ADVERTISEMENT

Sam Houston Game & Other Dribbles ...

DT_PITT

Lair Hall of Famer
Gold Member
Jul 17, 2001
46,170
33,730
113
** Do you like offense? Do you like great shots? Do you like points? If this is your kind of basketball, this was your kind of game.

** Of course, if you are a Panther fan who likes 30+ point wins, this game was for you too.

** There was plenty to enjoy this afternoon on the hardwood on a day surrounded by so much important action on the gridiron.

** More importantly, this was another great win to impress the laptops, which only adds to the fun. And Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. Torvik now both see our Panthers as a top 25 team even if the pollsters don’t.

** What most pollsters and even laptops probably didn’t see today was a completely pleasing array of passes and finishes. Several times Ish and Jaland ventured into the lane and found some sort of way to finish among taller trees in ways that would drop your jaw.

** Even better, our previously troubled three point shooting heated up in a big way, especially after some delightful passes to open shooters. At the top of the list was Ish’s over his head, Doncic-styled, blind toss back to arc to Beebah, who obliged by tickling the net to create a highlight reel play that belongs near the top of any Panther playlist.

** Yet no Panther tickled the net today like our new long range bomber Zach. In his last 6 games, he’s knocked down 17 of 32 from deep, and one shouldn’t need a laptop to compute that number is nicely over 50%.

** One of the most pleasing aspects of the Howland Dixon days was watching solid returners make “great leaps forward” after a year or two in a Panther uniform.

** Now that he’s averaging double digits in scoring 12 games into this season, even if Zach hasn’t done quite enough to compete for “Most Improved Player” status, he’s shown that he’s a legit deep threat instead of the inconsistent one he was last year.

** In college basketball, that used to be the type of improvement many teams would count on from Seniors. It’s nice to see Zach taking this kind of step thus far.

** Meanwhile, maybe we should be considering Ish for Most Improved Player status, even if the ACC voted him as a Pre-season All 2nd team selection. After all, ish has upped his scoring by almost 50% to find himself near the top of the League.

** Ish should also find himself on the first five of the All-ACC Toughness team. Sometimes I almost worry about the physical nature of Ish’s finishes in the paint. I worry one of these times he’s not going to bounce up so readily off the court. But he always does, thankfully.

** But it’s not always so physical for Ish to finish, including his first half trip into the paint that was initially stopped, but ended up with an easy layup after a 360 degree pivot. Masterful stuff Sir!

** I also worry a tad about Jaland’s finishes against big tall men. Instead, I usually end up marveling at his ability to float in buckets high off the glass at seemingly impossible angles. Marvelous!

** Perhaps later I’ll dig back into the record books to find the last time a Panther point guard notched back to back double doubles in points and assists. And while we are talking about Most Improved Player status, it’s worth noting that Jaland’s scoring and assists have ticked up by well over 50%. Just because we expected it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be more impressed with it.

** Actually, every Panther this day was impressive enough on the offensive end. Let’s even offer a special shout out to Amsal who showed off some real Hoopin in the second half. The offensive skills there are apparent, including two really nifty long pass assists. There are still questions about his overall game speed and how well he can keep up on defense.

** I’d also like Amsal to develop a little more of a quick trigger mentality with his three ball, much like we saw from Greg Elliot two years ago. At least three times today he passed on launching a bomb when it appeared he was free. Instead he often makes a good fundamental play, and looks to pass to others. But we will need his three point shooting more on days when the team isn’t going 16-31 from deep.

** Even if this day was no doubt about offense, but that doesn’t mean the Panthers played bad defense to my eye. In the first half especially, the BearKats hit some tough well defended shots.

** It should be interesting to watch how today’s opponent performs as they move into their Conference USA season. A team who can hit shots like it looks like they are capable of should win their share of games.

** There were perhaps a few too many times when our foe blew by us with the dribble than their coach might like. And after forcing four BearKat turnovers in the first four minutes, we only tallied eight the rest of the way.

** But on the defensive end, the effort was there, but perhaps the fullest attention to detail was not.

** Still, this game wasn’t about defense. This game was about points, and the Panthers were certainly up to that task in a fun and watchable way.

