Pitt-UVa Game Thread

[TD_6082]

Ok how about this…

Your squad is “good” not “great”. But they have a “very good” coach and have a big home court advantage that the last 23 teams couldn’t conquer.

And we (Pitt) went in there and soundly beat them. They needed to shoot 100% for almost 10 minutes so it wasn’t a 20 point loss.

I think this covers all the semantics. It was a good win.

UVA isn't a good team.

Good teams don't lose by 24 points to Wisconsin, 23 to Memphis, 22 to Notre Dame, 16 to NC State, 19 to Wake Forest, and 13 to Pitt. It's college hoops. Everybody has terrible nights. That's part of it. But I don't think you can have that many blowout losses to those caliber of teams on your resume and be called a good team. That's just my opinion. That's not to say UVA hasn't played well at times, or jelled well as a team. They certainly have. They just aren't very good this year.

The home winning streak is irrelevant. The bulk of those good wins were on the back of last year's team. (and tbh, Duke was screwed out of a win at JPJ last year) This year's team hasn't played any good teams at home. Their best home win was against a mediocre Texas A&M team. They beat Northeastern on a buzzer beater at home earlier this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to Wake Forest at home Saturday. And they still have to go on the road to lose to, ...err, I mean play VaTech, UNC and Duke.

 

[Chescat]

UVA isn't a good team.

Good teams don't lose by 24 points to Wisconsin, 23 to Memphis, 22 to Notre Dame, 16 to NC State, 19 to Wake Forest, and 13 to Pitt. It's college hoops. Everybody has terrible nights. That's part of it. But I don't think you can have that many blowout losses to those caliber of teams on your resume and be called a good team. That's just my opinion. That's not to say UVA hasn't played well at times, or jelled well as a team. They certainly have. They just aren't very good this year.

The home winning streak is irrelevant. The bulk of those good wins were on the back of last year's team. (and tbh, Duke was screwed out of a win at JPJ last year) This year's team hasn't played any good teams at home. Their best home win was against a mediocre Texas A&M team. They beat Northeastern on a buzzer beater at home earlier this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to Wake Forest at home Saturday. And they still have to go on the road to lose to, ...err, I mean play VaTech, UNC and Duke.

Going into the game last night I thought about the following.......Home
winning streak, Coach Bennett, UVAs "usual" tough D, etc. etc.

UVA. However watching the game on tv, they didn't look all
that good talent wise. I had seen them earlier in the year
and felt the same. Even with that, I wasnt convinced. Now
after watching it, maybe they're not such "a good team" as
you suggest. Let's see how they finish out this season.

 

[TD_6082]

Going into the game last night I thought about the following.......Home
winning streak, Coach Bennett, UVAs "usual" tough D, etc. etc.

UVA. However watching the game on tv, they didn't look all
that good talent wise. I had seen them earlier in the year
and felt the same. Even with that, I wasnt convinced. Now
after watching it, maybe they're not such "a good team" as
you suggest. Let's see how they finish out this season.

Exactly... To put it in perspective for a Pitt fan. Portor Moser wanted to upgrade his athleticism at OU, and Jake Groves, who sees major minutes at UVA was part of the purge. And Moser gave John Hugley a landing spot.

UVA is also a very odd, ill-constructed team. Their shooters aren't very good athletes and they are all defensive liabilities. Their athletes and ball handlers can't shoot. Beekman & Harris can't shoot 3s, and can't shoot FTs.

Tbh, Tony Bennett has been knocked down a notch by the transfer portal. UVA lost every single big on their roster from last year to the portal. and their leading scorer, Armaan Franklin, who had another year of eligibility as a GS, elected for the draft. (He didn't get drafted and currently in the G league) They signed 2 recruits they wanted to redshirt, but had to burn due to lack of players/talent. Buchanan, the freshman center that played last night has some skill, but you can tell he desperately needed the redshirt year to bulk and improve his footspeed. Watching him on that high hedge and trying to recover is borderline comical. He's a player that you would think has a bright future in the program, but these days, you never know if he's going to even be around next year.

And not to hit the panic button on 24-25, but Beekman and Dunn are probably gone, and it's possible Bennett could have a real shit-show on his hands.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the rest of this year plays out down the stretch.

 

[TD_6082]

Going into the game last night I thought about the following.......Home
winning streak, Coach Bennett, UVAs "usual" tough D, etc. etc.

UVA. However watching the game on tv, they didn't look all
that good talent wise. I had seen them earlier in the year
and felt the same. Even with that, I wasnt convinced. Now
after watching it, maybe they're not such "a good team" as
you suggest. Let's see how they finish out this season.

Boeheim on UVA

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Exactly... To put it in perspective for a Pitt fan. Portor Moser wanted to upgrade his athleticism at OU, and Jake Groves, who sees major minutes at UVA was part of the purge. And Moser gave John Hugley a landing spot.

