I know thats not saying much, but, barring injury to key players, this team is much better. they will win some ACC games. Mo , Burton, Hughley, Femi all solid ACC players. we get Horton back soon, who knows, if he plays as well or better than last year.
Ok, I officially think this team is much better than Stallings last team..... and arrow is up...
- Thread starter mo cheeks
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I am on board this train too and honestly cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year. We are starting to get scoring from different places each game.
Sustained defensive effort is there game in and game out for 40 minutes.
It's not going to be pretty but the ACC is rough this year.
Ken Pom as of today :
Duke - 6
VT - 22
UNC - 37
FSU - 38
Clemson - 46
Louisville - 50
ND - 53
UVA - 57
Wake - 65
Cuse - 68
NC State - 89
Miami - 99
GA Tech - 108
BC - 126
Pitt - 184
I don't think we are near as bad as that current ranking and took UVA down to the wire on their court. Is it unreasonable to think we have a shot at least against ND (@ home), BC (@Home), UVA (@Home) Syracuse (@home) BC (@ BC), Wake (@wake) NCST (@home)GT (@home) Miami (@home). 9 games we should have a fighting shot at winning. Honestly better than I thought a week ago.
maybe we win 4-5 of them.
'Just don't say "We're Back!" Trust me on this one.
How about if Hugley misses the entire league season as Luther did?
Big MO was a bad MOFO today. Loved the couple monster jams, but, he did it all today.
If the defense continues to hold its ground, we are going to be in a lot of close games.
Here is our team defensive efficiency rating the last 4 games. 97, 92, 79, 97. (The lower the number, the better). Our defense in our past 4 games combined is playing at a Top 40 Nationally rated level defense when you put the last 4 games together, and we won 3 of those games. Our defense, for the season, is ranked 116th Nationally in the country per Torvik. It is substantially better now than earlier in the season.
This is the same thing I said preseason: We are going to win with defense, rebounding, and keeping our turnovers to a minimum. In our last 3 wins, our turnovers are 11, 18, and 6. That is much better than earlier in the season. The offense will slowly improve, which it has.
The line against Notre Dame is going to open around +4 with Notre Dame favored. Notre Dame is going to bring a Top 40-50ish Nationally rated offense against our defense. This will be a test for us to see if our defense is getting as good as the last 4 games have been. Guard the 3 point line tight and play together on defense, and we can beat them.
I’d agree even with a healthy Luther the inside combo of Mo and Big John is so far superior to Brown , Luther and whomever else they’d put out there . The guards with Burton and Femi are better also and if Horton makes his way back there will be no comparison . Unfortunately we’re comparing this team to an historically bad team !
But things are looking up !
But things are looking up !
So you would have rather had Luther and get rid of Carr\Stewart from Stallings team.
As bad as it was it would have been even worse without those 2.
It is good to see us playing better, but there is going to be attrition at the end of the season and we have no recruits coming in. That’s the single biggest issue to me.
Two starters vs one starter.
No.
Regardless, the 2017-2018 team was historically bad. Among the 4 worst in Pitt hoops history since 1906. This will forever be the much deserved legacy of Kevin Stallings.
It is. Things would "feel" so much different had Mintz just not decommitted.
Yes - A few recruits with Mintz being one of them and it would have a different vibe for sure.
I think we are at the end of typical recruiting. We are now living in the age of the transfer portal.
True and the better transfers will want to play for a winning team. Our football team just benefited from this by getting Slovis. Unfortunately, our basketball team is going to have a losing record for the 4th straight year under Capel. We will get the leftovers.
Yes, but you've got to get some freshmen (or JUCO's too) and the transfer portal should replace the guys who transfer away.
At most -- we'll have Hugley, Burton, Eze, Femi, Ithiel, Max, Noah, WIll, Nate and Chris. (I don't see Nike back) It's a good guess at least one will be gone from that group. I just don't feel good filling all those spots from the portal.
Which is why the Capel era is over. Or needs to be anyways. Nobody good is coming here. The only way is if Capel hired some assistants with players tied to them. But he seems more willing to take his buyout and retire than fire any of his boys.
