I agree. Kind of numb about the whole basketball program. Not engaged. After losses begin to mount in January, turn off. It's the Pitt story since Jamie's last season.
Jeff Capel is not the answer
- Thread starter iMissTheOldDayss
- Start date
A post to archive. Almost sounds like you are making excuses already. We seemed to be fairly competitive a few years ago. Did we do that with no talent? Are we helpless?
Frankly, what isn't good enough is the progress Capel has delivered to date. It's 3 years for him, but 5 years for the fans. Beginning to look like Pitt football in 1984.
There just aren't any excuses for Capel any longer. He's had enough time to make some type of progress with recruiting and coaching these kids, and he has made very little progress so far.
His defensive coaching is abysmal and his players seem to not have a clue about defense. He won't win many games in any conference if his teams can't play defense. He came in with a reputation of being at least a good recruiter and capable of getting some high end players. He has not demonstrated even a hint that he can do that.
If fans were allowed in The Pete and this was an otherwise normal season, I doubt there would be more than maybe 3,000 or 4,000 fans in the seats. Most of what were the fans just aren't all that interested or engaged in Pitt hoops any longer. Results matter. And Capel is getting paid a hell of a lot of money to get results that just aren't there. Very disappointing.
His defensive coaching is abysmal and his players seem to not have a clue about defense. He won't win many games in any conference if his teams can't play defense. He came in with a reputation of being at least a good recruiter and capable of getting some high end players. He has not demonstrated even a hint that he can do that.
If fans were allowed in The Pete and this was an otherwise normal season, I doubt there would be more than maybe 3,000 or 4,000 fans in the seats. Most of what were the fans just aren't all that interested or engaged in Pitt hoops any longer. Results matter. And Capel is getting paid a hell of a lot of money to get results that just aren't there. Very disappointing.
We are better than last year
I’m likewise frustrated with our lack of in season progress -but it’s silly to dismiss the team is better this year than last
We have had 1 absolutely stinker game in notre dame - who is proving to be a good team
There are no moral victories but we are close in every game
Just not good enough yet to be on the right side of winning those games
we need a coaching staff shakeup because we need some new plays and wrinkles on offense .
defensively - we can’t hide champ- who is a weak link .
Akc has struggled lately
The team offense has been running at a 106+ "team" ORTG in 9 of the last 10 ACC games since the losing streak began.
To further break this down recently, the team shot 51% vs Georgia Tech, 50% against NC State, 50% against Virginia Tech, 44% against Virginia, and 38% against FSU without Toney. 4 of those defenses are ranked inside the National Top 50.
The offense has been more than plenty good enough to win these ACC games and the offense has made major improvement since the start of the season. Its the team defense that is 90% of the issue, This team also gets crushed giving up 2nd chance points when Brown is on the floor. We constantly give up 2nd chance layups, dunks, and putbacks. Part of this issue has been indeed a "team" problem, but it is a very big Terrell Brown problem too.
You should have stopped your post after pinpointing team defense. Everyone on the floor can up their game on the defensive side of the court.
Brown's minutes in the last five losses have been 3,3,3,10+,25+. and the game he logged the most minutes weren't that bad. Piling on to the guy that logs as few minutes is overly simplistic.
Brown played 12 minutes against Florida State for example. Pitt led 6-4 when AKC checked out. Brown checked in and FSU goes on a 7-0 run in a total of 1 minute and 43 seconds. That is the number of points Pitt lost by, 7.
This goes back to effort. And what the box score is not going to tell you, is that during the 3rd defensive breakdown of that 7 point FSU run when they took the lead and never looked back, FSU got a wide open alley oop dunk all because Brown chose to half ass jog down the floor at his own pace when he could see his man wide open in front of him that ended up slamming the ball right in our face. This also included a failed team boxout and putback for the first 2 points of this run when Brown was on the floor.
I don't have a problem with Brown being a bad basketball player which he is. I do have a problem when a bad basketball player like Brown plays half ass at best and is the greater responsibility of killing our team. There is zero excuse, none, to be a bench backup player like Brown and ever jog down the floor to get back in transition defense.
I think we’re about 20% better
And yes
I said the late season swoon has be over the staff and is infuriating
But the program is improving
there is no reason to deny that
The team is better this year than last. We are taking baby steps unfortunately, but I still have faith in Capel. It's much tougher to get better in a hurry in the ACC,
Example: If Boeheim was hired back in 2017, would he still be there today? He's still trying to be as good as he was when they were a member of the Big East...It ain't easy...
Example: If Boeheim was hired back in 2017, would he still be there today? He's still trying to be as good as he was when they were a member of the Big East...It ain't easy...
We have finished T-14th place, T-13th place, and now likely 12th place. Sure, that's progress.
Levance you’re smarter than this
I’m judging by our play -
Not simply the records
We are better offensively and defensively - even in our struggles than last year
I dont know how any semi-intelligent person can watch us play and say we are improved from last year. Even if we are, it is by the slightest of margins.
I still dont think we are better than Year 1 when we beat Lou, FSU, a decent SLU team and hung very tough with WVU down at their place. The ACC was very good that season and in my opinion, that's been Capel's best team.
We are incrementally better in a league that is, on average, worse than in prior years. We appear poised to be much worse next year.
Our Pomeroy ratings under Capel are 101, 111, and now 80. Why disregard the evidence of records against our peers? Every team above us in the standings is rated better, and every team below us is rated worse. We are exactly our record.
We are absolutely significantly better than 2018, and negligibly better than 2019 or 2020. Without XJ and potentially Toney, we will likely come pretty close to that #101 ranking from Capel's first season.
This can't be serious? This team looks EXACTLY the same as Capels very first game here
I’m serious
We play better on both ends and rebound substantially better
With all that's going on in the world today everything will be fine in time with Pitt basketball. Am I disappointed with the outcomes this year? Hell yeah but this isn't life or death. I'm just taking a we'll find out approach to all this. H2P!
This has nothing to do with my eyesight, I assure you.
We peaked at #62 after the Duke win. A finish in the 60s even without an NIT berth would have been demonstrable improvement. Finishing 12th ahead of only teams >100 is exactly where we have been the last two seasons.
Stallings was a disaster from the start, at least Capel has a chance, he has been average to below average in everything so far, but there is no reason that can't change as his recruitment improves. He has got to be able to deal with these 2nd tier players, not what you get at Duke. The whole X scenario would have played out much differently if X were as good as he thinks he is. The character of these players needs more scrutiny because they were stars in high school but very likely won't be able to take over games like they are used too, or even be the top players on the team. It seems like that as Champ got better X 's attitude got worse, just ridicules, but it is was it is...
Agreed.
Am I disappointed? Yes.
Do I think we are better than last year? Yes if only slightly.
Do I think Capel needs to do a better job in getting more talent? Yes.
Do I think he can? Yes.
Do I think we can replace Capel with a better coach? Based on he last coaching search, no.
A few things I know right now:
1. Capel is a good coach and has proven it in the past.
2. We are a star recruit and a couple of incoming transfers away from improving our current situation.
3. As I said in my previous post, it ain't easy getting much better in a short time.
4. As Sid Thryft once said; "It ain't easy raising the dead" Which is what we were before Capel took the job.
1. Hes proven to be a mediocre to bad coach without having the #1 pick in the draft (who he landed because of his brother)
2. I’m a few inches short from being a porn star. There is no indication we are close to any of this.
I wasn't very clear. His recruitment has been the best component of his coaching. A little improvement there and two other components, the culture (which looks like a disaster at this point), and the x's and o's (which was coming along earlier this year), will improve enough to at least get the program close to average.
