financial resources (attendance) to always be solid.
Those 5 will get 5 of the 7-9 bids and as I've said, will leave little opportunity for the Other 10 to get any Quad 1 wins. Look at this year:
Duke, UNC, and UVa lost a combined 1 game to the Other 10. Duke lost at VT without Zion.
Louisville lost 3 vs the O10: @ Pitt, @ FSU, @BC
Syracuse lost 5 vs the O10 but it was a down year for them so a win over Syracuse didnt help your resume a great deal.
Maybe he forgot any level includes Pop, Geno, Muffet, Budenholzer...
You'd have a great argument. Not saying you are wrong but Bennett is in the conversation for best on the planet. I don't understand how anyone can debate that he isnt at least in the conversation. BTW, do you think an NBA team would offer him and try to play maybe a scaled down version of his D. I realize the NBA game is much different and those guys can all make shots but could Bennett adapt his D to become like the best defensive team in the NBA? Trying to get him out of the ACC
No. To your entire post. No Bennett is not even in the conversation about the conversation for best on the planet. And no, his D would not work in the NBA because the NBA is a profoundly more complicated offensive and defensive scheme than what he runs at UVA. His defense works because most college offenses are actually not very good.
This is almost as terrible an argument as when you claimed the actual UVA college team last year would be the best defense in the NBA.
Going from 3 wins in a 18 game schedule to .500 (10 wins in what will be a 20 game conference schedule) is more than a "small increment."
It would be a major accomplishment. It would likely mean a tournament bid. That's more a goal for the '20-21 season.
A more realistic goal might be .500 OVERALL, and doubling our conference wins. Maybe that's what you acrually meant.
Who is in the conversation? Coach K and Calipari, who frequently have lottery picks playing for them?
Bennett is a heck of a coach and probably could adjust to the NBA game if he needed to. But I don't think it would be his preference either in terms of the needed changes in terms of X's and O's -- or culturally, as I get the sense he is very into being sort of a Christian molder of young men as opposed to a coach of professional athletes who are more important to their GM than the HC.
Ok smf take on all this gave me a headache. Not sure why I even read it.
However... bottom line the kid hashtags not committed so I think at best we have a 50/50 chance? Who would do that on a visit that was amazing? My gut says we lose him unless indeed others cooled on him (which is coming from a message board post so I doubt that as well)
However... bottom line the kid hashtags not committed so I think at best we have a 50/50 chance? Who would do that on a visit that was amazing? My gut says we lose him unless indeed others cooled on him (which is coming from a message board post so I doubt that as well)
Harve--Yes--that is what I actually meant--going from 14-19 to about 0.500 overall.
Last year we went 10-3 OOC + 3-15 ACC + 1-1 ACCT = 14-19. My relatively "small increment" would be going something like--9-2 OOC + 6-14 or 7-13 ACC (new 20 game schedule) + 1-1 ACCT = 16-17 or 17-16-->or some similar final result.
IMHO, a repeat 14-19 type season could be a negative for recruiting and a setback to Capel's rebuilding efforts.
Obstacles to getting to about 0.500 include a tougher and shorter OOC schedule and the expansion of the ACC schedule to 20 games and the loss of JWF and (presumably) N'Dir.
Mitigating against those obstacles will be (1) our home vs away ACC schedule makeup being more favorable, (2) the addition of Drumgoole, Champagnie and Coulibaly and (3) the further maturation of Johnson, McGowens and Toney.
Hopefully whatever additional players we add for next season will be enough to get us to that "small increment" of improvement that will show progress continuing.
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This dude needs to be a fan of a different team
I hope he is, would suck to be that negative all the time
I wished I could be an Alabama football fan and Duke basketball fan but I inherited Pitt fanhood.
K. Cal. Rivers. Stevens. Spoelestra. D'Antoni. Izzo. Beilein. Wright.
I can keep going but it's boring.
Yes, those coaches are in the conversation but most of them generally have more talent to work with than Bennett. Are you telling me that Bennett isnt even in the conversation but John Beilein is?
