In the PG this afternoon:
The Pitt men’s basketball team has 12 games left, starting with tonight’s home game against No. 13 Louisville.
At 12-7 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, the Panthers’ chances of making the NCAA tournament are fading, but that doesn’t mean this season is already lost. I’d argue the opposite is true, at least with respect to properly evaluating the job that Kevin Stallings has done in Year 1.
There is a lot on the line down the stretch, and while I don’t expect them to win the lion’s share of these games, they need to win enough to show that Stallings didn’t lose his team.
I wrote earlier in the season that Stallings is an excellent basketball coach, and nothing I have seen from him since has made me believe otherwise.
But that was strictly talking about his X’s and O’s and his ability to try and take this extremely flawed roster and make it functional. He has used Jamel Artis at point guard, has allowed Mike Young the freedom to be more of a small forward and he has found ways to play five wing players at a time and somehow be productive.
I made it clear, though, that Stallings as a program builder is something we won’t be able to properly evaluate for a couple of years and that he needs a fair opportunity to recruit his own guys.
That much is true, but so is this: His inability to connect with this team has been a bit concerning, and his willingness to throw his players under the bus at every opportunity is even more concerning.
His recent discussions about his players not buying in and their lack of leadership say as much about him as they do his players. He is getting paid big bucks to figure out a way to get through to his players, and while this group of seniors can be hard to deal with, pouty and strong willed, it is up to Stallings to figure out how to communicate with them.
I don’t expect Stallings to get this team to the NCAA tournament, but I also don’t think it would reflect well on him if this team completely goes into the tank and finishes under .500.
This roster probably isn’t good enough to realistically finish in the top half of the ACC. But that doesn’t mean the Panthers can’t play better than they have, and that is on Stallings. He needs to fight tooth and nail to keep this team from tanking. There are some winnable games coming up and some games the Panthers could steal if they put together a complete effort similar to the nights they upset Virginia and blew out Maryland.
The Louisville game is a great opportunity for the Panthers to steal a win. They lost to the Cardinals, 85-80, a few weeks ago on the road, but since then Louisville has lost Quentin Snider to a hip injury, and they haven’t been nearly the same team without him.
Pitt is at home and is rested after a week off, and the Cardinals are undermanned, so there is no reason the Panthers shouldn’t be able to go out and win this game. And it would be the kind of win that could really give the Panthers some confidence and momentum and perhaps even spark a winning streak.
If Stallings can get this team to finish 6-6 in its final 12 games, that puts the Panthers at 18-13. If they win a couple of postseason games to get to 20 wins, that would be a solid and realistic first season for him.
Anything much less than that — say they go 3-9 in their final 12 — would raise some serious and legitimate questions about his ability to build a program for the long term. A team that wins 20 games is an easy sell as “We aren’t far off,” but a team with a losing record buried at the bottom of its league is a much tougher sell.
Stallings needs time to recruit, he needs time to get his guys in to the program and he needs time to rebuild the depth and balance on the roster. No matter what happens, he will be back for at least a few years.
But this year, he has to prove he can get a team to buy what he is selling, and so far he has failed. He has 12 games left to show his ability to do just that.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com
The Pitt men’s basketball team has 12 games left, starting with tonight’s home game against No. 13 Louisville.
At 12-7 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, the Panthers’ chances of making the NCAA tournament are fading, but that doesn’t mean this season is already lost. I’d argue the opposite is true, at least with respect to properly evaluating the job that Kevin Stallings has done in Year 1.
There is a lot on the line down the stretch, and while I don’t expect them to win the lion’s share of these games, they need to win enough to show that Stallings didn’t lose his team.
I wrote earlier in the season that Stallings is an excellent basketball coach, and nothing I have seen from him since has made me believe otherwise.
But that was strictly talking about his X’s and O’s and his ability to try and take this extremely flawed roster and make it functional. He has used Jamel Artis at point guard, has allowed Mike Young the freedom to be more of a small forward and he has found ways to play five wing players at a time and somehow be productive.
I made it clear, though, that Stallings as a program builder is something we won’t be able to properly evaluate for a couple of years and that he needs a fair opportunity to recruit his own guys.
That much is true, but so is this: His inability to connect with this team has been a bit concerning, and his willingness to throw his players under the bus at every opportunity is even more concerning.
His recent discussions about his players not buying in and their lack of leadership say as much about him as they do his players. He is getting paid big bucks to figure out a way to get through to his players, and while this group of seniors can be hard to deal with, pouty and strong willed, it is up to Stallings to figure out how to communicate with them.
I don’t expect Stallings to get this team to the NCAA tournament, but I also don’t think it would reflect well on him if this team completely goes into the tank and finishes under .500.
This roster probably isn’t good enough to realistically finish in the top half of the ACC. But that doesn’t mean the Panthers can’t play better than they have, and that is on Stallings. He needs to fight tooth and nail to keep this team from tanking. There are some winnable games coming up and some games the Panthers could steal if they put together a complete effort similar to the nights they upset Virginia and blew out Maryland.
The Louisville game is a great opportunity for the Panthers to steal a win. They lost to the Cardinals, 85-80, a few weeks ago on the road, but since then Louisville has lost Quentin Snider to a hip injury, and they haven’t been nearly the same team without him.
Pitt is at home and is rested after a week off, and the Cardinals are undermanned, so there is no reason the Panthers shouldn’t be able to go out and win this game. And it would be the kind of win that could really give the Panthers some confidence and momentum and perhaps even spark a winning streak.
If Stallings can get this team to finish 6-6 in its final 12 games, that puts the Panthers at 18-13. If they win a couple of postseason games to get to 20 wins, that would be a solid and realistic first season for him.
Anything much less than that — say they go 3-9 in their final 12 — would raise some serious and legitimate questions about his ability to build a program for the long term. A team that wins 20 games is an easy sell as “We aren’t far off,” but a team with a losing record buried at the bottom of its league is a much tougher sell.
Stallings needs time to recruit, he needs time to get his guys in to the program and he needs time to rebuild the depth and balance on the roster. No matter what happens, he will be back for at least a few years.
But this year, he has to prove he can get a team to buy what he is selling, and so far he has failed. He has 12 games left to show his ability to do just that.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com
