Pitt Fans Distressed

[jibsey]

Not so much about the loss to Hawaii but their inability to get 4 and 5 star talent and McD's. Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina have gotten 30% since 2000, Pitt got 2 we got 6. They say Dixon can't recruit. I only bring this up because of some who have said that KO needs to recruit better (I disagree). To me it's more like Jim Calhoun helped make a lot of guys wealthy, and win titles, and Jamie Dixon has yet to do that so it's catch 22. KO is gonna make his boys some scratch too, so it's good to be us.

 

[TRest]

Pitt may have plateaued as a program, but it's in a pretty good place. If you have never recruited Mickey D players, you probably never will, absent some massive expenditures on someone's part. I would rather see the top talent spread around more than what we have now, with 2-3 schools getting the top 10 kids every year. If a few kids can go straight into the draft from high school again, that might open it up a little.

 

[upstater]

What about that Mustapha Heron kid? Surely, the idea of losing to Hawaii can't appeal to him.

The ACC lowers have taken some bad losses recently. Florida St, Wake Forest, and now Pitt.

 

[djct1999]

What about that Mustapha Heron kid? Surely, the idea of losing to Hawaii can't appeal to him.

The ACC lowers have taken some bad losses recently. Florida St, Wake Forest, and now Pitt.

I would include Syracuse and their recent loss to Cal. Like you said, the "ACC lowers" have taken some pretty bad losses.

 

[pnow15]

The move to ACC was a bad move for Pitt basketball. Pitts success in the Big East was due largely to Big East refs that let a lot of grabbing, holding and bumping on defense. This was why Pitt could play UConn to a standstill despite the fact that UConn had NBA talent and Pitt seldom did.
The same defensive style of holding and fouling that was successful in the Big East hurt Pitt in the tournament as now they had to play honest defense to win. Now, in the ACC, there is no way the ACC refs are going to allow Pitt to foul its way to victories over the likes of Duke and North Carolina.

 

[jibsey]

The move to ACC was a bad move for Pitt basketball. Pitts success in the Big East was due largely to Big East refs that let a lot of grabbing, holding and bumping on defense. This was why Pitt could play UConn to a standstill despite the fact that UConn had NBA talent and Pitt seldom did.
The same defensive style of holding and fouling that was successful in the Big East hurt Pitt in the tournament as now they had to play honest defense to win. Now, in the ACC, there is no way the ACC refs are going to allow Pitt to foul its way to victories over the likes of Duke and North Carolina.

I agree about the fouling and rough play but I 'm quite sure they don't desire our conference. The question for them becomes should Dixon go? They keep him because there's no one better they can get.

 

[djct1999]

I agree about the fouling and rough play but I 'm quite sure they don't desire our conference. The question for them becomes should Dixon go? They keep him because there's no one better they can get.

Dixon would leave before they got rid of him.

 

[Cheeky]

If a few kids can go straight into the draft from high school again, that might open it up a little.

This is interesting.
I have always been dead against the college requirement for the NBA based on the thought that 18 year old men should be able to make their own decisions, and for every guy-who-left-early-and-didn't-make-it there's a kid-who-made-it-unexpectedly, so a net zero sum.

That written, if they change it to a direct from HS or to 2 years in college, it would likely end the Kentucky-Cal experiment, which would be a great side effect in either case.

 

[Robertelamin]

Not so much about the loss to Hawaii but their inability to get 4 and 5 star talent and McD's. Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina have gotten 30% since 2000, Pitt got 2 we got 6. They say Dixon can't recruit. I only bring this up because of some who have said that KO needs to recruit better (I disagree). To me it's more like Jim Calhoun helped make a lot of guys wealthy, and win titles, and Jamie Dixon has yet to do that so it's catch 22. KO is gonna make his boys some scratch too, so it's good to be us.

If they think they can recruit like UK, Duke or UNC they are out of the their minds. Or UConn, Kansas, Indiana, Florida, Texas, UCLA, Arizona, and on and on and on.

 

[TRest]

This is interesting.
I have always been dead against the college requirement for the NBA based on the thought that 18 year old men should be able to make their own decisions, and for every guy-who-left-early-and-didn't-make-it there's a kid-who-made-it-unexpectedly, so a net zero sum.

That written, if they change it to a direct from HS or to 2 years in college, it would likely end the Kentucky-Cal experiment, which would be a great side effect in either case.

My assumption is the lottery-pick types like Okafor and Anthony Davis go straight to pro, the kids under that level are less likely to tip the scales in favor of a UK because they are more of a crapshoot. Sure you would lose a few more every year that have no business entering the draft, but I only care about college hoops, and don't want to see the product get so imbalanced.

 

[upstater]

Pitt May finish in the top half of the ACC the way the conference is going. Appalachian St beats VT and FSU is down 29-9 to PC.

 

[UConn990411]

Not so much about the loss to Hawaii but their inability to get 4 and 5 star talent and McD's.

Not sure I understand their confusion.

They may have moved conferences, but the school's still located in Pittsburgh.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Pitt misses being in a league with St. Johns, Seton Hall and Rutgers. I think they are slipping from those second tier NYC players to borderline third tier. Dixon can only coach them up so far.

 

[ctchamps]

I feel the same way towards Pitt that Scote feels about Gtown. Petewy on them. They submarined the BE ESPN contract while heading to the ACC. They and BCU and Kentucky can rot in bb purgatory for all I care.

