After two games in Cork, Ireland the Pitt basketball players will travel to Dublin for two games and finish with two in Belfast.
The games in Cork were not even close. Game 1, a 99-54 whupping on the Irish National Team. In Game 2, more of the same with a 92-52 blasting of the South Regional All-Stars.
These dominating performances should not be a surprise. There is something of a disparity in talent level with the competition thus far. Here’s the interesting note from the second game.
The Panthers started [Talib] Zanna and Lamar Patterson at forward, Dante Taylor at center and Wanamaker and Travon Woodall at guard. Pitt’s three freshmen — [J.J.] Moore, Aron Nwankwo and Cameron Wright–all saw their first action in the game. Due to NCAA rules, Sunday marked the first day that the trio was eligible to compete on the trip.
[Emphasis added.]
Clearly Coach Dixon is taking advantage of this time to play with line-ups. Make sure everyone sees some time, and see what kind of chemistry there is with certain groups.
Unfortunately, the box scores do not include minutes played.
Villanova By the Numbers has some tempo-free stat breakdowns of both games (he has the spare time in the offseason) that are very useful.
Zanna logged a double-double in the second game and was 5-5 on shooting. Gilbert Brown has had his way in the first two games and VBTN has what I find to be an outstanding bit of snark:
…the offense will run through junior point guard Ashton Gibbs and senior forward Gilbert Brown. This was the fourth consecutive off season in which Pitt observers have predicted a “break out” year for the athletic forward. Maybe they are right this time.
Sooner or later it could happen.
Other casual observations from the box scores.
— Dante Taylor has been aggressive in rebounding with 16 in two games.
— Brad Wanamaker will continue to play a significant role in running the offense/distributing the ball. 16 assists and 2 turnovers in the two games. (Also, he could do that in two regular season games and there would still be people complaining that he “looked” out of control.)
— Zanna is 8-9 shooting so far. Trying not to read too much into it other than to assume that he is showing a soft touch, working for inside position, and — with 8 offensive rebounds — some easy put-backs.
— Not having minutes breakdown is frustrating, but I am guessing that Gary McGhee is getting very few minutes as Coach Dixon plays the younger big guys more minutes.
— Nasir Robinson is 4-5 on free throws.
Assistant AD for basketball and Director of Media Relations, Greg Hotchkiss, has done a couple entries talking about the trip. He has one on the arrival in Dublin, and the trip to see the Blarney Stone.
We also encountered a Mountaineer fan who started yelling, “Go Mountaineers, Go Mountaineers!” And at that point, one of our travel party responded, “How’s Huggins?”
Fantastic.
And this.
While at Neptune Stadium, athletic trainer Tony Salesi and Big East official Wally Rutecki, who was presented with a gift of two pint glasses of *Murphy’s Stout beer, both took a quick tour of the home lockerroom. Keeping with Irish tradition, the lockerroom contained a full Irish bar with Irish lagers and stouts on tap in a setting of dark stained woods. Also in the lockerroom was luxurious plush leather seating made specifically for the home team to relax. The players will not be partaking in the post-game amenities, but the support staff certainly will take some time to visit to the room!
But can you get growlers to go?
