Pitt’s starting five may still be a work in progress, but the bigger question is what the Panthers do with their frontcourt once the season gets rolling.
Jeff Capel said on Tuesday that he’s not locked into a starting lineup for Pitt’s opener against Rider next week. The Panthers mixed things up in a recent scrimmage against Providence, starting four-star freshman Chase Foster next to Baye Ndongo, and there are still two spots that appear to be unsettled.
Even so, the pairing that could define Pitt is the one built around Ndongo and Mercer transfer Armani Mighty. If the Panthers want to lean into size, rebounding and interior defense, that combination has a real case to become the backbone of the roster.
Ndongo is already one of the sport’s better interior defenders, and he’s clearly Pitt’s best defender. The issue is where he’s deployed.
In Georgia Tech’s numbers from last season, the defense was actually better when he was off the floor than when he was on it, and the biggest reason shows up when he’s asked to play center. Lineups with Ndongo at the five gave up 116.1 points per 100 possessions, the worst mark for any five-man group on the roster.
When he played power forward next to Mo Sylla, that number fell to 107.9 per 100 possessions.
The rim protection split was just as stark. With Ndongo at center, opponents shot 61.3% at the rim. When he was off the floor, that dipped to 53.6%.
There’s a reason the four spot has looked like his best defensive home. Georgia Tech lineups with Ndongo at the four were far more effective, and a couple of seasons ago his best defensive frontcourt partner was Akir Souare when Ndongo played power forward. He did better at center that year, but Pitt’s challenge is finding the right balance between his strengths at both spots.
Offensively, there’s also a case to get Ndongo extended minutes at the five. Georgia Tech’s best offensive lineups came with him at center, and Pitt should absolutely look to tap into that. But the Panthers need to keep the rebounding intact, and that was not the case in the Providence scrimmage, where they lost the glass by 16 while Ndongo spent most of his minutes at center with Foster beside him.
That’s where Mighty enters the picture.
On paper, Pitt has one of the best rebounding duos around in Mighty and Ndongo. Mighty ranked above the 96th percentile in offensive rebound rate at 14.3 and defensive rebound rate at 23.2, and his 10.6 rebounds per game ranked No. 7 nationally. He also put together a huge statistical season at Mercer, posting a 23.3 PER and a 5.4 WARP.
His on/off numbers at Mercer back up how important he was. The Bears’ offense dipped hard without him, and their efficiency numbers - eFG%, TS% and 3PT% - were all at least 8% better when he was on the floor. Mercer posted a 120.3 offensive rating in nearly 1,000 minutes with Mighty in the game, went +238 in those minutes, and was -8 in the 283.8 minutes he sat.
For Pitt, the appeal is obvious: pair a rugged rebounder with Ndongo, who has been a top 10 rebounder in the ACC for three straight seasons, and the Panthers can make life difficult on the glass most nights. That matters in a conference where extra possessions can swing games.
There is a catch, though. Mighty’s impact at the Power 5 level may not look the same as it did at Mercer, and his first run in the ACC at Boston College wasn’t smooth. He played fewer than six minutes per game in both of those seasons, so there may be some adjustment before he settles in.
Still, even if the offense gets awkward at times, the combination gives Pitt a way to win in the margins. And for a team still sorting out its lineup, that’s not a bad place to start.
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