They weren’t going to hire anyone who could bring in 5* recruits so hiring a guy who overachieved at a lower level of ball wouldn’t have made Pitt any more competitive at this point in time in this rebuild . JC has a way about him that in time I feel that he will assemble a roster that will compete . Great coaching is wonderful , but it’s amazing how great coaches always have great players ! You need the players and Pitt doesn’t have enough of them yet .
Capel
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
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Pitt was unable to recruit ACC level athletes under Dixon and Stallings. We needed to hire a coach who could. Actual coaching was less important.
Capel will have to win with talent. He is not a coaching coach. If things do not work out, at least he will have restocked the roster for the next guy.
They have not played the lower teams yet. Opening up with Florida state and wvu is tuff for a bunch of new guys and second year guys trying to mesh. They don’t know what their doing yet their offense looks a mess and turning the ball over on and on. This cannot be their height this year. Wait till the play the 10 other wins they have and see how they adjust. I mean they show 3-25 second half. What are u going to do. They seemed to be so disgusted that it effected their rebounding. Johnson needs to penetrate and finish or pass it out. He is playing like a guy that knows he can’t make a shot. He needs to scrap whatever he was trying to do on his jumper last year and go back to a normal shot. Champaigie is not a consistent shooter I would like to see him playing for rebounds and put backs. Toney gets his shot blocked more than anyone I ever saw. He needs to be able to hit a jumper inside the foul line forget about threes and driving to hoop against 6-9 guys or bigger. The other point guard who I can’t spell could be ok. He does not shoot but seems to be a good ball handler and passer. Possibly put him at point and johnson and trey at wings. We need some offense that works right now they just look bad on offense and it is effecting everythjng. U can’t score in acc u don’t have a chance. This is not big east Capel knows this. He needs to figure this out. Johnson right now not taking or making enough shots and turning ball over at alarming rate. Hamilton is Athetic but he once again has difficulties making a shot he need to be a guy that goes for rebounds and plays d. Brown just needs to stay at a gym and dunk a ball over and over again and do it while he thinks about someone he does not like. Gerald can’t be this bad so he must be going through I’m a freshman and I’m scared. We will see this team get better but right now when u shoot 10 percent In a half it pretty much looks like and is garbage. .
Yeah, I think this is all a bit premature. There are two reasons for the way last night played out the way it did: (1) we were annihilated down low by a fantastic player - something we knew might happen from time to time given the roster; and (2) Xavier, like he has been all year, was pretty bad. And, even with Xavier being as bad as he was - especially in the first half - we were still in it until we went totally cold in the second half (I suppose not making any shots could be a third reason).
Capel has been pretty clear since he was hired that his teams - like all good college basketball teams - are going to run through great guard play. Xavier has the natural talent and athleticism to be that guy, but he’s really struggling to figure out the rest of it. In hindsight, I think the articles we saw in the preseason and the quotes from Capel about Xavier working on developing a leadership mentality might have been a little more instructive than we realized at the time.
Xavier (and Trey, but more Xavier) stepped onto campus last year and was handed the keys as “The Guy,” and you can tell that he’s struggling to figure out the difference between being “The Guy to carry the scoring load” and “The Guy to lead the team.” He’s got the talent, the vision, and the athleticism to be a very effective point guard in this league - but he’s still got a lot of work to do on the intangibles. Let’s hope he puts his head down and figures out how to work on it.
Capel has been pretty clear since he was hired that his teams - like all good college basketball teams - are going to run through great guard play. Xavier has the natural talent and athleticism to be that guy, but he’s really struggling to figure out the rest of it. In hindsight, I think the articles we saw in the preseason and the quotes from Capel about Xavier working on developing a leadership mentality might have been a little more instructive than we realized at the time.
Xavier (and Trey, but more Xavier) stepped onto campus last year and was handed the keys as “The Guy,” and you can tell that he’s struggling to figure out the difference between being “The Guy to carry the scoring load” and “The Guy to lead the team.” He’s got the talent, the vision, and the athleticism to be a very effective point guard in this league - but he’s still got a lot of work to do on the intangibles. Let’s hope he puts his head down and figures out how to work on it.
Yet many new coaches are out recruiting us because they actually have assistants that know how to navigate the AAU and summer circuit and other means to bring in higher recruits than us. A lot of it is in the gray and hard to detect. But other assistants are the ones hurting us but their head coaches with recruiting.
This is exactly right.
1. Our coaches haven’t shown they’re gonna bring in enough talent. Don’t give me that shit about us being young. Every team is young.
2. Our coaches have NEVER recruited at the HM level. Think about that. The last time Toole was recruiting at the HM level was 1998. Jason has never recruited at the HM level and neither has Brown. How in the world did he think this staff was gonna work?
Yeah.......all staffs should have a guy who is the "recruiter". At least one. I think Capel himself is one, but he needs a younger guy who knows how to play in the margins.
Almost total rebuild it was unequivocally a total rebuild 100% and I agree with you if this was year 4 or 5 I will be very concerned about keeping him.
This is going to be a long winter for Pitt bball fans. The coaches must take some of the blame i.e., recruiting and game day preparation. Really sorry to see this as it was so exciting when we had good teams.You will never see this with Huggins, recruits well and coaches well.
Pitt doesn’t want to get down and dirty in recruiting so complaining about what other assistants and schools do vs Pitt is not worth the effort . Winning sporting events isn’t that important to Pitt to do whatever it takes to succeed. In a way you have to admire them , but it doesn’t produce W’s .
That is always an loud wrong rationale which leaves programs in the basement for long stretches
having a coach who can consistently win and make the ncaa tournament should Never ever be taken for granted at a historical cellar dweller program like Pitt .
The difference is that besides bad offenses, we now have very bad defenses and rebounding. And any team needs defense and rebounding, even on a minimally competent level, to succeed in college basketball. The players to play defense and rebound just aren't at Pitt.
X isn't ready for the NBA and won't be ready for a couple of years, at least. If he improves by leaps and bounds this year and repeats that next year, he might be ready after his junior year.
Maybe Capel should apologize to you for not being better quicker.
While I am not saying the football team is a finished product, look at the team now as opposed to when Narduzzi took over. Let's allow Capel a couple more recruiting classes before we run him out of town. Like one of the posters said, this is a total rebuild and he is trying to bring in players to fit his system.
Capel is in his 4th game of his 2nd season and the wolves are out
What exactly does this mean? Pitt hired the BAGMAN. The one coaches would say CAPEL is involved, knowing to back off. Do you think Heather Lyke hired and Gallagher signed off on a guy with recruiting violations in the past, a rep as a bag man, then gave him a directive to NOT get kids the way he had when he got to Pitt.
Listen, he may have gone clean and maybe that’s why his staff sucks. But if that’s true, why did we hire him?
Poor analogy with Narduzzi. The football team is essentially treading water after 5 years under Narduzzi. Being a 5 - 8 win team every year is treading water in football.
It’s also apples to oranges. While a great QB can come in and turn a program, they don’t go to schools like us unless it was a diamond in the rough. They can’t turn around a program when the head coach didn’t recruit one side of the hall for 3 years. Basketball can be flipped in 1-2 years If it’s done right and 3 years tops. If you’re not competitive after 3 years, your coach needs to be on the hot seat. Football gets 5 unless it’s an utter disaster.
don’t be a liar. You wanted Dixon our for years, then you pimped up stallings as a great recruiter.
Gary is still trying to figure out ways to tell us letting go of stallings was the wrong move.
The Narduzzi comparison is terrible. Pat took over a pretty decent team and frankly I don’t think we are any better than when he took over. Capel took over a disaster.
Whomever that bag man is he needs to be fired for ineffectiveness !
Winning athletic contest isn’t what Pitt wants to be known for and being caught for cheating is something they definitely want no part of .
Pitt hires him to elevate the bb program and do so by abiding by the rules .
You can say what you want, but the football program is getting better. Coastal champs last year, 7 wins so far this year. If the kids that gave Pitt a commitment sign, then this is Narduzzi's best class.
Just watched the game...
I share the concerns that Capel has not implemented a system for the offense. He is like the anti-Jamie who demanded working for the system at all times to, it seems, a mindset of just let 'em play. We need more structure and discipline.
That said, we still just don't have the horses and even if HCJC ran a better offense, I'm not sure how much it would matter given our talent level.
I'm sorry to say that, IMHO, I believe both X and Trey are overrated. Both are gifted athletes--very fast guards. When they beat their man and get to the rim they look great. But I don't see superior basketball players in either of them. Too many turnovers, little passing, poor court vision, not great shooters, and, too often, bad decision making. Trey has been OK so far. X I have no idea what has happened with him to this point. These are the guys we are banking on and both have deficiencies in a number of areas of the game.
The inability to be consistent threats from 3 is a big problem. You have to have shooters in today's game. We are playing 2 guards at the same time that other teams don't really have to worry about defending from deep. Instead, all X and Trey can do is put their heads down and drive. That's just not going to work. We desperately need a floor general at PG. Neither of them fill that role.
I share the concerns that Capel has not implemented a system for the offense. He is like the anti-Jamie who demanded working for the system at all times to, it seems, a mindset of just let 'em play. We need more structure and discipline.
