Pitt Pre Season...Magazine and ACCN

[Chescat]

Lindy's Magazine predicted
Pitt to finish next to last,
14th just ahead of BC.
Listening to an ACC
Network guest analyzer
a few nights ago wasn't
any more positive. He
basically said Pitt has
many new players of low
impact and had no idea
how we'll do this year.
Lindy's wasn't sure if
Hugley would play and
didn't list Gueye as a
current player.

I can understand the
rather negative outlook.
IMO we're gonna be better
than those two predictions.
The ACC is down, and IMO
we can compete. Clemson,
Miami, NC ST, WF are not
strong. GT has some talent
but they also are not the
team they were last year.
I feel there are several
teams at the bottom of
the ACC. Can we finish
ahead of this group, or
at least on par with them?

 

[PittPoker]

Prediction is spot on. The transfers we got from the portal are blah and Champagnie is gone and Capel is not a good coach. Tell me why any publication would pick Pitt higher?

 

[DT_PITT]

Lindy's Magazine predicted
Pitt to finish next to last,
14th just ahead of BC.
Listening to an ACC
Network guest analyzer
a few nights ago wasn't
any more positive. He
basically said Pitt has
many new players of low
impact and had no idea
how we'll do this year.
Lindy's wasn't sure if
Hugley would play and
didn't list Gueye as a
current player.

I can understand the
rather negative outlook.
IMO we're gonna be better
than those two predictions.
The ACC is down, and IMO
we can compete. Clemson,
Miami, NC ST, WF are not
strong. GT has some talent
but they also are not the
team they were last year.
I feel there are several
teams at the bottom of
the ACC. Can we finish
ahead of this group, or
at least on par with them?

In my opinion, I think we can finish anywhere between #10 and #14.

I'll just go with #11 because I'm a fan.

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

Hopefully this team plays bully ball with its strong guards and Pitt can go 17-15 just to have a winning season.

 

[Chescat]

Prediction is spot on. The transfers we got from the portal are blah and Champagnie is gone and Capel is not a good coach. Tell me why any publication would pick Pitt higher?

Another "Prediction" that is
obviously "spot on" would
be a very predictable
negative response from you.

 

[BTisinDC]

Another "Prediction" that is
obviously "spot on" would
be a very predictable
negative response from you.

Sometimes I think he's overly negative, but on this one it's hard to find any fault in his statement. Do you think Capel is a good coach?

 

[Chescat]

My post was about two
understandable, negative
reviews of Pitt's upcoming
season. But, 'spot on"...not
as I see it. Hell. one of the
two wasn't sure Hugley
could/would play. Is that
factual? He didn't know we
had Gueye.

Answering your question
about Capel, I feel he has
shown plusses and minuses.
I think he's shown he can
get his team "up" and to
often play over its head.
Despite his reputation,
he hasn't shown to be a
top recruiter here at Pitt.
I also feel he hasn't done
a good job "managing"
his players and the program.
I'd give him a C-, maybe a C
at this point. I'm also willing
to see if he can have us
playing better than the end
of last season. If not.......

 

[NCanton Panther]

Lindy's Magazine predicted
Pitt to finish next to last,
14th just ahead of BC.
Listening to an ACC
Network guest analyzer
a few nights ago wasn't
any more positive. He
basically said Pitt has
many new players of low
impact and had no idea
how we'll do this year.
Lindy's wasn't sure if
Hugley would play and
didn't list Gueye as a
current player.

I can understand the
rather negative outlook.
IMO we're gonna be better
than those two predictions.
The ACC is down, and IMO
we can compete. Clemson,
Miami, NC ST, WF are not
strong. GT has some talent
but they also are not the
team they were last year.
I feel there are several
teams at the bottom of
the ACC. Can we finish
ahead of this group, or
at least on par with them?

When you get right down to it, not an out of line prediction.

Can we do better than that, sure.

Do we have any way of knowing one way or the other at this point. Definitely not. Won’t have any indication til we see how well these new guys play against higher level opponents than their used to and how well they play together as a team.

 

[Chescat]

When you get right down to it, not an out of line prediction.

Good point...it's not an
"out of line prediction."
I realize what we are,
but I believe there's
enough there to improve
on last year due to the
ACC having other teams
where we are.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Lindy's Magazine predicted
Pitt to finish next to last,
14th just ahead of BC.
Listening to an ACC
Network guest analyzer
a few nights ago wasn't
any more positive. He
basically said Pitt has
many new players of low
impact and had no idea
how we'll do this year.
Lindy's wasn't sure if
Hugley would play and
didn't list Gueye as a
current player.

