Can't even hold a damn 10 point halftime lead
- Thread starter PittPoker
- Start date
Let me tell you how shocked I was that you weren't posting at all when we were up.
I mean, I'm all for being positive and not trolling.. but like...
Can you really be mad at people for being pessimistic and negative right now? We played a bad team at home on a weekday 9 PM start, perfect formula for a W, had a 10pt+ lead and still lost...
I mean if you want people to post about how happy they were with 20-30 minutes of the game, that's fine I guess.
But this is major D1 basketball, and at some point you actually have to win a game. Moral victories or we were close works when you're rebuilding a crappy high school team, but Stallings recruited these guys. He has to get them to actually win if you want people to be positive. Not saying go 9-9 or anything like that, but steal one here or there. Right now, it's like we're bad and coached or performing even worse than our talent level. Which isn't good.
I just ignore that troll, not even worth arguing with someone like that. We are winless in conference but this guy wants positivity. Okay here's some positivity, we are 1 game closer to the season thankfully ending.
I mean, I was pro give Stallings a chance prior to the season and even through the beginning of this season. And I still want Pitt to win. But I just can't see a path back to success with Stallings here... and that's depressing.
It's not even all his fault. I think if Jamie would've left when the program was good for a better job and we brought in Stallings, he could've maybe continued success and built on. He's a decent, experienced coach. But he's just not the guy for a complete rebuild especially when your fanbase hates him from Day 1.
I'll gladly look for anything to be positive about. I'm not cheering for Pitt to go 0-18, and I'd be fine with Stallings coaching us if he could actually start winning both games and recruiting battles. until that happens, consider me very very skeptical.
I'm no troll. I never called for positivity. This is pathetic. We should've won tonight. Questionable coaching decisions down the stretch accompanied by poor shooting.
I just think it says something about our fanbase that our board is a ghost town when we are winning, and a cesspool when we are losing. It was like that when Jamie was here, it is now.
I just think it says something about our fanbase that our board is a ghost town when we are winning, and a cesspool when we are losing. It was like that when Jamie was here, it is now.
Well to me the problem wasn't losing a 10 point halftime lead, it was NC State cutting a 15 point lead down to 10 in the last minute of the 1st half. Kind of set the tone of what was going to come.
But 0-14 on three's in the second half? Holy cow.
Not attacking you. Agree with pretty much all your posts. Mostly just speaking for myself I guess about how hard it really is to stay positive throughout this mess. But I do agree with your point though, there wasn't much about the great first half we had.
But to be honest, what might be more concerning is that there isn't nearly as much on here as there usually would be post game - people just don't care anymore. Which is a huge problem for the admin to try to fix.
Out of those 14, how many did you consider good looks? 14, 10, 8, 6, ? I would say 7.
I'm at a point where I'd be ok with a change at coach IF we can count on Lyke/Admin to run an effective search and get a good coach in here like Crean, Musselman, or Hurley that can recruit heavily right away.
I think Stallings is a solid coach. He came into a sh*t situation with a fanbase that burned him at the stake before he coached a game here. It was basically doomed from the start. He needs more time, but even if he was moderately successful with these freshmen as juniors, would people even care at that point? I think no, and that is the realization I have come to. He just really doesn't have a chance here. He fell on the sword laid down by Barnes and Dixon. Some of it was his own undoing, and he was close to getting fired from Vandy so he had no choice but to take this job and hope for the best. I feel bad for him, it's really just a sad state of affairs.
Completely agree. Posted pretty much the same above. I don't want Stallings fired because of him and his coaching necessarily, I just think with the way the fanbase has completely turned against him and recruiting momentum has completely stalled, there's almost no way to recover. I actually enjoy Stallings' pressers and some of his philosophies. We just need a younger guy to bring energy into the program.
Some of this may be true, and this was going to be a rebuilding year regardless. But where Stallings really set the course for himself were all of the recruiting battles he lost in his first 8 months. That was his big open window as a new coach in the ACC with a chance to sell tons of ACC playing time. You can't blame the fanbase for this.
Eh. I think Pitt is harder to recruit to than a lot of people believe. It had to be even harder to recruit here with the extreme amount of negativity surrounding the program.
He lost on all his major targets. You could argue another coach with better recruiting skills could have gotten a better player or two here. My argument is that with the fanbase turned on him, an empty Pete, all the negativity, players transferring (forced out)..... there was way too much going on to expect a top class.
You do realize that if you think Stallings is a solid coach and that he needs more time, you're in a very, very, very small minority of college basketball fans and analysts who think the same. The talk on national shows is that this is the worst hire in college basketball in quite a long time, that we pushed out a legend (their words) to get this, and that he is in way over his head. The national media thinks that Pitt fans and the Pitt administration are a bunch of boneheads and they're laughing at us with how we hired this bozo and what we did to our previous coach.
