Have we established conclusively yet that this character is Steel aka “Meat” Curtain repackaged with a new, and even more infantile handle? It has to be. The style and overall tone are too uniquely similar.
Vader: Capel has Recruiting Momentum heading into September
- Thread starter Vader_Storm
- Start date
I mean, what are the odds of Pitt having 2 positive fans posting about basketball....
I don't think his posts are anything like what Steel used to post. Much more along the lines of what Doke used to post but the writing styles are still different.
Folks who have been on the board as long as we have have learned to take almost anything with a grain of salt.
This much must be said ... with every Vader post there is tons of conversation— and that’s always a good thing!
My feelings about Davis and Hugley are slightly different than yours. I’ll be a little bummed if we don’t get Davis but that one is still way up in the air from what I understand.
But I will almost troubled if we don’t get Hugley. It’s not that he’s the most elite player, but he’s a player who is almost perfectly aligned to come here.
Who cares though? We’ve come a long way over the years so no offense. But again, who cares? You don’t have to be the defender Of truth on a free basketball message board.
I would much rather read this guys stuff no matter how manufactured it is over 98% of what is on here. Just my opinion
I agree with you that Hugley's not elite but he's exactly what we need a big body with some skill.
Agree. I just read the stats and details of players, which is useful, and largely ignore the predictions of all the guys we are supposed to get.
Oh, no doubt. He is completely what we need. It's the fact that he's not elite that makes him a recruit who's in a perfect situation for the Panthers.
Color me as someone who isn’t particularly concerned with the Hugley/Miami CB. It’s just one prediction, and has all the smell of a situation where the out-of-market writer sees that Hugley only has one official publicly set up (to Miami) and throws a CB on it.
It isn’t really even “public” knowledge that he’s visited Pitt as much as he has, including the visit this month. If it were Evans, Slater, Daniels, or one of the other national guys I’d be more concerned; but Evans still has his locked on Pitt.
It isn’t really even “public” knowledge that he’s visited Pitt as much as he has, including the visit this month. If it were Evans, Slater, Daniels, or one of the other national guys I’d be more concerned; but Evans still has his locked on Pitt.
There’s a very simple solution just don't read any of his posts . I find his summations about recruiting the most comprehensive on this board and I don’t care where he obtains his info !
Have you watched Pitt play recently? EVERYONE needs to rebound. Plus, there is no such thing as a "2" in high level basketball anymore. You are a PG, a wing or a big, Gordon is a 6'6 wing, he needs to be able to rebound. All that said, I agree with you, he isn't coming to Pitt. I also think Capel is okay with that.
Going 0-3 with those guys would not be good, but I'd rather go 2-2 with Timberlake and Davis and miss out on all 3 of those guy than the other way around. I think if Pitt gets Davis, Timberlake and Hughley, nobody will be talking about missing out on those other 3.
Nobody is recruiting wing players based on their rebounding prowess. Anything you get out of them in that regard is gravy. Wings have to be able to score and shoot. Rebounding from the backcourt and wings at the college level depends more on team philosophy than individual rebounding ability. You can’t look at a high scoring high school wing’s rebounding average and judge him a poor rebounder, when in all likelihood he’s not being asked to rebound much. That can change in college, especially if Capel is trying to build his team the way Beilein built his Michigan team where there’s typically only one big on the floor at any given time, if any. Everyone rebounds including guys who never had to do it before.
Your last paragraph-landing Timberlake and Davis-seems far fetched to me. Not quite a pipe dream, but close. Getting either one of them would be a huge coup for this program. Both would be too good to be true-and there’s a saying about things that seem too good to be true.
Posters every year get caught up in thinking we’ve got a great chance at a player everyone else in the country wants because we are recruiting him really hard. It’s hard to believe after watching this process play out every year for years there are still posters on his board who don’t seem to understand that’s not how it works. A bunch of top programs with a lot to offer are working every bit as hard on those rop,players. There is huge competition for these players and the recruiting playing field is far from level. Without playing the money game, a program in Pitt’s position will need a major leap of faith from any top 50 type to get them here.
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I do agree with you on somethings but that statement of if it sounds too good to be true well there's another saying and it's If You Can Dream It and believe it you can achieve it. I say this because you said you have to have faith and I think JC has faith in what he's doing and how he wants to build a program so even though he may not get all the ones that were talking about I do think this year he will get at least two of these guys if not more but two will be a great accomplishment.
I wonder how many people actually watched Virginia and Texas Tech play in the NCAA Tournament this year? A few posters on this forum were very sour on both teams entering the tournament because they were built on "defense".