** Onto the rest of the ACC Season! I look forward to seeing our Panthers against the Bears in 2025.

** Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my fellow Pitt Hoops Fans!
 
For those worried about a 10 day layoff, Cal also will be off 10 days. They will also have a cross country trip….
 
And while we are talking about Most Improved Player status, it’s worth noting that Jaland’s scoring and assists have ticked up by well over 50%. Just because we expected it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be more impressed with it.


Pomeroy has a "Player of the Year" ranking that takes into account offensive numbers, defensive numbers, playing time and team success. Right now Jaland Lowe is in 9th place in the rankings.

Johni Broome of Auburn is the current leader, followed by Cooper Flagg.
 
** Do you like offense? Do you like great shots? Do you like points? If this is your kind of basketball, this was your kind of game. Check✅

** Of course, if you are a Panther fan who likes 30+ point wins, this game was for you too. Check✅

** There was plenty to enjoy this afternoon on the hardwood on a day surrounded by so much important action on the gridiron. The only game on the gridiron that was mildly close was TX v Clemson

** More importantly, this was another great win to impress the laptops, which only adds to the fun. And Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. Torvik now both see our Panthers as a top 25 team even if the pollsters don’t. We should get some more AP votes this coming poll, but I doubt we'll be Top 25. Would be hard to leave us out after defeating Cal and Stanford

** What most pollsters and even laptops probably didn’t see today was a completely pleasing array of passes and finishes. Several times Ish and Jaland ventured into the lane and found some sort of way to finish among taller trees in ways that would drop your jaw. 23 team assists to 10 turnovers for us; 6 to 12 for SH

** Even better, our previously troubled three point shooting heated up in a big way, especially after some delightful passes to open shooters. At the top of the list was Ish’s over his head, Doncic-styled, blind toss back to arc to Beebah, who obliged by tickling the net to create a highlight reel play that belongs near the top of any Panther playlist. The 3-pointers were definitely finding nothin but net

** Yet no Panther tickled the net today like our new long range bomber Zach. In his last 6 games, he’s knocked down 17 of 32 from deep, and one shouldn’t need a laptop to compute that number is nicely over 50%. Great to see Zack getting into his offense. As much as I love seeing him block shots, making a bucket load of 3's is much more productive

** One of the most pleasing aspects of the Howland Dixon days was watching solid returners make “great leaps forward” after a year or two in a Panther uniform. Check✅

** Now that he’s averaging double digits in scoring 12 games into this season, even if Zach hasn’t done quite enough to compete for “Most Improved Player” status, he’s shown that he’s a legit deep threat instead of the inconsistent one he was last year. Finally living up to his High Point hype

** In college basketball, that used to be the type of improvement many teams would count on from Seniors. It’s nice to see Zach taking this kind of step thus far. Check✅

** Meanwhile, maybe we should be considering Ish for Most Improved Player status, even if the ACC voted him as a Pre-season All 2nd team selection. After all, ish has upped his scoring by almost 50% to find himself near the top of the League. Ish is 1st Team ACC good right now
** Ish should also find himself on the first five of the All-ACC Toughness team. Sometimes I almost worry about the physical nature of Ish’s finishes in the paint. I worry one of these times he’s not going to bounce up so readily off the court. But he always does, thankfully. That shot he took from Scroggins was nasty

** But it’s not always so physical for Ish to finish, including his first half trip into the paint that was initially stopped, but ended up with an easy layup after a 360 degree pivot. Masterful stuff Sir! Check✅

** I also worry a tad about Jaland’s finishes against big tall men. Instead, I usually end up marveling at his ability to float in buckets high off the glass at seemingly impossible angles. Marvelous! Beebah's wasn't too shabby either, in the first half

** Perhaps later I’ll dig back into the record books to find the last time a Panther point guard notched back to back double doubles in points and assists. And while we are talking about Most Improved Player status, it’s worth noting that Jaland’s scoring and assists have ticked up by well over 50%. Just because we expected it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be more impressed with it. Check✅