This is what is being heard on the national sports talk shows. That and a toilet flushing.
Still don't understand it, he had ALL the playing time in the world along with all the shots per game to offer to anyone along with him being a "top 5 offensive mind" and couldn't get any major talents to come aboard.
It's almost baffling. There are tons of guys out there who are talented and want to play and score. And we didn't really land any serious talents, except maybe Carr. Puzzling.
I don’t feel bad for KS. He didn’t have to take this job. And he’s being compensated very well. Tough for him if Pitt fans are being mean and booing him
People living paycheck to paycheck get laid off every day in this country. I have zero sympathy for a basketball coach being paid millions of dollars.
I agree with everything. You hate to have fans make coaching decisions but its basically a total boycott. Even though its not all his fault and I dont think he's a bad coach, I just dont see a scenario where fans would get back on board outside of a miraculous magical season next year or the year after. The fans, whether they are right or wrong have no belief in the coach. And this is why you should always leak a name first like Tennessee did with Schiano. Barnes is an idiot. The fact that it wasnt leaked makes it seem even more shady.
I'd be all for firing Stallings if we can get a name coach who is a guaranteed improvement but you have to have the deal just about done before firing Stallings. Cant let him go and THEN go do a coaching search and wind up with the Vermont coach or Charleston coach, who might be really good coaches but nobody knows and fans wont buy more tickets
Pitt was never going to be competitive in the ACC with Jaime they were obviously trending downward. 2 NCAA tournament wins in 6 years says it all.
It was the Stallings hire that did them in. No real reason to even think about firing him until the season is over, and with the correct hire and a few good recruits the ship can be turned around quickly.
It was the Stallings hire that did them in. No real reason to even think about firing him until the season is over, and with the correct hire and a few good recruits the ship can be turned around quickly.
My thoughts exactly. This clusterf%$# of a coach needs to do his job or get fired. So far in a year and a half, he has done squat. There are people out here that do fantastic jobs in their professions that get laid off every day, but Stallings keeps collecting his millions for not doing his. Maybe he should start to pay back Pitt because he's stealing their money. And Lyke needs to do her freakin' job, too. Where is she?
I disagree. Look at some of the places that land top talent. Jeez, Pittsburgh is closer to landing things like Amazon, Google and Apple, than they are top 25 basketball recruits. I am sorry, this "hard to recruit" is only as hard as the guys that are recruiting them.
My take about Stallings, he is a coach on the downside of a career, not particularly a good coach, and here he realizes not that he is just over his head, he has no fan support, the one guy who hired him bailed on him halfway through his first season, he has no administrative support, he doesn't have media support. I see this absolute far away look, like "dead man walking" look, where Stallings knows this year or next, he is gone, he is playing out the string as a lame duck. He has no enthusiasm, he is stuck, I guess it is better than being fired at Vandy but he has basically gone from maybe a coach sitting out for a year or so doing broadcasting to someone who will end up being that career assistant, experienced guy like a Ralph Williard or Jerry Dunn.
Pittsburgh is both a boon and a curse for him. Boon is that basketball is the least important of sports here with low fan IQ or interest. Because of that, there isn't the same angst as it would be in other places, but this failure is becoming epic. Curse, is that basketball is the least important of sports here, so there is little local talent. Of course this just happens to be a 4 year stretch were likely more local talent than in the last 25 years or so is passing through and right now Pitt's program has the same appeal as the Edmund Fitzgerald does to boat captains.
I think this is just a marriage that was wrong from the get go, and to prolong it is to just delay the inevitable and thus the true rebuilding process in earnest. Because this program needs enthusiasm and energy in its worst way. And Kevin Stallings emits as much energy as Kevin from the Office. In some ways this is not all his fault, he was not really given a chance and Scott Barnes is really a bastard knowing he was gone and to pull a stunt like this. Stallings unfortunately at the end will pay the biggest price. This might as well happen in March, and some people (boosters and Admin) need to sit down and map up a plan of what they want. But at this point, like I said and I am totally honest, not just being reactive, does it really matter who the next coach is? Can it be worse? Because right now, Andy O'Toole or Keith Dambrot look like they would be upgrades. And that is where we are.
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Making the dance 3 out of his last 4 years refutes your point.
You make the dance, you aren’t trending down.
We should understand now how that’s not a given
What do you mean "he was not really given a chance"?
He was given a parachute out of Vandy and a big fat contract at Pitt.
Does he also need the guarantee of no criticism to complete the "chance"?
Please explain what the fans have done to rob Stallings of his "chance".
