Now the excitement has faded a bit for me after that amazing win I have a few thoughts.
1) Capel did a really great job of finding players that could shoot and also were good teammates which led to this chemistry we have so badly been lacking for a while.
2) I haven’t seen a Pitt team with two shooters that play so much be so effective from 3 point range. What’s interesting is Hinson is about 40 percent which is very good. Eliot is about 36 percent which is also good. But when I watch hem shoot I honestly don’t remember them missing many. And they always come at critical times which is the key. Stops a comeback or leads to one. Their shots always count.
3) Love Hinson. What excitement and intensity. Eliot is so key for us and now he is playing better on D. Burton hasn’t been forcing things but is always a steady rock when we need him. Nelly drives me crazy. I don’t think he does anything very well. But he seems to make plays when we need him. Fede had a great game for us today. Huge. Capel still doesn’t make many adjustments during the game and that has been an issue with the coaching staff since day 1. But our players have bought into the coaches and their desire to win and have been willing themselves to victories and taking games from other teams. I mean that in a good way.
4) We have pretty much stopped running offensive sets. I didn’t see Spanish PnR, Zoom a few times, and no Horns. We did a high pick and roll on the great majority of our offensive possessions with nothing much coming from it. But I don’t think Capel likes having offensive sets. And he doesn’t need to right now because Hinson and Eliot move so well without the ball and are shooting so well. And Burton can break down defenses with his mid range. As long as we are willing to share the ball and guys can find open spots and make the shots than we are ok. For now.
5) My worry going down the stretch is can that be sustainable for scoring? We have made 27 three point shots in the last two games and have had one game with 81 and today with only 71. And we needed every single one of those shots or we lose one or both of those games. Hinson has been insane shooting the ball. But we have also seen that he doesn’t do much when he has an off shooting game. So I hope we can find a balance between playing free and getting up a lot of 3’s off player movement and balancing it with some sets like we were earlier in the year. At least in parts of a game where we need a set to get a good look.
6) So the question is are we a tourney team? Are we one of the top 3 teams in the ACC? Should we be ranked now after beating a ranked team? The answer to all the questions to me are it still doesn’t matter to me. We are playing great right now. I am going to enjoy that. And take one game at a time and enjoy all the great moments from each game. Because as great as I feel right now, I could feel much different if we stop shooting lights out and we struggle down the stretch. As a Pitt fan, that’s probably a pretty good way to handle our success right now. One game at a time. And enjoy the ride.
1) Capel did a really great job of finding players that could shoot and also were good teammates which led to this chemistry we have so badly been lacking for a while.
2) I haven’t seen a Pitt team with two shooters that play so much be so effective from 3 point range. What’s interesting is Hinson is about 40 percent which is very good. Eliot is about 36 percent which is also good. But when I watch hem shoot I honestly don’t remember them missing many. And they always come at critical times which is the key. Stops a comeback or leads to one. Their shots always count.
3) Love Hinson. What excitement and intensity. Eliot is so key for us and now he is playing better on D. Burton hasn’t been forcing things but is always a steady rock when we need him. Nelly drives me crazy. I don’t think he does anything very well. But he seems to make plays when we need him. Fede had a great game for us today. Huge. Capel still doesn’t make many adjustments during the game and that has been an issue with the coaching staff since day 1. But our players have bought into the coaches and their desire to win and have been willing themselves to victories and taking games from other teams. I mean that in a good way.
4) We have pretty much stopped running offensive sets. I didn’t see Spanish PnR, Zoom a few times, and no Horns. We did a high pick and roll on the great majority of our offensive possessions with nothing much coming from it. But I don’t think Capel likes having offensive sets. And he doesn’t need to right now because Hinson and Eliot move so well without the ball and are shooting so well. And Burton can break down defenses with his mid range. As long as we are willing to share the ball and guys can find open spots and make the shots than we are ok. For now.
5) My worry going down the stretch is can that be sustainable for scoring? We have made 27 three point shots in the last two games and have had one game with 81 and today with only 71. And we needed every single one of those shots or we lose one or both of those games. Hinson has been insane shooting the ball. But we have also seen that he doesn’t do much when he has an off shooting game. So I hope we can find a balance between playing free and getting up a lot of 3’s off player movement and balancing it with some sets like we were earlier in the year. At least in parts of a game where we need a set to get a good look.
6) So the question is are we a tourney team? Are we one of the top 3 teams in the ACC? Should we be ranked now after beating a ranked team? The answer to all the questions to me are it still doesn’t matter to me. We are playing great right now. I am going to enjoy that. And take one game at a time and enjoy all the great moments from each game. Because as great as I feel right now, I could feel much different if we stop shooting lights out and we struggle down the stretch. As a Pitt fan, that’s probably a pretty good way to handle our success right now. One game at a time. And enjoy the ride.
