Not to make excuses for a tough win, but a road game just before the holiday break is not the easiest thing for focus and concentration. Thinking about going to see family. Gift giving and receiving. Travel plans. Distractions galore. Marquette and Oklahoma might have similar issues tonight, and Texas traveling to Wisconsin on Wednesday especially seems at risk.
Welcome hyperbole from Andy Katz at ESPN.com about the win.
With a minute left, Florida State was tied 48-48 with Pittsburgh. The Seminoles didn’t score again, as Pitt rolled off the game’s final eight points. The Panthers proved Sunday night that they are one of the nation’s elite teams. Pitt took the game over when it mattered most and shook off a horrible night of shooting, especially from Levance Fields, who was 1-of-10.
In case you hadn’t noticed, it was a defensive struggle.
Florida State entered the game allowing opponents to shoot just 37.2 percent from the floor. The Panthers allowed opponents to shoot just 36.6 percent from the floor.
Either team would have loved to shoot that well Sunday night. Pitt ended the game shooting just 33.3 percent, while FSU shot just 29.8 percent. Neither team shot 30 percent in the first half, and the Seminoles made just four of their first 17 shots.
It was Pitt’s worst shooting night of the season. Coach Dixon gave some of that credit to FSU’s defense. Just as FSU’s Leonard Hamilton credited Pitt’s win.
“That’s what experienced veteran teams, with well-coached talent, will do,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “They finished their plays and we didn’t. I can’t fault our players’ effort; I thought we gave tremendous effort. I think we could still execute a little better.”
Pitt started out strong and ended in similar fashion.
But while the Seminoles (11-2) missed their last seven shots, Pitt (12-0) connected on its last four.
Sam Young helped break their backs in the end.
Pitt stemmed the tide on its next possession with a big play from its best player. Young, who led all scorers with 21 points, flew in down the key and tipped in a missed shot by Levance Fields for a 50-48 lead with 1:52 remaining.
“I got it with these two fingers,” Young said pointing to his middle and ring fingers. “They got a big team. There were a couple of them up there with me and I just got it up over them. I had great timing on it, I guess.”
“I got the bucket, and they put their head down a little bit,” Young said. “They got out of it after that.”
DeJuan Blair got in foul trouble and was limited to 24 minutes, but still notched another double-double. Jermaine Dixon ended up having a successful visit to his old stomping grounds.
On his homecoming, Jermaine Dixon didn’t want to let anyone down.
Dixon, mired in a season-long shooting slump, hit his biggest buckets since arriving at Pitt in a critical second-half stretch, and the No. 3 Panthers rallied to escape Florida State with a 56-48 victory Sunday at Tucker Center.
“(They) told me ‘keep shooting,’ ” Dixon said. “It felt good.”
…
Dixon, who starred at nearby Tallahassee Junior College the past two seasons, hit two 3 pointers in a 61-second span to key the second-half run and Pitt never trailed the rest of the way.
“If he wouldn’t have hit those 3s,” said Young, who also hit a couple of huge second-half buckets, “I don’t think we would have won the game.”
Dixon, the team’s starting shooting guard, had made only five of 30 3-point attempts (16.7 percent) entering Sunday’s game. He missed two more long-range shots in the first half to drop to 3 for 25 from behind the arc in the past month. So, when Florida State opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 34-26 lead with 15:31 to play, Dixon figured to be a little gun-shy.
But the younger brother of former Maryland star Juan Dixon figured if you don’t shoot, you can’t even miss.
“We have a lot of confidence in him,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s a big-game player.”
The first Dixon 3-pointer ended Pitt’s second-half drought and cut FSU’s lead to 34-29 with 15:16 to play. After a DeJuan Blair put-back dunk, Dixon hit another 3-pointer to tie the score, 34-34. By the time the run was over, Pitt led 43-34.
“After that first one, I knew I was going to hit the second one,” said Dixon, who finished with 11 points. “I knew it was going down.”
The way the shots weren’t falling in that game, I was never sure what would actually go down.
Excellent recap as always….but wow, you nailed it–“A defensive struggle”–hadn’t thought about that (lol)…still a good victory on foreign soil…Mike Gminski called it right (in the first half) when he said, “First team to 50 wins!”…FSU is a good team, so this was a good test.
While I would like to win all games…I think we’ll be in those games where we shoot poorly, thanks to DeJuan banging down low…my big fear is if we have a poor shooting night and face an officiating crew calling close, we could be headed for trouble (especially come tourney time)..last night, though we had lots of fouls called, the refs let the big guys bang away.
Hail to PITT!
-al-
In light that there are already WRs committed in this class already and Pitt has limited nuber of scholarships, I can’t say it
FSU was a deja vu experience from past Pitt wins……………..great halfcourt D, good rebounding, good patience and very tough play all around. But none of the supposed improvements we have been all told to expect this year — more up-tempo play when available, more scoring punch, better perimeter game etc. etc.
