Late, but this is what happens when you don’t watch the game until 3 am and then have to try and function the rest of the day as if you still got a normal day of sleep. You just try to get through and try not to think too much.
There’s a lot that could be argued was a positive from the game. The team fought back hard on the road. They were so close to breaking Louisville’s spirit in the final couple minutes. Pitt got a better handle on the press. Adams and Taylor were strong offensively on rebounds and finishing.
But, no one really cares about that. The thing that makes this loss so tough is the volume of “ifs.” From the overarching theme to the individual moments. This game was loaded with the “what if” and “if only” scenarios where Pitt ends up on the winning end.
From the vague, “if only” Pitt had shot even 50% on free throws, to Tray Woodall missing that front-end of the one-and-one with 44 seconds left and Pitt down 3. Or if 54% FT shooter Chane Behanan doesn’t go 2-for-2 on his free throws 20 seconds later.
“If only” Talib Zanna wasn’t so completely unable to get anything to go these days. A 2-9 shooting night that follows 3-9 shooting in each of the prior games. “If only” Trey Zeigler and J.J. Moore could have finished their drives to the basket with — well — actually putting the ball in the basket.
To the questionable officiating that led to fouls limiting James Robinson in the first half — and helping Louisville open up a bigger lead — to taking a surprisingly effective Dante Taylor out of the game in the second half.
The front court, constantly overplaying in front of the basket or simply failing to rotate on defense. Leaving their man for easy slamdunks when the ball was passed to said abandoned man going to the basket.
The backcourt struggling to make a pass and holding the ball too long. Or Lamar Patterson spending too long looking for his own shot, but never taking it.
Then there are the “whys.” Why did that have to be the night Russ Smith has a good night? Or Gorgui Dieng turns into a monster?
Which is why this game sucked in the end. So many ways Pitt could have come away with a win. Not just one play, one bad call, one shot. Just a multitude of ways that they could have come away with a win.
While I hope he works out, it’s a crap shoot. And we have no one with any college experience other than Trey, who got to throw a whopping 2 passes the entire year.
So Savage better work out for PC’s sake.
Agree we don’t need another…on the job trainee,
for DC. 🙂
Chryst not a good recruiter? Everything I read that everyone here is finding shows consistently ALL the kids saying the like and get along with the coaching staff, they are getting the respect of the HS coaches, parents,… and now we read how they are getting really well positioned with the kids for 2014!
Dan and Justinian are right on about sales and honesty in terms of top sales.
Chryst needs a good recruiter??? What like “slick Willy” who can lie with the best of the scum? Don’t think so.
I bet you PC is honest when he says he tells these kids to go check out other places, etc. He does not want buyer’s remorse or weak minded people who will go for all the BS and hype anyway. (and I am not knocking 18yr olds… it must be tough dealing with all this stuff).
He is being smart because he is getting players that are committed to his vision for his program.
I would be shocked if Boyd switches because he has good people around him including his community and school mates. He is just working through things and better he does it now than wondering ‘what if’ after he signs.
Holgorsen and WVU… I was worried about them a year ago and now you just have to wonder… good comments above… you sense emotional instability, all the coaching changes… and really… look at that travel schedule… 900 miles closest school… in the middle of no where… (seems like the basketball team is enjoying it!!!). brutal… what kid from the northeast wants to live that life?
Foster made an informed decision and you can’t knock the kid… although folks are right about the whole playing time thing… 2015 it seems really… but when the best wants you that is hard to say no to. WVU or Tennessee ain’t ‘bama now…
did you not think tino should have been on the bench.
did you not say in so many words tino sucked.
at least savage can see over the line and throw the deep ball no more 8 in the box.
chryst all ways make his QB better then they are savage will be fine.
Comment by scott 01.30.13 @ 6:22 pm
lol There are very few places with 100K stadiums.
Seems to be a misconception that the media feeds about some of these conf’s.
Big 10 has 2, Michigan & Pedo State
Big 12 has one, Texas
SEC has 2, Alabama & Tennessee.
Pitt plays in a bigger stadium than Ole Miss, Miss State, Vanderbilt(40K) and Kentucky in the SEC. The ones with bigger stadiums are mostly far larger student bodies than Pitt(especially those living on campus) and (key*) are in College Towns
Pitt plays in a bigger stadium than K-State(50K), Kansas(50K), TCU(50K), Texas Tech(61K), Iowa State (55K), Baylor (50k), Wvcc (60K) and Ok. State (60K). So therefore we play in a far nicer stadium with a larger capacity than 80% of the Big 12.
And as far as the Big Joke er I mean 10, Pitt has a bigger stadium than Illinois (60K), Indiana (53k), Maryland (54K), Minnesota (51K), Northwestern (47K), Purdue (62K), Rutgers (52K) and only a few thousand seats less than Iowa (70K)
So therefore over half of that joke conf. Again these are very large student body colleges with 5-10 times more kids living on campus than Pitt.
So as you can see playing in front of 100K might happen once or twice for a school in these conf’s.
Big Deal !
Where in reality they’re all dwarfs, small rinky dink stadiums(mostly in the middle of nowhere), not much football tradition, history and success on the field. Dwarfs. If you can’t fill up a little stadium in the middle of nowhere, that is truly pathetic.
Same thing with the Little 10 er Big 10.
It use to be just Ohio Fake & Michigan, the others never had a chance of getting to the Rose Bowl. Still mostly programs with little or no football history of tradition. Not compared to PITT.
F*ck em ALL !!
@ Emel, didn’t you get the memo on our new QB, he will be head a shoulders over our recently departed 5th yr Senior, his name,,,,,,
Anybody B. Tino. ABT for short!
I cannot tell you how pleasant it will be to see whoever under center this year, other than you know who.
ACC(Improved Schedule) X Winning=A Full Stadium
Conclusion, just win baby, WIN.
To your point, honesty proves out in the long run … any false claims will certainly dampen the reputation of the seller not only to the buyer but often in the industry itself.
Then of course, there is Todd Graham who preys on desparate ADs who put themselves in a hole by not planning a valid job search. The very first time I heard Fraud in his hiring presser at Pitt, I was put off by his fast talking and ability to skirt a few of the questions put to him by focusing everything on himself … he does it a lot better than Ray Lewis, by the way.
He reminds me quite of bit of your man, Wannamaker, in that when a play is not working, you can rely on him to create something. Yes, Lamar is way behind Wannamaker but he is only a junior, and you may remember that Wannamker has his share of turnovers until his senior season. But overall I agree, Lamar has been disappointing for the most part this year.
Can’t always blame the coordinator and one year does not make or break a coach. He has the experience.
Onto basketball, I’ve been thinking that Woodall has seemed a bit slow and shakey with the ball this year. Not sure why, maybe it’s just cause James Robinson is good with the ball that he makes Woodall look worse.
When it comes to Lamar, I don’t get his reluctance to shoot wide open jumpers. He’s a good shooter and his reluctance usually just leads to something bad happening like a 3 seconds call or a rushed last second shot. Agressive Lamar is good, passive Lamar is bad. Wanamaker was much more well rounded. Wannamaker had more turnovers but he also had to handle the ball more and had more assits. Also Wannamaker somehow averaged almost 2 rebounds more a game as a junior than Lamar currently is, which shouldn’t be the case. Although, maybe it’s just cause Wannamaker was the man.
By that I mean that it is like assembling the right employee mix for your company so that you can be successful longtem into the future with your staff. So the employer/recruiter still is going to benefit in the longrun by being forthright and honest regarding the job description, employee benefit package, work environment and future for promotion potential, etc.
If you hoodwink the applicant at the front end of that relationship you will find yourself saddled with a disgruntaled employee done the road. Not a good situation if you want to get the best performance out of your team. So at least the thin veil of honesty should be the foundation of any recruiter’s process or else the organization is going to become disfunctional down the line.
I totally disagree with your concept that football recruiters are selling an “idea” and not a product. IMO, Alabama is currently selling a PRODUCT, and a very successful product at that. But I will give you the fact that guys like Paul Chryst ARE selling an “idea” or a “vision” as I like to define it. Kind of like the real estate agent that has the knack to embelish the potential home buyer’s own imagination by describing how beautiful their house is going to look when built on the empty house lot when they first visit it.
Does ANYBODY know what Pitt’s football program is going to look like in 3 to four years, I sure don’t, but I still like what Coach Chryst is selling right now because he has the vision and his soft sell kind of fits what he is offering to recruits. Considering the last couple of years that Pitt has been through, based on the CURRENT PRODUCT that Pitt actually has to sell, I’m surprised that we have the quality of recruits in this class that we do!
LOI signing day will be interesting. If we do hold onto Boyd and maybe pick up a surprise recruit on Wednesday along with the class that he has already assembled, my final assessment of Paul Chryst’s first full recruiting class of his own making will be,,,, pretty NEAT!
Yes, yes it is!! You are correct!!!
Good example. Ole Miss hoops. Allthough they did just lose to Kentucky, they are something like 17-3, ranked in the top 15.
They didn’t even know what a basketball was there a few years ago. Now, they had to get an extra 500 SRO’s for the last couple games. Their shoebox is a wild, loud and rabid place to place hoops.
What changed the past few years?? Buildings’s the same, colors the same, nickname is the same.
Only thing that changed???
Instead of being 7-21 and at the bottom of the SEC, they are now a top ranked team, fighting with Florida for the top spot. (which by the way they play at Gainesville Sat.)
Will winning guarantee 65K overflowing at Heinz. No, of course not. We all know how it goes. Sell outs for PSU, ND and WVU.
But, winning, and a big game against Va. Tech, FSU, Clemson or N.Carolina, will now become sell outs and must see games.
Winning, will also get you a good steady crowd of 45-55K for all of the other games.
Not what they count, but actual warm bodies in the seats.
Just win baby?? Ya, actually, just win baby!!!
Could you imagine….2nd week in November….
A 15th ranked, 9-0 or 8-1 Pitt team, having a 4th ranked, 9-0 Clemson team coming in to Heinz Field on cold, cloudy, snow flurry day, with ESPN Gameday in attendance????
The place would be over flowing and going absolutely bonkers like the Cincy game a few years ago.
Ya, not so easy, we have to be 8-1 or 9-0 and ranked in the top 20. I get that, we all get that.
Win and become a top 20 program again, and we will have many games like that and less and less of the gold seats out numbering the actual fans at the games.
Just Win Baby!!! I’m pumped up allready!!!
It is embarrassing just how ignorant a ‘hero’ like Ray Lewis is.
2. Ray Lewis has a tattoo of Ray Lewis … ’nuff said
My point was only that, if you win, they will come!!
Which can then be used to further the point, if Ole Miss goes on an 8 game losing streak, the gym will only be half full at the end of the year.
Win Coach Chryst Win!!!
By the way, when is signing day. I thought it was next week, then someone on here said Saturday??? Usually during the week, don’t remember one on the weekend.
Pitt was averaging close to 54k during the last couple years of Wannstedt’s reign, and that was with a BE schedule. I agree if they start winning 9 or more games a year especially with more big names, we may reach close to 60k
The comments by PC’s brother were pretty insightful (link above from Trib) in a lot of ways and confirms what folks were saying throughout the day… what is most striking is his view that this is a MATCH of man and institution and city!
