RE: Coaching critiques

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Of course in year 5 with very little joy to date, every game is a referendum on Capel. As someone who has been critical of the Capel era, I didn’t think this one was on him last night. But I’ll give 3 good things and 3 bad things I think I see from the actual on court coaching aspect of this game and how it could translate beyond.

Good:
1. Everyone knows Capel let’s his players play free. Until this year, it didn’t work all that well because they hadn’t had shooters. Now that guys are sprinting to spots in transition and taking and making wide open 3’s, the offense and its flow are translating at a higher rate. This should be something good to continue.

2. The 1-2-2 3/4 court zone. It disrupted their flow and got some turnovers and when it didn’t took about 12-13 seconds for Vandy to get into into any sort of offense. With FF at the back end, you can gamble a bit more and stay in it a bit longer. If Hugley were ever to get in shape, he could be a gambler for steals in the back. I’d like to see it stay as a staple off FT regardless of make or miss. Miss is even better because they will have to hand it to a guard then set up their press break and it will take 2-3 seconds longer to break.

3. The end of game coaching was good. They played loose, they played aggressive, drew up a nice set in a timeout and took a late lead. You can’t really blame the foul on the end on Capel. Just a flukey, unlucky mistake from a guy who played a terrific game otherwise.

Bad:
1. The obvious. Playing the ineffective Hugley way too much. The key stretch that he was in when FF should’ve been in was after the under 8 in the second half. Inexcusable. FF was + 13 and Hugley was -12. Or +12 and -13. Either way, the point is you simply cannot play Hugley more at this juncture. And the time has come and passed for him to figure it out in game. He needs to play less, plain and simple.

2. The offensive sets aren’t conducive to get Hugley going either. Forcing him into decisions at the 3 point line leads him to believe he’s a 3 point shooter, getting bad fouls with his body, or pick and rolling which is not his strong suit. And the other main set where he gets it and dribble hands off isn’t much better as he just does not look comfortable at this juncture. FF has to be the pick and roll guy. Catching lobs and O boards should be his only shot to score. I guess this could’ve been 1B

3. This really could be labeled 1C. I absolutely cannot stand switching DHO and screens with Hugley. He cannot guard bigs, let alone guards. And the same can be said for FF. I loved the way Vandy played our ball screens. The effort really threw us off.
The other thing about the switching onto guards with our bigs and Vice versa is it puts Hugley and FF in bad rebounding position. We saw how that worked out.

Really minor tweaks could be made to have a mildly successful season and a possible NIT berth. It will be almost impossible for NCAA with the OOC record.

 

[pittchagg]

Really good post. It’s going to feel like a pile on, but Hugley was pretty much the difference last night. Probably would have won the game if Fede had gone even a little longer in the first half without picking up that second foul. The difference in play was that stark.

Legitimate criticism to play Hugley that much. I think his level of play has surprised the staff, too. The problem is that I don’t even think that playing him a bunch over next two games will help him figure it out for the 19 after that. But I think you gotta play Guillermo more at this point. John’s killing you in every area of the game.

To that end, it’s wild how much better of a screen setter/pick and roll guy Fede is than John. You’d think with John’s frame that he’d excel setting those perimeter screens, but he just isn’t that guy. He bails out of them way too early, and never seems to have the timing right. This has been him for years, too, so it’s not just the injury stuff.

Vanderbilt really had us out of sorts in stretches - felt like they anticipated really well and had a hand in our passing lanes a ton. Sibande never got the rhythm, and Burton felt frustrated. The offensive spacing was pretty solid, though, and we obviously worked and hit a bunch of looks. It’s not like we shot 48% from the floor on a bunch of circus shots - though Nelly building the confidence to work those couple of creative drives and making them will help us.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Of course in year 5 with very little joy to date, every game is a referendum on Capel. As someone who has been critical of the Capel era, I didn’t think this one was on him last night. But I’ll give 3 good things and 3 bad things I think I see from the actual on court coaching aspect of this game and how it could translate beyond.

Good:
1. Everyone knows Capel let’s his players play free. Until this year, it didn’t work all that well because they hadn’t had shooters. Now that guys are sprinting to spots in transition and taking and making wide open 3’s, the offense and its flow are translating at a higher rate. This should be something good to continue.

