Virginia Game & Other Dribbles ...

[Fsgolfdr]

That is most certainly NOT what he said.

Jamie Dixon didn't land elite recruits (for the most part). But he did get in good recruits and he coached them up. Was he a part of a nothing program where a good season was 7-9 wins?

Your never going to be better than middle of pack in the ACC without recruiting a couple of elite kids .

Exactly how is an up and comer coming in here and out recruit more successful programs for the same kids without a booster group ?

If your goal is a .500 team +/- 1/2 games your not changing the program enough to rekindle the passion Pitt once had .

Spending the amount of money to accomplish this just doesn’t seem cost effective.

The BE formula of being physically stronger with older guys doesn’t work in today’s game .

 

[Mercer50]

I think there are some positive takeaways from the young guys. Jeffress for example, his last 3 games ORTG were 120, 93, 160. That's the best 3 game stretch of his entire career on offense and something far better than someone like Drumgoole ever accomplished.

If we focus on Jeffress for example, in his last 3 games he is

-6-10 on 3's his last 3 games, 60%

-is 50% from the field on his shots

-is averaging 6.33 boards per game

-has 2 total turnovers in 3 games, a huge turnaround for him when he was a turnover machine earlier in the year when trying to do too much

-his defense has been respectable, not great, but respectable


This is a player for example that is clearly showing signs of life when a lot of people thought he was dead in the water 3 games ago. Again, lets see some more games and what happens, but there are some positives here with the young players which is what is most important.

Now I know Joe or someone will chime in here about Jeffress having a low usage rate the last 3 games. And I fully understand that. But still, I think there is more than enough here to show he has made some significant strides foward.

Did you watch Jeffress on defense last night? He gave up 16 points on defense. Twice he gave up layups on out of bounds plays. Three times he gave up layups on drives to the basket and twice he gave up baskets when he couldn’t fight through screens. Burton gave up 14 points and Santos gave up 10.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Did you watch Jeffress on defense last night? He gave up 16 points on defense. Twice he gave up layups on out of bounds plays. Three times he gave up layups on drives to the basket and twice he gave up baskets when he couldn’t fight through screens. Burton gave up 14 points and Santos gave up 10.

Yeah it’s a myth that Jeffress is a good defender. He’s not good on either side

 

[DT_PITT]

Yeah it’s a myth that Jeffress is a good defender. He’s not good on either side

I kinda disagree—I watched him closely on the defensive end against Minny and I thought he did a pretty good job. Not as good against Virginia though.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Your never going to be better than middle of pack in the ACC without recruiting a couple of elite kids

Georgia Tech has been better than the middle of the pack in the ACC the last couple years (4th and 5th in the standings). Their recruiting since 2016 (247 composite rankings) has included exactly zero five star and one four star recruit.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I kinda disagree—I watched him closely on the defensive end against Minny and I thought he did a pretty good job. Not as good against Virginia though.

Minnesota has terrible players DT

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Georgia Tech has been better than the middle of the pack in the ACC the last couple years (4th and 5th in the standings). Their recruiting since 2016 (247 composite rankings) has included exactly zero five star and one four star recruit.

That’s right around Justin’s rating , maybe the 240’s of today are yesterday’s top 150 .

Plus the bottom half of the ACC isn’t all that good right now .

I’ve been saying for awhile Pitt needs to find guys that don’t check all the boxes , but are excellent bb players . A center whose 6’7/8” sub 6 ft guards who can shoot . Guys a 1/2 step slow , but have that knack to where to be .

It would be nice to get 4&5* and I think they’re necessary to get Pitt back to a conference contender and to reignite the fan base .

Spending millions to be ordinary seems wasteful .

 

[Thee Jackie Treehorn]

Spending millions to be ordinary seems wasteful

I don't know. We're spending millions to be godawful. After the last six years I think I'm on board with spending millions to be ordinary.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I don't know. We're spending millions to be godawful. After the last six years I think I'm on board with spending millions to be ordinary.

Those millions are already spent changing directions now is on top of what’s being spent .

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

** The purpose of my “dribbling” this evening is mostly just to offer my appreciation.

** No -- I’m not claiming moral victories, or any great strides I think this team is making.

** Nor am I thinking that what we’ve watched over the last two games generates any real evidence that the time for Jeff Capel’s tenure at Pitt doesn’t need to end.

** But let’s give the appropriate credit where credit is due. During our last two losses, as incredibly difficult as they have been, we’ve watched our Panthers play solid and hard fought basketball.

** College Basketball is about the players. They are not professionals. In fact they are sometimes just kids.

** And I’m proud of our kids … or … our young men. They have played better than I thought they were capable tonight, or even against Minnesota even.

** They are playing to the maximum of their abilities, and that’s all any fan can ask.

** I also credit the staff for doing the jobs they are supposed to do. They haven’t packed it in so let's recognize that at least.

** What’s toughest about this loss is that we DID execute offensively when we didn’t down the stretch against Minny.

** I hope everyone joins me in singing the praises of Eze and Mo who were simply unreal turning an 8 point deficit into a four point lead.

** Eze is now indeed the best “walk on” in the history of the Pitt Hoops.

** I will leave it at that for tonight. I’m hopeful this time tomorrow night we, as PItt fans, will feel much differently than we do now.

I was super proud of the effort and just crushed for the kids that they lost another heartbreaker.