And nobody disagrees
Some of us don’t just pick our scabs everyday for all to see
XJ to indiana
- Thread starter BballinsiderfromPitt
- Start date
Some of us don’t just pick our scabs everyday for all to see
Hey ... I was wrong.
I thought the team had really turned a corner. They were playing really good basketball at the time.
My bad. What else can I say?
You weren't the only one. I also thought they had turned the corner and were playing much more like we all hoped they could. I too thought Pitt was back. Complacency got them against Wake, UNC exposed the lack of bigs, the the wheels fell off against ND.
But I also agree with Gary. With the players they had and a 4-1 start, no reason they shouldn't have been expected to finish .500. Something went awry and the coaches couldn't, or failed, to fix it.
Why was the post ridiculous?Even Justin said “We are back”
Craig Meyer perspective - Worth a listen
We were not back after your post, but why not?
1 - The Hugley suspension
2 - Internal turmoil
If we would have maintained, we would have been back
Justin, X and Toney are a pretty big three.
Femi, Horton,Nike, AKC, Hugley and Jeffress are an adequate supporting cast
We had a good team in place that likely would be even better the following season.
Now, we have?
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Actually, I remember your caution then and I think I even responded at the time that there was still a great deal of wisdom within it. I'll confess that at the time, there was still a part of me that we worried of the track record of the previous two years. But at the time, I was ready to enjoy the enjoy for what it looked like it could be instead of what I was worried it couldn't be. And your wisdom in your last line above is difficult to rebut. After the Duke game, I was expecting for us to finish the year something like 9-7 in the ACC.
I'm not following you completely, but all I'm trying to do here is mock my own post as much as it's deserved because of how ridiculously wrong it turned out to be (if this makes more sense).
Sorry if I have not been clear. What you are trying to do and what I am asking appear at cross purposes.
I think your We are back was right (at the time you posted it).
The reasons your proclamation proved wrong were the suspension of Hugley and what became uncontrollable turmoil.
But..make no mistake, that three game stretch showed for that team, “It was in there”.
We were back, we just could not maintain it.
Not trying to nitpick your point (and I don't have any better explanations), but the three big wins against Cuse x2 and Duke happened after the Hugley suspension.
Oh ... I have absolutely no doubt that turmoil was a very big part of it.
Haha. So I was told to keep up by someone who didn’t even know what he was talking about to begin with.
Two comments
We all wanted Pitt hoops to be relevant again.
the resulting seemingly annual February swoon has made me lose confidence that Capel is the guy to get us back
You’ve lost him by being an adult and admitting you were wrong
It happens so rarely here it likely fried his last few remaining circuits
Expect him to dredge up more old posts of yours from his shrine connected with all the red string
I knew Hugley was suspended, DT or someone else had pointed that out to me in a much earlier thread.
The suspension of Hugley still needs included in any explanation of why we ended up not being back.
You Dont think Hugley would have helped in those losses after the Duke game?
I do think he would have actually. How much, who knows. Being a true freshman he showed ups and downs. I don’t think he was gonna be a total difference maker yet but could he have mattered in some games? I believe so absolutely.
I’m on record of saying how much I liked him. I thought he would turn out to be a good player. The kind of 4 year guy we used to have. He had a few plays with mature moves beyond his freshman status. I’m among those who thought his ceiling was somewhat high if he put the work in.
That is definitely wrong. Score at will? He is average at that skill. He literally has to drive all the way to the hoop. God forbid he stops in the paint (because that's what the defense is giving him) and shoots a 6 footer. Plus I don't recall him ever using his left hand to score around the hoop
I'm not disagreeing with any of your criticisms of his play. I'm not a supporter of XJ and don't care that he left, just like with Trey. But he seemed to drive to the hoop pretty well. Or did I imagine the announcers gushing over his acrobatic finishes?
I thought the same thing when i read that. If he could score at will, he must not have had much will.
X is good at getting into the painted area and to the rim. Maybe not so good at knowing when not to do so. He forces a lot of things.
As I said, he's enigmatic. He definitely has some real talent. He also has some real flaws, at least it has appeared that way in his time at Pitt. It will be interesting to see how he's used and what he does at IU.
He plays a lot shorter than 6-5!! Great kid, will boost their GPA count. Probably be a terrific coach someday.
LOL. Excellent summary. Pretty athletic guy, but often out of control. Good luck to X
If he is in a role where he’s not dominating the ball he’ll be a tremendous asset .
His faults are dribbling the ball flat
This is what I have said. If he came back to Pitt, he absolutely cannot have been the PG. He totally sucks at it. I would have started him at the 2 next to Femi and he could have played some backup PG minutes when Femi's on the bench. As a 2, with a competent 1, Johnson could be a really good player but will he go for that?
I would be very surprised if Johnson is the primary PG for Indiana next year. If he is, that's a bad sign for them.
That's basically what I was trying to point out. "Score at will" was a bad choice of words. This is a tough crowd. LOL
Well clearly he doesn’t suck at it since he had a ton of assists
And frankly - femi does all these bad things but isn’t the finisher x is at the rim
I like femi but he’s not the true point you like to pretend he is - he’s much closer to Xavier than levance
I had your back regarding your meaning
Most reasonable people understood it
I don't think he will be, at least not for long stretches--but he will likely be on the floor with 2 other guards often. Phinissee is a team captain and 3 year starter at PG for them, and Lander is an uber talented 5 star PG who should blow up in the next year or two. They want to get out in transition more and X is good in that role.
You got that right.
Amazing that posters could complain about the LR and get it drop-kicked off the board. Like you don’t find the same amount of verbal attacks and bickering among posters on a regular basis on the FB or BB forums.
What does a few acrobatic finishes have to do with him being a successful driver to the hoop? It's all good, it's just opinions. I'm probably wrong
The collective wisdom on the board after the first handful of games of the "big thiree era" where we upset a few teams, was that the ACC figured out that all they needed to do was shut down our dribble drives. This was before Champ broke out. I remember X pulling out a few wins by driving repetitively to the hoop during the final possessions. I also recall many on here saying that as X goes, so go the Panthers.
I just think driving to the hoop is his strongest asset. But like you said, he got himself in trouble often when doing it so I see why you would not call him "successful".
After Efton Reid commits, all thoughts of what was will disappear and it will be Spring again in Oakland.
Yep. I did respond to your post a while back but it was censored and removed. Nothing in it was offensive or against board policy, nor was it grounds for removal. Oh well. This board is nothing close to being as good as it used to be.
