The funny thing about the officiating is that, while they were calling ticky tack garbage off the ball, at least five guys got tackled in the act of shooting and the swallowed the whistle.
I think the board is overreacting
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
The funny thing about the officiating is that, while they were calling ticky tack garbage off the ball, at least five guys got tackled in the act of shooting and the swallowed the whistle.
Good way of looking at this. It is definitely a distraction and nothing more than that. We just don't have a coach. Even if Capel had 8 McDonald's AA's out there, I question if he'd be capable of coaching them in gameday situations and preparing them adequately. The contrast in ability between coaches was evident last night.
This is not in defense of Cappie but what specific moves do you think would or could have been made by another coach in this game to win it? Particularly interested to know since you begin the post by saying, "this Pitt team can't play d, and can't rebound.
This is a question with an incongruent pre-supposition. If he team can't play d or rebound because of the lack of meaningful practice time spent on breaking down the aspects of man to man defense and rebounding, no magic wand can be waved in a particular game to make it happen. When teams are getting beat defensively and there is no immediate response by the coach as to the manner in which the defense was broken down then one has to question if a fundamental approach to defense is taught with verbage, etc., that players have been taught. It is/has been my contention that Capel's playing background as well as a lot of coaching background was in situations in which there was a large disparity in talent, thus "cover your man" or "aggressively go get the ball' worked in playing defense and rebounding. It is a similar situation on offense, IMO
Man oh man! First time on this board I ever had to check my merriam-webster app to look up incongruent pre-supposition before responding and I'm still not sure if I agree or not with you. All I know is, if a poster states that this team can't rebound or play D, pretty sure no coaching moves will make much of a difference during a game. It's like someone trying to eat their own farts.
I agree with this. In short, most often, you cannot think of basketball like to can as you do with football. There isn't a play by play "chess match" like there is with football where a team is playing cover 2 defense or crowding the line, and you need to call plays accordingly.
Most teams run "sets" more that actual plays. What happens in the set is a reaction to what the defense does. If a defender goes over the screen, the offensive player does X. If they go under the screen, the player does Y.
Much of Capel's offense is dribble drive breakdown, which in fairness and more or less what most pro teams do. These offenses rely on player spacing and recognition.
On defense, coaches will determine how they will guard ball screens in man (switching, or playing through them, or intermediate switching, or even switching all screen 1 through 5.)
But to your point, this is all about preparation or game planning and motivation to execute. Sure, a coach can have a crappy idea to start a game and should change it from time to time. But most hoops coaches have a flexible offense and defense which should be able to adjust to whatever team they play. As an example, if you are primarily a man defense team, you aren't going to play a ton of zone against a team who can't shoot. But the game planning decision you make make is for your defenders to go under screens for teams who can't shoot.
As I think you are saying, there are few "game day tacticians" in college hoops with the obvious exception of Shooter who told his team that they were gonna run the picket fence at them.
This is such a great post. Basketball offenses as a whole - including Pitt’s - are much more “read option” than “Bill Walsh.” It’s taking what the defense is giving you, and putting individual defenders in positions where they’re forced to make a choice, and then executing to make that the wrong choice.
It’s like a good defense in football. It’s constantly reacting to what the offense does - if the running back stays in, the linebacker delayed blitzes to match the numbers, or the secondary running a pattern-matching zone. There are a bunch of ways to skin that cat. Better players make better plays in this offense, because they see the game better, react to the game better, and execute to make the defense’s choice the wrong one better.
The coaching isn’t really as much mind-blowing X’s and O’s scrawled out on a chalkboard - it’s more in teaching and drilling guys to help them process things on offense as quickly as their brains will allow, consistency in those sets (so that you don’t get those turnovers that result in a pass going out of bounds because the passer thought that a guy was going to be in one spot, when he was actually in another), and developing a mindset and a culture that has guys staying locked in on the defensive end.
