This fanbase deserves a terrible team

[KennyHeisman8]

6 years on. Dixon taking a one seed to OT. Takes one of the worst P5 programs and makes them relevant. People still saying it was a great move to push him out.

I am almost to the point I want the program to suck because this fanbase, the one that completely ruined Pitt basketball, deserves a terrible team and program.

Edit: In the end though, I want to be able to feel the way TCU fans feel tonight again. I remember losing in 2009 and not wanting to move the next day. I remember being in DC in 2011 and being devastated by the loss. Hell, I would take the feeling I had after the 2016 Wisconsin loss.

But this fanbase....nah. We thought we deserved FF's. We thought we deserved titles. So what did the fanbase do? Complain, whine, cry, moan about EVERYTHING the program did, and then you all got what you wanted, and guess what, we SUCK and are going to suck for years.

So yeah, to the fans that complained and ultimately led to Dixon being moved out, screw you. YOu ruined PItt basketball.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Dixon took his ball and went home when we moved to the ACC: Pouted about the move; stopped putting effort into recruiting; still flirted with other jobs every year; thought he needed to change his entire style of play to a point where it became a detriment.

Letting him walk and then hiring two terrible coaches afterwards are completely separate issues. If either of the last two hires were solid, no one would give a damn about Dixon right now. Except you, as there is obviously a romantic attraction there.

 

[KennyHeisman8]

Dixon took his ball and went home when we moved to the ACC: Pouted about the move; stopped putting effort into recruiting; still flirted with other jobs every year; thought he needed to change his entire style of play to a point where it became a detriment.

Letting him walk and then hiring two terrible coaches afterwards are completely separate issues. If either of the last two hires were solid, no one would give a damn about Dixon right now. Except you, as there is obviously a romantic attraction there.

No it is not two separate issues. For years people warned that if you let him walk you were highly unlikely to do better.

What did Pitt fans do though? “We want Miller! We want Shaka smart! We want brad stevens! Jamie will be easy to replace!”

I mean its common sense that when you let a top 20 coach walk you are likely going to do worse.

 

[cease10]

😭👶🏼 cry me a river for the Dixon loyalists and apologists

 

[cease10]

Letting him walk and then hiring two terrible coaches afterwards are completely separate issues. If either of the last two hires were solid, no one would give a damn about Dixon right now. Except you, as there

Yep 💯🎯

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

No it is not two separate issues. For years people warned that if you let him walk you were highly unlikely to do better.

What did Pitt fans do though? “We want Miller! We want Shaka smart! We want brad stevens! Jamie will be easy to replace!”

I mean its common sense that when you let a top 20 coach walk you are likely going to do worse.

A top 20 coach doesn't perform like he did those last few years - on and off the court. We were playing a freaking walk-on doctor at center, bowing out in an NIT game where we completely quit, losing must-win contests down the stretch, and recruiting guys who couldn't have started for Robert Morris. TCU dumped a ton of money into upgrading it's arena and facilities before Dixon got there, and it took him until year six. He's not a deity.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Going to the ACC killed him and the Howland/Dixon brand. Followed by Stallings and Capel killed Pitt bb.

 

[KennyHeisman8]

A top 20 coach doesn't perform like he did those last few years - on and off the court. We were playing a freaking walk-on doctor at center, bowing out in an NIT game where we completely quit, losing must-win contests down the stretch, and recruiting guys who couldn't have started for Robert Morris. TCU dumped a ton of money into upgrading it's arena and facilities before Dixon got there, and it took him until year six. He's not a deity.

He got them to the tournament in year 2 while we went 0-18. He won an NIT and went to another NIT Ff. These 6 years have been the most successful in the program’s history.

But yeah, keep telling yourself it was right to move on. You and the rest of the lot deserve this mess.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

He got them to the tournament in year 2 while we went 0-18. He won an NIT and went to another NIT Ff. These 6 years have been the most successful in the program’s history.

But yeah, keep telling yourself it was right to move on. You and the rest of the lot deserve this mess.

