12pm.
The good news is that this game is a sellout. The clearest evidence to date that the fanbase is optimistic about this team going forward under Head Coach Jeff Capel.
The bad news: the disparity of talent and experience on the court.
There’s lots of advantages UNC holds over Pitt. One of the biggest is the way they attack the boards.
They are sixth in the nation and first in the ACC in rebounding margin (11.5 per game), but their two tallest players — Garrison Brooks and Pitt transfer Cameron Johnson, both 6-foot-9 — are shorter than Pitt center Terrell Brown, 6-10.
But that is of little comfort to Capel.
“We don’t have guys where rebounding comes natural,” he said. “We don’t have guys, with the exception of Au’Diese (Toney, a 6-6 guard), to go after the ball, to pursue the ball.”
Toney leads Pitt in rebounds with 6.2 per game, which is admirable for a player of his size, but it’s good for only 18th in the ACC.
“We’ve done OK at times,” Capel said. “This is a different animal. This is historically one of the better rebounding teams in country. They are relentless in their pursuit of the basketball.”
One of the things about Capel that I like, is his straight-forwardness in talking about the players on the team. Not trying to bury them or completely lie about their weaknesses.
Capel said Brown has impressed him with his work ethic and desire to improve, spending extra hours in the gym with assistants Tim O’Toole and Jason Capel.
“The big question about Terrell has always been his motor,” Jeff Capel said. “As we got to know him, you see he does want to become a good player. He wants to get better.
“He’s not afraid of the work. It’s just getting that motor revved up, and he’s worked hard.”
His assessment of Terrel Brown is nothing fans and other observers haven’t made, but Capel doesn’t shy away from stating it either. At the same time, he praises the development of Brown and Brown’s willingness to get improve.
I’d love to say that Pitt can pull the upset, but I just don’t think Pitt has enough talent or depth to finish this game. I can see Pitt keeping this close and riding crowd enthusiasm for periods; but not there to pull an upset this soon.
Just look at football , every year we look a glimmer of light and its is not there. The reason is the recruiting is poor. Next year in football it will be a very bad year for sure.
The Duzzi will be fired and we start all over again. Maybe by that time Urban Meyer will want to coach again and we can hire him. lol.
I trust we are done drinking the kool-aid about Pickett being a D1 QB. Our only hope for next season is to persuade Tyrean Jackson, 6’7″ MAC MVP to come to Pitt for his last season of eligibility before he goes pro. We tried to recruit him out of high school before he grew 5″.
He can throw the ball 80 yards, needs to play in a pro formation, and play against teams on Pitt’s schedule.
I trust we are done drinking the kool-aid about Pickett being a D1 QB. Our only hope for next season is to persuade Tyrean Jackson, 6’7″ MAC MVP to come to Pitt for his last season of eligibility before he goes pro. We tried to recruit him out of high school before he grew 5″.
He can throw the ball 80 yards, needs to play in a pro formation, and play against teams on Pitt’s schedule. No mention about Jackson in any of my previous blogs he only declared for transfer this week.
