UC Santa Barbara Game & Other Dribbles ...

[DT_PITT]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 5 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of a close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

DId the gauchos really have 19 offensive rebounds? That what the espn box score says? And pitt had 5? Wtf?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years.

Let's hope not, because that would mean no more than three.

 

[drp1tt]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 3 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of the close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

I hear you and your son's observation about the defense playing in the second half was right on in my opinion. Much better effort and it seemed they actually got a little more comfortable playing together. I know that UCSB is not an ACC team but I thought we played hard as a team, caught a break with their lousy FT shooting but hey, we hit 21-25 although we missed some pretty open shots down the stretch. At least this team played as a "team" and with much better overall effort than last year's rendition. It just going to be baby steps this year. We desperately need to get some good big men. Also it looks to me that we are seeing the possible making of a star with Stevenson. Fun watching him play.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And pitt had 5? Wtf?

And three of Pitt's five came in the last 2-1/2 minutes of the game. Luther's sweet tip-in of Wilson-Frame's missed layup, Wilson-Frame's rebound and layup after Stevenson missed a three, and then Luther's tip out of Stewart's missed foul shot that led to two more Stewart foul shots.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Also it looks to me that we are seeing the possible making of a star with Stevenson. Fun watching him play.

I really like what I'm seeing out of Stevenson. Many of his mistakes right now come from him trying to do too much. That's an easier problem to solve than someone who can't or won't do what you need them to.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

What happened to Carr tonight? I was glad to see Milligan and Luther leading the way for the young guys. But man, we need to learn how to rebound, especially on the offensive end. That could be dangerous if we do this against a good team.

 

[DT_PITT]

Let's hope not, because that would mean no more than three.

Hey, don't mess with my narrative!

 

[California Panther]

What did Hekenberger (sp?) do near the end to get that T--couldn't see what happened on TV and the announcers really didn't say, or I just missed. They did mention him making gestures towards the zoo and crowd earlier in the game.

 

[HailToPitt725]

There's definitely some potential on this team. It won't show this year, but they may not be bad in 2-3 years.

After seeing Stevenson and Carr play, I can't wait to see us go after that Canadian pipeline more often.

 

[DT_PITT]

I really like what I'm seeing out of Stevenson. Many of his mistakes right now come from him trying to do too much. That's an easier problem to solve than someone who can't or won't do what you need them to.

My worry with Shamiel is that he is going to draw far too many offensive fouls in league play.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Hey, don't mess with my narrative!

It's what I do.

4-20 in 68-69 would be the low water mark. 6-21 in 76-77 and 6-19 in 66-67 come in for dishonorable mention. I assume we are excluding the 5-17 in 65-66.

Good lord, what an awful stretch in the mid to late 60s. 7-16, 5-17, 6-19, 7-15, 4-20. That 12-12 in 69-70 must have felt like winning the national championship!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

My worry with Shamiel is that he is going to draw far too many offensive fouls in league play.

Agreed. Which comes from him trying to do too much. They need to teach him to throttle it back a little.

Not a lot, a little.

 

[DT_PITT]

It's what I do.

4-20 in 68-69 would be the low water mark. 6-21 in 76-77 and 6-19 in 66-67 come in for dishonorable mention. I assume we are excluding the 5-17 in 65-66.

Good lord, what an awful stretch in the mid to late 60s. 7-16, 5-17, 6-19, 7-15, 4-20. That 12-12 in 69-70 must have felt like winning the national championship!

Well, more to the point ... I suspect this is much of what inspired Mr. Atch's quote.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 5 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of the close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

I missed much of the first half, but I thought our D was much better than it has been in the 2nd half. We were closing out much better on their outside shot. Now we have to rebound better.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

If they win 6 games this yr is that really any better than 4 games ? I want to see them win as many as they can , but what’s more important is their improvement . I’m not worrying about W/L’s until these freshman are juniors . Expecting more sooner out of them will only lead to disappointment . No matter who they recruit unless LaBron is available won’t get them over .500 for another couple of seasons at the earliest .

 

[Chescat]

My worry with Shamiel is that he is going to draw far too many offensive fouls in league play.

Stallings has been talking about "shot selection"....I'm sure he's thinking of
Shamiel when he says this. Shot selection is a workable problem, and
I'd guess that we'll see improvement over time with this. On the other hand,
Shamiel's aggressiveness is a good thing and can be tempered. For now
I don't mind seeing the aggressive attitude that leads to the sometimes
poor "selection." Keep the aggressiveness and temper the selection...it's
workable.

