1.) NC State has the nicest looking floor in the ACC. I'm not sure who is responsible for designing the floor, but it is positively incredible. I couldn't love it any more!

2.) The retros Pitt wore today against Florida State should be their full-time uniform. Again, they would be among the nicest uniforms in the ACC. Also, they are so much less boring the navy blue and beige. The football retros were much nicer than the regular uniform Pitt wears and the basketball retros are even that much more gorgeous.

I wish I could have seen the FSU Pitt game today. It was the only ACC game blacked out in my area.

I also wish I had bet on Pitt. I usually bet any ACC home underdog but didn't think Pitt had it in them to beat FSU. Congratulations on the win.

I wouldn't bet on Pitt either. This team has the worst chemistry of any team I've ever seen. Seriously, they are the weirdest team I've ever watched. They can play great for stretches and then they can be the worst team in the ACC for long directions as well. They often do it during the same game.

Pitt is built incredibly poorly. Jamie Dixson did a phenomenal job at Pitt and there's no doubt about that. However, he left it in the absolute wreck.

Pitt doesn't have a five or a one and Pitt probably doesn't have a two either. It is basically a team full of wings and Michael Young. Also, we have no bench at all.

That's why Artis is playing point guard. He's not a point guard, he's a small forward who handles the ball pretty well for a small forward. However, on this team that makes him our a point guard.

That means that Pitt is susceptible to pressure and if teams press us, we usually turn over the basketball. Also, we have a very difficult time getting into our offense for long stretches. We have lost several games this season in which we went cold for 8–10 minutes at a time, causing us to blow a lead. That means that we have to settle for a lot of deep jump shots that we are not capable of consistently making; and if we miss those jumpers we don't have the size to get a rebound.

To top all that off, it is very obvious by watching them that these guys don't like each other or trust each other – which exacerbates their other shortcomings.

We are playing Syracuse last week and we had a big lead late. For some unknown reason our guys started to launch 25 foot jumpers with 20–22 seconds left on the shot clock. Naturally, Syracuse, which is a pretty good team, started to make its shots at the other end and it got very hairy there at the end for no reason other than the fact that we were consistently idiotic in our approach.

The most troubling part as a Panthers fan is that it is very clear that Pitt's going to be worse next year while they clean out this roster. There is not much talent on this team with a little talent they do have is graduating. They are looking at a very long rebuild.

I used to see Stallings a lot in Chapel Hill. He was there to see his son Jacob, play baseball for the Tar Heels. He seems like a nice guy and was a proud parent. Jacob now plays in the Pirate organization.
Roy is also a big baseball fan and it's not unusual to see him at Boshamer Stadium on Sunday afternoons with Wanda even before basketball season has ended.
It may take Stallings a few years to get the right personnel.

I hope he gets the time he needs to straighten up this mess. However, I have my doubts.

Pitt has dropped precipitously in the past 5-6 years and this year and next it will bottom out. What happens from there is anyone's guess?

(02-19-2017 11:20 AM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  I hope he gets the time he needs to straighten up this mess. However, I have my doubts.

Pitt has dropped precipitously in the past 5-6 years and this year and next it will bottom out. What happens from there is anyone's guess?

Pitt joining the ACC was Dixon's downfall. He was smart to leave when he did.

I agree that Pitt should wear those colors full-time. They're unique, as far as major teams go. I mean Santa Barbara or somebody may be similar, but I digress.
Anyway, I noticed a lot of navy blue around the arena; would it be too expensive/not worth it to do a complete overhaul?

(02-18-2017 10:17 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  1.) NC State has the nicest looking floor in the ACC. I'm not sure who is responsible for designing the floor, but it is positively incredible. I couldn't love it any more!

2.) The retros Pitt wore today against Florida State should be their full-time uniform. Again, they would be among the nicest uniforms in the ACC. Also, they are so much less boring the navy blue and beige. The football retros were much nicer than the regular uniform Pitt wears and the basketball retros are even that much more gorgeous.

There was one other thing I noticed watching that State game. Despite the announced attendance of more than 16,000 it seemed to me like there were a lot of empty seats in camera range, both on the sidelines not far behind the student section and also in the end zone. These weren't nosebleed seats. State isn't known for padding attendance numbers, so I wondered whether Gottfried's firing had kept some people away.

State's floor hasn't varied much from what you saw. I vaguely remember a wolfs head/body in place of the block S. The women use the strutting wolf on their floor. There was that god-awful rubber(?) thing they used in the 80s. UGH!

I also like Carolinas floor. It hasn't changed much either.

I think State goes by tickets sold. The lower section is always sold out. Ken_D is probably right, fans didn't show because of Gottfried firing.

