Saw Andy Katz’ ACC prediction and he has
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Perhaps the fact that PITT lost all 19 ACC games last season may have factored in to Katz's prediction, as it should.
Capel hasn't coached his first game as PITT's head basketball coach, so he has yet to have an opportunity to create "momentum" here.
Sadly, I can't imagine any pundit worth their salt who won't predict the Panthers last in the ACC this coming year.
We were an easy pick for last going into last year and we had a season that was somehow even below that prediction. In other words, historically bad.
We lost 3 of our top 4 scorers from that historically bad team.
Somehow, we could be better this coming year. But it still adds up to last place.
Capel getting more than 0 acc wins will be momentum.
Stallings buried the program in a year
Please tell me how anyone could possibly justify NOT picking Pitt last? Based on what? We went 0-19 and lost, arguably, our 3 best players.
As most noted, the math for this team from the outside is pretty clear.
I don't believe for a second HCJC is going to to winless in the ACC - he isn't a burnout clocking his last big pay day. He has serious aspirations, and views the Pitt job as an opportunity to build his legacy.
On that basis alone, no way he accepts a winless conference season.
But, additionally, he is an ACC guy, played there, coached there under his legendary coach for the last six years. He knows the league, knows the coaches, knows the teams, and is going to find a way to scratch out a few wins.
I don't believe for a second HCJC is going to to winless in the ACC - he isn't a burnout clocking his last big pay day. He has serious aspirations, and views the Pitt job as an opportunity to build his legacy.
On that basis alone, no way he accepts a winless conference season.
But, additionally, he is an ACC guy, played there, coached there under his legendary coach for the last six years. He knows the league, knows the coaches, knows the teams, and is going to find a way to scratch out a few wins.
I don't think we will go winless but we could. This is the ACC and we will be underdogs in every single game. I will go with 2-16. 4-14 would be a smashing success. 6-12 will get him COY
Don't let the Kevin Stallings Error fool you, it is really, really hard to go 0-fer the conference schedule in any of the top conferences. We will NOT go 0-fer again this year. It takes a special kind of ineptitude to achieve that.
This team will win 2 or 3 ACC games IMO. I expect McDowell to be better than Carr; Ellison and N'dir to be both better than Parker (who I couldn't stand). Luther
hardly played, so it's at worst a little better inside since we have the same inside players back with more experience and probably better coaching. However I still think we're gonna get killed inside.
So, dead last?...probably, but I feel we'll at least win a few in conference. I expect Capal to sometimes get his best players on the court at the same time, even if
it''s guards and wings and one Big. Look for Capal to press with this type of
lineup. I too wanted to see another Big added to this year's team. Capal however
decided against it, so I'll go with his decision
hardly played, so it's at worst a little better inside since we have the same inside players back with more experience and probably better coaching. However I still think we're gonna get killed inside.
So, dead last?...probably, but I feel we'll at least win a few in conference. I expect Capal to sometimes get his best players on the court at the same time, even if
it''s guards and wings and one Big. Look for Capal to press with this type of
lineup. I too wanted to see another Big added to this year's team. Capal however
decided against it, so I'll go with his decision
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Exactly. SMF has mentioned this many times about it not being Capel’s fault if they go winless in conference, but he’s way off base.
It takes a combination of a special team and a special coach to go winless in conference. It is literally very, very hard to do.
If Pitt goes winless in the ACC next year (which they won’t) Capel will be in large part to blame.
Yes, this is a good point. I think we'll be at or close to the ACC basement this year but I do not think we'll go winless. That's a rare achievement.
Let me take a stab at this.
Frame, Stevenson, Davis, Brown, Peace, Kene and George should all be at least incrementally better in their second year.
Ellison should be much better than Stewart was as a freshman.
N'Dir should be much better than Carr was as a freshman.
McGowens and Johnson should be better than Milligan.
Toney should be better than Boykins.
Last year, that abysmal team should have won 2 or 3 games in the ACC. They were competitive in a handful or so before fading.
Capel is going to get them to play defense with effort. That alone should keep them in more games.
Even without things falling in place I think this team will scratch out 5 or 6 wins in the ACC.
Frame, Stevenson, Davis, Brown, Peace, Kene and George should all be at least incrementally better in their second year.
Ellison should be much better than Stewart was as a freshman.
