Cannot understate the importance of these next 3 games

[whirlybird optio]

Wake has NCAAT talent but they always mess up. Clemson makes it I think. NC St hasnt lost but hasnt played anyone. Its a new team so hard to say what they'll be like.

I think Pitt can be ACC #3 but the league may only get 4.

Pitt is going to start significantly ahead of those teams which is good for us. I don’t see a way the league gets less than 4. I still think 5 is probably the number somehow. Even with bid stealers and a historically bad ACC they got 5 last year.

Clemson had better win their next 2 games against USF and Penn St. They already dropped one to Boise.

Don’t sleep on Stanford as well. Quietly 6-0. Their OOC is terrible but they may come into the game with us with like 1 loss.

 

[whirlybird optio]

I think it is conference strength real or perceived or promoted by media bias

B1G, SEC

Miss St, A&M 13 and 14 loss teams
Wiscy, NW, MichST 13, 11 and 14 losses

what sucked was previous years stated emphasis on last 10 games or at least how the teams were playing later in the season

I think it’s largely the computer numbers. And not that I want to risk it, but our OOC schedule strength gives us more leeway than years prior. I think our OOC is projected to be around top 30 nationally.

 

[Gep Dawg]

I was going to say the next three games feel like they are more opportunity than must win games for us. I will agree that losing all three puts more pressure on conference play. But I think if Pitt can just win one of them and avoid having more than 1-2 bad losses in conference play they should make the tournament pretty easily. Capel did a much better job putting the OOC together this year and the team is better. Especially in the front court.

 

[BadgerInSpartyland]

If you’ll forgive my intrusion, I saw Wisconsin mentioned. UW typically schedules tough in the noncon. Last year, they lost to TN, @Prov, and @AZ, but also beat Marquette, and UVa and SMU in a holiday tournament. That gives you all kinds of leeway. The risk of this type of scheduling is losing them all. MSU almost had this happen to them, but then blew out Baylor in their last opportunity.

The point about conference strength isn’t wrong. I didn’t realize the weakness (perceived or real) of the ACC. People like me only look at the strength at the top which is championship worthy. The B10 may not get a single team to the second weekend, but there’s currently 15 teams #52 or higher on Torvik. That makes a .500 record in conference pretty safe (assuming a one or two noncon Q2 or better wins).

I think you’re right to want at least one of the next three - today may be the best chance, because the other two are true road games. UW had its clunker on Monday, so I won’t say they’re due for that, but I think you’re favored for a reason.

 

[Pitt666]

I always view Pitt WISC as the downfall of Pitt basketball. An awful offensive tourney performance and then Dixon leaving/forced out. 0-19 ACC. It’s been a long 7 years. Greg Elliott quipped the team two years ago put Pitt back on the map. I think it’s more accurate to say that team raised Pitt basketball from the dead. A win today will put them back on the map for national relevance.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Pitt is going to start significantly ahead of those teams which is good for us. I don’t see a way the league gets less than 4. I still think 5 is probably the number somehow. Even with bid stealers and a historically bad ACC they got 5 last year.

Clemson had better win their next 2 games against USF and Penn St. They already dropped one to Boise.

Don’t sleep on Stanford as well. Quietly 6-0. Their OOC is terrible but they may come into the game with us with like 1 loss.

USF stinks but PSU is somehow decent it looks like.

If I had to bet money right now, I say 5 ACC teams which puts Pitt in but there's not a lot of margin for error. Last year, the league really only got 4 + NC St auto. NC St wasnt getting in and had they lost to UNC, Pitt wasnt getting that lost spot. So it was really 3 "byes," 1 First Four, and a miracle NC St run. That's historically bad.

Pitt needs to win 2 of these next 3 and we can put an end to all this because they pretty much lock up a bid then. If they go 1-2, we sweat all season and do a lot of Mountain West and Big East watching.

I have 30 for the Power 3. 21 for the 1 bid leagues. And 17 for the ACC, Big East, A10, American, Missouri Valley, WCC, Mountain West.

 

[pittchagg]

USF stinks but PSU is somehow decent it looks like.

If I had to bet money right now, I say 5 ACC teams which puts Pitt in but there's not a lot of margin for error. Last year, the league really only got 4 + NC St auto. NC St wasnt getting in and had they lost to UNC, Pitt wasnt getting that lost spot. So it was really 3 "byes," 1 First Four, and a miracle NC St run. That's historically bad.

Pitt needs to win 2 of these next 3 and we can put an end to all this because they pretty much lock up a bid then. If they go 1-2, we sweat all season and do a lot of Mountain West and Big East watching.

I have 30 for the Power 3. 21 for the 1 bid leagues. And 17 for the ACC, Big East, A10, American, Missouri Valley, WCC, Mountain West.

San Francisco is actually quite good. They’d be ranked #35 in Torvik right now if you take out the baked-in preseason projections. They’re in the mid-50’s in kenpom, which is perfectly respectable - they’re probably a Mountain West level basketball school on par with SDSU, New Mexico, etc.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

San Francisco is actually quite good. They’d be ranked #35 in Torvik right now if you take out the baked-in preseason projections. They’re in the mid-50’s in kenpom, which is perfectly respectable - they’re probably a Mountain West level basketball school on par with SDSU, New Mexico, etc.

