Is this team better than we think.

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

I don't know man, maybe this team really isnt that bad. If we can get out of the OOC at 8-5, that's 2 games better than I had them going. A win over Towson would be huge.

The way this team played against WVU and OKST makes me have hope this team can win 4-6 ACC games. Carr and Stevenson look like good ACC players NOW and if we can get more consistency out of JWF and Luther keeps playing well, this team isn't terrible. It really isn't. Stallings has a big opportunity to surpass everyone's expectations.

 

[DT_PITT]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

I don't know man, maybe this team really isnt that bad. If we can get out of the OOC at 8-5, that's 2 games better than I had them going. A win over Towson would be huge.

The way this team played against WVU and OKST makes me have hope this team can win 4-6 ACC games. Carr and Stevenson look like good ACC players NOW and if we can get more consistency out of JWF and Luther keeps playing well, this team isn't terrible. It really isn't. Stallings has a big opportunity to surpass everyone's expectations.

A win over Towson would indeed be a pretty important deal.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

5-5

We got pushed to ot a couple times by bad teams, lost to a couple others ; doors blown off by a middling psu team.
Hung with okie state and wvu.

I’d say we are what we thought we were.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

I don't know man, maybe this team really isnt that bad. If we can get out of the OOC at 8-5, that's 2 games better than I had them going. A win over Towson would be huge.

The way this team played against WVU and OKST makes me have hope this team can win 4-6 ACC games. Carr and Stevenson look like good ACC players NOW and if we can get more consistency out of JWF and Luther keeps playing well, this team isn't terrible. It really isn't. Stallings has a big opportunity to surpass everyone's expectations.

We are only 1/3 of the way done, and haven’t even played 1 ACC game yet. A long ways to go before I can make a determination.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

I don't know man, maybe this team really isnt that bad. If we can get out of the OOC at 8-5, that's 2 games better than I had them going. A win over Towson would be huge.

The way this team played against WVU and OKST makes me have hope this team can win 4-6 ACC games. Carr and Stevenson look like good ACC players NOW and if we can get more consistency out of JWF and Luther keeps playing well, this team isn't terrible. It really isn't. Stallings has a big opportunity to surpass everyone's expectations.

A win over Towson would indeed be a pretty important deal.

Yes, but my how things have changed. I watched them play and they have better players than we do. How in the world did Skerry recruit better to Towson than Jamie did to Pitt?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

Navy is so good that they lost to Penn. By 21.

Besides us Montana's only wins are against two D2 schools, a team that is worse than everyone we have played except for Mount St. Marys and one of the worst teams in all of D1 basketball.

UCSB has played one good team all season, Texas A&M. They lost by 19. They most certainly are a Big West title contender however. Because there is only one other team in the Big West that even rises to the level of mediocre, and that's UC Davis. After they play USC next weekend they will play 19 more games and the only two against a Pomeroy top 200 team is the two with UC Davis. They are actually the kind of team that you bitched about Jamie Dixon scheduling for years (and I know, we technically didn't schedule them), the mid major who will run up a good record in their league who actually isn't any good that would make our RPI look better and that we would easily defeat. Oops.

And yeah, it certainly is something to celebrate that we won a close game against a High Point team that has loses to Charlotte and the Citadel already this season. And that we won an overtime game against a team that has two D1 wins and a loss to Morgan State, at home no less, on their resume.

Before we all declare how good this team is shouldn't we wait to see more than one good half of basketball?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yes, Navy is a bad loss, but it was on the road in the first game for a new team agaimst against a senior-laden team whi returned pretty much everyone. Forgiveable.

Montana was not a good loss but they are a mid-tier Big Sky team who also returned a lot. To me, this is also forgiveable.

Only the WAY we lost to Penn State was embarrassing. We got down big and it looked like we never punched back but I still believe PSU is a bubble team this year. More than a few good Big Ten teams will lose to PSU this year.

We played 2 good Big 12 teams to the end. They have only lost 3 games combined, to Wichita State and 2 to Texas A&M.

Speaking of Texas A&M, they are the only other team to beat UCSB, who has the look of a Big West title contendor.

We haven't looked great in close wins vs MSM and High Point but we did win them.

Navy is so good that they lost to Penn. By 21.

Besides us Montana's only wins are against two D2 schools, a team that is worse than everyone we have played except for Mount St. Marys and one of the worst teams in all of D1 basketball.

