This is not a this team sucks post. Nor is it a, this team is so close post.
Pitt has a good basketball team. In any conference, they would be in the upper half. I honestly see them as a top-30 team. Just a top-30 team.
It’s been something strange. Usually a team like this would have a bad loss and a good win mixed in. Instead, Pitt has no bad losses and no really good win. There are nice wins like Clemson and Stanford. Heck, even the sweep of Maryland is decent. But they aren’t big wins.
Conversely, the losses are not killers. All four losses are to teams presently in the top-25. Virginia, Duke and Syracuse are all in the KenPom.com top-10. All four losses are to teams in the RPI top-20.
I don’t know if that reality makes things better or worse.
Two losses came on last second shots. Three of the games came down to the final minute (or second) with 9 points the total difference in those games. Even the Duke loss was very tight for the first 30 minutes before it got blown open.
It’s not like Pitt has gone down in losses like a big expectation team as Ohio State has to good and bad teams. Or Wisconsin losing at home to Northwestern. Nope. Pitt has been able to handle the teams below them with efficiency and minimal drama. It’s the team above them they haven’t been able to match.
Pulling down that defensive rebound off a Cinci drive rather than letting them get that put back. Kicking the ball out or being a little more patient going back up for a shot when Jamel Artis had a fantastic effort to grab that offensive rebound in the final seconds of the Virginia game.
A defensive stop here. A missed bunny there. A couple free throws. The three that rims out. The missed assignment on the defensive rotation. Those little mistakes that happen to any team during the course of a game. Feel so magnified as the margin of those losses have been so close.
Coming off the Virginia loss, it feels worse. It sucks to see that ceiling appear so obvious for the team. To be grimly aware of what the limits are. The added frustration of the Virginia loss is that it makes that ceiling look that much lower.
Pitt’s been good enough to play with some of the best teams. Just not good enough to beat them.
Still wish this was a national holiday, for us college football fanatics.
As far as the hoop team goes, not much to add that hasn’t been said. Sweet 16 seems to be ceiling for this team, why does that sound familiar?
As long as Voytik is the real deal we will be fine with another year to recruit a QB. If not, could really put this program behind.
Assuming with Freebeck out, this leaves this class ranked somewhere in the #40’s…
Other than that I think HCPC has put together a nice class. Yes it’s only ranked in the 40’s, but he’s restocked both lines, has found some potentially nice sleepers, and reeled in two real skill position gems. More importantly, all of these guys are outstanding young men and excited to come to Pitt. HTP.
Pitt #41.
link to sports.yahoo.com
Pitt will be fine. Can’t measure heart and desire. Losing the kid from Florida may not be so bad after all if his heart wasn’t at Pitt. Moving on.
LP has no room to penetrate with the attention he’s getting and that has impacted both LP’s outside shooting and TZ’s points from the easy baskets he got when LP found him open on drives.
I appreciate that Newkirk is a high risk gamble, but I’ve seen his shooting from the outside as the only potential opportunity as compared to CW and JR so I’d give him more time, especially at the BEGINNING of games to see if he can be effective when the pressure is less.
Without Freebeck, Pitt is so razor thin at QB next season that an injury to Voytik could mean a dramatic drop in wins. Voytik’s game is not conducive to playing a full season without an injury or two, so keep you fingers crossed that they can get 10 full games out of him.
PC has got to save a schollie for a JC QB transfer doesn’t he? Are there 1 or 2 worth getting?
He is probably afraid that Voytik will play for the next three years, a reasonable expectation after the bowl performance.
We get Jeter they get Freebeck, not a fair exchange.
Certainly, Freebeck may prove to be better but if Voytik gets hurt, we are in trouble with or without Freebeck
We are extremely fortunate to have a very strong freshman class.
With LP and Zanna graduating, next year will be even more challenging.
Freebeck in all probability would RS next
Year then compete with Bertke to backup
Voytik. Need at least on QB in 15. So much
for the early commitment process. That
said the kid has a right to attend the school
of his choice.
l
link to usatoday.com
Glad to see you back. Latest six seed, at least according to USA Today.
Propensity of vanish = never beating a higher seeded team (and losing to lower seeds when #1).
That’s not Jamie bashing. It’s fact.
If we do what I expect, we go in 27-7 and at a 4 seed.
If everything breaks right we have a shot at 3 seed and if it goes “left” we are a 9 seed.
Let’s beat Miami and start back on the right track toward the Syracuse rematch.
And I say again, it is Zanna who is the key. As he performs, so goes this team.
I am not saying we will be terrible, but we need to replace the point production of Patterson and Zanna. We will need a big leap from Jones or DJ. Both will be recovering from surgery. If Slice finds an above the line center that helps immensely. A lot of ifs.
All that being said, I don’t see us challenging the powers that be, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, and NC will be back.
By the way, you did say that VA would be no problem, and that we were a top ten team.
I appreciate your positive attitude and enthusiasm.
However, your blue and gold glasses are just a little rosier than mine.
If he toughs it out through eye pokes and then throws a well placed elbow back at the opponent(as Dejuan Blair might do) or gets up from an ankle roll and brushes off the pain and leads this team, we can go far. We need Zanna the Warrior, not Talib the mouse from here on out.
The dreaded DJ headband!!! They should be pulled out and worn at key times the rest of this season.
Need to find a better one next year.
Should have wore the headbands for all home games.
The team did seem to have less emotion than Duke or VA.
I’m also not willing to anoint Voytik the next Marino based on two quarters. Freebeck carried the Florida banner, and we all agree Pitt needs to make in roads in the Sunshine State. Lastly, it just blows to lose a kid at the 11th hour who has been committed since June.
I don’t blame the staff on this one. I think they gave him a pretty hard sell, he just changed his mind. But this a fairly significant loss.
– watches a Chryst QB win the superbowl,
-sees a Pitt program being build around pro style offense, offensive line,etc.
– has a NFL players as position coaches at QB and WR…
BUT, he will have to compete for his job with an existing QB and another coming in. RS one year, play in 2-3…
So, go to south, play for a defensive coach desperate for a quarterback now… and be in the lower tier of the SEC…
Good luck to the kid and enjoy college… but if he chooses not be here given the above… we definitely don’t want him here.
Program just has to start winning more games and then being in the ACC and playing in the south will reap its proper reward.
H2P
John D. Rockefeller
I’m not the person who automatically puts a guy down who rejected Pitt, but in fact, I had posted on this site previously that Bertke was considered a better prospect by many. That’s certainly not to say he will be, but I don’t necessarily see why Freebeck HAS to be better.
My biggest concern is depth and risk. I’d rather have both and hope that one blossoms, vs. all eggs in one basket. Really need a good QB prospect in ’15 now.
Albany over UMass-Lowell (Albany should win at home)
Duquesne over George Washington (Not likely)
Lehigh over Army (Lehigh on the road, might be close)
Youngstown State over Wright State (@Wright State, expect a close game)
Fresno State over Air Force (Air Force should win at home)
Stanford over California (It will be tough for Stanford to get a road win here)
Pitt must win in Miami.
Great way to close the recruiting class strong…