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Florida State Game & Other Dribbles ...

DT_PITT

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Jul 17, 2001
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** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all makes one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.
 
DT do you think Florida State will be a tournament team? Did this game change your mind about what you think Pitt will accomplish this season? I mean that win imo was very impressive. The way Trey was rebounding late in the game? He was a friggin beast.
 
** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all make one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.
Thanks for the dribbles.
Only one disagreement .
I was pretty pretty stressed out. Lol
But it was so much fun.
 
DT do you think Florida State will be a tournament team? Did this game change your mind about what you think Pitt will accomplish this season? I mean that win imo was very impressive. The way Trey was rebounding late in the game? He was a friggin beast.

The win was impressive for sure. But as is always the case, not too many conclusions should be taken from one game. My expectations remain for now (as they were preseason) that Florida State is a tournament team.
 
** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all make one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.
NTOP's CLIFF NOTES......what he said. Thanks, DT. I can just enjoy a Macallan or 3.
 
Was shocked at one point to dejavue back to the 00/01 Panther squad. Want-too, defense, & toughs were all on display. And different kinds of peices too, like that team had.

I have to say - Capel appears to be succeeding with his goal to recreate our long lost Big East culture.
 
** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all make one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.

At least based off of tonight this team may be able to go fairly deep off the bench. Certainly nice to see. Hope that continues because Pitt will have to play very hard for all 40 minutes and the numbers will help with that.

And while the 3 non-starters you mentioned were stellar, the 3 they replaced will have their moments, too. Hamilton has some athleticism to go with his size and solid physique. Drumgoole has ability and a nice frame for a FR. He moves well, too. Au’Diese? Well, his shooting certainly wasn’t there. Gotta hope he starts making a few. But his toughness and effort should give him a chance to contribute. However he does really need to start making some shots.

Tonight was fun. Good to see the guys work so hard. Then to see the hard work rewarded with an ACC win!
 
Was promising that we out rebounded a much bigger FSU team 37-35, had more assists, and I believe only 2 second half turnovers (13 total, but I think 11 were in the first half). That is a recipe for success. Shooting will improve.
There's a lot more to good rebounding than just being big.
PITT has a lot of athletic players who are learning how to play the game, they're in the right places, and they hustle.
 
Just some thoughts....

As I typed to some friends....."this was so ugly, it was pretty".

I really love the battle....this was Pitt/Syracuse circa 2003. Again, not pretty, but you go into the lane, you better have your life insurance policy paid up.

I liked this win especially because it was so much like games when we didn't shoot well from 2002-2010.

If you think about it, most of the games we have won the past few years is because we shot lights out.

Florida State are men. I am not sure if we will face a more physical team the rest of the year, so again a great win. They may not be as good of a team as last year, but they were big, strong, physical and aggressive.

OK...after watching "the First Four" the night before and Pitt last night.....folks....TOO EARLY. Wow. Some ugly, sloppy basketball. If I can remember most college seasons seemed to start around November 15th-18th. This is a full 10-14 days early. And then to play a conference game. Not sure the wisdom of this.

Ryan Murphy was more than I expected. Oh my, over the years how many times have we grown to be victimized and hate guys like this at ND, Syracuse, Lville, Nova, etc.... It is great to have one of them now.

Give it up for the most maligned player on these boards, Terrell Brown. He is and will be an important player for us.

Champagnie is going to be really good. I thought Drumgoolle was a bit overwhelmed by FSU's aggressiveness.

We are in first place!!!! LOL.

Seriously, if we are going to be close to .500 in conference and win 17-18 games and hopefully NIT, we have to win games like this!
 
This was a great team win and winning while having your two best players /leaders have off nights is impressive . No way does last yrs team win this game .

Really like Justin looks smooth and the situation wasn’t too big for him . It’s a shame he missed those three weeks a lot to look forward too .

Unless the shooting improves I don’t see how Murphy stays out of the lineup much . Didn’t notice the defense suffered while he was on the court .

TB made some nice catches and his offense and shot blocking were crucial down the stretch . Hamilton looks like an excellent pickup . Much improved over last yrs TB/Chewy combo .

Starting the freshman GD must say something about the kids potential . While his night wasn’t what he wanted he must have earned the start from excellent play in practice . Much to look forward from him as he settles in .

I’m not sure what to make of Toneys night except to say it has to get better or he’ll be riding the pine a lot .