 

[Pitt-Chains]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 5 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of the close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

Great post.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

Thanks DT, it is good to just read about the team's play.

I agree with you and Atch, there are folks on this board that are making it utterly miserable for anyone who actually wants to be a fan of these kids.

 

[NCanton Panther]

Agreed. Which comes from him trying to do too much. They need to teach him to throttle it back a little.

Not a lot, a little.

I think Stalkings described Shamiel perfectly when someone in the media asked about him after the Montana game. He said he loved his aggressiveness, just needed him to work on his discretion at times. Short and sweet and spot on.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 5 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of the close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

Fewer wins than the 2-24 team I saw as an undergrad in the late 1960s? I doubt this will be their only win. I am expecting at least 5-6 wins OOC. I’m not confident they can win even one ACC game, however.

 

[levance2]

I forgot to take my glasses to the game last night, and maybe that was for the best. I was surprised when Hillgrove read Milligan's stat line. He took a solid ribbing after CBS Sports made him the key to the opener, so I'm glad to see he's actually at a level (and given an opportunity) to produce. I'm not sure how far into our season he will be a competent piece, but I'm very happy for his getting that chance yesterday.

Overall, I'll say I was disappointed by the performance. Pitt was behind almost the entire game, and sometimes by 8-10. Fortunately, UCSB is just that bad, and Pitt managed to collect themselves long enough to put forth their best effort in the final ~3 minutes. If it weren't for the Luther tip in, this game might have gone the other way, and that is rather unbelievable, even for this team.

PSU beat Montana last night by 13. They actually have another game on Friday that they will win, and face us next week at 4-0. I have dumped on Chambers for his 6 pedestrian seasons at PSU, but he's projected 21-9 (10-8) this year. I'd love for Pitt to derail them, but I do not believe that will happen.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

What did Hekenberger (sp?) do near the end to get that T--couldn't see what happened on TV and the announcers really didn't say, or I just missed. They did mention him making gestures towards the zoo and crowd earlier in the game.

He "MF'd" ref because he wanted an +1 on a drive he scored on. Happened right in front of me.

Valentine and his band of merry men last night left a lot to be desired. The ref should have let it go.

 

[Pittfan85]

The problem is that if this team was full of ACC level freshman, they would be beating these teams or at least most of them.

A team full of even average ACC freshman should pretty easily beat navy, Montana, and UCSB. This team only has two or three guys whom I would call ACC level that are newcomers and Luther.

I just don’t see the potential for this group going forward.

 

[pitt2533]

**

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

DT Pitt... nice post... look forward to reading these from you after each game.

I do have to say that I could not have agreed more with the 2 points above. Totally spot on.

Frankly, I have stayed away from these boards for the most part because of the constant non stop complaining and bitching by the same folks over and over. And that doesn't mean I think things are good. Obviously they are not. But it is beyond ridiculous at this point the amount of nonsense in every thread. When I do come on, I am on for 15 minutes or so just to try and get any updates on things like recruiting.

I literally joined Facebook a year or so ago at the recommendation of another Pitt fan for that Panther Fanatic group or whatever it was called. That is the worst group I have ever seen for negativity. I left that group last week because I couldn't take seeing the constant complaining from Pitt fans.

And again, I know where we are at as a program. I am not defending the program, I am not defending Stallings, I am not defending the administration and so forth. But it serves no good purpose to constantly throw the program under the bus on Social Media and message boards.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Thanks DT, it is good to just read about the team's play.

I agree with you and Atch, there are folks on this board that are making it utterly miserable for anyone who actually wants to be a fan of these kids.

So you're saying you'd really enjoy watching this team, but you can't because someone you don't know might post something you don't like on an Internet message board? Really?

Wow.

 

[Pittfan85]

Thanks DT, it is good to just read about the team's play.

I agree with you and Atch, there are folks on this board that are making it utterly miserable for anyone who actually wants to be a fan of these kids.

I went back, and found old posts from you in a thread about Jamie...that he should resign...agreeing with a post that called him a loser.

