Minnesota Game & Other Dribbles ...

[mo cheeks]

Big John looked a little like Big Fella at times. Encouraging.

 

[Drew1208]

Higher a guy who hires Chet Mason for a job. Keep Hugley and get Barnes.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Does anyone really believe hiring BK would give the program a jolt ?

ps …I know it can’t be worse !

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Does anyone really believe hiring BK would give the program a jolt ?

ps …I know it can’t be worse !

The few that do are on here. Locally it gets some buzz because of what a stud player he was here but otherwise it gets covered as just another program hiring a new coach.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

I rarely agree with SMF but barring a miracle Hugley is gone. I go back as far as Billy Knight and coupling the current season and next season's prospects, I can honestly say this is the lowest spot as a fan I've ever been. When Capel runs out of rope, please hire Brandin. Please. A Pitt guy, one who helped the program out of the desert twenty years ago, and may actually bring back some enthusiasm. Faint praise indeed, but that's where I am. He can't do any worse.

Hugley being the best player on a really bad team does not make him an even semi decent ACC player. He simply isn’t really that good at all and only by comparison to the rest of the Pitt stiffs is he any good. Fear of losing him is simply not even an issue. Fear of losing anyone associated with this “team” as players or staff isn’t anything fans should give one care about.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

Does anyone really believe hiring BK would give the program a jolt ?

ps …I know it can’t be worse !

Well, the operative word here is "could", not "would" and speaking for myself, absolutely. Confirming, it can't get worse.

 

[wbrpanther]

** For better or worse (and I expect most will choose the latter), I suspect what we watched this evening is the best our Panthers Hoopers can be.

** There’s no doubt that Minnesota is not a good team, but they are a Power 6 team, and that’s something.

** And against the Golden Gophers, we watched the Panthers bring 40 minutes of intensity and just about the best focus they might be able to muster.

** For nearly the entire game, they worked together to find offense, and communicated and played together on defense.

** And as for me as a fan, I can say I actually enjoyed watching the Panthers for the first time this year for all but the last few horrible seconds I suppose. But we’ll get to those last few seconds in a bit.

** Watching Big John was nothing short of a complete pleasure. He did so many things well on both ends of the court, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for him when Minny tipped in the game winner.

** What I liked best about Big John this night was the number of times he dragged his huge frame off the court after hitting the deck. I especially liked his dive for a loose ball and timeout to save a possession in the last minutes.

** If we lived in day when we could think about the future, you’d think he’d be a really good player to build upon. But with the reality of our coaching situation followed by the ease of transferring, we may have to enjoy him while we can.

** Throughout the game, my friend with whom I was sitting along with @4Mark_Marty, who joined us midway through the game, all marveled at the work of Mo, who made so many winning plays on the glass and on defense.

** We also appreciated the intangibles of Will, along with his first meaningful three of his career. Will is really an excellent defender but he really will have to find some more offense someday.

** Perhaps it can be said that the three of us were grateful to have a game we could indeed enjoy. We haven’t had one yet this year, and it’s hard to think we are going to have many more this year.

** But like the rest of the shrinking Panther Hoop nation, we were terribly dismayed at the failures of offensive in the last moments.

** My big prediction to our group at the under 4 timeout was the Femi was going to hit a big three. Instead, both he and Jamarius failed to look for Big John at all, resulting in two misses by Burton and a turnover from Femi. Up until those last moments, the Panthers had solid execution on offense allowing them to grind for points. There was no such focus on those final few trips.

** This magnifies the biggest and most obvious problem the Panthers have at the moment and will likely have all year long … we are just a really, really bad shooting team, and there’s no room for error, neither physical or mental.

** From time to time, it would be great if we had a Panther hit a really tough three. Minny hit a couple of those. We are pretty fortunate to even hit an open jumper it would seem.

** Along those lines, this was the first game this year where I really would have wanted Ithiel on the court. So it is.

** Before closing, I also want to offer a most deserved congratulations to Onyebuchi Ezeakudo who played really well all over the court and brought so much more on the offensive end than we may have ever thought he was capable of contributing.

** I believe we really should also offer something of a sincere congratulations to all of the Panther players after this one. It’s always a good thing to see them play as hard as they did tonight. This night, they deserve our respect as fans.

** As for the coaching staff, it’s obvious that they didn’t mail it in either. Nonetheless, failure of a team to execute in the final minutes is almost always a reflection of the abilities of the coaches. But in this regard, it’s not as if we are learning something about them that we didn’t already know.

** So after this disappointing finish at the Pete, I’ll leave on a high note – GO PANTHERS!! – BEAT THE DEMON DEACONS IN CHARLOTTE ON SATURDAY!!

The negative play of the game was our walk on guard coming out and fouling on the 3 point shot. He had no chance of blocking that shot yet jumped into the shooter. The bad part was the shot missed and caromed out to the foul line and right into the hands of a panther who had open court in front of him. That and femi turning it over 4 times down the stretch. Still it was nice to see this team put together the effort.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Higher a guy who hires Chet Mason for a job. Keep Hugley and get Barnes.