I can understand the
rather negative outlook.
IMO we're gonna be better
than those two predictions.
The ACC is down, and IMO
we can compete. Clemson,
Miami, NC ST, WF are not
strong. GT has some talent
but they also are not the
team they were last year.
I feel there are several
teams at the bottom of
the ACC. Can we finish
ahead of this group, or
at least on par with them?

If you look simply at who we have, I don't know how you pick us higher than 13th. We lost our best players and we replaced them with some so-so mid-major transfers. What you more in basketball though than in other sports is great individual improvement. What if Femi turns into an All-ACC PG? What if Hugley becomes a 12 and 9 guy? It would take something like that to make the NIT

 

[Chescat]

You make good points
about where we finish.
What gets my attention
is the ACC tourney game
vs Miami. X and Toney
were gone. Coulibaly and
Brown scored ZERO pts.
Coulibaly ZERO rbs, Brown
with three. They were non
existent and we only lost
79-73, why?....because
Femi had 28 and Sibande
24. Horton had 10. Miami
then beat Clemson, and only
lost to a very good GT team
by 4.

Point I was making in my
original post is IMO we're
definitely better now than
that Miami game. Also the
ACC has four or five weak
ass teams and we're one
of them. You mentioned
Hugley, he and Gueye are
certain to be better than
Brown and Coulibaly. I see
us better than BC and WF,
and right in there with a
few others.

 

[BTisinDC]

You make good points
about where we finish.
What gets my attention
is the ACC tourney game
vs Miami. X and Toney
were gone. Coulibaly and
Brown scored ZERO pts.
Coulibaly ZERO rbs, Brown
with three. They were non
existent and we only lost
79-73, why?....because
Femi had 28 and Sibande
24. Horton had 10. Miami
then beat Clemson, and only
lost to a very good GT team
by 4.

Point I was making in my
original post is IMO we're
definitely better now than
that Miami game. Also the
ACC has four or five weak
ass teams and we're one
of them. You mentioned
Hugley, he and Gueye are
certain to be better than
Brown and Coulibaly. I see
us better than BC and WF,
and right in there with a
few others.

Fair enough. When you factor Hugley and Gueye being better than Brown and Coulibly, shouldn't you also account for the drop in whoever it is gets Champagnie's minutes?

I do suspect the loss of XJ will prove to be addition by subtraction. I just don't think we have enough talent overall. But I certainly hope you're right and I'm wrong.

 

[Chescat]

Yes, we sure will miss Champ.
By the way, he got 11 pts in
that last game. Regardless,
we can't replace him. It's
going to be replacement
by committee. I think it's
pretty clear that we're far
better up front with Hugley,
and Gueye. The backcourt
is also better IMO with
Femi, Sibande, Horton, and
the transfer Burton. X is
more talented than any
of our guards, but we saw
the results of that.

I actually agree with who
and what we are. I also
don't think we have
"enough talent." I just
see us as one of several
poor teams at the lower
end of the ACC, and better
than how we finished.

 

[bobfree]

You make good points
about where we finish.
What gets my attention
is the ACC tourney game
vs Miami. X and Toney
were gone. Coulibaly and
Brown scored ZERO pts.
Coulibaly ZERO rbs, Brown
with three. They were non
existent and we only lost
79-73, why?....because
Femi had 28 and Sibande
24. Horton had 10. Miami
then beat Clemson, and only
lost to a very good GT team
by 4.

Point I was making in my
original post is IMO we're
definitely better now than
that Miami game. Also the
ACC has four or five weak
ass teams and we're one
of them. You mentioned
Hugley, he and Gueye are
certain to be better than
Brown and Coulibaly. I see
us better than BC and WF,
and right in there with a
few others.

do you type your posts on a typewriter?

 

[Chescat]

do you type your posts on a typewriter?

I've tried to fix it, but it stays like this.
Any suggestions how, I'd love to hear it.

 

[WannyandWalt]

Prediction is spot on. The transfers we got from the portal are blah and Champagnie is gone and Capel is not a good coach. Tell me why any publication would pick Pitt higher?

Truth hurts and you just told it

 

[WannyandWalt]

Another "Prediction" that is
obviously "spot on" would
be a very predictable
negative response from you.

You think he is wrong? Explain how he is wrong

 

[bobfree]

Truth hurts and you just told it

soon we will see how truthful he is.

Im not going to get worked up about the upcoming season because it is what it is.

Im really not going to get worked up over what other people think we are going to do

 

[Chescat]

You think he is wrong? Explain how he is wrong

not "wrong" at all. It was another
negative post by Mr. Negativity. .

