Not tough enough

[Bethlehemjohn]

This is a game that should have been a W. FT shooting sucked, too many TO’s because we let them speed us up and we just aren’t strong and tough enough.

Let a golden opportunity slip through the fingers today.

 

[pittizit]

Never ends

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

This is a game that should have been a W. FT shooting sucked, too many TO’s because we let them speed us up and we just aren’t strong and tough enough.

Let a golden opportunity slip through the fingers today.

Our interior defense was perhaps the worst its been in decades.

 

[gary2]

This is a game that should have been a W. FT shooting sucked, too many TO’s because we let them speed us up and we just aren’t strong and tough enough.

Let a golden opportunity slip through the fingers today.

Agree the better team lost.

A helluva a lot went wrong. Foul shooting, turnovers, too many layups allowed, sub par games from Blake and Ish. And...were weren't strong or tough enough, on the ball and on the boards.

The Main reason we lost was because we quit running our stuff. We either became too unselfish or too selfish. It is understandable that we wanted it get Blake going, but those attempts to do so hurt us badly. Then Carrington forced it a couple of times, Leggett too.

Actually, Leggett started the need to get going at the end of the first half. Semi break, guy open up ahead on his right, but takes off balance jumper floating left.


Syracuse stars were not having great games either. Syracuse did not force it. They played team ball. Ran offense. Let the open man shoot.

I think we should have too.

 

[Baddest Cat]

I would walk ten miles on my hands and knees.
Ain't no doubt about it baby it's you I aim to please.

 

[Chescat]

The Main reason we lost was because we quit running our stuff. We either became too unselfish or too selfish. It is understandable that we wanted it get Blake going, but those attempts to do so hurt us badly.

All that is true.

However if a Syracuse coach, player, or fan were
to read the above, they'd likely say.....you didn't do those things
because our aggressive D wouldn't allow it, and forced you out of
your offense and into a sloppy offensive performance.

 

[gary2]

All that is true.

However if a Syracuse coach, player, or fan were
to read the above, they'd likely say.....you didn't do those things
because our aggressive D wouldn't allow it, and forced you out of
your offense and into a sloppy offensive performance.

Nobody forced us out of our offense.

"We" decided we needed to get Blake going.

 

[Chescat]

Nobody forced us out of our offense.

"We" decided we needed to get Blake going.

No problem, we disagree. The game I watched, their
aggressiveness on D took us out of our offense.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

All that is true.

However if a Syracuse coach, player, or fan were
to read the above, they'd likely say.....you didn't do those things
because our aggressive D wouldn't allow it, and forced you out of
your offense and into a sloppy offensive performance.

Our defense in the second half absolutely sucked. Big time. We allowed them to score 51 points in the second half! Ouch!! And we were outrebounding them in the first half and got out-rebounded for the game. This will be the story with many of our losses this year. And it mostly comes down to lack of desire and not being tough enough, as John said.

I'm not sure we were the better team. We have the capability to be the better team, but we didn't show that today.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

No problem, we disagree. The game I watched, their
aggressiveness on D took us out of our offense.

I agree. The team with the better defensive effort and game usually wins. A better defense creates a good offense.

 

[Chescat]

Our defense in the second half absolutely sucked. Big time. We allowed them to score 51 points in the second half! Ouch!! And we were outrebounding them in the first half and got out-rebounded for the game. This will be the story with many of our losses this year. And it mostly comes down to lack of desire and not being tough enough, as John said.

I'm not sure we were the better team. We have the capability to be the better team, but we didn't show that today.

Well the "desire" piece is interesting. Not being a psychologist,
I don't know how high our "desire" level is. What I did see today,
was they were aggressive as hell and we weren't. Is that desire
or lack of? They also were tougher on the floor, banged away
at us inside, out physicaled us out front, and outrebounded us.
We might have had the desire, but it's possible they simply out
toughed us, despite our desire.

As far as our defense, you're right, it sucked in the 2nd half.

 

[WillyDavis33]

There were 4-5 times in the 2nd half that a foul should have been called on cuse! I can only remember once that we fouled and there was no call.

I like the way we battled on the road even though we came up short

 

[hoclaw]

Very different Syracuse. They did a really good job of switching to multiple defensive looks; and then turning us over. Inside play better improve at both ends. Shooting from the line & the floor, must be better. Officiating did not help.

 

[gary2]

Very different Syracuse. They did a really good job of switching to multiple defensive looks; and then turning us over. Inside play better improve at both ends. Shooting from the line & the floor, must be better. Officiating did not help.

The way the game was called did not benefit Pitt, but..

