To be fair to Coach Kevin Stallings, it isn’t as if this core hasn’t had consistency issues in the past two years. Games where the offense was non-existent. The defense couldn’t stop anything. It’s just that it wasn’t as frequent, and the blame was assigned elsewhere. (Jamie Dixon is too controlling! James Robinson is too limited as a point guard!)
Of course, anyone who has looked at Kevin Stallings career at Vanderbilt, knows that Stallings’ teams had their own issues with consistency of effort and performance.
Put those two sides together and the uptick of unpredictability from Pitt from game to game makes some more sense. No less maddening, but at least you can sort of make sense of it that way.
It helped that FSU remains a very different team away from home then on it. Now 2-5 in ACC away games. Note to self, do not pick FSU for a deep run in the NCAA Tourney.
Pitt, by the way, has one ACC road win — BC — and finishes the season with three of four on the road. And yet, the Pitt players actually continue to express optimism of winning out.
The victory, Pitt’s third in the past four games, freed up talk among the players of rallying for an NCAA Tournament bid in the final three weeks of the season.
“We still believe in us,” Jeter said. “It doesn’t matter who doesn’t. We believe we can still make it.
“We haven’t given up hope. We haven’t (said), ‘All right, we’ll go to the NIT.’ We’re still playing to get in the tournament.”
I’ll kind of forgive Sheldon Jeter for the crazy talk. He was coming off a career game. And when not in foul trouble, has absolutely been the hardest working player on the court the last couple weeks.
It’s just hard to believe from the outside of this. When even those inside have no idea.
Predictably unpredictable as his team might seem to most anyone who follows it from afar, Kevin Stallings believes he has a good idea of how his Pitt team might perform on a given night.
It may be premonition developed over nearly a quarter-century as a Division I head coach, time that gave him subtle but searing hints at his players’ overall mindset and how it may translate to a game. It could just as easily be hindsight bias, that a small cue from earlier in the week, whether encouraging or disconcerting, becomes an I-knew-this-was-going-to-happen sense of affirmation by the final buzzer.
In the days after the Panthers’ loss Tuesday to Virginia Tech, Stallings noticed a devastated team, one that seemed deflated by the loss and unsure of what awaited them. The practices were underwhelming. Even the shoot-around hours before a game Saturday against No. 17 Florida State did little to inspire confidence. The potential for disaster, as it has at various other points this season, lingered.
“I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if we would have gotten hammered,” Stallings said.
A crowd excited because of the old school colors seemed to make some impact.
The basketball program revealed its version of the back-to-the-future look last month, and Saturday it was their turn to live up to the hype. The Panthers did that and then some, securing a win few thought they could.
“You know, as crazy as it sounds: A, we had a really good crowd. B, they were excited about the uniforms,” coach Kevin Stallings said after the game. “That just got them excited, I think. I think they got excited to play because there was a really good crowd, the students were awesome, and they had the retro unis going.”
The players liked them, other than some complaints that the shorts were a little too short and tight. I wouldn’t mind seeing them break them out in the ACC Tournament.
Next up, though, is a trip to face Wake Forest on Wednesday. The Demon Deacons are on the bubble for the Tournament, and can ill-afford a bad loss. And there is no pretending that a home loss to Pitt would be anything but a bad loss for them.
H2P!!!
The loss that had a bigger impact on the bracket was Florida State’s at Pittsburgh. That dropped the Seminoles down one line to a 3-seed. Florida State still has a very good resume, but the gap between teams in that part of the bracket is smaller, so one result can mean more.
It also helps Pittsburgh considerably. The Panthers’ fragile at-large hopes got a big boost. Make no mistake, despite wins over FSU, Virginia and at Maryland, they still have to get hot to have a chance. Pitt is only 15-12, and that record isn’t good enough. Three of their last four games are on the road, and they may have to win three of those last four. That will require at least one big upset
H2P!!!
We’ll be lucky to finish above .500 and get into the Not Important Tournament.
And that will be a first round loss, like the other year when no one showed up for the Home Game and we lost to some scrub team…who was it…George or Martha Washington.
Otherwise known as Scrub Day.
Or something like that.
So prospects against Wake, GT & UVA are slim.
Wake and GT are also on the bubble, so they will be playing hard.
H2P!!!
H2P!!!
It all starts or ends tomorrow.
This is me just looking at scenarios. I’m not holding out too much hope it can happen but it’s definitely not impossible. There is a glimmer of hope there, albeit very small.
A small thing that I’ve been hesitant to mention because there are so many big things….JD called a offense and often a specific play each offensive trip down the floor. I used to rail against this practice because it stifles thinking by players and creates robotic thinking. Now Stallings comes along and has to sell his players on thinking and reacting on their own on many trips down the floor. You’ve heard him rail in pressers about how the team shouldn’t have to have a play called every time. This has been a Huge change and just one more thing to explain this horrible transition year in Pitt Basketball.
Good article from DiPaola:
Comment by Justinian 02.20.17 @ 12:09 pm
Pitt can beat anyone when they shoot well.
H2P!!!
These guys railed on Stallings like he was the worst HC in college today. They were making fun of FL State for losing to him, not necessarily Pitt and they went on and on – way worse than most on this blog.
Interesting comments from sports guys that get paid to talk college BB for a living.
One of the announcers was going to take a sign to the Pete and display his “Hall of Stink” nomination – he chickened out though…
Since he did such a fine job at Pitt (sarc)
I think the geniuses in Corvalis even gave him a raise. No wonder our higher (and lower) education systems are producing the zombies they are producing. They’re run by morons.
I do think Stallings could get a run out of this team in a one and done tournament setting. The freedom he allows his players gives the team a better chance of getting hot and gaining momentum. Stallings lets the game ebb and flow and appreciates that basketball is a game of swings in momentum. That couldn’t be a more different philosophy than Dixon who wanted a controlled environment. We went from a coach who used timeouts like a coke fiend to a coach who refuses to use timeouts like the soup nazi.
This team has players who can get hot. The ACC tournament is not nearly as competitive or taken nearly as seriously as the Big East tourney was. That allows for a team with fight to make a run.
First order of business … beat Wake.
Wonder how many AD candidates interviewed today?
If JD was honest with himself and I believe he was he would have come to the conclusion in reviewing the Butler game that he failed epically. Any half witted coach would have called Brown and the team to the sidelines, kept their heads in the game and pulled his guys after Brown made the first foul shot. I believe that’s when Jamie lost it within and people close to the program knew it. Pitt will get back into the conversation as a contender only with wholesale changes and serious funding. Don’t see either happening.
Please hear me out.
The amount of $$ they paid Jamie Dixon took away funds from what the admin was willing to pay for assistant coaches so we ended up with guys that couldn’t recruit as well as say “Slice” did and that was never JD’s strong point.
He did take Tom Herrion with him however ALL the other guys he hired at TCU are there because they CAN recruit. That program will be good for years to come as long as they continue to spend $$. Mark my words.
I think you’re reading too much into that game though. Butler made it to the finals. It was a very good opponent and a good game. Superstar coach Brad Steven’s team made a boneheaded play to allow Pitt to even get to that point. It was just college kids making youthful mistakes … and it was a terrible call by the ref in that situation. 99/100 times that doesn’t get called. It was 100% a foul, so it’s hard to argue and get too upset about, but it’s not a call most refs make in that situation. In fact it’s a call rarely made in that situation. If the ball came loose it gets called but other than that you let it play on. It was 90 feet from the bucket and shouldn’t have had any bearing on the game.
Dante Taylor not living up to his 5 star status, then Khem Birch rolling after a semester and then James Robinson peaking as a freshman and not developing much afterwards are what set the program back.
Birch was actually a two for one bust. Not only did he screw Pitt leaving early but his recruitment caused Pitt to pull a scholarship from Jaylen Bond, which effectively killed Pitt’s relationship and recruiting in Philly. PSU is reaping those rewards now.
Tony – Pitt not paying their assistants is on the administration and I fully agree that the lack of money for the assistant pool hurt Pitt. I still maintain that limitations in the athletic department had as much, or more, to do with Pitt’s decline as Dixon did. Taylor and Robinson’s development can be attributed to poor assistants as can Khem Birch leaving – Pat Skerry was his recruiter and he left to take over a fledgling Towsend program before Birch set foot on campus. I think Towsend was coming off of a winless season.
A couple of misses in recruiting and a collapsing athletic department killed the basketball program. Now we have an administration that is all in on football. Basketball will probably be on the back burner until the football side of the house is humming along … which is hopefully just on the horizon.
It appears as though Stallings did get a decent assistant pool though and he really does have a decent assistant bench.
If somehow do they get in though I agree with those above who said they could be dangerous.
If they got in they would seeded much lower than they actually could play…unlike Dixon years where they were almost always seeded higher than they really were.
But have to beat Wake first…a must win..though I said that for VT game and somehow they are still standing.