Yea. I was thinking South Florida. San Fran beat Boise

 

[SteelBowl70]

So we lost a game and a starter which makes the upcoming 3 game road trip more challenging

 

[Pitt666]

I have a feeling thr next 24 games are going to be crucial

 

[Gep Dawg]

They played well tonight. Small bench got way smaller with Dunn getting hurt and the ridiculous lopsided foul calls against us. Wisky is a really good team and we played them tough despite all of that.

 

[Pittisit4me]

They played well tonight. Small bench got way smaller with Dunn getting hurt and the ridiculous lopsided foul calls against us. Wisky is a really good team and we played them tough despite all of that.

We didn't play too bad, but, there are no moral victories anymore. You want to be in the tourney, you have to win some big games.

 

[NCanton Panther]

They played well tonight. Small bench got way smaller with Dunn getting hurt and the ridiculous lopsided foul calls against us. Wisky is a really good team and we played them tough despite all of that.

Fouls were 19-16, how is that ridiculous lopsided? Especially considering Wisky had an open path to the lane many times.

 

[SteelBowl70]

Updated kenpom is 17
OSU is 18 MSU 24 Wisky 27 LSU 52

 

[Gep Dawg]

Fouls were 19-16, how is that ridiculous lopsided? Especially considering Wisky had an open path to the lane many times.

They equaled out a little at the end. But at one point halfway through 2nd half Pitt had one foul shot to over 10 for Wisconsin. Whisky also had 2-3 to use at end of first half.

 

[NCanton Panther]

They equaled out a little at the end. But at one point halfway through 2nd half Pitt had one foul shot to over 10 for Wisconsin. Whisky also had 2-3 to use at end of first half.

Yeah you’re right Wisky gave 2 intentional ones at the end of the 1st half to make it look closer. The disparity over a large part of the 2nd half is understandable though considering how Wisky was getting the ball into the lane so easily by either dribble or pass.

 

[Pittisit4me]

We are getting beat way to easily off the dribble. That is the cause of all this foul trouble. I am not sure how athletic Wisky is either. Tonje is good, but, it just takes someone who can stay in front of him to slow him down. We may have to consider playing more zone to protect us from foul trouble. I hate zone, but, we have to do something. It will help to get delalic and Cummings integrated into the lineup. We really need to get Papa up to speed, at least for defensive purposes. Our front court depth is non-existent right now.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

We are getting beat way to easily off the dribble. That is the cause of all this foul trouble. I am not sure how athletic Wisky is either. Tonje is good, but, it just takes someone who can stay in front of him to slow him down. We may have to consider playing more zone to protect us from foul trouble. I hate zone, but, we have to do something. It will help to get delalic and Cummings integrated into the lineup. We really need to get Papa up to speed, at least for defensive purposes. Our front court depth is non-existent right now.

Kante isnt P5 caliber right now and may not be for awhile. He's a "project." I think we all liked to believe he was this Top 100 plug and play but he isnt. What I'd like to know is if we let Fede walk or maybe we couldn't afford to keep him as backup. He's only playing 14 MPG at TT but would be an excellent backup 5. And as good as Corhen is offensively, he's a below average defender, whereas Fede was average to slightly above average. Tonje dude was running unabated layup lines against us.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Kante isnt P5 caliber right now and may not be for awhile. He's a "project." I think we all liked to believe he was this Top 100 plug and play but he isnt. What I'd like to know is if we let Fede walk or maybe we couldn't afford to keep him as backup. He's only playing 14 MPG at TT but would be an excellent backup 5. And as good as Corhen is offensively, he's a below average defender, whereas Fede was average to slightly above average. Tonje dude was running unabated layup lines against us.

Before this game, you went out of your way to rip on Delalic not being ready.

Delalic now has a season ORTG offensive power rating of 120. He's now shooting 59% from the floor, 50% from 3, and now has 7 assists to 4 turnovers on the season. He was 4-4 shooting against Top 20 ranked Wisconsin in his 4th basketball game. He also has an assist rate of 24% which is excellent.

You should take a timeout with predictions 7 games deep into the season about which players can play and which cant.

 

[Gep Dawg]

Delalic is definitely ready. I was impressed with his play and it kept us in the game when Dunn went down.

 

[Pitt666]

He has some aggressive passes and I feel at least 1 or 2 of his early turnovers were partially teammates not being ready. The Austin pass was beautiful. Not all turnovers are created equal. The one vs WVU was awful but Lowe driving into 3 players was doomed from the start. I find less fault in AD trying to thread the needle, which seems to be his passing MO so far. Can he create shots though? It didn’t seem like Lowe or Ish were looking for him to shoot, but can he develop into a player who can step back and hit. There is plenty of time for him and Cummings to develop. ACC isn’t murderers row.