Pitt did it again. Pitt lost to Duke 81-54. The Panthers are 0-6 in ACC, and all of those loses have come by double digits. Yes, you read that right, The Pitt Panthers have lost all of their ACC games by double digits. The basketball program has fallen on hard times. It started under Jamie Dixon 2 seasons ago (despite the loss today, Dixon has turned around TCU). However, it’s hard to believe that if Dixon were still at the helm, Pitt would be as inept as it has been under Kevin Stallings. Long gone are the Lavance Fields, DeJuan Blair, Lamar Patterson, Gilbert Brown days. These are the days that I remember.
There is little doubt that Kevin Stallings has been anything short of a disaster as the coach of the Pitt Panthers. Pitt can’t score, in 5 out of 6 ACC games the Panthers have failed to score more the 55 points. Again, the ACC is good, but it doesn’t have the defensive prowess that the old Big East had. The rules have changed to allow scoring and to be this bad on offense is unacceptable. Stallings came in with a reputation of being able to coach offense, which to date at Pitt he has not been able to do.
Kevin Stallings needs to go, there is little doubt about that. However, there is one thing that I do not think you can lay at his feet. The attendance issues at the Peterson Events Center are not Stallings fault alone. The city will come out and support a winner, no doubt, and when the Panthers were winning, people came out to see them. However, if you dive deeper into why attendance was so good during the Howland and Dixon Era, you have to look a few blocks away at the old Civic Arena.
When you look at the Penguins of the mid 00’s you see a team with no direction. The Penguins were an unstable franchise that was possibly moving to Kansas City. This was a franchise that had not yet drafted Marc Andre-Fluery or Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh has never really been an basketball city. However, the Howland and Dixon Panthers embodied a city. They were tough, played hard, and won. That’s what brought out the citizens of Pittsburgh to watch the Panthers play.
Now, you have the Penguins coming off back to back Stanley Cup Championships, playing an exciting style of hockey. Pitt on the other hand, cannot get out of their own way. The attendance issues are not the fault of Kevin Stallings, the style of play and the losing are. That is why he needs to be fired and replaced…..
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply