Mississippi State Game & Other Dribbles ...

[TD_6082]

Pitt isn't very talented . Not sure how you lose 2 guys with the production of Bub and Blake and people magically expect this year's team to be better. Especially with no major improvements to the frontcourt.

Perhaps they will have a better record, because obviously the ACC isn't very good this year.

 

[Protes]

Pitt isn't very talented . Not sure how you lose 2 guys with the production of Bub and Blake and people magically expect this year's team to be better. Especially with no major improvements to the frontcourt.

Perhaps they will have a better record, because obviously the ACC isn't very good this year.

Not very talented? Jaland is still one of the best point guards around, and Ish is very good, too. We might not have an All-American on the team, but we have a well-balanced roster with decent players. The ingredients are there for success. It's on the coach to get the most out of them. The biggest challenge he has right now is addressing our issues on the defensive end.

 

[greekpanther]

Pitt isn't very talented . Not sure how you lose 2 guys with the production of Bub and Blake and people magically expect this year's team to be better. Especially with no major improvements to the frontcourt.

Perhaps they will have a better record, because obviously the ACC isn't very good this year.

Funny guy

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Not very talented? Jaland is still one of the best point guards around, and Ish is very good, too. We might not have an All-American on the team, but we have a well-balanced roster with decent players. The ingredients are there for success. It's on the coach to get the most out of them. The biggest challenge he has right now is addressing our issues on the defensive end.

Well stated. It is definitely up to Coach Capel to fit the pieces together to get some wins. Jaland is one of the best point guards in the country and has proven it. My contention, although some I'm sure will debate it, is that he is better than Bub was when Bub was here. And coming out of high school, Jaland was higher rated.

And you are 100% correct. The biggest challenge right now is getting this team to play a lot better on defense. They were abysmal last night and, honestly, not much better than that against the other teams they've played so far. The difference is that we could outscore everyone else by so much.

The pieces are there. Now let's see how Capel picks the pieces up off the floor and puts them together.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

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.

When you look at offensive (or defensive, for that matter) rebounds look at the percentages rather than the raw totals.

Last night our offensive rebounding percentage was 29.8%. That's actually pretty close to average (and pretty close to our average). Our defensive rebounding percentage was 44.8%. That's god-awful.

 

[Chescat1]

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.

Ok, the refs let em play. Basically I agree with you on the how and why. This as we all
know, is Div1 bball. And yes, it's Capel's job to have them ready. Adjusting to how the
game is being reffed goes with the territory. Nothing new with that.

 

[TD_6082]

Not very talented? Jaland is still one of the best point guards around, and Ish is very good, too. We might not have an All-American on the team, but we have a well-balanced roster with decent players. The ingredients are there for success. It's on the coach to get the most out of them. The biggest challenge he has right now is addressing our issues on the defensive end.

No. They aren't very talented. 2 or 3 nice players, no studs, and a weak frontcourt = a team that isn't very talented. On the positive side, they have good quickness & some athleticism. It's also a big plus that the most talented player on the court is the PG.

But nah, this team isn't that talented. I think last night magnified that. Doesn't mean they can't win games in this league and have a pretty good year.

 

[Chescat1]

When you look at offensive (or defensive, for that matter) rebounds look at the percentages rather than the raw totals.

Last night our offensive rebounding percentage was 29.8%. That's actually pretty close to average (and pretty close to our average). Our defensive rebounding percentage was 44.8%. That's god-awful.

What I was suggesting in my post is the obvious underlying reason for those #'rs.....By design
our players are often on the outside on the offensive end. More often than not a....5 Outside
approach. By comparison MSU which was stronger and more athletic on the inside and
dominated the boards on both ends. The result we got was obvious IMO.

While I'm at it...that zone we went to was pathetic. Again nothing new there.

 

[Pittisit4me]

After this embarrassment by not only us but the rest of the conference as well, can we somehow go back to the ACC / BIG 10 challlenge???

 

[TD_6082]

Well stated. It is definitely up to Coach Capel to fit the pieces together to get some wins. Jaland is one of the best point guards in the country and has proven it. My contention, although some I'm sure will debate it, is that he is better than Bub was when Bub was here. And coming out of high school, Jaland was higher rated.

