Mississippi State Game & Other Dribbles ...

[DT_PITT]

** Wow was that a whuppin!

** To be honest, earlier this evening, I was thinking to myself that we were due for a stinker. But I think that if this game had JUST been a stinker this would have been a huge upgrade over what we actually had to watch..

** I’ll always try to offer that good with the bad when writing about any game. But trying to uncover anything good that happened on the court in Mississippi tonight seems kind of silly.

** What we all know, however, is that a College Basketball season for every team is indeed a journey. And like the rest of the Pitt Hoops faithful, the last few days have been fun thinking that our journey would be a full throttle ride to the top.

** I still believe that this Pitt team is a good team. I also believe that this Mississippi team is a good team.

** And the Bulldogs came out full throttle with their fullest physicality on display. After getting knocked to the floor, we never got up at all. And Mississippi State kept kicking us when we were down.

** So with that, maybe I can find something good that happened on the court tonight.

** Within our journey, this was a lesson of the highest magnitude. We have seen our Panthers play with toughness at times. Now they know how bad it can hurt if you don’t bring it all of the time.

** Maybe it’s almost better that the Panthers never even came close to battling back and getting the score to something around a respectable dozen.

** Maybe it’s better that the Panthers were embarrassed and outclassed, and then some, and some more after that.

** Maybe this is just what the Panthers needed at this point in the season to push them to a better place later in the year.

** That’s what I'm thinking at the moment anyway.

** There are times when a coach just asks a team to put a game behind them and move on … “shower well” as Clint Hurdle would say. Allow me to suggest something a little different. I hope this is a whuppin our Panthers never forget. I hope it burns in them all the way through March.

** One might argue that the Panthers really never got off the plane in Mississippi. Regardless, I want to see them get off the plane in Blacksburg on Saturday filled with some anger and a terrible resolve.

** This is what good teams do after a whuppin. This is what I expect to see from our Panthers three days from now.

 

[pittbb80]

Well said. Not much else to say. I supposed the most disappointing thing about this game is that they never showed any emotion when Mississippi state was rubbing their noses in it. I’d at least have liked to see them get physical

Let’s hope it was just one of those nights and the team responds accordingly as you said.

I’m still hopeful they’ll have a nice season and make the dance. But man they have to address the issues they have with defensive rebounding

 

[SteelBowl70]

Kind of the opposite of the NW game 2 years ago where we whipped them by the almost identical score on their home court and they ended up as a 7 seed.

 

[Pittisit4me]

I don't see how this beating can't stick with them all year. I think they will respond but I am not certain. Being humiliated on national TV has to hurt. I don't ever remember Pitt getting dunked on and abused like that. It hurt to watch it as a fan, so I'm sure it hurt the players who were abused. Let's take some emotion to tech and see where it gets us.

 

[SteelBowl70]

I don't see how this beating can't stick with them all year. I think they will respond but I am not certain. Being humiliated on national TV has to hurt. I don't ever remember Pitt getting dunked on and abused like that. It hurt to watch it as a fan, so I'm sure it hurt the players who were abused. Let's take some emotion to tech and see where it gets us.

The last regular season game Nova played in their 85 NC year, Pitt destroyed them at the field house. Teams can put these games behind them with the right leadership.

 

[Chairman Moe]

@DT_PITT - I am going to make a SMF-like prediction and say that unlike Missouri last year, the Bulldogs will NOT go 0-18 in the SEC conference play this year. That is a tough, physical team that can also shoot the basketball. This was a bad loss score-wise; hopefully it won't affect us down the road

As I said in the game thread notes on this board, it will be interesting to see how MSU does when a game is officiated more tightly. But I think all of the top SEC teams are quite physical - at least what I saw in the few other games I watched vs the other ACC teams

We may be among the top 8 ACC teams right now, but we will need to be in the top 4 or 5 by the end of February if we want to play later in March. VT this weekend will give us a good starting point

 

[Pittnerski]

The last regular season game Nova played in their 85 NC year, Pitt destroyed them at the field house. Teams can put these games behind them with the right leadership.

…. Do you think we have the right leadership??? These games have been all too frequent in the Capel era

First few years it was the February collapse. Now you can count 3-4 games each season that make you want to throw your tv out the window

 

[FireballZ]

…. Do you think we have the right leadership??? These games have been all too frequent in the Capel era

First few years it was the February collapse. Now you can count 3-4 games each season that make you want to throw your tv out the window

I have to say that I didn't enjoy watching Capel on the sidelines constantly on his knees rubbing his chin tonight. I know that it's "just a / one game", but I thought the team needed an injection / kick in the ass.