 

[champs99and04]

Has anybody checked Pitt's OOC schedule this year? Yikes. They never seem to play anybody out of conference.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Maybe they should wait until their team actually wins something before they start expecting elite level recruits.

 

[caw]

Has anybody checked Pitt's OOC schedule this year? Yikes. They never seem to play anybody out of conference.

Honestly it's so bad, if they don't beat Duke, UNC or win the ACCT they could be out of the NCAAT already. They have little to no redeeming OOC games to make up for this horrendous loss to Hawaii.

Edit: Maui may give them one or two decent teams if they get lucky. SDST is there. As is Arizona.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Pitt's games vs ranked OOC in the Jamie Dixon era (starting 2003):
12-13: #4 Michigan (lost)
10-11: #11 Tennessee (lost)
09-10: #3 Texas (lost)
07-08: #6 Duke (win)
06-07: #15 OKState (lost), #7 Wisconsin (lost)
05-06: #24 Wisconsin (win)

So we see a trend of fewer quality OOC (and even P5 if you really want to spend time to look in to it) teams, let alone wins, as the years go on. Pitt has played fewer ranked opponents OOC in the last 12 years than UConn has in the past 4.

 

[gtcam]

The Big East made Pitt BBall relevant as it did UConn. The Big East was THE conference so Pitt could get some of those NYC players to go with their thugs. When Pitt went to the ACC those same kids had places like Florida, North Carolina, etc. to play and still be in the ACC.
The difference between UConn and Pitt:
UConn and its ability to attract the attention of top recruits is the 4 championships, the success of past player in the NBA and JC, now KO
Pitt may have the conference but only offers Dixon, Pittsburgh and lack of success in the tournament.

 

[eireman]

Pitt misses being in a league with St. Johns, Seton Hall and Rutgers. I think they are slipping from those second tier NYC players to borderline third tier. Dixon can only coach them up so far.

I hear carl krauser is coming back

 

[Rocktheworld]

The Big East made Pitt BBall relevant as it did UConn.

UConn made itself relevant in the Big East before it was the best conference and kept said conference relevant over the last 20 years. Pitt didn't get to the Sweet Sixteen as a member of the Big East until it was in the conference for 20 years (UConn made it to 8 in that same timeframe, along with 5 EES, and a FF and NC). Pitt used all that "relevance" it was blessed with through league association to get to ONE Elite Eight, in '09, i.e. 27 years in to membership. We all know what UConn had accomplished by '09; it's not even comparable, so let's not compare UConn to Pitt through any stretch of the imagination. You're insulting your own team by doing so.

UConn made the Big East what it was. Pitt rode the coat tails, and ditched for the ACC in CR, which is why they will always be known as "scum"

 

[August_West]

UConn made itself relevant in the Big East before it was the best conference and kept said conference relevant over the last 20 years. Pitt didn't get to the Sweet Sixteen as a member of the Big East until it was in the conference for 20 years (UConn made it to 8 in that same timeframe, along with 5 EES, and a FF and NC). Pitt used all that "relevance" it was blessed with through league association to get to ONE Elite Eight, in '09, i.e. 27 years in to membership. We all know what UConn had accomplished by '09; it's not even comparable, so let's not compare UConn to Pitt through any stretch of the imagination. UConn made the Big East what it was. Pitt rode the coat tails, and ditched for the ACC in CR, which is why they will always be known as "scum"

That's crazy talk revisionist history viewed through some of bluest Husky glasses anyone could ever wear. The big east was relevant and by far the best conference in the country before Uconn was anything. 3 out of 4 teams in 85 FF? The 80s juggernauts that were St. John's, Syracuse, Georgetown? Calhoun used to sell recruits not on Uconn but on playing in the Big East.

 

[Rocktheworld]

That's crazy talk revisionist history viewed through some of bluest Husky glasses anyone could ever wear. The big east was relevant and by far the best conference in the country before Uconn was anything. 3 out of 4 teams in 85 FF? The 80s juggernauts that were St. John's, Syracuse, Georgetown? Calhoun used to sell recruits not on Uconn but on playing in the Big East.

Okay yeah you're right... but the main point remains that Pitt doesn't deserve to be compared to UConn in any real sense.

 

[Stainmaster]

That's crazy talk revisionist history viewed through some of bluest Husky glasses anyone could ever wear. The big east was relevant and by far the best conference in the country before Uconn was anything. 3 out of 4 teams in 85 FF? The 80s juggernauts that were St. John's, Syracuse, Georgetown? Calhoun used to sell recruits not on Uconn but on playing in the Big East.

Only the bluest of Husky glasses are allowed on this board.

 

[willie99]

2011 in MSG, we were sitting in the middle of the Pitt section behind the hoop (2nd row behind the floor seats), the shot came right at us. We were respectful, had no reason to be cocky at that point in time. There was this female Pitt fan sitting one row behind us that was obviously addressing us with her comments all game long. Stuff like who cares that the score is close, we're going to beat them at the end. But my favorite comment came after we won on Kemba's shot, who cares we're still the better team. We never provoked her, we never responded.

I wonder what she was thinking after we won the BET followed by the NC? I think she'll never forget the three UConn fans that were jumping up and down in front of her after Kemba broke some ankles. Even then, we never acknowledged her.

I know one thing, that section cleared out mighty fast after that game