These next 3 games for Pitt…

[Blair_45]

With FSU, Clemson, and Syracuse all of a sudden become very very important after losing to Louisville yesterday. This Pitt team has to be careful right now these next few weeks or they are gonna slowly find themselves near the bubble. They have dropped 22 spots in the NET over the last 4-5 weeks going from 5 to now at 27. I don’t wanna sit here and say these next 3 games at FSU, home to Clemson and at Syracuse are all Must win games. But you better at least go 2-1 in this stretch at the absolute worst. Anything less then that is gonna put Pitt probably in the mid 30’s in the NET and drop them down to probably around the 8-10 seeding line with a downward trajectory.

So at this point I still think they are okay as far as being safely in the tournament. However, anything less then 2-1 in these next 3 games and we are gonna be having a different conversation as far as being safely in the field is concerned come 2 weeks from now going into the last week of January.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

They win at least 2 of the next 3. Duke and Louisville are the two top teams in the ACC.

 

[Blair_45]

They win at least 2 of the next 3. Duke and Louisville are the two top teams in the ACC.

Yea I agree that they are. I’d like to win all 3 of these next 3 games. They are long overdue to win a game against Clemson either home or away it’s been over 10 years now I believe. At some point that streak will get snapped and hopefully it’s next week at home when they play them. You gotta win both games at FSU and at Syracuse if you’re a tournament team as well. So we will continue to find out a lot about this team the next few weeks and how they respond in these upcoming games that they should be able to win. Win these next 2 this week at FSU and home to Clemson and that puts you back at 5-2 in the conference with a week off before you play a Syracuse team you should be able to beat to get to 6-2.

 

[SteelBowl70]

It was at this point last year where they turned the season around finishing 12-4 winning at Duke after hitting a low point losing by 11 at home to Syracuse for the second time. Hopefully they rebound (literally) at FSU which is coming off a 20 point loss at Clemson.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

We're going to have to win ALL of our homes games, including Clemson, and steal 3 wins on the road to be in a position going into the ACCT to get an NCAAT bid.

 

[Pittisit4me]

We will be on the outside looking in if we continue to defend like yesterday. This team can score against teams that are average defensively, which covers most of the ACC. 78 points should be enough to win most games, but not when you play the matador defense. Oh yeah, the rebounding effort sucked too!

 

[Pittnerski]

We are toast. I think the ceiling is the bubble, especially with the way these metrics work.

ACC destined to get duke UNC plus 2-3 more that we are fighting for.

Metrics don’t favor ACC teams for some reason. And talent wise, teams are a lot better than their metrics which is a recipe for disaster. Evidence of ND playing duke close @ Cameron yesterday. ND probably the 14th best team in conference vs undeniably the best

 

[KennyHeisman8]

We are toast. I think the ceiling is the bubble, especially with the way these metrics work.

ACC destined to get duke UNC plus 2-3 more that we are fighting for.

Metrics don’t favor ACC teams for some reason. And talent wise, teams are a lot better than their metrics which is a recipe for disaster. Evidence of ND playing duke close @ Cameron yesterday. ND probably the 14th best team in conference vs undeniably the best

Ehhhhhh that game was a blowout. Difference was Duke called off the dogs and nd went on like a 15-2 run

 

[TD_6082]

We are toast. I think the ceiling is the bubble, especially with the way these metrics work.

ACC destined to get duke UNC plus 2-3 more that we are fighting for.

Metrics don’t favor ACC teams for some reason. And talent wise, teams are a lot better than their metrics which is a recipe for disaster. Evidence of ND playing duke close @ Cameron yesterday. ND probably the 14th best team in conference vs undeniably the best

Not sure about the talent/metrics. No doubt, Louisville is a very well coached team. I'm not sold on their level of talent. The Cardinals have played 3 SEC teams, 2 of which were non-competitive,(Tennessee & Ole Miss) and their game against Kentucky, which the Cats controlled throughout.

I don't see any talented rosters in the ACC once you step outside of Durham, NC. It's mostly mediocre and just flat out bad, imo

 

[Pittnerski]

P

Not sure about the talent/metrics. No doubt, Louisville is a very well coached team. I'm not sold on their level of talent. The Cardinals have played 3 SEC teams, 2 of which were non-competitive,(Tennessee & Ole Miss) and their game against Kentucky, which the Cats controlled throughout.

I don't see any talented rosters in the ACC once you step outside of Durham, NC. It's mostly mediocre and just flat out bad, imo

The metrics comment comes from the quadrant system. ND and Cuse and BC much better and more talented than you Q3 /Q4 buy game type teams. The bottom of the conference can trip you up, whereas we’ve mostly rolled and covered spreads in the OOC against the Q3/ Q4

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

We're going to have to win ALL of our homes games, including Clemson, and steal 3 wins on the road to be in a position going into the ACCT to get an NCAAT bid.