Let’s give Dixon a break because this was the first decent competition they’ve faced, and they faced it away, but let’s also get real about FSU. That squad was long and played tough D, but they only had one player Pitt had to stop (Douglas) and not much else on offense.
Pitt’s going to see plenty of teams that can play defense like FSU and ALSO put the ball in the hoop in the Big East, and the smart ones are going to zone it up and dare Fields, Young, and Dixon, Brown and Gibbs to beat them. I hope they can.
I think Pitt has another Top 10 to Top 15 team on its hands, which I’m very happy with. I think that’s a great place for the program. I’m not expecting much past that until more talent arrives because I’ve seen what happens with this type of team come spring……
Also, the thing that this team has that Pitt hasn’t in the past is a legitimate go-to guy. As Sam Young proved last night, he can put the team on his shoulders at crunch time and make the big plays…and that is huge.
This team isn’t a rerun. When has Pitt ever in the past few years had a go to scorer like Young? When have they ever been as atheltic as this team? As previous posts have mentioned. Also, I have to say this team is not only more athletic in the starting five, but deeper with athletes off the bench then any other team theyve had. Last year we had Fields at the point who is not a great defender. We also had Ramon who was out athleted on defense at the 2. Those are two very poor matchups. This year the defense matchups are much better. Yes, Blair’s height is not that of a ‘true center’, but does averaging a double double not qualify him as that. Call him whatever you want, he is a beast. I believe this team is a lot like the teams with Page, Brown, Knight, Lett, Trountman. They grind it out D like those teams, now though, this team has a player that can carry the team on his back in tough stretches. Also, remember how terrible Pitt looked at Marquette when Feilds first came back from his foot injury. They got smacked. He was out of shape, and he was rusty. I believe he is in that same position now. I look for his play to vastly improve this team as he works in to shape, gets his shot going, and gains some quicks back to penetrate.
And two years ago. Are you serious? Aaron Gray was slower than a turtle on the defensive end. Just look at the stats. Pitt was ranked 54th in defensive efficiency in 2007-2008 and 26th in 2006-2007. This year they are ranked 8th. It isn’t really even close.
Blair is, arguably, the best rebounder in the country. Although he doesn’t have as diverse of a game offensively, he is an upgrade over Gray because of his ability to defend and the way he changes the game with his rebounding.
There is no way that one can say Pitt isn’t better than last season. He didn’t shoot well yesterday. That is true, but we still made 6 threes by 5 different players and shot 4-10 from behind the arc in the second half. It says here that if we make 6 threes most nights, then we will win most of our games.
I do agree with an earlier post that a lot of this yr depends on Biggs and Brown. I think we pretty much know what we’re getting from Fields, Blair and Young and I think Dixon will end up being a strong defender and a decent slasher with very little perimeter game. (If he’s more than that, then I’ll revise my opinion and Pitt could be better than past years.)
But I wouldn’t expect a lot from Biggs and Brown this year. Biggs gives you some offense coupled with sub-par defense and weak rebounding and Brown gives you tough defense and very little ballhandling and inconsistent scoring. If these two produce more than they have, then again, I think Pitt could be better. But I think that’s a bit of a longshot……..
Last year about this time everybody (especially my buddy Omar) was posting about how Pitt was headed to the Elite 8 or Final 4 and I tried to caution everybody that Pitt had a Top 15 type team and nobody wanted to listen.
Nobody seems to acknowledge how great it is to have a Top 15 type program. That’s awesome…….and something to be very proud of and this year’s team looks like another team with that potential. But there’s nothing about this team (not athleticism which is similar to last year’s, not perimeter shooting which is worse than last year’s, not a go-to guy…….Sam Young is unproven as that kind of player, not a better scoring team as this team struggles to score just like past year’s) that makes me think this isn’t another great season culminating in a Sweet 16 appearance.
Which I repeat…………IS AWESOME. You guys are all so presumptuous and arrogant about what you think Pitt is. Be happy with what you have……it’s a great team/program and it’s better to see it clear-eyed than through rose-colored glasses.
They also beat a team a week prior that made it to the elite 8 and almost the final 4 (Louisville). Pitt wasn’t that far off last year and just because they lost in the second round doesn’t mean they didn’t have the potential to get to the final 4.
Regarding Sam Young, the guy made clutch plays in all of the big games last year and walked away with the big east tournament MVP. He is as proven as they come.
I agree, there is nothing wrong with making the sweet 16 every couple years. Problem is, if you keep doing it, then one day you are going to get past it. I just feel bad for all of the negative nellies when it finally happens.
Playing Dixon or Wannamaker out there makes a world of difference even if you are giving up a couple of threes a game. It makes Pitt match up much better with the best teams in the conference. I think that the other players can make up for the lost points with better defense and transition buckets. The team has 4 players that can finish in transition and fly up and down the court.
Biggs is important because he has size which helps on the defensive boards. His offense is above average as well. He gets trigger happy, but he is a skilled player. I have said this quite a bit, but if Biggs is your 4th best player, then you have an excellent team. That is the case with him.
You can see what you want, but this team is very good. Name 10 teams that are better than them. I am very interested to see the list.