Two areas that last night that were worrisome to me . First it didn’t appear to me that X showed more maturity in his game , there’s just too much helter skelter in his DNA . I won’t judge his play or shooting off one night , but the two areas of his game that he needs to improve upon to pursue an early exit weren’t in evidence last night . The second concern was if X does leave off last nights performance I can’t see how Trey could take over the point . He’s just not a pg , but that’s a problem for next yr and if JC’s Panthers have a surprising season they’ll land an excellent replacement if X leaves .

It was the first game so no reason to dwell on the negatives , great win . As for X and Trey they will have better nights and when they do Pitt will be much tougher to beat . If you can’t see the upswing in the program under JC you need to take your head out of the sand . Pitt bb unlike the Fb program has a coach that can lead them to the top echelon of college bb .
 
It’s always a pleasure to call out @Joe the Panther Fan anytime he’s wrong, and I’m happy to point out that there is indeed craft beer at the regular concession stands (as opposed to just the Club).

I enjoyed a completely acceptable Southern Tier IPA!
 
It’s always a pleasure to call out @Joe the Panther Fan anytime he’s wrong, and I’m happy to point out that there is indeed craft beer at the regular concession stands (as opposed to just the Club).

I enjoyed a completely acceptable Southern Tier IPA!


To be fair, I only said that because that's what Pitt put out in their press release. At $8 for a Bud Light and Yuengling and $10 for a "premium" beer, they can keep it.
 
To be fair, I only said that because that's what Pitt put out in their press release. At $8 for a Bud Light and Yuengling and $10 for a "premium" beer, they can keep it.
A Pitt News Release getting it wrong? Never!

A 16 oz Southern Tier was $10.
 
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We are in first place!!!! LOL.

Seriously, if we are going to be close to .500 in conference and win 17-18 games and hopefully NIT, we have to win games like this!
Agree, I thought immediately after last night “the schedule gets easier” and then I look at the schedule... and well, sorta. Between now and January they’ll have WVU, K-St, possibly Northwestern, Rutgers, @ Louisville. And only really 7 “should be” (let’s hope for no Niagara’s this year) wins sprinkled in between. Granted FSU is probably better than all of those teams besides Louisville, and really Pitt may be fairly evenly matched against those other teams, nothing is a given of course and I wouldn’t expect to win all of those.

KenPom rankings for anyone into that sorta thing:

Pitt 65
Rutgers 63
WVU 55
K-State 52
Northwestern 83
FSU 16
Louisville 3

But hey, Pitt should be battle tested for the bulk of ACC play at least.
 
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This was a great first game of the season. Sucks we had to be thrown to the fire of an ACC game, but these guys handled it just fine. FSU was so dang long that passing wasn't as easy. I really hope to see more fluid ball movement, and lots and lots of dribble drive and kick out to the shooters. Murphy is a fun guy to watch, and boy I sure hope this team knows how to find him when he is open. He has a little bit of that swagger we saw with McNamara at Syracuse after hitting some big shots. Not saying he is McNamara, but you can see that swagger and confidence will potentially be a game killer for opposing teams.
 
The aggressive drives to the hoop were hard to watch at times, but those are an essential element for this team. When they do so they draw so many fouls (the good) along with the turnovers and blocks from the bigs (the bad). Overall, it is a good trait and something that must continue even when there are bad results. Scoring droughts will likely still be an issue for this team. The free throws kept them in the game.

My expectations were quite low for Justin coming into the season. My hope was that coming to a college program with good coaching that instilled discipline and team play would bring out his athleticism, and that appears to be the case.

Murphy is obviously not a lock down man to man defender, but his team defensive play was heady, scrappy, and at a winning level.

It is always a big plus to make free throws at the end of a game in the first game of the season. For the most part they knocked down the clutch free throws very late in the game with everything on the line.

Trey will have to be careful to avoid the new flopping rule change.

Fun way to start the season, although I would not say that my expectations for the season increased.
 
Agree, I thought immediately after last night “the schedule gets easier” and then I look at the schedule... and well, sorta. Between now and January they’ll have WVU, K-St, possibly Northwestern, Rutgers, @ Louisville. And only really 7 “should be” (let’s hope for no Niagara’s this year) wins sprinkled in between. Granted FSU is probably better than all of those teams besides Louisville, and really Pitt may be fairly evenly matched against those other teams, nothing is a given of course and I wouldn’t expect to win all of those.

