What realistic lineup could make NCAAT?
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
No way to have this hypothetical discussion until the smoke clears.....way too many undecided variables
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I feel like it’s hard to say. Sometimes a roster can look good on paper, but on the floor they don’t mesh or just can’t win games.
Also feel like we’ve had our share of pie in the sky projections with having our core trio here as juniors along with Champagnie, transfer help, Capel’s solid 2020 recruits stepping up... and then suddenly that mostly went to hell in a hand basket.
Also feel like we’ve had our share of pie in the sky projections with having our core trio here as juniors along with Champagnie, transfer help, Capel’s solid 2020 recruits stepping up... and then suddenly that mostly went to hell in a hand basket.
Charles Smith
Jerome Laine
Curtis Aiken
Jason Matthews
Sean Miller
Jerome Laine
Curtis Aiken
Jason Matthews
Sean Miller
How the did Roy Chipman/Paul Evans have better recruiting than that clown coaching them now?
Calipari helped land that super incoming 87-88 class. Evans didn't recruit as well as Chipman generally, he inherited a better team.
I still don't understand why Chipman retired in the middle of his career, seems like a different kind of guy.
I think that lineup is probably better than this season, but I don't know about the NCAAs.
I think if we had:
Femi
West
Sibande
Champagnie
Wahab (or other major impact C)
Along with:
Horton
Jeffress
Transfer Wing
Transfer Big
Collier
Now that's a pretty good looking team, assuming Femi makes a jump. We need 4 impact (rotation) transfers, and at least 2 need to be big time contributers
Because he didn't want to put up with the bullshit any longer.
Imagine a guy like that trying to coach at a P6 school today with the way things are now.
IMO, it’s way too early to tell. I think it’ll have more to do with other factors such as if Champagnie comes back, if we can land a quality big man, and if we can attract enough transfers to put together a solid bench. Safe to say there’s a lot of stuff “in the air” at the moment.
The way I view it, last year's team had enough talent to at least get somewhere near the bubble but poor coaching plus poor play by Johnson did us in. Femi is a big upgrade over Johnson. Toney is a loss, no doubt but that can be offset if a guy like Sibande has a good year and we can get Champagnie back and somehow land a legit 5. Coulibaly was never going to be the guy. There's a reason his offers are Marshall, Bradley, Towson, etc
I agree that last year’s team should’ve been good enough to make the tournament, or at least come close to it. That’s why I think we need to land enough transfers to “fill in the pieces” of that team.
For example, we need Champagnie back, a center ( to make up for Hugely’s assumed loss), and enough quality transfers to put together a bench (to make up for Sibande/Odukale, who are now thrusted into a starting role).
even if we had that roster the team would wiped out 1/3 way through the conf schedule. no depth.
i fear next years roster will be second half collpase number 4
A couple fun pieces of nuggets to chew on
Audiese Toney only played in 11 ACC games this year. Pitt's record in those games was 5-6 in ACC play, including 2 wins against sweet 16 Syracuse and a win over a ranked NCAA Tournament Virginia Tech team. He was by far the biggest loss of the season and will be by far the most difficult player to replace next year. The drop-off between him and Jeffress was big. Although Jeffress did show some life on defense in the final few games of the season.
Ithiel Horton played in 17 ACC games and averaged 10 points per game in ACC play. In 4 of our teams 6 total ACC wins, Horton scored a minimum of 14+ points. When Horton was "on", we beat people in ACC play including NCAA tournament teams. He is a big piece next year if he can become more consistent shooting the basketball. I expect Horton to come out of the gate ready next year instead of timid this year like he was in the non-conference schedule which really drags his numbers down.
When X and Toney both left the team with 4 games left to play, Justin Champagnie decided to have his worst 4 game stretch of the entire season by far. In those games he shot 37% from the field, 23% from 3, his turnovers were twice as high as normal, and he picked up multiple technical fouls. Had Justin simply been "normal" Justin, the 1st team All ACC Justin, we win at least 1 more of those final 4 games, and maybe 2. The offense actually ran at a decent level without X, without Toney, and without Justin playing well. The offense with Justin next year will be fine. Its the defense that needs upgraded in a major way.
When Nike Sibande went into a starter role type player the last 5 games of the ACC season when he actually played starter minutes, he averaged 15 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, and 2.6 assists per game. Those are big numbers. They are a bit misleading because he hit some very lucky 3 point shots in these games, but the point here is, Sibande is going to give us significant production next year, no doubt about it.
The last time Pitt won a Big East Conference Championship, a little player with a huge heart from New York was the team captain and leader, Levance Fields. And its kind of interesting the story here, as Femi Odukale and Levance Fields are both from Brooklyn, New York. They also both wear #2 on the Jersey. When Fields was a senior, he became an NCAA All American honorable mention and finished #2 in the country in assists per game.
As a freshmen to freshmen comparison, Odukale has Fields statistically beat across the board in points, assists, and rebounds. A major breakout next year is expected from Odukale. When X left the team, Odukale averaged 15 points per game, 4.25 rebounds per game, 3.25 assist per game, and 1.75 steals per game. And nothing excites me more next year than a New York point guard running the show for Pitt again.
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2008 Big East Champions without Mike Cook who got hurt
Fields-Pg
Ramon-Sg
Benjamin-Sf
Young-Pf
Blair-C
Bench
Brown-W
Biggs-F
That's it. That team won a Big East Championship with 7 players including 3 NY starters.
The biggest differences between that team and next years team.
Gilbert Brown vs Jeffress, huge difference
No Blair, No Biggs, huge difference
3 more legit players makes Pitt a legit player for a bid and more. 4 is what is really needed, including 2 centers, but we can potentially do some damage with 3.
Only to a certain degree. The rest of the team didn't have anything to do with Justin getting technical fouls, Justin turning the ball over on his own doing, or Justin thinking it was a wise idea to shoot almost 25% of his total 3 point attempts for the entire season during the final 4 game stretch where he finished 4-17 from 3 including 1-8 in the ACC tournament. I think Justin wanted to impress some people with his 3 point shooting and it backfired for both him and the team. He didn't play to his strengths on the inside.
Toney is really about as good a SF as you can ask for at the level below the "superstar" category. I always liked his game and will be a big loss.
If you don't think that he was pressing because of the team situation, which led to him turning the ball over more and taking more shots that he normally would not have taken then I really don't know how to respond to that.
I mean of course he was trying to do more than he probably should have been. How could you watch those games and not think that was obviously true?
Had Brian Shorter been eligible as a freshman the Smith , Lane , Gore team wins the NCAAs even with Evans coaching !
I dont think there is a lineup we can field next year that will make the tournament. I just don't trust this staff to get a big whether by transfer, freshmen, or someone from overseas who can make an impact. I am tired of watching a team with zero inside presence. Guards ultimately win games, but, having zero inside game loses them.
i think there is some truth to that but the big thing i noticed was his lurking more on the perimeter which he didnt do all year. he was not running inside and patroling the baseline under the hoop.
no one asked him to be or expected him to be a sniper. he abandoned his game that made him excel all year.