UVA is also a very odd, ill-constructed team. Their shooters aren't very good athletes and they are all defensive liabilities. Their athletes and ball handlers can't shoot. Beekman & Harris can't shoot 3s, and can't shoot FTs.

Tbh, Tony Bennett has been knocked down a notch by the transfer portal. UVA lost every single big on their roster from last year to the portal. and their leading scorer, Armaan Franklin, who had another year of eligibility as a GS, elected for the draft. (He didn't get drafted and currently in the G league) They signed 2 recruits they wanted to redshirt, but had to burn due to lack of players/talent. Buchanan, the freshman center that played last night has some skill, but you can tell he desperately needed the redshirt year to bulk and improve his footspeed. Watching him on that high hedge and trying to recover is borderline comical. He's a player that you would think has a bright future in the program, but these days, you never know if he's going to even be around next year.

And not to hit the panic button on 24-25, but Beekman and Dunn are probably gone, and it's possible Bennett could have a real shit-show on his hands.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the rest of this year plays out down the stretch.

I dont think you will ever see him 1 and 2 seeds again because of the portal. He cant recruit those 75-100 guys and then have them stay 3-4 years anymore. And he's not going to get the top portal players. He's playing bros from Merrimack and Milwaukee. Scraping bottom of the barrel and still winning but not at the level of pre-Covid. He will get some lower tier grad transfers again and be back as a 10 seed next year.

 

[upj87]

UVA isn't a good team.

Good teams don't lose by 24 points to Wisconsin, 23 to Memphis, 22 to Notre Dame, 16 to NC State, 19 to Wake Forest, and 13 to Pitt. It's college hoops. Everybody has terrible nights. That's part of it. But I don't think you can have that many blowout losses to those caliber of teams on your resume and be called a good team. That's just my opinion. That's not to say UVA hasn't played well at times, or jelled well as a team. They certainly have. They just aren't very good this year.

The home winning streak is irrelevant. The bulk of those good wins were on the back of last year's team. (and tbh, Duke was screwed out of a win at JPJ last year) This year's team hasn't played any good teams at home. Their best home win was against a mediocre Texas A&M team. They beat Northeastern on a buzzer beater at home earlier this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to Wake Forest at home Saturday. And they still have to go on the road to lose to, ...err, I mean play VaTech, UNC and Duke.

you conveniently left out that winning 8 straight coming into last night man behind the curtain..,,if they go with the what they did then compared to what they do now metric in March across the board then Pitt is screwed, eh?

 

[TD_6082]

I dont think you will ever see him 1 and 2 seeds again because of the portal. He cant recruit those 75-100 guys and then have them stay 3-4 years anymore. And he's not going to get the top portal players. He's playing bros from Merrimack and Milwaukee. Scraping bottom of the barrel and still winning but not at the level of pre-Covid. He will get some lower tier grad transfers again and be back as a 10 seed next year.

Without question, he's been hurt by the portal. I don't think he's scraping the bottom of the barrel for portal players is a little harsh. They were caught off guard by a couple of player decisions this off season & as a whole, probably came up short of where they needed to be to really compete for a ACC Conference crown. The year before, Jayden Gardner & Armaan were very good portal pickups.

It's hard to really get a good read on how Bennett will do in the portal. The sample size is still too small.

 

[TD_6082]

you conveniently left out that winning 8 straight coming into last night man behind the curtain..,,if they go with the what they did then compared to what they do now metric in March across the board then Pitt is screwed, eh?

Yeah. They won 8 straight. That's a good accomplishment to win 8 straight conference games. But those 8 straight wasn't exactly against murderer's row. The best win was probably the 1 point road win at Clemson, and I'm not high on Clemson.

I think the selection committee used to more emphasis on the last 10 games performance, but I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

TBH, I don't really get into the bubble talk, Last 4 In/ 1st 4 out, NET, Kenpom, or all that nonsense. We have a show on selection Sunday, and I'll know who is in and who isn't that night. That's the only thing that matters, and all this other stuff is pointless as far as I'm concerned. No offense to those that do follow it, that's all fine and dandy. It's just not my cup of tea. Same thing for college football bowl predictions.

 

[Wanstash21]

lol. Listen man. Take your victory lap when we make the tournament. But don’t come here all high and mighty when you conveniently get too busy to post when Pitt was playing like ass.

you took a victory lap on me like 3 weeks ago lol gtfo

 

[Ski11585]

you took a victory lap on me like 3 weeks ago lol gtfo

And it was deserved at the time. You don't get to go hide in a hole and then suddenly pop up when the teams having a hot streak trying to dunk on folks.

At least wait til Pitt goes dancing before you take your victory lap.

 

[Wanstash21]

And it was deserved at the time. You don't get to go hide in a hole and then suddenly pop up when the teams having a hot streak trying to dunk on folks.