UCSB has played one good team all season, Texas A&M. They lost by 19. They most certainly are a Big West title contender however. Because there is only one other team in the Big West that even rises to the level of mediocre, and that's UC Davis. After they play USC next weekend they will play 19 more games and the only two against a Pomeroy top 200 team is the two with UC Davis. They are actually the kind of team that you bitched about Jamie Dixon scheduling for years (and I know, we technically didn't schedule them), the mid major who will run up a good record in their league who actually isn't any good that would make our RPI look better and that we would easily defeat. Oops.

And yeah, it certainly is something to celebrate that we won a close game against a High Point team that has loses to Charlotte and the Citadel already this season. And that we won an overtime game against a team that has two D1 wins and a loss to Morgan State, at home no less, on their resume.

Before we all declare how good this team is shouldn't we wait to see more than one good half of basketball?

OK but....

3 of our losses were to possible NCAAT teams. 2 of them were close.

Our other 2 losses were the first 2 games for literally a new team, one on the road against seniors.

The close home wins against bad teams, I mean, that happens. I never said we were "good," just maybe, maybe better than we all think.

I'm not going to back away from my 7-25, 1-17 prediction yet but for the first time, I am thinking maybe there is some hope for this team. I hate to say this but if we can win these next 2 and then beat Towson, I would be legitimately excited for that Miami game to the point that I'd think we would have a chance to win.

I just never thought a post like this would be possible this year. Maybe my expectations were just too low.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So you are so excited about how good this team is showing itself to be, to the point that you aren't changing your prediction of 7-25, 1-17. Yep, that's some real excitement there.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

So you are so excited about how good this team is showing itself to be, to the point that you aren't changing your prediction of 7-25, 1-17. Yep, that's some real excitement there.

Smf only speaks in hyperbole.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

It depends. Clearly Stallings can get things out of this team at times. The question is what are the cosmic forces that cause him to be able to do that?

My continuing frustration with him is that so often he seems like he could care less about the fact that a game is going on.

So, if we could just somehow get him to turn on his interest in the game at hand he seems capable of coaching these kids up and maybe the season can be better than poor.

 

[Pittx9]

A little off topic here, but does anyone else think wvu might just be overrated and psu is a better team than them? I never really thought wvu last year and this were that talented, but they have a great coach and system. Consider though, psu blew us out by 31 and wvu almost blew a lead against us. Also psu played a really tough a&m team and gave them a game, wvu played them when they were missing their best player and got their doors blown off in the opener.

As for pitt, I actually do think they'll win more games than most thought. The middle tier ACC teams they should be able to give a game to. Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Louisville even maybe I don't think we have much of a chance against. I think we have talent though, on any given night it's gonna depend on protecting the ball and hitting shots.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

A little off topic here, but does anyone else think wvu might just be overrated and psu is a better team than them? I never really thought wvu last year and this were that talented, but they have a great coach and system. Consider though, psu blew us out by 31 and wvu almost blew a lead against us. Also psu played a really tough a&m team and gave them a game, wvu played them when they were missing their best player and got their doors blown off in the opener.

As for pitt, I actually do think they'll win more games than most thought. The middle tier ACC teams they should be able to give a game to. Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Louisville even maybe I don't think we have much of a chance against. I think we have talent though, on any given night it's gonna depend on protecting the ball and hitting shots.

PSU and WVU are very close in talent but Huggins is a better coach by a million miles which is why WVU will be a 5/6 seed while PSU will be in the 10-12/NIT range

 

[HailToPitt1985]

I still can't tell if Pitt will win more games than we thought. Just not enough data points and we've been too inconsistent. We're young and inexperienced and we're going to have a lot of wtf games going forward where we should have won but didn't, or should have lost but won. But I still don't see us winning more than 2 or 3 ACC games all year, and that is being optimistic. The ACC is a hell of a lot better than any teams we have played so far. I guess we'll start to find out more on 12/30 when we play Miami.

 

[Pittx9]

PSU and WVU are very close in talent but Huggins is a better coach by a million miles which is why WVU will be a 5/6 seed while PSU will be in the 10-12/NIT range

I'd have to agree with that.

