Syracuse Game @ the Dome & Other Dribbles ...

[gary2]

A they left Buddy B open quite often too.

True, but at least initially, they may have been by design.

 

[DT_PITT]

True, but at least initially, they may have been by design.

Yes .. perhaps.

 

[gary2]

The bottom of the acc is awful. The 4 worst teams are 3-16 and Georgia Tech and Clemson have not played the meat on their schedule yet to drop to the bottom. Pitt on the other hand has played all the top teams in the acc. Florida St will climb quickly when they beat up the garbage at the bottom of the league in the next 2 weeks. They are blowing out BC right now on BCs home floor. I dont know why its hard to admit the bottom of the acc is lousy outside a win or 2.

I know Clemson does not have a good record, at the momement, but they do have talent. Clemson generally plays good defense as well. I expect Clemsons record will improve.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

I wasn't trying for it to be down. Sorry you saw it so. The only "down thing" about this game is that it should likely quiet the NCAA tournament talk for a while. That should really be the case anyway. It's been a blast to talk about our tournament chances. But that's still such a long shot.

Really doesn't quiet it at all IMO. We have a shot and will likely be on a soft bubble when the season ends. This SU game on the road, against their style was never one I believed we'd get. However, there is easily a road map to getting 8 or 9 conference wins and that can happen without any major upsets. We will very likely lose to Duke, at Louisville and at UVA, the rest of the games are winnable. We won't get them all, but we can win games at Clemson, at BC, at WF, at GT and at Miami and we can win home games against, SU, NC St, VT, Clemson and ND. I'd say at the very least, we 2 on the road and 3 at home, which gets us to 7. That is the bare minimum IMO.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

This would have us going 7-6 the rest of the way to finish with a 19-12 record, including 9-9 in conference.

At that point, would this and a win in the ACC tournament put us in a spot to secure an at-large bid? At the very least we’d be in the NIT. I think at least one more win over a Top 25 team would go a long way. Crazy to think that we’re having these types of conversations again, this soon.

I think so!

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

Just don't be too disappointed if that 10th loss comes sooner rather than later. IMHO, this teams absolute ceiling was before the Syracuse game, and still is, a maximum of 6 ACC regular season wins (4 more) and maybe 7 total if they can win their first game in the ACC tourney. Maybe they could sneak into the NIT or buy their way into the CBI.

At first it was no more than a few and now it is no more than 6. You'll have to change it again by about the 14th game.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

I have to say that is extremely optimistic. I am pretty optimistic too, but I am hoping for 5 or 6 more and realistically expecting less. The next 3 will be extremely tough. If we lose all 3, I hope it will not significantly impact our confidence.

We probably will lose all 3 and then we'll be at the back end of our schedule where we have a shot to win a lot of those games.

 

[X2win]

I know Clemson does not have a good record, at the momement, but they do have talent. Clemson generally plays good defense as well. I expect Clemsons record will improve.

Clemsons's next 2 games are on the road against Florida St and NC State. Their best win this year is against Georgia who is 1 loss away from last place in the SEC. When Clemson starts playing Louisville and Carolina on the road the losses are going to build quickly. The same could be said for Pitt the next few games. The difference is Pitt has proven it can at least beat top acc teams at home, and that neutral St Louis win looks better by day, they are undefeated in conference. None of these other bottom acc teams have proven anything.

 

[DT_PITT]

Really doesn't quiet it at all IMO. We have a shot and will likely be on a soft bubble when the season ends. This SU game on the road, against their style was never one I believed we'd get. However, there is easily a road map to getting 8 or 9 conference wins and that can happen without any major upsets. We will very likely lose to Duke, at Louisville and at UVA, the rest of the games are winnable. We won't get them all, but we can win games at Clemson, at BC, at WF, at GT and at Miami and we can win home games against, SU, NC St, VT, Clemson and ND. I'd say at the very least, we 2 on the road and 3 at home, which gets us to 7. That is the bare minimum IMO.

I hope you are right with your expectations. However, I might suggest that it's certain that we go 9-9 in conference for tournament dreams. Soft bubble notwithstanding, we need that kind of record with only a St. Louis win and the Niagara loss on the books otherwise.

 

[gary2]

We probably will lose all 3 and then we'll be at the back end of our schedule where we have a shot to win a lot of those games.

Agree. The team does seem to have heart. I expect they will continue to battle regardless of the results in the next 3 games.

