I'm not going to delude myself into thinking this could be an NCAA team, but the NIT would be great for this particular team, and it's now within reach. I think this team is good enough to win 6-7 games in the ACC. They have to continue to take care of business ooc. This was a win against very solid team that is better than what's at the bottom of the ACC. We might be able to reach league play with only one loss. Iowa will be difficult, but WVU is beatable. The atmosphere will be crazy, so the team will need to keep it's composure. Need to go into the Duquesne game with a serious attitude. The team I saw today beats Duquesne. The team that played North Alabama comes away with a loss. The coaches can't allow the team to become overconfident. The rest of the ooc schedule should be handled without too much trouble. If the Pete becomes a tough place to play this year, we might see some postseason action.
The NIT is now within reach
- Thread starter ameoba defense
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I so hope you're right....but sorry never gonna happen
I want to be wrong and want you to have it right...but IMO,
it's impossible with our inside game.
Now, if we were in the Atlantic 10, I see the possibility.
I want to be wrong and want you to have it right...but IMO,
it's impossible with our inside game.
Now, if we were in the Atlantic 10, I see the possibility.
I think finishing .500 overall is a real solid, achievable, stretch goal for this team. That's 11-2 OOC and 5-13 in the ACC.
NIT is definitely not impossible if Brown could ever gain some consistency inside with how good our guards look; if they continue their developmental trajectory and don't hit collective walls, and N'Dir can keep shooting the 3 like he did today, then something like 18-13 could get them into the NIT if a lot of lower-level conference teams win both their regular season and conference tournaments, not stealing away NIT auto-bids. We'd need some luck, but at 6-0 it's not "impossible", IMO.
NIT is definitely not impossible if Brown could ever gain some consistency inside with how good our guards look; if they continue their developmental trajectory and don't hit collective walls, and N'Dir can keep shooting the 3 like he did today, then something like 18-13 could get them into the NIT if a lot of lower-level conference teams win both their regular season and conference tournaments, not stealing away NIT auto-bids. We'd need some luck, but at 6-0 it's not "impossible", IMO.
I agree with this. arrow pointed up. Iowa is a very dangerous game, could lose by a lot. w/be a great sign to keep it reasonably close. w/be a great experience for them though. this team is much better than anyone thought, no way to deny that.. we are talking the NIT. those saying it will never happen are way too negative. this team has a lot more depth. the centers had 14 rebounds today. If they play defense, rebound and set picks, Pitt has a chance.
Eff that. This team will be on the NCAA bubble.
Much more athletic than the team they played....and that team will likely be in
Much more athletic than the team they played....and that team will likely be in
I still think people are shark jumping a bit.
I do think this Pitt team is extremely athletic. Problem is, the entire top half of the ACC is also extremely athletic, plus they are either a bit more talented or experienced, or both, as well...
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Not to mention, we have either been out rebounded or nearly out rebounded by every team we have played this year. If not for a ridiculous amount of FTs today, we get blown out. I can't say we need to rebound better, because we just don't have the guys to do it. This year is all about getting the guards experience. Nothing more. I doubt we get any post season, if we do that's gravy, but it really is a long shot.
I will be very pleased with 4 ACC wins. I think that's the ceiling. Athletic ability doesn't put the ball in the basket. We only have one consistent outside threat and teams will crowd the lane because we also have no post presence at all. So it will limit greatly our offense in terms of getting into the lane and to the basket. We also have been very weak on the boards to teams that are very poor. That will become more of a glaring issue when we get to the ACC.
We are not going to the NIT. Let's just be happy with continual improvement by the freshman and hopefully we pick up a couple good recruits with one being a guy who can play in the post.
We are not going to the NIT. Let's just be happy with continual improvement by the freshman and hopefully we pick up a couple good recruits with one being a guy who can play in the post.
I also worry about all of our freshman like X hitting the wall in February because of all of the minutes they are already logging.
True....and that’s why this team will lose 10 or 11 games by the end of the year. But I lve seen enough to think it’s going to be interesting in to March
NCAA Bubble (like bubble but most likely not going to make the NCAAT) is the NIT now especially if there are a lot of auto bids from mid major conferences.
Nothing is impossible and stranger things have happened in sports. This team needs about 6 ACC wins to make the post season and I believe they can do it.
Probably need more than 6 ACC wins to get into the NIT, unless you're referring to one of the lesser tournaments. It's a lot harder than most people realize to get into the NIT from a major conference.
It's the NIT for goodness sakes, not the Golden Fleece.
66 teams will make the NCAA tourney. 32 make the NIT.
We will get pushed around by some teams and in the no autopsy no foul big slow play of the Big Ten we would struggle.