Brown is far more explosive this year, and would be a good starter if not for having Young and Dixon in the spots that he could play. Brown has shown great athleticism, especially on the offensive side. But the trade off is that Dixon is the better defensive player.
Blair is much improved. It is true that he hasn’t developed his offensive game as much as we might have hoped from last year. But his defense and rebounding are better and he is a steal machine. A lot of what will determine his foul trouble will be based on what kind of game refs call. It is just a fact that he is very aggressive and will get fouls from non-Big East refs. But his intensity is great.
And of course Sam Young is averaging better numbers than last year and showing a real ability to make plays when needed. Why he doesn’t stand out as a big improvement is because he is still unselfish. He doesn’t force his game. He takes what is there until the team goes stagnant and really needs someone to step in.
Off the bench, Wannamaker is doing better than last year. His three point average is almost 42% and his field goal percent is 46%. His issue is turnovers, where he has a 1/1 a/to ratio. For the most part his shots are a lot more in control this year than last year (thus the field goal percentages) and Dixon has been getting mad at him for not shooting more precisely because of the improvements he has made.
Likewise Ashton Gibbs has proven to be a threat off the bench, shooting over 40% from the field and over 50% from behind the arc.
The team is full of athletes and runners. The only real weaknesses are lack of depth behind Blair because McGhee is terrible, and lack of consistent three point shooting. In most games the transition game makes up for three point shooting, and in games like the FSU game or the Duke game from last year, we know we have guys who can hit the big shot in Young and Fields.
They may not make the Final Four, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a Final Four caliber team. There are probably a legitimate 15 Final Four caliber teams any given year. As Omar said a lot of it has to do with match-ups. For example, if Pitt beat Michigan St last year, they had to play Memphis in the Sweet 16. Memphis was a 1 seed who played in the title game. Would losing to Memphis prove that Pitt wasn’t a Final Four caliber team? Play style, luck of the draw, etc. are going to be issues for every team in every tournament.
Fields has a 4.28 a/to ratio, at least 1.5 a/to better than anyone else near his numbers in assists. Incidentally it is also better than his own numbers from last year by 1.3. I know it is only non-con, but it is twelve games in and he is out of shape and he is still protecting and dishing the ball like a mad man. Once he is in game shape that may be even better.
All the stat references in the previous posts are meaningless. For example, Fields’ assist/turnover ratio and Wanamaker’s shooting percentage………are you kidding me? Fields had a very tough game against his first decent competition and Wanamaker doesn’t want to shoot and looks uncomfortable doing it. Look past the numbers folks — hoops is a bit more nuanced than that.
And I just don’t see this crazy athletic team. Young and Brown are first-class athletes (though Brown’s athleticism hasn’t matured into offensive production yet) and Blair is an incredible rebounder. Dixon looks like a good defender, but he’s not exactly a high-flying guard and everybody else (Gibbs, Wanamaker, Biggs, Fields) are just average athletes. Where are the thoroughbreds?
Don’t get me wrong. I like this team and think they’ll do well, but it’s not some new-style Pitt squad. Sure, the tournament’s all about match-ups, but you either have the horses or you don’t and so far Dixon hasn’t had the horses.
ltl and whoever else can hate on me for any reason the like, but I am going to enjoy the fact that Pitt is ranked #3 and is undefeated without looking for storm clouds in the distance. Big East championships and sweet 16s are fine with me. I am positive that one of these years Pitt will play in the elite 8 and final 4. Maybe this year, maybe not. To say they definitely don’t have a chance in December is just as stupid as saying they will definitely be there.
I have agreed with comments you make and yes some I may not agree with. But, just because you support the team and aren’t a negative fan claiming to be ‘objective’ and shooting down anyone against your points doesn’t mean your wrong. Keep supporting the team. Also, the Prowler made excellent points about how they are more athletic.
It’s like an epidemic. Sit at a football game or look at the posts on this site…there is something about old, crotchety Pitt fans and the fact that they love ripping apart the football and basketball programs. Its the same people who are calling for Bill Stull and Wannstedt’s heads all the time and the same people who were questioning Dixon’s ability when the Panthers “only” went 20-9 in 2004/05. Maybe they are so used to being disappointed that they have given up hope. who knows.
Anyway, this basketball team is probably the best in the Dixon era. This is the first time they’ve had a go-to scorer and have 3 very good players. In addition to that, they are hungry. The sky is the limit for this team. I love watching them play…good teams win ugly games when they can’t shoot and nothing goes their way. This is a very good team.
When you are the number 3 team in the country and half of the top 10 is from you conference, you aren’t going to have a non-con that includes 5 top ten teams. But again if you look at the two games people want to point two- Washington St. and FSU, if I am not mistaken, Pitt won both games, and ended up winning them by more than a last second shot.
Who gives a crap what Chris Dokish says about Pitt? Just because people go to him for insight doesn’t mean his insight is any more valid than anyone elses.
i said why do frequent the site. i didn’t say you can or cannot. please do not put words in my mouth.
