** I’ll start this exercise with a story, which contains my personal bottom line for this exhibition contest with UPJ. I’ve wanted many times this off-season to offer some extensive thoughts on the team. But the fullest inspiration always failed me.
** Even driving home to get my Son to bring him with me to the game, I found myself feeling a little depressed because of how unenthused I was to go to this game tonight.
** So the bottom line is that I left the game with new found interest and excitement, now firmly back into the typical mental space I occupy when starting your average Pitt Hoops season. Therefore for me, I guess I could say the night was a success!
** This isn’t to say that this game tonight provided any real evidence that this year’s team will be markedly superior to last. But there was certainly a different feel to this team.
** There’s no way I can prove that this team plays with more energy or that there’s a greater sense of purpose. But to me, it certainly felt this way. Maybe this was something I wanted to see, something I wanted to feel. But I saw and felt it nonetheless.
** Maybe this feeling came from our nice trio of freshman. In the first half of the first half, Xavier Johnson might have been the game’s best player. He surely can get to the rim if you aren’t paying attention. I wish I saw a little more of a passer in him, he’s a little loose with the ball, and he’s not yet a sharpshooter type. But it’s easy to see a bright future for him.
** It wasn’t easy to see a bright future for Trey McGowens on the merits of his first half. But he ate some spinach at the half, and was the game's best player in the second stanza. I’m not a big fan of his shooting from as he extends his arms much like Gil Brown once did. But his dunks were fearless and electrifying.
** Au’Diese Toney had some nifty minutes in the first half which included a pretty-looking deep shot. It’s easy to like his size, but he might not be quite ready to make a more significant impact this year.
** Maybe the one player who excited me more than any other was Sidy N’Dir. He’s physical on the perimeter on both offense and defense. I kept thinking tough and quick as I watched him make plays that come from a player with his experience. He’s not a great player by any means, but he’s a perfect fit for Trey and X as they learn the craft of College Hoops.
** Also in the perimeter was Malik Ellison who certainly seems to carry himself like this team’s leader. He was steady if unspectacular, but he’ll be one of our horses this year.
** Kham Davis was a little disappointing, only in the sense that I saw that same player who I left off last year, and I hoping for a bit more. He hit two threes, but one was banked in and some of the others missed badly.
** Jared Wilson Frame? The man still likes to shoot the ball, although most of the ones he took today were pretty good wide open ones. So the same thing still applies to him this year as it did last year … which is that he plays like a team’s leading offensive performer, but doesn’t quite have enough skill to really do so. Or, in other words, he can shoot you in or out of a game.
** So it’s quite possible that these seven guys will occupy the 1-4 spots in what could make for some interesting performances this year.
** The plan to share the five spot between Peace, Terrel and Kene was also evident tonight. Also evident was that none of the three looked above the other.
** Peace still need to figure out how not to foul, and has no offense to speak of. But he did get two nice rebounds out of his area. Terrell showed nice touch on his jumper, and made a couple nice back down moves which looked pretty decent until one realized his defender was only about 6-5. Kene’s best attribute was that he stayed away from the perimeter, allowing him to be more active on the boards.
** But this team still needs a big, and this team will be a little more fun to watch if we can play this season knowing for sure a better one is coming next year.
** I’m glad Ryan Luther left if he didn’t want to be here, because Coach Capel and Company only need players "all-in" with him. Nonetheless, this might be a notably different team this year had he wanted to stay.
** Shamiel Stephenson finally got into the game midway through the second half. He promptly let his guy drive by him for a layup, and then get an easy ally-oop behind him. And then he was out.
** As a rule, our guys pressed a little and that could end up being a strength in time. They also played tough and hard on the perimeter, but they are going to have to find the right way to tone it back a bit in League play. We saw a veteran referee crew with Jamie Luckie and Tony Chazza, but they were very light on the whistles this evening. The Panthers were called for 14 fouls, but there could have easily been 14 more.
** But being tough on the ball might lead to more steals, something we haven’t really seen with Pitt Hoops since Ralph Willard walked the sidelines. Here’s hoping that Coach Capel can have more success with it than he did.
** The Panthers did a decent enough job containing dribble penetration, with the exception of the too many times that our "Big" failed to seal off their man allowing the penetrator an easy pass into the lane for an easy shot.
** It was, perhaps, the team’s defensively intensity that felt the most significantly different than last year.
** On the offensive end, I think we got a pretty good idea of what HCJC wants to do, which is shoot the ball on the perimeter from passes out from the paint. As a rule, I witnessed pretty solid screening and ball movement, along with respectable shot selection. All good signs for a new coach with so many young players.
** Now that these young Panthers have snagged my interest, I’m once again disappointed knowing I will miss my first season opener since 1983, the year before I got to Pitt. Tuesday is Election Day and the Wife and I work the polls in our neighborhood. Only this civic duty is superlative to Pitt Hoops I suppose.