** Actually, every Panther this day was impressive enough on the offensive end. Let’s even offer a special shout out to Amsal who showed off some real Hoopin in the second half. The offensive skills there are apparent, including two really nifty long pass assists. There are still questions about his overall game speed and how well he can keep up on defense. Great to see him playing with a few more "hops". His two assists were real gems, and if not mistaken, he had a few nice rebounds

** I’d also like Amsal to develop a little more of a quick trigger mentality with his three ball, much like we saw from Greg Elliot two years ago. At least three times today he passed on launching a bomb when it appeared he was free. Instead he often makes a good fundamental play, and looks to pass to others. But we will need his three point shooting more on days when the team isn’t going 16-31 from deep. Too bad that GDG fouled while setting a pick when Delalic made that one three that got negated. That stoke looked perfect

** Even if this day was no doubt about offense, but that doesn’t mean the Panthers played bad defense to my eye. In the first half especially, the BearKats hit some tough well defended shots. The announcers kept saying that during the broadcast

** It should be interesting to watch how today’s opponent performs as they move into their Conference USA season. A team who can hit shots like it looks like they are capable of should win their share of games. That will certainly help our resume if they win their conference

** There were perhaps a few too many times when our foe blew by us with the dribble than their coach might like. And after forcing four BearKat turnovers in the first four minutes, we only tallied eight the rest of the way. The BearKats were not a bad team. By any means

** But on the defensive end, the effort was there, but perhaps the fullest attention to detail was not. We answered their every move. I didn't like the way we ended the first half

** Still, this game wasn’t about defense. This game was about points, and the Panthers were certainly up to that task in a fun and watchable way. Check✅

** Onto the rest of the ACC Season! I look forward to seeing our Panthers against the Bears in 2025. Check✅

** Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my fellow Pitt Hoops Fans! And right back to you, DT. Hope Santa is good to you and your family
DT - see my comments above

Moe
 
DT - see my comments above

Moe
Just theorizing--

Delalic's much better play yesterday could be because he is finally fully over his broken shooting (and passing) hand injury. IMHO, these types of injuries take longer to come back from both physically and, especially, mentally. The way he looked yesterday may be what he needed to finally get over the hump psychologically. If so he will be a real plus as a sub at the 3 & 2.

Analogously, I suspect it may take longer for Dunn to be back to full form than we fans would like after he comes back. He will be fine physically at that point; but, because of the surgically repaired thumb on his shooting hand he might not be fully back to his pre-injury performance level right away.

Again, just speculation by this fan.
 
Zach’s offense is catching up to his defense , it’s great to see !

When I look at Amsal what I see is a guy with a really high bb IQ who just hasn’t adapted yet to the quickness at this level . It will come .

This is a team that has the look of a team that will continue to get better as the season progresses .

On to the ACC !
 
Last edited:
That call looked bad live, and looked even worse on replay.
I watched it on replay and there was a bit more hands contact by GDG to the SH player, but, yeah, ticky-tack. The worst call was the block foul by Austin that clearly showed he got more of Corhen (or maybe it was GDG, can't recall) than the SH center. Not sure that the SH player was even touched, TBO
 
I watched it on replay and there was a bit more hands contact by GDG to the SH player, but, yeah, ticky-tack.


If you saw the signal from the ref, he didn't call him for putting his hands on him (which is going to happen when you set a screen). The ref said that he kicked his leg out into the SH player. And if that call was the standard for kicking your leg out on a screen they'd call that foul a dozen times a game. If not more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Millerton
If you saw the signal from the ref, he didn't call him for putting his hands on him (which is going to happen when you set a screen). The ref said that he kicked his leg out into the SH player. And if that call was the standard for kicking your leg out on a screen they'd call that foul a dozen times a game. If not more.
I misunderstood your original comment. I thought you meant the call was bad. You meant that it is what GDG did. I get it now. Yes, GDG did not have to get that "physical" in setting the screen
 
I misunderstood your original comment. I thought you meant the call was bad. You meant that it is what GDG did. I get it now. Yes, GDG did not have to get that "physical" in setting the screen


No, I meant that the call was bad. Really, really bad. What Guillermo did with his leg was nothing more than what people do when they are setting screens all the time. If that was a foul, and it was called consistently that way, guys would foul out from setting screens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tvax1 and Millerton
No, I meant that the call was bad. Really, really bad. What Guillermo did with his leg was nothing more than what people do when they are setting screens all the time. If that was a foul, and it was called consistently that way, guys would foul out from setting screens.
That was our old pal James Breeding out there (although he didn’t make the call you described).