It isnt going to require 13-7.

12-8 = lock

11-9 = bubble, but in

The committee overweights the non-con. We are last year's Clemson or UVa

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

We will be on the outside looking in if we continue to defend like yesterday. This team can score against teams that are average defensively, which covers most of the ACC. 78 points should be enough to win most games, but not when you play the matador defense. Oh yeah, the rebounding effort sucked too!

Thought we were pretty decent defensively. Louisville wasnt running layup lines on us like OSU (1st Half), Wis (2nd Half), Miss St. We just couldnt get a rebound. That's the game.

 

[Pittisit4me]

Thought we were pretty decent defensively. Louisville wasnt running layup lines on us like OSU (1st Half), Wis (2nd Half), Miss St. We just couldnt get a rebound. That's the game.

We lost Rayne Smith way to many times. There are certain guys you need to identify and stick to. It was almost like we were ignoring their best shooter. To me, I would not call that decent defense. I thought we were lazy reacting to ball screens and didn't fight hard enough to get over them. I just didn't care for that defensive effort. They have to lock in and play with some intensity to beat some of the better teams in this league. A better effort rebounding is also necessary. I guarantee you every player on Pitt's team has been taught to box out at every level of ball. It therefore, becomes a question of effort and desire to get it done. So far this year, the effort and attention have been lacking where rebounding is concerned.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

We lost Rayne Smith way to many times. There are certain guys you need to identify and stick to. It was almost like we were ignoring their best shooter. To me, I would not call that decent defense. I thought we were lazy reacting to ball screens and didn't fight hard enough to get over them. I just didn't care for that defensive effort. They have to lock in and play with some intensity to beat some of the better teams in this league. A better effort rebounding is also necessary. I guarantee you every player on Pitt's team has been taught to box out at every level of ball. It therefore, becomes a question of effort and desire to get it done. So far this year, the effort and attention have been lacking where rebounding is concerned.

3 or 4 3s were in transition. Transition defense is like a fire drill. Your primary focus is to stop the ball and prevent a layup but then guys get matched up on other guys as we scramble back. Its easier said than done to account for Smith in transition. I'm not sure he had any 3s out of their offense. Maybe 1 on an OB. Everything was in transition or when we were caught in rotations. Also, he was ONLY shooting 37%. That's good but a lot of guys shoot 37%. A 37% shooter doesnt usually warrant special attention. Zack Austin is shooting 44% from 3. I dont think teams game plan around Austin's 3 point prowess.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

FSU is a Quad 1 Game

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

With FSU, Clemson, and Syracuse all of a sudden become very very important after losing to Louisville yesterday. This Pitt team has to be careful right now these next few weeks or they are gonna slowly find themselves near the bubble. They have dropped 22 spots in the NET over the last 4-5 weeks going from 5 to now at 27. I don’t wanna sit here and say these next 3 games at FSU, home to Clemson and at Syracuse are all Must win games. But you better at least go 2-1 in this stretch at the absolute worst. Anything less then that is gonna put Pitt probably in the mid 30’s in the NET and drop them down to probably around the 8-10 seeding line with a downward trajectory.

So at this point I still think they are okay as far as being safely in the tournament. However, anything less then 2-1 in these next 3 games and we are gonna be having a different conversation as far as being safely in the field is concerned come 2 weeks from now going into the last week of January.

3-0 and we are in really good shape.

2-1 ok but less margin for error

1-2 on the bubble, probably still in for now

 

[HailToPitt1985]

We lost Rayne Smith way to many times. There are certain guys you need to identify and stick to. It was almost like we were ignoring their best shooter. To me, I would not call that decent defense. I thought we were lazy reacting to ball screens and didn't fight hard enough to get over them. I just didn't care for that defensive effort. They have to lock in and play with some intensity to beat some of the better teams in this league. A better effort rebounding is also necessary. I guarantee you every player on Pitt's team has been taught to box out at every level of ball. It therefore, becomes a question of effort and desire to get it done. So far this year, the effort and attention have been lacking where rebounding is concerned.

Agree. Our defense for the entire game was lazy. Too many guys just standing around and watching. And the rebounding effort was practically non-existent. These are things that can be coached and practiced. It's always going to be defense and rebounding with this team that will kill them. You can't count on them outscoring many opponents this year if the defense and rebounding aren't there.

Just basic fundamentals that are lacking and that is concerning. Hopefully we see some improvement this week.

