In both losses, Pitt had limited availability from Blair. That created the meme that Pitt can’t win without him on the court. Incorrect. Pitt can’t beat the best teams in the conference without him. Just like they couldn’t without Fields or Young on the court. UConn would struggle without Thabeet, Adrien or especially Price not playing. Villanova without Cunningham or Reynolds. Marquette without their guards and Hayward. Louisville without Terrance Williams, Samardo Samuels or Edgar Sosa.
Note, it isn’t whether they are playing well or not. It is whether they are playing. If those players aren’t on the court for big minutes, then teams can key in on just a couple other players. Always watch for the creeping jump that goes from not having your best players on the court to not having your best players play well.
We have been frustrated lately by Sam Young’s slumping play. The fact is, he needs to be out there. Having him out there, means that Young still needs to be accounted for by opposing teams. He helps open up the court for the rest of the team. Just like not having Blair out there, means teams can play further from the basket on defense and have more opportunities for rebounds. Even if the star players aren’t playing well, their presence matters.
Coach Dixon won’t let the team use the lack of Blair’s presense as an excuse.
“We’ve played without him before and we’ve won,” coach Jamie Dixon said.
That isn’t to say that Pitt wants to experiment playing without him.
That shows how much of an impact Blair can have for the Panthers when he’s in the game. And how much it hurts when he’s not.
“I think they can get through it, but having him is a big difference,” Bilas said. “Their efficiency is nowhere near the same when he’s out of the game. He’s the best offensive rebounder in the country, so you’re automatically going to get second shots. Plus, when he sets screens, they’re screened. He opens the floor for everybody else. You have to pay attention to him.
“I think their defensive lineup is a (heck) of a lot better with him in it.”
It’s obviously helpful that Pitt has gotten a lot of production from the bench — even if not a lot at Blair’s spot.
Gibbs is the top 3-point shooter in the conference, having made 26 of his 52 attempts (50 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. He is averaging 4.8 points overall.
Brown, who was supposed to be the top reserve, has been a steady, if unspectacular, contributor. He is averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
But the player who is emerging as the top sixth man in the league is Wanamaker, who has been playing the best basketball of his short career in recent weeks. Wanamaker, who is averaging 7.9 points per game in Big East play (6.0 overall), has made 19 of his past 30 shots from the field and 9 of his past 15 3-point attempts. He is second only to Gibbs in 3-point shooting (46.3 percent) on the team.
“My confidence is sky high right now,” Wanamaker said. “When I see the ball going in the way it is now, that just makes me want to get to the gym every day and work harder.”
The strong play of the back-up guards has allowed Coach Dixon to go smaller at times and change the tempo. Even if Dixon isn’t completely comfortable with the pace.
McGhee, at least for the present, is not the answer.
Dissecting the two losses and one win while Blair in serious foul trouble:
L’ville game = horrendous shooting, getting out of rhythm especially towards the end of the game. Sam pulling down only 4 rebounds.
Nova = another horrendous shooting performance but we were not outrebounded. Sam had 9 rebounds, but Biggs only 3 (like Blair, hampered by foul trouble, playing only 15 minutes).
WVU = Young and Biggs with 13 rebounds. And Wanamaker added 5 more. Shooting better but not lights out.
Pitt has already won a game against NCAA comp. without Blair, see Belmont. Without Blair it all depends on the matchups. Some teams would be better matchups than others. Pitt would be a completely different team defensively with more zone and traps. Offensively they would probably try and run even more.
Also note that Blair accounts for approx 28% of Pitt’s total rebounds, Young is second at less than 14% followed by Biggs at 11% …. whereas Thabeet and Adrien account for 23% each of Uconn’s total rebounds. Another factor when Blair is out, is that the opponent can much better defend the perimeter without an inside presence without an inside threat .. as was painfully evident in the late stages of the UL and Nova losses
But I think we got pretty good looks during both losses, don’t you w bill? Were the misses because we were tired? Maybe so.
If Young and Biggs maintain status quo, hoping that Brown really steps up.
Blair is a freakish, man-beast, once in a generation player. He skews all data- and rebounding data is the goofiest data there is. We ALL recognize he’s critical for our success. How many times does the same thing have to be restated? If you’re so concerned about his foul trouble, wear a diaper when you watch games. Let’s get over it guys and move on….
Now has anyone watched a Cincy game this year? I think they’re the only Big East team I’ve yet to check out. They still got that Robertson guy? I mean, Van Exel guy…I mean Huggins guy…I mean, what they got?
little nervous about Cinci just because everytime Pitt plays them everything Vaughan shoots seems to find its way through the net, no matter how ridiculous a shot.
But they are athletic and they did press gtown. And we all know how much we love getting pressed. But I rather get practice against teams like that for the tourney. And I hope we finally learn to take our time and break the stupid press.
Oh, and he picked Louisville ahead of Pitt…they just got owned by 30+ against NIT-bound (maybe) Notre Dame.
Followimg are two exerpts from today’s Post-Gazette from Fittipaldo stressing the importance of the inside threat:
Many coaches have gone into games against Pitt with the idea of forcing the outside shooters make shots to win the game. They concentrate their efforts on stopping power forward Sam Young and center DeJuan Blair, the Panthers’ top two scorers.
