** For us “older timers,” the first walk up Cardiac Hill for a Hoops season is an exercise in counting as much as waking. So this is now 23 seasons walking up to the Pete, and a chunk more when the walks all the way up to the Fitz are added in.
** The feelings within the walk each season are so much different of course. In the walk up for the inaugural season of the Pete, it was to meet a Top 5 team. The next several filled with similar expectations.
** And of course, I’ve walked up to the Pete knowing we might face a season when we wouldn’t win a conference game.
** For this season, mentally it was a spirited walk, even if my physical pace of increasing age was a more than a touch slower. In other words, I’m more than pumped for this season to start even if my legs didn’t show it.
** For those of you who followed the game, you already know that the first half of this contest didn’t quite meet those already pumped expectations.
** Offensively, sure … we were fine I suppose. We scored plenty of points against a poor opponent without playing particularly pleasurable offense.
** But defensively? Our Panthers showed out early like they had already spent much of their day running up and down from Fifth Avenue to Courtside.
** I’m not too worried about defense though. There’s no reason this team can’t defend well in time. They have the talent, length and quickness. And the effort can certainly improve which was exemplified by much better ball pressure in the second half when we only surrendered 20 points to the Park.
** More importantly, we showed much better discipline on ball screens and switches in frame two, a trait solely lacking in the first frame. I’m sure Jeff said a thing or two about the issue at halftime.
** The other reason I wasn’t too worried is because it’s pretty clear this team can score.
** More importantly, it appears this team can score without shooting the three well, and this led to 93 points today.
** They can also score because they just might have the best starting backcourt in the ACC. I don’t see this as hyperbole.
** Jaland and Ish combined for 46 points and it really didn’t look like either was near their best to get to that number. But still, Jaland’s floater is gorgeous and Ish’s three ball looked great while he also mustered several tough points in the paint.
** Despite our fine pair, maybe the biggest offensive revelation was the splendid second half from Cam Corhen.
** This was certainly a welcome change from Cam’s first half, which had many, including myself, wondering just how this guy will fit in.
** What made Cam’s second half points so pleasing is that he scored all 6 of his buckets without any help. I’m not sure Fede scored 6 buckets all of last year without help.
** But the bigger number for Cam was the 11 rebounds. There’s still a way to go to learn whether he can be the rebounder the Panthers need, especially on the defensive end. But this was a welcome start.
** As for the rest of our Panthers on the offensive end, it was honestly a bit of a mixed bag. There wasn’t anyone who struggled, but also no one stood out.
** We can clearly see why Coach Capel likes the Twins on the perimeter with Cam down low because of the spacing they create and the open threes this generates for both. The problem today, of course, was that they combined to only knock down 2 of those 11 open threes. I expect that number to be double that in future games, but it’s something to keep an eye on until it happens.
** In the early going, Damian Dunn made a strong impression hitting two buckets, but he slowed down after that. But it's good to see how he plays defense and it's reasonable to believe he’ll have a handful of double digit scoring games in him, hopefully when Ish and Jaland aren’t clicking like tonight.
** Much of the same can be said about Beebah. Often, I thought to myself that he looked the part of a freshman finding his way, but then I realized he still tossed in 8 points.
** Nonetheless, for both of our backcourt understudies, it’s just going to take a little time for them to figure out exactly how they fit behind the prime pair.
** Perhaps Zach already knows how he fits, and that is to bring defense and energy. He did both tonight, including a highlight reel off the backboard fast break slam from Jaland. We’ll see what happens to his minutes though when Amsal joins the mix.
** We didn’t get a long look at Papa today, but mostly he played the minutes Cam didn’t. Only time will tell how he’ll stack up when the games start to matter. For tonight, we can only figure that he’s still finding his way.
** And Amdy and Marlon’s bigger minutes, barring injury, are in future years.
** As for the overall lineups, no one could possibly do a better job than how @Chris Peak broke it down in his game post, so I won’t try. And regardless, my hope is that Amsal throws a really positive wrench into the mix anyway.
** Overall, I wanted to offer one more observation about this year’s exhibition affair compared to the last two. In both of those contests, both were much more up and down the court affairs when the guys looked to be having an absolute blast.
** This time out, it appeared like our guys had a little more of business-like approach.
** Of course, this is just a gut feel, nor can I say one should look at this as a good thing or a bad thing, especially knowing that our teams didn’t get off to great starts in the last two campaigns. Perhaps we’ll get more of an answer in the next few weeks.
** For this Pitt fan, I’ll end by saying I’m glad season 23 at the Pete is underway, even if it’s getting harder to walk there.