Relax and don't be so defensive. All you have to do is look on this board, from the get go, if Kevin Stallings wasn't winning 25 games, he was crap. You saw that in the first press conference with the first "question" was "COME CLEAN!" inferring there was shadiness behind his hiring. If I have to explain any further, you haven't paid attention. I am not defending Stallings. I am saying he was a bad hire and there is no use in keeping him on because the recovery can't start until he is gone.
...weird way to begin, but OK, I'll try?
...because there was shadiness. Were YOU paying attention? Please explain THAT further.
His lack of any input for his first class....2016 told me he was just playing out the string. Fans anger with him wasn't deserved until he started coaching in games......but that isn't uncommon, he's not the first guy to walk into a divided base. But he's done nothing to change the atmosphere. Stop digging.
Results speak for itself and there’s absolutely no defending the hiring of KS . Whatever you think of KS and the players he’s missed on and the ones he signed it’s important to remember a few things . First there are better freshman playing right now at Pitt since Young and Artis and that was four long yrs ago . Second there are really no sophomores , no juniors and no seniors playing . If your not a Duke or Kentucky how do you realistically expect for them to compete in a conference like the
ACC ?
I’m sure behind closed doors the big wigs would love to move on from KS , but they’re not willing to do it with their money . Firing Stalling is not going to energize the fan base into purchasing millions of dollars worth of tickets . Hiring a coach who would energize a substantial increase in STH is out of their price League .
It’s easy to sit here and say Pitt should do this or do that , but in the real world with a lot of real dollars on the line it’s a lot harder to do what everyone knows should be done .
ACC ?
I’m sure behind closed doors the big wigs would love to move on from KS , but they’re not willing to do it with their money . Firing Stalling is not going to energize the fan base into purchasing millions of dollars worth of tickets . Hiring a coach who would energize a substantial increase in STH is out of their price League .
It’s easy to sit here and say Pitt should do this or do that , but in the real world with a lot of real dollars on the line it’s a lot harder to do what everyone knows should be done .
No because your crap has nothing to do with my post. You read something into it that was not there. So stop, please. I think he should be fired. Not now but at the end of the season. What more do you want? That is first born be killed too?
Stallings needs more time? Well, if the only consideration is being fair to Stallings the coach and person, perhaps. But, more time is not needed from the standpoint that he still has a chance to turn things around--the chance of that is virtually zero, IMO.
To have succeeded KS needed to have done the following--
1. Prior to the start of season one--bring in a good JUCO or grad transfer Point Guard to run the team he inherited because its primary weakness was at point.
2. Have a first recruiting class with 2 or 3 4-star top 150 recruits--at least one of them being a post player.
3. Having accomplished #1 and #2, he then needed to have maintained a greater continuity of roster after season one---a less drastic and disruptive turnover. Cam Johnson would have needed to have been kept (IMHO, he would have stayed if he believed thisyear's team was going to be decent) and Manigault needed to have been kept, if only because by running him off, the best PG recruit--Thompson (IMHO likely due to being Manigault's HS teammate) asked out of his LOI and left.
Had KS accomplished all the above--which is what should have been expected given the size and duration of his contract.-- Pitt hoops would not now be at the bottom of the ACC toilet bowl. Instead, the following scenario would likely have played out--
A. Season #1--19-14 or 20-13 record (vs 16-17) and at least an NIT.
B. Season #2 (in progress)-headed for about a 0.500 season, or a game or two above, with real hope for a following season return to the NCAAs because the talented new recruits (those 4-stars) were showing flashes this season and seeming to be developing nicely.
Unfortunately, KS has failed to deliver as was expected and it is now too late for him to have any chance to turn things around as his window of opportunity has closed.
He’s torn because he defended the guy for a year but now wants to say it was doomed from the start. He said there’s no way anyone could recruit worse than weirdo Dixon.
No. I gave a guy a fair shot. Upon further information, it is obviously a failure. I think this is what most mature, intelligent adults do. I am not torn. At all. As I stated many of times, Kevin Stallings was not even a name I would have considered for the Pitt job, I was surprised as any of you. And it was not a pleasant surprise. So stop confusing me for someone else which you have seemed to do. I just said he deserved to be given a chance, he didn't hold a gun to anyone's head to get this job. And much of the anger towards him should have been against Barnes and the Gallegher brothers.
That's it. Again, I think he should/better be fired this year. What more do you want? Christ you people are that miserable and stupid, did you sprinkle your cereal with lead paint chips growing up?
If you and your buddies contributed any money to Pitt athletics maybe she would have more flexibility.. Ever think of that, genius?
What do you mean when you say this?
Do you mean you were involved in the hiring decision?
Or do you mean you subordinated yourself to the will of Barnes and spoke no ill of stallings?
I need to know what "give him a chance" means for the next hiring process.
Why are you picking on me? Can you read? Again I reread my post and and see where I blamed fans. **** you and your mom for having you. You are whacked.
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