Year six to win a tournament game, which I assume is what spawned this recent barrage of your fawning.

I don't know if I got what I deserve. I told Heather to hire a great coach. So I probably deserve final fours, since I gave her that advice. Not my fault she didn't listen.

Hey, aren't you the guy who said we NEED (!!!!) to fire Pat Narduzzi a few years back?

 

[Wanstash21]

No it is not two separate issues. For years people warned that if you let him walk you were highly unlikely to do better.

What did Pitt fans do though? “We want Miller! We want Shaka smart! We want brad stevens! Jamie will be easy to replace!”

I mean its common sense that when you let a top 20 coach walk you are likely going to do worse.

can't argue with this. Pitt fans will always think the job is better than what it is.

 

[KennyHeisman8]

Year six to win a tournament game, which I assume is what spawned this recent barrage of your fawning.

I don't know if I got what I deserve. I told Heather to hire a great coach. So I probably deserve final fours, since I gave her that advice. Not my fault she didn't listen.

Hey, aren't you the guy who said we NEED (!!!!) to fire Pat Narduzzi a few years back?

Unlike you, I can admit I was wrong about Narduzzi. He was consistently mediocre till this year, and after WMU it looked like more of the same.

Luckily I was wrong. Luckily they kept him. Six years later though you still will defend wanting to push out Jamie.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

Jamie lost his edge in recruiting with the move to the ACC! We could not compete and he knew it and when the TCU job opened up he jumped on it! Time to move on.

 

[iMissTheOldDayss]

Shut your dumbass up KennyHeisman, you are the absolute worst

 

[KennyHeisman8]

Shut your dumbass up KennyHeisman, you are the absolute worst

Not a fan of being reminded you look foolish?

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I don’t really understand this thread. I mean every football program wants the next Saban, every basketball team wants the next coach K. That’s reality. What is odd, completely disregarding Dixon’s performance as a coach when we joined the ACC. Reality is, it just didn’t work for him in the ACC. Nobody thinks he is a bad coach or was a bad coach, it just didn’t work out for him and he struggled to adapt. Hell, Dixon will tell you repeatedly how the move to the ACC wasn’t a good thing. The writing was on the wall he was leaving. Flirting with other jobs for years told you what he thought of Pitt.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Unlike you, I can admit I was wrong about Narduzzi. He was consistently mediocre till this year, and after WMU it looked like more of the same.

Luckily I was wrong. Luckily they kept him. Six years later though you still will defend wanting to push out Jamie.

Well I hope you were watching Golden Girls reruns while the ACC Championship was on. You didn't deserve to watch Pitt football compete for a conference title!!!!!!!

 

[KennyHeisman8]

I don’t really understand this thread. I mean every football program wants the next Saban, every basketball team wants the next coach K. That’s reality. What is odd, completely disregarding Dixon’s performance as a coach when we joined the ACC. Reality is, it just didn’t work for him in the ACC. Nobody thinks he is a bad coach or was a bad coach, it just didn’t work out for him and he struggled to adapt. Hell, Dixon will tell you repeatedly how the move to the ACC wasn’t a good thing. The writing was on the wall he was leaving. Flirting with other jobs for years told you what he thought of Pitt.

He wanted to stay here. Period.

 

[iMissTheOldDayss]

Not a fan of being reminded you look foolish?

Nobody including me is taking the time to read your dumbass storybook you just posted, you’re constantly whining and crying like the little weirdo you are, just shut your dumbass up and move along

 

[KennyHeisman8]

Nobody including me is taking the time to read your dumbass storybook you just posted, you’re constantly whining and crying like the little weirdo you are, just shut your dumbass up and move along

Again, no. You and others don’t like being reminded how bad the sentiments in the fanbase look now.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Year six to win a tournament game, which I assume is what spawned this recent barrage of your fawning.

I don't know if I got what I deserve. I told Heather to hire a great coach. So I probably deserve final fours, since I gave her that advice. Not my fault she didn't listen.