 

[PittPoker]

Truth hurts and you just told it

I wish I thought Pitt basketball will be on the rise this season but all signs point to another bottom 3rd of the conference year. It's bad enough that Capel has been a pretty poor recruiter for us in relation to the expectations we all had. But he also hasn't coached well imo either. They promote Milan Brown who has definitely not earned it, the assistants on his staff are unimpressive and we got a bunch of mid major nothing special transfers from the portal.

Can miracles happen? Sure but this is year 4 of the Capel era and I feel like in a sense we're starting over to a degree.

 

[docpanther26]

Good points all around. Will be a challenge to finish in the upper half this year however if, and I mean a big IF, we shoot the ball much better this year, well who knows what can happen.

 

[wbrpanther]

Prediction is spot on. The transfers we got from the portal are blah and Champagnie is gone and Capel is not a good coach. Tell me why any publication would pick Pitt higher?

No sense playing the games I guess.

 

[wbrpanther]

Hopefully this team plays bully ball with its strong guards and Pitt can go 17-15 just to have a winning season.

The biggest unknown is how much inside presence we have with Hugely and Gueye and the others. Has to be better than last year. By how much is an unknown.

 

[Chescat]

Good points all around. Will be a challenge to finish in the upper half this year however if, and I mean a big IF, we shoot the ball much better this year, well who knows what can happen.

My original post was not
suggesting an "upper half
finish this year. It's that the
bottom (maybe a third of
the ACC) is not very good.
and that Pitt is in that not
so good group. The magazine
had us next to last, and the
ACCN analyzer had no idea
what to say about what we'd
do.
Again, we might not even
finish near the middle, but,
we are better IMO than
the team that finished last
season.

 

[docpanther26]

My original post was not
suggesting an "upper half
finish this year. It's that the
bottom (maybe a third of
the ACC) is not very good.
and that Pitt is in that not
so good group. The magazine
had us next to last, and the
ACCN analyzer had no idea
what to say about what we'd
do.
Again, we might not even
finish near the middle, but,
we are better IMO than
the team that finished last
season.

Certainly, understood that completely. I’m hopeful we catch a few breaks and can climb the conference ladder! H2P!

 

[Fsgolfdr]

There’s just too many unknowns to predict how good or bad this team will be . I remain hopeful that the young guys improve and the new additions bring something to the table . Losing JC is definitely a hugh negative, but losing the two malcontents IMO is an addition by subtraction . My guess is that they’re a much better team this yr than last and will surprise to the upside .

 

[Drew1208]

Yes, we sure will miss Champ.
By the way, he got 11 pts in
that last game. Regardless,
we can't replace him. It's
going to be replacement
by committee. I think it's
pretty clear that we're far
better up front with Hugley,
and Gueye. The backcourt
is also better IMO with
Femi, Sibande, Horton, and
the transfer Burton. X is
more talented than any
of our guards, but we saw
the results of that.

I actually agree with who
and what we are. I also
don't think we have
"enough talent." I just
see us as one of several
poor teams at the lower
end of the ACC, and better
than how we finished.

My original post was not
suggesting an "upper half
finish this year. It's that the
bottom (maybe a third of
the ACC) is not very good.
and that Pitt is in that not
so good group. The magazine
had us next to last, and the
ACCN analyzer had no idea
what to say about what we'd
do.
Again, we might not even
finish near the middle, but,
we are better IMO than
the team that finished last
season.

The middle half isn't that good either.
Duke, UNC, FSU, VT,...... They're good.

I'd say the biggest unknown is what we get from the 3 and 4 spot.
Guards and 5 should be an improvement.
3 and 4 we lost the most talent and we will be worse there.
So it'll be interesting who steps up at the 3 and 4 this year.

 

[Chescat]

I'd say the biggest unknown is what we get from the 3 and 4 spot.
Guards and 5 should be an improvement.
3 and 4 we lost the most talent and we will be worse there.
So it'll be interesting who steps up at the 3 and 4 this year.

Very true. The three spot will
probably see different combos.
Playing 3 guards at a time is one
way to play it....I could easily see
Femi, Horton, and Sibande on
the floor at once. When we go
with 2 true guards my guess
would be Payton or Jeffers at
the three. I doubt we will see
Gueye there while Hugley is
at C.

As for the 4 spot, that to me
might be a problem. We lost a
real talent in Toney who though
undersized, played well for us.
Olidapo is a 4, but he's no Toney.
if Hugley and Gueye both are on
the floor one of them obviously
would play the 4 spot. I doubt we
see that combo very much,
because we need a backup at C.

I wish we were talking football, but
that was a downer today.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Year 4 was basically reset to year 1..

