NTOP'sCliff Notes

[NTOP]

1.A bit hoarse today after yelling at the TV.
2. No quit in the kids, but a bit fatigued.at the end. Travel problems??
3. Went crazy that we kept going over screens in the lane, instead of along the baseline. Their picks seemed to be giving that route to us....will review the game to see if it was just me.
4. Capel managed the timeouts, etc. well. Wish he gave Toney or Davis more time than Malik.
5. Kene has an edge to his game.....a bit Savaskas-like. That's good...can he scowl???
6. Fouls kept JWF off balance,and he rushed things when he got off the bench.
7. X is fun, Trey needs to relax a bit, Sidy the biggest surprise to me. Solid backcourt that will get better.
8. If they can keep the effort going, and get even calls from the zebras, this will be a solid foundation to return to relevance. 15 wins possible, though 12-13 OK.
9. Forget moral victories.....our guys now have evidence of their capabilities.
10. Bring on the Dukes!!

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Re:5 - if he does hope he stops short of premature removal of his shoes

 

[rockypanther]

The screen thing drove me crazy on the baseline. We are awful at reading a curl or fade by the offensive guy coming off the screen to get the shot.

 

[ricflair4LIFE]

The biggest thing I've seen so far is …..This team doesn't see any reason why they shouldn't win …. whereas last year's team found reasons to lose.
Attitude is so important.

 

[Pitt5593]

Re:5 - if he does hope he stops short of premature removal of his shoes

Donatas was a huge asset to our program. The pillar.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Donatas was a huge asset to our program. The pillar.

He sure was. Right up until the time he wasn’t.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

1.A bit hoarse today after yelling at the TV.
2. No quit in the kids, but a bit fatigued.at the end. Travel problems??
3. Went crazy that we kept going over screens in the lane, instead of along the baseline. Their picks seemed to be giving that route to us....will review the game to see if it was just me.
4. Capel managed the timeouts, etc. well. Wish he gave Toney or Davis more time than Malik.
5. Kene has an edge to his game.....a bit Savaskas-like. That's good...can he scowl???
6. Fouls kept JWF off balance,and he rushed things when he got off the bench.
7. X is fun, Trey needs to relax a bit, Sidy the biggest surprise to me. Solid backcourt that will get better.
8. If they can keep the effort going, and get even calls from the zebras, this will be a solid foundation to return to relevance. 15 wins possible, though 12-13 OK.
9. Forget moral victories.....our guys now have evidence of their capabilities.
10. Bring on the Dukes!!

1. This and St. Louie game were the most I have screamed in a few years.
3. It was mainly Toney taking the crazy path to the baseline shooters. Saw it a bunch of times yesterday and it bothered me too.
4. Toney should have played more, not sure about Kham.
6. Need better team play between X and JWF. They need to start hooking up on some dribble, drive and kick from X to JWF.
7. Sidy playing really well. Won St. Louie game because of he and X.
8. I think we can get up to around 17.
10. I'll be on Charlotte, get us a W on Fri!

 

[PittPoker]

1.A bit hoarse today after yelling at the TV.
2. No quit in the kids, but a bit fatigued.at the end. Travel problems??
3. Went crazy that we kept going over screens in the lane, instead of along the baseline. Their picks seemed to be giving that route to us....will review the game to see if it was just me.
4. Capel managed the timeouts, etc. well. Wish he gave Toney or Davis more time than Malik.
5. Kene has an edge to his game.....a bit Savaskas-like. That's good...can he scowl???
6. Fouls kept JWF off balance,and he rushed things when he got off the bench.
7. X is fun, Trey needs to relax a bit, Sidy the biggest surprise to me. Solid backcourt that will get better.
8. If they can keep the effort going, and get even calls from the zebras, this will be a solid foundation to return to relevance. 15 wins possible, though 12-13 OK.
9. Forget moral victories.....our guys now have evidence of their capabilities.
10. Bring on the Dukes!!

They're baaaccckkkkkk!!!

 

[NCanton Panther]

The screen thing drove me crazy on the baseline. We are awful at reading a curl or fade by the offensive guy coming off the screen to get the shot.

NTOP and you are the 1st I’ve seen mention our difficulties with the screen on the baseline. Glad you did because it was driving me crazy during the game as well. Our difficulties with it led to at least 2 if not 3 of their 3-ptrs in the 2nd half and every time it looked like our defender had a much better path around it ailing the baseline.