** On that note, I encourage everyone else to get out and watch the Panthers on Tuesday, so that we can surpass the paltry sum who attended today. While you are at it, get out and vote too. Both your Panthers and your Country deserve it.
** Even driving home to get my Son to bring him with me to the game, I found myself feeling a little depressed because of how unenthused I was to go to this game tonight.
** So the bottom line is that I left the game with new found interest and excitement, now firmly back into the typical mental space I occupy when starting your average Pitt Hoops season. Therefore for me, I guess I could say the night was a success!
** This isn’t to say that this game tonight provided any real evidence that this year’s team will be markedly superior to last. But there was certainly a different feel to this team.
** There’s no way I can prove that this team plays with more energy or that there’s a greater sense of purpose. But to me, it certainly felt this way. Maybe this was something I wanted to see, something I wanted to feel. But I saw and felt it nonetheless.
** Maybe this feeling came from our nice trio of freshman. In the first half of the first half, Xavier Johnson might have been the game’s best player. He surely can get to the rim if you aren’t paying attention. I wish I saw a little more of a passer in him, he’s a little loose with the ball, and he’s not yet a sharpshooter type. But it’s easy to see a bright future for him.
** It wasn’t easy to see a bright future for Trey McGowens on the merits of his first half. But he ate some spinach at the half, and was the game's best player in the second stanza. I’m not a big fan of his shooting from as he extends his arms much like Gil Brown once did. But his dunks were fearless and electrifying.
** Au’Diese Toney had some nifty minutes in the first half which included a pretty-looking deep shot. It’s easy to like his size, but he might not be quite ready to make a more significant impact this year.
** Maybe the one player who excited me more than any other was Sidy N’Dir. He’s physical on the perimeter on both offense and defense. I kept thinking tough and quick as I watched him make plays that come from a player with his experience. He’s not a great player by any means, but he’s a perfect fit for Trey and X as they learn the craft of College Hoops.
** Also in the perimeter was Malik Ellison who certainly seems to carry himself like this team’s leader. He was steady if unspectacular, but he’ll be one of our horses this year.
** Kham Davis was a little disappointing, only in the sense that I saw that same player who I left off last year, and I hoping for a bit more. He hit two threes, but one was banked in and some of the others missed badly.
** Jared Wilson Frame? The man still likes to shoot the ball, although most of the ones he took today were pretty good wide open ones. So the same thing still applies to him this year as it did last year … which is that he plays like a team’s leading offensive performer, but doesn’t quite have enough skill to really do so. Or, in other words, he can shoot you in or out of a game.
** So it’s quite possible that these seven guys will occupy the 1-4 spots in what could make for some interesting performances this year.
** The plan to share the five spot between Peace, Terrel and Kene was also evident tonight. Also evident was that none of the three looked above the other.
** Peace still need to figure out how not to foul, and has no offense to speak of. But he did get two nice rebounds out of his area. Terrell showed nice touch on his jumper, and made a couple nice back down moves which looked pretty decent until one realized his defender was only about 6-5. Kene’s best attribute was that he stayed away from the perimeter, allowing him to be more active on the boards.
** But this team still needs a big, and this team will be a little more fun to watch if we can play this season knowing for sure a better one is coming next year.
** I’m glad Ryan Luther left if he didn’t want to be here, because Coach Capel and Company only need players "all-in" with him. Nonetheless, this might be a notably different team this year had he wanted to stay.
** Shamiel Stephenson finally got into the game midway through the second half. He promptly let his guy drive by him for a layup, and then get an easy ally-oop behind him. And then he was out.
** As a rule, our guys pressed a little and that could end up being a strength in time. They also played tough and hard on the perimeter, but they are going to have to find the right way to tone it back a bit in League play. We saw a veteran referee crew with Jamie Luckie and Tony Chazza, but they were very light on the whistles this evening. The Panthers were called for 14 fouls, but there could have easily been 14 more.
** But being tough on the ball might lead to more steals, something we haven’t really seen with Pitt Hoops since Ralph Willard walked the sidelines. Here’s hoping that Coach Capel can have more success with it than he did.
** The Panthers did a decent enough job containing dribble penetration, with the exception of the too many times that our "Big" failed to seal off their man allowing the penetrator an easy pass into the lane for an easy shot.
** It was, perhaps, the team’s defensively intensity that felt the most significantly different than last year.
** On the offensive end, I think we got a pretty good idea of what HCJC wants to do, which is shoot the ball on the perimeter from passes out from the paint. As a rule, I witnessed pretty solid screening and ball movement, along with respectable shot selection. All good signs for a new coach with so many young players.
** Now that these young Panthers have snagged my interest, I’m once again disappointed knowing I will miss my first season opener since 1983, the year before I got to Pitt. Tuesday is Election Day and the Wife and I work the polls in our neighborhood. Only this civic duty is superlative to Pitt Hoops I suppose.
** On that note, I encourage everyone else to get out and watch the Panthers on Tuesday, so that we can surpass the paltry sum who attended today. While you are at it, get out and vote too. Both your Panthers and your Country deserve it.
