Pitt/IU Game Thread

[Sean Miller Fan]

I will absolutely guarantee you that I have watched more college soccer in my lifetime than you have, and the disparity is so great that if I never watched another minute of it the rest of my life that on the day you died you still wouldn't have caught up.

This is your level of thinking:

Clemson: national title contender
Team that beat Clemson: not a national title contender

Georgetown: national title contender
Team that beat Georgetown: not a national title contender
Other team that beat Georgetown: not a national title contender

Wake Forest: national title contender
Team that beat Wake Forest: not a national title contender

Pitt: national title contender
Team that beat Pitt: not a national title contender

Seriously, is there one thing, even one, that you got right about this tournament?

North Carolina dominated Marshall and lost. It happens.

I watched Washington play Pitt. Washington is easily better than Indiana. Washington did not fear Pitt and played them straight-up. Yes, they lost. Maybe their game plan wasn't smart. Maybe they felt they couldn't sit back and defend for 90 minutes but Washington looked every bit as good as the ACC teams Pitt played. And they had chances to tie the score at 1 up until the final 2 minutes.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I watched Washington play Pitt. Washington is easily better than Indiana. Washington did not fear Pitt and played them straight-up. Yes, they lost. Maybe their game plan wasn't smart. Maybe they felt they couldn't sit back and defend for 90 minutes but Washington looked every bit as good as the ACC teams Pitt played. And they had chances to tie the score at 1 up until the final 2 minutes.

It's like as if you just can't keep providing more evidence that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Talk to anyone who knows soccer and tell them that teams that defend first and beat you off the counter and actually win games aren't as good as teams that attempt to play in the attack all the time and lose and see what kind of looks you get. My guess is that if you had two heads you wouldn't get stranger looks.

You are completely and utterly clueless, and proudly so.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's like as if you just can't keep providing more evidence that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Talk to anyone who knows soccer and tell them that teams that defend first and beat you off the counter and actually win games aren't as good as teams that attempt to play in the attack all the time and lose and see what kind of looks you get. My guess is that if you had two heads you wouldn't get stranger looks.

You are completely and utterly clueless, and proudly so.

I forgot more about soccer than you ever knew. I know that teams who play that way do so because they dont have enough talent to possess the ball and create enough chances from stringing together 8, 10, 12 passes.

The next thing you are going to tell me is that Indiana is equally as talented as Pitt simply because they won as if upsets never happen.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I forgot more about soccer than you ever knew. I know that teams who play that way do so because they dont have enough talent to possess the ball and create enough chances from stringing together 8, 10, 12 passes.

The next thing you are going to tell me is that Indiana is equally as talented as Pitt simply because they won as if upsets never happen.

It's hilarious that you think that you are such a knowledgeable soccer fan, and yet you can only fathom a good team winning games one way.

You are the kind of guy who would think that 17th place Brighton is a better EPL team than 7th place West Ham, because Brighton is 7th in the league in possession and West Ham is 16th.

Just like every other sport, there is more than one way to win games. The goal of sports isn't to look the best or to play the most pleasing style, it's to win games and championships. The fact that you are so limited in your thinking that you can't understand that while thinking that you are some sort of expert is hilarious.

You are completely and utterly clueless, and proudly so.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's hilarious that you think that you are such a knowledgeable soccer fan, and yet you can only fathom a good team winning games one way.

You are the kind of guy who would think that 17th place Brighton is a better EPL team than 7th place West Ham, because Brighton is 7th in the league in possession and West Ham is 16th.

Just like every other sport, there is more than one way to win games. The goal of sports isn't to look the best or to play the most pleasing style, it's to win games and championships. The fact that you are so limited in your thinking that you can't understand that while thinking that you are some sort of expert is hilarious.

You are completely and utterly clueless, and proudly so.

You are getting dumber by the post. You really want to add EPL possession stats to your argument that really good teams sit back and defend the whole game?

Here's the standings and where they rank in possession %. See if you notice a trend:

1 MC (1)
2 Man U (5)
3 LC (6)
4 Chelsea (3)
5 Liv (2)
6 Spurs (9)
7 WHU (15)
8 Everton (14)
9 Arsenal (7)
10 Leeds (4)
11 AV (12)
12 Wolves (13)
13 CP (16)
14 SH (8)
15 Burnley (17)
16 NCU (19)
17 Brighton (10)
18 Fulham (11)
19 WB (20)
20 SU (18)

As you can see, your place in the league table is pretty closely correlated to how much you possess the ball. I mean this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Teams which are skilled enough to keep the ball usually have better players and create more chances. You cited 2 of the 3 outliers of the 20 teams. WHU, Brighton, and Fulham are the only 3 teams whose spot in the table is more than +/- 6 off of their possession ranking.

Again, I bet you think Indiana is better than Pitt because that is how your simple mind works.

