Moe-bservations - new coach

[Chairman Moe]

1. We can bitch and "Moe-n" all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
2. We can speculate collusion and back-room deals all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
3. We can cry "foul" for all of the embarrassing Tweets and Blog posts regarding the Millers, Brandin Knight, et al; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
4. We can sign petitions, send emails, leave voice mails, cancel our season tickets, pull donations, and leave comments on this board and any other sports blogs; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
5. We can call Barnes a rube and Gallagher a wimp; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
6. We can - and should - express disgust about not getting an "up-and-coming" mid-major coach; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
7. We can also just accept that: Kevin Stallings is our new coach.

Unless I am mistaken, the next Pitt BB season starts late this fall. There is a lot to be done in the interim. Once the venting is over, let's sit back and observe what our new coach - Kevin Stallings - will do to:

1. Assemble a staff of assistants and recruiters
2. Mend whatever fences he and Sheldon Jeter have
3. Work to keep whatever current players and recruits Pitt has
4. Bring his own recruits and or transfer players/JC players
5. Reach out to the Pitt fans to make us feel that he is willing to make Pitt a major factor in the ACC
6. Interact - if necessary - with coach PN to be part of the Pitt coaching "team"

I'm sure there are other points I could suggest but I will quit now and leave this for further discussion/debate. I am obviously - as a Pitt fan, first and foremost - hoping he does well.

 

[WCSordill]

1. We can bitch and "Moe-n" all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
2. We can speculate collusion and back-room deals all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
3. We can cry "foul" for all of the embarrassing Tweets and Blog posts regarding the Millers, Brandin Knight, et al; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
4. We can sign petitions, send emails, leave voice mails, cancel our season tickets, pull donations, and leave comments on this board and any other sports blogs; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
5. We can call Barnes a rube and Gallagher a wimp; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
6. We can - and should - express disgust about not getting an "up-and-coming" mid-major coach; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
7. We can also just accept that: Kevin Stallings is our new coach.

Unless I am mistaken, the next Pitt BB season starts late this fall. There is a lot to be done in the interim. Once the venting is over, let's sit back and observe what our new coach - Kevin Stallings - will do to:

1. Assemble a staff of assistants and recruiters
2. Mend whatever fences he and Sheldon Jeter have
3. Work to keep whatever current players and recruits Pitt has
4. Bring his own recruits and or transfer players/JC players
5. Reach out to the Pitt fans to make us feel that he is willing to make Pitt a major factor in the ACC
6. Interact - if necessary - with coach PN to be part of the Pitt coaching "team"

I'm sure there are other points I could suggest but I will quit now and leave this for further discussion/debate. I am obviously - as a Pitt fan, first and foremost - hoping he does well.

A breath of fresh air. I was getting ready to take a Xanax before reading this.

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

Exactly. This hyperbole reaction from Pitt fans is so over the top - it is sad and sickening. Kevin Stallings is the new coach - let him do his job.

 

[PITT92DOG]

1. We can bitch and "Moe-n" all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
2. We can speculate collusion and back-room deals all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
3. We can cry "foul" for all of the embarrassing Tweets and Blog posts regarding the Millers, Brandin Knight, et al; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
4. We can sign petitions, send emails, leave voice mails, cancel our season tickets, pull donations, and leave comments on this board and any other sports blogs; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
5. We can call Barnes a rube and Gallagher a wimp; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
6. We can - and should - express disgust about not getting an "up-and-coming" mid-major coach; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
7. We can also just accept that: Kevin Stallings is our new coach.

Unless I am mistaken, the next Pitt BB season starts late this fall. There is a lot to be done in the interim. Once the venting is over, let's sit back and observe what our new coach - Kevin Stallings - will do to:

1. Assemble a staff of assistants and recruiters
2. Mend whatever fences he and Sheldon Jeter have
3. Work to keep whatever current players and recruits Pitt has
4. Bring his own recruits and or transfer players/JC players
5. Reach out to the Pitt fans to make us feel that he is willing to make Pitt a major factor in the ACC
6. Interact - if necessary - with coach PN to be part of the Pitt coaching "team"

I'm sure there are other points I could suggest but I will quit now and leave this for further discussion/debate. I am obviously - as a Pitt fan, first and foremost - hoping he does well.