We have rabbits and are not going to out muscle anyone
But no one will run us out either
Our Achilles heel is our youth. We are not physically or mentally mature and the season is a grind. Playing as many people as is possible is the only way to combat that
Capel is a breath of fresh air. No longer do I dread the post game (mortem) of Stallings and the post game hyper sensative Dixon. Thus far, listening to Capel is like listening to a wise college professor...here's the good, here's the bad....here's the in between.
I hate the "we can't" attitude. It's a self fulfilling prophesy of losers time immemorial.
An NIT bid means finishing a game or two over 0.500 after the ACC tourney. I don't believe it is even close to realistic to believe a team currently ranked around #100 by Sagarin's computer (#101 yesterday before we beat #104 by 2 points) and without even average post players. We have yet to play Iowa, WVU and 19 ACC games. Even crediting some continuing improvement our structural deficiency (lack of talent) in the post will prevent it, IMHO.
They will be a bubble team come March. If they win 6-8 in conference they are a bubble team. There are a lot of mediocre teams in the ACC this year. The conference is very top heavy. With the talent they have especially at guard they should be able to string enough conference wins to make NIT.
I'm anything but a negative "we can't" type. I'm just being realistic. First of all,
Several teams from the ACC will make the ACC.....UVA, Duke, N.C. etc. etc.
Other conferences will also have #'rs. Conference champs from lesser
conferences and tourneys will get in automatically. Conferences like the
A-10 will get maybe two teams in (their other teams like a St. Bona's with
twenty plus wins as a first place tie, regular season champ in 2017 won't). Some of
those types will then get the NIT bids because they couldn't qualify for
the "dance" due to a terrible selection process.
Even more than a few ACC conference wins won't do it for the NIT. Like
I said before, I really want to be wrong on my assessment.
By the way Pal, be careful of labeling someone as a person with "a self-fulfilling
prophesy of losers." My post that you quoted, didn't insult anyone, just gave an
opinion with respect to other posters. Happy thanksgiving, you can skip the
stuffing since you're already full of it.
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Again, I find it hard to agree, but I'd rather you be right. Like someone else
said, maybe one of the lesser tourneys other than the NIT.
I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and step back. We haven't beaten anyone yet. SLU was the closest thing we've had so far to a decent team and we could have easily lost that game. Pitt did what I was hoping they would. They were very competitive and kept it close. The great part is they found a way to win. I think excellent coaching had a big part in that.
Let's wait and see what they can do against Iowa and WVU before declaring they are ready for a post-season bid of any type. If they can beat both of those teams or at least one of them and keep it competitive in both, there MIGHT be some indications of this team winning more than 2 or 3 ACC games. But to get to the post-season, even the NIT, will take at least 6 ACC wins. It's too early to tell if that will happen.
Let's wait and see what they can do against Iowa and WVU before declaring they are ready for a post-season bid of any type. If they can beat both of those teams or at least one of them and keep it competitive in both, there MIGHT be some indications of this team winning more than 2 or 3 ACC games. But to get to the post-season, even the NIT, will take at least 6 ACC wins. It's too early to tell if that will happen.
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I totally agree. We barely beat STL, and you're right ...they are "the closest
thing we've had so far to a decent team, and we could have very easily
lost that game." They are not IMO, the best in the A-10. Davidson, and a few
others will give them a run for their money this season.
Not only are WVU and Iowa true measuring sticks, but Niagara and Duquesne
are half way decent mid majors. All four of those games will tell us even more
about who we are. Many on here are assuming maybe two losses at worst, but
Niagara is no guaranteed win (they're decent) this year; and Duquesne? You
know they're gonna be up for us.
Yup,...still "way to early to tell" regarding being ready for post season.
Just mean any post season tourney. I actually don't think we'd make the NIT. The NIT is very hard to make any more because of the automatic berth for small conference regular season championship winners that don't win their conference tourney.
That's exactly what some of us have been talking about. The selection process
could actually hurt a team that comes out of the bottom part of a conference
like the ACC. An ACC lesser team with a losing record or even a 500 overall
record could in fact be better than some of the lesser conference invitees,
and yet be left out. As you said, "the NIT is very hard to make"....again the
selection process for the smaller conferences hurts certain teams that
are in fact better.
The team you see on the floor has been the least good that this team will be. These talented freshmen will get better, and I think coach steals a game or two along the way.
That’s why I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect the team to be in “NIT lock/NCAA bubble” territory by March
That’s why I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect the team to be in “NIT lock/NCAA bubble” territory by March
Fans with no faith !!
Hasn't anybody learned from football.
same talk early on about losing season now bandwagon is full.
call me a fool or whatever (real fan is better).
To me their a ncaa team until eliminated.
Hasn't anybody learned from football.
same talk early on about losing season now bandwagon is full.
call me a fool or whatever (real fan is better).
To me their a ncaa team until eliminated.
Apples and oranges. Football team doesn't have a post problem. Having no quality post player is like what it would be if our football team's OL was undersized and underweight (e.g., 6-1, 260 avg) compared to or opponents (6-4, 300 avg).
I'm not your pal...for which I am thankful.
Your post "never gonna happen", "impossible", "really want to be wrong".
Pathetic is a better word to describe your post. Don't worry about me responding to you again. I'll treat your opinion as I do with dog litter. Not walk thru it and get it on my shoes and leave it for some other "never gonna happen", "impossible" prophet of doom doom hedging their bets with the "hope I'm wrong" pronosticator to sniff.
The football team is a bad analogy.
I’m happy we are playing well and turned around the season
But our division is garbage and we got a weak acc schedule this year.
To their credit- they took care of business-
But we’re flawed enough that we are a road dog to Miami (who had a disappointing season) - and it will be an upset if we win.
And we may be a 3 score underdog to Clemson next week.
We haven’t arrived and will be rebuilding next season again
Hoops is in rebuilding mode now and the conference schedule will be brutal.
I’m happy we are playing well and turned around the season
But our division is garbage and we got a weak acc schedule this year.
To their credit- they took care of business-
But we’re flawed enough that we are a road dog to Miami (who had a disappointing season) - and it will be an upset if we win.
And we may be a 3 score underdog to Clemson next week.
We haven’t arrived and will be rebuilding next season again
Hoops is in rebuilding mode now and the conference schedule will be brutal.
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I don't understand the comparisons between football and basketball. Those can't be made. Two vastly different sports.
Besides, the football team isn't exactly setting the world on fire. We've won some games against bad teams, as we should. That's nice. Let's wait and see what happens against a mediocre Miami and a really good Clemson.
What happens this year can only be looked at as building for next year. We need to get past 8 wins to say we've progressed as a program. This year, we made some progress with a very advantageous schedule. Unless you're happy with mediocre and winning 6 to 8 games a year is what you see as our ceiling.
Besides, the football team isn't exactly setting the world on fire. We've won some games against bad teams, as we should. That's nice. Let's wait and see what happens against a mediocre Miami and a really good Clemson.
What happens this year can only be looked at as building for next year. We need to get past 8 wins to say we've progressed as a program. This year, we made some progress with a very advantageous schedule. Unless you're happy with mediocre and winning 6 to 8 games a year is what you see as our ceiling.
As to the difficultly of making the NIT, last year there were 15 teams from P6 conferences (including the Big East) that made the NIT. There were actually 5 PAC12 teams that made it, as well as 3 from the ACC.
OK. good point. I went and looked up the three ACC teams last year. Two of them
had 20+ wins (Louisville and Notre Dame). The third was BC with 19 overall wins.
Two of them had losing records in conference. BC by the way was 19-16 and 6-11.
Based on those #'rs, posters can draw up their own scenarios as to what it might
take for Pitt to make it this year. Think about it...could we win 19?...Could we win
6 in conference? Those #'rs aren't meant to be a definite guarantee, instead
just a rough guide.
Heck, we are still playing the OOC part of the schedule. Losing to Duquesne isn't even out of the question. They are very equal to St. Louis and it is a big deal for them to beat us. We could still wind up no better than 10-3 OOC--its not yet out of the question. A minimum of 17-15 after the ACC tourney is what it will take for an NIT shot--but, IMHO, more likely 18-14 given how the NIT picks now. That means as others have said between 6 and 8 ACC wins following 10 or 11 OOC wins. Its way to early to be "counting our chickens before they are hatched."
I just don't see 6 wins in the ACC part of our schedule. That's the minimum it would take to get to any post-season. The NIT maybe more. And that's assuming we win out in OOC or have 1 loss at most. We have at least one more year of development for us to even mention a post-season. Stallings left a dumpster fire and it will take some time to put it out.
I kind of agree. However, for what it is worth Sagarin's "recent" games rating (which favors our better than originally prognosticated play to date) now actually predicts 6 ACC wins; but only by +4, +1, +1.5, +1.5, +3 and + 0.5. There are also 4 losses predicted by only -2, -3, -3 and -2. So, 6 ACC wins +/- may actually be possible. Our OOC total now looks like 11 if we don't get upset by Duquesne. So it is looking like a 16 or 17 win season is at least possible if we don't slump.
I am still very concerned about how how much our lack of quality bigs will hurt us in ACC play. The Iowa and WVU games should tell us a lot on that issue.
We shall see what actually happens as the games play out.
