Each week during the 2017-18 season, Craig Meyer, the Post-Gazette’s Pitt basketball writer, will answer fan and reader questions about the Panthers. And some other stuff, too.
If you want to submit a question, you can email Craig at cmeyer@post-gazette.com or hit him up on Twitter @CraigMeyerPG.
Brian: How many ACC wins would Pitt have if they had LeBron?
Craig: I am absolutely here for this kind of a question. I think, at the very least, Pitt would have 12 ACC wins right now if LeBron James were on its team, with the losses coming to Duke (twice), North Carolina and Louisville. At 12-4 in conference heading into its final two regular-season games, it would be second in the league standings, behind only Virginia.
Frankly, I think four losses may be a little high, too. As much as we revere them, we drastically underestimate the abilities of a sport’s top players, especially in a game like basketball where one player can make such a seismic difference. If you put LeBron on, say, the Hawks or Magic, they’re probably at least contending for a playoff spot, and that’s LeBron playing against fellow professionals. Could you imagine what he would do against college players, who are vastly less skilled and physically developed? He would command double or triple teams, and even those maybe wouldn’t work. Even if opponents reverted to such a strategy, the attention he would receive would open up easy scoring opportunities for a team that hasn’t gotten a ton of them this season. As bad as Pitt has been, having someone with LeBron’s skill and intellect on the team makes every player, even the worst of them, immeasurably better.
So, at the risk of hyperbole, I think Pitt would be a top-four seed and a viable Final Four threat with LeBron James on its team. He’s that good.
Craig - three questions:
— John Enright (@johnenright46) February 22, 2018
Stallings stays or goes?
If Stallings goes the next HC will be a “win the presser” big-name hire? Yes or No
Number of masochists like myself who went to every home game this year - 1,000 over/under?
Craig: I firmly believe he will not be back next season. It appears to be a matter of when, not if.
I don’t like to address candidates for a coaching search that hasn’t even been launched, but I think attempting to win a press conference is among the biggest and dumbest mistakes an athletic director can make. We’ve seen with Stallings what can happen when a hire is received poorly from the start, but that has easily as much to do with how his teams have struggled during his brief tenure. It’s about getting the best coach and the best fit, regardless of how it reads on a press release. There have been countless big names who have flopped and many others, like Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon, who were far from big-name, home-run hires who thrived.
On that last one, I’d say you’re about right. Somewhere in the 1,000-1,300 neighborhood makes sense.
All the silver linings for this season please
— Pitt Is Back 🌹 (@AWMueller) February 22, 2018
Craig: Personnel-wise, I think the team has three freshmen who could definitely become rotation players on a good ACC team — Marcus Carr, Parker Stewart and Shamiel Stevenson — along with two others — Terrell Brown and Kham Davis — who could reach that status with some more development. And I think this team would have three ACC wins with a healthy Ryan Luther.
Other than that, the biggest silver lining with this season is that it’s almost over.
What is more likely to fill those empty seats at The Pete faster — A competitive team or a new coach? If the former, does Pitt win sooner if Stallings stays? If the latter, which realistic hire fills the arena? Does the poor attendance hamstring Pitt’s recruiting/hiring efforts?
— David A. Meyer (@dameyer) February 22, 2018
Craig: I would almost always say a competitive team, though given how some Pitt fans feel about Stallings, I think it may be the latter in this case. I do believe Pitt wins sooner if Stallings stays, unless the new coach in this situation were able to hold on to most of this year’s team or bring in a boat-load of top graduate transfers or junior-college prospects. But the question has to be who Heather Lyke believes puts Pitt in the best position over the next five or 10 years.
The poor attendance may harm them from a short-term recruiting aspect, but I think basically any coach understands what Pitt is and what the Pete looks like when the program has a good, competitive team. At this moment, that will make it an attractive destination to many.
Is this team configured for an improved record next year? Obviously a better inside game is needed. Is there anyway Pitt can find that. Front court looks solid.
— Andy Jarabak (@andypitt1) February 23, 2018
Craig: Absolutely, but given everything that’s swirling right now, that may ultimately be moot. If Stallings and all the top players from this team return, along with the additions of Luther and Malik Ellison, I think the Panthers win at least five ACC games next season. The question, of course, is whether that’s good enough.
Hey Craig. I would like to know if there are any significant big men recruits on Pitt’s radar in the 2018 and 19 class.
— Chris Boehme (@Cboehme2) February 23, 2018
Craig: There are. Most people around here know of former Southmoreland standout Brandon Stone, a 6-foot-11 forward now at school in North Carolina. He’s still in play for either the 2018 or 2019 class, and Pitt is among his final four schools. On Wednesday night, Pitt played host to Francisco Caffaro, a 7-footer from Argentina who I’ve been told would be ranked as one of the top 40 prospects in his class were he playing in the United States. There appears to be a lot of interest on both sides.
If you could only have one, would you prefer Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons? Also now that Pitt is at the bottom, should the Panthers use #TrustTheProcess?
— Corey Cohen (@CoreyECohen) February 23, 2018
Craig: I’ll go with Simmons, if only because he isn’t a big man with an extensive history of foot and knee injuries. He’s an outside jumper away from becoming a new iteration of LeBron. Though I’m a big #TrustTheProcess proponent, even if it has birthed the likes of Jahlil Okafor and Markelle Fultz, I’m not sure it applies well to the college level. You can believe in a coach and his/her plan, but at least when you’re awful in the NBA for one season or more, you’re guaranteed a top draft pick.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: February 23, 2018, 5:12 p.m.
