** I suspect one of the reasons we Pitt Hoops fans go to exhibition games such as this one is to learn some things -- even get some answers. But for me, I left the Pete with more questions than I arrived.
** The biggest question for me is regarding the guy who didn’t even suit up – Big John. The word we all got a few weeks ago was that he’d be ready for the season. Seeing him walking around with a big brace on his big leg makes me wonder how far away he really is.
** This leads to the next question. Can this team win without him? If he’s not ready for the Legends Classic, are we facing the prospect of starting the year 1-3? I’m kinda worried this could be the case.
** Or maybe you’re not worried if you believe in Blake Hinson. And why not? He was simply splendid in the first half of this effort against Edinboro. During the game I noted that his success was spurred from knowing that there was no one who was either willing or able to guard him. Most better Division I teams will have someone to match up on Blake, and not leave him completely wide open standing at the three point line.
** But don’t allow me to downplay Mr. Hinson. He’s a player for sure. A true talent. And if we can ever get Big John back on the court, the two of them should make for a highly formidable duo. Our best since Artis and Young.
** In the meantime, do we even have a someone who can play the five for any more than a few minutes? At this point, I just don’t think so, although I became more convinced today that Fede is much more ready to backup John than GDiaz.
** In fact, I’m still waiting for any evidence that either of the twins are ready for even meaningful minutes during this campaign. But I just don’t see it. I hope I’m wrong.
** Besides Big John, we also need to know when Will Jeffess returns. I ask this because I believe it’s possible that Coach Capel will play Jeffess, or even Nate Santos, as the first bench option at the four before JDiaz.
** It's probably worth noting that twice today we saw a lineup of Hinson-Santos-along with your choice of three of our four guards in the other spots. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this lineup at times, at least until John returns. In fact, I wouldn’t even question it.
** As for our four guards, we didn’t learn anything new about any of them today, but there really weren’t any serious questions about any of them anyway. They look like a solid foursome, and nothing we’ve seen from any of them thus far should change that (Nelly’s cramp notwithstanding). And only about two months or so from now will we begin to get any idea if a solid foursome equals a winning foursome.
** Otherwise, at this point, it’s not hard to assume that Burton-Elliott-Nelly and Nike is a notable improvement over Burton-Horton-Femi-No Nike and a walk on.
** So here’s a question I will pose to myself assuming Big John returns at full strength sometime soon. Why can’t I get more excited about this team? After all, John is a year older and wiser. Blake looks like an upgrade over Mo (a player I liked a great deal), and our foursome of this year’s guards looks like an improvement over last year’s.
** Add to that the notion that Fede looks to be the equal or better than Noah Collier last year, and Jeffress could reprise is role as the understudy at the four, at the very least.
** And I’m not even counting any contribution from the Twins, while many more of you think there will be more than I do.
** I guess the answer to my question lies simply within Coach Capel. In this first four years, I’ve yet to see a Pitt Hoops group that has looked like he’s organized them well. I’ve yet to see a group that has looked like it’s even played to the sum of it’s parts, let alone greater than.
** I’ll also confess that I’m still a little jaded by how bad the Panthers looked in their final five games of last year, following the unlikely blowout of the Tar Heels.
** The best part of any Pitt Hoops season though is that it eventually gets around to answering all of our questions. I sure hope we like the answers a heck of a lot more for this campaign than we have for the past six.
** The biggest question for me is regarding the guy who didn’t even suit up – Big John. The word we all got a few weeks ago was that he’d be ready for the season. Seeing him walking around with a big brace on his big leg makes me wonder how far away he really is.
** This leads to the next question. Can this team win without him? If he’s not ready for the Legends Classic, are we facing the prospect of starting the year 1-3? I’m kinda worried this could be the case.
** Or maybe you’re not worried if you believe in Blake Hinson. And why not? He was simply splendid in the first half of this effort against Edinboro. During the game I noted that his success was spurred from knowing that there was no one who was either willing or able to guard him. Most better Division I teams will have someone to match up on Blake, and not leave him completely wide open standing at the three point line.
** But don’t allow me to downplay Mr. Hinson. He’s a player for sure. A true talent. And if we can ever get Big John back on the court, the two of them should make for a highly formidable duo. Our best since Artis and Young.
** In the meantime, do we even have a someone who can play the five for any more than a few minutes? At this point, I just don’t think so, although I became more convinced today that Fede is much more ready to backup John than GDiaz.
** In fact, I’m still waiting for any evidence that either of the twins are ready for even meaningful minutes during this campaign. But I just don’t see it. I hope I’m wrong.
** Besides Big John, we also need to know when Will Jeffess returns. I ask this because I believe it’s possible that Coach Capel will play Jeffess, or even Nate Santos, as the first bench option at the four before JDiaz.
** It's probably worth noting that twice today we saw a lineup of Hinson-Santos-along with your choice of three of our four guards in the other spots. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this lineup at times, at least until John returns. In fact, I wouldn’t even question it.
** As for our four guards, we didn’t learn anything new about any of them today, but there really weren’t any serious questions about any of them anyway. They look like a solid foursome, and nothing we’ve seen from any of them thus far should change that (Nelly’s cramp notwithstanding). And only about two months or so from now will we begin to get any idea if a solid foursome equals a winning foursome.
** Otherwise, at this point, it’s not hard to assume that Burton-Elliott-Nelly and Nike is a notable improvement over Burton-Horton-Femi-No Nike and a walk on.
** So here’s a question I will pose to myself assuming Big John returns at full strength sometime soon. Why can’t I get more excited about this team? After all, John is a year older and wiser. Blake looks like an upgrade over Mo (a player I liked a great deal), and our foursome of this year’s guards looks like an improvement over last year’s.
** Add to that the notion that Fede looks to be the equal or better than Noah Collier last year, and Jeffress could reprise is role as the understudy at the four, at the very least.
** And I’m not even counting any contribution from the Twins, while many more of you think there will be more than I do.
** I guess the answer to my question lies simply within Coach Capel. In this first four years, I’ve yet to see a Pitt Hoops group that has looked like he’s organized them well. I’ve yet to see a group that has looked like it’s even played to the sum of it’s parts, let alone greater than.
** I’ll also confess that I’m still a little jaded by how bad the Panthers looked in their final five games of last year, following the unlikely blowout of the Tar Heels.
** The best part of any Pitt Hoops season though is that it eventually gets around to answering all of our questions. I sure hope we like the answers a heck of a lot more for this campaign than we have for the past six.