Agree with all of this. In my humble opinion, basketball, much more than any other sport, is based on skill and instincts. Great skill players who also have great instincts make great players and don't need a lot of coaching. Recent examples of players who had decent skills but very poor instincts; JJ Moore, Duran Johnson, Chris Jones. They were basically one dimensional players, could shoot but nothing much else. There were plenty of players at Pitt over the years who were great athletes but also had great instincts. Billy Knight being the all time best. A guy who could shoot, handle, pass, rebound and play D. Players who were one step ahead of everyone else. Larry Bird being the all time best that I ever saw play. We have not had many players like this recently. Cam Johnson, but he was just getting to that point before he left.
If anyone watched any of the Duke - Kansas game last night they should have noticed a lot of offense that looks just like what we try to do.
With the difference being, the players trying to do it are a lot better.
1. Hugley is not a good defensive player.
2. While our interior defense is bad, our perimeter defenders are the bigger issue by far. They do not prevent anyone from getting to the rim off the dribble. Hugley isn't fixing that, nor is he the type of big who will help clean up that mess by bullying guards who enter the paint.
It is always something, we were easily the biggest creampuff either Michigan or WVU played. Even the Eastern 8 Pitt teams had more firepower and backbone..
I’m not absolving the coaching staff for these last two lopsided beatings , but when you’re being beaten by 30 pts it tells me that the players just aren’t good enough .
Constantly losing by a few pts or being beaten by inferior teams is all on the coaching . They’re not losing by a few pts nor is there any thought that Pitt had the more talented players .
I was trying to be optimistic thinking that this team possessed the most talent Pitts has had in a few yrs , maybe with Dior and a healthy Hugley and Jeffress they’d be better , but they look really overmatched against D1 /P6 opponents. It’s going to be a long season .
Constantly losing by a few pts or being beaten by inferior teams is all on the coaching . They’re not losing by a few pts nor is there any thought that Pitt had the more talented players .
I was trying to be optimistic thinking that this team possessed the most talent Pitts has had in a few yrs , maybe with Dior and a healthy Hugley and Jeffress they’d be better , but they look really overmatched against D1 /P6 opponents. It’s going to be a long season .
Well I hate to step on your point, but this staff is 100% responsible for the roster. So…
Anyone is free to dissect or analyze whatever they want. But Capel and his entire staff has been nothing short of an abject failure.
I do think we need some new sets for moving off the ball, especially since we have (in theory) at least a few shooters this year. Some basic horns or something.
I'd love to run the "Spain" double high screen with the Diaz-Graham brothers someday (it's a legit play the Gasol brothers dominated with on Team Spain, common in the NBA -- just a confidence they're also Spanish) but they're just not good players yet.
I'd love to run the "Spain" double high screen with the Diaz-Graham brothers someday (it's a legit play the Gasol brothers dominated with on Team Spain, common in the NBA -- just a confidence they're also Spanish) but they're just not good players yet.
I totally agree , my point is that these players just aren’t good enough and the actual coaching aspect is secondary to the lack of talent . Even if coached better this collection of players wouldn’t beat WVU or Michigan and we all know whose responsible for accumulating the talent .
Offense isn’t the blaring issue I have to disagree
Defense is terrible
Oh. Ok. Gotcha.
Agreed. I’m sure another coach could get a little more out of them but as the saying goes you can’t get blood from a stone.
The second half was really horrendous (stating the obvious)
I think the game tomorrow will give us a very good idea of what to expect the rest of the season. Need a win.
Cummings needs to be better. Hinson and Elliott need to remain focused and intense the entire game. Getting absolutely nothing from Nike. Need better guard play.
Talk to me after tomorrow.
Gary2, I respect your thoughts and posts on this board. Can you tell me what would have to happen tomorrow to make you feel good about this team? More importantly Capel guiding this program. This is a disaster of epic proportions.
I’ll talk to you now
Our defense stinks
We have a starting pg who should be a bench player
And Hinson is talented but a head case
See my post above yours.
As far as Capel: He does not coach. No gameplan. No adjustments.
A just roll the ball out guy.
