Greg Lee did not impress at the NFL combine. He was listed among those “falling.”

Greg Lee, wide receiver, Pittsburgh
Many scouts hinted that Lee should have gone back to Pitt for his junior season. After the combine, there’s more than hints. Too bad this isn’t the NBA, where Lee would have the ability to head back to school. His 4.67 40 time worried scouts. There were already many questions about this young receiver. Now there’s even more murkiness. It will be tough for him.

First, it is never good when they can’t even get his year correct (he would have been returning for his Senior season). Second, he was only projected as a 3rd or 4th round pick when he declared. Not so good.

A little amateur etymology time. The word Hoopie. Obviously, we use it as a casual slur/descriptor of West Virginians, specifically fans of WVU.

I was a little stunned by a Mountaineer’s unfamiliarity with the term and its origin. As far as I always understood it, the term was derived from the time honored craft of whiskey barrel construction. Specifically, the area for which West Virginians excelled, the crafting of the metal hoops to hold the barrels together.

This definition is a little broader in range:

A generally dirty person from the country or the south.Also used to describe extremely stupid people. Used as “That girl needs to take a bath. What a freaking hoopie!”.

Bill said he believes the term originated, when the bottom fell out of, the barrel making trade. The displaced barrel makers, of the Tennessee Valley area, went to other areas for work. In those places they were known as hoopies.

Anyone in the TVA to help on this?

I had no idea about this use of the term:

a tractor and trailer on the same frame that do not disconnect. Usually used for deliveries in downtown city spaces.

For some reason, I’m not surprised to learn that the people of Boston have their own definition. For them it means: nuts or crazy. I have no idea where or why.

Amazingly, the term is now being pushed to describe “a local resident living in a college town in central PA, often mullet clad and wearing flannel.” Apparently, a subspecies of the creature known nationwide as, “townies.”

Anyone else have some more information on the history and definitions.

Keith challenges the assumptions that the offensive play of Krauser and Gray were the key reasons for the loss. His argument is that the defense didn’t do the job it did last night, especially compared to the previous meeting. Specifically the 3-point defense. He makes a very good point about the way Pitt was extended out right away on the perimeter so there was little time to square-up to shoot. I’m not disputing this.

I do, however, dispute it can solely be blamed on the defense. That’s as much as a WVU fan simplifying the last loss to, “if Pittsnogle or Gansey could have had a couple of those shots fall.”

The counter argument is that WVU wasn’t that good on the 3-point shot aside from Herber’s initial streak of 3 straight (1-5 after that, and no 3s after 12:11 in the first half) when Kendall was continually late to him. Aside from Pittsnogle (5-12) and Herber, the rest of the team shot 3-16 on 3s (2 for Beilein and 1 for Collins). Ramon, once again, helped shut down Gansey.

Simply because WVU had better field goal percentage from the first game to the second is not enough to say it was the defense.

The other problem is the assumption that somehow WVU wouldn’t learn anything from the first meeting. WVU made adjustments. They didn’t commit fouls like they did in the first game, which completely disrupted their rhythm. Look at the difference in the number of fouls. In the first game, Pitt was able to draw and initiate contact with WVU. This time, Pitt was getting to the basket and WVU let them rather than take the late foul.

Is it that there weren’t enough fouls? Is that the reason or something to do with the style played?

Pittsnogle wasn’t going to be shut out again (and I still contend that he was still in the adjustment to lack of sleep with a newborn kid). He didn’t have the foul trouble and really wore down Gray. It was senior night, and they had the home court advantage. Especially in the college game, the emotions can carry things.

WVU built a lead and was able to stay just enough in front the rest of the way. That was what Pitt did in the first meet-up.

Time to take a little closer look at the numbers and what the players did. Here are the special stats.