As far as the actual close calls themselves, I though we might have come out a bit ahead.

 

[Franb]

No problem, we disagree. The game I watched, their
aggressiveness on D took us out of our offense.

That was the game I saw as well. Teams are very physical with our guards, and that is causing bad offensive trips.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

2-4 v. P6. Not tough enough? Maybe just not very good to be honest. Looks like back to Capel norm after last year's fluke miracle.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

No problem, we disagree. The game I watched, their
aggressiveness on D took us out of our offense.

Don’t agree. We let them speed us up and we took ourselves out of our game. Yeah, we need to run when it is there, but we also need to run better offense. They had a nice run and we got panicked and impatient.

 

[Chescat]

Yeah, we "panicked" and were "impatient," I agree.
Those things happened because their aggressiveness
took us out of our offense. It was no accident.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

When the guy you rely on goes 3-12 and 1-7 from 3 you’ll lose just about every game .

When you shoot 42% from the line you’ll lose……No need to waste valuable practice time ! ( Pitt Pharma man )

When you have more TO’s than assists and you opponent has the opposite you ll lose ……

I don’t believe Pitt can win with Ish scoring only 5 pts

I‘m not sure Pitt can win many games with Fede playing this poorly . A shame Papa got hurt , they don’t have enough depth or talent at the 5 .

J Lowe is coming along very nicely, he’s going to be star .

The twins especially G keep getting better .

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Has Pitt ever lost a game where the refs didn’t cost them the game?

 

[Chescat]

J Lowe is coming along very nicely, he’s going to be star .

I really like what I saw from Lowe today. He was
up against some tight, physical D and he stayed
composed, especially when we made a late run.
I don't know when Capel plans to make a move
with him, but I hope it's soon moving him to pg,
and moving Carrington to off guard. He still has
room to improve. As I see it, good as Bub is, he's
not a pg.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

Has Pitt ever lost a game where the refs didn’t cost them the game?

The refs were kind to us today!

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

The refs were kind to us today!

They miss calls every game. They get calls right every game. Unless it’s an inordinate amount one way or the other, they’re just there trying to regulate the game. It’s very hard for officials to cost you a game where there are 160 points scored in a contest. Now if it’s something like Lions-Cowboys….

 

[joeydavid]

No problem, we disagree. The game I watched, their
aggressiveness on D took us out of our offense.

Pitt scored 73 points while missing 13 of 24 from the line, turning the ball over 14 times (at least half were unforced), and Blake goes 3 of 12 from the field. Pitt mostly got exactly what they wanted on the offensive end. With even average shooting at the line and from Blake- they get close to 100 on this Syracuse defense.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

I think it was Canisius, but they had a 6'7 240lb wide body and that is what this team really needs. Hell at this point I would take a Torree Morris, come in for 12-15 minutes of mayhem and pain. Not sure how physical Pape Kante is. But man we lack that "tough guy". Doesn't have to be Dejuan Blair or Chevy, but just someone who can bully ball and give the other team some bruises.

 

[Chescat]

Sorry, but most of our 15 TO's were a result of our
not handling their aggressive D. Carrington had 5 T0's
and 5 assists. That is bad, real bad for a pg. He's not a
true pg. Lowe, in 17 minutes had 4 assists and 0 T0's
against the same Syracuse D. He's obviously a pure
pg. Blake? Yup he was cold, 3-12 from the field. What?
He forgot how to shoot? No, they overplayed him,
were in his jockstrap and obviously focused on him.
The result? 3-12.

As for our awful FT's, there's no excuse for 46%.
Bad as we played, we might have won if we just
hit Ft's.

 

[Chescat]

I think it was Canisius, but they had a 6'7 240lb wide body and that is what this team really needs. Hell at this point I would take a Torree Morris, come in for 12-15 minutes of mayhem and pain. Not sure how physical Pape Kante is. But man we lack that "tough guy". Doesn't have to be Dejuan Blair or Chevy, but just someone who can bully ball and give the other team some bruises.

Totally agree.
I mentioned Canisius in another thread today. I fIrst started
using the term "manhanled" after watching FGCU take it
to our bigs. Since then Canisius and other non ACC teams
have done it. Fede is weak and skinny and playing awful.
He doesn't have his strong, experienced, and older team
mates from last year around him this year. Diaz, improving,
but again, weak and skinny and gets pushed around inside.

 

[gary2]

Totally agree.
I mentioned Canisius in another thread today. I fIrst started
using the term "manhanled" after watching FGCU take it
to our bigs. Since then Canisius and other non ACC teams
have done it. Fede is weak and skinny and playing awful.
He doesn't have his strong, experienced, and older team
mates from last year around him this year. Diaz, improving,
but again, weak and skinny and gets pushed around inside.

