** When this one ended, I took a huge deep breath followed by a large exhale, and then quietly mumbled to myself, “thank goodness.”
** I love the stress of a good, tight basketball game. I don’t love the stress of a bad, close basketball game against an opponent when you don’t expect it to be close – in a game when you have to battle back from down seven at the final TV timeout.
** Of course, I’ll take it.
** But we also know this team is now clearly showing its warts on both ends of the court.
** Our first half defense looked a little too much like a carryover from down in Mississippi. We actually allowed Va Tech to look like a good offensive team, which they aren’t.
** The Hokies got plenty of open looks both from three and in close. And we let them operate with plenty of space and gather some confidence.
** We played better defensively in the second half, but it’s hard to know if that’s more because the Hokeis once again turned into the Hokies.
** Still, we have to give the Panthers credit for digging the ball loose for 5 steals down the stretch when they were needed most. And we also must credit the Panthers holding the Hokies without a field goal in the final five minutes, even if some of this was a result of the lack of poise by Va Tech.
** Again, I’ll take it.
** I’ll also take Jaland Lowe at the end of games. His team needed him and Jaland stepped forward to score 11 of the last 13 Pitt points.
** Nonetheless, this was never a good looking Panther performance on the offensive end during either half. We allowed ourselves to be mostly a jump shooting team for most of the game, which is not the kind of team you want to be when you are missing your jump shots.
** Just like Mississippi State, think of the times when the Hokies made a good interior pass leading to a dunk. Then think about how many times you saw the Panthers do this today. None come to mind save an Ish dish to GDG for a dunk near the beginning of the game.
** This was perhaps the only positive moment we saw from ether Twin in the first 20 minutes. They both had a rough go.
** But I’ll give GDG plenty of credit for battling hard in the second twenty and offering enough plays to help the Panthers win. In fact, he showed plenty of fight on the inside, including a tough offensive rebound and put back.
** And the block at the end is one of the biggest reasons a coach would want his length on the floor in the final moments.
** It’s clear that Capel is much more comfortable having GDG on the floor fairly often. This will certainly be a point of contention for Panther fans as this season progresses. But kudos to Capel for making the winning call today.
** Still, I hope we can use the next few weeks to get Amsal and Brandin more opportunities to gain confidence and get further up to game speed. This would have been the kind of game when successful extended minutes from either might have made a difference. But clearly the staff doesn’t think they are quite ready.
** Otherwise, it’s plainly obvious that this team misses Damien Dunn. I suspect they can win their next four without him. But I’d sure love to have him back in the fold when we take the court at Cameron Indoor.
** So we leave this night feeling only fair, if not unsettled, with where the Panthers stand at the moment. But we are indeed 8-2 and 1-0 in the ACC instead of 7-3 and 0-1.
** Once more, I’ll take it.
** I love the stress of a good, tight basketball game. I don’t love the stress of a bad, close basketball game against an opponent when you don’t expect it to be close – in a game when you have to battle back from down seven at the final TV timeout.
** Of course, I’ll take it.
** But we also know this team is now clearly showing its warts on both ends of the court.
** Our first half defense looked a little too much like a carryover from down in Mississippi. We actually allowed Va Tech to look like a good offensive team, which they aren’t.
** The Hokies got plenty of open looks both from three and in close. And we let them operate with plenty of space and gather some confidence.
** We played better defensively in the second half, but it’s hard to know if that’s more because the Hokeis once again turned into the Hokies.
** Still, we have to give the Panthers credit for digging the ball loose for 5 steals down the stretch when they were needed most. And we also must credit the Panthers holding the Hokies without a field goal in the final five minutes, even if some of this was a result of the lack of poise by Va Tech.
** Again, I’ll take it.
** I’ll also take Jaland Lowe at the end of games. His team needed him and Jaland stepped forward to score 11 of the last 13 Pitt points.
** Nonetheless, this was never a good looking Panther performance on the offensive end during either half. We allowed ourselves to be mostly a jump shooting team for most of the game, which is not the kind of team you want to be when you are missing your jump shots.
** Just like Mississippi State, think of the times when the Hokies made a good interior pass leading to a dunk. Then think about how many times you saw the Panthers do this today. None come to mind save an Ish dish to GDG for a dunk near the beginning of the game.
** This was perhaps the only positive moment we saw from ether Twin in the first 20 minutes. They both had a rough go.
** But I’ll give GDG plenty of credit for battling hard in the second twenty and offering enough plays to help the Panthers win. In fact, he showed plenty of fight on the inside, including a tough offensive rebound and put back.
** And the block at the end is one of the biggest reasons a coach would want his length on the floor in the final moments.
** It’s clear that Capel is much more comfortable having GDG on the floor fairly often. This will certainly be a point of contention for Panther fans as this season progresses. But kudos to Capel for making the winning call today.
** Still, I hope we can use the next few weeks to get Amsal and Brandin more opportunities to gain confidence and get further up to game speed. This would have been the kind of game when successful extended minutes from either might have made a difference. But clearly the staff doesn’t think they are quite ready.
** Otherwise, it’s plainly obvious that this team misses Damien Dunn. I suspect they can win their next four without him. But I’d sure love to have him back in the fold when we take the court at Cameron Indoor.
** So we leave this night feeling only fair, if not unsettled, with where the Panthers stand at the moment. But we are indeed 8-2 and 1-0 in the ACC instead of 7-3 and 0-1.
** Once more, I’ll take it.