Talk about bad coaching…

 

[Drew1208]

Hugley being the best player on a really bad team does not make him an even semi decent ACC player. He simply isn’t really that good at all and only by comparison to the rest of the Pitt stiffs is he any good. Fear of losing him is simply not even an issue. Fear of losing anyone associated with this “team” as players or staff isn’t anything fans should give one care about.

I dont think we've had a big with this much

Talk about bad coaching…

Lol give him one of those fake jobs

 

[Panther Holla]

** For better or worse (and I expect most will choose the latter), I suspect what we watched this evening is the best our Panthers Hoopers can be.

** There’s no doubt that Minnesota is not a good team, but they are a Power 6 team, and that’s something.

** And against the Golden Gophers, we watched the Panthers bring 40 minutes of intensity and just about the best focus they might be able to muster.

** For nearly the entire game, they worked together to find offense, and communicated and played together on defense.

** And as for me as a fan, I can say I actually enjoyed watching the Panthers for the first time this year for all but the last few horrible seconds I suppose. But we’ll get to those last few seconds in a bit.

** Watching Big John was nothing short of a complete pleasure. He did so many things well on both ends of the court, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for him when Minny tipped in the game winner.

** What I liked best about Big John this night was the number of times he dragged his huge frame off the court after hitting the deck. I especially liked his dive for a loose ball and timeout to save a possession in the last minutes.

** If we lived in day when we could think about the future, you’d think he’d be a really good player to build upon. But with the reality of our coaching situation followed by the ease of transferring, we may have to enjoy him while we can.

** Throughout the game, my friend with whom I was sitting along with @4Mark_Marty, who joined us midway through the game, all marveled at the work of Mo, who made so many winning plays on the glass and on defense.

** We also appreciated the intangibles of Will, along with his first meaningful three of his career. Will is really an excellent defender but he really will have to find some more offense someday.

** Perhaps it can be said that the three of us were grateful to have a game we could indeed enjoy. We haven’t had one yet this year, and it’s hard to think we are going to have many more this year.

** But like the rest of the shrinking Panther Hoop nation, we were terribly dismayed at the failures of offensive in the last moments.

** My big prediction to our group at the under 4 timeout was the Femi was going to hit a big three. Instead, both he and Jamarius failed to look for Big John at all, resulting in two misses by Burton and a turnover from Femi. Up until those last moments, the Panthers had solid execution on offense allowing them to grind for points. There was no such focus on those final few trips.

** This magnifies the biggest and most obvious problem the Panthers have at the moment and will likely have all year long … we are just a really, really bad shooting team, and there’s no room for error, neither physical or mental.

** From time to time, it would be great if we had a Panther hit a really tough three. Minny hit a couple of those. We are pretty fortunate to even hit an open jumper it would seem.

** Along those lines, this was the first game this year where I really would have wanted Ithiel on the court. So it is.

** Before closing, I also want to offer a most deserved congratulations to Onyebuchi Ezeakudo who played really well all over the court and brought so much more on the offensive end than we may have ever thought he was capable of contributing.

** I believe we really should also offer something of a sincere congratulations to all of the Panther players after this one. It’s always a good thing to see them play as hard as they did tonight. This night, they deserve our respect as fans.

** As for the coaching staff, it’s obvious that they didn’t mail it in either. Nonetheless, failure of a team to execute in the final minutes is almost always a reflection of the abilities of the coaches. But in this regard, it’s not as if we are learning something about them that we didn’t already know.

** So after this disappointing finish at the Pete, I’ll leave on a high note – GO PANTHERS!! – BEAT THE DEMON DEACONS IN CHARLOTTE ON SATURDAY!!

Enjoyable game. Good effort for Pitt; just not enough to close the deal. Hugley was magnificent. But that Battle kid killed us with the pair of treys and the jumper. We badly need someone who can score from the perimeter consistently.

 

[Thee Jackie Treehorn]

* To say this year is going to be a grind is an understatement. It is not just a "grind" , but it likely a pure waste. We can't recruit anyone here, guys are going to get frustrated and leave and this coaching staff won't be here next year.

** If we lived in day when we could think about the future, you’d think he’d be a really good player to build upon. But with the reality of our coaching situation followed by the ease of transferring, we may have to enjoy him while we can.

I admire the effort to take any enjoyment possible from these games, but sadly they have become pretty joyless, at least for me. If any player starts to show a little promise you just assume he'll be planning an exit strategy. It's hard to get too excited about player development when they seem like rentals closing out a bleak campaign as the last season of a bitterly disappointing regime. The primary concern from the perspective of a long-term interest in the program seems to be more or less just watching to see if it's grim enough to fire Capel after the season.