Pitt

Poss 62.3 Pace Moderate
O-Rating 99.5 D-Rating 107.5 (Eff. Margin -8.0)
eFG% 52.8 PPWS 1.10
A/TO 0.8 TO Rate 27.3% A/B 50.0%
Floor Pct 52.9% FT Prod 11.3

WVU

Poss 63.3 Pace Moderate
O-Rating 105.9 D-Rating 98.0 (Eff. Margin +7.9)
eFG% 50.0 PPWS 1.04
A/TO 2.8 TO Rate 9.5% A/B 70.8%
Floor Pct 47.0% FT Prod 11.7

All things being equal, and they were disturbingly close, the turnovers were the biggest difference in the game. WVU missed more, and took a boatload more 3s: 36 of their 60 shots were 3s. They only shot 12-36, but that is like shooting 50% from the field — which is what they did from inside the arc.

Pitt with -11 in turnovers (17-6) took 7 less shots than WVU. While there is plenty to point to Pitt failing at the end, everything was sewn in the first half. The 11 turnovers in the first half, 8 less shots than WVU, not playing the perimeter tight enough, put Pitt in the hole from which they just could not emerge.

Pitt came out in the game looking to do the same thing as last time on defense, but spent most of the first half getting away from it. Players were not going out far enough to defend WVU’s shots — somehow forgetting that the ‘Eers will shoot really deep without hesitation. It’s not enough to just guard at the 3-point line. You have to extend.

The Pitt players also spent a lot of the first half, failing to adhere to strict man-to-man. Too many times, Pitt was playing the right defense, only to break-down on the drive. Someone couldn’t resist trying to step over to help, and sure enough the ball would be kicked out to the open man who would shoot or even pass to another player with an even better look. Given the distribution of where WVU shoots, 40% shooting from the 3-point line is worse for Pitt than letting WVU go about 50% from inside. In the first half, WVU shot 40.9% (9-22) on 3s and 40% (4-10) everywhere else. The eFG% in the first half for WVU was 54.7%

The second half, saw Pitt defend the 3 much better, not giving them as many shots and open looks. Go figure, they shot less from outside and made fewer (3-14). Pittsnogle was responsible for 2 of the 3 made 3s — when he took advantage of Gray being slow to come out on him.

Individual Player Thoughts

Carl Krauser: Ugh. 3-16 shooting (0-3 on 3s), 4 turnovers, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 31 minutes. A little more than a shot every 2 minutes. He played an absolutely horrible game. All the focus was on his offensive problems, but he was also part of the problem in the first half on defense.

He is the team leader, and sets the tone. He was guilty several times of trying to help on defense inside rather than staying with his man — allowing open 3s. A couple times he didn’t fight through screens, trying to instead anticipate where the player was running and WVU adjusted accordingly. Players took their cue from him on defense in the first half.

Aaron Gray: 7 points on 3-5 shooting, 7 rebounds (and only one offensive), 1 assist and 4 turnovers.

Let himself be pushed out of position under the basket too much, and hesitated when he did get the ball. It was probably the softest game he played this season. Pitt had 6 turnovers in the second half, Gray had 3 of them. One play that stood out, was late in the game with about 4 minutes left, Pitt down 61-55. The ball came in to Gray with Pittsnogle a little late. Gray hesitated as he saw the double-team coming. It gave Pittsnogle time to get position and Gray barrelled into him for the charge.

On defense, he hesitated on following Pittsnogle all the way outside. Part of it was fatigue. Unlike the first meeting where Pittsnogle had a horrible game and fouled out early, Pittsnogle played 39 minutes and Gray was tired.

Levon Kendall: He received a lot of praise by the ESPN crew, but they really ignored his critical errors on perimeter defense in the first half. He guarded the line, not the shooter too often. It burned Pitt. He also had a hard time resisting the urge to cheat and drift to the basket to try and help on defense or be in position for a rebound.

That takes away from an otherwise fine game. Kendall was Pitt’s best offensive rebounder, and had 3 blocks in the game, not to mention 4 assists a steal and 0 turnovers.

Ronald Ramon: An excellent game. Played very good defense for the full 34 minutes (team high) he was on the court. He understood the defensive game plan and did not leave his man.

Not only hitting his perimeter shots, but showed aggressiveness going to the basket which caught WVU off-guard. He finished shots, when they were clearly expecting him to pass. 12 points (5-6 shooting), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers.

Levance Fields: In the first half, he provided an offensive spark to help Pitt get back in the game. 10 points in the game, but only 1-4 on 3s in the second half (2-6 in game). He handled WVU’s defense very well and stayed with his defensive assignment.