 

[Cap pitt]

Like the football team, the basketball team is young and will get better with experience

 

[TD_istheman]

It's going to be a struggle this year , all the way through. I think we will see a big jump next year to NIT, after that NCAA. We can finish around 4 to 6 avg each year in the ACC and still make runs in the tourney from that spot.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

A little off topic here, but does anyone else think wvu might just be overrated and psu is a better team than them? I never really thought wvu last year and this were that talented, but they have a great coach and system. Consider though, psu blew us out by 31 and wvu almost blew a lead against us. Also psu played a really tough a&m team and gave them a game, wvu played them when they were missing their best player and got their doors blown off in the opener.

West Viginia beat Virginia, and Virginia is vastly superior to anyone that Penn State has beaten. Penn State's best win is at Iowa. That sounds pretty good, because Iowa is usually at least a decent team. This year Iowa has already lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and South Dakota State. They have five wins and four of them are Chicago State, Alabama State, Grambling and Southern. That's the 9th, 10th, 23rd and 18th best teams in the country in the Pomeroy ratings.

Oh, no, wait, check that, I was looking at the rankings up side down. Those are the 9th, 10th, 23rd and 18th worst teams in the country. And that's four of their five wins. Number five? The mighty Blazers of UAB.

 

[Pittx9]

West Viginia beat Virginia, and Virginia is vastly superior to anyone that Penn State has beaten. Penn State's best win is at Iowa. That sounds pretty good, because Iowa is usually at least a decent team. This year Iowa has already lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and South Dakota State. They have five wins and four of them are Chicago State, Alabama State, Grambling and Southern. That's the 9th, 10th, 23rd and 18th best teams in the country in the Pomeroy ratings.

Oh, no, wait, check that, I was looking at the rankings up side down. Those are the 9th, 10th, 23rd and 18th worst teams in the country. And that's four of their five wins. Number five? The mighty Blazers of UAB.

Like we talked about though, Huggins is in a whole different planet than chambers. Not that I expect psu to do anything this season, but they have talent. WVU is gonna be in tournament barring something unforeseen, we all know that. I just don't think they're some great team with a ton of talent. Huggins year in and year out has brought in kids that fit his system, they buy into it and they play hard. Most of their star players the past few years haven't been stud recruits, but he gets the most out of his players.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Like we talked about though, Huggins is in a whole different planet than chambers.

Of course he is. But that's all part of "the team". Penn State isn't a better team than West Virginia and it's not even really all that close. And part of the reason for that is that West Virginia's coach is better than Penn State's coach. And it's not even really all that close.

 

[saltydog8159]

As a WVU fan & following Pitt casually I can't really judge if this team is really better than you think. I think your coach is a top notch floor coach. From what I observed in our game some of your young guys in a crucial point in the game got caught up in the moment and fired up some ill advised 3's that did not drop. I think if the team chemistry with your coach and his players is good you will win some games you now have as probable L's.
I also think Hugg's is still trying to figure out how the new way of calling a foul when a defensive player is in the offensive player's cylinder is going to work with his pressing defense. The foul call on Carter for his 4th foul is the one I am thinking of specifically. In the past that was a bad call but maybe it is what we as college basketball fans will have get used to now.
As a defeated foe it would good for Pitt to win from here on out but I won't go as far as saying "go Pitt" in public. One thing I can say in conclusion is that this game is good for both programs & needs to be played annually.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Like we talked about though, Huggins is in a whole different planet than chambers.

Of course he is. But that's all part of "the team". Penn State isn't a better team than West Virginia and it's not even really all that close. And part of the reason for that is that West Virginia's coach is better than Penn State's coach. And it's not even really all that close.

Right. But in terms of total overall talent, I think WVU and PSU are very very close. Huggins's coaching is really the only reason their seasons will end up differently.

Imagine if Dixon landed Konate and a couple of those Philly kids from PSU?

 

[Pittx9]

Right. But in terms of total overall talent, I think WVU and PSU are very very close. Huggins's coaching is really the only reason their seasons will end up differently.

Imagine if Dixon landed Konate and a couple of those Philly kids from PSU?

I was actually one to defend rozelle nix. But my god how on earth Dixon decided to pass on konate for nix instead just leaves me baffled.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Right. But in terms of total overall talent, I think WVU and PSU are very very close. Huggins's coaching is really the only reason their seasons will end up differently.

Imagine if Dixon landed Konate and a couple of those Philly kids from PSU?

I was actually one to defend rozelle nix. But my god how on earth Dixon decided to pass on konate for nix instead just leaves me baffled.

