Let's take a brief trip down memory lane.
It was November 16, 2022, when Pitt sustained a 30-point blowout at the mercy of No. 20-ranked Michigan at the Barclays Center. It was after that road trip when Jeff Capel's team rallied to finish the season with a 23-9 mark beyond that 1-3 start and cement itself back into the national limelight and send itself back into winning ways.
That road trip to New York just before Thanksgiving was a new low point. It was such a low point that Capel didn't permit any of his players to speak to reporters after the Michigan loss. It was another point in futility in the Capel tenure, which at the time was hanging by a thread with four seasons of mediocrity in tow.
That low point allowed for a learning experience for the 2022-'23 team. A learning experience that was invaluable to the story of a team that won two games in the NCAA Tournament. It showed them a low point that a group of seniors had enough of. It was something that, in hindsight, likely needed to happen in order for that team to elevate everything it needed to elevate to transform the program's direction.
Back to the present, this 2023-'24 team is learning from a similar experience. And this team's 71-64 loss to Missouri Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center provided shades of that learning experience that was so valuable to its predecessor. Up next are two more major challenges, against Clemson Sunday and at West Virginia the following Wednesday.
"We have to get better," Capel said. "We'll have some time to prepare for Clemson. They're really good. I thought before the season, in the offseason, I thought they'd be one of the better teams in our league with what they have back, with who they added. I think they're a really, really good basketball team and I know they'll be ready to play. They're a very physical team, they're a very experienced team, they're an older team, they're very good defensively, they have one of the best players in the country in PJ Hall. But we'll be ready. We'll be excited. We'll be anxious. We'll have almost a week, four or five days to prepare, and we'll be ready Sunday afternoon."
They weren't intent on letting Florida become their new Michigan. An 86-71 defeat to the Gators came in the first Power Six test on the same court where that defeat to Michigan was sustained. The Panthers entered a double-digit deficit with 10 minutes remaining and never crept closer.
It could have easily spiraled, just as things tended to do in between the 2018 and 2021 seasons. A matchup against Oregon State -- an inferior team -- was one that previous Capel teams would have crumbled to. That matchup against the Beavers was winnable beyond all stretches, and the perception of Pitt was still greater than that of Oregon State entering that matchup.
This Pitt team didn't let Oregon State become its VCU. The Panthers tightened the screws and clobbered Oregon State, 76-51, to wrap up their trip on a high note. Instead of showing signs of a slide, the Panthers were able to regroup and come away from an important road trip with some renewed confidence.
"I love what it's doing for our preparation," Blake Hinson said. "I think it's going to have us prepared very, very well."
Now, the next step for this team is to channel that time period from one year ago and apply it after this loss to Missouri. The Tigers were the second-toughest challenge Pitt has faced in these seven games to begin its season. The Panthers are 0-for-2 in those challenges.
But, the key, in Capel's words, will be to keep the chins up and be willing to take those lumps along the way. Hinson is one of the many holdovers on this roster who benefitted from those lumps last season. The new guys -- Bub Carrington, Ish Leggett, and Jaland Lowe in particular -- are learning how to deal with tough losses like these and will have Hinson, Federiko Federiko, and Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham to lean on.
"We should be down about it," Capel said. "We should be down, but that can't last. When we get back together, we've moved on. We flush it, win or lose, the next day. You live it, you learn from it, when we get back together we'll have some film, we'll talk to them collectively as a group, we'll talk to them individually and we'll get better. I mean, what's the alternative? You know what I mean? You have to -- the biggest thing is that we have to stay together. We can't point fingers. I was pleased after Florida we didn't do that, and we got off the mat and we played really, really well, especially defensively, against Oregon State. I anticipate us getting off the mat again and playing well on Sunday."
The reigning ACC Coach of the Year and his staff experienced that pitfall from last season, too, and that 23-9 finish beyond the ugly was made possible by that same approach. The NCAA Tournament resume will showcase these losses to Florida and Missouri, but the opportunities that lie ahead outweigh two nonconference losses in moment.
It's all about the follow-up, just as the follow-up to last year's team became so grand that it transcended this era of Pitt basketball.
This team is made for adversity because of the prior adversity. There is light around the shadow cast. Now, it's about getting away from the shadow.