Sam Young: Such a high ceiling. Hard to imagine when he goes 6-6 for 12 points and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes, but he also had 4 turnovers. He is still so raw and relying on his athleticism. He cost himself and Pitt several rebounds because he doesn’t box out out. He is still too used to simply leaping above everyone else for the ball.

Antonio Graves: Played aggressive and fouled out after 20 minutes. He also came up with 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. He didn’t force shots, and focused on defense.

Keith Benjamin: Only 6 minutes but he grabbed 3 rebounds and threw down one shot. He is not as strong defensively, and that was what Pitt needed last night more than offense.

Tyrell Biggs: Got to be honest, never even noticed him out on the court for his 3 minutes in the first half.

John DeGroat: He’s going to get the start in the final game against Seton Hall, but I don’t see how Coach Dixon can risk starting him in the Big East or NCAA Tournaments. He managed to turn the ball over twice in the first 1:17, and Pitt didn’t even start with the ball. He had potential, showed some flashes, has a fantastic story, but is just not that good.

Well, the obvious storyline was that Krauser had a very bad game, but nearly forgotten in the initial frustration was that Gray didn’t exactly distinguish himself.

If nothing else, it debunked the popular theory that Pitt is so deep and so talented in so many areas that it doesn’t need its best players to have big games to win.

That’s not the issue. Actually, I think Pitt can win quite often including this past game if they just have average games. The problem in this game, is they had bad games.

Pitt won’t beat anybody in the postseason if it doesn’t get more from Carl Krauser and Aaron Gray.

It’s easy to finger Krauser for this loss. All it takes is one look at the bottom line: He shot just 3 of 16 from the field. He played very much as he did late last season when Pitt crumbled down the stretch, losing five of its final seven games, including first-round losses in the Big East and NCAA tournaments. He fired up too many bad shots at the wrong times. His assessment afterward was right on: “I was terrible.”

Gray was just as ineffective. He was outplayed on both ends by Kevin Pittsnogle, one of five West Virginia seniors who made sure their final night in the WVU Coliseuem was a glorious one. After outscoring Pittsnogle, 16-0, and outrebounding him, 8-2, in Pitt’s 57-53 home win against West Virginia Feb. 9, Gray was outscored, 26-7, last night. He took just five shots.

Krauser and Gray combined for 17 points, almost 14 fewer than they had been averaging in Big East games. They also had seven of Pitt’s 17 turnovers, a ridiculously high number that negated Pitt’s 41-24 rebounding edge.

“It was a tough night for Aaron and me,” Krauser said. “We were both off. That can’t happen, not at this time of year. Your stars have to be stars. Aaron and I are definitely the stars on this team. This can’t happen again. We have to step it up. I’m sure we will.”

While Gray didn’t get into foul trouble, at the offensive end he let himself be pushed away from the basket and out of position. As much as WVU’s defense and quick double-teaming, this kept Gray from getting as many touches with the basketball.

“At Pitt, Gray got the ball too deep underneath,” [WVU Coach John] Beilein said. “Tonight we did a great job at forcing him out away from the hoop and did some nice things on both sides of the ball.”

If Gray is unable to get the position or get free, he needs to seal off a side to give the wings a chance to penetrate to the basket. Instead, way too often he let himself float and move from side to side trying to get open. That allowed WVU players to stay around the basket and defend drives.

Joe Starkey tries to be positive.

If Krauser is guilty of anything, it’s wanting to win too badly. He stopped short of taking the blame for the loss but admitted to rushing a lot of shots.

Krauser shot 18.8 percent. His teammates shot 62.2 percent (23 of 37). Obviously, he wasn’t reading the game like a good point guard should (and he still is, essentially, a point guard).

“I was just overanxious to get this win,” Krauser said. “I can’t say I should have used (his teammates) more, because in my mind, I’m a competitor and a leader, so the leader needs to step up and make big plays.”

On the other hand … “A leader has to make the right plays. So, on some of my shots, I can say, yes, I should have kicked it.”

Pitt’s game plan, Dixon said, was to pound the ball inside, but center Aaron Gray also had a bad night, with only seven points and a team-high four turnovers.

