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January 9, 2008

Open Thread: Pitt-USF

Filed under: Basketball,Open Thread — Chas @ 5:59 pm

Yeah, Wednesday nights are lousy for me. I’ll be back later with DVR Delayed Thoughts.





I might be at the game tonight.

It should be pretty dead there, since I don’t know one person in Tampa that follows Bulls basketball.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my Dad 01.09.08 @ 6:45 pm

Anybody know what size gym the Bulls play in? Just curious as to what their facilities are like and what the future holds for them.

Comment by Crackbaldo 01.09.08 @ 7:15 pm

anyone else think hearing the same stupid tune over and over from the USF band could get annoying?

Comment by bmac21 01.09.08 @ 7:33 pm

we need Brown to knock down an open three

Comment by PantherFan 01.09.08 @ 7:36 pm

can everyone agree that Biggs is pretty much worthless.

Comment by dan 01.09.08 @ 7:44 pm

Yes….and now McGhee? Oh boy…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 7:46 pm

A McGhee dunk!

Comment by Sean 01.09.08 @ 7:47 pm

Brown and Wannamaker are hurting us tonight.

Comment by PantherFan 01.09.08 @ 7:48 pm

Do Wannamaker and Brown know how to dribble? Its like they’re thinking “oh shit, i’m so wide open…should i take this or drive?” and then travel…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 7:49 pm

McGhee looks pretty damn good.

Comment by dan 01.09.08 @ 7:49 pm

McGhee is really stepping up here tonight so far

Comment by PantherFan 01.09.08 @ 7:49 pm

Yeah Mcghee!

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 7:50 pm

Wannamaker made a nice drive and dish off on that one

Comment by PantherFan 01.09.08 @ 7:50 pm

Its like USF got content that they got Blair out of the game and decided not to play ANY post defense…McGhee is just standing down there wide open, no one is boxing him out…what a mess….hopefully they keep it up!

I think we’re well on pace for another 20+ TO game…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 7:52 pm

Mcghee can really help us if he keeps playing like this

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 7:52 pm

He is only going to get stronger too. He lost a lot of weight.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 7:53 pm

So half our team already has 2 fouls…what a mess…pretty soon we’ll have Diggs and McGhee both in the game…

I see Sam is already pissed off….

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 7:58 pm

I have seen a 10 second violation since high school.
How far we have fallen.

Comment by dan 01.09.08 @ 7:59 pm

I would say that was a very solid trip on ramon to prevent him from getting across the line…i guess that makes up for the tackle made down low called a travel…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:00 pm

Here’s what Biggs did on his first four possessions in the ballgame:

1. Fell asleep on defense, allows a South Florida dunk.
2. Misses a short jumper, grabs own rebound, misses a layup.
3. Didn’t factor in on this defensive possession
4. Commits an offensive foul trying to grab a rebound.

Comment by Jeff 01.09.08 @ 8:00 pm

I’m sure we had several 10 second violations or turnovers last year…but i’ll agree, with the injuries, we’ve fallen…

Good thing they’re lighting it up from 3, but we can’t hit any wide open 3’s….

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:03 pm

That’s what we need from Brown

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 8:04 pm

I think we have found an 8th man to that rotation

Comment by dan 01.09.08 @ 8:04 pm

Hey! A wide open 3, and we made it! I’ll agree Biggs is having a poor game, and McGhee is clearly having the best game i’ve ever seen from him or Diggs. I’m impressed. I hope this isn’t an abberation, but the rule. Seriously, he’s never even looked close to this as far as i could tell…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:05 pm

Wait…so thats a trip on us, but not a trip on them? Consistency please….

Ramon not looking to sharp either…you can see he’s frustrated…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:08 pm

McGhee where you been?! Awesome game from benji as well.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 8:09 pm

Mcghee is having a monster game for us.

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 8:10 pm

McGhee looks like a f-ing stud! I realize this is only one game but Jesus. The kid is playing great on both ends-6 pts a handful of boards and most importantly shutting that big fucker down.