Hey, aren't you the guy who said we NEED (!!!!) to fire Pat Narduzzi a few years back?

Only an idiot would think Pitt has been better off without him !

Pitt should’ve learned when Ben Howland left and no one of note wanted the Pitt job and the team was loaded .

Could Pitt have hired someone better , probably not and the rest of knowledge college bb people knew this and Pitt became the laughing stock of college bb .

Most likely we’ll see our third coach very soon and I doubt he’ll live up to JD 2 let alone JD 1 .

I don’t really understand this thread. I mean every football program wants the next Saban, every basketball team wants the next coach K. That’s reality. What is odd, completely disregarding Dixon’s performance as a coach when we joined the ACC. Reality is, it just didn’t work for him in the ACC. Nobody thinks he is a bad coach or was a bad coach, it just didn’t work out for him and he struggled to adapt. Hell, Dixon will tell you repeatedly how the move to the ACC wasn’t a good thing. The writing was on the wall he was leaving. Flirting with other jobs for years told you what he thought of Pitt.

Same to you , how many coaches and how many yrs will pass until Pitt finds a coach equal to JD2 ?

Using leverage to better one’s work position is good business isn‘t it !

 

[DruidTM]

Jamie lost his edge in recruiting with the move to the ACC! We could not compete and he knew it and when the TCU job opened up he jumped on it! Time to move on.

By all means let’s “ move on” because it’s entirely abnormal to question sacred cow boosters who probably forced an unnecessary move in the first place ( that looked like a shit move in real time and most could see that) … I mean it’s not some big mystery… it’s happened before in fact… see Jackie Sherrill… lesson learned? I’m not so sure… 6 years of moving on have been awful, worse in fact than had Dixon stayed. Maybe next time if there is a next time let’s no do the equivalent of allowing the loud mouth at the end of the bar to make such important calls? Because this one hasn’t looked good at any point to me.

 

[Upg bobcat]

No it is not two separate issues. For years people warned that if you let him walk you were highly unlikely to do better.

What did Pitt fans do though? “We want Miller! We want Shaka smart! We want brad stevens! Jamie will be easy to replace!”

I mean its common sense that when you let a top 20 coach walk you are likely going to do worse.

In Pitt fans defense, we probably were looking at our football program thinking "Gee we have had 4 football coaches in like a 6 year span and they all went 6-6 it doesn't matter who is coaching, so things probably won't get much worse in hoops if we switch the coach." Of course we were wrong.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Only an idiot would think Pitt has been better off without him !

Pitt should’ve learned when Ben Howland left and no one of note wanted the Pitt job and the team was loaded .

Could Pitt have hired someone better , probably not and the rest of knowledge college bb people knew this and Pitt became the laughing stock of college bb .

Most likely we’ll see our third coach very soon and I doubt he’ll live up to JD 2 let alone JD 1 .


Same to you , how many coaches and how many yrs will pass until Pitt finds a coach equal to JD2 ?

Using leverage to better one’s work position is good business isn‘t it !

Only an idiot would think we could hack ACC basketball with Justice Kithcart, Jonathan Milligan, Rozelle Nix, Corey Manigault, and Damon Wilson running the show.

The only thing I regret about Dixon not staying longer is that fans didn't get to realize the full extent of just how bad it was going to get here under his leadership.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Jamie lost his edge in recruiting with the move to the ACC! We could not compete and he knew it and when the TCU job opened up he jumped on it! Time to move on.

It almost felt like something changed after Mustapha Heron and Maverick Rowan decommitted from the 2016 class. However, to the point that @TheSpecialSauce made in another thread, I believe that was right around when we had a few staff changes. May give credence to the idea that he simply needed better assistants.

 

[iMissTheOldDayss]

Again, no. You and others don’t like being reminded how bad the sentiments in the fanbase look now.

“The sentiments in this fan base” have absolutely nothing to do with how much of a dumpster fire this program is and has been for more than half a decade straight now

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

He wanted to stay here. Period.