2. The 1-2-2 3/4 court zone. It disrupted their flow and got some turnovers and when it didn’t took about 12-13 seconds for Vandy to get into into any sort of offense. With FF at the back end, you can gamble a bit more and stay in it a bit longer. If Hugley were ever to get in shape, he could be a gambler for steals in the back. I’d like to see it stay as a staple off FT regardless of make or miss. Miss is even better because they will have to hand it to a guard then set up their press break and it will take 2-3 seconds longer to break.

3. The end of game coaching was good. They played loose, they played aggressive, drew up a nice set in a timeout and took a late lead. You can’t really blame the foul on the end on Capel. Just a flukey, unlucky mistake from a guy who played a terrific game otherwise.

Bad:
1. The obvious. Playing the ineffective Hugley way too much. The key stretch that he was in when FF should’ve been in was after the under 8 in the second half. Inexcusable. FF was + 13 and Hugley was -12. Or +12 and -13. Either way, the point is you simply cannot play Hugley more at this juncture. And the time has come and passed for him to figure it out in game. He needs to play less, plain and simple.

2. The offensive sets aren’t conducive to get Hugley going either. Forcing him into decisions at the 3 point line leads him to believe he’s a 3 point shooter, getting bad fouls with his body, or pick and rolling which is not his strong suit. And the other main set where he gets it and dribble hands off isn’t much better as he just does not look comfortable at this juncture. FF has to be the pick and roll guy. Catching lobs and O boards should be his only shot to score. I guess this could’ve been 1B

3. This really could be labeled 1C. I absolutely cannot stand switching DHO and screens with Hugley. He cannot guard bigs, let alone guards. And the same can be said for FF. I loved the way Vandy played our ball screens. The effort really threw us off.
The other thing about the switching onto guards with our bigs and Vice versa is it puts Hugley and FF in bad rebounding position. We saw how that worked out.

Really minor tweaks could be made to have a mildly successful season and a possible NIT berth. It will be almost impossible for NCAA with the OOC record.

I agree with the DHO particularly with FF because he’s really effective at the hedge and recover .
Unfortunately I think it’s a bit of a function of what used to be bad defensive communication.
But the non-Hugley lineups are much better on defense .

As I said in the game thread - there are no moral victories in year 5-
But honestly this team is encouraging and fun to watch for a change!
Whether it’s Greg or Nike it seems someone else besides Burton and Hinson step up the last 6 games

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Of course in year 5 with very little joy to date, every game is a referendum on Capel. As someone who has been critical of the Capel era, I didn’t think this one was on him last night. But I’ll give 3 good things and 3 bad things I think I see from the actual on court coaching aspect of this game and how it could translate beyond.

Good:
1. Everyone knows Capel let’s his players play free. Until this year, it didn’t work all that well because they hadn’t had shooters. Now that guys are sprinting to spots in transition and taking and making wide open 3’s, the offense and its flow are translating at a higher rate. This should be something good to continue.

2. The 1-2-2 3/4 court zone. It disrupted their flow and got some turnovers and when it didn’t took about 12-13 seconds for Vandy to get into into any sort of offense. With FF at the back end, you can gamble a bit more and stay in it a bit longer. If Hugley were ever to get in shape, he could be a gambler for steals in the back. I’d like to see it stay as a staple off FT regardless of make or miss. Miss is even better because they will have to hand it to a guard then set up their press break and it will take 2-3 seconds longer to break.

3. The end of game coaching was good. They played loose, they played aggressive, drew up a nice set in a timeout and took a late lead. You can’t really blame the foul on the end on Capel. Just a flukey, unlucky mistake from a guy who played a terrific game otherwise.

Bad:
1. The obvious. Playing the ineffective Hugley way too much. The key stretch that he was in when FF should’ve been in was after the under 8 in the second half. Inexcusable. FF was + 13 and Hugley was -12. Or +12 and -13. Either way, the point is you simply cannot play Hugley more at this juncture. And the time has come and passed for him to figure it out in game. He needs to play less, plain and simple.