Comment by dan 01.09.08 @ 8:10 pm

Maybe the lightbulb has turned on for McGhee here. He looks good on both ends of the floor thus far, and that guy he’s going against in the post is no stiff, either.

Comment by Jeff 01.09.08 @ 8:10 pm

I think only 3 of their guys have even scored….

Brown seems to have calmed down thank god….some nice drives and shots…now we just need some production from Wannamaker…

…and on cue, Brown charges…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:16 pm

I guess we haven’t realized this yet, but we only need to guard 3 guys…and yet they get wide open looks at 3s? WTF? Cmon, 3 guys…that’s all…ignore the other two…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:21 pm

McGhee looks good. 7 point lead exceeds what I wanted.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 8:22 pm

Holy Mother of God! Kenny george for UNC-Asheville..7’7!!

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 8:26 pm

7 point lead? Not bad, considering Young and Blair both sat with fouls…and blair will be WELL rested, what’d he play, 4 minutes?

Four of our guys have 2 fouls…ouch…but we have 8 guys with points? WTF?

I guess McGhee won’t be redshirting…

We need to somehow figure out how not to have half our team foul out in the second half…i know out bench is short, but how often did we used to have 4 guys every game in foul trouble in the first half? Biggs needs to wake up, Ramon has to stop turning the ball over (again) and it would be great if we got some production from Wannamaker…

Anyone see this 7’7 kid from unc ashville? Its hilarious…and the Duke/Temple game on ESPN? What a joke…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:31 pm

Mallet transferring from Michigan.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 8:34 pm

Did you hear how DickFraud threw him under the bus – it was something to the effect of “he hasn’t told me anything, but he didn’t show up at a team meeting…and i asked him 2 times, i shouldn’t have to ask a kid 3 times to stay at Michigan…who gives a shit…”

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:49 pm

Pitt just can’t seem to pull away. A 10-0 run would be nice.

Comment by Sean 01.09.08 @ 8:53 pm

Ugh….two miracle shots…nothing hurts more than that…

At least we’ve picked up the outside shooting….and i’m estatic to hear we’re over 50%…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:54 pm

benjamin handles the ball well and makes some nice passes. we should consider playing him at the point.

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 8:55 pm

Ramon is getting his ass kicked all over the floor and can’t get a single call…he spends more time on the floor than anyone i’ve ever seen…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 8:58 pm

The freshmen are playing well, which is encouraging.

Pitt will be that much better when (if) Fields returns.

Because the team is playing four freshmen, the turnovers and inability to pull away will probably not go away, however.

Comment by Brian 01.09.08 @ 8:58 pm

That wouldn’t seem to be a bad idea except i think his shooting is more valuable now then Ramons would be…he’s getting us 15+ a game now…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 9:00 pm

Benjamin is our PG.

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:02 pm

At least the jumpshots are falling tonight.

Comment by Jeff 01.09.08 @ 9:06 pm

Very good showing of toughness there for us. Our Freshmen have helped us big time today.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 9:06 pm

Stuart, Ramon will have to pick up some of those points and benjamin seems better at creating his own shot than Ramon, so i would expect him still to contribute 8-10 a game.

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:07 pm

Sean…you got that 10-0 run you asked for.

Comment by matt 01.09.08 @ 9:15 pm

Wow! KB 18pts!

Comment by MelbaPlace 01.09.08 @ 9:16 pm

Benjamin is definetly the MVP since Fields went down

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:16 pm

We’re hitting everything now. Very good showing tonight.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 9:17 pm

Thanks Matt. I’m feeling much better about the game now! 🙂

Comment by Sean 01.09.08 @ 9:18 pm

A signature win. McGhee will be a huge addition. Benjamin, what can you say? Sam, the Plastic man. Defense has to improve however.

Comment by steve 01.09.08 @ 9:18 pm

I get scared trying to expect any shooting from Ramon right now with his shoulders…

At least we’ve pulled away from this awful team…we’re just going to need some extraordinary effort in our games against the top half of the big east to get our 10 wins…

We still need to cut down on the turnovers (seemed to be a little better late) and keep killing the glass to make up for our TOs…

Anyone else hear the “Let’s go Pitt!” chant?