If I’m scoring down low, Levance [Fields] and Ashton and Brad and Jermaine will get shots,” Blair said. “We do a good job of rotating and passing. But that’s what this team has always done — play inside-out.”
Opposing coaches are caught in a catch-22 when Pitt’s guards are making shots. As soon as they pay more attention to the shooters, it opens up the inside more for Blair and Young. If they do the opposite, the guards get open shots.
“If they start focusing on our 3s, then DeJuan will have big games,” Jermaine Dixon said. “Either way, teams will have problems if we knock down shots.”
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There’s te rub — outside shooting is not always a constant; an inside threat always is (as long as they’re playing)
The Dyson thing is big. He’s a leader on that team and a lot scarier than Austrie and Walker. I’d be pretty happy with a split in the two Uconn contests.
Jermaine Dixon should be able to put the glove on Vaughn Saturday and they don’t have a second go-to guy.
And yes, matchups do matter, except when you’re playing Belmont.
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w bill – I liken this to the play-action-pass in football. A good running game will open up your receivers. Pitt’s outside shooting is the running game.
Pitt needs to have some reasonable success, epsecially as they get into tournament time, with perimeter shooting. If they don’t, better teams will clog up the inside, causing Blair to step up his aggressiveness. If that happens, he’s more likely IMO, to get into foul trouble. It’s downhill from there.
Inside scoring especially from offesnive rebounds is ALWAYS a threat even when Blair may be having an off night (as long as he is in the game.) On the other hand, if Pitt is having a cold shooting night, the perimeter defenders can pinch in or double-down until Pitt starts hiitng the treys. With Blair out, there is no inside threat especially on the boards — Sam does not have the bulk to (lower) post up, and Biggs is anything but consistent lately.
Touche regarding Belmont. However, remember that same team almost beat Duke in the 1st round of the NCAAs last year and came very close to beating Tennessee on the road a few games after Pitt beat them without Blair.
On Biggs’ height- I was watching the WVU game replay this morning and when Biggs stood next to Brown, he was a clear inch or two taller. Brown’s listed at 6’6″. Fudging on listed heights in college hoops is obviously common, but I’m not sure how accurate it is too say Biggs in nowhere near 6’8″.?.?. But I haven’t stood next to him in my kitchen or anything.
Tyrell, Young, Blair, McGee, and Robinson may not have the collective height one might expect for front line players, but they are all full-grown, big bodied athletic guys that play big. No string beans in the bunch. This isn’t ideal, but it’s not some sort of glaring weakness. And the upside is having versatile mid-sized athletic players like Brown, Wannamaker, and Dixon available. Our issue is more to do with replacing Blair’s talent than his actual size.
From what I hear, Pitt is being pretty secretive about the candidiates (and I haven’t seen anything this week from the 2 PGH area beat writers — Gorman & Zeise) so the next bit of news we hear may well be announcing the new OC hire.
link to hailtopitt.blogspot.com
Benjamin was an excellent athlete, but by no means a great basketball player. Brown is definitely the athlete and has the potential to be a great player. I do wish he could get more playing time, because he rarely gets into the flow of the game. But his jump shot is far better than Benjamin’s, his defense is also much better, and seems to have a much better feel of how to play as part of a team. He just needs the on-court time to put it all together.
I liked Keith Benjamin, but to equate the two is really an insult to G. Brown.
I guess he’s just playing within the prescribed system. But I’m sure we’d all like to see him snap a move or two on a guy and drive past him. He just never looks to penetrate- or at least never acts on it. I don’t know, can’t they draw up some backdoor alley-oop plays for the guy? They do sometimes run a play where they swing him in the corner to shoot…
I miss Keith Benjamin. He was a great spark plug guy who played with a chip on his shoulder about not starting. He might not have had Gil’s vertical, but he definitely had a fire in his eyes and hit some big shots for us. He was streaky for sure, but he could rip off some points in a hurry.
Biggs is 6’8″ the way Barkley was 6’6″. But wish he rebounded like that.
Just kidding on Belmont — they must be pretty decent.
Maybe I’m too concerned with size and rebounding in the current college game where there are so few big men, but can’t help thinking frontcourt depth will finally matter against UConn and in March.
But Gil came on strong at the end of the year last year… hopefully he does again.
However, the interesting thing is that he is being followed around by cameras for HBO Real Sports, thus, he should be a subject in a show segment sometime in the near future.
Sure, it would be tough to win without your experienced senior PG, but it’s possible. In fact, Pitt will face that challenge for an entire season next year.
By the same token, it would be difficult to win without your senior wingman scorer, but it’s possible that could happen because there are some young players ready to step in and pick up the slack for a night.
Blair’s importance is so outsized compared to the others because Pitt is a relatively small team and it’s only “size” consists of Blair’s bulk. You take away that bulk and you’re left with a 6’6″ swingman and the 6’5″ Biggs and a 6’10” sub who the coach is scared to play under the hoop. Tough to get a bucket or grab a rebound in the lane when you’re giving up tons of inches and lbs. Remember Michigan St, anybody?