 

[Pittisit4me]

Agree. Our defense for the entire game was lazy. Too many guys just standing around and watching. And the rebounding effort was practically non-existent. These are things that can be coached and practiced. It's always going to be defense and rebounding with this team that will kill them. You can't count on them outscoring many opponents this year if the defense and rebounding aren't there.

Just basic fundamentals that are lacking and that is concerning. Hopefully we see some improvement this week.

Capel just has to change the focus a bit. Every player at this level wants to perform offensively, it's where the glory is. However, if he could get our guys to put that same focus into defense and rebounding this team will do very well. It's easier said than done, but, we can be so much better if our focus is defense and rebounding. After all great defense leads to transition and some easy buckets and dunks. These kids know the fundamentals, they need the focus and effort to execute them.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Capel just has to change the focus a bit. Every player at this level wants to perform offensively, it's where the glory is. However, if he could get our guys to put that same focus into defense and rebounding this team will do very well. It's easier said than done, but, we can be so much better if our focus is defense and rebounding. After all great defense leads to transition and some easy buckets and dunks. These kids know the fundamentals, they need the focus and effort to execute them.

I recall this conversation happening about 20 years ago, and the strategy seemed to work if I recall. Defense and rebounding leads to offense and transition.

 

[TD_6082]

I recall this conversation happening about 20 years ago, and the strategy seemed to work if I recall. Defense and rebounding leads to offense and transition.

Unless it's Virginia. 😬

 

[Atilla Cosby]

This is 2 games in a row where they decided to leave guys wide open consistly all game.

The lack of rebounding is bad news. This is not the team I thought it was.

I also don't expect Capel to implement much of an offense. If the guards can't penetrate, the team flounders. Post play is an afterthought, and that's disappointing, although nothing new under this regime.

Let's see if they can put things together.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

This is 2 games in a row where they decided to leave guys wide open consistly all game.

The lack of rebounding is bad news. This is not the team I thought it was.

I also don't expect Capel to implement much of an offense. If the guards can't penetrate, the team flounders. Post play is an afterthought, and that's disappointing, although nothing new under this regime.

Let's see if they can put things together.

I said this in another post but I thought the D played fairly well. Smith's 3s were in transition or when we were caught in rotations. We basically eliminated the dribble drive which got us beat vs Wisconsin and Miss St (which we were going to lose anyway). They rebounded 17 of their 37 misses. That's the game.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

With FSU, Clemson, and Syracuse all of a sudden become very very important after losing to Louisville yesterday. This Pitt team has to be careful right now these next few weeks or they are gonna slowly find themselves near the bubble. They have dropped 22 spots in the NET over the last 4-5 weeks going from 5 to now at 27. I don’t wanna sit here and say these next 3 games at FSU, home to Clemson and at Syracuse are all Must win games. But you better at least go 2-1 in this stretch at the absolute worst. Anything less then that is gonna put Pitt probably in the mid 30’s in the NET and drop them down to probably around the 8-10 seeding line with a downward trajectory.

So at this point I still think they are okay as far as being safely in the tournament. However, anything less then 2-1 in these next 3 games and we are gonna be having a different conversation as far as being safely in the field is concerned come 2 weeks from now going into the last week of January.

I think its lost on a lot of people that as of right now, this is a Quad 1 game for us vs #71 FSU. If we win, its likely FSU falls below 75 making it Quad 2 but its certainly possible that FSU could finish the year in the Top 75. Very big game for Pitt for a lot of reasons.

 

[Atilla Cosby]

I said this in another post but I thought the D played fairly well. Smith's 3s were in transition or when we were caught in rotations. We basically eliminated the dribble drive which got us beat vs Wisconsin and Miss St (which we were going to lose anyway). They rebounded 17 of their 37 misses. That's the game.

That's what I was seeing, you're right about eliminating penetration. The outside shots were wide open, a lot. I'm no b-ball expert but I have good pattern recognition, and that was a pattern.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

That's what I was seeing, you're right about eliminating penetration. The outside shots were wide open, a lot. I'm no b-ball expert but I have good pattern recognition, and that was a pattern.

Unless you are Tony Bennett UVa, 3 point shooters are always open. Comes down to make or miss. And Louisville is the worst 3 point shooting team in the ACC.

 

[Pittisit4me]

Unless you are Tony Bennett UVa, 3 point shooters are always open. Comes down to make or miss. And Louisville is the worst 3 point shooting team in the ACC.

If they played us a few more times instead of twice, they would not be last in 3 point shooting. I have seen this team over the years let someone get hot, and just about everytime it happens, they get much hotter. Why? We are not locked in and don't identify the one player who is killing us. Sometimes I swear we should do a box and one to stop it, and make someone else beat us. It is frustrating as hell.