How quickly some forget that Virginia won the National Title and Texas Tech was blowing Tom Izzo and Michigan State right out of the gym and building in the 2nd half of the Final 4 with defense. Texas Tech's defense put a choke collar on Izzo and the entire Michigan St basketball team.
Culver was a 6'6 G / W that averaged 6.8 rebounds per game in the NCAA Tournament. Texas Tech played in the Elite 8 and National Title game in back to back years with Culver. Texas Tech's defense was ranked 4th and 1st in the country the last 2 years in defensive efficiency.
Culver could not shoot the basketball. He shot 24% from 3 in conference play and 29% from 3 in the NCAA Tournament, he was a worse shooter than both Xavier Johnson and Trey Mcgowens from 3 this year.
Culver shot 31% for the entire NCAA Tournament in all 6 games combined he played in. He couldn't shoot at all. He dominated on the glass and on defense and got his points by volume shooting only. Culver straight up destroyed and manhandled teams on the glass and on defense. He was the top rebounding player for Texas Tech for the entire season at 6.4 boards per game as a guard / wing.
Ive said it at least twice in the past recently that Pitt's defense as a "team unit" will dictate how many wins Pitt wins this year. Pitt's defense is going to vault "up" this year in defensive efficiency in the National Rankings because of the added athletic ability and wingspan at the forward spots. The closer Pitt gets its defense to the National Top 25 in efficiency , the closer Pitt is getting to 20 wins this season.
Pitt is not going to take 3 players in the 2020 class that can't rebound, refuse to rebound, or do not know how to rebound. Dennis Rodman was a 6'7 forward that averaged 13.1 rebounds per game in the NBA. Rodman was a 5X NBA Champion, a 2X NBA defensive player of the year, and a 7X rebound champion in the NBA as a 6'7 220lb forward. Rodman owns the 7 best overall efficiency rebound percentage efficiency rates by season in the entire NBA going all the way back to 1970. Rodman didn't get drafted until the 2nd round. Every NBA team that passed on him in the first should talk quietly about the value of defense and rebounding from players that are undersized but have the will and desire to dominate on defense and rebounding.
There is a reason Pitt wants Timberlake badly and why he is at the top of the big board with Davis over every other player on the board.
Agree. Lots of names and information consolidated in one place. That's something I like. As far as who might go where or who leads for who, we can all draw our own conclusions. None of us has any influence or impact on that, anyways. We'll all find out when the players commit and sign.
Hugley is absolutely a “priority” with this staff - H2P!
I’d argue a guy that big with those kind of skills is absolutely elite - anyone remember Robert “Tractor” Traylor of Michigan fame? May he RIP - H2P!
There’s definitely an art to being a great rebounder , but thinking a 16 or 17 year old kid with size , talent and heart can’t be taught to be an effective rebounder with proper instruction is a little harsh . Add to it maturing physically and a college fitness regime I’m sure Gordon would be effective player for Pitt .
I think he may become elite but he's ranking and he's coach saying that he's still growing as a offensive player but I do think he will get there! With that being said I think we agree on that we would still love to have him
In fairness, Traylor was a McDonalds AA, national top 10 player who convicted Michigan hoops bagman Ed Martin paid in excess of 100k to get to Michigan.
I don’t think he’s a good comparison to Hugley from a skill standpoint.
Yes Traylor was more skilled but with one more year left in school Hugley could be just as skilled as him by the time he gets to his college
That would be quite a leap. Robert Traylor was a really, really good player and he was also quite mobile, while being close to 300 pounds.
I like Hugley but at this stage, he’s not close to a Traylor and it’s highly unlikely he would get there as a frosh.
But let’s worry first about him actually becoming a Panther first.
Yes he was really good especially by the end of his junior year when he left. He was good as a freshman but he became a monster by the end of the junior year so I'm just saying Hugley probably will be at Traylor's freshman level or a little bit low by the time he becomes a freshman. Either way like you said I hope he chooses Pitt.
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Traylor was really good coming into college — at a level quite above where Hugley will be when he gets to college. I like Hughly and I really want him to come to Pitt. But there was a reason Traylor was a top 20 recruit and Hugley will be a top 100 recruit.
DT I am not talking about his ranking I watched him as a freshman I watched his whole career I was a Michigan fan when he played there and he was good and a bully but he wasn't extraordinary to me as a Freshman. From what they're saying Hugley has extended his range out to the three and he also plays bully ball because of his body type so if that's true and I'm not saying it is but if it is true IMHO he can be a similar Talent his freshman year. That's all I'm saying!!
Not trying to quibble ... I just hope folks have reasonable expectations of Hugley if he does pick us. He’s the kind of recruit can be really good in time, but he’s most likely not going to make a huge impact as a freshman.
He did shoot 5/5 from 3 in a game this year.
Not sure how he did all season.
Not that this information is helpful either.
Remember Keith "Tiny" Gallon was a 5 star recruit for Capel at Oklahoma and supposed to be another Tractor Traylor, but he never panned out accordingly.
My thoughts are his dad went to pitt. They think pitt is a safe play or option for him if their top plans don’t work out. I would not assume he is coming here and would not assume pitt is his first choice. I think pitt is a safe choice for him if things don’t line up the way they project. He is not a top 50 player he is not going to make us either way.
Not sure you're getting the point--Traylor was one of the country's top 25 players in his age group from 8th grade on. Big programs were on to him from the time he was 13 years old.
Hugley is a nice looking player and I hope we get him. But other than the fact that he's a big wide dude, there isn't much of a comparison. Traylor had a rare skillset for a frontcourt player regardless of his size. Combined with his size it made him a superstar as a HS player. Hugley isn't going to be a national top 10 player after his senior year.
It’s a free basketball post. It’s basketball. Pitt basketball. We need all the help we can get. Vader wants to post positive stuff on pitt why would we tell him not to. Post away. Post post post. Tell
Me pitt has a chance to be good every day. I like it. Better than watching the stock market every day and watching people tell me on tv why were going into a recession bla bla bla.
A) Why're you outlining Dennis Rodman's achievements?
B) Dennis Rodman wins 0 championships if he doesn't play on a team with MJ and Pippen + Isiah, Lambier and Dumars.
C) Guys who rebound and play defense are certainly valuable, but at the end of the day you need guys who can score.
Guy, Jerome and Hunter were the top 3 scorers on the team. They averaged 14 rebounds per game, 0.7 blocks and 2.5 steals. That's total combined per game.
UVA didn't win because of their defense. They won because they had 3 guys who could score the ball when they needed a bucket. They haven't won in the past because they could never score when the going got tough. Guy, Jerome and Hunter are good defenders and that certainly helped, but if they were 7-8 pts per game type guys than UVA doesn't win.
I understand your Culver example, but the dude was a top 6 pick. Certainly his defense played a role in on where he got drafted, but he wasn't the 6th pick to become the next Andre Roberson. He's an NBA ready defender, but has the potential to be one of the better 3 and D guys in the league.
D) I think it's crazy to say that Pitt won't take certain players because of their rebounding numbers in AAU or HS. Or they'll only take 1 of a few guys for that same reason. That's insane. If you have the size and are semi athletic, you can be a decent defender and rebounder by simply giving effort. The kids he's recruiting are more the semi athletic.
Who knows how these AAU coaches have these kids playing. Some of these wings are taught to get back on defense as soon as the ball is shot. Some of them are told to break out in transition when the ball is shot and let the big guys rebound and outlet. Rebounding and defense is all about effort and scheme. That's it. Again, this is under the assumption we are dealing with D1 athletes (which we are).
E) Back to Dennis Rodman. Again, why'd you outline his stats and accolades? I'm all for the 6'7" guy that averages 13 and 12 per game and defends like a machine. We had that guy in the late 2000s. There aren't guys out there like this. They're very rare. There are certainly wings who can defend and rebound, but they aren't averaging 13 and 12. They're averaging 5 and 5 and killing you on offense.
Sure. I encourage him to post. But so long as he injects so much opinion and so frequently pats himself on the back, then posters will engage with him this way. If he just said "Hey, here's my weekly/monthly aggregator post" then folks would say "cool, thanks."
Maybe if he didn’t put “as I predicted” or “as I said in an earlier post even though everyone already knew it” in every sentence we wouldn’t mock him.
I agree with the "as I predicted" and the "patting himself on the back." However I
don't follow recruiting. I can't be bothered looking up websites, twitters, etc. etc.
for recruiting info. So with that said, I can put up with the self congratulatory
comments since he's giving a lot of info I otherwise wouldn't see anywhere else.
As someone earlier posted, many of us take much of it "with a grain of salt."
Hell, I get a kick out of SMF's posts...especially his outrageous and off the wall
suggestions and predictions he sometimes posts on here. I feel both he and
Vader are true Pitt fans. I hope Vader continues with his recruiting info and I'll
decide for myself what's real and what's absurdly optimistic.
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