2. The offensive sets aren’t conducive to get Hugley going either. Forcing him into decisions at the 3 point line leads him to believe he’s a 3 point shooter, getting bad fouls with his body, or pick and rolling which is not his strong suit. And the other main set where he gets it and dribble hands off isn’t much better as he just does not look comfortable at this juncture. FF has to be the pick and roll guy. Catching lobs and O boards should be his only shot to score. I guess this could’ve been 1B

3. This really could be labeled 1C. I absolutely cannot stand switching DHO and screens with Hugley. He cannot guard bigs, let alone guards. And the same can be said for FF. I loved the way Vandy played our ball screens. The effort really threw us off.
The other thing about the switching onto guards with our bigs and Vice versa is it puts Hugley and FF in bad rebounding position. We saw how that worked out.

Really minor tweaks could be made to have a mildly successful season and a possible NIT berth. It will be almost impossible for NCAA with the OOC record.

On one hand, I'm disappointed that we blew our chance at an NCAAT bid last night. On the other, I'm a little excited that I thought we had a chance. I believe the team had been playing good enough to at least make it into the fringes of the bubble. But, as you said, the OOC is now too bad. We would have to go 13-7 in the ACC to finish 20-11 overall and then win some games in the ACCT. Usually, going 13-7 in the ACC would be a slam dunk but the league is terrible. Its a 4 bid league and really just a 2 bid league if you consider Duke/UNC to be quasi-independents as I do. So just UVa and VT out of the 13 team "real ACC" which is so bad words cannot describe it. They probably need to go 14-6 which isnt going to happen.

As for Hugley, he cant be on the floor. He is playing as poorly as Terrell Brown, Kene Chukwuka, you name them. His play has been among the worst we've seen at that position. I get that he's out of shape but being 20 pounds overweight shouldn't cause you from going from dominating Armando Bacot to being dominated by a guy from William & Mary. Right now, he is an average NEC-level Center. I've never seen such a regression. Does Pitt have a training and nutrition staff?

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

It still looks alot like year 1 to me. In year 5. His schemes look the same. His no. 1 recruit is in operation shutdown. His other one is ready to plead to a felony. All we have is the current group trying hard and the ACC is historically bad. So far his reset is a tick better at best.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It still looks alot like year 1 to me. In year 5. His schemes look the same. His no. 1 recruit is in operation shutdown. His other one is ready to plead to a felony. All we have is the current group trying hard and the ACC is historically bad. So far his reset is a tick better at best.

Heather is going to have a very interesting decision to make. Would 17-14/10-10 without an NIT bid be enough? We'd be losing our 3 starting guards but would a recruiting class which is currently ranked 25th and 3rd in the ACC.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

I thought the offense was run better than it has all season last night. WHEN FEDE WAS ON THE FLOOR. John needs benched for real, or just give him 10 minutes a game. As BBallinsider said weeks ago, he's unplayable. He looks worse today than he did when he first came back.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Heather is going to have a very interesting decision to make. Would 17-14/10-10 without an NIT bid be enough? We'd be losing our 3 starting guards but would a recruiting class which is currently ranked 25th and 3rd in the ACC.

I cannot stress enough how unimportant Hs recruiting is right now. None of these players are gonna be better than the guards we are losing. If they don’t make the NIT there is no choice. You cannot run it back w this staff without postseason and I’ve heard they won’t unless it’s NCAA.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Heather is going to have a very interesting decision to make. Would 17-14/10-10 without an NIT bid be enough? We'd be losing our 3 starting guards but would a recruiting class which is currently ranked 25th and 3rd in the ACC.

The end of the season (avoiding the February swoon)
Will make that determination

 

[Ski11585]

On one hand, I'm disappointed that we blew our chance at an NCAAT bid last night. On the other, I'm a little excited that I thought we had a chance. I believe the team had been playing good enough to at least make it into the fringes of the bubble. But, as you said, the OOC is now too bad. We would have to go 13-7 in the ACC to finish 20-11 overall and then win some games in the ACCT. Usually, going 13-7 in the ACC would be a slam dunk but the league is terrible. Its a 4 bid league and really just a 2 bid league if you consider Duke/UNC to be quasi-independents as I do. So just UVa and VT out of the 13 team "real ACC" which is so bad words cannot describe it. They probably need to go 14-6 which isnt going to happen.

As for Hugley, he cant be on the floor. He is playing as poorly as Terrell Brown, Kene Chukwuka, you name them. His play has been among the worst we've seen at that position. I get that he's out of shape but being 20 pounds overweight shouldn't cause you from going from dominating Armando Bacot to being dominated by a guy from William & Mary. Right now, he is an average NEC-level Center. I've never seen such a regression. Does Pitt have a training and nutrition staff?

Quasi-independent? Now you’re just trying too hard.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Quasi-independent? Now you’re just trying too hard.

Don’t you know, the rest of the ACC is mid major, but Furman is a high major

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I thought the offense was run better than it has all season last night. WHEN FEDE WAS ON THE FLOOR. John needs benched for real, or just give him 10 minutes a game. As BBallinsider said weeks ago, he's unplayable. He looks worse today than he did when he first came back.

Yeah but I’m a hater and have an agenda

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Quasi-independent? Now you’re just trying too hard.

My point is that as far as the NCAA Tournament goes, they almost dont factor in as an ACC team, similar to Gonzaga, similar to Kentucky in the "old bad SEC." Those teams are dominant "guarantees" in lower-level leagues. So the "real ACC" is the other 13 teams and its probably only getting 2 of those teams with 1 being Virginia who is basically a guarantee as well. So getting 1 team out of the 12 teams not called Duke/UNC/UVa is as bad as it gets. Without those 3, its essentially a 1 bid 12 team league like the MAC or Horizon.

 

[Chescat]

Good post by the OP.
One thing I've been
critical of is the Hedge.
I mentioned after the
NC ST game that we
were lucky they didn't
take more advantage
of our lapses. What
happened last night
IMO, was Vandy did
a good job scouting us.
They probably worked
all week in practice at
it. They obviously knew
what to do, and they
succeeded. It didn't
happen by accident, It's
called good coaching and
good execution.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

My point is that as far as the NCAA Tournament goes, they almost dont factor in as an ACC team, similar to Gonzaga, similar to Kentucky in the "old bad SEC." Those teams are dominant "guarantees" in lower-level leagues. So the "real ACC" is the other 13 teams and its probably only getting 2 of those teams with 1 being Virginia who is basically a guarantee as well. So getting 1 team out of the 12 teams not called Duke/UNC/UVa is as bad as it gets. Without those 3, its essentially a 1 bid 12 team league like the MAC or Horizon.

There will be at least 6 teams from the ACC in the NCAA tourney. Probably 7

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Don’t you know, the rest of the ACC is mid major, but Furman is a high major

Utah State is a high major. The bottom 12 of the ACC have essentially become high major also....similar to MWC, A10, American, etc.

 

[pittchagg]

yeah. Duke, Virginia, UNC, Miami, VT, and then a few out of Clemson, NC State, Wake, ND.

 

[PittPharm2002]

There will be at least 6 teams from the ACC in the NCAA tourney. Probably 7

Smf is always confused

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Was going to make a thread on the the +/- for FF and Hugely but this covers it. Federico is a better rim defender of course but he's also getting pretty good at hard hedging Dixon-style on screens and recovering. His offense is limited to dunks/layups but if the other guys are shooters, that is fine. Hugely also had 0 rebounds in 23 minutes. 0!

Frustrating loss because (hindsight 20/20) I think if we just kept Hugely out and went with Federico with starter minutes and maybe Jorge for some spot minutes, we win. But hard to blame that on the coach since coming into the season, Hugely was considered the core interior piece.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Utah State is a high major. The bottom 12 of the ACC have essentially become high major also....similar to MWC, A10, American, etc.

They aren’t
Your own weird personal decision doesn’t make it so
The conference defines it , stupid

 

[PittPharm2002]

Was going to make a thread on the the +/- for FF and Hugely but this covers it. Federico is a better rim defender of course but he's also getting pretty good at hard hedging Dixon-style on screens and recovering. His offense is limited to dunks/layups but if the other guys are shooters, that is fine. Hugely also had 0 rebounds in 23 minutes. 0!

Frustrating loss because (hindsight 20/20) I think if we just kept Hugely out and went with Federico with starter minutes and maybe Jorge for some spot minutes, we win. But hard to blame that on the coach since coming into the season, Hugely was considered the core interior piece.

Yeah Jorge may have been a bad matchup for Vandy’s big and physical lineup -
But he really couldn’t have been worse and finished with as many rebounds as Hugley from the benchb

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I cannot stress enough how unimportant Hs recruiting is right now. None of these players are gonna be better than the guards we are losing. If they don’t make the NIT there is no choice. You cannot run it back w this staff without postseason and I’ve heard they won’t unless it’s NCAA.

I agree HS recruiting isnt that important anymore but its not completely meaningless. Capel did pick a bad time to land his best class (on paper) since the assumption is all of those kids will eventually transfer even if he were here.

If Odom has a big year and wants to come, the decision is made. However, if you have to throw darts against a board and pick a random MM coach, I wonder if a 17-14 Capel + Hinson + Dior (maybe) + Hugley (lets assume he eventually plays like last season or better) + the recruiting class is enough. Probably not. His problem is that his 4 guards are all 5th or 6th year seniors. He needed to get to the NCAAT this year. Had we held on vs VCU and Vandy, we still would have had a shot.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Yeah Jorge may have been a bad matchup for Vandy’s big and physical lineup -
But he really couldn’t have been worse and finished with as many rebounds as Hugley from the benchb

Yeah I agree he likely would have been pushed around, it is going to be a problem this year if Hugely can't get back his motor. Hopefully the twins will add some weight and core strength in time for next season.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They aren’t
Your own weird personal decision doesn’t make it so
The conference defines it , stupid

Correct

ACC, B10, SEC, P12, B12, BE - P6
American, MWC, A10, WCC - high major
a lot - mid-major
NEC, SWAC, MEAC - low major

I am saying that the bottom 12 of the ACC are essentially high major programs or that the bottom 12 is essentially a high major quasi-league because its similar to the teams in the high major leagues. Don't despair, they are still considered P6 programs.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Correct

ACC, B10, SEC, P12, B12, BE - P6
American, MWC, A10, WCC - high major
a lot - mid-major
NEC, SWAC, MEAC - low major

I am saying that the bottom 12 of the ACC are essentially high major programs or that the bottom 12 is essentially a high major quasi-league because its similar to the teams in the high major leagues. Don't despair, they are still considered P6 programs.

You don’t have to explain why your opinions are so wrong .
They are obvious

 

[TD_6082]

We still penciling in UNC?

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

College basketball conferences aren't tied to the infrastructure of their revenue deals and playoff system as closely as football, I don't think you can really make a permanent conference tier ranking. For instance, right now, the Mountain West has higher computer rankings in some systems than the PAC-12. In other seasons, the AAC edged out some major conferences as well. For NCAA bids, last year the PAC had three while the WCC and Mountain West had 4 each. In 2019, the AAC had more than the PAC 12. And of course Houston is ranked #1 right now and Gonzaga has gone to two national championship games -- in football, that'd be impossible to do from something like the MAC or Sun Belt.

 

[FireballZ]

My point is that as far as the NCAA Tournament goes, they almost dont factor in as an ACC team, similar to Gonzaga, similar to Kentucky in the "old bad SEC." Those teams are dominant "guarantees" in lower-level leagues. So the "real ACC" is the other 13 teams and its probably only getting 2 of those teams with 1 being Virginia who is basically a guarantee as well. So getting 1 team out of the 12 teams not called Duke/UNC/UVa is as bad as it gets. Without those 3, its essentially a 1 bid 12 team league like the MAC or Horizon.

You said the same ****ing thing last year, rain man. Not only were you way wrong, but the ACC excelled in the NCAAT. Get a life and STFU.

 

[Protes]

As for Hugley, he cant be on the floor. He is playing as poorly as Terrell Brown, Kene Chukwuka, you name them. His play has been among the worst we've seen at that position. I get that he's out of shape but being 20 pounds overweight shouldn't cause you from going from dominating Armando Bacot to being dominated by a guy from William & Mary. Right now, he is an average NEC-level Center. I've never seen such a regression. Does Pitt have a training and nutrition staff?

Seriously, it's mind boggling. Being hurt/out of shape is one thing, but the talent we saw last year should still be there. It's almost comical that we tried to build the roster around him and now he's the biggest problem.

Regarding the OP, I think there was one other questionable move made by JC in the 1st half when he subbed in, IIRC, Sibande with Santos. Santos proceeded to miss an easy 2 when he went for the highlight dunk instead of just putting the ball in the basket. Our 16 or 17-11 lead turned into a 22-17 deficit in that stretch.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Seriously, it's mind boggling. Being hurt/out of shape is one thing, but the talent we saw last year should still be there. It's almost comical that we tried to build the roster around him and now he's the biggest problem.