Why was the negativity ok then?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I forgot to take my glasses to the game last night, and maybe that was for the best. I was surprised when Hillgrove read Milligan's stat line. He took a solid ribbing after CBS Sports made him the key to the opener, so I'm glad to see he's actually at a level (and given an opportunity) to produce. I'm not sure how far into our season he will be a competent piece, but I'm very happy for his getting that chance yesterday.

Overall, I'll say I was disappointed by the performance. Pitt was behind almost the entire game, and sometimes by 8-10. Fortunately, UCSB is just that bad, and Pitt managed to collect themselves long enough to put forth their best effort in the final ~3 minutes. If it weren't for the Luther tip in, this game might have gone the other way, and that is rather unbelievable, even for this team.

PSU beat Montana last night by 13. They actually have another game on Friday that they will win, and face us next week at 4-0. I have dumped on Chambers for his 6 pedestrian seasons at PSU, but he's projected 21-9 (10-8) this year. I'd love for Pitt to derail them, but I do not believe that will happen.

PSU was up 1 with about 9 minutes left

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

And three of Pitt's five came in the last 2-1/2 minutes of the game. Luther's sweet tip-in of Wilson-Frame's missed layup, Wilson-Frame's rebound and layup after Stevenson missed a three, and then Luther's tip out of Stewart's missed foul shot that led to two more Stewart foul shots.

I didn't see the navy or UCSB game but I did go to the Montana game. I commented in the dribbles post about the rebounding after the Montana game, and I'll kind of regurgitate what I said then....when there is only one guy in (or actually remotely close to) the key, it is really, really hard to win rebounding battles. Luther seems to be the only man trying to rebound the ball on offense. My question is this: is this a product of the system, and stallings doesn't see the need to have 2 or 3 guys trying to pick up a board, or is it that these guys just don't know/aren't interested in the offensive glass?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

You know, people who are just going to bash this team for losing and not being good, and hate Kevin Stallings, really there is no need for you to post. We all know this. We are what we are, where we are, and it isn't good.

You can just enjoy the games, there is no pressure to win, none at all, and hope these guys get better. Confidence does alot of things.

Of course, you can root for Pitt to go 1-25 and this would lead to Pitt firing Kevin Stallings, and well, I am not going to say I disagree. But let's remember, Kevin Stallings didn't put a gun to anyone's head to hire him, or give him that ridiculous 6 year contract. So maybe, let's at least give him until the end of the season.

About the rebounds, and I didn't watch the whole game or the game with any intensity, but it is so obvious to me that even though we are playing against non P5 and even mid major teams so far, they have been men, and are much thicker and stronger than our kids save for Messrs Stevenson and Wilson-Frame.

I don't know if we end up with 4 wins, 6 wins, 10 wins or more, I am just hoping that we see some progress.

And if I am Mr. Stallings, I am already looking for potential Grad Transfers for next year to fill some roles.

 

[Pittfan85]

You know, people who are just going to bash this team for losing and not being good, and hate Kevin Stallings, really there is no need for you to post. We all know this. We are what we are, where we are, and it isn't good.

You can just enjoy the games, there is no pressure to win, none at all, and hope these guys get better. Confidence does alot of things.

Of course, you can root for Pitt to go 1-25 and this would lead to Pitt firing Kevin Stallings, and well, I am not going to say I disagree. But let's remember, Kevin Stallings didn't put a gun to anyone's head to hire him, or give him that ridiculous 6 year contract. So maybe, let's at least give him until the end of the season.

About the rebounds, and I didn't watch the whole game or the game with any intensity, but it is so obvious to me that even though we are playing against non P5 and even mid major teams so far, they have been men, and are much thicker and stronger than our kids save for Messrs Stevenson and Wilson-Frame.

I don't know if we end up with 4 wins, 6 wins, 10 wins or more, I am just hoping that we see some progress.

And if I am Mr. Stallings, I am already looking for potential Grad Transfers for next year to fill some roles.

I am totally baffled when I read posts from you like this....

 

[ameoba defense]

4-20 in 68-69 would be the low water mark.

That 4-20 included a loss to CMU. That loss competes with the running clock game vs Notre Dame as the all time low for Pitt athletics. What a horrible era for Pitt. To make things worse, Penn St. was an emerging power under Paterno, and Duquesne seemed to have reestablished itself as a basketball powerhouse during the same era. How could Pitt compete? Very well, the answer turned out to be. Within less than a decade, Pitt would have the greatest season in basketball since Charlie Hyatt was on campus, and would have a championship football team, led by a Heisman Trophy winner. You have to put the late 60s into perspective, considering that Pitt faced a financial crisis so profound, that the very continued existence of the institution was called into question. Sports was definitely on the back burner.