And you are 100% correct. The biggest challenge right now is getting this team to play a lot better on defense. They were abysmal last night and, honestly, not much better than that against the other teams they've played so far. The difference is that we could outscore everyone else by so much.

The pieces are there. Now let's see how Capel picks the pieces up off the floor and puts them together.

Not sure what you watched last night, but that looked like man among boys. Pitt's frontcourt is abysmal.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

No. They aren't very talented. 2 or 3 nice players, no studs, and a weak frontcourt = a team that isn't very talented. On the positive side, they have good quickness & some athleticism. It's also a big plus that the most talented player on the court is the PG.

But nah, this team isn't that talented. I think last night magnified that. Doesn't mean they can't win games in this league and have a pretty good year.

Not very talented in that can we win a NC or make a Final Four? No. We don't have that type of talent. We have 7 seed to just miss the NCAAT type talent. So we certainly have talent. Lowe is one of the best PG's in America. Leggett is a plus SG. Dunn is a plus SF when he's healthy. Corhen is an average Big and some schools dont have that. Need more out of GDG, Papa, Delalic, and Cummings. I think last night might have been Cummings's breakout, believe it or not. Still think he has a lot to give.

So I'm not buying this we dont have talent stuff. We are fine.

 

[Pittisit4me]

Not very talented in that can we win a NC or make a Final Four? No. We don't have that type of talent. We have 7 seed to just miss the NCAAT type talent. So we certainly have talent. Lowe is one of the best PG's in America. Leggett is a plus SG. Dunn is a plus SF when he's healthy. Corhen is an average Big and some schools dont have that. Need more out of GDG, Papa, Delalic, and Cummings. I think last night might have been Cummings's breakout, believe it or not. Still think he has a lot to give.

So I'm not buying this we dont have talent stuff. We are fine.

Cummings is a scorer, period. He needs to get comfortable at the defensive end. I'm sure he is working on his defense because it is a perceived and real weakness. He has quick enough feet, he just has to play and get used to the speed of college guards. When he gets comfortable, and he will, I think he will become our best 3 point shooter by percentage. I also expect him to start creating and scoring off the dribble as the ACC season wears on.

 

[Somerset Panther]

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.

Good recollection. Rollie kept his starters in the entire game and let them take the
Beating. Propelled them to a NC.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Good recollection. Rollie kept his starters in the entire game and let them take the
Beating. Propelled them to a NC.

Actually Rollie took his starters out early in the second half and never put them back in.

Read this

"Trailing by 17 points at halftime, Rollie was livid that his team was not playing hard. In the locker room at half time, he told his starters in no uncertain teams that they had the first three minutes of the second half to show some desire and commitment. Otherwise he would yank them all. It turns out that Rollie lied; he pulled them out after two minutes of continued lackluster play, finishing the final 18 minutes of the game with the likes of R.C. Massimino, Steve Pinone, Chuck Everson, Connnally Brown, Veltra Dawson, and Brian Harrington."

 

[Chescat1]

Actually Rollie took his starters out early in the second half and never put them back in.

Read this

"Trailing by 17 points at halftime, Rollie was livid that his team was not playing hard. In the locker room at half time, he told his starters in no uncertain teams that they had the first three minutes of the second half to show some desire and commitment. Otherwise he would yank them all. It turns out that Rollie lied; he pulled them out after two minutes of continued lackluster play, finishing the final 18 minutes of the game with the likes of R.C. Massimino, Steve Pinone, Chuck Everson, Connnally Brown, Veltra Dawson, and Brian Harrington."

Good clarification. That sounds more like the Rollie that I personally
knew back in the day when he was a bball coach at Lexington H.S.
in Massachusetts. I now live near Villanova, and visited with him
again back in the day, and saw may of their games at Nova. He was
a real character and well liked. Not being a Philly native, he lost some
of that "love" when he announced Nova wasn't going to play all their Big 5
games at the Palestra, which was a Philly tradition. Of course Nova
being in the Big East at the time elevated their program much higher
than the others, and he was able to get away with that.