 

[Sam Young 23]

Pitt will respond on Saturday. Need to beat up on a bad VT team.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Being humiliated on national TV has to hurt.

Tell the guys it was only on SEC Network and considering it was opposite Duke and 2 other games, there were like 20,000 people watching it if that many.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Pitt will respond on Saturday. Need to beat up on a bad VT team.

Massive game. VT played Vandy very tough tonight but this would be a Q3 loss

 

[TD_6082]

Massive game. VT played Vandy very tough tonight but this would be a Q3 loss

Vandy sucks.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Bad night , bad matchup , get over it and move on.

My two concerns for this team are
1) poor perimeter shooting
2) interior toughness

 

[OhioPanther99]

Pitt now knows how IUP feels when we play in the preseason.

 

[ThePanthers]

Hopefully we can chalk this up to a bad day at my the office/learning experience

 

[JD1976]

Bad night , bad matchup , get over it and move on.

My two concerns for this team are
1) poor perimeter shooting
2) interior toughness

Interior toughness is a major problem. Perimeter shooting will come and go without a true sniper like Hinson around, but I do think this is still an adequate-enough shooting team especially with Lowe and Leggett’s ability to get to the basket (usually)

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Interior toughness is a major problem. Perimeter shooting will come and go without a true sniper like Hinson around, but I do think this is still an adequate-enough shooting team especially with Lowe and Leggett’s ability to get to the basket (usually)

They need to get the two freshmen involved offensively.

Last night it looked like they were playing keep away from Amsal ! ( at least in the first half I couldn’t continue watching the slaughter)

 

[PittGlory]

They need to get the two freshmen involved offensively.

Last night it looked like they were playing keep away from Amsal ! ( at least in the first half I couldn’t continue watching the slaughter)

I’ve seen multiple posters say they’re freezing out Amsal. Amsal has a beautiful stroke from 3, but he does not move without the ball. He doesn’t even seem to ever get into the flow of a game, offensively or defensively. BTW, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him box out a player. I just don’t get how the game/flow/speed of NCAA basketball can be so different than his professional league that he can’t compete. And he was very good shooting (& passing) in his overseas league!!
We could really use his 3 point shot, but HE needs to figure out how to get in the flow of a game and do something other than stand and shoot 3’s.

 

[Protes]

Bad night , bad matchup , get over it and move on.

My two concerns for this team are
1) poor perimeter shooting
2) interior toughness

There are times I miss Jamie-ball. Defense and rebounding keep you in games. This game was a blowout mainly because our defensive rebounding was completely and utterly atrocious. It got to the point where you expected MSU to rebound their own missed shot. Having games where you don't shoot well happens and are understandable. Allowing the other team to grab more than half their misses, not so much. Missing Dunn is part of it, but our two main big men are way too soft. GDG gets tossed around like a rag doll. Corhen should be better. His play on the defensive end has been a disappointment thus far.

Offensively last night we were relying on Jaland and Ish too much. Too much one-on-one stuff leading to taking tough shots. Felt like other times in the past under Capel where there is no purpose to the offense or plan on how to attack the opponent. Meanwhile, GDG, who shot 40% on 3's last year, is at a woeful 22.9% this year! We need him to be that stretch 4 that can knock down shots. If he can't do that and can't rebound, he should be on the bench in favor of Austin.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

I’ve seen multiple posters say they’re freezing out Amsal. Amsal has a beautiful stroke from 3, but he does not move without the ball. He doesn’t even seem to ever get into the flow of a game, offensively or defensively. BTW, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him box out a player. I just don’t get how the game/flow/speed of NCAA basketball can be so different than his professional league that he can’t compete. And he was very good shooting (& passing) in his overseas league!!
We could really use his 3 point shot, but HE needs to figure out how to get in the flow of a game and do something other than stand and shoot 3’s.

He's just too slow for them right now. He needs another gear or he may not fit in anything meaningful.

 

[Islanderpanther]

Last night’s debacle makes the win against OSU even more important

 

[PittGlory]

He's just too slow for them right now. He needs another gear or he may not fit in anything meaningful.

I hope you’re wrong but feel like you’re spot on!!
Not sure how athletic he is at this level. What really confuses (and potentially scares) me is he oftentimes looks lost out there—doesn’t look for ball
on cuts, doesn’t ever look to block out, no instincts on defense, looks uncomfortable getting ball anywhere on floor except for catch and shoot situations.
I could go on and on…

 

[Pitt666]

Austin
Corhen
Cummings
Lowe
Leggett

Should be the starting lineup until Dunn gets healthy, as it gives them best offensive chance. GDG, Delalic, need to get going. Kante can get going hopefully.

 

[Pitt666]

I hope you’re wrong but feel like you’re spot on!!
Not sure how athletic he is at this level. What really confuses (and potentially scares) me is he oftentimes looks lost out there—doesn’t look for ball
on cuts, doesn’t ever look to block out, no instincts on defense, looks uncomfortable getting ball anywhere on floor except for catch and shoot situations.
I could go on and on…

He needs decisiveness. There was one or two times last night he decided to drive then hesitated in the middle and made a turnover. I think if he can be more decisive, it would help him. Like it seems he doesn’t want to make mistakes or miss shots, but he needs to start shooting. He will get few windows, but needs to start making most of what opponents give him.

 

[Chescat1]

I’ve seen multiple posters say they’re freezing out Amsal. Amsal has a beautiful stroke from 3, but he does not move without the ball. He doesn’t even seem to ever get into the flow of a game, offensively or defensively. BTW, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him box out a player. I just don’t get how the game/flow/speed of NCAA basketball can be so different than his professional league that he can’t compete. And he was very good shooting (& passing) in his overseas league!!
We could really use his 3 point shot, but HE needs to figure out how to get in the flow of a game and do something other than stand and shoot 3’s.

I mentioned in a previous post that he was just standing around,
not in the flow, and waiting to shoot a three. I attributed that to being
out for a lengthy time with an injury and being new to the program. Those
seemingly are still factors, but he should be showing more IMO by now. I
also feel he's slow reacting to what's happening at the moment. As for
his D, same thing. I'm not writing him off, because he obviously can shoot
and this team needs it, especially with Dunn out. Unfortunately now Capel
has to play him instead of bring him him along slowly.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

I mean, we took consecutive 25-point and 31-point drubbings from WVU and Michigan in the only season Capel made the tournament. It's not impossible to come back from this .

But I have my doubts about this team. Defense and rebounding seem to continue to plague it.

 

[greekpanther]

Interior toughness is a major problem. Perimeter shooting will come and go without a true sniper like Hinson around, but I do think this is still an adequate-enough shooting team especially with Lowe and Leggett’s ability to get to the basket (usually)

I thought Miss. St’s interior bigs passed the ball well. Best interior passing we’ve faced. Obviously we won’t prepared for it or up to physical challenge.

 

[Chescat1]

The rebounding was obviously piss poor. MSU had a 49-27 advantage. Here's
an example of where stats are deceiving.....they had 16 off. rebounds to our 14.
That in itself doesn't seem to be all that bad, but they didn't miss all night. Shooting,
they were 58% to our 31%. There were times when we missed that there were 3 MSU
guys rebounding without a Pitt player in sight. Of course when you're offfensively
playing five guys on the outside as we often do, this is the result. To the contrary
MSU on the offensive end had their bigs on the inside. They had far fewer off. rebounding
opportunities yet they handled us over and over for putbacks. On the defensive
end they handlled us 33 to 13. At first glance, of course given our many misses (31%)
that makes sense. If you don't look at the underlying reasons for stats as I tend to
do, you could simply say...they kicked our asses on the boards all game long on
both ends.

 

[Pittisit4me]

They were allowed by the refs to bully us early and we never recovered. I am not sure if we were not ready or they actually intimidated us with the beating on our defensive boards and all the dunks in our face. I also think the refs allowed them to body Jaland and Ish on every drive calling nothing, instead of the foul calls they had been drawing until yesterday. My guess is that we were not mentally ready for the intensity and aggression that Miss. St. came with. That's on Capel. Having said that, I doubt he expected that Corhen, GDG, and Kante would be so soft and really posed no threat to anything they were doing. However, it might help if any of our guards could stay in front of their man.
Anyway, THE SEC is loaded with teams like this. If the refs let them impose their will without calling the game a bit tighter, you can bet that one of those teams will eventually cut the nets down in April.

 

[OhioPanther99]

Last night’s debacle makes the win against OSU even more important

Even with the 24 point loss they had last night?

 

[Pitt666]

Even with the 24 point loss they had last night?

Yes. They are still a top 25 net team and still count as a Q1A win so long as they stay top 40 and Q1 as long as top 75. Kansas lost by double digits to an unranked creighton. Even great teams have off nights.

 

[Islanderpanther]

Even with the 24 point loss they had last night

Given the number of AcC skeptics out there, you don’t think last night’s loss would have had an even larger negative impact on pollsters had Pitt also lost to OSU?