(02-19-2017 03:38 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  State's floor hasn't varied much from what you saw. I vaguely remember a wolfs head/body in place of the block S. The women use the strutting wolf on their floor. There was that god-awful rubber(?) thing they used in the 80s. UGH!

I also like Carolinas floor. It hasn't changed much either.

I think State goes by tickets sold. The lower section is always sold out. Ken_D is probably right, fans didn't show because of Gottfried firing.

I can't believe the love for a basketball floor with an oversized mascot image in the center. Lots of schools -- FSU comes to mind -- do that. I find it tacky and annoying. For my tastes keep it much smaller and simpler. And don't get me started on what some of the West Coast schools like Oregon do. I hope we never see that in the ACC.

(02-19-2017 04:04 PM)Hallcity Wrote:  

(02-19-2017 03:38 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  State's floor hasn't varied much from what you saw. I vaguely remember a wolfs head/body in place of the block S. The women use the strutting wolf on their floor. There was that god-awful rubber(?) thing they used in the 80s. UGH!

I also like Carolinas floor. It hasn't changed much either.

I think State goes by tickets sold. The lower section is always sold out. Ken_D is probably right, fans didn't show because of Gottfried firing.

I can't believe the love for a basketball floor with an oversized mascot image in the center. Lots of schools -- FSU comes to mind -- do that. I find it tacky and annoying. For my tastes keep it much smaller and simpler. And don't get me started on what some of the West Coast schools like Oregon do. I hope we never see that in the ACC.

You are dead right about Oregon's court. It's terribly hard on the eye for the observer, I can't imagine what it's like to glance down as a player and try to get your bearings. IMO the only thing worse is the blue turf at Boise. I refuse to watch one of their home games.

(02-19-2017 12:23 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(02-19-2017 11:20 AM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  I hope he gets the time he needs to straighten up this mess. However, I have my doubts.

Pitt has dropped precipitously in the past 5-6 years and this year and next it will bottom out. What happens from there is anyone's guess?

Pitt joining the ACC was Dixon's downfall. He was smart to leave when he did.

Yeah that's just complete nonsense. The Big East then was just as strong then as the ACC is now.

The problem for Pitt was that we were too reliant on New York City for talent. When we made the move to the ACC, that pipeline dried up because the players were no longer playing in front of their friends and family.

It had nothing to do with stepping up in competition. Aside from Duke and North Carolina, who are each obviously great programs, we're playing all the same teams we played back then and the mediocre teams were very similar if not better in the Big East. Plus we don't have to play UConn, Villanova and Georgetown.

In other words, when Jamie Dixon was becoming the winningest coach in the history of the Big East, he wasn't exactly beating up on the little sisters of the poor.

However, without access to the New York City pipeline, we simply cannot recruit. That's really a bad job by him for failing to adjust.

Seriously, from a talent perspective, it was like someone turned off the spigot. The water was still leaking through in bits and spurts for a while but now it is totally off.

Pitt needs to recruit D.C./Baltimore and Philly better than it has and it will be just fine. Can Stallings do that? That's the $64,000 question now, isn't it? Personally, I have my doubts but I would dearly love to be proven wrong here.

However, if we get our program back to where it was for quite a while in the Big East, I have no doubt at all that we can compete at the top levels of this conference. We've already done it in a very comparable conference and we can certainly do it here too.

(02-19-2017 07:39 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  

(02-19-2017 12:23 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(02-19-2017 11:20 AM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  I hope he gets the time he needs to straighten up this mess. However, I have my doubts.

Pitt has dropped precipitously in the past 5-6 years and this year and next it will bottom out. What happens from there is anyone's guess?

Pitt joining the ACC was Dixon's downfall. He was smart to leave when he did.

Yeah that's just complete nonsense. The Big East then was just as strong then as the ACC is now.

The problem for Pitt was that we were too reliant on New York City for talent. When we made the move to the ACC, that pipeline dried up because the players were no longer playing in front of their friends and family.

It had nothing to do with stepping up in competition. Aside from Duke and North Carolina, who are each obviously great programs, we're playing all the same teams we played back then and the mediocre teams were very similar if not better in the Big East. Plus we don't have to play UConn, Villanova and Georgetown.

In other words, when Jamie Dixon was becoming the winningest coach in the history of the Big East, he wasn't exactly beating up on the little sisters of the poor.

However, without access to the New York City pipeline, we simply cannot recruit. That's really a bad job by him for failing to adjust.

Seriously, from a talent perspective, it was like someone turned off the spigot. The water was still leaking through in bits and spurts for a while but now it is totally off.

Pitt needs to recruit D.C./Baltimore and Philly better than it has and it will be just fine. Can Stallings do that? That's the $64,000 question now, isn't it? Personally, I have my doubts but I would dearly love to be proven wrong here.