At least wait til Pitt goes dancing before you take your victory lap.

why are you so butt hurt over me giving @BballinsiderfromPitt shit ? I didn't say a word to you lol. I know you two are handsy with each other but this is just weird.

the dude made a bet and never paid it. who's hiding there? you calling him out?

the dude spreads gossip on here like a teenage girl... Bickell is buying out Capel .. lmao .. he deserves to be bashed for saying shit like that. Really strange you're running to his defense.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

why are you so butt hurt over me giving @BballinsiderfromPitt shit ? I didn't say a word to you lol. I know you two are handsy with each other but this is just weird.

the dude made a bet and never paid it. who's hiding there? you calling him out?

the dude spreads gossip on here like a teenage girl... Bickell is buying out Capel .. lmao .. he deserves to be bashed for saying shit like that. Really strange you're running to his defense.

1) not gossip
2) I’m not telling you this again, YOU changed the tenor of the bet to donating 100 dollars to the program. If I won it was 100 to women’s soccer. I did. What’s your email I’ll send you the receipt? How are you that young and don’t have a memory like me? My god dude, you that strapped for cash? Just bet the easy Pitt lines like last night and you’ll be fine.

 

[Wanstash21]

1) not gossip
2) I’m not telling you this again, YOU changed the tenor of the bet to donating 100 dollars to the program. If I won it was 100 to women’s soccer. I did. What’s your email I’ll send you the receipt? How are you that young and don’t have a memory like me? My god dude, you that strapped for cash? Just bet the easy Pitt lines like last night and you’ll be fine.

don't start something you can't finish

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

don't start something you can't finish

Again, I don’t speak teenage girl. I’ve honored the bet we made.

And Ski is right, popping in when things go well but disappearing for months at a time when they don’t is lame teenage chick behavior too. Maybe it’s the generation thing, but why can’t you just stand up like a man if shit is going sideways? I’m still here and rejoicing that we are finally talking bracketology again today.

 

[Vader_Storm]

UVA isn't a good team.

Good teams don't lose by 24 points to Wisconsin, 23 to Memphis, 22 to Notre Dame, 16 to NC State, 19 to Wake Forest, and 13 to Pitt. It's college hoops. Everybody has terrible nights. That's part of it. But I don't think you can have that many blowout losses to those caliber of teams on your resume and be called a good team. That's just my opinion. That's not to say UVA hasn't played well at times, or jelled well as a team. They certainly have. They just aren't very good this year.

The home winning streak is irrelevant. The bulk of those good wins were on the back of last year's team. (and tbh, Duke was screwed out of a win at JPJ last year) This year's team hasn't played any good teams at home. Their best home win was against a mediocre Texas A&M team. They beat Northeastern on a buzzer beater at home earlier this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to Wake Forest at home Saturday. And they still have to go on the road to lose to, ...err, I mean play VaTech, UNC and Duke.

Lost to Tennessee at home by 17
Lost to Kentucky by 29
Lost to Miami by 28
Lost to Wake Forest by 22
Lost to Duke by 30 at home
Lost to a bad Pitt team by 9 at home


North Carolina then went to the National Championship game.

Ive said this point to you at least 3 times in the past and you keep saying the same stupid shit over and over again. What happens early in the season doesn't mean anything when a team gets hot at the end of the season and is surging in February and March right before tournament play. That North Carolina team got hot at the end of the year, won 10 of its last 12 regular season games and got a 9 seed before getting to the Final 4.

You have this completely assinine notion that what happens in November and December is the same thing as what is happening in February and March. The games late in the season are 1000 times more important than what happened 5 months previously. Its even more so important in the portal era where players are jumping from team to team all over the place and there is little chemistry at the start of the year.


This has nothing to do with how good Virginia is. It has everything to do with you using irrelevant scores early in the season to judge how good a team is late in the season. You should take a good hard look at Pitt last year and this year and come to the conclusion that Pitt in March of this year and March of last year would of blown the doors off the same Pitt team of November of those years. Some teams get MUCH better as the season progresses and you seem clueless to understand this point. You sound like Joe Lunardi.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Lost to Tennessee at home by 17
Lost to Kentucky by 29
Lost to Miami by 28
Lost to Wake Forest by 22
Lost to Duke by 30 at home
Lost to a bad Pitt team by 9 at home


North Carolina then went to the National Championship game.

Ive said this point to you at least 3 times in the past and you keep saying the same stupid shit over and over again. What happens early in the season doesn't mean anything when a team gets hot at the end of the season and is surging in February and March right before tournament play. That North Carolina team got hot at the end of the year, won 10 of its last 12 regular season games and got a 9 seed before getting to the Final 4.