All is true but I can pull my support, not that it it will mean much. Barnes just gave us a shit sandwich. I for one will not eat it and say thank you.

 

[Chairman Moe]

A breath of fresh air. I was getting ready to take a Xanax before reading this.

Thanks; I've stayed out of the last 18 hours or so of posting until I saw for sure that KS was our new coach. Not my first choice but after all of the dust settles our kids - those who wear the Pitt jerseys - need our support

 

[WCSordill]

All is true but I can pull my support, not that it it will mean much. Barnes just gave us a shit sandwich. I for one will not eat it and say thank you.

No, but we can sit there and look at it for a while.

 

[PITT92DOG]

No, but we can sit there and look at it for a while.

I can't see this turning out on any level well. It shows a complete lack of caring which mean they will never try to win. If they don't care why should I.

 

[Hailpitt]

This hire is simply Barnes positioning himself for next AD job. He is owed a big favor. This was so transparently orchestrated that it is laughable. Stallings is the definition of mediocrity--regardless of whether he is "our new coach." If Barnes had taken a flyer on any upcoming mid- or lower- D1 coach--Pitt fans would have given it a chance. This is a joke.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Dad it's just downright depressing. With the buyout money Pitt could have stepped up to the plate instead they took a retread . Between JD and Stallings who'd you want coaching your team? Now it's obvious why Jamie left and I take back my negative reactions and comments to his leaving. He saw what the rest of us now are seeing. Pitt took a step backwards and showed that their intentions are never to try and compete in the ACC . And yes Stallings is the coach ,but it truly dampens my enthusiasm and expectations for Pitt hoops and that's what's irking everyone.

 

[Chairman Moe]

This hire is simply Barnes positioning himself for next AD job. He is owed a big favor. This was so transparently orchestrated that it is laughable. Stallings is the definition of mediocrity--regardless of whether he is "our new coach." If Barnes had taken a flyer on any upcoming mid- or lower- D1 coach--Pitt fans would have given it a chance. This is a joke.

I opened this for debate! Your and PITT92DOG comments are your beliefs. But I will offer you this: the hiring of a new coach is not dissimilar to the election of a new president, senator, governor, et al; there will be some that are for it, some against it, and some who abstain. But not unlike a pol who doesn't perform how you like, it's rare that they will completely destroy a program - forever. Stallings might do well; might not. He won't be here long if he fails and he won't be here forever due to his age. But he's here. If you and others cease being a Pitt BB fan, it's your decision

 

[Chairman Moe]

Dad it's just downright depressing. With the buyout money Pitt could have stepped up to the plate instead they took a retread . Between JD and Stallings who'd you want coaching your team? Now it's obvious why Jamie left and I take back my negative reactions and comments to his leaving. He saw what the rest of us now are seeing. Pitt took a step backwards and showed that their intentions are never to try and compete in the ACC . And yes Stallings is the coach ,but it truly dampens my enthusiasm and expectations for Pitt hoops and that's what's irking everyone.

Not trying to be the Devil's Advocate here - certainly not on Easter Sunday - but as much as we "know" there is probably a lot we don't. I'm not excited about Stallings and was "voting" for a new up-and-comer, too. And not that our little Basketball Board is irrelevant; but at times i feel our fans have become somewhat delusional when it comes to Pitt's relevancy as a BB program. We have grown substantially over the past decade or so, but we will never displace UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, ND and Virginia - regardless of who's our coach.