 

[HailToPitt1985]

It's not so much that Pitt lost to a superior Miss. St. team. It's HOW they lost. They played very poor defense and were outrebounded by 22. That's unacceptable and the reason that Pitt is not realistically a top 25 team. Forget the scoring. It's irrelevant if you can't play good defense and can't rebound. I'm beginning to question if Capel and his staff can teach defense and rebounding, basic stuff that you learn in middle school. I hope it's not a trend, but he's been here for a while now and it hasn't changed.

 

[Dointhatrag]

Everyone likes to complain on here about the ACC network but the sec network was borderline unwatchable. I could t believe how many times the cameras couldn’t stay on the action or were stuck on the wrong angles. Free throws weren’t shown multiple times either. It was horrible. Also interesting how the sec announcers said multiple times of the refs basically swallowing their whistles and let miss st bully Pitt the whole time. If this game had been reffed differently in the first half things may have been a little different

 

[Fsgolfdr]

There are times I miss Jamie-ball. Defense and rebounding keep you in games. This game was a blowout mainly because our defensive rebounding was completely and utterly atrocious. It got to the point where you expected MSU to rebound their own missed shot. Having games where you don't shoot well happens and are understandable. Allowing the other team to grab more than half their misses, not so much. Missing Dunn is part of it, but our two main big men are way too soft. GDG gets tossed around like a rag doll. Corhen should be better. His play on the defensive end has been a disappointment thus far.

Offensively last night we were relying on Jaland and Ish too much. Too much one-on-one stuff leading to taking tough shots. Felt like other times in the past under Capel where there is no purpose to the offense or plan on how to attack the opponent. Meanwhile, GDG, who shot 40% on 3's last year, is at a woeful 22.9% this year! We need him to be that stretch 4 that can knock down shots. If he can't do that and can't rebound, he should be on the bench in favor of Austin.

JDs teams manhandled the opposition , his players tended to be older and physically stronger than everybody else . The makeup of this roster just doesn’t have this as an option . They’ve got a lot of height , but no girth . This team needs a Gary McGhee type in the middle . ( Blair clone would be better but that’s asking a lot !)

 

[Fsgolfdr]

He needs decisiveness. There was one or two times last night he decided to drive then hesitated in the middle and made a turnover. I think if he can be more decisive, it would help him. Like it seems he doesn’t want to make mistakes or miss shots, but he needs to start shooting. He will get few windows, but needs to start making most of what opponents give him.

I’m sure he’s feeling pressure to produce and the few times he gets the ball he’s trying to make things happen . I’d love to see him in practice to see if he’s knocking down his shots . My guess he does or he wouldn’t be in the starting lineup . What I saw was him standing there open as Ish and Lowe drove the lane and put up forced/poor shots . Run some plays for him !

 

[Rupart33]

I’m sure he’s feeling pressure to produce and the few times he gets the ball he’s trying to make things happen . I’d love to see him in practice to see if he’s knocking down his shots . My guess he does or he wouldn’t be in the starting lineup . What I saw was him standing there open as Ish and Lowe drove the lane and put up forced/poor shots . Run some plays for him !

I'm sure he is knocking down his shots in practice, but then again, he is going against our defense.

 

[Parkview57]

…. Do you think we have the right leadership???

I am not a Capel supporter but.....

Teams/programs take on the personality of the HC. If one is looking for an underdog, tough kid, grind it out approach, hiring a 4 year starter at Duke is a bad hire....

However, bringing in talented players, letting them play, knowing what to expect in all college situations, getting the players comfortable as college players, and things of this nature is what can be expected. I believe HCJC has been doing that, the results over the last 2.333 years bare that out. Two talented bigs on this team, or maybe one talented and one physical big in this group and the game against MSU , although maybe not a win, is a whole lot better.....if the formula is"bring in talent and let them play" it follows that until the team is balanced with talent, games like that are bound to happen....

In other words, taking a pounding by a physical team may seem worse, but getting pummelled because you have to keep the other team in the 60's to win is really the same result.
Capel/Pitt continues to move in the right direction, IMHO.

 

[OhioPanther99]

Everyone likes to complain on here about the ACC network but the sec network was borderline unwatchable. I could t believe how many times the cameras couldn’t stay on the action or were stuck on the wrong angles. Free throws weren’t shown multiple times either. It was horrible. Also interesting how the sec announcers said multiple times of the refs basically swallowing their whistles and let miss st bully Pitt the whole time. If this game had been reffed differently in the first half things may have been a little different

No....nothing would have changed that woopin`. Not unless Shaq and Jordan appeared in Pitt uniforms.

 

[pierre93]

The last regular season game Nova played in their 85 NC year, Pitt destroyed them at the field house. Teams can put these games behind them with the right leadership.

I was going to mention this. It's one game now all is doom and gloom on here especially from the same old trolls that are miserable. H2P!