Friday Pitt Basketball Poll 5/22/20!!

[PittPoker]

So I figured I'd see the pulse of the board in terms of who will be our top scorer this coming season. I'm actually excited to see myself.

I'm actually gonna go with a wildcard pick, Ithiel Horton. Maybe I'm picturing him as an Ashton Gibbs type player with a deadly 3 point shot as well as a nice shooter in general.

Look it might be Champagnie who imo is poised for a great year, it might be Xavier who might take the next step as a junior or hell it could be Toney. Toney has the tools and imo his 3 point shot and overall game is primed to get even better.

Or maybe it's another guy from the new class that nobody is expecting. Like how Justin came out of the blue to have an excellent freshman season. Who knows maybe Hugley is a beast inside and is the second coming of Blair. I kid kid of course but that's the fun part of guessing before the season starts. Lots of unknowns.

But hey it's just a poll and my horse is Horton.

Also gonna take the next few days off before finishing the movie poll next week. Enjoy!!

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

So I figured I'd see the pulse of the board in terms of who will be our top scorer this coming season. I'm actually excited to see myself.

I'm actually gonna go with a wildcard pick, Ithiel Horton. Maybe I'm picturing him as an Ashton Gibbs type player with a deadly 3 point shot as well as a nice shooter in general.

Look it might be Champagnie who imo is poised for a great year, it might be Xavier who might take the next step as a junior or hell it could be Toney. Toney has the tools and imo his 3 point shot and overall game is primed to get even better.

Or maybe it's another guy from the new class that nobody is expecting. Like how Justin came out of the blue to have an excellent freshman season. Who knows maybe Hugley is a beast inside and is the second coming of Blair. I kid kid of course but that's the fun part of guessing before the season starts. Lots of unknowns.

But hey it's just a poll and my horse is Horton.

Also gonna take the next few days off before finishing the movie poll next week. Enjoy!!

Lol An absurdly high number like 95 percent of players who transfer to higher schools average about half of what they did at their smaller school. So you have like a 1 in 20 shot of being correct. Easy answer here is X. Will have ball in his hands and be attacking more than anyone else and will be looking to impress scouts so he can turn pro.

 

[Millerton]

Lol An absurdly high number like 95 percent of players who transfer to higher schools average about half of what they did at their smaller school. So you have like a 1 in 20 shot of being correct. Easy answer here is X. Will have ball in his hands and be attacking more than anyone else and will be looking to impress scouts so he can turn pro.

Easy answer X? The leading scorer from last year is still playing.....

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

IMHO, the top 4 in descending order of likelihood of being the leading scorer---

1. Horton
2. Champagnie
3. Hugley
4. Flip a coin among the rest of the returning guys

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Easy answer X? The leading scorer from last year is still playing.....

Yes. The PG who had a down year and will most likely be making a push to try and leave early and will handle the ball. The only one who has averaged 16 a game. Very easy answer.

 

[Ski11585]

IMHO, the top 4 in descending order of likelihood of being the leading scorer---

1. Horton
2. Champagnie
3. Hugley
4. Flip a coin among the rest of the returning guys

You honestly think a freshman big is going to average more points than our junior PG?

Really?

 

[Ronnyp91]

Yes. The PG who had a down year and will most likely be making a push to try and leave early and will handle the ball. The only one who has averaged 16 a game. Very easy answer.

X would be my #1. Champ #2. Anyone else would be a shocker (in a good way). If Horton/Toney/Hugley can give us 10-12 PPG we'd all take that, but that ain't gonna be the team leader.

 

[Ski11585]

Yes. The PG who had a down year and will most likely be making a push to try and leave early and will handle the ball. The only one who has averaged 16 a game. Very easy answer.

Yeah I was just going to say, I feel even more confident that X is going to push for a monster year after reading that interview where he was refreshingly self-reflective about his down sophomore year. I wouldn't be shocked if he busts ass this offseason and comes back and averages 18 or 19.

 

[Millerton]

Yes. The PG who had a down year and will most likely be making a push to try and leave early and will handle the ball. The only one who has averaged 16 a game. Very easy answer.