KenPom rankings for anyone into that sorta thing:

Pitt 65
Rutgers 63
WVU 55
K-State 52
Northwestern 83
FSU 16
Louisville 3

But hey, Pitt should be battle tested for the bulk of ACC play at least.

Sagarin's somewhat similar rankings (before yesterday's games)--

Pitt 64
Rutgers 77
WVU 22
K-State 42
Northwestern 93
FSU 13
Louisville 6
 
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The aggressive drives to the hoop were hard to watch at times, but those are an essential element for this team. When they do so they draw so many fouls (the good) along with the turnovers and blocks from the bigs (the bad). Overall, it is a good trait and something that must continue even when there are bad results. Scoring droughts will likely still be an issue for this team. The free throws kept them in the game.

My expectations were quite low for Justin coming into the season. My hope was that coming to a college program with good coaching that instilled discipline and team play would bring out his athleticism, and that appears to be the case.

Murphy is obviously not a lock down man to man defender, but his team defensive play was heady, scrappy, and at a winning level.

It is always a big plus to make free throws at the end of a game in the first game of the season. For the most part they knocked down the clutch free throws very late in the game with everything on the line.

Trey will have to be careful to avoid the new flopping rule change.

Fun way to start the season, although I would not say that my expectations for the season increased.

Appreciate your first post! Welcome and keep them coming!
 
** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all makes one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.

Thanks DT--Always enjoy your dribbles. Keep them coming!

Also, recognizing that it is only one game here are a couple of observations--

--I didn't think the shooting was really that bad despite the low overall %-- all things considered.

IMHO, most of that % deficiency was due to the difficulty of scoring inside against FSU's trees. It was necessary, however, to accept that problem and continue to challenge them to--

(1) create open looks on the outside, and
(2) eventually foul a couple of their trees out of the game.

But, yes, shooting % should get better--but likely it may be more a function of how big our opponents are inside than actually not shooting the ball well. IMHO, we will mostly still struggle scoring inside vs teams with trees like FSU. Against teams with more reasonable size inside, we should shoot a higher %.

--If Champagnie continues to play like he did last night, he will take minutes from Toney, IMHO.

He seems (yet to be fully proven) to bring more to the table offensively than Toney does while still having the ability to do as much in the other aspects of play as Toney does--especially to rebound.
 
The most encouraging thing to me was that we looked like we belong. Look, FSU is a top 6-7 ACC team at the worst. Picked to finish 5th. We beat a GOOD team last night.

Everyone that played looked the part. Even though Toney and Gerald stuggled, they are BIG bodies. Physical and athletic. I was very surprised with how big Champagnie is. He's built very well. I'm stoked to see these kids compete this year, but to also see where they are in a couple of years. We have some super nice building blocks in place.
 
The most encouraging thing to me was that we looked like we belong. Look, FSU is a top 6-7 ACC team at the worst. Picked to finish 5th. We beat a GOOD team last night.

Everyone that played looked the part. Even though Toney and Gerald stuggled, they are BIG bodies. Physical and athletic. I was very surprised with how big Champagnie is. He's built very well. I'm stoked to see these kids compete this year, but to also see where they are in a couple of years. We have some super nice building blocks in place.

We are so much longer/bigger than we were last year. Adding Champagnie/Hamilton/Drumgoole was huge. And then there’s Coulibaly who didn’t even play last night... and a chance Kene might be back at some point for some limited minutes if needed. Big, big difference from last year.
 
This win was definitely reminiscent of our glory days. We won this with our defense and tenacity and overcame a lot of mistakes. Can't say enough about Murphy and Champagnie. Justin was incredibly poised and did not look like a freshman in his 1st game.

Surprised nobody has really talk a lot about the fact that McGowens was running the point a lot. Clearly, there was a deliberate effort to do that and not have X carry the load there. In the 1st half especially, that didn't go very well. I agree with a previous poster who said that Trey probably cannot take over their X leaves next year.

Audiese will surely have his moments and contribute at times, but I just cannot say I am bullish on him. His shot is just awful and it's hard to see it getting better. I don't think we can afford to have his lack offensive production in the starting lineup.

Coach definitely deserves credit for bringing in the reserves. Obviously that made all the difference. However, I'm not sure he made the right call switching to zone at the end. That led to 2 fouls by Trey that almost cost us.
 
The most encouraging thing to me was that we looked like we belong. Look, FSU is a top 6-7 ACC team at the worst. Picked to finish 5th. We beat a GOOD team last night.