 

[NTOP]

NTOP and you are the 1st I’ve seen mention our difficulties with the screen on the baseline. Glad you did because it was driving me crazy during the game as well. Our difficulties with it led to at least 2 if not 3 of their 3-ptrs in the 2nd half and every time it looked like our defender had a much better path around it ailing the baseline.

t
The only good thing about that is that it's a problem that can be corrected easily. I'm sure the staff will stress it in practice. It isn't lack of skill or effort.

 

[NCanton Panther]

t
The only good thing about that is that it's a problem that can be corrected easily. I'm sure the staff will stress it in practice. It isn't lack of skill or effort.

Yep I agree that’s something they can and should get corrected. However, it happened a good number of times during the game such that it maybe should have been mentioned during a timeout and possibly corrected then.

Also regarding TO’s, I ‘m not sure if they were effectively used. We didn’t have one for the last 10 seconds. McGowen got to the basket for a very makeable shot but a timeout after the 2 missed FTs would have been good to set something up.

Conversely, I don’t recall Capel calling a timeout early in the 2nd half to settle the guys down when we started out with all the sloppy turnovers and rushed shots/drives to the basket. I think he waited for the TV timeout or after a good bit of the damage was done, i.e., our 6-pt halftime lead had quickly been erased. He obviously used the TO’s since we didn’t have any at the end but I still don’t recall him using one early when it was needed.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Yep I agree that’s something they can and should get corrected. However, it happened a good number of times during the game such that it maybe should have been mentioned during a timeout and possibly corrected then.

Also regarding TO’s, I ‘m not sure if they were effectively used. We didn’t have one for the last 10 seconds. McGowen got to the basket for a very makeable shot but a timeout after the 2 missed FTs would have been good to set something up.

Conversely, I don’t recall Capel calling a timeout early in the 2nd half to settle the guys down when we started out with all the sloppy turnovers and rushed shots/drives to the basket. I think he waited for the TV timeout or after a good bit of the damage was done, i.e., our 6-pt halftime lead had quickly been erased. He obviously used the TO’s since we didn’t have any at the end but I still don’t recall him using one early when it was needed.

RE:Timeouts: I thought the early 2nd timeout was called soon enough. Now likely Dixon would have been quicker--LOL. It is always a Coach's judgment call on how long to wait. Sometimes you wait a little to see if something corrects itself. I won't fault Capel much, if it all, on this one.

I am hazy on the last timeout near the end. So I don't recall when Capel gave his final instruction prior to the last 10.4 seconds. I believe I recall some instruction just before the FTs were taken by Iowa; but, maybe I am mistaken. Capel possibly gave his instructions then and didn't see the need for another TO. Did he mention anything in his post-game--I didn't watch it?

 

[NCanton Panther]

RE:Timeouts: I thought the early 2nd timeout was called soon enough. Now likely Dixon would have been quicker--LOL. It is always a Coach's judgment call on how long to wait. Sometimes you wait a little to see if something corrects itself. I won't fault Capel much, if it all, on this one.

I am hazy on the last timeout near the end. So I don't recall when Capel gave his final instruction prior to the last 10.4 seconds. I believe I recall some instruction just before the FTs were taken by Iowa; but, maybe I am mistaken. Capel possibly gave his instructions then and didn't see the need for another TO. Did he mention anything in his post-game--I didn't watch it?

We didn’t have any TO’s left at the end so there was no option for him to call one after Cook missed the 2nd foul shot with 10 seconds left.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

We didn’t have any TO’s left at the end so there was no option for him to call one after Cook missed the 2nd foul shot with 10 seconds left.

That explains it then.

 

[NTOP]

Yep I agree that’s something they can and should get corrected. However, it happened a good number of times during the game such that it maybe should have been mentioned during a timeout and possibly corrected then.

Also regarding TO’s, I ‘m not sure if they were effectively used. We didn’t have one for the last 10 seconds. McGowen got to the basket for a very makeable shot but a timeout after the 2 missed FTs would have been good to set something up.

Conversely, I don’t recall Capel calling a timeout early in the 2nd half to settle the guys down when we started out with all the sloppy turnovers and rushed shots/drives to the basket. I think he waited for the TV timeout or after a good bit of the damage was done, i.e., our 6-pt halftime lead had quickly been erased. He obviously used the TO’s since we didn’t have any at the end but I still don’t recall him using one early when it was needed.

