When Pitt Men’s Basketball tweeted out the starting line-up, there was no way this game was going to end with positive feelings. Whatever slight, sliver of optimism that Pitt could repeat the stunner of UVa was done. Milligan and Luther were in the starting lineup in place of Artis and Young.
This, barely 24 hours after it was announced that Justice Kithcart was dismissed from the team. As the news trickled out during the opening minutes of the game. It went from the players (and roommates) being late for practice to them being 10 minutes late to the team breakfast that morning. Coach Kevin Stallings held them out of the game for 10 minutes.
By the time Artis and Young saw the court, Pitt was down 19-2. Yet to score a basket. The only thing left in the half was the question of whether Pitt would crack double-digits before halftime. (They did. Yay?)
I have such mixed feelings about all of this.
This has been a long time coming for Artis and Young. Artis was already suspended a game once this season. By unverified accounts, both players have been pushing things for the last few months off the court. On the court it was apparent with their unwillingness to play defense while crowing about being able to do what they want on offense.
Whether it was feeling safe in the fact that they were the best players on the team and seniors, or simply not respecting the new coach. (You’re not my real dad!) You can reasonably say, that this was a long time coming, and just the breaking point for Stallings — which he seemed to suggest in the postgame interview.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened. I have no way of knowing and don’t really care. My job is to uphold the integrity of the team and do things that are right by the team. That’s what I do. We struggled to score at the beginning of the game. It wasn’t like we closed it down once they came in. We didn’t all of a sudden threaten them because we had other players in the game. It’s just one of those unfortunate things that you deal with sometimes.” – Kevin Stallings on whether Young and Artis’ tardiness is part of an overall pattern of behavior.
On the other side, this feels so hollow and empty in the final game of the season. On a road game against a far better team that was almost certainly going to beat Pitt. That Stallings let stuff go for so long that he had no one else to blame but himself — and he just doesn’t do that.
And we are talking about being late for a team breakfast. Not even a practice. Artis and Young may be seniors, but no one has ever called them team leaders. Even now. This seems like a really small thing to be the breaking point.
Ultimately, this wasn’t a message to Young and Artis. Or even a punishment — outside of costing Mike Young the ACC Scoring title. (Luke Kennard edged Young out 20.1 ppg to 19.9 when he finished with 28 points while Young had only 14.)
Not at this point. It was a message to the remaining players, but because it came so, so late. I just don’t see how much of an impact it really leaves.
“We’re trying to establish a culture here of doing the right thing and having accountability and being responsible and committed to doing the right things for your teammates. Sometimes, even when it’s not the opportune time, you have to try to uphold that and enforce that.” – Stallings on sitting Young and Artis.
“I don’t know that I’ve got any magic that’s going to shift their way of thinking. I think when things go bad, there’s a reason they’re bad. The first thing you do is you try to fix what’s making it bad. If guys are unable or unwilling to fix those things that are bad, all the motivational speeches in the world aren’t going to do a lot of good. I’ll think about that as we get together tomorrow. Right now, as I’ve been doing and will continue to do, I’m trying to help guys get better and try to help them understand the right way and wrong way to do things and hope the message hits.” – Stallings on Pitt’s approach heading into the ACC tournament.
The loss drops Pitt into a tie with NC State for 13th place in the ACC. Because Pitt lost to NC State, Pitt will be the 14th seed in the ACC Tournament. That means facing Georgia Tech on Tuesday at 7pm in Brooklyn. The winner gets the #5 seed… Virginia.
Pitt has finished with its first losing season since the first year of Ben Howland. And a feeling that the program is in as much disarray as the last year of Ralph Willard.
And we don’t have to deal with it, we can vent.
Who are you ?
Here ya go ray.
That takes 5 months to hire an AD and lets the cancerous one stay on payroll and suck off Pitt’s teet. Imagine if someone for a second cares about winning and not
Looking like a total embarrassment to the National audience. Puppet Yes Men send your resumes to Pitt. No accountability. His players coming in stink. 2-3 stars. Big fucking deal. Guy sucked dog taint at Vandy and has a hairline that is inept as his coaching and leadership.
Make sure you send yours – others will as well, I’m sure.
I heard again on XM 84 College Sports Radio where Kevin Stallings was getting bashed as one of the worst coaches in D1. They were playing with his decision to not sub in the second half of a recent game.
They kept asking each other if they were tired…Then one of the guys said YES, I’m tired of where KS has taken Pitt BB. DITTO that!
Those XM 84 guys mustn’t have gotten the ‘talking points’ memo from the Coaching Fraternity.
Remember Stallings is an Offensive Genius.
Just ask the latest installment from Josh Pastner, after the GT game (aka Louie Pasteur)
Don’t know if Tony Bennett parroted the same line after the UVA game, since who watched.
I don’t like Donald Rumsfeld at all but this quote is particularly apt:
“You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have.”
H2P!!!
I’m with you
Stallings isn’t going anywhere so ppl do need to deal wit th it
Pitt doesn’t have enough alumni or doners to buy out or buy a good coach
You would think pitt has a million fans thought cuz they talk shit dry well on twitter and blogs
Just don’t show up to support
You’ve obviously haven’t been reading anything that I’ve posted so maybe reread??
Fine by me, us poor ppl can get tix cheap and essy
I believe he fucked us out of arrogance and stupidity. He thought he could makes his stamp on the program, which he clearly did.
But I don’t see the BOT or anyone else telling him to gut the program. Rather, I think that Neanderthal big-headed douche did it on his own
Pitt needs to do its homework and make a semi-risky hire. That is what they did with Howland and that is what they did with Dixon. The key is doing your homework. Barnes sure didn’t.
Hopefully the next AD does the right thing: Fire Stallings, and don’t quit just because the two Millers do not call you back. There are good, hungry, young, disciplined, and inspiring coaches out there to be had. Do your homework and make a thoughtful hire.
But does he have enough experience or clout for pitt fans??
Discuss………
And yes Pitt is NOT a destination. It has a nice arena that is half filled now. For Pitt to be a destination, it must devote the money to beating Duke and Carolina. A young coach could create his own history at Pitt. Not much history, tradition or legacies to follow. Young coach could put his stamp on the program much like Dixon did. Dixon in the Big East. Someone other than KS in the ACC.
The problem with Brandon was he couldn’t recruit.
The same affliction that befell his boss.
Kid avg’d 26 ppg, 41% from 3. 46% fg.
Turd might have just got a miracle from above.
Or in this case….Winter Haven.
At least we’ll score more than 40 ppg now, next year. Maybe even 50 on occasion.
3/3/2017 – JUCO PG Troy Simons (6-1, -, 2?) has received an offer from Pittsburgh. – Per Link –
I guess right after Kithcart got sent packing.
Kithcart was rated a 3.3 * and this kid is a 2.
So………
Herman didn’t know the fan base. He didn’t want
to know it either.
That turned out pretty well.
Of course BBal is littered with examples of where it did NOT work out (hiring the assistant)…
So that said, Brandon might have been a great move…or not. Agreed he was a poor recruiter. Maybe a good motivator? Likely a good “tough love” teach them defense and grit kinda coach. Who knows what is X and O skills are…just tough to say from the peanut gallery.
Can you imagine Dixon doing something like this. He is a bigger coward than Fraud.
Hmmmmmmm.
Don’t accept personal responsibility…check
When things are looking really bad and the situation you are in is out of control, run……check
Public hangings, yep that’s the money play…….check
Always remember. It is always, and I mean ALWAYS, about yourself first….check
And lastly. No matter what job you get, there will always be customers, and, um. They will always be wrong…….check
Now he just gives and gives more reasons to dislike the guy almost daily. I can’t wait to hear about all the issues with next years players…….
Beings being an absolute turd this putz is a narcissist as well.
Now maybe he’ll be great….but the fact is no one offered him but two 2nd rate programs, one from C-USA, which is a shadow of it’s former self say 10 years ago and the other one from the Southern League.
Again maybe he’ll be great, who knows, maybe he was destined to play for Pitt since he grew up there. Maybe he’s going to play a part in Pitt not being totally embarrassed in games next year.
Let’s hope. Stallings is another matter altogether though.
And who we’ve offered.
Highest rated player we got coming in is Aaron Thompson who is a composite 3.7
The rest are 3.0 and below.
Stallings, on the other hand, is making $2M+/yr, presumably, and is fair game.
Don’t get me wrong, I expected the team to suffer w/o them … buy 19 to 2? Remember, with Jeter, Jones, Luther and Johnson, there was still plenty of experience and talent (all 4 of them have had games when they scored 20 pts or more in their career.)
Stallings acknowledged he made mistakes this season and he would make some minor changes, if given a second chance.
“But not that many, surprisingly for me,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with the record. I’m not satisfied with some of the dysfunction, maybe, that we’ve had.
“But I’m satisfied with how I’ve tried to coach and educate and lead these guys.”
MINOR CHANGES?
We have the worse conference record in 40 years and he can only think of some minor changes?
HE IS SATISFIED??
Leave Stallings,
Leave now.
I was OK with Jamie leaving, he had lost the fire, hadn’t recruited well and left on his terms and his decision. I was not happy with the Stallings pick, how it happened etc., but thought it only fair to give him a chance.
I see nothing in what he showed this year to make me think he has any chance for even marginal success.
As for Knight, there is a strong correlation between Jamie’s bad years and Knight being his top assistant. Let’s see how he does at Rutgers.
Barnes was supposed to be a basketball guy, someone who could find the young up and comer, instead he saddles us with the “Never Has Been”, and I’m comfortable saying, “Never Will Be”
Bringing in a bunch of borderline guys just won’t cut it in the ACC.
The vast majority of elite players go to the traditional elite schools with the elite coaches. Few schools have broken into that mix, Gonzaga, Butler etc.
Unless Pitt can get a guy on the way up, it just won’t happen. They will never pay for a real elite guy. For now we are stuck with a guy, that all the announcers and coaches say “Has Pitt in Good Hands” Really?
But with the NEW Guard just added and the others prior… he and/or his STAFF have an eye for identifying TALENT to recruit.
Rather than escort him out of the building, they let Barnes earn more salary, Who does That? Once again Pitt is clueless.
Pitt QB Max Browne uses USC departure as motivation…
They are almost spot on with their composite ratings.
Out of the whole group on Michael Young was rated a composite 4 star.
The rest of them pretty much played up(or down) to their composite rating. If you’re honest with yourself and take off the homer glasses.
Or he lost his magic or Pitt did, or both.