Syracuse took their big out and played "smallish". I think we could have done the same (for a few change ups)

Paradoxically, I think doing that, we would have gotten pushed around or completely lost players less?

I think we need to look into doing this. At least show it.

I am not saying it should be anywhere near dominant.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Syracuse took their big out and played "smallish". I think we could have done the same (for a few change ups)

Paradoxically, I think doing that, we would have gotten pushed around or completely lost players less?

I think we need to look into doing this. At least show it.

I am not saying it should be anywhere near dominant.

I have PTSD from those 3 horrible bench bums running us off the court

 

[gary2]

I have PTSD from those 3 horrible bench bums running us off the court

So you agree coaching played apart?

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Sorry, but most of our 15 TO's were a result of our
not handling their aggressive D. Carrington had 5 T0's
and 5 assists. That is bad, real bad for a pg. He's not a
true pg. Lowe, in 17 minutes had 4 assists and 0 T0's
against the same Syracuse D. He's obviously a pure
pg. Blake? Yup he was cold, 3-12 from the field. What?
He forgot how to shoot? No, they overplayed him,
were in his jockstrap and obviously focused on him.
The result? 3-12.

As for our awful FT's, there's no excuse for 46%.
Bad as we played, we might have won if we just
hit Ft's.

Pretty much sums it up.

Lowe must be the PG going forward. Let Bub play SG and create his shots. And defense and rebounding won that game for 'Cuse along with our total lack of defense in the second half and lack of toughness.

I simply cannot stand that punk, Mintz. I don't care about his game. He's a jackal and a headcase. So glad he's not poisoning the Pitt locker room.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

So you agree coaching played apart?

Not really. Capel isnt a guy who draws up a intricate gameplan. We didnt defend, especially in the paint. Layup after layup. Dunk after dunk. He cant coach FT shooting. And he cant make GDG or Fede play better defense. It was a strange game.

 

[Chescat]

I simply cannot stand that punk, Mintz. I don't care about his game. He's a jackal and a headcase. So glad he's not poisoning the Pitt locker room.

Well, he is pretty hard to like, but he can play.

 

[Protes]

While I'm not going to blame this loss totally on JC, there are times when I just would like to see more out of him. Sometimes a coach does have to get more animated and challenge his guys, as well as use a TO to stop the other team's mo' and get the team to refocus. Yes, he tried zone, albeit to no avail. And he left Jaland in there given the spark he was providing. But other than that, I just saw him with his arms folded looking lost. Games like this just add fuel to 'the HCJC isn't a good in-game coach'.

I'm also a little bit puzzled as to why JDG isn't getting any run of late. Are we to believe he's not as good as Will or Austin? Would going big and having him in there for Ish yesterday have helped? He was a useful piece last year and a player we are going to need the next 2 years. Yet, this is starting to become a lost season for him. Fwiw, a Lowe/Bub/JDG/Hinson/GDG lineup would be interesting and perhaps our best offensive option right now.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

While I'm not going to blame this loss totally on JC, there are times when I just would like to see more out of him. Sometimes a coach does have to get more animated and challenge his guys, as well as use a TO to stop the other team's mo' and get the team to refocus. Yes, he tried zone, albeit to no avail. And he left Jaland in there given the spark he was providing. But other than that, I just saw him with his arms folded looking lost. Games like this just add fuel to 'the HCJC isn't a good in-game coach'.

I'm also a little bit puzzled as to why JDG isn't getting any run of late. Are we to believe he's not as good as Will or Austin? Would going big and having him in there for Ish yesterday have helped? He was a useful piece last year and a player we are going to need the next 2 years. Yet, this is starting to become a lost season for him. Fwiw, a Lowe/Bub/JDG/Hinson/GDG lineup would be interesting and perhaps our best offensive option right now.

I think the football mentality in this town make too much of basketball "in game coaching." Jamie Dixon is a borderline HOF coach but not a good "gameday coach" by some measures you see here. Dixon did what he did. He had a system and it either worked and we won or it didnt. Most coaches are similar. Capel is no different. There arent many adjustments you can make that are going to make a difference. Play this player more, try this defense, have this guy guard this guy, etc. These arent rocket science decisions and every coach tries these things but I dont know what you expect these coaches to do in-game. If Capel yelled more, we wouldn't have won. Players have to defend and makr shots and we didnt. You can blame coaching for lack of defense but that isnt in-game coaching.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

I think the football mentality in this town make too much of basketball "in game coaching." Jamie Dixon is a borderline HOF coach but not a good "gameday coach" by some measures you see here. Dixon did what he did. He had a system and it either worked and we won or it didnt. Most coaches are similar. Capel is no different. There arent many adjustments you can make that are going to make a difference. Play this player more, try this defense, have this guy guard this guy, etc. These arent rocket science decisions and every coach tries these things but I dont know what you expect these coaches to do in-game. If Capel yelled more, we wouldn't have won. Players have to defend and makr shots and we didnt. You can blame coaching for lack of defense but that isnt in-game coaching.

