Jacksonville Game & Other Dribbles ...

[Wanstash21]

I’ve alluded for hearing similar rumblings without naming him. Do you think one of the smartest families around is gonna pin their son’s future on Capel with the progress they’ve seen? I’m sure they’ll look at all options.

team progress or individual progress?

Individually he's penciled in as a starter for the next 3 years after this one. Why would you look elsewhere?

Team wise I think they're smart enough to realize Pitt is rebuilding and would be in a different situation if their two top kids weren't out. If Sibande is healthy, that also cuts into Will's playing time... so why would they be disappointed here?

They are smart which is exactly why they won't entertain a dumb idea.

 

[Wanstash21]

we want Will to transfer down and get the same amount of minutes he's getting in the ACC. Makes sense.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

we want Will to transfer down and get the same amount of minutes he's getting in the ACC. Makes sense.

Correct. They probably sense he’s overmatched, know he can go ball for 2 years at a lesser school, use his covid year to transfer back up if need be.

he’s not gonna meet the unrealistic expectations they have for him averaging 5 PPG at pitt.

 

[Wanstash21]

Correct. They probably sense he’s overmatched, know he can go ball for 2 years at a lesser school, use his covid year to transfer back up if need be.

he’s not gonna meet the unrealistic expectations they have for him averaging 5 PPG at pitt.

overmatched? seems to hold his own very well defensively.

 

[gary2]

overmatched? seems to hold his own very well defensively.

I think his defense is overrated by many on this board.

 

[DT_PITT]

I think his defense is overrated by many on this board.

What is overrated? I think he’s a plus defender, but not higher end. Is that too much in your opinion?

 

[Wanstash21]

some folks just have an axe to grind with local products. that's all. unless they attend a certain school.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

some folks just have an axe to grind with local products. that's all. unless they attend a certain school.

That must be it! Pretty sure I’ve defended Morton multiple times on this board and still think he should be a Panther! He’s a fine defender against the teams we’ve played so far hopefully it continues into ACC play or we could be in big trouble.

I must be the only one criticizing his D2 like offensive skills in this or other threads 😏. He’s currently averaging 5.5 points in 30 minutes on 32 percent shooting. As @pittjas pointed out, there aren’t even times where he looks like he’s about to break out for big games. He doesn’t create for others. His offense would be better suited in a league like the horizon where he could provide the same defense, double his numbers offensively in a little bit less minutes then moving back up.

Maybe the rumblings I heard were incorrect, but I would be shocked if every kid/family didn’t evaluate their options at every school every year. They would be stupid not to.

 

[gary2]

What is overrated? I think he’s a plus defender, but not higher end. Is that too much in your opinion?

William Jeffress College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

William Jeffress - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Collier who is derided by all has a defensive rating of 105.0 - Jeffress is at 103.6

Gueye is at 90.2

Justin who was constantly being criticized for his defense was below 100 at 98.5

Justin Champagnie College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Justin Champagnie - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

 

[Wanstash21]

That must be it! Pretty sure I’ve defended Morton multiple times on this board and still think he should be a Panther! He’s a fine defender against the teams we’ve played so far hopefully it continues into ACC play or we could be in big trouble.

I must be the only one criticizing his D2 like offensive skills in this or other threads 😏. He’s currently averaging 5.5 points in 30 minutes on 32 percent shooting. As @pittjas pointed out, there aren’t even times where he looks like he’s about to break out for big games. He doesn’t create for others. His offense would be better suited in a league like the horizon where he could provide the same defense, double his numbers offensively in a little bit less minutes then moving back up.

Maybe the rumblings I heard were incorrect, but I would be shocked if every kid/family didn’t evaluate their options at every school every year. They would be stupid not to.

I don't think anyone expected him to create for others. He's a raw forward.

what you're proposing is giving up. Transfer down so it's easier. His family doesn't come off that way to me. If he wasn't playing I'd get it. He's getting plenty of minutes and will continue to have opportunities.

again, he should be a true Freshman that's redshirted this year.

I can give you a long list of under classman that had the same or worse skills than him as Freshman and turned into studs.

 

[DT_PITT]

William Jeffress College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

William Jeffress - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Collier who is derided by all has a defensive rating of 105.0 - Jeffress is at 103.6

Gueye is at 90.2

Hmm … you won’t put stock in Pomeroy stats though?

 

[gary2]

Hmm … you won’t put stock in Pomeroy stats though?