N'Dir should be much better than Carr was as a freshman.
McGowens and Johnson should be better than Milligan.
Toney should be better than Boykins.
Last year, that abysmal team should have won 2 or 3 games in the ACC. They were competitive in a handful or so before fading.
Capel is going to get them to play defense with effort. That alone should keep them in more games.
Even without things falling in place I think this team will scratch out 5 or 6 wins in the ACC.
Nice post. I think it's hard to predict the # of wins w/in the ACC until you get a better feel for how our conference-mates do OOC. Faces change more quickly, it seems, in the ACC with the top teams cycling through players seemingly every year or two. That said, I tend to agree that I expect Pitt to win around 4 ACC games this season. 6 would make me really excited for the future. Pitt should be better and more seasoned across the board, plus the schedule isn't as brutal as last year.
It’s not too hard to go winless when you have drastically inferior personnel than even the next worst team in your league.
The talent on this team is all young and small. I think it will be very difficult for this year’s team to beat anyone else in the ACC. Capel has done an admirable job of recruiting on a tight timetable, but he hasn’t coached a game at Pitt, his team is extremely young and undersized, and the ACC is a very strong league.
Andy Freakin Katz !
Does he still do that thing where he asks Obama his tournament picks.
If we aren’t picked last then maybe next to last. Nobody is going to pick us 10th or better.
But so what. I think we will win a few in conference and be much more competitive. Also get back some kind of home court energy
Does he still do that thing where he asks Obama his tournament picks.
If we aren’t picked last then maybe next to last. Nobody is going to pick us 10th or better.
But so what. I think we will win a few in conference and be much more competitive. Also get back some kind of home court energy
I think JC will have to teach/coach this team on how to win. I believe that part of the problem last year was even if the games were close (a handful were at the end of the game), they had no idea how to win.
I don't know if the 2018-2019 team would be considered a veteran group but they will have to grow up fast in order to help win a few more than none.
I don't know if the 2018-2019 team would be considered a veteran group but they will have to grow up fast in order to help win a few more than none.
I think we need to give Capel some time to change the culture of this program. It was torn down in 2 short years, and it won't be easy to instill a winning culture quickly.
I’m not as high on Capel as most, so this is hardly a shock to me. Maybe he just wasn’t going to come here no matter what, but I think Pitt is going to look at missing on Hurley as a huge missed opportunity.
For this year, as many have said, the goal should be 3-4 conference wins. If it’s less, it’s not the end of the world. If it’s more, then we should feel encouraged about the future.
This is a multi-year rebuild. Getting guys like McGowens and Toney in is a nice start...those are the type of guys that are going to be heart of the program going forward. Keep things in perspective and look long term.
For this year, as many have said, the goal should be 3-4 conference wins. If it’s less, it’s not the end of the world. If it’s more, then we should feel encouraged about the future.
This is a multi-year rebuild. Getting guys like McGowens and Toney in is a nice start...those are the type of guys that are going to be heart of the program going forward. Keep things in perspective and look long term.
The bottom of the ACC is going to be really really bad. Finally Pitt got major relief help with seniors, transfers, NBA players, etc leaving other teams... The question now becomes who can stockpile talented players for the future with new recruits.
Just as an example, Wake Forest lost 4 of its top 5 scorers. 3 players declared for the NBA and were undrafted. This team is going to be very very bad next year.
Next season isnt going to be great by any means. And back in April the future looked completely dark. Now with some decent transfers and recruits coming into Pitt, and half the ACC teams getting gutted with tons of player losses, we have a chance to not only win some games, but definitely not finish last. In April I would have said we are a lock to finish last. Now with what has happened from April to today, its a completely different ball game.
Just as an example, Wake Forest lost 4 of its top 5 scorers. 3 players declared for the NBA and were undrafted. This team is going to be very very bad next year.
Next season isnt going to be great by any means. And back in April the future looked completely dark. Now with some decent transfers and recruits coming into Pitt, and half the ACC teams getting gutted with tons of player losses, we have a chance to not only win some games, but definitely not finish last. In April I would have said we are a lock to finish last. Now with what has happened from April to today, its a completely different ball game.
"He will and should get this year and next. No demonstrable improvement out you go. After all. I've been told a really good coach can turn it around in two years."
He already improved recruiting, and all that took was a month or two.