I enjoyed watching them today and But I in no way think they are anywhere near being back. What they are is at least fun to watch again. I can at least look foreword to upcoming games, as long as they keep playing better and improving .'Just don't say "We're Back!" Trust me on this one.
If you were to rank Odukale, Nike, Horton and Burton 1 thru 4, what would it look like?
Now do, Frame, Carr, Stewart and Davis. Who equals Nike and Horton? Horton misses all league games?
As far as the roster overall:
take into consideration that was year 2 of the regime and year 1 of the rebuild.
We are in year 4 of the regime and year 3 of the (first) rebuild.
When we are talking about how bad, some context might be nice on how that bad occurred and how long it took that bad to occur. Apples to apples. Dust to dust.
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Next year. Because this is what Capel's employment status should be tied to. Next year. Burton is gone. I believe Mo will be gone. Horton is gone. So is likely Sibande. So....will Femi be back? Big John? Because right now I check the commitment list and see no one. I look up and down the bench and I see no one capable of starting on a Mid Major team, let alone an ACC team.
So these close games, they show these guys have some heart. These last two games, it was fun to win. But let's not lose sight of this. I hate to be "that guy", but I still think the move has to be made.
So these close games, they show these guys have some heart. These last two games, it was fun to win. But let's not lose sight of this. I hate to be "that guy", but I still think the move has to be made.
The covid year last year does not count toward anyone's eligibility. Ive repeated this multiple times and some people dont seem to understand this.
All players in college basketball can play up to 6 years in college basketball right now. 1 redshirt year, 1 covid year, 4 additional years of eligibility on top of that. That is 6 years a player can be in college basketball because of the coronavirus which is already approved, and this is eligible to anyone playing a "winter" college sport meaning basketball.
That means, for example, Ithiel Horton can still play this year, and then still play 2 more years after this year is over.
Burton can return. Sibande can return. Gueye cannot return. Everyone else on the team can return next year.
Thats not to say anyone will or will not return. It is to say they are most certainly eligible to return, including Sibande.
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I think Horton is a better version of Stewart and Nike is a better version of what Wilson-Frame was in 2017-18 (JWF was much better in 2018-19, but that’s not what we’re talking about).
I think we would all be fine if we had Mintz and one other solid recruit coming in. It is kind of sad because I am seeing some evidence of Capel doing some coaching this year. Notably, these kids, at least for now have bought into playing good defense and playing as a team. Today, the ball movement was the best I have seen under Capel. I realize it was Jacksonville, but it shows progress. Having said that, it is all for naught if you can't provide a few quality recruits each year.
If I were to rank the 8 guards from those two teams it would be something like this :
Burton
Horton
Nike
Carr
Frame
Stewart
Femi
Davis
That was as they were that year.
Ok - Odukale, Horton, Nike, Jeffress and Hugley? Or Gueye for Jeffress? Burton a sub?
Whar did this years best lineup look like preseason If everyone was completely healthy?
That was not the question I asked. I asked to rank both teams 1 to 4, in order to see who you have as the comp for Nike and Horton.
I think if healthy/not in trouble, the starters would have been Femi, Sibande, Horton, Gueye, and Hugley - the starters from the Gannon exhibition.
Yep. I mean there’s plenty of bad in the world right now so if people want to be optimistic and focus on our improvement and whether we’ll win 2 or 5 ACC games - have at it.
The bottom line is Capel either needs to make a magic trick and land some impact recruits - or he needs fired at the end of this year. The latter is much much much much more likely.
Talking about our slight improvement
or how hard we’re playing or how Jeffress is going to be good when he’s 25 or breaking down our ORTG’s or anything else is really just buying time until we get to March and can talk about what really matters - a coaching search.
Ok
Can’t you see the order of each team by 1-4 ??
Burton/Carr
Horton/Frame
Nike/Stewart
Femi/Davis
If you are interested in my thinking, DM me and I will respond tomorrow.
i have been disjointed replying and asking questions of different people dealing with separate but related points.
So you have Femi as the least of the batch and not a starter? Fair enough.
Your comp for Horton is Frame. Your comp for Nike is Stewart.
The trades would be Frame and Stewart out (All league games) for a healthy Luther (All games) and a Healthy Nike and Horton in (iall games) with Hugley out (All league games.)
Which team is hurt by those trades the most?
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