Try to reply in kind for people that do.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I don't think anyone expected him to create for others. He's a raw forward.

what you're proposing is giving up. Transfer down so it's easier. His family doesn't come off that way to me. If he wasn't playing I'd get it. He's getting plenty of minutes and will continue to have opportunities.

again, he should be a true Freshman that's redshirted this year.

I can give you a long list of under classman that had the same or worse skills than him as Freshman and turned into studs.

I doubt we’ve ever had a freshmen or covid freshmen playing as much as he does that was essentially a guard/wing that shot 32 percent from the field.

It’s also not his fault. Hes thrust into way too many minutes.

 

[DT_PITT]

I doubt we’ve ever had a freshmen or covid freshmen playing as much as he does that was essentially a guard/wing that shot 32 percent from the field.

It’s also not his fault. Hes thrust into way too many minutes.

I agree that the current situation calls for more minutes from Will than is optimal at this point in his college career.

 

[gary2]

I doubt we’ve ever had a freshmen or covid freshmen playing as much as he does that was essentially a guard/wing that shot 32 percent from the field.

It’s also not his fault. Hes thrust into way too many minutes.

What is a Covid freshman?

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

What is a Covid freshman?

Someone who played last year but their year didn’t count. So they are considered in their first year of true eligibility, being termed a covid freshmen. Maybe that hasn’t hit the streets yet

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

You purposefully ignore all context with your numbers though.

Which has been my point all along. He can quote the numbers, but he has little or no idea what those numbers actually mean on the basketball court. It's why he thinks that if we can just get guys with offensive ratings between 95 and 100 this year we'll be set, because he just assumes that because some Pitt players have improved from that range in the past and become good players that all these Pitt players will improve the same way too and they will therefore all end up as good players.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I doubt we’ve ever had a freshmen or covid freshmen playing as much as he does that was essentially a guard/wing that shot 32 percent from the field.

It’s also not his fault. Hes thrust into way too many minutes.

Jeffress is the worst scholarship player who has gotten meaningful minutes that I've ever seen at Pitt.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Which has been my point all along. He can quote the numbers, but he has little or no idea what those numbers actually mean on the basketball court. It's why he thinks that if we can just get guys with offensive ratings between 95 and 100 this year we'll be set, because he just assumes that because some Pitt players have improved from that range in the past and become good players that all these Pitt players will improve the same way too and they will therefore all end up as good players.

Its a benchmark that I use with good reason.

There were over 40 freshmen that entered the ACC this year.

A total of 12 have an ORTG over 100 as a freshmen and conference play has not started yet. It is hard to hit 100+ or 95+ ORTG as a freshmen. I did not come up with this out of thin air. I am using the entire conference and Ive done this every single year. And Im using actual rotation players only.

If you want to include freshmen, redshirt freshmen, sophomore, and redshirt sophomore of all rotation players in the entire ACC, a total of 30 out of 50 in the entire ACC of 100+ ORTG make the cut. That's it. Again, its hard.

5 of these 50 underclassmen play for Pitt and 2 of them are our teams leading scorers. You see, most teams use seasoned upperclassmen to put a w inning product on the floor. We are banking on freshmen or sophomores to carry us with zero redshirt year. A kid that played 7 games last year in Hugley or an 18 year old Jeffress. However you want to classify them, they are inexperienced with respect to the rest of the conference.

Im also not suggesting our future is set if they hit 95-100+. But if they stay around 60-70 ORTG, they are out of the ACC real soon in another year without improvement, on our team or any team.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

But if they stay around 60-70 ORTG

Who was the last Pitt player who had more than just a cameo role that ended the season with an offensive rating below 70?

How many decades will we have to go back to find this player?

 

[Vader_Storm]

Who was the last Pitt player who had more than just a cameo role that ended the season with an offensive rating below 70?

How many decades will we have to go back to find this player?

Anything below 90 isnt good enough. I use 100 or 95 for underclassmen.


I dont know what minimums you are looking for, but Drumgoole put up a 61 and an 82 in 2 years. Jeffress was a 79 his first year.


There probably isnt many ranked that low with what I originally said I probably should have said under 90 because under 90, you arent coming close to an NCAA bid with a team full of those players.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I dont know what minimums you are looking for, but Drumgoole put up a 61 and an 82 in 2 years. Jeffress was a 79 his first year.

YOU were the one who was talking about players with an offensive rating "around 60-70". I'm simply asking who these mythical players that YOU are talking about are, because unless you count guys who barely played, like Drumgoole, there are NO Pitt players who have had an offensive rating "around 60-70" going back several decades. At least.

And the fact of the matter is that you aren't coming close to an NCAA bid with a team full of 95 to 100s either. Which is why using that as a standard doesn't make any sense.