That said, we still just don't have the horses and even if HCJC ran a better offense, I'm not sure how much it would matter given our talent level.
I'm sorry to say that, IMHO, I believe both X and Trey are overrated. Both are gifted athletes--very fast guards. When they beat their man and get to the rim they look great. But I don't see superior basketball players in either of them. Too many turnovers, little passing, poor court vision, not great shooters, and, too often, bad decision making. Trey has been OK so far. X I have no idea what has happened with him to this point. These are the guys we are banking on and both have deficiencies in a number of areas of the game.
The inability to be consistent threats from 3 is a big problem. You have to have shooters in today's game. We are playing 2 guards at the same time that other teams don't really have to worry about defending from deep. Instead, all X and Trey can do is put their heads down and drive. That's just not going to work. We desperately need a floor general at PG. Neither of them fill that role.
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I would think we could be very good with on the ball defense and aggressive pressure. That ability does not seem to being utilized to the advantage it should. Steals can lead to run outs. Makes lack of shooters less apparent.
The lack of an actual PG is Capels fault. Xavier and Trey are not point guards and I doubt they ever will be. Too selfish and always looking for their own points. Trey shows flashes, but even in the game yesterday he follows a couple of nice plays with a boneheaded one because he's "feeling it" or believes he is back in high school.
Hopefully, they play better and at least try to pass once or twice before driving or chucking up a shot. I'd like to get a count of Xavier's assists that were the result of a failed dribble drive and he got a lucky last second bailout pass when he never once intended to pass.
Hopefully, they play better and at least try to pass once or twice before driving or chucking up a shot. I'd like to get a count of Xavier's assists that were the result of a failed dribble drive and he got a lucky last second bailout pass when he never once intended to pass.
X’s standout season last yr all but killed JC ability to recruit anyone you’d want at pg . What good player is coming to Pitt to sit ? ( answer nobody )
That really stopped RJ from committing to UNC.
Your ability to make excuses is truly impressive.
This is one of the most, uhmm, ridiculous posts of the year. We are so good , high major PGs don't want to come to Pitt because they'll sit. Come on man!
If you don’t think kids see whose in front of them at their position your one of the dumbest posters on this board .
Going to Pitt and waiting your turn isn’t the same as being able to go to UNC and waiting your turn . Plus this had nothing to do with next years recruiting since X was supposed to be NBA bound ! The kid choose to go to UNC over Pitt who wouldn’t ? Use your brain !
I live in reality and what you think are excuses are just the way it is . I want a team full of elite players wearing Panther uniforms , unfortunately Pitts only avenue towards that goal is to buy them which they want no part of .
There’s been no coaches in either Fb or Bb that has been able to recruit elite players on any consistent basis to Pitt except during the Golden Panther days so expecting JC to come in here to what was the worst roster in D1 bb 2 yrs ago and recruit elite players is insane .
I’m going to say if you’re a real good player the prospect of beating out a guy who thinks he might be able to play in the NBA someday wouldn’t be much of a deterrent.
All of these top 200 or so guys think they have the talent to play in the league, I really doubt Xavier Johnson is scaring anyone off.
All of these top 200 or so guys think they have the talent to play in the league, I really doubt Xavier Johnson is scaring anyone off.
Why couldn’t Pitt sign any reasonable pg during JRob days ? JD might not have been the best recruiter but no one wants to follow a freshman starter who excels at his position . Especially at pg or qb in Fb .
some guy rated 200 who plays AAU and sees the talent out there better plan on attending classes ! There aren’t many job openings in the nba .
It's an excuse to justify poor recruiting, Otherwise 4 and 5* players would only ever go to bad teams with no competition in front of them.
Damn you people are quick to jump off the band wagon.
Kentucky lost to Evansville fire the coach. Lol.
Most of You are not real fans your jokes who post opinions all day.
The team will be fine and will make a tournament this year. They have to still jell. They have the talent they just need better shot selection and a few more boards.
Keep in mind that most here post on both football and basketball boards and said (including in the pittsburghsportsnow poll) that the football team would only win 6 games and reacted the same. How does that taste ?
Patience -from the team and fan base (if your really a fan) is all that is needed.
Otherwise s%%t or get off the pot !!!
Kentucky lost to Evansville fire the coach. Lol.
Most of You are not real fans your jokes who post opinions all day.
The team will be fine and will make a tournament this year. They have to still jell. They have the talent they just need better shot selection and a few more boards.
Keep in mind that most here post on both football and basketball boards and said (including in the pittsburghsportsnow poll) that the football team would only win 6 games and reacted the same. How does that taste ?
Patience -from the team and fan base (if your really a fan) is all that is needed.
Otherwise s%%t or get off the pot !!!