 

[PITT92DOG]

I opened this for debate! Your and PITT92DOG comments are your beliefs. But I will offer you this: the hiring of a new coach is not dissimilar to the election of a new president, senator, governor, et al; there will be some that are for it, some against it, and some who abstain. But not unlike a pol who doesn't perform how you like, it's rare that they will completely destroy a program - forever. Stallings might do well; might not. He won't be here long if he fails and he won't be here forever due to his age. But he's here. If you and others cease being a Pitt BB fan, it's your decision

Explain to me how this will succeed? Basically you are asking blind support of something no one wants except Barnes. In an election at least 50% want the guy who got in. Completely destroy might be some hyperbole but do you think there is any realistic chance he move Pitt forward at all? So when he is fired Pitt is even less of a program it is now. At least right now they had some residue of people think Pitt is a good program but that will all be gone. Back to Willard, Evan, Chipman etc. expect for the small window when Pitt cheated a lot.

 

[PITT92DOG]

Not trying to be the Devil's Advocate here - certainly not on Easter Sunday - but as much as we "know" there is probably a lot we don't. I'm not excited about Stallings and was "voting" for a new up-and-comer, too. And not that our little Basketball Board is irrelevant; but at times i feel our fans have become somewhat delusional when it comes to Pitt's relevancy as a BB program. We have grown substantially over the past decade or so, but we will never displace UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, ND and Virginia - regardless of who's our coach.

yes not the said programs but they are not where they have to take a has-been that never really had any success EVER.

Taking a flier on Knight and building a good staff is a better choice than this shit.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I opened this for debate! Your and PITT92DOG comments are your beliefs. But I will offer you this: the hiring of a new coach is not dissimilar to the election of a new president, senator, governor, et al; there will be some that are for it, some against it, and some who abstain. But not unlike a pol who doesn't perform how you like, it's rare that they will completely destroy a program - forever. Stallings might do well; might not. He won't be here long if he fails and he won't be here forever due to his age. But he's here. If you and others cease being a Pitt BB fan, it's your decision

A program like Pitt competing against the likes of Duke etc can't afford a backwards step. If Stallings falls flat on his face whose your next coach. In not willing to pay up for Enfield Pitt has showed you its hand. Their happy collecting ACC money and giving lip service to trying to compete. Pitt needed to overpay under the current circumstances to get a quality coach in here and they went for an affordable coach whose school wanted him gone. Still a Panther fan ,but very disappointed with greatly lowered expectations .

 

[Chairman Moe]

Explain to me how this will succeed? Basically you are asking blind support of something no one wants except Barnes. In an election at least 50% want the guy who got in. Completely destroy might be some hyperbole but do you think there is any realistic chance he move Pitt forward at all? So when he is fired Pitt is even less of a program it is now. At least right now they had some residue of people think Pitt is a good program but that will all be gone. Back to Willard, Evan, Chipman etc. expect for the small window when Pitt cheated a lot.

Was suggesting "choosing sides"; I could argue that this year's election is shaping up to be as polarizing as the new Pitt BB coach hire. Clinton = more of Obama (what we might have gotten with a Lonergan, e.g). Trump = ?? is perhaps what we'd have had with Enfield, Keatts or Wade. What I think we got was Bernie Sanders!

My attempt to be humorous ... !!

 

[tuckshop]

Where was UConn before Calhoun? ND & Virginia are far from the same class as UNC and Duke. Even the Cuse were not much before Boeheim. The right coach with support from the adminstration can change a whole lot. Even Duke before Coach K was a very good program and Coach K took them to clearly elite levels. Louisville before Denny Crum? MSU before Izzo. UCLA before Sam, er Wooden.

It just takes one really good hire. You can't waste them on folks like Stallings if you expect to get to the elite level which I
thought Barnes was talking about since Howland/Dixon took the first step. To me looks like Barnes was all talk. Sadly. I thought he was a basketball guy but looks just like another suit.

Will always follow but am just disappointed.

 

[Chairman Moe]

yes not the said programs but they are not where they have to take a has-been that never really had any success EVER.

Taking a flier on Knight and building a good staff is a better choice than this shit.

