Wednesday 5/13/20 Pitt Basketball Poll!!

[PittPoker]

I haven't been impressed with Capel's teams collapsing late in the season but I am very optimistic of the recruiting. I think it will keep getting better. And the higher quality players we keep getting it makes any coach's job easier.

Even though I still have my questions on Capel's coaching ability, it is still a question to me. It's not like my mind has been made up.

Narduzzi on the other hand imo doesn't have what it takes to take Pitt to the next level. Recruiting during his tenure has been mostly avg at best and rarely do we see more than two 4 star players come here in any given year. No 5 star players yet under his watch.
Plus I saw firsthand last season his coaching decisions late in games and they were terrible.

So I am much more optimistic about Pitt basketball regaining its form from the 2000's era and the players we are now getting are exciting.

So I think Capel gets us to an elite 8 and beyond before if ever Narduzzi gets Pitt to a New Years Bowl game.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I mean... if we have a season of football this year and Narduzzi doesn’t do it this year with this defense and a 3 year starter at QB I can’t see how we ever do it. Just need luck ONCE in my lifetime this year to get us over the hump!

 

[PittPoker]

I mean... if we have a season of football this year and Narduzzi doesn’t do it this year with this defense and a 3 year starter at QB I can’t see how we ever do it. Just need luck ONCE in my lifetime this year to get us over the hump!

Sadly I don't think we have football this season but even if we do, I just don't think Narduzzi is that good of a coach. The past 3 or 4 seasons I think he has a .500 record. That's about as average as you could be. Luck will always help but I don't ever feel like having Narduzzi will get us an extra win or 2 because he is a damn good coach. The truth is he really isn't. Capel intrigues me because he can recruit a hell of a lot better than Narduzzi and I'm excited to see all the great players that come to Pitt under him. And with top talent you don't have to be as good a coach.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

IMHO, those late season collapses were the result of a combination of various factors--

(1) Team playing above its talent level through great effort in OOC and very early ACC especially on the defensive end.
(2) Lack of ACC quality big men and size in general in the frontcourt.
(3) Only one effective 3-point shooter in season one and none in season two.
(4) Youth and inexperience
(5) Lack of decent quality and quantity of overall depth.
(6) ACC coaches adjusting and taking away team's limited strengths.
(7) All of the above leading to being worn down by mid-ACC season.

IMHO, none of these were the result of poor Xs & Os coaching and were unavoidable given the rosters the past two seasons.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Sadly I don't think we have football this season but even if we do, I just don't think Narduzzi is that good of a coach. The past 3 or 4 seasons I think he has a .500 record. That's about as average as you could be. Luck will always help but I don't ever feel like having Narduzzi will get us an extra win or 2 because he is a damn good coach. The truth is he really isn't. Capel intrigues me because he can recruit a hell of a lot better than Narduzzi and I'm excited to see all the great players that come to Pitt under him. And with top talent you don't have to be as good a coach.

Plenty of bad coaches luck into one season to make an NY6 bowl. Didn’t Ron Zook make one at Illinois?

 

[PittPoker]

Plenty of bad coaches luck into one season to make an NY6 bowl. Didn’t Ron Zook make one at Illinois?

Well I'll speak for just this season if it goes, I don't care if Pickett is a senior or not. He hasn't shown me anything that says he is going to be some great senior quarterback. Our offense has way too many questions to really expect that this is/was going to be some banner year for the football team..

 

[Sheriffjim]

Love Duz and his players would run through a wall for him. Most talented team across the board since he arrived at Pitt. Defense easily one of the best in the nation. Pickett needs to take a step forward but major strides last year in his first with Whipple so reasonable to expect a big jump from him. Looks a lot like the Michigan State team in Duz’ final year there. I predict 11-2 and a Cotton Bowl.

 

[pittchagg]

It depends what you mean by "New Year's Day." If you mean just a bowl game played on January 1 - are the Belk Bowl or the Sun Bowl played on New Year's Day this year? - then I'm going with football. If you mean a NY6 game, then I'm going with basketball. I think Capel is a better coach than Narduzzi, to be honest, and he recruits better, too.

 

[pittchagg]

Plenty of bad coaches luck into one season to make an NY6 bowl. Didn’t Ron Zook make one at Illinois?

That was a weird year. Illinois went 9-3 and upset Ohio State, but OSU won the Big Ten and went to the national championship. Illinois went to the Rose Bowl, but that was really only because Michigan - who beat Illinois and finished with the same record, including the App State loss - had been to the Rose Bowl the year before.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Well considering we likely will have our best football team in a decade this year and their likely won't be any football, so we will miss this opportunity, definitely Hoops.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Easier in basketball to recruit without being the wealthiest program around. There are more Gonzagas and Daytons. We can do it.

 

[PittPoker]

It depends what you mean by "New Year's Day." If you mean just a bowl game played on January 1 - are the Belk Bowl or the Sun Bowl played on New Year's Day this year? - then I'm going with football. If you mean a NY6 game, then I'm going with basketball. I think Capel is a better coach than Narduzzi, to be honest, and he recruits better, too.

Obv talking about NY6 bowl.

 

[pittchagg]

Obv talking about NY6 bowl.

Then my answer is basketball and I don’t think it’s really that close. Better recruiting (not even close), better coach (IMO), and easier path (though both are hard).

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The other thing to consider is that you can make an Elite Eight without being one of the best eight teams in the country but you play well at the right time and maybe get a break in the bracket and there you are. But for Pitt to make a NY6 bowl Pitt likely has to win the ACC. Which contains one of the probably two best programs in the country right now. We all know that if the Peach Bowl gets to choose between at large 10-2 Pitt or at large 10-2 Auburn or at large 10-2 Penn State that we aren't getting picked even if we did happen to be the best team of the three. Factors other than what happens on the field come into play, and we do not stack up well when those things are taken into account.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Then my answer is basketball and I don’t think it’s really that close. Better recruiting (not even close), better coach (IMO), and easier path (though both are hard).

