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December 17, 2008

It’s Siena Tonight

Filed under: Basketball,liveblog — Chas @ 8:39 pm

The wife came home before 10 am today due to the water main break in downtown Cleveland. It should have freed me up to do plenty of writing. Ha. Instead, she came home and insisted this would allow us to take care of all the other errands that had to be run. Needless to say, my day was shot thanks to her surprise day off.

That’s why I couldn’t get to anything on tonight’s game with Siena.

Siena likes to run and feel that they need to against Pitt.

If the Panthers are guarding the Saints in the half-court on almost every possession, this game won’t be close.

“They have terrific athletes, they have shot blockers, and they play a very high-level of intensity,” McCaffery said. “That’s pretty much all it is. This is nothing complicated. They get after you. When they get over toward the ball, they’re up on the ball. They get in the passing lanes. They pressure it. And if you put it on the deck they contest, and if you drive it to the hole they contest that.”

Opposing teams are shooting just 36.3 percent against Pittsburgh, ranking the Panthers 16th in the country in that statistical category. They allow just 57 points per game.

“They’re going to make you make tough shots,” McCaffery said. “They’re going to make you struggle to make the normal cuts and passes that you like to make. So they’re just going to make it hard for you to score. It’s what we all try to do; they just do it really well.”

Siena has been something of a disappointment early in the season. They returned a veteran team that made the NCAA Tournament and scored an opening round upset.

The Saints’ balanced scoring is led by 6-foot-7 junior Edwin Ubiles at 14.8 ppg. Alex Franklin, a 6-5 junior, is next at 14.1 and 6-3 senior Kenny Hasbrouck adds 13.1. Ryan Rossiter, a 6-9 sophomore, leads the team in rebounding (7.1 rpg).

“They can shoot,” Brown said. “Every player down to the 5-man has the ability to shoot it. That’s what we’ve seen on film. They have no real inside game, except for (Rossiter). They use a lot of screens to kick it out and shoot.”

It will be a strange and considerable challenge for Pitt’s interior defense, including massive center DeJuan Blair, Brown conceded.

“This is going to be a test for DeJuan to play perimeter defense,” he said.

Of course, the Saints have been worse than Pitt at shooting from the perimeter this season. Part of the reason they are only 5-3 so far.

Speaking of 3s, Ashton Gibbs has been hitting his and is trying to get more minutes.

All of the freshmen have seen their minutes scaled back with the return of sophomore guard/forward Gilbert Brown. Dixon said it is up to each of them to earn their minutes in practice.

“The focus with those guys is practice is what decides it,” Dixon said. “That’s where their opportunities are, and they know that. I’ve talked to them. I’ve brought them all in and made it very clear to them what they need to do. They know what will make us successful.”

And that is not necessarily their shooting percentage. It’s the one trait that Pitt is most known for.

“The biggest thing is defense,” Dixon said. “They have to continue to improve defensively. That’s the thing we’ve made very clear to them.”

Should we give a live blog a shot tonight? I think so. The fun will start about 9:30 pm Click Here to participate. A word of advice, give Google’s Chrome browser a shot if you want to play. It performs very well with CIL, nary a crash or seizing up of the computer.





I have to admit that I am very uneasy about the poor perimeter shooting. It is dreadful at times and if it continues will really make a deep run into the tourney difficult, if not impossible.

Also, I’d be curious to hear others’ assessment of Blair. He’s still a beast on the boards, but I don’t see a lot of offensive development. He still seems to rush his shots in the block and does not go hard to the rim, often opting for a fading away bank layup. I’ve said this before, but he needs to watch film of Hansbrough.

I mean, happy to get a win and the team is undefeated, but given their schedule to date, that is not to be unexpected. The D is awesome, but the lack of a perimeter game still really concerns me. Hopefully once the BE schedule kicks in and the games are more intense, they will kick it up a notch.

Comment by Carmen 12.18.08 @ 9:32 am

Went to the game last night. I have no worries about Blair. This is the best Pitt team ever in the toughest conference ever. I think all players have improved from last year. The only thing to fear is injury to the Big three. Noticeable difference when any of them are out of the game. But isn’t that true of any great player.

In all cases last years seniors have been replaced with much better players. Depth is better than ever. That being said Blair has to stay out of foul trouble. I have to disagree with Carmen. Blair’s quickness to the hoop is better than Chevy’s and his touch has improved. Last night he was unstoppable. I know it wasn’t Thabeet, but Blair is ready.

This team can win in many different ways unlike previous one dimensional Pitt teams. The perimeter shooting isn’t their strength but it also is much improved, with many options. Gibbs looks like he is going to be great, may not get much PT this year. Down the stretch who is more clutch than Fields.