Everyone that played looked the part. Even though Toney and Gerald stuggled, they are BIG bodies. Physical and athletic. I was very surprised with how big Champagnie is. He's built very well. I'm stoked to see these kids compete this year, but to also see where they are in a couple of years. We have some super nice building blocks in place.

I wonder what Champagnie's true height is actually? The roster says 6-6. Some of the recruiting sites previously said he was 6-5. It's hard to tell due to his length and hair; but, he looked to my "TV-eye" to be a bit more than 6-6--perhaps he is 6-6.5 or 6-7 in shoes?

Whatever the case, he seems to play bigger than 6-6 and his composure for a freshman in his 1st big game was off the charts good, IMHO.
 
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I wonder what Champagnie's true height actually is? The roster says 6-6. Some of the recruiting sites previously said 6-5. It's hard to tell due to his length and hair; but, he looked to my "TV-eye" to be a bit more than 6-6--perhaps he is 6-6.5 or 6-7 in shoes?
Looked 6-6 or a bit more live. Wiry, pretty smooth. He should be a contributor for 4 years...moves well. Hamilton is pretty athletic, more active than Terrell....but Brown is a better FT shooter. At least Jeff has options this year. Murph will reduce the high usage for X and Trey, that will help, too.
 
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Looked 6-6 or a bit more live. Wiry, pretty smooth. He should be a contributor for 4 years...moves well. Hamilton is pretty athletic, more active than Terrell....but Brown is a better FT shooter. At least Jeff has options this year. Murph will reduce the high usage for X and Trey, that will help, too.

Murphy will also help to spread the defense and open things up more mid-range and inside.
 
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** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

You often hear about a baseball team, that "sometimes the best trades you make, are the ones you don't make". Last night Jeff Capel changed that to "sometimes the best substitutions you make, are the ones you don't make". He didn't make a substitution in the last 11:38 of the game.
 
I wonder what Champagnie's true height is actually? The roster says 6-6. Some of the recruiting sites previously said he was 6-5. It's hard to tell due to his length and hair; but, he looked to my "TV-eye" to be a bit more than 6-6--perhaps he is 6-6.5 or 6-7 in shoes?

Whatever the case, he seems to play bigger than 6-6 and his composure for a freshman in his 1st big game was off the charts good, IMHO.

I was their with my pops and we both agreed he's at least 6'6" - probably 6'7". He was definitely bigger than Toney who's listed 6'5".
 
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I was their with my pops and we both agreed he's at least 6'6" - probably 6'7". He was definitely bigger than Toney who's listed 6'5".

Roster lists Toney as 6-6--but, he might be a short 6-6 (6-5.5 or so?) vs Champagnie being a ligit 6-6 (or a tad more?). Champagnie might still be growing a little, also. McGowens added an inch over his freshman year (went from 6-3 out of HS to 6-4 now).
 
Just some thoughts....

As I typed to some friends....."this was so ugly, it was pretty".

I really love the battle....this was Pitt/Syracuse circa 2003. Again, not pretty, but you go into the lane, you better have your life insurance policy paid up.

I liked this win especially because it was so much like games when we didn't shoot well from 2002-2010.

If you think about it, most of the games we have won the past few years is because we shot lights out.

Florida State are men. I am not sure if we will face a more physical team the rest of the year, so again a great win. They may not be as good of a team as last year, but they were big, strong, physical and aggressive.

OK...after watching "the First Four" the night before and Pitt last night.....folks....TOO EARLY. Wow. Some ugly, sloppy basketball. If I can remember most college seasons seemed to start around November 15th-18th. This is a full 10-14 days early. And then to play a conference game. Not sure the wisdom of this.

Ryan Murphy was more than I expected. Oh my, over the years how many times have we grown to be victimized and hate guys like this at ND, Syracuse, Lville, Nova, etc.... It is great to have one of them now.

Give it up for the most maligned player on these boards, Terrell Brown. He is and will be an important player for us.

Champagnie is going to be really good. I thought Drumgoolle was a bit overwhelmed by FSU's aggressiveness.

We are in first place!!!! LOL.

Seriously, if we are going to be close to .500 in conference and win 17-18 games and hopefully NIT, we have to win games like this!
Those games Tuesday night were really sloppy, ragged and amazing for the talent displayed. hell, MSU is #1?? They were clearly the least talented of those 4. And they'll be in it all the way. Maxey from UK is unreal.
 
