You didn’t think I’d forget.
8:10: Pitt up 10-6, 14:44. Fields has knocked down 2-3 wide open 3s as the Bearcats are collapsing on Gray. Gray is going to have to come out early. Sikes is going to keep him very far out on defense. He won’t be getting a lot of rebounds.
8:18: Pitt is getting wide-open 3s as Cinci is in fear of letting Pitt in the paint. Fields has 9 points. Ramon dropped his 1st 3 and was fouled. 17-8 under 13 minutes.
8:37: It may be bad form to complain when the team is up by double digits. Still, the refs seem to be taking pity on the smaller Cinci team with no calls under the basket. Gray, Biggs and others have been shoved and hacked with impunity.
8:49: Halftime. Pitt up 38-26. Lovely camera work at the end. Focused tight on Fields, missed Cinci’s shot and Pitt getting it out to Graves. Fields was not missing in the first half. 5-6 all 3s for 15 points.
As I said earlier today, Gray keeps getting pulled away from the glass on defense. No one else is helping on the glass. It has allowed Cinci to get 7 offensive boards and make extra shots 10-27. With Pitt shooting so well, very few offensive rebound opportunities.
Pitt has 7 turnovers — all but one from the Centers and Forwards.
9:12: It’s getting frustrating to watch Gray play so passively. It’s one thing to pass out of the double-teams. It’s something else to keep seeing him hesitate when he gets the ball — giving Cinci time to get better position to defend.
9:21: I have to think part of Gray’s hesitation to slam at the moment is the fact that he hurt his wrist on a slam in practice. Just watched him choose to bank an open lay-in. It looked like he thought about the slam and then changed his mind just as he started going up.
9:36: Pitt 61-41, under 8 minutes. Now it’s a matter of just practicing some stuff. Giving other players some time. Not getting hurt and maybe pad a couple stats.
9:55: Pitt now 6-1 in the Big East and 3-0 on the road. 67-51 win.
Pitt just took their time and showed mercy to Cinci. Gray, Cook and Graves all missed their chances to get to double digits on scoring.
Sam Young showed why he needs more minutes and why he doesn’t deserve them at various points during the game. This time, the good outweighed the bad.
Just nit-picking, especially with such an easy win, but I think this would have been the kind of game — at least in the second half — to play a bit more 2-3 zone on defense and let Aaron Gray stay inside. Conserve his energy and let the team practice it a bit more. It might help against say a team like Marquette.
Levance is making up for the last couple of games.
But the female announcer has a heavy Pgh accent and it’s bringing me back.
It’s a road win. It’s in conference. It is a good win.
Is Cinci that good? No. Does that make it a bad win? No. Cinci nearly stole a game from Syracuse who beat Marquette in Milwaukee. It’s conference play and things happen — especially on the road. Never take them for granted.
3 losses to very good teams still beats losing to a crappy team.
I still like the possibilities/potential for this team. I also really like the long-term for the program — including the eventual blue-chip recruits. In part because Dixon is still building the program for sustained excellence.
“Being down 12 to Pitt is not like being down 12 to other people,” Cronin said. “Being down 12 to Pitt is like being down 25 to most other teams.”
I often think we should be killing teams like Cincinnati, then realize that we are in our own way. Consistently protecting the ball, getting good looks and playing solid, if not smothering defense, make it us a very difficult team to play.
I do think we need to be Big East regular season and tournament champions. We are the best team in the league so anything less than that would be dissapointing. I would be happy with an Elite 8.
Also, have any of you seen the Big East standings? It’s crazy to see that if the regular season ended today, UCONN would not make the tourney.
hey marco – you’re an idiot……….just stop watching pitt basketball if you’re gonna be such a little girl……..
Beating a conference foe on the road is great, except, when that conference foe is one spot from the basement in a league that is having an off year…these are games Pitt should win and win big, whether at home or on the road.