Still we were the beneficiaries of no fewer than three phantom foul calls, especially in the first half.

Refs miss calls. Same as it ever was.
 
Just theorizing--

Delalic's much better play yesterday could be because he is finally fully over his broken shooting (and passing) hand injury. IMHO, these types of injuries take longer to come back from both physically and, especially, mentally. The way he looked yesterday may be what he needed to finally get over the hump psychologically. If so he will be a real plus as a sub at the 3 & 2.

Analogously, I suspect it may take longer for Dunn to be back to full form than we fans would like after he comes back. He will be fine physically at that point; but, because of the surgically repaired thumb on his shooting hand he might not be fully back to his pre-injury performance level right away.

Again, just speculation by this fan.

Its going to take Delalic some time. Expectations were too large. People thought this 21 year old pro was coming in and going to average 15 PPG. The speed and quickness of the American players has bothered him. He is having a hard time adjusting to that and isnt a great ballhandler so is turnover prone. But, he's a FRESHMAN. He's Nate Santos. He may have a strong game here or there but its going to take time. He shows what he can do in small samples. He'll be a good player but its going to take time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FIVE4PITT
When Lowe distributes like that, Pitt will be hard to beat.

Austin has stepped up during Dunn's injury. Really nice to piece to have.

Good to see GDG hit a couple threes. He's got a nice stroke and hopefully they start falling. If teams have to pay attention to him on the perimeter, our guards are gonna slice and dice in the space provided.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cavalier Panther
Its going to take Delalic some time. Expectations were too large. People thought this 21 year old pro was coming in and going to average 15 PPG. The speed and quickness of the American players has bothered him. He is having a hard time adjusting to that and isnt a great ballhandler so is turnover prone. But, he's a FRESHMAN. He's Nate Santos. He may have a strong game here or there but its going to take time. He shows what he can do in small samples. He'll be a good player but its going to take time.
Nate Santos? Gotta push back on you here, SMF. Yes, Amsal needed more time to acclimate than many hoped, but he is shooting 43.8% from 3 right now (and that doesn't count the one he would have had yesterday if not for the GDG foul call). Santos shot an abysmal 15.6% from 3 two years ago! Amsal has clearly showed much more skill than Santos ever did. His court vision and passing ability are evident. And go back to the 2:40 minute of the 2nd half from yesterday. He made a sweet drive and finish that was really impressive. Amsal is a player. The only question for me going forward is his defense.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NC Panther
Nate Santos? Gotta push back on you here, SMF. Yes, Amsal needed more time to acclimate than many hoped, but he is shooting 43.8% from 3 right now (and that doesn't count the one he would have had yesterday if not for the GDG foul call). Santos shot an abysmal 15.6% from 3 two years ago! Amsal has clearly showed much more skill than Santos ever did. His court vision and passing ability are evident. And go back to the 2:40 minute of the 2nd half from yesterday. He made a sweet drive and finish that was really impressive. Amsal is a player. The only question for me going forward is his defense.

For what it's worth, Nate Santos is 80-187 (42.8%) in his two years so far at Dayton. Of course we all know he was 16-81 (19.8%) when he was here. I think it's accurate to say we've seen more from Amsal than Nate when he was at Pitt, but Nate seems ahead of Amsal now.

I'm guessing they are about the same age now. (Nate might be 22--I'm not sure).

But we all agree that expectation were too high for Amsal to make an immediate impact, and we really should have pumped the breaks even more when he went down with injury.

I'm still holding out hope for more from Amsal as this season goes on. But SMF's take (He may have a strong game here or there but its going to take time) seems pretty on the money.
 
That was our old pal James Breeding out there (although he didn’t make the call you described).

Still we were the beneficiaries of no fewer than three phantom foul calls, especially in the first half.