Regarding the OP, I think there was one other questionable move made by JC in the 1st half when he subbed in, IIRC, Sibande with Santos. Santos proceeded to miss an easy 2 when he went for the highlight dunk instead of just putting the ball in the basket. Our 16 or 17-11 lead turned into a 22-17 deficit in that stretch.

The mass sub was mistake in retrospect but was at least corrected quickly

 

[Parkview57]

I think it is too early to throw in the towel for making the NCAAT. Continued improvement all around and a tighter reign on subbing in most games, you never know. Pitt has enough talent, maybe just enough, so getting the most out of everyone will be a key. Last night it came down to poor personnel choices. Hugley is out, or should be, too bad for him.

 

[Cavalier Panther]

I'm trying to be charitable with Hugley. It's possible the knee isn't 100%. And that he can suit up and play on it, but it won't hold up to the hours of cardio he needs to do to get back in shape along with the pounding of D1 basketball. If that's the case, that's a bummer and a tough spot. And he'll have to try to play himself into shape as we go.

But it does feel like some of his shortcomings aren't just conditioning or shaking off the rust.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I think it is too early to throw in the towel for making the NCAAT. Continued improvement all around and a tighter reign on subbing in most games, you never know. Pitt has enough talent, maybe just enough, so getting the most out of everyone will be a key. Last night it came down to poor personnel choices. Hugley is out, or should be, too bad for him.

Barring going 13-7 in ACC play, the NCAAT is out. You can’t play 5 good OOC opponents and go 1-4. And Pitt isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt like a Syracuse would.

I'm trying to be charitable with Hugley. It's possible the knee isn't 100%. And that he can suit up and play on it, but it won't hold up to the hours of cardio he needs to do to get back in shape along with the pounding of D1 basketball. If that's the case, that's a bummer and a tough spot. And he'll have to try to play himself into shape as we go.

But it does feel like some of his shortcomings aren't just conditioning or shaking off the rust.

Correct, the same shortcomings I pointed out numerous times to SMF when he ridiculously claimed he’d go to a blue blood on an NIL last year.

 

[pittjas]

Great post.

It’s really as simple as Hugley had too many minutes, both because of Capel and Fede’s fouls.

And the larger point which becomes more obvious with each game is that even with a Healthy Hugley, someone with Fede’s prototype is a better fit for this team. They have good (not elite, but solid) guard play and good shooting. They are better when they can play with flow, with pick and roll, dribble penetration, etc. Whereas Hugley struggles in these areas. He’s not a guy who catches a dunker spot dish and slams it home. He can’t really roll off the PnR. He’s at his best when he can just get it with his back to the basket and bully down the defender… which kind’ve slows and bogs down all of our offensive flow.

And defensively we communicate and rotate well but struggle getting beat sometimes which is where Fede is helpful.

If we had a guy of Fede’s prototype just a little bit more athletic/stronger and Fede as the backup, I think this would be a better combo for the team than even a healthy Hugley/Fede.

So while I think bballinsider has been over the top dramatic about some stuff anti-Pitt players over the past few years (mostly to prove a point against Capel and SMF), I’ve come to realize most of what he’s said about Hugley is true.

Good stuff.

 

[JD1976]

While I am slightly encouraged by Capel doing his best coaching job since the first 5-6 games of his tenure (if you recall—the STL win and the narrow Iowa loss), there’s nothing that he could do this year short of a miraculous NCAAT appearance that gives me any interest in seeing him back next year. Even with that, we can’t make the mistake Georgetown made where they kept Ewing because of a lucky 4-day Big East tourney title run.

Ryan Odom or bust.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

You don’t have to explain why your opinions are so wrong .
They are obvious

You, my friend, are a moron.

 

[gary2]

Of course in year 5 with very little joy to date, every game is a referendum on Capel. As someone who has been critical of the Capel era, I didn’t think this one was on him last night. But I’ll give 3 good things and 3 bad things I think I see from the actual on court coaching aspect of this game and how it could translate beyond.

Good:
1. Everyone knows Capel let’s his players play free. Until this year, it didn’t work all that well because they hadn’t had shooters. Now that guys are sprinting to spots in transition and taking and making wide open 3’s, the offense and its flow are translating at a higher rate. This should be something good to continue.