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 9:19 pm

BENJAMIN!!!!!!!

Comment by jumpingjohnnie_class82 01.09.08 @ 9:21 pm

That was Dean Billick and his wife. there in the audience!!

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:22 pm

Biggs never seems to make the right decision

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:25 pm

UNC-Asheville was basically just throwing it up in the air so that 7 foot 7 monster could catch it. made me laugh.

Anyways good game from Benji and Young. SH is going to be tough but it is a winnable game.

Comment by Panthoor 01.09.08 @ 9:31 pm

Outstanding win over a team that isn’t that bad. Considering our two best players got about 10 minutes combined in the first half I am very impressed with the showing. Anybody else ecstatic about the showing by McGhee tonight. If he can give us 5-10 minutes a game, then we have size and 3-4 extra fouls. He will come in handy versus Georgetown.

Whoever said Keith Benjamin is the MVP since Fields got hurt could not be more correct? He is playing very well. I guess he just needed to know he wasn’t going to get yanked if he missed a shot or made a mistake. He has to be averaging 16 pts. since Fields got hurt. Can you imagine how sick we could be if Fields comes back in mid or late February. Think about a line-up of Fields, Benjamin, Brown, Young and Blair. You have 4 guys that can jump out of the gym, have outstanding foot speed, long arms and play hard every possession. Couple that with Ramon backing up Fields at the point and moving back to the 2 when Levance returns. Now you have a sharpshooter for the other team to deal with and I haven’t even discussed Biggs and McGhee off the bench.

If Pitt can hold down the fort until Levance returns, then we might be in for a deep NCAA tournament run. Big game versus Seton Hall on Saturday. Winning that game will give us a little bit of breathing room.

Comment by omar 01.09.08 @ 9:38 pm

If Pitt can cut down on the fouls and TOs we should do well,how about McGee what a stud,if he plays the rest of the BE like he played tonite we should be alright.We could have found a sub for Blair. Blairs foul trouble will be undoing of Pitt. Lets keep him out of foul trouble. Go Sam Young.

Comment by Buzz 01.09.08 @ 9:46 pm

That kid might have less ups than Gray – but he can dunk flat footed….unreal…

We only get 1 day of practice for the seton hall game cause they have to take tomorrow off…not good…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 9:49 pm

Only 10 turnovers tonight and only 3 in the second half.

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 9:58 pm

To answer the 2nd question from Crackbaldo.

The Sundome’s not really that great of an arena. Holds about 10,000, and was built in the late-70s I believe. It is really 3rd rate compared the Pete.

Just kind of a cookie-cutter type building, nothing special. It also has those movable bleacher type seats in the lower end.

I’ve been in the USF athletic complex. It’s newer, and pretty nice (I have never been in any other college teams athletic complex so I have nothing to compare it to). I think all of the athletes from all sports kind of share the building.

I don’t know what year the Bulls b-ball program began in, obviously it is at least as old as the late-70s (when their arena was built)… or at least quite a bit older than their football program.

I don’t think they really put much thought into their hoops program. I think once they got football, all of their efforts pretty much went towards that.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my Dad 01.09.08 @ 10:05 pm

Benjamin looks much more stable and quick running the point than Ramon does…McGhee should be insulted that the Pitt coaches are telling people that he reminds them of Gray when he was a FR…What BS, McGhee is far better than Gray was as a FR…The kid can dunk with authority and moves OK for a big guy.

Comment by HbgFrank 01.09.08 @ 10:05 pm

We really need to win 5 of the next 6 (including Nova here) to have a shot…the only games we should win for sure after that are cinci syracuse and depaul…and we’re going to have to knock off one more team somewhere along the way…sorry if i’m still not sold after beating a team i bet will be in the bottom four of the big east when all is said and done…

And McGhee did play great when he was in there, but it did seem like USF just let him wander around free – he wasn’t getting the same attention Blair would get. I doubt teams will make that mistake in the future…i hope he turns out to be some sort of amazing backup this year, but one game does not a career make…just ask patrick o’bryant…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 10:31 pm

O’Bryant make $2 million a year. Rookie contracts are guaranteed for the their first 3 years. That’s pretty good.