However, if we get our program back to where it was for quite a while in the Big East, I have no doubt at all that we can compete at the top levels of this conference. We've already done it in a very comparable conference and we can certainly do it here too.

Everybody has their own opinion.

Oh, that's true and I don't begrudge you for holding the opinion you do either. It's all good.

However, as someone who actually experienced both leagues firsthand, I'm telling you they are very similar in quality. Personally, I think the top of the ACC now it's slightly better than the top of the Big East at the time. However, the middle of the old Big East was stronger than the middle of the ACC now. This league is more top-heavy, IMO.

And, as we have discussed before, the conference tournaments are no comparison. The Big East wins that debate hands-down.

Maybe other fans who also experienced both leagues have a different opinion? I don't know? I do know that I would certainly value the opinions of Syracuse or Louisville fans – Or other Pitt fans – more than I would fans of teams who didn't experience the old Big East.

What I can say without equivocation is that Pitt's problems have nothing to do with stepping up in competition. Honestly, that's a silly and very self-serving point of view.

Pitt's problems are all self-inflicted. If it were about stepping up in competition, why haven't Louisville and Syracuse struggled?

They are not going to win the conference every year but they didn't win the Big East every year either. Honestly, back in that period of the Big East, it never even occured to me that there was even a debate over which was the best conference in the country. I thought that was a given. In fact, in many years, the Big East was not only the best conference in the country, it was EASILY the best conference in the country – a lot like the ACC is now.

However, college athletics works exactly the opposite from pro athletics and just as there is an East Coast bias in professional athletics, and there is, in college athletics, the Northeast teams never get there due from the rest of the country. I get why it happens but it's still silly.

I saw it firsthand for years and years in both college football and college basketball. Unfortunately, we did a lot of that to ourselves as well because we constantly fought amongst ourselves and never established a regional identity like the other regions were able to do.

So now we have to fight for our history and it's silly.

(02-19-2017 07:58 PM)XLance Wrote:  Everybody has their own opinion.

The Big East had 9 teams ranked in the top 25 and another 2 receiving votes the year they got 11 teams into the tourney.

They were by far the best conference ever.

The ACC while being declared so dominant only has 6 teams ranked (2 of them former Big East teams) and no others getting votes in the AP poll.

So anyone who thinks the ACC is as good as the Big East was yet alone thinking they're better is delusional.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

There's a couple of differences that I have noticed. 1) The ACC isn't as physical as the BE but that isn't necessarily a negative. I like the ACC style better. 2) There isn't a USF or DePaul at the bottom of the ACC. Those teams were always awful. BC, WF & Clemson are all more dangerous than those two teams.

If the ACC has lead to Pittsburgh downfall then 2 of the reasons would be the change in style of play & recruiting. The competition has nothing to do with it, it's similar.

How did this thread morph into a discussion of the merits of the old BE versus the ACC?

The old BE had some great basketball but the conference was impossibly weak in every other respect. It's a tribute to Dave Gavitt that it ever worked at all. Fans of former BE teams now in the ACC can be nostalgic if they wish but they should be extremely happy to be in the ACC. Who wants to be in U.Conn's shoes or those of West Virginia or Rutgers for that matter? If the ACC isn't your dream conference, you need to start dreaming harder.

(02-20-2017 11:39 AM)Hallcity Wrote:  How did this thread morph into a discussion of the merits of the old BE versus the ACC?

The old BE had some great basketball but the conference was impossibly weak in every other respect. It's a tribute to Dave Gavitt that it ever worked at all. Fans of former BE teams now in the ACC can be nostalgic if they wish but they should be extremely happy to be in the ACC. Who wants to be in U.Conn's shoes or those of West Virginia or Rutgers for that matter? If the ACC isn't your dream conference, you need to start dreaming harder.

Though I am nostalgic when it comes to The Big East, I agree with much of this. And in Lenville's defense I don't believe he was belittling The ACC.

Louisville fans know firsthand how lucky we were to dodge The Big 12 bullet then to be selected ahead of a UConn program that

1. Fits The ACC academic profile better.
2. That is actually located on the Atlantic Coast.

We know how lucky we were to have Florida State, Syracuse and Clemson stick up for us against Connecticut.

Yes The ACC is the dream conference for most Louisville fans. After a half dozen years and hundreds of discussions I honestly thought that was a given.

With all that being said when former Big East programs reminisce about their old conference, old ACC fans should not take as some slight. Its no different from old ACC fans reminiscing about the ACC when it was a true southern conference. Lets all not be so hyper sensitive.

....and what about Aesthetics were we talking about again...?!??