I wonder what Champagnie's true height is actually? The roster says 6-6. Some of the recruiting sites previously said he was 6-5. It's hard to tell due to his length and hair; but, he looked to my "TV-eye" to be a bit more than 6-6--perhaps he is 6-6.5 or 6-7 in shoes?

Whatever the case, he seems to play bigger than 6-6 and his composure for a freshman in his 1st big game was off the charts good, IMHO.
Like Chick Hern said of FLETCH. 6’5”. 6’9” with the Afro.
 
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** 1342 Days!

** It’s been that long since our Panthers have sported a record above the .500 mark in conference play. That’s far too long in my mind!

** We are a long way from knowing whether our Panthers can end this campaign above .500 in the ACC. But the curiosity of opening this season with a conference game offered this unique chance to end this particular notorious streak.

** There are other streaks that the Panthers must end. It’s been almost as long since we’ve won an ACC road game, for example. But ending that one comes later.

** Speaking for myself, I can’t say how long it’s been since I’ve had so much fun watching a game at the Pete. This one was such an absolute blast to watch.

** Last year’s wins against the Noles and the Cards were great too. But there was a certain tension to those games that somehow didn’t exist tonight.

** This wasn’t at all stressful. It was just a blast.

** Perhaps it’s been over 2,000 days or so since the Panther Hoopers have won a rock fight. We used to always win rock fights. We won a rock fight tonight. What a blast it was.

** If HC Jeff Capel truly wants a pack of junkyard dogs to take the court at the Pete, that’s what he got tonight. They were never fluid like greyhounds, but they fought and scraped for everything they could get.

** The Panthers won this game tonight, not because they were the more talented team. They won because they were the tougher team.

** They were the tougher team, both mentally and physically.

** Perhaps at some point during this season, we will call our Panthers the better team because they can run a more fluid offense, hit more shots, or take better care of the ball.

** Tonight the Panthers were the better team because they simply seemed to want this game more than the Noles.

** And when the Noles wanted to run away, the Panthers stood tall, punched them in the face, and yelled “I don’t think so!”

** Feel free to select your own MVP (most valuable Panther) from this game. But I have no problem selecting mine. None other than Coach Capel.

** It wasn’t too difficult to see that Au’Diese and Gerald were struggling, not to mention that Terell was having more success than Eric.

** However, I didn’t necessarily expect Capel to stick with Justin, Terrell, and Ryan all the way to the end. But he did. And all three paid him off.

** Justin’s 2 threes and eight points in the final 10 minutes made all the difference.

** Terrell’s 9 points in the final 12 minutes made all the more difference.

** And Ryan’s points and play the entire game may have made the most difference.

** I don’t know if Ryan can do everything he did tonight on a regular basis. But he certainly trotted out his entire YMCA League All-Star repertoire for all to see this night.

** Just seven days ago, I would not have thought for a moment that Ryan, Justin and Terrell would have ever combine for 34 points to lead the Panthers to any win, let alone a tough ACC win. But they did.

** Perhaps the even better news lies in the knowledge that Au’Diese and Gerald, not to mention Eric will certainly have more productive nights than they offered this evening.

** The best news is that no matter who Coach Capel put on the court this night, they all defended as if their life depended upon it.

** This wasn’t a perfect defensive performance by our Panthers. But it was an extraordinarily tough one. The Panthers were quicker to the ball than the Noles, they were stronger, and were simply more determined.

** This all makes one wonder how good our Panthers will be in they can manage to shoot the ball only about 10 percentage points or so better than they did tonight.

** And the Panthers will shoot it better. Whether they shoot it a little better, or a fair amount more than that will tell us more about whether we can take a serious run at ending the number of days it’s been since we’ve been in an NCAA tournament.

** For now, Congrats to our 1-0, ACC Leading Pittsburgh Panthers.
Audise Toney is an ELITE defender. He has to play. He can guard 2-4 without a problem. Has to become the next Jaron Brown. Not sure if he has the offensive IQ yet. He’s so young. Remember JB redshirted.
 
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Audise Toney is an ELITE defender. He has to play. He can guard 2-4 without a problem. Has to become the next Jaron Brown. Not sure if he has the offensive IQ yet. He’s so young. Remember JB redshirted.
I’m guessing that your comment is not specifically addressed to me as I’m a big Toney fan and I completely agree with your comments.

The only thing that should be added, however, is that last night, there really wasn’t much of a drop off defensively when Toney was out. Everyone defended well — even Ryan.
 
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