You have this completely assinine notion that what happens in November and December is the same thing as what is happening in February and March. The games late in the season are 1000 times more important than what happened 5 months previously. Its even more so important in the portal era where players are jumping from team to team all over the place and there is little chemistry at the start of the year.


This has nothing to do with how good Virginia is. It has everything to do with you using irrelevant scores early in the season to judge how good a team is late in the season. You should take a good hard look at Pitt last year and this year and come to the conclusion that Pitt in March of this year and March of last year would of blown the doors off the same Pitt team of November of those years. Some teams get MUCH better as the season progresses and you seem clueless to understand this point. You sound like Joe Lunardi.

To be fair to TD who hasn’t gotten a thing right about basketball in the last decade, the entire season matters for getting in the tournament and if Pitt had the brand recognition that UNC team had (or the star power) your point would make sense. But one is a blue blood with fans nationwide and the other doesn’t have fans outside of Pittsburgh and alums

 

[Vader_Storm]

To be fair to TD who hasn’t gotten a thing right about basketball in the last decade, the entire season matters for getting in the tournament and if Pitt had the brand recognition that UNC team had (or the star power) your point would make sense. But one is a blue blood with fans nationwide and the other doesn’t have fans outside of Pittsburgh and alums

My point doesn't have anything to do with how good Pitt is either or whether we are a tournament team right now.

My point is, any team that gets hot in February and March better be taken a lot more seriously than a team that is folding like a tent down the final stretch of the season in Feb. and March.

He can fill out his bracket any way he likes. I like teams that get hot late. And teams that get hot late make deep tournament runs. Its been proven over and over again.

 

[Ski11585]

why are you so butt hurt over me giving @BballinsiderfromPitt shit ? I didn't say a word to you lol. I know you two are handsy with each other but this is just weird.

the dude made a bet and never paid it. who's hiding there? you calling him out?

the dude spreads gossip on here like a teenage girl... Bickell is buying out Capel .. lmao .. he deserves to be bashed for saying shit like that. Really strange you're running to his defense.

I'm handsy with @BballinsiderfromPitt? I don't think that's the case. I've had no problem calling him out when I have thought he's crossed the line into rooting to be right rather than see Pitt/specific players do well.

I'm an equal opportunity caller-outer!

 

[TD_6082]

My point doesn't have anything to do with how good Pitt is either or whether we are a tournament team right now.

My point is, any team that gets hot in February and March better be taken a lot more seriously than a team that is folding like a tent down the final stretch of the season in Feb. and March.

He can fill out his bracket any way he likes. I like teams that get hot late. And teams that get hot late make deep tournament runs. Its been proven over and over again.

Yeah, I also like team that get hot and win 6 games in the NCAA Tournament.

Now do last year's Duke team. They were curb-stomped by Tennessee in the 2nd round. Vols didn't even have their PG.

 

[TD_6082]

To be fair to TD who hasn’t gotten a thing right about basketball in the last decade, the entire season matters for getting in the tournament and if Pitt had the brand recognition that UNC team had (or the star power) your point would make sense. But one is a blue blood with fans nationwide and the other doesn’t have fans outside of Pittsburgh and alums

St. Johns more popular than the Knicks yet?

 

[Vader_Storm]

Yeah, I also like team that get hot and win 6 games in the NCAA Tournament.

Now do last year's Duke team. They were curb-stomped by Tennessee in the 2nd round. Vols didn't even have their PG.

You are again missing the point.

Not every team that gets hot late in the season is going to go on some deep run at the end of the year, especially in a 1 and done tournament. This isn't a 7 game series here.


The point is, the odds are strongly in favor of the teams that get hot at the end of the year as opposed to the beginning of the year. In other words, a team that gets hot late and is surging late in the season has a much better chance in the tournament as opposed to the team losing games all over the place late in the season and limping into the ncaa tournament. This is pretty much common sense and I dont even bet on games.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

St. Johns more popular than the Knicks yet?

Man you guys really love to hate on if not the greatest, one of the 3-4 greatest tactical coaches in ncaa history. It’s really odd

 

[TD_6082]

Man you guys really love to hate on if not the greatest, one of the 3-4 greatest tactical coaches in ncaa history. It’s really odd

Not at all. I'm a Pitino fan. Caught many UK games while he was at Kentucky.

I'm hating on your ridiculous statement that Red Storm hoops would rival the popularity of the Knicks in NYC.

A great tactician doesn’t cover his numerous dumb personal and professional decisions that has led to downfall.

15 seconds. 😆

 

[Wanstash21]

Not at all. I'm a Pitino fan. Caught many UK games while he was at Kentucky.

I'm hating on your ridiculous statement that Red Storm hoops would rival the popularity of the Knicks in NYC.

A great tactician doesn’t cover his numerous dumb personal and professional decisions that has led to downfall.

15 seconds. 😆

if you throw shit at the wall every day some of it will stick. Pure percentage play. That's all it is