No success? C'mon; Stallings isn't a coaching icon but he has won more than 60% of his games and over 400 in total - nothing glamorous but he had had some success

 

[PittPoker]

Sorry Moe, this hire was a disgrace. You want to move on and try to hope for all the good that might come out of it. It's been less than 12 hours since this looked like it would happen, we all aren't Pollyanna's on here c'mon.

 

[levance2]

No success? C'mon; Stallings isn't a coaching icon but he has won more than 60% of his games and over 400 in total - nothing glamorous but he had had some success

He has a losing record in the worst P5 basketball league over 17 years. What inherent advantages does Pitt have that he lacked in the SEC? UK had a 12-6 record in the SEC recently and still didn't earn a bid. It's a joke league.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

A program like Pitt competing against the likes of Duke etc can't afford a backwards step. If Stallings falls flat on his face whose your next coach. In not willing to pay up for Enfield Pitt has showed you its hand. Their happy collecting ACC money and giving lip service to trying to compete. Pitt needed to overpay under the current circumstances to get a quality coach in here and they went for an affordable coach whose school

Not trying to be the Devil's Advocate here - certainly not on Easter Sunday - but as much as we "know" there is probably a lot we don't. I'm not excited about Stallings and was "voting" for a new up-and-comer, too. And not that our little Basketball Board is irrelevant; but at times i feel our fans have become somewhat delusional when it comes to Pitt's relevancy as a BB program. We have grown substantially over the past decade or so, but we will never displace UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, ND and Virginia - regardless of who's our coach.

The only chance Pitt would ever have competing with the Dukes of the world is by catching lighting in a bottle with hiring a young Coach K and riding it for as long as possible. Hiring a retread gets you nothing unless you think a 55 year old coach best is yet to come. Not.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Sorry Moe, this hire was a disgrace. You want to move on and try to hope for all the good that might come out of it. It's been less than 12 hours since this looked like it would happen, we all aren't Pollyanna's on here c'mon.

Poker - I'm being a realist. Sorry if that is out-of-character. I said in several replies that Stallings is not my choice of where Pitt needed to go with its new hire. And in my OP I said we can and should vent. And if our petitions and emails are successful and Stallings hire is reversed, then what? What kind of message does that send? What coach would want to come to Pitt, knowing that if he doesn't meet the hiring character of a few hundred or thousand fans, that he'll be always second guessing his decisions? Stallings will do what he's always done as a coach, just in a new venue. We at least know what and who he is.

 

[PittPoker]

Poker - I'm being a realist. Sorry if that is out-of-character. I said in several replies that Stallings is not my choice of where Pitt needed to go with its new hire. And in my OP I said we can and should vent. And if our petitions and emails are successful and Stallings hire is reversed, then what? What kind of message does that send? What coach would want to come to Pitt, knowing that if he doesn't meet the hiring character of a few hundred or thousand fans, that he'll be always second guessing his decisions? Stallings will do what he's always done as a coach, just in a new venue. We at least know what and who he is.

Stallings and Sendek would probably be the only 2 coaches to generate this outrage. Even Greenberg at least could recruit. This hire is disgraceful for a lot of reasons, but mainly because what Barnes told us he was going to get was a complete lie.

 

[Chairman Moe]

The only chance Pitt would ever have competing with the Dukes of the world is by catching lighting in a bottle with hiring a young Coach K and riding it for as long as possible. Hiring a retread gets you nothing unless you think a 55 year old coach best is yet to come. Not.

And wasn't that who or what we had in Jamie? I am as guilty as the next Pitt fan in being unhappy with the post season results, etc at Pitt, but this was Dixon's job for life and he got pushed out. How is a young coach going to measure up to our fan base's expectations?

 

[Fsgolfdr]

And wasn't that who or what we had in Jamie? I am as guilty as the next Pitt fan in being unhappy with the post season results, etc at Pitt, but this was Dixon's job for life and he got pushed out. How is a young coach going to measure up to our fan base's expectations?

By coming in here recruiting his ass off and convincing the guys JD had no chance at that coming to Pitt will be great.Coaches are sellsmen some are closers and some aren't . Jamie couldn't close the deal .