They are in different classes. It was Manigault over Konate.

Considering we were 4 games away from the NCAAT last year and had at least that many games lost in the final seconds (ND, UNC, NCSU, etc), I wonder if Konate at the 5 would have made any difference. An extra rebound, extra block, extra put back?

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

I was actually one to defend rozelle nix. But my god how on earth Dixon decided to pass on konate for nix instead just leaves me baffled.

We offered.
He chose wvu

 

[Jeffburgh]

Its a mixed bag.

The one positive is that we are seeing that the "talent" that was brought in during the purge is possibly going to be closer to the best case scenario than you might normally expect.

Carr looks like he could be an all conference type of guard.
Stevenson looks like he could be a really nice starter.
Kham Davis looks like he could be better than assumed, good size and athleticism and a bit better player than we might have feared.
Stewart looks like he could be a solid SG.
Brown seems to have a chance to be a decent big man.
JFW has been a solid JUCO add for a team that needed a wing who could step in and lead the offense day one.

The reality is, the program hasn't seen this many kids who look like they will fun to watch in a while.

SO, there is some intrigue.

They also seem to have pretty good attitudes and Stallings seems to like the as of today.

But, "team chemistry" is closely aligned with Ws and Ls, and it might be all good this early in the season with a complete roster turnover, but come mid February if they are getting beat down in the ACC, it might start to wear on them.

This team still has a near complete void in the post, and it is really hard to see how it will be able to defend any better than below average.

As most noted, still to early to know. It hasn't taken the epically bad season turn it looked like it might a few weeks ago, and there seems to be some progress. But, still could take a bad turn.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Forget the record focus on the growth of the team . They took a big step forward against WVU . Dose that mean all of a sudden they’re going to win 5or6 conference games , I doubt it , but I think your going to see more competitive games and a few W’s .

 

[Pittfan85]

Forget the record focus on the growth of the team . They took a big step forward against WVU . Dose that mean all of a sudden they’re going to win 5or6 conference games , I doubt it , but I think your going to see more competitive games and a few W’s .

You keep saying forget the record because it fits your agenda.

The fact is if they go 1-17 in conference there are really no positives to take from this year.

 

[pitt2533]

Is this team better than we think? My short answer is yes but that also doesn't mean they are anywhere near a good team meaning I still don't expect them to win many ACC games and would say 1 or 2 wins in ACC.

But I do think they are better because I think Carr is legit ACC player who could become a legit lead guy for the team. He has showed me enough already to believe that.

Stevenson... I like his game as well. He is a bulldog. I think he has the potential to be a good player as well.

Davis and Stewart both look to have potential to end up being good complimentary pieces on a good team. Reliable 4th and 5th starter type players.

So while the team is still not very good overall, I am still saying better than I expected because I am really encouraged about those 4. They are a stronger nucleus than I expected coming into the season. As a group of 4 freshman, they are a good class, potentially a really good class if they all continue to develop. They are a better group than we have had as freshmen in quite some time. If they can add some additional pieces especially in the post maybe we have something moving forward. A big IF though.

 

[rmf05]

We seem to be what everyone thought we'd be. We've had solid spurts and bad spurts. I think this will continue. We had a good 2nd half against WVU. We could come out badly against one of our remaining tomato cans though. It does seem like the bad spurts aren't lasting as long and aren't quite so bad. Its all shades of beige right now.

 

[mbrannagan]

I think this team is worse than I thought. I've seen 3 players standout in Luther, Carr and Stephenson. JWF looked good to start, but does not look like the pure scorer I thought we were getting, and reminds me more of a trey zeigler who has flashes but overall doesn't do enough. I can not imagine that he will step up from his current efficiency level as we get into ACC play.

The reason I think it is worse though, is that I have seen nothing from the young big men that warrants any hope- Chukwuka, Ilegomeah, George and Brown are complete non factors, and I'm not sure we have a true PG, though Carr is dynamic.

 

[Pittx9]

They are in different classes. It was Manigault over Konate.

Considering we were 4 games away from the NCAAT last year and had at least that many games lost in the final seconds (ND, UNC, NCSU, etc), I wonder if Konate at the 5 would have made any difference. An extra rebound, extra block, extra put back?

Well if not, we certainly could use him this year. Luther is about our only rebounder, with Stevenson also coming along nicely. I think brown can be good and needs to see the floor more often but he's certainly not a difference maker yet.