Fine disagree with me if you will, but the facts speak for themselves. Pitt has played three top rated foes this year, Ok. State, Wisconsin, and Marquette, in each of these games Pitt kept it close, but lost in the end! Syracuse and UConn this year may be considered in general top notch programs, but this year they are not the elite teams to beat.
The question is why did we lose these games…was it due to player mistakes, coaching mistakes, was the other team simply better, or was it due to player personel….and it is my belief that our players are performing at their peak. In other words what you see is what you get, and at times it’s pretty good, however, against better players or personel aka James from Marquette, this Pitt team can’t win.
I hope they prove me wrong, but I’m not going to believe the hype until this team proves me wrong…which requires a victory against another quality team, and not beating up high school caliber teams.
Furthermore any win coming off such a tough loss is great. In this particular game we were ridiculous from the perimeter. If we continue to shoot like this teams will see it on video and think twice about doubling Gray. That will make life a lot easier for him. These facts make this a very nice win.
No other team in the country has played as many quality opponents as Pitt, regarless of wins or losses. Not one. More importantly 2 of those games were on the road. That win against Auburn doesn’t look so bad after they dominated Alabama the other night, does it. The fact that there have been no let downs or lackluster efforts makes me think this team is better than many fans and pundits believe. Even Wisconsin, a team that beat Pitt handily on the scoreboard, has layed an egg this year.
but i guess i’ll agree with you….i just absolutely HATE being 18-3 with the 3rd or 4th best RPI in the nation……we’re a horrible horrible team…….
if you can’t enjoy this pitt team for what it is – one of the top 10 teams in the country that has a legitimate shot at winning the Big East Title, and a shot at winning the national title – then why even bother watching……….
1.) In order to win national championship…we need a go to scorer, a player who will take over the game, not on one night, but on any or every given night….
2.) With our current atheletes we have a good team maybe a top 15 team, but not one that can consistently beat teams with comparable or better athletes…
3.) If we need one or two great players, why is the coaching staff giving up so early on the 2008 recruiting class….yes it is a nice class and maybe an upgrade from prior years, but we have one remaining sholarship….why couldn’t we have waited to test the waters on a top twenty player instead of jumping for the first top (at best) 50 player and a top 125 player…?
4.) Am I being picky probably, I’m just saying do better athletes guarantee you victory, of course not, however they do make it easier to win, and they do give you a much more latitude on your game planning…
5.) I don’t have a problem with our players I know they play their hearts out…I just want our coaching staff to go harder for some of the top flight guys, and if that means they will only be here for 1-2 years…so what…I’ll take one or two future NBA players for that time.
6.) As for these early rankings they mean nothing in basketball, it’s all about the tourney…and we haven’t made it past the sweet 16 in quite some time….so I believe the proof is in the pudding…
Those “star” players you mentioned earlier in D. James and Alondo Tucker, they were not highly rated recruits. In fact James wasn’t even in the Rivals top 50. The only McDonalds All-American on Wisconsin is Butch and despite his performance against Pitt, he has not lived up to any of the hype.
If you want to write Pitt off this season because they don’t have any “big time” recruits that’s fine. Not smart, but fine.
2) if we play our brand of basketball we can beat anyone in the country….everyone has bad games….we played awful vs marquette and wisconsin and lost because of it…we played well vs ok st, but so did they and we lost in 2 OT’s…we’ve played bad vs bad teams and won….it happens………
3) i’m not ready to talk about next yr until next yr……
4) you’re being extremely picky…good use of the word “latitude”
5) why would you want to go against the team concept…..if you want to root for 1-2 yr guys then root for OSU and Texas…..we’ll see how far it gets them……..I’ll take a team concept over individuals any day…..chris taft..i rest my case……….
6) i agree…hopefully this year will be different…but if not, ill still enjoy a season where we are one of the elite….18-3 baby…you should be happy..instead you choose to nitpick….thats too bad……….