 

[NCanton Panther]

I didn't see the navy or UCSB game but I did go to the Montana game. I commented in the dribbles post about the rebounding after the Montana game, and I'll kind of regurgitate what I said then....when there is only one guy in (or actually remotely close to) the key, it is really, really hard to win rebounding battles. Luther seems to be the only man trying to rebound the ball on offense. My question is this: is this a product of the system, and stallings doesn't see the need to have 2 or 3 guys trying to pick up a board, or is it that these guys just don't know/aren't interested in the offensive glass?

I think the offensive rebounding issue is 2-fold. Part of it definitely is Stallings offensive system with the constant motion occurring primarily on the perimeter and no one positioned in the low post or otherwise positioning themselves for a rebound.

The other part, with the glaring exodus of just about everyone on the team toward their defensive end of the court after a shot goes up, sure suggests that Stallings is emphasizing that in order to correct what is often some very poor transition defense. So, I don’t think that the players are disinterested in offensive rebounding, it is more them doing what they’re instructed to do.

I also think when Stallings cited poor shot selection as something he needed to get corrected, he was also partly or even mostly referring to the bad transition defense position the poor shots put the team in.

Don’t know if the above is true, just my speculation based on game observations and Stallings comments.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

So you're saying you'd really enjoy watching this team, but you can't because someone you don't know might post something you don't like on an Internet message board? Really?

Wow.

Reading comprehension difficulty, eh? I do love watching the team and enjoy these kids. This board has degraded.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

I went back, and found old posts from you in a thread about Jamie...that he should resign...agreeing with a post that called him a loser.

Why was the negativity ok then?

You are extremely bored. I will criticize the big bucks coach's all the time. Be they Evans, Howland, Dixon, Stallings, Majors, Sherrill, Fazio, Gottfried, Wlat, Chryst, or Narduzzi. I may even go nuts with my perception of how a particular player plays. But I will never root against the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh.

Its pretty clear that you only have ONE agenda.

 

[Pittfan85]

You are extremely bored. I will criticize the big bucks coach's all the time. Be they Evans, Howland, Dixon, Stallings, Majors, Sherrill, Fazio, Gottfried, Wlat, Chryst, or Narduzzi. I may even go nuts with my perception of how a particular player plays. But I will never root against the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh.

Its pretty clear that you only have ONE agenda.

Stallings is a big bucks coach. He deserves plenty of criticism. You are giving him a pass.

 

[wbrpanther]

** “I‘ve been a Pitt fan for 51 years so this is nothing.”

** I had a great deal of fun tonight, and the entire fun night was capped off by a chance meeting with the most elite of elite Pitt fans, Mr. Atch. The quote above is what Mr. Atch said to me, and this made the whole night make sense.

** Turns out, Mr. Atch had a great deal of fun tonight as well.

** So as we walked out in our mutual enjoyment of the game, we agreed on one other thing. We are both tired of the ridiculous polarized arguing on the message board we usually both enjoyed.

** We are both tired of the constant complaining about Coach Stallings. We agreed that either Coach Stallings will get things back on track or he won’t. The results will speak for themselves. But we aren’t going to worry about these things now.

** And we speculated not for a second about what this game means in the long run.

** On my own, I’ll elaborate. I won’t suggest that this game marks any significant step forward or provides any indication that repeated better performances will come this year.

** I know that this is a very substandard UC Santa Barbara team who really got the best of us for a good part of the game. I know that Gauchos might have been the winner had they not missed 12 of 22 shots from the line.

** I also know that UCSB was a notably smaller team than our already small Panthers, and they truly got the best of us on the glass. I mean … 5 offensive rebounds? Really?

** And even teams who just aren't very good like tonight's opponent still drove and scored way too many layups that seemed all too easy.

** If you watched the game, you can decide for yourself if UCSB played very poorly in the final 10 minutes or so. Or maybe you think, like my Son did, that the Panthers played much better defense down the stretch. I think I’ll go with my Son’s thoughts.

** Maybe you also know that the chances that the Panthers can ride Jonathan Milligan to any kind of important success this are relatively low.