He was taking every call for openings and hated the ACC. Sounds like he really wanted to stay. Period.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Only an idiot would think we could hack ACC basketball with Justice Kithcart, Jonathan Milligan, Rozelle Nix, Corey Manigault, and Damon Wilson running the show.

The only thing I regret about Dixon not staying longer is that fans didn't get to realize the full extent of just how bad it was going to get here under his leadership.

Well I’m sorry you didn’t get to see it , but I’m happy for you that your enjoying the last six yrs without him .

He took over a program very similar to what Pitt is now and wouldn’t everyone be happy with 2 NCAAs and an NIT semi in the next 6 yrs ?

 

[Fsgolfdr]

It almost felt like something changed after Mustapha Heron and Maverick Rowan decommitted from the 2016 class. However, to the point that @TheSpecialSauce made in another thread, I believe that was right around when we had a few staff changes. May give credence to the idea that he simply needed better assistants.

Heron was bought by Pearl and Rowan’s father got a better job with a shoe company .

He tried and failed to get higher profile guys his last few recruiting classes .

 

[HailToPitt1985]

By all means let’s “ move on” because it’s entirely abnormal to question sacred cow boosters who probably forced an unnecessary move in the first place ( that looked like a shit move in real time and most could see that) … I mean it’s not some big mystery… it’s happened before in fact… see Jackie Sherrill… lesson learned? I’m not so sure… 6 years of moving on have been awful, worse in fact than had Dixon stayed. Maybe next time if there is a next time let’s no do the equivalent of allowing the loud mouth at the end of the bar to make such important calls? Because this one hasn’t looked good at any point to me.

Let's face it. We have a dumb athletic administration and very dumb big money boosters. We've had a dumb administration for the last 6 years and counting. We let morons make these kinds of decisions or have influence in them.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

He wanted to stay here. Period.

The problem with success is you're expected to maintain it. For whatever reason, he couldn't. And let's not pretend that his trajectory would have been great had he stayed. His last few recruiting classes were terrible and the best players (Artis, Young) were not guys you could build around. His coaching staff had become weaker over the years as well. I don't think he takes the program to the depths of Stallings but I do think he would have had a bad stretch with fewer wins each year. And then he probably gets canned anyways.

Good for him that he has made a comeback at TCU. I have no issue that he left Pitt. The problem isn't that JD left. It's that Barnes made a monumentally awful hire to replace him.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Let's face it. We have a dumb athletic administration and very dumb big money boosters. We've had a dumb administration for the last 6 years and counting. We let morons make these kinds of decisions or have influence in them.

If anyone watches Jim Cramer of CNBC Mad Money he has a saying that you only have to get rich once !

Under JD Pitt bb was “rich “ not as rich as Duke or UNC or what they once were in the BE , but very comfortable in the top 30/40 programs in the country and not being satisfied with this they’re now in bankruptcy .

No one will ever confuse Pitts administration in regards to athletics and financial success of the athletic department as geniuses .

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

6 years on. Dixon taking a one seed to OT. Takes one of the worst P5 programs and makes them relevant. People still saying it was a great move to push him out.

I am almost to the point I want the program to suck because this fanbase, the one that completely ruined Pitt basketball, deserves a terrible team and program.

Edit: In the end though, I want to be able to feel the way TCU fans feel tonight again. I remember losing in 2009 and not wanting to move the next day. I remember being in DC in 2011 and being devastated by the loss. Hell, I would take the feeling I had after the 2016 Wisconsin loss.

But this fanbase....nah. We thought we deserved FF's. We thought we deserved titles. So what did the fanbase do? Complain, whine, cry, moan about EVERYTHING the program did, and then you all got what you wanted, and guess what, we SUCK and are going to suck for years.

So yeah, to the fans that complained and ultimately led to Dixon being moved out, screw you. YOu ruined PItt basketball.

There were 0 fans who wanted to let Dixon walk to hire a worse coach. 0. Barnes is a complete idiot. Was probably making 700K or so to make the worst decision in sports history. He should be sued. If you waive a buyout for your best ever coach, you darn well hire someone better.