Still, if I’m Dixon, I’m actually encouraged. Pitt walked into an incredibly hostile environment and fell behind 19-6 against a team that often uses five seniors. The Panthers fought back behind the likes of sophomore Ronald Ramon (12 points) and freshmen Levance Fields (10 points, no turnovers) and Sam Young (6 for 6 from the field, 12 points). It was anyone’s game when WVU led, 61-58, with a minute left. That’s when Young was whistled for traveling. Soon after, Krauser missed a driving attempt, and Levon Kendall missed a tip. It was that close.

For Pitt, all things remain possible. Krauser just needs to remember what year it is.

If this was January or even the beginning of February I’d agree with the optimism. It isn’t (– despite the confusion from a lot of sportswriters who it would seem are still a month behind because of all the Steeler football).

It wasn’t just Krauser and Gray, though, that put this team in a hole.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon harped on two principles last week when the Panthers had seven days between games. He wanted his team to defend better and cut down on its turnovers.

With a bye in the Big East Conference tournament on the line last night, the Panthers failed miserably in both areas and West Virginia secured a 67-62 victory before 14,805 at WVU Coliseum.

Pitt’s inability to defend the 3-point line and take care of the ball were the two most glaring weaknesses in a loss that all but assures the Panthers will be playing on the first day of the conference tournament next week at Madison Square Garden in New York.

4 of Pitt’s first 5 possessions ended with a turnover. That was only the first 2:30 of the game. Despite digging themselves a big hole, turning the ball over, not doing a particularly impressive job defending the 3, and Gray and Krauser having bad games Pitt kept getting close. But…

That happened throughout the game. Pitt would draw close, but West Virginia would make a big shot to stem the tide.

Pitt pulled within one point again a few minutes later after Ronald Ramon made a 3-pointer, but Patrick Beilein made two 3-pointers to end the half and send the Mountaineers to the locker room with a 37-30 advantage.

The Panthers pulled to within two points twice in the second half and three points five times after that, but West Virginia always had an answer. Pittsnogle scored the bucket or made two free throws on four of those seven occasions.

“They played like seniors,” Pitt freshman Levance Fields said. “Pittsnogle hit some shots. He was ready for this game. [J.D.] Collins came in and made a long 3. Gansey made plays. They did what they had to do to win the game. We didn’t.”

This was Senior Night at the concrete toadstool, and WVU’s senior-heavy team rose to the occasion. Credit has to be given to a very good WVU team that didn’t panic when Pitt made runs at them. They kept playing their game and made things happen.

Beilein hitting those 2 3s at the end of the 1st half. One came on a broken play where Pitt had defended so well, and the ball got deflected to him for a shot as the shot clock buzzed. They seemed almost like luck at times, but it was simply taking advantage of that little open crack. Something Pitt just couldn’t do in the game.

Pittsnogle came up huge against Pitt in this game.

Pittsnogle said he had thought about that game almost every day since then. He had the date of last night’s rematch against Pitt circled on his calendar to remind him when he’d get a chance to make amends for that performance.

Pittsnogle made sure he let the Panthers know his off night the first time the two teams met was a fluke. He scored 26 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and made 2 steals in leading the Mountaineers to an important 67-62 Big East victory against Pitt on senior night at the WVU Coliseum, the final home game of his career.

He had help, often against Gray, but to his credit he stood his ground and didn’t let Gray back him down under the basket. With the second defender coming to try and swipe or tie-up the ball, Gray never could get set, dribble with his back to Pittsnogle, to really back into him. It was smart strategy and executed very well.

“Everybody has bad nights — probably not as bad as mine was (at Pitt) — but I wanted to show I can play,” Pittsnogle said. “I had to prove I could play against Aaron Gray. Everybody was saying I couldn’t. I’ve been thinking about this game since our game with Louisville ended (Saturday).”

With the win over Pitt, the Hoopies clinch the 3rd spot in the Big East Tournament and the coveted first round bye, regardless of the outcome of their season finale at Cinci. Even if they lose and Marquette,Georgetown and Pitt all finish with the same record, WVU holds the ‘mini-conference’ tie-breaker over the other 3.

Pitt will almost assuredly be the 6th seed.