 

[JS School]

I admire the effort to take any enjoyment possible from these games, but sadly they have become pretty joyless, at least for me. If any player starts to show a little promise you just assume he'll be planning an exit strategy. It's hard to get too excited about player development when they seem like rentals closing out a bleak campaign as the last season of a bitterly disappointing regime. The primary concern from the perspective of a long-term interest in the program seems to be more or less just watching to see if it's grim enough to fire Capel after the season.

I'm just approaching each game as an individual event, ignoring the overall situation. A win is just a win, going to try to enjoy it like it was one of my daughter's junior high games years ago.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

College basketball, with the transfer portal, has devolved into pick-up basketball. We hardly get to know the players, their names, their personalities, and many are gone to other programs. That is something that I doubt will interest many purists who enjoy real college basketball. And at Pitt, it seems to be amplified because of the better players so anxious to bail out of a toxic, failing program that isn't getting better, at least for now.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

College basketball, with the transfer portal, has devolved into pick-up basketball. We hardly get to know the players, their names, their personalities, and many are gone to other programs. That is something that I doubt will interest many purists who enjoy real college basketball. And at Pitt, it seems to be amplified because of the better players so anxious to bail out of a toxic, failing program that isn't getting better, at least for now.

Even if Pitt gets back to respectability or even good, big and constant turnover may impact my enjoyment of the game as well. But hopefully that will be proven or disproven one way or another sooner than later. Because I’m at the point I’m not sure how much more I even wanna watch right now. If Hugley didn’t wake up and have such a big game last night they’d have gotten killed again. The rest of the team was pretty poor.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Even if Pitt gets back to respectability or even good, big and constant turnover may impact my enjoyment of the game as well. But hopefully that will be proven or disproven one way or another sooner than later. Because I’m at the point I’m not sure how much more I even wanna watch right now. If Hugley didn’t wake up and have such a big game last night they’d have gotten killed again. The rest of the team was pretty poor.

It used to be fun to go to The Pete and watch Pitt while getting to know the players on the court. They'd come back the following year and we'd watch them grow. That won't be happening too much, especially at Pitt now with this debacle of a program that Capel has produced. The college pick-up game mentality and the constant turnover is preventing my enjoyment of the game.

You're right....without Hugley's production last night, it would have been another blowout by double digits. How much longer can Hugley be expected to produce at that level, every game?

I admire those on here, like DT, who can go to every game and find positives enough to watch. Maybe it's my age now because I swear I've seen this before and it never turns out good. I'm sad to think that single digit total wins are not only a possibility but a high probability. And now, I just can't justify taking time away from my family and my wife to watch this fiasco. Like you, I don't know how much more I even watch to watch, at least until we get a decent coach who can develop and retain players.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

It used to be fun to go to The Pete and watch Pitt while getting to know the players on the court. They'd come back the following year and we'd watch them grow. That won't be happening too much, especially at Pitt now with this debacle of a program that Capel has produced. The college pick-up game mentality and the constant turnover is preventing my enjoyment of the game.

You're right....without Hugley's production last night, it would have been another blowout by double digits. How much longer can Hugley be expected to produce at that level, every game?

I admire those on here, like DT, who can go to every game and find positives enough to watch. Maybe it's my age now because I swear I've seen this before and it never turns out good. I'm sad to think that single digit total wins are not only a possibility but a high probability. And now, I just can't justify taking time away from my family and my wife to watch this fiasco. Like you, I don't know how much more I even watch to watch, at least until we get a decent coach who can develop and retain players.

Time will tell on Big John. I’m one of the ones who thinks he has a higher ceiling. But I’m not expecting near what he did last night very frequently. Still has very few college games under his belt. And every team we play saw it too. It was clear already he was one of the best 2 players. And we still can’t shoot. So it’s gonna get even more crowded for him I suspect.

 

[MalvernPanther]

Does anyone really believe hiring BK would give the program a jolt ?

ps …I know it can’t be worse !

No.
BK and two 5* recruits- maybe
Pitino and a solid roster-more likely

 

[Fsgolfdr]

No.
BK and two 5* recruits- maybe
Pitino and a solid roster-more likely

There’s absolutely nothing in the history of Pitt athletics to suggest that a coach with a checkered past like Pitino’s would ever be considered. Forget bout it !

However , Pitt bb has brought in Curtis Aiken then Charles Smith , D Gore , Jerome Lane & B Shorter with the help of the Golden Panthers . BK plus a Golden Panther booster group is a viable solution .

Those guys didn’t come here to play for Dr Roy or Paul Evans !

I see no way out of this hole without a booster group , Pitt cannot hire the kinda coach that would solve the problems without a booster group .

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

if we consider the A10 mid-major like Joe

Like Joe and everyone else who follows college basketball except for you.

Of course all of those people understand that you don't have to be in a P6 conference to have a good basketball program or to have good basketball players on your team, but that's an idea that you simply cannot wrap your mind around.