Just watched too much NFL playoffs, in between giving the family thing appropriate lip service (I’m really counting on my wife being honest about not reading this) to get back to some things about the b-ball game yesterday.
Let’s start off by disproving the notion that the provincial, looking for the hometown hook thing is limited to just newspapers in smaller towns. From the NY Post:
Even with Carl Krauser (nine turnovers) playing like you’d expect from a guy with the flu and a bad shoulder, the Panthers got a career-high 21 points from freshman guard Ronald Ramon, the latest in their line of New York stars. And they got the biggest plays in the final minute from guard Antonio Graves and forward Chevon Troutman, role players who yesterday played the heroes.
I’m sure two of the Pitt starters are thrilled to know they are role players since they aren’t from the 5 boroughs.
Yes it seems that part of the explanation for Krauser’s bad performance yesterday was the flu bug that seems to be going around the team. Would help explain how he could miss 2 FTs in the closing seconds of OT.
For Pitt, this was about stopping some bleeding. And it was Antonio Graves sinking some clutch shots at the end — finally. Last season, Graves ended up taking the final shot against UConn and Seton Hall in losses. He also was involved in the end of the Bucknell and Georgetown games this past week. Each time he came up short but said he was still confident at the end of the game. This time it finally went his and Pitt’s way.
The game, though, was really about Ronald Ramon coming up big on the perimeter. Though for Rutgers, who also recruited Ramon, it seemed personal.
The 6-1 guard scored a career-high 21 points, Pittsburgh returned to its tough, physical defensive ways and the combination was just enough for the Panthers to deal Rutgers a 66-63 overtime loss yesterday at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.
“We knew he was good,” Knights coach Gary Waters said of Ramon, “but I didn’t think he could come in here and score 21. He was a guy we did not spend a lot of preparation on.”
Without Ramon’s 7-for-11 shooting off the bench (5-for-9 on 3-pointers), Pittsburgh might be the Big East’s biggest early-season flop today. Instead, the Panthers improved to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the league, surviving Ricky Shields’ dramatic 3-pointer that forced overtime with less than one second left in regulation. Rutgers (6-5 overall, 0-1 Big East) had all the momentum then.
Ramon had given the Panthers a 58-55 lead with 7.6 seconds left by sinking a 3-pointer as Pittsburgh rallied from a six-point deficit with 5:01 to play.
“When (Shields) hit his, our guys just looked at each other and said ‘okay, we have to get back to work,'” Ramon said.
From the Rutgers viewpoint, they didn’t just let a game they could have won get away from them, it was a case of not having the guys inside and being too dependent on the perimeter game.
When you play Russian roulette basketball the way Rutgers does, you’re eventually going to run out of bullets.
So when Ricky Shields’ desperation three-point attempt from in front of the RU bench was off the mark Saturday, the Scarlet Knights were left to ponder what went wrong in their 66-63 overtime loss to Pittsburgh.
This was a could have, should have, but didn’t game for Rutgers. Instead of a rousing start to their Big East schedule, fueled by a three-pointer by Shields that sent the game into overtime, the Scarlet Knights (6-5) were reminded that their three-point shooting can carry them only so far.
“We need some size,” said RU coach Gary Waters.
That was painfully evident again Saturday. Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman, Pitt’s big men, combined for 27 points and 22 rebounds, compared to eight points and five rebounds for Ollie Bailey and Byron Joynes. This was a rude welcome to the Big East for Bailey. The freshman had six points and one rebound and shot 2-of-10, with three shots blocked. “We were pretty exposed,” said Bailey.
Well Joynes took himself out of the game with foul problems (limiting himself to only 20 minutes), after opening his mouth before the game.
For Pitt, they nearly gave the game away with a huge letdown in the second half. Rutgers got 13 more shot attempts in the second half than Pitt. So, despite Pitt’s defense really keeping Rutgers’ shooting percentages low, the sheer number of shot attempts made up the difference. A lot of that was because of turnovers. Pitt committed 7 turnovers in the second half to only 1 by Rutgers. But Rutgers was just getting after the ball more in the second half.
In the first half, Pitt out rebounded them 17-11, and enjoyed a 6-2 rebounding advantage in the OT. But in the second half, Rugters actually managed to slightly outrebound Pitt 13-12. Very obvious that Pitt just didn’t want the ball as much at times in the second half. Rutgers was more tenacious and fought harder in the second half. Pitt was failing to put Rutgers away.
Again, though, it was a win. Much needed and very important. Hard to quibble with how it was won at the moment.