It's not like he was handicapped w/o that TO in the last seconds. Most coaches use them all in tight games. The sequence at the start of the second half wasn't anything more than sloppy play by Pitt. Unless there's a huge run by the opponent, I'd wait for the 4-minute break, too. The game stayed close, save them for later. Trey got into a great spot to score or draw a foul....just rushed the shot. I'll take my chances with an unscripted dash to the rim vs. some scribbling on a whiteboard while the other coach gets to set up his defense. I'd bet it's a small % of those "plays" that get fully executed....the other guys are trying, too.
No coach is perfect, but I like the attitude that's been established.

 

[UptownPrivileges]

I bet Capel is already working on the screens and other mistakes that Pitt ran into , they will be better

 

[NTOP]

I bet Capel is already working on the screens and other mistakes that Pitt ran into , they will be better

I think he's working on how to beat the Dukes tomorrow night.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Everyone needs to keep the fact in mind that 60% of the starters are freshman and 100% of the team are playing for a new coach in a new system . Their going to run into teams that run schemes that they haven't seen yet . Dixon's team were so good because he had veteran players playing in the same system for yrs . Be patient this just the beginning!

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I think he's working on how to beat the Dukes tomorrow night.

And, correcting problems will be part of it because Capel knows Duquesne's coach will be working on exploiting weaknesses he saw in the Pitt vs Iowa game as part of his preparation for Pitt.

 

[rockypanther]

t
The only good thing about that is that it's a problem that can be corrected easily. I'm sure the staff will stress it in practice. It isn't lack of skill or effort.

Agreed. The sad thing is my 5th grade AAU team which we have had 5 practices, is already picking it up. This again shows how AAU is hurting kids. They aren't learning basic basketball knowledge and skills before coming to college.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

11. Cook deserved a punch in the balls
12. Nobody cares about the kid's shoe choice
13. Cook deserves another punch in the balls

 

[NCanton Panther]

It's not like he was handicapped w/o that TO in the last seconds. Most coaches use them all in tight games. The sequence at the start of the second half wasn't anything more than sloppy play by Pitt. Unless there's a huge run by the opponent, I'd wait for the 4-minute break, too. The game stayed close, save them for later. Trey got into a great spot to score or draw a foul....just rushed the shot. I'll take my chances with an unscripted dash to the rim vs. some scribbling on a whiteboard while the other coach gets to set up his defense. I'd bet it's a small % of those "plays" that get fully executed....the other guys are trying, too.
No coach is perfect, but I like the attitude that's been established.

Well yeah Trey ended up getting a good shot attempt at the end but I also thin if Capel had a TO available there at the end he sure would have used, same as just about any coach.

Don’t agree with you about the beginning of the 2nd half, we were more than just sloppy - rushed shots, uncontrolled drives to the basket and all around bad decision making, all of which lasted way too long and resulted in our 6-pt lead quickly being erased. We did get it back later although it could have been more if he had settled em down earlier.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Well yeah Trey ended up getting a good shot attempt at the end but I also thin if Capel had a TO available there at the end he sure would have used, same as just about any coach.

It's like as if none of you guys remember that immediately before Cook took those two foul shots there was about a two minute (or longer) break while the refs looked at the monitor trying to decide if they should give Cook his well deserved flagrant foul. Just what do we suppose Capel was doing in that timeout? What do we think he could have possibly said directly after the missed foul shots that he couldn't/didn't say literally a few seconds before that?

 

[NCanton Panther]

It's like as if none of you guys remember that immediately before Cook took those two foul shots there was about a two minute (or longer) break while the refs looked at the monitor trying to decide if they should give Cook his well deserved flagrant foul. Just what do we suppose Capel was doing in that timeout? What do we think he could have possibly said directly after the missed foul shots that he couldn't/didn't say literally a few seconds before that?

And if he had a timeout available he still would have taken it.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And if he had a timeout available he still would have taken it.

Her might have, or he might not have. He certainly had no need to do so, unless you think that he wasn't doing his job during the replay review.

 

[NTOP]

And if he had a timeout available he still would have taken it.

To no effect. Timeouts are vastly overrated.

 

[wbrpanther]

We didn’t have any TO’s left at the end so there was no option for him to call one after Cook missed the 2nd foul shot with 10 seconds left.

And I am glad for that. With that little time left I would rather a coach let his kids attack rather than call a TO and let the opposition set up their defense. A Trey McGowens with a little more experience makes that shot and wins the game.