Their strength will still be defense. Jermaine Dixon is a huge upgrade and he can drive to the hoop. Unlike the last several years, no one looks lost on defense. Biggs, Brown and Wanamaker look much more comfortable.

Lastly and most importantly, we have Sam Young.

THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.

Comment by GC 12.18.08 @ 10:32 am

FINALLY a game I got to see on ESPN2!!

This was my first time actually getting to watch the Panthers from Florida this season, and they looked good, albeit a little disinterested in the last 5 minutes.

I’m really aching to see these guys play some real competition.

And Doug Gottlieb is a douchebag.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 12.18.08 @ 10:44 am

Again, don’t get me wrong. I do think this is the best Pitt team I have ever seen. And agree that Blair is much quicker. I also think that it has to be hard for these guys to really play their best against the competition they’ve been facing.

Doug G. is definitely an asshat.

Go Panthers!!

Comment by Carmen 12.18.08 @ 10:52 am

Few observations from last night’s game:
– Blair has certainly improved his quickness. His strength continues to help fight defenders down low but he needs to establish more moves. I’d also like to see him dunk the ball more.
– Biggs is really an interesting player. At times I just dont know if he should be a starter. He shoots way too much! And doesn’t really play good defense. His rebounding is ok as long as he can hold on to the ball. In any case, I hope he develops more.
– Young didn’t shoot well last night but still possesses the best feel for the game. Had a really nice dunk.
– Dixon is the truth on defense. I luv this kids passion and focus. Needs to work on his perimeter shooting though.
– Fields seemed to be frustrated at times during the game. Has to get better conditioned for Big East play.
– Wanamaker appears to be doing much better. He’s finally playing with composure.
– Gibbs has a really nice perimeter stroke. I really think this kid can help us off the bench when Big East play kicks off.
– McGee reminded me of T. Morris with that missed dunk. :\

Comment by MoE 12.18.08 @ 11:43 am

I went to the Pete last night, too, and came away a bit underwhelmed. Blair made all the difference. He managed to cover up what wasn’t a pretty effort with his offensive rebounds and hustle and power game. I don’t think he’s ever going to develop any post moves, but he’s such a unique physical talent that he succeeds without them at this level. If he spends any time on the bench against top-flight competition, this team will have trouble.

Sam Young and Fields weren’t interested last night; hope they’re just waiting for better competition.

Biggs actually showed his worth last night because he handles the ball pretty well for a big man. He helped a ton against the press.

Longer teams than Siena are going to zone Pitt up and dare Dixon, Fields, Young and Brown to beat them (doubt Gibbs will play much in the Big East). Young and Brown are comfortable on the baseline, but I wish they were more comfortable on the wing. I did like that Dixon passed up a bunch of open perimeter shots last night — I think he realizes that his game is slashing and missing 3s isn’t helping the team.

No doubt the halfcourt defense is still as strong as ever. It’s going to be what takes this team as far as it can go………

Comment by hugh green 12.18.08 @ 12:01 pm

I fear we shall lay an egg against FSU.

Comment by Wally 12.18.08 @ 4:41 pm

I have to disagree about Biggs. I think he has been fantastic so far this season. He is really helping the team defensively and has played exceptionally on offense. Honestly, if Biggs is your fourth of fifth best player, then your team is a true national championship contender. I don’t mind him shooting either. He is a very skilled player offensively and can fill it up when he has confidence. He has been a very pleasent surprise this year. I hope he keeps it up.

Pitt will be fine shooting the three. Sam struggled yesterday and I am confident that he won’t struggle on a nightly basis. Sam is the truth out there.

Comment by Omar 12.18.08 @ 5:57 pm

FSU is going to be more competitive but I still think we win by double digits. But if we play like we did in the final minutes of the Siena game, we are going to lose. If they are bored then they won’t be real fast.

Comment by Panthoor 12.18.08 @ 5:57 pm

UBMC played their defense from the rim out to force Pitt to take low percentage shots from outside…and Pitt hit a lot of them (14 or so). Last night, Siena decided to play in your face defense, pressing and trapping the whole game. The result was a lot of easy transition baskets, and a lot of easy baskets for Blair under the basket. While I am completely bored with this non-con schedule, one thing is for sure…This team is really good. Their confidence, composure, and sense of determination are readily apparent. The defense is better than last year. The offense is not one dimensional. Take away the outside game by pressing the guards, we will work it inside and Blair will have 15 points at halftime…Collapse your defense to take away the inside game and our guards and Sam Young will rain 3’s on you. This is going to be a very fun season.

Comment by HbgFrank 12.18.08 @ 6:24 pm

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