 

[gary2]

Clemsons's next 2 games are on the road against Florida St and NC State. Their best win this year is against Georgia who is 1 loss away from last place in the SEC. When Clemson starts playing Louisville and Carolina on the road the losses are going to build quickly. The same could be said for Pitt the next few games. The difference is Pitt has proven it can at least beat top acc teams at home, and that neutral St Louis win looks better by day, they are undefeated in conference. None of these other bottom acc teams have proven anything.

What ACC games has Clemson played so far? I know UVA was one and I am thinking another was UNC or Duke. Would you rather have Clemson starting 5 (and depth) than ours? Brownell is a good defensive coach. Scoring may be difficult. At best, I see our 2 games with Clemson as defensive battles.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

Lost at Duke and at Syracuse and beat GT at and lost to UVA at home.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

I hope you are right with your expectations. However, I might suggest that it's certain that we go 9-9 in conference for tournament dreams. Soft bubble notwithstanding, we need that kind of record with only a St. Louis win and the Niagara loss on the books otherwise.

We probably wouldn't make it at 8-10, but we would be on the bubble.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

True, but at least initially, they may have been by design.

Not sure if it was by design, but I guarantee Capel didn't think he'd be a factor and probably didn't game plan for him. You can guarantee that he won't get those kind of looks in 2 weeks/

 

[X2win]

What ACC games has Clemson played so far? I know UVA was one and I am thinking another was UNC or Duke. Would you rather have Clemson starting 5 (and depth) than ours? Brownell isn't a good defensive coach. Scoring may be difficult. At best, I see our 2 games with Clemson as defensive battles.

Duke, Virginia, Cuse, and Georgia Tech. And now there has been a 22 point swing in the FSU game. BC cant miss from 3. Looks like our game yesterday with Buddy Boeheim having his career day against Pitt from 3. Amazing how the 3 point shot changes the game fast. Would like to see a future NBA 3 line in college. This 60% plus stuff in games has become annoying and happens to often.

 

[jfk6668]

The bottom of the acc is awful. The 4 worst teams are 3-16 and Georgia Tech and Clemson have not played the meat on their schedule yet to drop to the bottom. Pitt on the other hand has played all the top teams in the acc. Florida St will climb quickly when they beat up the garbage at the bottom of the league in the next 2 weeks. They are blowing out BC right now on BCs home floor. I dont know why its hard to admit the bottom of the acc is lousy outside a win or 2.

BC looks about to beat FSU....no road game is going to come easy

 

[gary2]

Lost at Duke and at Syracuse and beat GT at and lost to UVA at home.

Pretty much what one would expect (maybe a chance ar Syr).

 

[FordhamIII]

*Despite the loss there is a lot to be optimistic about.

*When Terrel Brown learns to catch the ball and keep from dropping it down low his average will double. Wonder as a kid did he ever play any baseball.

* The small lineup worked well today would like to see more of it especially when our bigs are having trouble rebounding any way.

*Samson George there has to be something he can do to contribute. Screen, crash the boards or just eat up fouls at least this might help Terrel from getting so many.

*We faced a lot of the top teams and while there are no easy games the schedule .should get easier after the Duke game.

*How good could Stallings first team with Artis and Young been if he was able to land guards like X,Trey and Toney.

*Let's go Chiefs any team to the Super Bowl except New England.

 

[Pitt Panther4ever]

** Right after today’s game, I headed out to grab take-out Saturday night dinner for my family. Tonight’s dinner selection came from Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.

** Rock Bottom and Pitt Basketball will always be connected wonderfully in my mind, as the sight of no fewer than a dozen PantherLair “gamewatches,” ranging from numbers of just about 10 Pitt Hoops faithful to the largest of events with a count well over 100.

** Even this week, I noticed a handful of posters on the Lair referencing these gamewatches, wondering if someone such as myself might be up to the task of putting together such a gathering for this year’s Panthers.

** So if nothing else, despite how much this season has already surpassed expectations, for now we must realize our Panthers are not yet “gamewatch worthy.”

** But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t appreciate them for what they are at the moment.

** What they are is a team full of battlers, but incomplete talents.

** They are a team whose performance today in the Dome should have done nothing to make fans feel any less about our positive future direction.

** They are also a team who does not possess the requisite skills and abilities to successfully attack the Syracuse 2-3 matchup zone in the traditional successful manner.

** That was the gameplan in the first half by Coach Capel. It was a gameplan that in retrospect had little chance of success. But it's was the only obvious way to start.