 

[HailToPitt1985]

No use in piling on. This year is going to be brutal and that's just the way it is. So I'll go to the games and just watch some basketball with no expectations until we can get some recruits and a good coach.

 

[DT_PITT]

No use in piling on. This year is going to be brutal and that's just the way it is. So I'll go to the games and just watch some basketball with no expectations until we can get some recruits and a good coach.

For this year, I want evidence that Femi, Big John and William all can become top half ACC starters. If I see that, I can feel relatively positive about our season in 22-23.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

Goal 1A: Keep Mintz in the fold. Beyond that everything is development. Mintz is the type of talent we can legitimately get excited about/build around. Don’t stop recruiting him until he steps on campus, try to pick up some useful pieces around him, and hope that out of Femi/Hugley/Jeffress you see tangible growth.

 

[Chescat]

For this year, I want evidence that Femi, Big John and William all can become top half ACC starters. If I see that, I can feel relatively positive about our season in 22-23.

"This year".....I'm not so
certain about this year.
However they have talent,
and I feel they'll eventually
get to that "upper half
you mentioned. When is
the question. They're sophs,
and Hugley has very little
experience given last year,

Again, the bottom of the
ACC is not strong, so if they
do improve as I feel they
will...we will be better than
the Pitt team that finished
last season. They should be
able to be competitive with
that bottom third of the
ACC.

 

[Jeffburgh]

Yeah, if you follow the team and see some videos and know that HCJC has a pretty decent "eye" for talent you might have a little higher expectations for this season than someone who doesn't.

The could be his "deepest" team at Pitt, and some of the Island of Misfit Toys he is bringing in might surprise. But, definitely would be good to have modest expectations.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

I’m expecting maybe inching forward but still mostly brutal.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

For this year, I want evidence that Femi, Big John and William all can become top half ACC starters. If I see that, I can feel relatively positive about our season in 22-23.

The sad thing now though, is if they are top half ACC starters, will they be poached? I mean college BB (and FB) has so tilted itself to feed the best of the best it is almost becoming the Washington Generals for most of us.

 

[thirteenNINE]

In my opinion, I think we can finish anywhere between #10 and #14.

I'll just go with #11 because I'm a fan.

I haven't run the numbers and the numbers aren't going to be too clear with this roster anyway but I think that anything between 7th and 15th is in play with this group. But much like you, I think that taking 11th or so is the safest play.

 

[Chescat]

I haven't run the numbers and the numbers aren't going to be too clear with this roster anyway but I think that anything between 7th and 15th is in play with this group. But much like you, I think that taking 11th or so is the safest play.

7th would be an amazing
accomplishment. 11th would
even be better than most
prognosticators at this
point are predicting.

I give you and DT Pitt credit
for the those predictions.
As for me, I gotta see both
Pitt and other ACC teams
in real game time. I feel
like I know about what we're
bringing back. I'm clueless
about the new players and
if and how they'll jell with
their team mates, and with
Capel's system.

Of course this is true with
most of the other ACC teams.
They all have transfers and
they have some of the same
issues as Pitt.

 

[DT_PITT]

7th would be an amazing
accomplishment. 11th would
even be better than most
prognosticators at this
point are predicting.

I give you and DT Pitt credit
for the those predictions.
As for me, I gotta see both
Pitt and other ACC teams
in real game time. I feel
like I know about what we're
bringing back. I'm clueless
about the new players and
if and how they'll jell with
their team mates, and with
Capel's system.

Of course this is true with
most of the other ACC teams.
They all have transfers and
they have some of the same
issues as Pitt.

I agree that 11th would be better than most prognosticators are predicting. I do consider it to be optimistic for sure. Most will predict us 12-14. Like I said, without a doubt, I'm being a fan.

 

[thirteenNINE]

7th would be an amazing
accomplishment. 11th would
even be better than most
prognosticators at this
point are predicting.

I give you and DT Pitt credit
for the those predictions.
As for me, I gotta see both
Pitt and other ACC teams
in real game time. I feel
like I know about what we're
bringing back. I'm clueless
about the new players and
if and how they'll jell with
their team mates, and with
Capel's system.

Of course this is true with
most of the other ACC teams.
They all have transfers and
they have some of the same
issues as Pitt.

Statistically I know that my metrics are going to be much higher on Jeffress and Hugley then most eye test rankers because of their recruiting rankings and that Burton and Gueye (even if he's an offensive blackhole) are going to show pretty well for depth pieces. 7th is definitely well beyond the most pie in the sky predictions but the middle of the ACC has a lot of weaknesses so while 11/12 is the safer projections I expect to see simulations where we finish 6/7/8 when I get around to running things.