I’ve tried. I’ve really tried. I’ve wanted to care about the City Game as more than just another non-con. I’ve made fun of their rebranding efforts and derisively referred to them as the Stage Magicians. I’ve written a few posts about their ineptitude over the years

Moving it to the Con Paint Store, was a good effort to try and make it special. But other than the humiliation of losing to a bad team and ending a 15-game winning streak against the Dukes, it’s hard to feel any animosity or hate towards Duquesne that should go with a rivalry game.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe as a non-native I just don’t get the same impact of friends and families torn apart by their loyalties and the importance of this game within the area. The trash talking that must go on between the two sides.

/thinking

/pondering

/contemplating

Nah.

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7pm ESPN2.

Small sample size and all, but after six games, Pitt’s tempo is ranked 256th nationally per, KenPom. Maybe — and I’m just spitballing ideas here — the players have as much to do with the pace as the coaching style. The players always say they want to get up-and-down the court. But they also want to score and win.

Pitt can score. The offense is still one of the most efficient nationally. The defense, though, is something else.

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12:30 pm. ACC Nework syndication.

Thanks to everyone who offered tickets so that my son and I can attend the game (as fans) today. Much bigger response than I expected. He’s excited about going, even if it is going to be cold and had to get up very early.

Pitt is the heavy favorite. The Syracuse offense does not look to be in good shape with QB Eric Dungey doubtful for the game. That leaves Zack Mahoney as the starter. Additionally, players not listed on the injury report are question marks.

Junior wide receiver Steve Ishmael, redshirt freshman center Colin Byrne and redshirt senior guard Omari Palmer are not included. It’s unclear if and how much each will play against the Panthers.

The Syracuse defense is not exactly its strong suit. It averages giving up 35+ points a game.

Time to send the seniors off with one more home win, and finish with an 8-4 record.

I have to believe nearly every blogger who has seen their school getting this team on the schedule has at least considered the James Bond/Austin Powers-esque jokes about this school’s name. “We’re getting Morehead? … Wonderful.”

I may have started drinking before starting this post.

Morehead wasn’t expected to be a big challenge coming into the season. It seems less likely with their head coach suspended.

Morehead State basketball coach Sean Woods has been suspended with pay, effective immediately, while the school investigates complaints it has received.

“Resulting from complaints received, the institution has begun an investigation involving the head basketball coach. While we continue through the formal process, we believe it is prudent to suspend the coach until the investigation is finished,” Morehead State athletic director Brian Hutchinson said.

…

In his first season, Woods was suspended for a game for shoving a player. Woods was 75-63 in his first four seasons and received a contract extension this past offseason through the 2019-20 campaign.

Seems like we are looking at a David Rice or Mike Lonergan situation. Those always end well. That they suspended him and are having a formal investigation after the season is underway does not bode well for his future.

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7pm, ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN.

Mike Young picked up his second consecutive ACC Player of the Week honors.

The cynical part of me is going to watch with an eye towards whether Pitt can put forth a decent and consistent defensive effort this game, or do they revert to type.

As much as Coach Kevin Stallings emphasized up-tempo and offense in the offseason, once the season started he’s like most coaches: time to play some dang defense.

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Ah, the joys of a 60-hour work week, and family commitments. I still have the Marquette-Pitt basketball game on the DVR to watch on Sunday. No spoilers, please.

For those of you not going to the game:

3pm, Root Sports Pittsburgh and various other RSNs and ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN.

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4:30 pm, ESPN2. Hope you finish work early today.

It wasn’t close to a debacle, but it wasn’t great either. Losing to this SMU team was not a surprise, but the second half performance by Pitt was disappointing.

As we have seen in all three games, Pitt is still a team that will go on extended scoring droughts and its commitment to defense ranges from indifferent to inconsistent.

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(Treat this as the open thread, as well. I am short on time and on DVR delay the next two nights due to my daughter’s school musical.)

It’s hard to believe that in all the years Kevin Stallings coached at Vandy, the Commodores never made it to Madison Square Garden. Just by virtue of the years and number of events had at MSG, you would think there would have been one game.

Pitt plays a good SMU team tonight. As usual Larry Brown cut corners and ran afoul of the NCAA on recruiting — again. Also, as usual, Larry Brown went Larry Brown over not being “appreciated” (read: more years and money — despite the NCAA sanctions and his suspension) and quit over the summer.

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Sorry about this being last minute. Late day and my turn to pick up my daughter from practice — which naturally ran even later.

The game is on WatchESPN/ACC Network Extra at 7pm.

Hopefully the struggles of the first game were just opening game nerves and working out some kinks. I’m trying to maintain optimism in the first week.

3:30 pm, ESPN.

This won’t be the normal open thread intro.

I haven’t had a lot (anything) to say this week about the game today. Mainly due to the fact that I don’t know what to say.

Not in a this team sucks, it always has sucked and always will suck kind of downer. It’s that Pitt right now has a glaring weakness that has not gotten better. That Clemson will completely exploit that weakness. That Clemson is a top team in the country with better players almost across the board to boot. I can’t envision a scenario that leads to a Pitt win.

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Season opens tonight. It’s a game courtesy of the 2K Classic against Eastern Michigan. EMU is coached by a Jim Boeheim disciple, so plenty of 2-3 zone defense looks. Not to worry, though, because if there is one thing Pitt has had little problem with is the Syracuse zone and– Oh. Yeah. That was the other guy.

Okay, well, it’s Eastern Michigan. The… I was going to say Emus simply because it matches, but it is apparently the Eagles. A directional Michigan school in the MAC. How much risk can there be?

Oh. Picked for 1st or 2d in the MAC West division in various preseason pubs. Experience in the backcourt. A MAC Freshman of the year and 1st team All-MAC center.

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12:30 on ACC Network distribution and WatchESPN. Listings, here.

Game Notes.

I’m on DVR delay do to some work stuff.

As much a fit and the reasonable distance to most ACC schools from Pitt, it really is something how infrequently Pitt played ACC teams (excluding fellow Big East ex-pats). This is only the 9th meeting of Pitt and UVa. Seven of the meetings have taken place in the last thirteen years. Before that, a two-game series in the 50s.

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Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago. Please don’t be a repeat of two years ago.

12:30 on ACC syndication. Or online via WatchESPN.

Hit the road early so this is kind of sparse as I put it together last night before bed.

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7:30 PM. Root Sports and assorted other RSNs.

Greetings from my couch.

Wife has bronchitis and the kids have been a special kind of crazy. So with her laid up, I have to be here to keep the peace. Does it serve me well later in the season when I will go to a game on her birthday and one of the kids is having a sleepover? Maybe, but that’s not important right now. What’s important is me being a good husband and father today — at least until the game starts.

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3:30 pm, ESPNU.

Lose a close one on the road to a top-25 quality team. Beat a sub-par Big 10 team. A win against a FCS opponent. No. Not Pitt, UNC.

UNC has a 2-1 record and you can make the superficial case that the two teams are looking much the same. An offense that uses the running game. A defense with a particular aspect that is abysmal. You get the idea.

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