Refs miss calls. Same as it ever was.


Yeah, they had a bad game yesterday, but in a 30 point game it doesn't really make much difference.
 
Yeah, they had a bad game yesterday, but in a 30 point game it doesn't really make much difference.

I thought they were fine. Every game there are calls that are missed or incorrectly called both ways. It's a tough game to officiate. I've talked to hoops refs who have told me they probably get 80-90%

And now, even when sitting what the game at the Pete, we get replays of almost every play.

On the GDG offensive foul, I didn't even think it was that bad of a call when I saw it in real time, but it wasn't until I saw the replay when I realized it was suspect.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheSpecialSauce
For what it's worth, Nate Santos is 80-187 (42.8%) in his two years so far at Dayton. Of course we all know he was 16-81 (19.8%) when he was here. I think it's accurate to say we've seen more from Amsal than Nate when he was at Pitt, but Nate seems ahead of Amsal now.

I'm guessing they are about the same age now. (Nate might be 22--I'm not sure).

But we all agree that expectation were too high for Amsal to make an immediate impact, and we really should have pumped the breaks even more when he went down with injury.

I'm still holding out hope for more from Amsal as this season goes on. But SMF's take (He may have a strong game here or there but it’s going to take time) seems pretty on the money.
Amsil has shown some flashes of being a good passer. He definitely has a little flair to his game.
 
For what it's worth, Nate Santos is 80-187 (42.8%) in his two years so far at Dayton. Of course we all know he was 16-81 (19.8%) when he was here. I think it's accurate to say we've seen more from Amsal than Nate when he was at Pitt, but Nate seems ahead of Amsal now.

I'm guessing they are about the same age now. (Nate might be 22--I'm not sure).

But we all agree that expectation were too high for Amsal to make an immediate impact, and we really should have pumped the breaks even more when he went down with injury.

I'm still holding out hope for more from Amsal as this season goes on. But SMF's take (He may have a strong game here or there but its going to take time) seems pretty on the money.
Totally agree that Santos has been better since leaving Pitt. And also agree with your points about expectations for this year. But if we are going to compare Freshman Santos vs. Freshman Amsal (which is how I read SMF's comments), I don't think there is much of a comparison. Amsal is shooting far better from 3 and showing much more promise than Nate ever did while here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NC Panther
Totally agree that Santos has been better since leaving Pitt. And also agree with your points about expectations for this year. But if we are going to compare Freshman Santos vs. Freshman Amsal (which is how I read SMF's comments), I don't think there is much of a comparison. Amsal is shooting far better from 3 and showing much more promise than Nate ever did while here.
I didn’t make this point clear but because of their ages and Amsal’s pro experience, I think it makes more sense to compare junior Santos to current Amsal.
 
Amsal’s about two years younger than Santos, for whatever it’s worth. Santos is 23, Amsal is 21.
 
Amsal’s about two years younger than Santos, for whatever it’s worth. Santos is 23, Amsal is 21.
An important distinction. Perhaps a better way to explain is that in my head I really don’t think of Amsal as a freshman- more like a JUCO transfer.
 
For what it's worth, Nate Santos is 80-187 (42.8%) in his two years so far at Dayton. Of course we all know he was 16-81 (19.8%) when he was here. I think it's accurate to say we've seen more from Amsal than Nate when he was at Pitt, but Nate seems ahead of Amsal now.

I'm guessing they are about the same age now. (Nate might be 22--I'm not sure).

But we all agree that expectation were too high for Amsal to make an immediate impact, and we really should have pumped the breaks even more when he went down with injury.

I'm still holding out hope for more from Amsal as this season goes on. But SMF's take (He may have a strong game here or there but its going to take time) seems pretty on the money.
DT--Recall that at about this point last season we all thought Jayland would not be a significant contributor until some future season.

In part for that reason, plus Delalic's shooting/passing/dribbling hand injury setback, I am going to "provisionally" disagree and take a more wait and see attitude until the rest of the season plays out before coming to a solid conclusion about Delalic's potential contribution ceiling for this season.