 

[pitt90seven]

well to mess up everyone's opinions: marshall came at indiana all game last night. and they ended up getting the goal to win. but it could have gone either way, just like our game against indiana. they got a little luck on their one shot and we hit posts. game of inches.

so glad marshall won. screw the fat 10. their fans were going crazy.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

You are getting dumber by the post. You really want to add EPL possession stats to your argument that really good teams sit back and defend the whole game?

Once again, reading comprehension fails you.

However, I do thank you for inadvertently proving my point that there is more than one way to win soccer games. That is actually something you are pretty good at.

The notion that in a 20 team league that a six position difference between the stat you are looking at and the table is some sort of marker that means anything just shows that you don't understand statistics, let alone soccer. I mean seriously, your contention that there is only one way to win soccer games and that's the way that all the good teams play is one of the most batshit crazy things that you have ever posted. You can't be a sports fan of any sort with even a modicum of knowledge about the way that sports in general, let alone soccer in the specific, works to thing something so stupid.

And hey, just out of curiosity, in the final regular season coaches poll this year where was Pitt ranked and where was Indiana ranked?

I don't think that Indiana was better than Pitt, just as I don't think that Pitt was better than Indiana. But your idea that Pitt is the far superior team simply based on style of play is dumb.

 

[4IUSox2]

I am Happy for Marshall. They certainly deserved it. Would have been happy for Pitt too. Love the new blood. Glad it wasn’t UNC.

That’s probably a once in a lifetime accomplishment at a place like Marshall. Congrats to them and their coach, who, probably will be busy fielding offers from plenty of programs the next few weeks.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't think that Indiana was better than Pitt, just as I don't think that Pitt was better than Indiana.

LOL, I knew you'd have this take. Anyone who knows anything about soccer would agree Pitt is better than Indiana. I am sure all IU's fans and players would also agree. They beat us. It happens. But they aren't very good. They have no offensive skill and cannot keep the ball. The EPL stats proved the obvious: the really good teams possess the ball and the really bad teams cannot keep the ball. Wow, what a shocker. IU sits back and defends because they have to. To their credit, they are good at that but incredibly lucky for only playing a couple legitimate teams all year.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

LOL, I knew you'd have this take. Anyone who knows anything about soccer would agree Pitt is better than Indiana.

The coaches that vote in the coaches poll thought that Indiana was one spot better than Pitt. The NCAA tournament committee thought that Pitt was one spot better than Indiana. So evidently lots of people who know a hell of a lot more than you thought that Pitt and Indiana were essentially even.

You knew I'd have that take because it's the sane, logic take. Just as I knew you'd have your take, as it's the completely, utterly uniformed take.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The coaches that vote in the coaches poll thought that Indiana was one spot better than Pitt. The NCAA tournament committee thought that Pitt was one spot better than Indiana. So evidently lots of people who know a hell of a lot more than you thought that Pitt and Indiana were essentially even.

You knew I'd have that take because it's the sane, logic take. Just as I knew you'd have your take, as it's the completely, utterly uniformed take.

Rankings rank resumes. Heck, I'd probably rank IU ahead of Pitt because they beat us head to head. However, I, and everyone else knows Pitt is the better team. If the 2 played again and Vegas had odds, Pitt would be favored. But, your simplistic mind works like this:

"Indiana defended the entire the whole game and found a goal at the end and since upsets never happen in sports, Indiana is the better team despite being dominated the entire game."

 

[BFo8]

Rankings rank resumes. Heck, I'd probably rank IU ahead of Pitt because they beat us head to head. However, I, and everyone else knows Pitt is the better team. If the 2 played again and Vegas had odds, Pitt would be favored. But, your simplistic mind works like this:

"Indiana defended the entire the whole game and found a goal at the end and since upsets never happen in sports, Indiana is the better team despite being dominated the entire game."

For the record Indiana was a -240 favorite over Marshall last night.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Soccer fans (I would like to change one letter in that, but it is politically incorrect) are the worst fans. They are so defensive of "the beautiful game" that they celebrate a team who just sits back and packs it in, and refuses to attack and relies maybe on 1-2 counters a game in hopes of getting a break and if not, willing to go to a coin flip (penalties).

In hockey, this type of play was reviled, ostracized, hurt ratings, hurt the sport, and was known as "boring". But in soccer, you got the geeks celebrating this type of strategy. You are a weird lot.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

In hockey, this type of play was reviled, ostracized, hurt ratings, hurt the sport, and was known as "boring". But in soccer, you got the geeks celebrating this type of strategy. You are a weird lot.

Well first of all, the notion that defense first hockey is reviled in the NHL is just dumb, because there are teams all over the league that play that way to this very day. If the people running the game thought that it was so bad they would have legislated against it. They never have. They never will.

Secondly, who in this thread is celebrating playing that way? Just stating the facts, that some good soccer teams play defense first, counter attacking soccer is in no way, shape or form celebrating the teams that play that way. It's simply acknowledging the obvious. Just as pointing out that some good hockey teams play defense first, counter attacking hockey is in no way, shape or form celebrating the teams that play that way.