** It’s not just that the Panthers lack the shooters to defeat such a zone. More importantly, they lack the passers.

** They also lack the necessary post presence.

** I’ve been all aboard with the improved play of Terrell Brown over the last few games. But this game, unfortunately, only reminded us of what he can’t yet do. Sure, he started with a splendid three pointer, but that was his last moment of success.

** Major compliments this day, however, need to go to our lately maligned senior Jared Wilson-Frame. Jared wasn’t great, but provided a winning effort, and even winning production.

** Actually, all of our Panthers provided a winning effort. That’s going to be a theme all year long, I’m certain.

** Folks such as myself have suggested that Xavier might be playing himself toward All-ACC honors. While this still may be true, even I must be reminded that even such a player as X is less than 20 games into his College Basketball life. As such, the subtleties of leading the attack against the complexities of the length of the Cuse zone still need to be obtained.

** I see a different problem for Trey. The problem for Trey is that his team can’t lend him the convenience of having a typical freshman “off game.” Most freshman of Trey’s magnitude on better teams can score just 7, and there are others who can pick up the slack. But the Panthers don’t otherwise have the latitude for letting Trey score just 7.

** When assessing the Panther’s overall game on the offensive end, it should be noted that they finally started scoring effectively when they played five guards, and abandoned any traditional approach to attacking the zone.

** All of these points notwithstanding, a better argument should be made that they Panthers didn’t lose this game because of their inability to beat the zone. After all, we scored 63 points in a game with just about the same number of offensive possessions.

** For the Panthers to be the best team they can be this year, they can’t allow a team like the Cuse to get the number of open perimeter looks enabling 46 second half points.

** And for gosh sake, we allowed Jim Boeheim’s son to score 13 points. I sure hope that he's not a dog we will have to hunt for 4 full years.

** This past week, @Wilver Dornell made a post about his favorite “eras” of Pitt Basketball. I added my own list of favorite eras, and I even thought to add Willard’s first season, 1994-1995, as an honorable mention. That season had its own special value, not just because that team played with a balls-to-the-wall type of game, but there was also the committed promise of talent on its way as a backdrop.

** This team plays much like that team of Willard’s first year, but I do see the future with X and T and A with greater upside. But they need help. And if I’m to believe what I’ve been told as of late, those commitments of help will soon be on their way. But for now, I’ll forgo fuller discussion on that topic to the Vader’s of the world.

** As for my part, I’ll leave myself to the task of helping to mobilize the Panther Hoops faithful toward supporting a team who needs it.

** We don’t need to congratulate the Panthers for the game they played today in the Dome. But we should appreciate them for where they are headed, and support them on their journey.

** After all, PantherLair Gamewatches at Rock Bottom may be back in future for fans 2 or 3 years from now.

Hopefully your recruiting optimism is due to knowing something about Wahabs upcoming decision

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

At first it was no more than a few and now it is no more than 6. You'll have to change it again by about the 14th game.

A few is what anyone would have expected prior to the season and prior to ACC play. This team has clearly proved itself better than expected so it has gone up. Nevertheless, there are only three head to head games we are currently actually favored in by the ESPN power rating--Slightly over 50% chance of winning vs Wake Forest (A) and Clemson (H). Our best prediction is over Notre Dame (H) at about 65% . There are several others were we have a decent chance at pulling the upset but we won't win them all. Games ESPN sees us with above a 40% chance of winning vs Syracuse (H) and BC (A). ESPN also gives us an over over 30% (but under 40%) chance of winning vs NC State (H) and Ga Tech (A).

I will stick with expecting 4 more wins ACC regular season at this point in time while hoping for better.

 

[DT_PITT]

Hopefully your recruiting optimism is due to knowing something about Wahabs upcoming decision

Not specifically about him, no.

 

[pittjas]

Not specifically about him, no.

So you’ve heard positive things about recruiting from people who would know?

Don’t need specifics but just wondering if that’s what you were implying.

 

[DT_PITT]

So you’ve heard positive things about recruiting from people who would know?

Don’t need specifics but just wondering if that’s what you were implying.

That's what I'm implying.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

When it comes down to this game, I mean if Syracuse was going to shoot 46% from the 3 line, well Pitt was just completely doomed. A team like Syracuse, with their length and shot blocking, if they are hitting from the 3 as well as many teams shoot from floor overall, well......that's that.

What we can only hope for is if Pitt shoots well against Duke and Duke shoots below 30% from the 3.