Sorry to be absent. I’d love to say I’ve been busy working sources for Big 11 rumors… but I, uh, don’t really have sources. Just offline stuff that had me busy.
As the Rutgers win over ND, and even DePaul scaring the crap out of Syracuse should remind everyone there are no gimmees on the road.
USF has some weapons and can fully pull the upset.
1pm start. The game is onĀ the Big East Network which includes: ESPN FullCourt, MSG, MASN, FoxSports Pittsburgh and BrightHouse Sports for today.
Liveblog below. If you want to break it out, Click Here.
N – I – T …
N – I – T …
So much for overachieving. Here comes the death spiral.
Let’s hope we can pull out a 5-4 record the rest of the way. I think that’s realistic (losses to Nova, WVU twice, and either ND, SH, or Marq.) and 11-7 should get us in the Big Dance without a problem. Right now, that’s all we can ask for with the talent this team has.
WVU – 2 losses
Nova – 1 loss
Rutgers – win
Providence – win
SH – at home, should be win
Marquette – tough, I guess a loss
ND – win, maybe
St. John’s – grind it out win
Even if they go 4-5, that puts them at 10-8 in the best conference in the nation with a win at Syracuse. I still think they get in with a 10-8 record.
I don’t think Nasir added much today. Also don’t think this was necessarily an upset without Jermaine to defend Jones.
And Gibbs really needs to get his jumper back or stop taking it. He is killing Pitt right now.
Not to mention Pitt would be undefeated and tear through the Pac 10.
I can’t wait to hear the negative nillies backpedal when we go down to Morganhole and win…
Also, I can’t wait for the East Coast homers to come out after the move to the B11 and predict the demise of recruiting. Like only NY/NJ/Philly/DC kids are the only talents in the country. If you ask me, I think our recruiting will increase tremendously in Football AND Basketball if we can start picking off the top recruits in the midwest under B11. Villanova, UCONN and the Cuse own the East Coast (elite recruits)….in spite of our tremendous run the last 10 years. If JD has proved anything, he can adjust.
Plus, I still think we will be able to play on the East Coast enough to keep our presence alive in that region.
Games like Seton Hall and South Florida are must wins if you want to remain in the upper echelon of the league. Yes, they’re quality teams with some good players, but Pitt can’t let these games slip through their fingers and expect to make up ground against opponents like WVU and Nova. It’s not going to happen.
The loss of Dixon, supposedly our best defender, was tough. But I found it strange that the staff came out and put Woodall on James. That’s a questionable move at best and led to the early foul trouble for our only other ball handler besides Gibbs. it was also strange that they didn’t isolate Brown on James after James picked up his third foul with about 15 minutes left in the second half. A fourth puts him on the bench and essentially seals the game. South Florida ran every single offensive play for James. Without him, they’re dead in the water.
Throw in the technical and the fact that we rarely look to pass into the interior and I have to say that today was not coach Dixon’s best effort. We can’t keep operating from the perimeter for 30 seconds only to launch an ill-advised jumper as the shot clock winds down. I’m still trying to figure out what Dixon is trying to accomplish on the offensive end of the floor. I can’t see a clear system or approach and I think that’s hurting our performance. If Gibbs isn’t open after running through a couple of screens, we panic and heave up a prayer.
On a positive note, I think Gil was great today. Really assertive going to the basket and played decent defense against James. He was the only one who could stay in front of him and I’m not sure why Dixon didn’t start him in place of Woodall, shuffling Gibbs over to point.
Also, the Pitt fan support was great. I’d say at least 25-50% of the crowd was rooting for the Panthers this afternoon. Granted, USF doesn’t have the tradition or fan base of other Big East programs, but the Pitt contingent was definitely more vocal this afternoon.
Oh well. Moving on from this kick in the gut…
Let’s beat WVU on Wednesday! Hail to Pitt!
Good to see former Panthers still invested in the program.
When Dixon is out and you have Gibbs and Woodall playing, then it’s a pretty bad defensive backcourt.
Gibbs just doesn’t look good. He’s passing shots up and starting to defer a lot, which he can’t do on this team. He’s never going to be great going to the hoop, but he has to play aggressively.
I also was disappointed in McGhee in that game. He had way more bulk than the USF frontcourt and just didn’t through his weight around enough. Don’t know how many pts he had, but he should have been able to get 12-14 and 10 boards against that team and it didn’t feel like he did that. Maybe that’s too much to expect from him, but Pitt’s got nothing else inside, so he has to produce.
Still think they can get to 10 wins…….
The lack of scoring from the four guys that Shady mentions is not what lost this game – it was the inability to stop Jones. I’m not sure if they win the game with Dixon in there, but I agree with hugh that it would have been nice to have one more option on the court, particularly with the way Pitt was switching up.
I still think there was some potential good to come out of this game. First off, both Wanamaker and Brown had success taking their man off the dribble. I am hoping that this becomes the blueprint for the rest of the season – guys attacking the basket. Pitt is not a great outside shooting team, but they do have athletes who can get to the rim. This can (and in my opinion, should) become the identity on offense that this team has been lacking. When things go well, it will also free up Gibbs on the perimeter and clear space for rebounding.
I suppose that back in December most of us marked off expected wins and losses on the schedule to see if Pitt could make it to 10 wins. Not that it means anything, but on my sheet, this is the first game I had marked as a “W” that ended up being a “L”, and Pitt is still 2 games ahead of where I thought they would be. They need 5 more wins to make the NCAA’s, and they still have a really good shot.
McGee also plays somewhat tentatively because if he fouls out there is literally nothing behind him.
And yes, we win the game if the combination of Robinson, Adams, Taylor and Woodall would have scored a not unreasonable average of 2 buckets apiece. They need to contribute both on defense and offense. And when Jones scores 37 they’re not cutting it on defense either.
I hate to think that Wanamaker and Brown taking their man off the dribble is two-thirds our offense.
And a greater effort has to be made to get the ball inside. McGee has some decent post moves and is gaining confidence. Even if he misses a few bunnies, has some balls bounce off of his hands here and there, some more inside out play will open things up for Gibbs on the perimeter and possibly draw some fouls on the other teams’ big men.
In the end last night’s loss, though, was very much about FTs (and, as others noted, what I thought was some pretty atrocious reffing) and just no production from role players. Sneaking out this win would have been great, particularly before an away game at the hoopies.