That said, Jamie has still never advanced past his seed line (besides beating the 8 as a 9 twice) and remains the worst NCAAT coach in history by that metric. But, the NCAAT is only part of how you measure a coach. Regular season success and just making the tournament mean a lot

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Well I’m sorry you didn’t get to see it , but I’m happy for you that your enjoying the last six yrs without him .

He took over a program very similar to what Pitt is now and wouldn’t everyone be happy with 2 NCAAs and an NIT semi in the next 6 yrs ?

It's the old change of scenery phenomenon. You've never became complacent in a job and let your performance slip only to be reinvigorated after starting a new job? It happens all the time, and it happened with Jamie.

 

[KennyHeisman8]

There were 0 fans who wanted to let Dixon walk to hire a worse coach. 0. Barnes is a complete idiot. Was probably making 700K or so to make the worst decision in sports history. He should be sued. If you waive a buyout for your best ever coach, you darn well hire someone better.

That said, Jamie has still never advanced past his seed line (besides beating the 8 as a 9 twice) and remains the worst NCAAT coach in history by that metric. But, the NCAAT is only part of how you measure a coach. Regular season success and just making the tournament mean a lot

That’s the point. When you have a top 20-25 coach the chances of hiring someone better is slim to none.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

The problem with success is you're expected to maintain it. For whatever reason, he couldn't. And let's not pretend that his trajectory would have been great had he stayed. His last few recruiting classes were terrible and the best players (Artis, Young) were not guys you could build around. His coaching staff had become weaker over the years as well I don't think he takes the program to the depths of Stallings but I do think he would have had a bad stretch with fewer wins each year. And then he probably gets canned anyways.

Good for him that he has made a comeback at TCU. I have no issue that he left Pitt. The problem isn't that JD left. It's that Barnes made a monumentally awful hire to replace him.

The program was headed in the wrong direction and a great hire might have been what the Dr ordered . Letting JD go without having that coach in your hip pocket was a fatal mistake . KS wasn’t that coach at any point in his career .

While the graph wasn’t headed in the right direction it would’ve never gone to the lower right like it has had JD stayed .

 

[HailToPitt725]

Heron was bought by Pearl and Rowan’s father got a better job with a shoe company .

He tried and failed to get higher profile guys his last few recruiting classes .

I do agree that he changed the type of guys he went after his last few years here.

I wonder if that was intentional or if he felt like he had to in order to keep up in the ACC? Heck, maybe he thought we’d be able to land that type of recruit once we joined the ACC? It certainly pivoted away from the three-to-four year types he’d recruit in the Big East.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

It's the old change of scenery phenomenon. You've never became complacent in a job and let your performance slip only to be reinvigorated after starting a new job? It happens all the time, and it happened with Jamie.

Jamie was having an issue with attracting talent to Pitt his last few yrs , who knows if this would’ve changed had he stayed .
Pitt would’ve never fallen to the depths it has if he had stayed .

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Pitt would’ve never fallen to the depths it has if he had stayed .

You're almost certainly right about this, and I don't think anyone is arguing it. But that's only because we botched the hiring process so badly, and it doesn't mean a fresh start was a bad thing. If Dixon had stayed, it would have just been a slow drain toward mediocrity.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

You're almost certainly right about this, and I don't think anyone is arguing it. But that's only because we botched the hiring process so badly, and it doesn't mean a fresh start was a bad thing. If Dixon had stayed, it would have just been a slow drain toward mediocrity.

No reason to believe Pitt would be any different than TCU right now and we all would prefer that to what we have now and been subjected to the last 6 seasons .

 

[KennyHeisman8]

You're almost certainly right about this, and I don't think anyone is arguing it. But that's only because we botched the hiring process so badly, and it doesn't mean a fresh start was a bad thing. If Dixon had stayed, it would have just been a slow drain toward mediocrity.

Pitt fans definition of mediocrity is a little messed up though as the last 5 years were called anything from mediocre to terrible