One of the few times I agree with you, SMF. There is a lot more to being a good coach than just the X and O’s. Jeff comes from the Coach K tree and with that comes some of the throw the ball out their style. Does he do more than that? Of course he does. However, it may not always be some incredibly dramatic move. Ultimately you either make shots or do not. When you make shots, the offense looks great and when you don’t, it can look really bad.

I agree in that JC may not be as good of a game day coach as I would like, but I think he is a good coach. He is a great mentor for these kids and teaches these kids more than basketball. He teaches life lessons, especially for some young black kids who come into the program. He is always about the team over the individual and believes in hard work, toughness and smart basketball.

In many ways, I think he is very similar to Tomlin. They are both very intelligent and are very interesting to listen to. They get the game and they understand their players.

 

[gary2]

One of the few times I agree with you, SMF. There is a lot more to being a good coach than just the X and O’s. Jeff comes from the Coach K tree and with that comes some of the throw the ball out their style. Does he do more than that? Of course he does. However, it may not always be some incredibly dramatic move. Ultimately you either make shots or do not. When you make shots, the offense looks great and when you don’t, it can look really bad.

I agree in that JC may not be as good of a game day coach as I would like, but I think he is a good coach. He is a great mentor for these kids and teaches these kids more than basketball. He teaches life lessons, especially for some young black kids who come into the program. He is always about the team over the individual and believes in hard work, toughness and smart basketball.

In many ways, I think he is very similar to Tomlin. They are both very intelligent and are very interesting to listen to. They get the game and they understand their players.

Tomlin. The guy that lost to Cleveland's third string QB 10-13? The guy that lost to two 2-10 teams at home? The guy that went 3 games with Mitch Trubisky? The guy that coddles Pickens and Johnson?

That guy?

I could just sit at his feet and listen to that very intelligent and interesting man talk all day.

Something like 56-40-1 over the last 6 seasons.. Missed the playoffs 3 of last 5 years. Lost WC game the other 2.

A regular Yoda.

Tomlin has actually over corrected. He is now "stupid" aggressive. I predict it bites him in the ass.

 

[BFo8]

Tomlin. The guy that lost to Cleveland's third string QB 10-13? The guy that lost to two 2-10 teams at home? The guy that went 3 games with Mitch Trubisky? The guy that coddles Pickens and Johnson?

That guy?

All true. Tomlin has quite a few faults but he is light years ahead of Jeff freaking Capel.

One of those guys would be hired instantly if he was on the market while the other is not getting another job at his current level.

 

[gary2]

One of the few times I agree with you, SMF. There is a lot more to being a good coach than just the X and O’s. Jeff comes from the Coach K tree and with that comes some of the throw the ball out their style. Does he do more than that? Of course he does. However, it may not always be some incredibly dramatic move. Ultimately you either make shots or do not. When you make shots, the offense looks great and when you don’t, it can look really bad.

I agree in that JC may not be as good of a game day coach as I would like, but I think he is a good coach. He is a great mentor for these kids and teaches these kids more than basketball. He teaches life lessons, especially for some young black kids who come into the program. He is always about the team over the individual and believes in hard work, toughness and smart basketball.

In many ways, I think he is very similar to Tomlin. They are both very intelligent and are very interesting to listen to. They get the game and they understand their players.

No QB is going to refuse to be the backup, it is career ending. No second year QB, particularly, is going to do that.

Mike Tomlin: Mr. Very intelligent, interesting and understanding of his players has screwed Kenny Pickett.

His words and actions have put Kenny in the box for no good reason: Ask Kenny, indeed.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

No QB is going to refuse to be the backup, it is career ending. No second year QB, particularly, is going to do that.

Mike Tomlin: Mr. Very intelligent, interesting and understanding of his players has screwed Kenny Pickett.

His words and actions have put Kenny in the box for no good reason: Ask Kenny, indeed.

mike Tomlin is a good coach. The narrative around him being some genius or great coach is always funny to me when ppl claim Mike McCarthy is a buffoon. They have same number of SB’s and a near identical record.