I guarantee Pitt will be in a better spot two years from now than they were at the beginning of March. Because a really good coach can start to turn things around in two years, just like a really bad coach can completely destroy things in two years.
He already improved recruiting, and all that took was a month or two.
I guarantee Pitt will be in a better spot two years from now than they were at the beginning of March. Because a really good coach can start to turn things around in two years, just like a really bad coach can completely destroy things in two years.
Will they be in a better spot in two years? Probably.
Will it be good enough? TBD.
Capel definitely has strong recruiting ties but all he’s done is get some low end/fringe top 100 guys. That’s progress, but that’s not enough in the ACC unless kids are going to have the patience to stick around for 2-3 years and build some depth. With the way guys transfer in the current environment, I wouldn’t be banking on roster continuity.
I’m not a big Capel guy, but what he does give Pitt is a punchers chance at a 1-and-done talent at some point. Pitt desperately needs a guy to come in, get to the league, and be successful. Whether realistic or not, every recruit at this level believes that the NBA is in their future. Pitt needs to be able to feasibly sell
And the only chance he's had to get them is at a time when Stallings and his apologists insisted that there were no good players out there to get. Compare what Capel did this spring to what Stallings did the spring he got hired. Which one of those was better?
It's silly to compare 2 coaches that are on polar opposite ends of the competency spectrum as Capel and Stallings are. When Stallings didn't win any ACC games last year, it was way worse than that. All that Capel has to do is make us competitive in most games and win a few by year 3, and we'll have had a dramatic improvement over what we had with Stallings. I could see Capel getting us to 5 or 6 wins by year 3 in the ACC. But if he only gets us to 1 or 2 wins and we're competitive and recruiting is better, it will be a world of an improvement over what happened under Stallings.
-There is a severe lack of talent in the bottom half of the acc. You missed the mass exodus of players that took place and the severe lack of quality recruiting in the ACC in 2018.
-Pitt will be way more competitive this year and we wont be anywhere close to as bad as last year. Its not even a lock we finish in last place this year. We could easily pass a few other teams at the bottom.
While I certainly appreciate your take, I wish I shared it.
I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we win win more than 2-3 ACC games, finishing any better than, say 13th or 14th.
I'm completely an early fan of HCJC, but as fans we must respect that the road back is long, and we are still woefully undermanned at this time.
The work Coach Jeff can do to improve the roster via recruiting in the next 3-9 months will tell us if we are on the road back to the top half of the League.
This much I will say ... I will be there for just about all of the games just as I was last year. I love my Panther Hoopers all the same, regardless of whether I believe they will finish 1st or 15th in the ACC.
-I really like our 3 new recruits coming in. These are the type of players Dixon used to get in the old school days. Guys that came from powerhouse high school teams and leagues playing against the best high school players and best recruits in the country. And they were team leaders and captains, well, 2 of them anyway.
-Obviously looking at the Pitt roster only through a glass half empty off an 0-19 season losing the players we did looks bleak (except the player we lost arent that good and Luther didnt even play in the ACC so he doesnt count)
However,
1) I think our new guys are far better then who we lost. From an athleticism stand point and upside standpoint it really isnt close. We should be significantly better on defense with the upgraded athleticism.
2) I wouldnt be this positive if other teams didnt lose what they did. ACC recruiting in 2018 was way down. When you lose 3-4 starters and have 0 recruits, the only way your program is going to go is downhill, fast. Wake Forest, Georgia Tech etc.. are going to be really bad. And teams like Miami are going to nosedive without players coming in. We may only win a couple ACC games. But we are going to be a hell of a lot more competitive because most of the league is going to be substantially worse next year because of the player losses (NBA, transfer, senior)
-This doesnt even look like the same basketball team from last year. The team actually looks like athletes instead of the marshmallows under Stallings. Nice job by the coaching staff and the players. Now we wont constantly die and get blown out every 2nd half of every acc game. We actually trained this offseason
-This doesnt even look like the same basketball team from last year. The team actually looks like athletes instead of the marshmallows under Stallings. Nice job by the coaching staff and the players. Now we wont constantly die and get blown out every 2nd half of every acc game. We actually trained this offseason
It's hard not to appreciate the attitude demonstrated in the photo.
Hopefully this attitude will translate to on court success.
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