Pitt Take 5: Will it be NCAA or NIT for Pitt?
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Two recent ACC final scores remind us why college basketball is such a fun and unpredictable game.
Check that. Perhaps not so much fun for the teams on the losing ends of those scores.
Let’s start with Virginia Tech’s 75-41 victory against Virginia on Monday.
The 34-point margin of defeat — one more than Pitt’s 91-58 loss at Wake Forest — was the largest in a conference game in Tony Bennett’s 15 seasons as Virginia’s head coach. In one 14-minute time frame, the Cavaliers recorded one basket.
Surprised? Yep. Virginia was 9-1 coming into the game, Virginia Tech 4-6. The victory still left VPI (yes, let’s not forget its actual name) 7-8 in the ACC.
Does Virginia’s loss take some of the shine off Pitt’s victory against the Cavaliers?
No. Virginia had won 23 in a row at home before serving as hosts to the Panthers that night.
So what happened Tuesday night that would cause Pitt to shoot 29% from the field? Was Pitt overrated during its recent 7-1 stretch?
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The loss wasn’t nearly as surprising as the margin of defeat. Pitt can’t be that bad, can it? The truth, which is what the rest of the season will reveal, is probably somewhere in the middle.
What matters going forward is how players react to such a serious beating. Pitt is 5-3 after a loss, and coach Jeff Capel has shown the ability over this season and last to keep the team together in tough times.
The game Saturday night at Petersen Events Center against Virginia Tech will point Pitt toward one of two potential landing spots: NCAA or NIT.
Meanwhile, here are some storylines:
1. Guard the paint
The question Hokies fans might be asking is this: Can center Lynn Kidd maintain his accuracy from the floor?
Kidd and 6-foot-9 forward Robbie Beron didn’t miss a shot against Virginia (16 for 16, including seven from the free-throw line). Kidd, 6-10, 235 pounds, has made 10 of his past 12 shots from the field and is shooting 65.2% overall for the season.
It’s another important test for Pitt center Federiko Federiko.
If Pitt finds a way to reach the NCAA Tournament, it will be the result of rounding out its game with stronger defense and improved scoring in the paint. Blake Hinson is a legit ACC Player of the Year candidate, but he can’t win games against good teams by himself.
2. Would 5-0 be enough?
The final five games of the regular season offer Pitt some hope to improve its standing among members of the tournament selection committee. But Pitt probably can’t afford another loss before the ACC Tournament.
Tuesday’s game at Clemson, slotted No. 26 in the NCAA Net rankings, is Pitt’s only Quad 1 opportunity. No. 52 Virginia Tech could move into the Quad 1 area (1-30 for home victories), but it would be at Pitt’s expense.
No. 92 Boston College could become a Quad 1 road opportunity for Pitt, but the Eagles would need to move all the way to No. 75.
No. 81 N.C. State and No. 94 Florida State look like Quad 3 victories that the committee will barely notice.
Yet a 5-0 record down the stretch would boost Pitt to 22-9 (13-7 ACC) before the conference tournament. That would raise some committee member eyebrows in the conference room.
3. Dealing with a ‘must-win’
The season won’t end if Pitt loses Saturday, but the game against the Hokies presents as close to a must-win scenario as exists for any team.
“We try to treat every game like that,” Capel said Thursday on his radio show on 93.7 FM.
But he has eyes and ears and understands the gravity of the situation.
“I’m certainly human, and I know there are different types of pressure,” he said. “When you’re in the late season like this and you’re in the position that we’re in, the pressure’s a little bit different. What I try to tell our guys, pressure is a privilege. You get a chance to be in games that are incredibly meaningful, and you should embrace it and love it and go out and try to perform.”
4. Loss best forgotten
Capel said there was no need to review or discuss the loss to Wake Forest this week in practice.
“I didn’t really say much to them after the game,” he said. “We just huddled. We said the prayer. I didn’t mention it (Thursday at practice). We didn’t watch any tape. I didn’t feel like there was a need to watch it. We just moved on, completely.”
His only remark about the game Thursday during his show was this admission: “I thought we panicked a little bit at times. That’s the big thing. We haven’t been down like that in a while.”
5. The Basketball Tournament
Capel is pleased to see regional games in the $1 million, winner-take-all tournament come to the Pete on July 19-24.
Not just for the opportunity to see former Pitt greats reassemble for another shot at glory but also have them play pick-up with current players and talk to them.
“I want them to pick their brains as to why their teams were so good,” Capel said. “What was it about their teams and their approach?”
Gil Brown, who played on Pitt’s 2009 Elite 8 team and is now a member of Capel’s staff, remembers practices in those days.
“It was a fight, literally,” he said Thursday on the Capel show.
He said some of the characteristics of that team 15 years ago show up this year.
“One of the reasons for our success over the past nine games is the practices have been intense. They’ve been competitive,” Brown said. “You can really feel the guys paying attention to detail and competing in practice.”
Brown likes the reunion feel of the week.
“It like seeing a family member you haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.