 

[tuckshop]

And wasn't that who or what we had in Jamie? I am as guilty as the next Pitt fan in being unhappy with the post season results, etc at Pitt, but this was Dixon's job for life and he got pushed out. How is a young coach going to measure up to our fan base's expectations?

Might succeed, might fail, might be good to average. The issue to me is that Barnes ran with the media hype that he was a basketball guy - meaning to me he had pretty good knowledge and connections within the coaching fraternity - insight as to who is an up and comer - turns out he needs a search firm to produce Stallings - and if he got turned down by some of those up and comers then he failed at being able to sell Pitts numerous upsides. All around a big fail for Barnes. Based on Stallings performance he might not get another chance to hire a Bball coach but if one is needed for performance then Pitt lost an opportunity to find it's Coach K, Izzo, Crum, and even Bennett, .... and the next time the foundation might not look as rosy. I can only think back to my time in Chicago and the heydey of DePaul - first in Ray's golden years and then for about 7 years with Joey before he lost the Chicago HS coaches and the program went to crap where it continues now for 2 decades. Pitt had every advantage to attract a "hot" upcoming coach or assistant without requiring turning around a dumpster fire.

 

[PITT92DOG]

No success? C'mon; Stallings isn't a coaching icon but he has won more than 60% of his games and over 400 in total - nothing glamorous but he had had some success

One NCAA win in 17 years. End of story. Rest is fluff. He is a much less successful in a lesser league, older version of JD if your down on JD. ONly success he has had is longevity.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Stallings and Sendek would probably be the only 2 coaches to generate this outrage. Even Greenberg at least could recruit. This hire is disgraceful for a lot of reasons, but mainly because what Barnes told us he was going to get was a complete lie.

I'm displeased with Barnes, too. I think he set himself up for this criticism when he made those comments about his "splash hire"; or maybe in his eyes, Stallings was the splash hire.

I'm sure this hire will get some comments tonight from the TBS and ESPN guys. Will be interested to hear their take

 

[PittPoker]

I'm displeased with Barnes, too. I think he set himself up for this criticism when he made those comments about his "splash hire"; or maybe in his eyes, Stallings was the splash hire.

I'm sure this hire will get some comments tonight from the TBS and ESPN guys. Will be interested to hear their take

Me too.

 

[PITT92DOG]

Poker - I'm being a realist. Sorry if that is out-of-character. I said in several replies that Stallings is not my choice of where Pitt needed to go with its new hire. And in my OP I said we can and should vent. And if our petitions and emails are successful and Stallings hire is reversed, then what? What kind of message does that send? What coach would want to come to Pitt, knowing that if he doesn't meet the hiring character of a few hundred or thousand fans, that he'll be always second guessing his decisions? Stallings will do what he's always done as a coach, just in a new venue. We at least know what and who he is.

If reversed it will shorten the time where we have to hire another coach. At least we can say the fans care enough not to shamed. We know he is mediocre at best. I at least want a chance to be really good or great. Stallings took that chance he will never be good. Average is the best we can hope for and horrible at worst. So no upward movement and the bottom can be a disaster.

 

[PITT92DOG]

I'm displeased with Barnes, too. I think he set himself up for this criticism when he made those comments about his "splash hire"; or maybe in his eyes, Stallings was the splash hire.

I'm sure this hire will get some comments tonight from the TBS and ESPN guys. Will be interested to hear their take

It is not the splash hire comment. He gave this program no chance to be great. He took the safe hire for career. He can go to the next chancelor and say I haired another P-5 coach and the ACC is really hard and Pitt is unrealistic. Risen and move on.

 

[PITT92DOG]

By coming in here recruiting his ass off and convincing the guys JD had no chance at that coming to Pitt will be great.Coaches are sellsmen some are closers and some aren't . Jamie couldn't close the deal .

Yes Stallings can't do any of that with a straight face.