CAVEAT: Even though I remain more optimistic about Delalic at this point than most---I don't think he will suddenly turn into Blake Hinson and start playing starters minutes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PITT 76
I didn’t make this point clear but because of their ages and Amsal’s pro experience, I think it makes more sense to compare junior Santos to current Amsal.

Santos began his Pitt career just as he turned 20 years old. Delalic started his Pitt career at 21 years old and 3.5 months. So he's about a year older than Santos was as a freshman. I think its fair to compare FR Santos to FR Delalic.

I think Delalic is the much better shooter as a FR. However, with Santos, you could see that he had a nice looking, smooth shot, it just wasnt going in and that is somewhat to be expected for a kid who wasnt playing much. To Delalic's credit, he is making jumpers at a much higher rate even though he isnt playing.

Delalic also seems to be the better playmaker as Santos was just a shooter. However, Delalic's handle is very loose. Santos didnt really display a handle as he was a catch and shoot guy.

So I think FR Delalic is better than FR Santos but its really only due to Santos not finding his stroke.
 
IMHO, Delalic's apparent "loose handle" may have been contributed to by the njury to his dominant hand.

In any event, even if that is not the case, it should not be much of a problem when he is playing as a 3.

Also, I doubt we see him getting time as a 2-guard --except possibly during "garbage" time. This will be even more the situation once Dunn is back and back in full form.

Players By Position Use

5 = Kante

4/5 = Corhen, G-DG, J-DG

4/3 = Austin

3 = Delalic

3/2 = Dunn

2 = Lowe, Leggett, Dunn, Cummings

1 = Lowe, Leggett, Cummings
 
IMHO, Delalic's apparent "loose handle" may have been contributed to by the njury to his dominant hand.

In any event, even if that is not the case, it should not be much of a problem when he is playing as a 3.

Also, I doubt we see him getting time as a 2-guard --except possibly during "garbage" time. This will be even more the situation once Dunn is back and back in full form.

Players By Position Use

5 = Kante

4/5 = Corhen, G-DG, J-DG

4/3 = Austin

3 = Delalic

3/2 = Dunn

2 = Lowe, Leggett, Dunn, Cummings

1 = Lowe, Leggett, Cummings
Corhen really hasn't played anything but the five and JDG hasn't yet played the five. Amsal has also had a minute or two at the four.
 
IMHO, Delalic's apparent "loose handle" may have been contributed to by the njury to his dominant hand.

In any event, even if that is not the case, it should not be much of a problem when he is playing as a 3.

Also, I doubt we see him getting time as a 2-guard --except possibly during "garbage" time. This will be even more the situation once Dunn is back and back in full form.

Players By Position Use

5 = Kante

4/5 = Corhen, G-DG, J-DG

4/3 = Austin

3 = Delalic

3/2 = Dunn

2 = Lowe, Leggett, Dunn, Cummings

1 = Lowe, Leggett, Cummings

I dont think its the injury. More of an adjustment to the American game where there are quicker players. He has to learn to pick and choose when he puts it on the deck. In Bosnia, I am guessing he was able to playmake and create more. He's tried to do some of that here and has gotten stripped.
 
Corhen really hasn't played anything but the five and JDG hasn't yet played the five. Amsal has also had a minute or two at the four.
Post wasn't intended to reflect how Capel has used the players to date. Rather it reflects my opinion as to what positions I see these players as suited for.
 
Post wasn't intended to reflect how Capel has used the players to date. Rather it reflects my opinion as to what positions I see these players as suited for.

Ah ... Gotcha.

Although I wouldn't see Cam suited for anything but the five. JMO. Additionally, I keep holding out hope that Amsal could play some minutes at the 4, but there really hasn't been any evidence of this thus far.
 
Well, we can disagree on our speculation about the cause of his handle problems.

Let's hope that whatever the cause or causes was, or is, that the cure has occurred.
 
Well, we can disagree on our speculation about the cause of his handle problems.

Let's hope that whatever the cause or causes was, or is, that the cure has occurred.

I think 2 things will happen eventually. He will adjust to the speed of the American game. And he will become more of a standstill shooter like Santos or Greg Elliot, guys who didnt dribble much. Catch and shoot.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT