There is no reason the Pitt men's basketball team can't win the ACC this year.
None at all.
There, I said it and I meant it, every word of it.
This isn't a hot take. This isn't trying to say something shocking. This isn't hyperbole at all.
Pitt is as good as any team in the ACC this season, and that isn't even really an opinion anymore considering they beat two of the best teams in the league — North Carolina and Virginia — in back-to-back games. Prior to that, they beat NC State, who boatraced Duke on Wednesday night, handing the Blue Devils their worst-ever loss to an unranked ACC opponent as a member of the Top 25.
And neither of the Panthers wins over the Tar Heels or Cavaliers was a fluke, either.
Pitt got behind both the Tar Heels and Cavaliers by double-digits in the second half of each game and battled back to win both because they were poised and mentally tough down the stretch.
This is clearly a different kind of Pitt basketball team than the ones we have seen occupying the Petersen Events Center since Jamie Dixon left for TCU. We have witnessed a lot of awful basketball since then, but this Pitt team brings back lots of feelings of some of those glory years teams under Ben Howland and Dixon.
Now, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves because there is a lot of season left and we have seen seasons of promise crumble around these parts. A lot can happen between now and March, but this Pitt team is built to win and win at a high level for the entire season and even into the postseason.
Start with their most important asset — experience. A team obviously needs talent to win, but experienced talent is what wins in college basketball. If you are confused by that, look at the teams that annually roll out a bunch of five-star freshmen and don't win in March but win a few months later on NBA draft day.
Pitt, which has won five games in a row, is a new team in terms of having a compilation of players who weren't with them last season, but they aren't by any measure a young team. These aren't freshmen and sophomores taking the court every night and playing the bulk of minutes.
The Panthers play like they are grown ass men because most of them are grown ass men, and that much has shown in the second half of these games. They have players who all have a lot of college basketball under their belts, and they aren't likely to melt in the game's biggest moments.
Nelly Cummings turned 24 in December and has played 124 games of college basketball. Blake Hinson turned 23 in December and has played 75 games of college basketball — and had two years where he missed with medical redshirts. Greg Elliott will turn 24 in January and has played 129 games of college basketball. Jamarius Burton will turn 23 in April and has played 133 games of college basketball. Nike Sibande will be 24 in June and has played 126 games of college basketball.
Those are five of the seven leaders in minutes played and five of the top six scorers. That is the core of the team, and if my math is correct, we are talking about 587 games of college basketball experience. What is going on with the Panthers isn't a fluke, and they aren't likely to fall flat like teams in recent years.
"They have physical guys, tough-minded guys, and they get aggressive," said Virginia coach Tony Bennett after the Panthers beat the Cavaliers 68-65 on Tuesday. "Pitt is good, and they are tough. This is a blue-collar town. It is a blue-collar team."
The Panthers are tough, gritty and all of those blue-collar cliches, but again, the reason isn't because of the fact that they are in Pittsburgh. They have a bunch of grown men who have matured and been in college weight-training programs and been through the battles of college basketball for four or five years. They are strong, they are physical and they aren't going to be pushed around by anyone.
They remind me — dare I say it — of some of those great Howland/Dixon teams whose strength was almost always their experience. Those teams could play bully ball because they were actually bullies, and this team is very similar. Older players who are nearing the ends of their careers also tend to play with a lot more sense of urgency than younger players. They are also unselfish, play for each other and a joy to watch in many ways because they are a throwback kind of team that plays the game the right way.
This is the world we live in in the era of the transfer portal. Teams can grow up and get experienced in a hurry, and coach Jeff Capel had an excellent offseason of recruiting transfers.
This team isn't just big and strong and experienced, though. It is also loaded with players who can shoot it and score. Hinson is just a really good offensive player who can score in a variety of ways. Cummings is an excellent point guard, distributor and really smart player, but he, too, can get to the rim and score. Burton sliced and diced North Carolina the other day and is really difficult for defenders to stay in front of, and Elliott is an excellent shooter.
Cummings, who averages 10.7 points and 5.1 assists per game, is the key. He is an excellent point guard. He is smart. He is a natural leader, and as Capel has said many times, he is a winner. It is clear the other players follow his lead, and it is also clear he isn't afraid of the big moments that usually decide games. Capel brought Cummings in for a lot of reasons, but his experience playing in the NCAA tournament and winning conference championships at Colgate should be top of that list.
"I have seen it since the first day he stepped on campus," Capel said of Cummings' leadership. "He has been all about winning and is consumed with winning. Whatever he can do to help us win, he will do and he does."
Capel said it goes beyond the court with Cummings, who helps in recruiting and who encourages his teammates in the locker room. Capel said the Panthers' ability to shoot has made them difficult to guard because they can spread defenses out, but the best attribute of them is their selflessness.
"It has been really cool to watch their belief in each other," Capel said. "To watch them be selfless with each other and to continue to improve has been special."
Saturday, the Panthers play host to Clemson for sole possession of first place in the ACC. Many who haven't watched the Panthers or just looked at their record might think that is a surprise, but those of us who have watched them realize they are going to be a problem for the rest of the league all season.