 

[levance2]

It is not the splash hire comment. He gave this program no chance to be great. He took the safe hire for career. He can go to the next chancelor and say I haired another P-5 coach and the ACC is really hard and Pitt is unrealistic. Risen and move on.

Very good summary.

Honestly, Stallings will not turn us into BC. It might turn us into WF or GT, or maybe NCSt at the absolute peak. We will have reasonable academic success, reasonable recruiting, and make some NCAAs.

If there's any improvement in FB, he'll claim PN (whom he didn't even hire) as evidence that he saved our dying program and cash in.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

I'm displeased with Barnes, too. I think he set himself up for this criticism when he made those comments about his "splash hire"; or maybe in his eyes, Stallings was the splash hire.

I'm sure this hire will get some comments tonight from the TBS and ESPN guys. Will be interested to hear their take

An Upper Decker makes a splash, too.

 

[Chairman Moe]

If reversed it will shorten the time where we have to hire another coach. At least we can say the fans care enough not to shamed. We know he is mediocre at best. I at least want a chance to be really good or great. Stallings took that chance he will never be good. Average is the best we can hope for and horrible at worst. So no upward movement and the bottom can be a disaster.

That still doesn't answer my question about just who would want to be our coach, if the last one was ousted by a petition of pissed-off fans?

 

[Chairman Moe]

An Upper Decker makes a splash, too.

I will admit I had to look up your comment in the Urban Dictionary to get your "drift"; I guess this hire gives validation to our opponent fans' chant: $hit on Pitt

 

[Harve74]

It is not the splash hire comment. He gave this program no chance to be great. He took the safe hire for career. He can go to the next chancelor and say I haired another P-5 coach and the ACC is really hard and Pitt is unrealistic. Risen and move on.

I don't think it was a safe hire. And, I'm pretty sure he won't be having much of a career in P-5 after this job.

 

[President Panther]

. We have grown substantially over the past decade or so, but we will never displace UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, ND and Virginia - regardless of who's our coach.



Why not? We beat half of them in this, a "down" year.

 

[Chairman Moe]

. We have grown substantially over the past decade or so, but we will never displace UNC, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, ND and Virginia - regardless of who's our coach.



Why not? We beat half of them in this, a "down" year.

Yes, and then lost to VT, GT, Clemson, Miami and NC State, and lost three times to UNC.

My statement should've read more like: "we will never displace all of these top ACC programs" any time soon". Unlike the BE, I think there are too many consistently good programs to think we could overtake all of them. And in the BE, despite our great run, UCONN and Villanova were both better, more successful programs

 

[vegasgreed]

watch and see the empty seats next season, the Pitt admin. Is to blame.

1. We can bitch and "Moe-n" all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
2. We can speculate collusion and back-room deals all we want; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
3. We can cry "foul" for all of the embarrassing Tweets and Blog posts regarding the Millers, Brandin Knight, et al; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
4. We can sign petitions, send emails, leave voice mails, cancel our season tickets, pull donations, and leave comments on this board and any other sports blogs; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
5. We can call Barnes a rube and Gallagher a wimp; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
6. We can - and should - express disgust about not getting an "up-and-coming" mid-major coach; Kevin Stallings is our new coach.
7. We can also just accept that: Kevin Stallings is our new coach.

Unless I am mistaken, the next Pitt BB season starts late this fall. There is a lot to be done in the interim. Once the venting is over, let's sit back and observe what our new coach - Kevin Stallings - will do to:

1. Assemble a staff of assistants and recruiters
2. Mend whatever fences he and Sheldon Jeter have
3. Work to keep whatever current players and recruits Pitt has
4. Bring his own recruits and or transfer players/JC players
5. Reach out to the Pitt fans to make us feel that he is willing to make Pitt a major factor in the ACC
6. Interact - if necessary - with coach PN to be part of the Pitt coaching "team"

I'm sure there are other points I could suggest but I will quit now and leave this for further discussion/debate. I am obviously - as a Pitt fan, first and foremost - hoping he does well.