2. The 1-2-2 3/4 court zone. It disrupted their flow and got some turnovers and when it didn’t took about 12-13 seconds for Vandy to get into into any sort of offense. With FF at the back end, you can gamble a bit more and stay in it a bit longer. If Hugley were ever to get in shape, he could be a gambler for steals in the back. I’d like to see it stay as a staple off FT regardless of make or miss. Miss is even better because they will have to hand it to a guard then set up their press break and it will take 2-3 seconds longer to break.

3. The end of game coaching was good. They played loose, they played aggressive, drew up a nice set in a timeout and took a late lead. You can’t really blame the foul on the end on Capel. Just a flukey, unlucky mistake from a guy who played a terrific game otherwise.

Bad:
1. The obvious. Playing the ineffective Hugley way too much. The key stretch that he was in when FF should’ve been in was after the under 8 in the second half. Inexcusable. FF was + 13 and Hugley was -12. Or +12 and -13. Either way, the point is you simply cannot play Hugley more at this juncture. And the time has come and passed for him to figure it out in game. He needs to play less, plain and simple.

2. The offensive sets aren’t conducive to get Hugley going either. Forcing him into decisions at the 3 point line leads him to believe he’s a 3 point shooter, getting bad fouls with his body, or pick and rolling which is not his strong suit. And the other main set where he gets it and dribble hands off isn’t much better as he just does not look comfortable at this juncture. FF has to be the pick and roll guy. Catching lobs and O boards should be his only shot to score. I guess this could’ve been 1B

3. This really could be labeled 1C. I absolutely cannot stand switching DHO and screens with Hugley. He cannot guard bigs, let alone guards. And the same can be said for FF. I loved the way Vandy played our ball screens. The effort really threw us off.
The other thing about the switching onto guards with our bigs and Vice versa is it puts Hugley and FF in bad rebounding position. We saw how that worked out.

Really minor tweaks could be made to have a mildly successful season and a possible NIT berth. It will be almost impossible for NCAA with the OOC record.

I thought we should have made Robbins play with considerably less space. I don't know how well he would have held up under more pressure.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I think it is too early to throw in the towel for making the NCAAT. Continued improvement all around and a tighter reign on subbing in most games, you never know. Pitt has enough talent, maybe just enough, so getting the most out of everyone will be a key. Last night it came down to poor personnel choices. Hugley is out, or should be, too bad for him.

Its impossible. Need to go 14-6 in the ACC and we already have a few built-in losses to Duke, UVa. No way we can go like 14-3 in non-guaranteed loss games.

 

[pittjas]

Its impossible. Need to go 14-6 in the ACC and we already have a few built-in losses to Duke, UVa. No way we can go like 14-3 in non-guaranteed loss games.

Not really impossible. 13-7 would do it, especially with a win or 2 in ACCT.

But that is also asking a lot. But you never know.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Great post.

It’s really as simple as Hugley had too many minutes, both because of Capel and Fede’s fouls.

And the larger point which becomes more obvious with each game is that even with a Healthy Hugley, someone with Fede’s prototype is a better fit for this team. They have good (not elite, but solid) guard play and good shooting. They are better when they can play with flow, with pick and roll, dribble penetration, etc. Whereas Hugley struggles in these areas. He’s not a guy who catches a dunker spot dish and slams it home. He can’t really roll off the PnR. He’s at his best when he can just get it with his back to the basket and bully down the defender… which kind’ve slows and bogs down all of our offensive flow.

And defensively we communicate and rotate well but struggle getting beat sometimes which is where Fede is helpful.

If we had a guy of Fede’s prototype just a little bit more athletic/stronger and Fede as the backup, I think this would be a better combo for the team than even a healthy Hugley/Fede.

So while I think bballinsider has been over the top dramatic about some stuff anti-Pitt players over the past few years (mostly to prove a point against Capel and SMF), I’ve come to realize most of what he’s said about Hugley is true.

Good stuff.

Ive been critical of players and staff and given credit when it’s due. The ACC record (and overall) speaks that I’m closer to the truth than not.

I forgot my 4th bad thing. Hinson had a phenomenal first half. But the second he had that heat check it was like he fell off the map. In an important moment, he had a wide open transition 3. Elliot and Cummings both hit their fair share of these last night when combined. Instead, he takes a dribble to the hoop and fumbles it and a possible 5 point swing happens.

This team is just not talented enough to overcome mental mistakes like these.