** And after tonight, I’ll take my thoughts off of games at the Pete for a bit, and instead to the game at Acrisure in hopes that Eli and crew will get to 7-0!
** The feelings within the walk each season are so much different of course. In the walk up for the inaugural season of the Pete, it was to meet a Top 5 team. The next several filled with similar expectations.
** And of course, I’ve walked up to the Pete knowing we might face a season when we wouldn’t win a conference game.
** For this season, mentally it was a spirited walk, even if my physical pace of increasing age was a more than a touch slower. In other words, I’m more than pumped for this season to start even if my legs didn’t show it.
** For those of you who followed the game, you already know that the first half of this contest didn’t quite meet those already pumped expectations.
** Offensively, sure … we were fine I suppose. We scored plenty of points against a poor opponent without playing particularly pleasurable offense.
** But defensively? Our Panthers showed out early like they had already spent much of their day running up and down from Fifth Avenue to Courtside.
** I’m not too worried about defense though. There’s no reason this team can’t defend well in time. They have the talent, length and quickness. And the effort can certainly improve which was exemplified by much better ball pressure in the second half when we only surrendered 20 points to the Park.
** More importantly, we showed much better discipline on ball screens and switches in frame two, a trait solely lacking in the first frame. I’m sure Jeff said a thing or two about the issue at halftime.
** The other reason I wasn’t too worried is because it’s pretty clear this team can score.
** More importantly, it appears this team can score without shooting the three well, and this led to 93 points today.
** They can also score because they just might have the best starting backcourt in the ACC. I don’t see this as hyperbole.
** Jaland and Ish combined for 46 points and it really didn’t look like either was near their best to get to that number. But still, Jaland’s floater is gorgeous and Ish’s three ball looked great while he also mustered several tough points in the paint.
** Despite our fine pair, maybe the biggest offensive revelation was the splendid second half from Cam Corhen.
** This was certainly a welcome change from Cam’s first half, which had many, including myself, wondering just how this guy will fit in.
** What made Cam’s second half points so pleasing is that he scored all 6 of his buckets without any help. I’m not sure Fede scored 6 buckets all of last year without help.
** But the bigger number for Cam was the 11 rebounds. There’s still a way to go to learn whether he can be the rebounder the Panthers need, especially on the defensive end. But this was a welcome start.
** As for the rest of our Panthers on the offensive end, it was honestly a bit of a mixed bag. There wasn’t anyone who struggled, but also no one stood out.
** We can clearly see why Coach Capel likes the Twins on the perimeter with Cam down low because of the spacing they create and the open threes this generates for both. The problem today, of course, was that they combined to only knock down 2 of those 11 open threes. I expect that number to be double that in future games, but it’s something to keep an eye on until it happens.
** In the early going, Damian Dunn made a strong impression hitting two buckets, but he slowed down after that. But it's good to see how he plays defense and it's reasonable to believe he’ll have a handful of double digit scoring games in him, hopefully when Ish and Jaland aren’t clicking like tonight.
** Much of the same can be said about Beebah. Often, I thought to myself that he looked the part of a freshman finding his way, but then I realized he still tossed in 8 points.
** Nonetheless, for both of our backcourt understudies, it’s just going to take a little time for them to figure out exactly how they fit behind the prime pair.
** Perhaps Zach already knows how he fits, and that is to bring defense and energy. He did both tonight, including a highlight reel off the backboard fast break slam from Jaland. We’ll see what happens to his minutes though when Amsal joins the mix.
** We didn’t get a long look at Papa today, but mostly he played the minutes Cam didn’t. Only time will tell how he’ll stack up when the games start to matter. For tonight, we can only figure that he’s still finding his way.
** And Amdy and Marlon’s bigger minutes, barring injury, are in future years.
** As for the overall lineups, no one could possibly do a better job than how @Chris Peak broke it down in his game post, so I won’t try. And regardless, my hope is that Amsal throws a really positive wrench into the mix anyway.
** Overall, I wanted to offer one more observation about this year’s exhibition affair compared to the last two. In both of those contests, both were much more up and down the court affairs when the guys looked to be having an absolute blast.
** This time out, it appeared like our guys had a little more of business-like approach.
** Of course, this is just a gut feel, nor can I say one should look at this as a good thing or a bad thing, especially knowing that our teams didn’t get off to great starts in the last two campaigns. Perhaps we’ll get more of an answer in the next few weeks.
** For this Pitt fan, I’ll end by saying I’m glad season 23 at the Pete is underway, even if it’s getting harder to walk there.
** And after tonight, I’ll take my thoughts off of games at the Pete for a bit, and instead to the game at Acrisure in hopes that Eli and crew will get to 7-0!
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