KP Report @ the Pitt Panthers - Noon Saturday - RSN

[durhamdeac05]

That's me. I really don't care who our coach is if we win.

That said, DM should have been fired 2 years ago.

I feel the same, want the program to win consistently regardless of who the coach is. But we know from experience that any moderate success Manning might have isn’t sustainable. That’s been borne out over the past 5 years.

 

[Deaconblue]

I sent the ACC a message about the sorry audio from the game. Told them C.D. Chesley did it better.

 

[wakephan09]

Brilliant block when we needed it. Ugly stuff from both teams down the stretch, but we pulled it out

 

[RJKarl]

i really hope chaundee is ok

I hope it was just a cramp not his feet.

 

[SDDeac]

I’m always so conflicted watching our team now. Hard to pull against the kids, but don’t really want to see Manning have success when he’s so clearly not the answer and shouldn’t even be coaching the team at this point. I never know how to feel when we win (or when we lose, for that matter). Such a weird place to be when I used to live and die with every game.

it sucks

 

[ironwill24]

I just saw that we won scrolling through Instagram. We play good or is Pitt terrible?

Pitt is terrible. Our defense is actual somewhat passable this year though. Still take god awful shots. Our guys do hustle. With a little offensive identity and coaching we'd actually be ok this year

 

[SDDeac]

Just for the record for the haters out there, Brandon had 6 points on 50% shooting from 2, 50% from 3 and the FT line and also had 5 rebounds, 6 assists and only 2 t/o's.

thank god he didn’t hero ball at the end. that’s why we won... and good defense

 

[TexasDeac1]

If Manning is actually going to be fired, nothing short of making the ACC Tournament Final plus an NIT run or straight up making the tournament would change it.

Agreed — Curry already has a game plan one way or another. I recollect Buzz beat Duke and UNC that final year but it didn’t make any difference. Of course his yelling “fuck you” at the Miami fan didn’t help - Manning does not appear to have any off court baggage.

 

[SDDeac]

I hope it was just a cramp not his feet.

it looked like that bad ankle bothering him. could be wrong. danny has been able to win games with a small lineup. honestly, it may be helping him. when he has less options, we do better as a team.

 

[DeacDaddy]

Good win. Still lots of improvement to make. I don’t care who that improvement is under. If we finish with 20 wins somehow (yeah right), I don’t even care who the coach is next year. Just win.

I get that approach, but the fact that you understandably have to add the "yeah, right" is precisely why it ultimately falls apart.

I feel the same, want the program to win consistently regardless of who the coach is. But we know from experience that any moderate success Manning might have isn’t sustainable. That’s been borne out over the past 5 years.

Precisely. We have seen the best of Danny Manning and it just isn't good enough. Don't get sucked back in to thinking that he'll eventually discover coaching prowess. Everyone has a ceiling, he's hit his, and this program needs someone with a higher ceiling. It's not much more complicated than that.

 

[knowell]

Agreed — Curry already has a game plan one way or another. I recollect Buzz beat Duke and UNC that final year but it didn’t make any difference. Of course his yelling “fuck you” at the Miami fan didn’t help - Manning does not appear to have any off court baggage.

I think this is just wishful thinking. A little improvement would be all it would take to claim the ship is being righted.

If Curry had already made up his mind, why not do it last year?

 

[inspectah]

I am becoming concerned. At 8-5 the team is vastly outperforming my expectations. While I'm very happy for the players, the Wake admin will use any excuse to retain Manning and he may be about to save his job. I have to trust that Currie understands that Manning is not the long-term answer, but so far I have seen very little that makes me think his approach to the job is materially different than Wellman's.

 

[knowell]

Defense is passable this year for the first time under Manning.

This year's defense would have made Collin's final year pretty interesting.

 

[BlackjackMc]

Decent comeback win on the road. Deacs shoot slightly better than normal, rebound effectively and record 15 assists on 21 made field goals. Fast break points offset points off of turnovers. Enough defense (or luck) to hold Pitt to 39% shooting and 65 points.

The biggest factor in the win was keeping Mucius or Massoud at the PF. In 37 minutes they produced 20 points and six rebounds. On the season they average 30 minutes and produce 10.5/6.7. This allowed Brown to play 27 of his 30 minutes at SF where he belongs. That doesn't happen if Wright or Wynn are available, so the shorter bench had a positive factor in the game.

 

[RJKarl]

Our starting line-up should be:

Childress
Brown
Sarr
Mucius
Massoud

That should actually be a better than average starting line-up, but we would have nothing on the bench.

 

[Dekin]

Have outscored Pitt by 11 in the second half so far. Wow.
Can we hold on?

And the Deacs hang on.
On the road, no less.

 

[BlackjackMc]

Our starting line-up should be:

Childress
Brown
Sarr
Mucius
Massoud

That should actually be a better than average starting line-up, but we would have nothing on the bench.

Agree, but the lack of size negates this possibility. If Manning would commit to Sarr/Oguama at center and Mucius/Massoud at PF it would be a positive step. Brown at SF is a strength that is lost at PF. Manning's tendency to play four guards is one of the reasons he has three 20 loss seasons in five years.

 

[80deacon]

Well, I was wrong on this one. Felt good with 10-15 point loss when we were down 16. But best 3 point shooting game got us a W. Brightest note was winning an away game vs a better team on paper, and both Childress and Sarr not in double digits scoring....and Brown only 10.

 

[WFU71]

I just saw that we won scrolling through Instagram. We play good or is Pitt terrible?

Yes

 

[RJKarl]

Agree, but the lack of size negates this possibility. If Manning would commit to Sarr/Oguama at center and Mucius/Massoud at PF it would be a positive step. Brown at SF is a strength that is lost at PF. Manning's tendency to play four guards is one of the reasons he has three 20 loss seasons in five years.

The reality is Chaundee and Massoud can play SG. We should basically play a 1-3-1 or even a 1-4 offense across the FT line on offense.

Let the starters play 32-34 mpg. Have Ody play about 10-12 mpg and split up the rest. It's not like we play back-to-back nights or that the season is 50+ games long.