There’s a temptation to say, “I told you so,” regarding Pitt’s pathetic non-con. That beating up on patsies did not prepare Pitt for real challenges. The supposed advantage of a weak non-con — working in the new players and learning and resolving problems — did not occur because the opponents were too weak to reveal the flaws. Instead, the weak non-con helped to mask and disguise problems that only started to show as the opponents’ talent level increased.
But I’m not going to do that. No really. Right now Pitt has some major problems on both sides of the ball. It isn’t the talent, this time. It is execution and mental. It is now time for Coach Jamie Dixon and his staff to really start earning their pay.
The most obvious problem is defense, specifically, the perimeter defense. I had been dismissive of those who suggested Pitt would really miss Page and Brown, thinking that as much defense they provided, Pitt could compensate with players who could provide more offense while at least being average on defense. Clearly, either I underestimated how much Page and Brown just shut down guys on the perimeter and made passing inside difficult for opposing players. Or I overestimated how much offense their replacements would provide. And right now, it appears to be a bit of both.
Pitt is using 3 guards most of the time. A smaller, quicker front court. But it is not creating turnovers or defensive pressure. Pitt should consider going back to only 2 guards and using another forward. There is depth at the forward position with McCarroll, Milligan, DeGroat and Benjamin on the bench. Last night, DeGroat and McCarroll were the only two to come off the bench for a combined 13 minutes, and most of that was to spell Troutman. I’m aware that McCarroll is not particularly good on defense and DeGroat is still learning the defense, but Pitt’s guard play has not been effective.
At the very least, it will give Pitt one more player who is willing to drive inside on offense. Right now, the only one who does that is Krauser. Taft and Troutman are already inside, they aren’t driving to the basket. Graves, Ramon and Demetris all stay outside or pull-up for jumpers. They don’t slash and drive, to draw attention away from the inside guys or draw fouls.
Another aspect that the coaches are going to have to work on is the team’s confidence.
Pitt obviously needs to figure out why four consecutive opponents have shot better than 45 percent from the field, why the past three have shot 50 percent or better, especially when the Panthers seem fully capable in brief flashes of displaying the defensive temerity on which they’ve built a presumed conference power.
Georgetown’s first 14 possessions of the second half resulted in only one field goal, which allowed not only Taft’s turning one-hander to establish, at 41-39, the first Pitt lead since 6-5, but eventually led to a six-point Panthers lead with only 5:15 remaining. Soon again, however, Pitt’s defense would evaporate, and, when Georgetown needed a basket to break a 64-64 tie with 24 seconds left, Brandon Bowman drove through a forest of Panthers for the lead the Hoyas would not relinquish.
That’s the thing about this loss. Pitt had overcome the huge deficit before halftime. They were down by only 5. They asserted themselves over the Hoyas in the second half, but couldn’t keep it up.
It wasn’t simply that G-town was hitting everything in the first half, it was the end of the game as well:
Finishing games has been one of Pitt’s strongest attributes the past several seasons. But last night for the second game in a row, the Panthers didn’t have what it took when the game was on the line to pull out a victory.
Georgetown, a team that starts three freshmen, scored 9 of the final 11 points of the game and came back to beat No. 16 Pitt, 67-64, at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt knows it was its own enemy last night.
“This team is real upset,” said Pitt center Chris Taft, who had a team-high 20 points. “The two games we just lost we felt we should have won. We put ourselves in a big hole. We battled back, but we just can’t keep doing that.
“This is a big test for us to see how good we are as a team, how tough we are. This is the Big East now.”
Georgetown (9-3, 1-0) quickly reminded the Panthers of that, exposing their 2-3 zone defense with its Princeton-style offense by converting its first six 3-point attempts. The Hoyas used a 23-3 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 28-9 lead with 9:33 left in the first half.
“There were a lot of breakdowns on defense,” Taft said. “They hit tough shots in the first half, but there’s no reason we should be down 28-9 in the first half.”
Pitt’s zone defense kept Georgetown outside, but…
The Hoyas put on an uncanny first-half shooting display by making nine of 12 3-pointers. Panthers coach Jamie Dixon elected to stay in a 2-3 zone, and the Hoyas merely shot over it to take a 39-34 halftime lead. The hot Hoyas shot 60 percent from the field in the first half.
“In the first half we were getting nothing inside — we were getting all 3s,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said.
Even in a zone, you have to step out on the man. Pitt seemed to be letting them take 3s uncontested.
For Georgetown, this was a big, big win. Their first Big East win in 9 games dating back to last year, and the first time they beat a ranked team in 3 years. Add in the fact that Pitt had a 6 point lead with less than 6 minutes left, and answered. Pitt couldn’t put them away, but to the Hoyas’ credit — they wouldn’t go away.
As for individual players:
Starters
Taft had a great second half. He went on a tear to give Pitt the lead. 20 points on 9-13 shooting, but 14 came in the second half. He also had 6 rebounds.
Troutman was sick. Talking with Lee on the phone for most of the first half, he relayed to me that the cameras showing Troutman vomiting by the bench (The game wasn’t being aired in the Cleveland area). He still played 29 minutes, getting 5 points and 8 rebounds.
Krauser played 39 minutes. He was not having a good shooting game, but still brought Pitt back in the first half. He just started driving to the basket and drawing contact. He took advantage of the youth on the Hoyas for a while. Ended up with 15 points (9 coming from the free throw line). He had 7 assists, but also 4 turnovers. It’s the funny thing about a point guard like Krauser. You either love him or hate him. He’s either a ball hog to you or a leader controlling the game. He is very much, in that way like his idol, Isaiah Thomas.
Graves was not shooting well. He was 2-4 shooting 3s, but 1-5 from anywhere else. 4 assists but 4 turnovers. He needs to get more aggressive on defense at times.
Demetris played 22 minutes as the starter — 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 turnover. He’s there for passing and defense. That’s the problem. The other team knows it. He is left alone on offense, but just never looks comfortable or confident enough to take the shot. He still wants to put the ball on the floor before shooting. He needs to try a little penetration and pull-up, if he isn’t going to take jumpers right away. Otherwise, he gives the defender time to get back.
Off the Bench
Ramon mainly subbed in for Demetris. He was in for 20 minutes. He took smart, good shots. Providing the main perimeter shooting for Pitt. 3-4 from beyond the arc (3-5 overall) for 9 points.
McCarroll is just playing without confidence.
Gray has been effective in his limited minutes coming in for Taft. He provided 4 points (2-3) in 7 minutes.
DeGroat played 1 minute. Nothing on the stat sheet otherwise.
Everyone else, DNP.
Looking ahead:
First road game of the season on Saturday. Going to the RAC to play Rutgers. First road game of the season. Rutgers hasn’t been that good — they lost to Penn State. But they play well at home, usually.
I’m thinking a road game might be a good thing at this point. It sure couldn’t hurt.
Pitt needs a win. Badly.
Otherwise, this question that was posed before the Georgetown game could become a real issue:
2. Is it possible this year’s Pittsburgh team is a pretender? The presence of Carl Krauser, Chevy Troutman and Chris Taft earned the Panthers a pass for taking the easy road in terms of non-conference scheduling, but a home loss to Bucknell raises plenty of questions. Pittsburgh lacks a proven perimeter scorer and didn’t challenge itself against anyone to learn about its new guys. After playing host to rebuilding Georgetown on Wednesday, they’ll be at the RAC for Rutgers on Saturday.
I know, it sounds familiar.