Comment by omar 01.09.08 @ 10:34 pm

I wasn’t talking about how much he gets paid…i was talking about how well he plays….

Have you ever heard of anyone else gettting $2 mil to sit in the NBDL for a year?

Whats sad is that besides that one game, it is CLEAR AS DAY that he is nowhere as good as Gray. Gray is leading the bulls in FG shooting percentage, has several games where he scores more points than the number of minutes he plays. Obryant….has played 4 minutes this year. I’m not sure if he has 4 points.

I’m estatic what McGhee did tonight, i’m just not ready to crown his ass….i’m praying he keeps it up and it wasn’t just because they were letting him run around free down low and played no D on him…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 11:30 pm

Went to the game tonight. Just got back. Pretty good turnout for Pitt fans. In fact, the section I was in (just under the ESPN cameras) was mostly Pitt fans. Good to see that we’re traveling well for sports outside of football.
McGhee giving us quality minutes was the biggest thing I took from this game. Forget about the points. He was the only Pitt defender to give Gansberry fits tonight. Very impressive for someone who hasn’t played much of late.
Yes.. the same song over and over and over by the USF band was annoying. So annoying that most of the USF fans started heading for the gates with five minutes left in the game.

Comment by Dave in Orlando 01.10.08 @ 12:35 am

Dave in Orlando – do you really think PITT fans “traveled well” to Orlando for a BB game? Or, do you think local PITT fans showed up for the game?

Serious question……I guess I’d be kinda shocked that fans flew in for a game.

Comment by Reed 01.10.08 @ 4:41 am

the pens play in tampa tonight too… that could be a good road trip

Comment by pittfaithfull 01.10.08 @ 6:41 am

What I thought was best about McGhee was not his points – he played pretty darn good D. That might be the best use of his minutes.

Comment by Kevin 01.10.08 @ 7:17 am

Ain’t no way I would want Ramon back at the 2 if Fields returns. Benjamin is quicker than Ramon, and can score off the dribble. I would definitely bring Ramon off of the bench.

As for McGhee, any offense he gets will be a bonus but his primary worth to this team is on the defensive side.

The team will be so much better once Brown becomes a better scoring threat. He showed a little last night with his dribble drive for some close in shots. 3s are OK but much more so when the opposing D has to worry about dribble penetration.

As for Wannamaker, he is a work in progress who will only get better. The issue for him is the learning curve. Will it quicken or take time.

Comment by Kenny 01.10.08 @ 9:17 am

Reed –
Probably the wrong choice of words, but I did sit between two season ticket holders at the Pete and there were quite a few Pitt fans there. I imagine the majority of the fans were from the Central Florida area, but if you check the news getting to the game was a hassle for anyone outside of Tampa. There was a huge wreck on I-4 that still has a 14-mile stretch of the road closed down a day later. A trip that normally takes three hours round trip took me five last night — for a two-hour game.
Also, I wouldn’t doubt that a large number of fans flew in for this game. I can think of worse places to be in January 😉

Comment by Dave in Orlando 01.10.08 @ 9:26 am

Good point Stuart, there is no doubt Gray is a better player than O’Bryant. If he doesn’t choke against O’Bryant and Hibbert, then he is a first round pick. I think his late season injury last year really hurt him and the Pitt team. Most people don’t remember, but the first three times Gray and Hibbert played Aaron owned him. In fact, the first and second game JTIII benched Hibbert to go with a smaller, quicker line-up. Last year all I heard was how much better Hibbert was than Gray after the Big East tournament debacle and I just don’t believe it and never will. Gray is a better player. He just needs to play to his ability in pressure situations.

Comment by Omar 01.10.08 @ 9:32 am

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