Their recruiting is very similar. ACC Coastal much easier than other side. Basketball in ACC is a bear.

Narduzzi is a donkey as a coach so no argument there.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

The other thing to consider is that you can make an Elite Eight without being one of the best eight teams in the country but you play well at the right time and maybe get a break in the bracket and there you are. But for Pitt to make a NY6 bowl Pitt likely has to win the ACC. Which contains one of the probably two best programs in the country right now. We all know that if the Peach Bowl gets to choose between at large 10-2 Pitt or at large 10-2 Auburn or at large 10-2 Penn State that we aren't getting picked even if we did happen to be the best team of the three. Factors other than what happens on the field come into play, and we do not stack up well when those things are taken into account.

All they have to do is be the highest ranked team in the final CFP playoff ranking. Have a great season and get clemson into the final 4 and they’re in. They have a much easier path. We’re just so dumb and cursed in football we can’t even luck out once.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

One excellent player at any position in basketball getting hot in March can get you to an elite eight (with a reasonable supporting cast). In football, only quarterback MAYBE, can pull that off. The connection between program budget and wins in football is just much closer than hoops.

All of this is a list of why I just enjoy college basketball more I guess.

 

[pittchagg]

Their recruiting is very similar. ACC Coastal much easier than other side. Basketball in ACC is a bear.

Narduzzi is a donkey as a coach so no argument there.

At the end of the day, though, you can still come in 5th or 6th in the ACC in basketball and still have a shot to make it to the Elite 8. There's no way you make a NY6 unless you at least win the Coastal and are at least the second best team in the ACC in the regular season.

There's a much higher correlation between recruiting results versus football conference peers and a NY6 bid than there is between recruiting results versus basketball conference peers and an NCAA tournament bid...which gives you your shot at an E8 berth. If that makes sense.

 

[PittPoker]

The other thing to consider is that you can make an Elite Eight without being one of the best eight teams in the country but you play well at the right time and maybe get a break in the bracket and there you are. But for Pitt to make a NY6 bowl Pitt likely has to win the ACC. Which contains one of the probably two best programs in the country right now. We all know that if the Peach Bowl gets to choose between at large 10-2 Pitt or at large 10-2 Auburn or at large 10-2 Penn State that we aren't getting picked even if we did happen to be the best team of the three. Factors other than what happens on the field come into play, and we do not stack up well when those things are taken into account.

No if we didn't underachieve last season we could have played in a NY6 bowl even when Clemson won the ACC. But we choked down the stretch. Last season was a golden opportunity to get to a NY6 bowl and we blew it and the worst for me is that we didn't even have to beat Clemson to do it.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

All they have to do is be the highest ranked team in the final CFP playoff ranking.

Oh, right, that's all.

Remind me, when was the last time we were even in the same area code of doing that?

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Oh, right, that's all.

Remind me, when was the last time we were even in the same area code of doing that?

This year? All they had to do was not completely shit the bed. When have we been in the same area code of an elite 8? We’ve been the worst program in the ACC for 4 straight years lol

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

This year? All they had to do was not completely shit the bed. When have we been in the same area code of an elite 8? We’ve been the worst program in the ACC for 4 straight years lol

Only Pitt fans could think that a team that was favored to win seven games in the regular season was thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to being a 10 or 11 win team and making a NY6 game.

We won two games that we were underdogs in, and we lost two games that we were favored in. Our record was a reasonable reflection of how good the team actually was. Not how good some of us wished it was. How good it actually was.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Only Pitt fans could think that a team that was favored to win seven games in the regular season was thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to being a 10 or 11 win team and making a NY6 game.

We won two games that we were underdogs in, and we lost two games that we were favored in. Our record was a reasonable reflection of how good the team actually was. Not how good some of us wished it was. How good it actually was.

By the same token... nevermind

 

[PittPoker]

Only Pitt fans could think that a team that was favored to win seven games in the regular season was thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to being a 10 or 11 win team and making a NY6 game.

We won two games that we were underdogs in, and we lost two games that we were favored in. Our record was a reasonable reflection of how good the team actually was. Not how good some of us wished it was. How good it actually was.

Yeah only Pitt fans smh. Whatever dude if you read this damn site the whole football season just about everyone expected Pitt to perform much better than they did. They had a real chance to make a NY6 bowl and blew it. They weren't coached well both by the offensive coordinator imo and the head coach. The defense carried this team until the end until they got tired themselves.

Stop acting like it is some impossible feat for us, an ACC team no less to make a freaking NY6 bowl.

You know what would make it easier? Start landing many more 4 and dare I say 5 star players. Not 2 and 3 stars and hope a few turn out to be studs. That ain't the formula.

 

[KR519]

I voted basketball simply because the ACC Bowls are terrible and they don't have the Bowl ties to New Year's Day Bowls like the other 4 Power 5 conference have. I think the football team will have a season that they finish in the Top 20 before the hoops team will though.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Whatever dude if you read this damn site the whole football season just about everyone expected Pitt to perform much better than they did.

Wait, so your point is that fans of a sports team expected their team to do better than it actually did? Yeah, wow, that pretty much never happens.

If you really want to know how good a team is (or isn't) look at what the people who are putting their money where their mouth is are thinking. And not just the ones who are fans of the team, but others who can look at it a little more dispassionately than a fan can. We were favored to win seven football games in the regular season last year. We actually won seven football games in the regular season last year. In a year that we'd have probably had to have won 10 games to make an NY6 game. Including winning a game that in reality we lost by 16 points. At home.

Yeah, we were just thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close.