** However, even if you do think such about Millie, wasn’t it just a blast watching him lead the Panthers to victory tonight?

** And I loved watching Jared Wilson-Frame celebrating to the Zoo when his three pointer off an assist from Millie provided the points that made tonight’s difference.

** Once again, Ryan battled, led and produced at a greater level than perhaps anyone would have suspected when he first came to Pitt. Or at least, much more than I ever suspected.

** Even for a team such as our Panthers who looking to start from scratch, seniors still matter.

** In a close game, everything matters.

** Once again, I was able to sit right in front of our first class fans Oakland Zoo. We even got the impression that their constant ribbing of the Gaucho players might have even gotten under their skin. Heck, I even gave them a few ideas which I'm proud to say they used!

** But there’s no doubt that NO student section will ever get under the skin of legendary and notorious referee TV Teddy Valentine.

** With about five minutes to go, Teddy held up inbounding the ball for some unknown reason. The Zoo screamed: “What are you doing Teddy! We want to get out of here at some point.” Teddy yelled back: “I know what I’m doing, I want to get out of here too!”

** Later TV Teddy could be seen taking selfies with some of the folks sitting first row courtside. Just another reason to love college hoops.

** The final moments of a close win, regardless of the opponent, may always be the best reason to love College Hoops. And all of us who joined for tonight’s fun game stood and applauded Pitt’s win. That includes the Zoo, me and my family, others sitting courtside, and of course, Mr. Atch (but probably not TV Teddy).

** There likely won’t be many Pitt wins this year. Maybe even fewer than for any Pitt Hoops season in the last 51 years. It’s my intention to do my best to enjoy the ones we do.

Great post. Especially the part about the constant Stallings bashing. It is really disgusting the way some fans are acting. And it is really detrimental to the program.
5 offensive rebounds is not a good stat. The poor rebounding was the main reason the game was close. That and the fact that their 3 point shooting was unreal in the first half. But I take heart in the fact that the 5 offensive rebounds came at the end of the game when Pitt really upped their defensive intensity. Portend of things to come? I hope so.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

That 4-20 included a loss to CMU. That loss competes with the running clock game vs Notre Dame as the all time low for Pitt athletics. What a horrible era for Pitt. To make things worse, Penn St. was an emerging power under Paterno, and Duquesne seemed to have reestablished itself as a basketball powerhouse during the same era. How could Pitt compete? Very well, the answer turned out to be. Within less than a decade, Pitt would have the greatest season in basketball since Charlie Hyatt was on campus, and would have a championship football team, led by a Heisman Trophy winner. You have to put the late 60s into perspective, considering that Pitt faced a financial crisis so profound, that the very continued existence of the institution was called into question. Sports was definitely on the back burner.

You’re livin in the past man!! You’re hung up on a team from the 60s man!!

Eric The Clown, Seinfeld

 

[IamHeisenberg]

Stallings is a big bucks coach. He deserves plenty of criticism. You are giving him a pass.

Well, if you have been searching my posts, then you know I have not. I have great concern that his lack of sideline demeanor can destroy teams. It happened last year and I would really hate for these young kids to get squashed before they even have a chance to find their feet. I was sickened when I saw the tweet that he was even in consideration for the job. But he is here and actually rooting for him to be mildly ok helps us when we need a next coach. If the team goes 1 and 25 or whatever we better immediately hire BK just to get some energy back. Rooting against the TEAM does absolutely zero good.

 

[Pittfan85]

Well, if you have been searching my posts, then you know I have not. I have great concern that his lack of sideline demeanor can destroy teams. It happened last year and I would really hate for these young kids to get squashed before they even have a chance to find their feet. I was sickened when I saw the tweet that he was even in consideration for the job. But he is here and actually rooting for him to be mildly ok helps us when we need a next coach. If the team goes 1 and 25 or whatever we better immediately hire BK just to get some energy back. Rooting against the TEAM does absolutely zero good.

I wish I could believe that stallings can turn around the program, but I have zero hope of that.

I fear that having only a really bad year, say 10-21 (2-16) will buy him more time. I don’t see him getting pitt to the tournament in the next 3-5 years...literally no hope of that.

I think the only hope is to have him tank brutally, and have him be fired, then start over with a young lottery ticket or like you said, BK.

This isn’t like narduzzi who I have concerns with but think he still could perform and needs another year...I think stallings gives pitt literally zero shot.