Pittsburgh Basketball: 3 takeaways after first 4 games of 2021-22 season

It’s only been a couple of weeks into the season but for many teams, we already have an idea of how well certain players and programs overall will look for the 2021-22 campaign. Then there’s Pittsburgh Basketball, who after multiple roster situations has become fairly depleted in the backcourt.

To recap the scenario, 5th-year senior guard Nike Sibande is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL injury in the Panthers‘ exhibition game. And just days before the season, junior sharpshooting guard Ithiel Horton had an off-the-court incident and arrest, now suspended indefinitely and could very well be done for the year. And Texas Tech transfer Jamarius Burton was already out after undergoing knee surgery and missed the team’s first two games of the season.

Pittsburgh ended up losing both of them, to The Citadel at home and on the road at West Virginia in the “Backyard Brawl” to start out 0-2. Those losses included a ton of opponents making three-pointers, along with over 30 turnovers to the Mountaineers in a single game.

The good news is that Burton returned to the lineup this past week for both UNC-Wilmington and Towson. Although they were home and favored, each of those games came to the final possessions and were close towards the end. Pittsburgh won both of them to head into this week with a 2-2 record.

There’s a lot to break down for the Panthers’ first four games, both good and bad. Here are some key takeaways from what I observed so far.