Nope, its dumb. Does he have a good chance, absolutely...but easy answer, no. Champ should improve also

 

[pittchagg]

This is a good one because I could see a case for any one of those guys. I think Xavier is probably the safest pick because of the reasons other people have said - he’s going to have the ball, his perimeter defense is going to give him fast break opportunities, and he’s shown the ability to score at a high level.

I wouldn’t rule out Toney, though - if he plays a full year like he played the back half of his sophomore year, I could easily see him scoring 15+ per game - I’m really excited for him next year because I think he’s primed for a huge junior year. And with Horton - Murphy scored 10 per game and Horton’s going to be a hell of a lot better. I could see Horton edging up towards that 15 ppg mark because I think he’s going to play 30 minutes and I think he’s going to shoot it pretty well. I think the league is going to scheme out Champagnie a little bit more as a sophomore than it did as a freshman.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Nope, its dumb. Does he have a good chance, absolutely...but easy answer, no. Champ should improve also

Lol so it’s dumb to think a guy who obviously wants to prove he belongs in the NBA that averaged ONE POINT less than Champ last year but a full FOUR points better than his high the year before and controls where the ball will go will average more points?

Champ has a year of being scouted now, which will cause us to see if he can combat the scouting report. He has like 9 other wings on the roster to compete for time with. We have ZERO other PGs and XJ will average by far the most minutes on the team. It is the EASY answer. And certainly not DUMB

 

[PharMorNightStocker]

I went with Champagnie, but I don't think the differences between the top two or three will be all that material. He and Johnson will almost certainly be 1 and 2 in some order. I could see #3 going a few different ways.

 

[Millerton]

Lol so it’s dumb to think a guy who obviously wants to prove he belongs in the NBA that averaged ONE POINT less than Champ last year but a full FOUR points better than his high the year before and controls where the ball will go will average more points?

Champ has a year of being scouted now, which will cause us to see if he can combat the scouting report. He has like 9 other wings on the roster to compete for time with. We have ZERO other PGs and XJ will average by far the most minutes on the team. It is the EASY answer. And certainly not DUMB

Your right

 

[Ski11585]

Lol so it’s dumb to think a guy who obviously wants to prove he belongs in the NBA that averaged ONE POINT less than Champ last year but a full FOUR points better than his high the year before and controls where the ball will go will average more points?

Champ has a year of being scouted now, which will cause us to see if he can combat the scouting report. He has like 9 other wings on the roster to compete for time with. We have ZERO other PGs and XJ will average by far the most minutes on the team. It is the EASY answer. And certainly not DUMB

I can't help but feel like the board is setting itself up for a big backlash against Champ the way we saw against X and Trey if he dares have even the slightest regression next year. Hell, even if he just gets a little better.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Your right

Lol well I may not be right. I’m just saying it wasn’t a dumb answer

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

You honestly think a freshman big is going to average more points than our junior PG?

Really?

I didn't really imply that he would necessarily score more than Johnson. I just indicated Johnson, IMHO, would not be our leading scorer. He might very well be our 2nd or 3rd leading scorer and ahead of Hugley that way. I believe either or both of Horton and Champagnie will average more points per game than Johnson with Hugley as a long shot to be our leading scorer.

My bottom line--IMHO, if Johnson is our leading scorer we will have a disappointing season because we really need to, as a team, score significantly more points per game than last season and a lot of that increase needs to come from the front court. If that happens, the total points scored out of the back court should stay about the same as last season (30.8) but be produced with greater efficiency (higher shooting percentages).

Because we had such poor overall front court (4/5 position) quality and depth last season we were way too dependent on very inefficient back court scoring (poor shooting percentages--especially 3-ball shooting). We averaged only 65.2 points/game as a team. We need, IMHO, to have a winning season to get that up 5-10 points/game with most/all of that increase coming from the front court.

 

[pittchagg]

I can't help but feel like the board is setting itself up for a big backlash against Champ the way we saw against X and Trey if he dares have even the slightest regression next year. Hell, even if he just gets a little better.

I'm looking forward to it, to be honest. It's going to be great.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Yeah I was just going to say, I feel even more confident that X is going to push for a monster year after reading that interview where he was refreshingly self-reflective about his down sophomore year. I wouldn't be shocked if he busts ass this offseason and comes back and averages 18 or 19.

IMHO, if that means he shoots a higher FG% by being a team player, okay.

However, if he forces things to the detriment of the team IMHO Capel will have him spending lots of bench time. He needs to feed others (especially big men on the inside now that we have more and better) and only take shots that aren't forced while other players are more open.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Easy answer X? The leading scorer from last year is still playing.....

He wasn't last year's leading scorer. Champagnie was the leading scorer.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

I think Justin will be that guy by at least 2-3 PPG.

 

[Millerton]

He wasn't last year's leading scorer. Champagnie was the leading scorer.

??????? Thats what I meant.......

 

[levance2]

We have ZERO other PGs and XJ will average by far the most minutes on the team. It is the EASY answer. And certainly not DUMB

It certainly will be interesting to see what XJ does without Trey.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

So I figured I'd see the pulse of the board in terms of who will be our top scorer this coming season. I'm actually excited to see myself.

I'm actually gonna go with a wildcard pick, Ithiel Horton. Maybe I'm picturing him as an Ashton Gibbs type player with a deadly 3 point shot as well as a nice shooter in general.

Look it might be Champagnie who imo is poised for a great year, it might be Xavier who might take the next step as a junior or hell it could be Toney. Toney has the tools and imo his 3 point shot and overall game is primed to get even better.

Or maybe it's another guy from the new class that nobody is expecting. Like how Justin came out of the blue to have an excellent freshman season. Who knows maybe Hugley is a beast inside and is the second coming of Blair. I kid kid of course but that's the fun part of guessing before the season starts. Lots of unknowns.

But hey it's just a poll and my horse is Horton.

Also gonna take the next few days off before finishing the movie poll next week. Enjoy!!

I don't know who it's going to be, but it needs to be Horton.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

??????? Thats what I meant.......

Sorry, I misread your comment.

 

[JRPITT]

So I figured I'd see the pulse of the board in terms of who will be our top scorer this coming season. I'm actually excited to see myself.

I'm actually gonna go with a wildcard pick, Ithiel Horton. Maybe I'm picturing him as an Ashton Gibbs type player with a deadly 3 point shot as well as a nice shooter in general.

Look it might be Champagnie who imo is poised for a great year, it might be Xavier who might take the next step as a junior or hell it could be Toney. Toney has the tools and imo his 3 point shot and overall game is primed to get even better.

Or maybe it's another guy from the new class that nobody is expecting. Like how Justin came out of the blue to have an excellent freshman season. Who knows maybe Hugley is a beast inside and is the second coming of Blair. I kid kid of course but that's the fun part of guessing before the season starts. Lots of unknowns.

But hey it's just a poll and my horse is Horton.

Also gonna take the next few days off before finishing the movie poll next week. Enjoy!!

I think Champagnie has the best chance to lead in scoring. He showed the most improvement last year, seems to have the most internal drive, a great attitude, and will be able to score in multiple ways.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I don't know who it's going to be, but it needs to be Horton.

I'd love it if that were the case, but it is surely unlikely. In fact he might be the least likely of the four guys listed.

 

[Tonyt66]

I'm going back and forth with what you said because I understand why you say that and I kind of agree but then on the other hand he has practiced all year against X and Trey who was a pretty good Defender and if he did do as good as Capel and X said he did that would be the real reason Trey left because he would be losing a lot of PT to Horton. Which in hindsight could be true because this Trey wanting to leave the play point guard sort of came out of nowhere and I never heard Capel say anything about that and we know kids ego wouldn't be able to take it if that was the case about Horton.
That's just another scenario that I was contemplating when going back and forth on it.

I'd love it if that were the case, but it is surely unlikely. In fact he might be the least likely of the four guys listed.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

I'd love it if that were the case, but it is surely unlikely. In fact he might be the least likely of the four guys listed.

Perhaps. And maybe wishful thinking on my part. But IMO he is the key and the numbers he puts up will determine whether or not we are tournament material.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

But IMO he is the key and the numbers he puts up will determine whether or not we are tournament material.

I agree that he is certainly one of the keys of the upcoming season. I hope he comes in and meets our wildest dreams. But that shouldn't be the expectation.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Toney's gonna explode next season.