OT: Pitt

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Good chance that never happens.

Now here's my thought on that. Okay, it would be quite an ambitious goal to say that you are going to run neck and neck with the conference blue bloods like Duke and North Carolina every year. That would be tough to do. But there is no reason in the world why Pitt can't be very competitive with them and make them earn their wins while Pitt would get some victories against them as well.

But I'm a big picture guy. I'm not so concerned about winning the ACC as I am about seeing Pitt do well in the NCAA tournament. No reason in the world that they cannot do this. Look at some of these Elite Eight/Final Four teams in the past bunch of years--- Florida Gulf Coast, VCU, George Mason, Butler, Loyola Chicago, Wichita State, etc.

Why not Pitt? They came close to the Final Four a decade ago. Pitt can succeed!

But I guess my biggest ambition for the program is to just have it at a place where you want to actually turn on the television set and want to settle down for a few hours to watch them play on a cold winter's night.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Pitt can do well with the 'build up' method.

Get that roster built up so every couple years you have a junior and senior loaded team.

That's the success you see in the tournament. Butler types don't have the stars Duke does but the upperclassmen factor means a lot against freshmen teams ... even 5-star freshmen teams.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Quite correct. I think that's why we are seeing all of these "who the heck are they?" schools having crazy success in the tourney in recent years. Good unit cohesion of upperclassmen can trump the mighty 5-star frosh P5 teams out there as you say. Excellent point.

I really wish the NBA would adopt the same rule as the NFL where a player has to wait until three years after high school to turn pro. It would really enhance college hoops, though it would likely pull the plug on all of these Cinderellas out there.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Official ... Ryan Luther to Arizona.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Official ... Ryan Luther to Arizona.

Do you consider that a big loss? I'm kind of surprised that Arizona would want him. He did get out to a decent start last year with 12 ppg and 10 rpg average. But he was only there for 10 games. 6-9 height is good but 215 lbs to go with it not so good if you are looking to bang in the paint in the big boy league.

I see in other news that Pitt hired longtime Florida State assistant Lance White as the new Lady Panthers coach.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

I see Luther as a system guy. He's not a 'star' player and won't be expected to be one in the desert. He'll play a role and, if he can stay healthy (huge if) he'll be a nice rotation guy for Sean Miller.

He can pop the trey pretty effectively and at his size that causes a lot of match-up problems. He'll also be surrounded by vastly better talent which will elevate his game.

Those giants in the low post (the 6'10" and 270 lbs) are getting to be fewer and fewer. So many teams now want their 'bigs' in that 6'8" to 6'10" range and have the ability to not only shoot but run the floor. The game has slowly changed.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

I see Luther as a system guy. He's not a 'star' player and won't be expected to be one in the desert. He'll play a role and, if he can stay healthy (huge if) he'll be a nice rotation guy for Sean Miller.

He can pop the trey pretty effectively and at his size that causes a lot of match-up problems. He'll also be surrounded by vastly better talent which will elevate his game.

Those giants in the low post (the 6'10" and 270 lbs) are getting to be fewer and fewer. So many teams now want their 'bigs' in that 6'8" to 6'10" range and have the ability to not only shoot but run the floor. The game has slowly changed.

With the kind of purchasing power that Miller has to buy blue chips out in the desert one would be inclined to think that he would not think much of Luther. If Ayton was worth $100,000 I wonder what Luther's street value would be? Couldn't be any more than $5,000-$10,000.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

LOL ... if that was his value I may have bought him for Joe.

[quannis]

Re: OT: Pitt

With the kind of purchasing power that Miller has to buy blue chips out in the desert one would be inclined to think that he would not think much of Luther. If Ayton was worth $100,000 I wonder what Luther's street value would be? Couldn't be any more than $5,000-$10,000.

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There's a Miller connection here, that's all. And, what a nice move for the kid! Western PA to AZ.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

There's a Miller connection here, that's all. And, what a nice move for the kid! Western PA to AZ.

With the weather we have been having in Western PA lately a move to Siberia may have even been preferable.

Sounds like Capel has been pounding the cement pretty hard in the search of quality recruits. Recruiting trip to NYC and he offered two guys who are top 75 recruits. The hard part is to get them to say yes.

But I think that Capel can sell Pitt. If so, he might be real happy to have some extra scholarships to work with via the transfers who left. Time will tell.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

PG Marcus Carr is gone.

Of them all ... he was the one Capel needed to get to stay.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Capel landed a big fish today. Pitt signed Trey McGowens -- rated 4-stars by 247. He's a 6'3" combo guard from Hargrave Military Academy.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

I really expect Capel to recruit very well to be honest. I wasn't too worried about players leaving as it leaves him more options on rebuilding the Panther cage program in the template that he wishes.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: OT: Pitt

Pitt just landed another 4-star guard ... Xavier Johnson out of Arlington, VA.

Big week.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: OT: Pitt

It's like what Demetrius Gore once rapped for the Panthers some moons back-----Pitt's on the rise!

Sounds like Capel can sell the program!

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