DVR delay for me. I’ll be glad when this particular work project finishes next week.
Been swamped this week so no time to get things set up for a live blog for Luke.
I should mention that Luke has agreed to become a regular on Pitt Blather for operating liveblogs going forward.
The game is at 7pm on ESPN2.
Luke is determined to do this. So let’s get this thing up at the last minute.
As always if you need to break it out from the site Click Here.
3rd time is the charm. Use this or the first one.
MSG once again, here we go…
THIS ONE IS RIGHT
Illinois-Texas is tied 45-45 at the half right now. Tomorrow will be fun.
Ashton Gibbs really struggled to defend the ball and the dribble drive. He couldn’t (or didn’t) stay in front of his man.
Gilbert Brown continues to make STUPID plays. He hasn’t been the lock down defender that Jamie wants.
Gary McGhee’s offense hasn’t developed as much as many of us thought (hoped) it would. Pitt is going to need some inside scoring or at least the threat of inside scoring to keep teams honest.
Dante Taylor still looks absolutely clueless when he tries to defend the high ball screen with the hedge.
This team is going to be a lot better in March and these problems are not insurmountable. On the positive side:
Talib Zanna looks like the real deal. He upgrades what was arguably the weakest position for Pitt last year, power forward.
Travon Woodall looks to be improved and will provide pitt a spark off the bench.
Depth, depth, depth….Pitt has a ton of answers to whatever the game situation dictates.
Looking forward to tonight!!!!
Woodall, like Wannamaker, is always good for a few really dumb mistakes each game, and Brown also has caught that disease. Brown continues to perplex. His offensive repertoire is just so limited. I don’t know if that’s a confidence thing or just the state of his game.
Williams is a good tactician and he played to Pitt’s weaknesses on both ends, so the game will provide a lot of lessons to ready the team for BE play.
A couple of things not mentioned:
Good to see Nas back so soon. He brought some energy at an important stretch, and I like him coming off of the bench as someone suggested earlier. I don’t see how you can sit Zanna. Like I said after the RI game, he could develop into a PTP and last night confirmed that.
Agree that they somehow need to develop some low post offense. Last night certainly proved that. Gary still looks awkward in the half-court offense, so I don’t blame the other players for not feeding him inside. They do seem to have some confidence in Taylor based on several attempts to get him the ball. He just needs to finish strong instead of trying to be fancy; more like that put-back slam off of Gibbs’ miss. If he has that same attitude off the dribble, he’ll be fine. On D, he needs to anticipate better on the hedge instead of going right at the opponent. Maybe he needs to take a geometry class. ๐
Once again, Jamie found a way to take the opponent’s best player out of the game. You have to love the way he game plans.
Finally, I do like the way these guys can clamp down when they have to. They know how to finish a half and start the second half strong. That will pay dividends throughout the season. Many teams would have been buried after Pitt’s 21-4 run, but Maryland was gritty, a reflection of their coach. So again, it was a good teaching experience.
Looking forward to claiming a championship in the Garden tonight. It’s been a while since that happened.
Last night he made a few really really bad plays, the technical foul and his turnover in the last minute of the game, plus he has still not shown his potential and I hope it comes soon!
Zanna has tons of potential and Gary is Gary, what you see is what you get, space-eater, rebounder but hands of stone.
Texas should be an interesting match up, Peteunit, I get to watch the game with a few UT grads I hope we win because I took a beating last year!
Obviously love what Zanna did tonight, but curious to see what roles Patterson and Moore will play.
I’m convinced Woodall and Taylor are the keys to this team. You know what you’re getting from Gibbs, Wanamaker, and McGhee, to their credit….and Gil will continue to frustrate us all year….but if Woodall can limit the turnovers, and Taylor can get anything going offensively, this team has a real chance. Those two are difference between Sweet 16 and Final Four.
Anyone else at the game have an impression of the Maryland fans? I was blown away by how terribly obnoxious they were. Winning that game was only made sweeter by the fact that it shut up the crowd of Maryland jackasses I was surrounded by.
Texas is big and athletic, but I think we should be able to handle them. Their freshman, Tristan Thompson, is a really tough player on the inside, but I think our bigs are much more athletic than the guys Illinois threw at them.
Thoughts?
Also, he may hurt us on the defensive end of the floor but is head and shoulders above Levance Fields and we survived with him…
Gibbs, et al will start putting nights together where they all produce. I like seeing the bench where guys are stepping in an producing with solid minutes.
Hail to Pitt!
I just wish this team had a PG so we didn’t have to watch Gibbs dribble around. He’d be so tough if all he had to do was come off screens and score. He could be the set-shot version of Ray Allen.
It is different having Zanna’s size in there. Another long body means a lot and he runs like a deer. Love it, plus it eliminates the whole controversy about Taylor playing forward.
I rarely enjoy Robert Montgomery Knight, but did appreciate his comments about Pitt dribbling too much and not cutting enough. Sure, there were some cutters missed but there were plenty of times when players didn’t cut to the ball or to the hoop.
Looking forward to tonight………..Gibbs can sag off the Turkish PG and help out.
I was very happy with Gary yesterday. He is turning into a very good defender in the low post. He makes equal (or better) competitors at the position work for every shot. One frustration foul on a putback dunk, but for the most part, he made the opponent work very hard, take a less than desirable shot (position wise), and earn every point they got.
I do think, however, if Gary is going to be an all-BE defender (as JD hopes)…he needs to start BLOCKING some of the shots coming his way and leading on the defensive rebounding side of the equation.
Our much hearlded guards fizzled big time last night. Gibbs was clearly outhustled, outplayed, and outsized most of the game. I kept waiting for the AG of 2009 that would get to the line early to set the stage for the rest of the game. At times, he channeled his internal Carl Krauser..
Wannamaker was flat out horrible last night. In one 2 mintue sequence, he:
1) Got beat off the dribble and WATCHED the man score with no effort
2) Drove the length of the court and got called for charging
3) Ran back and got burned back door while sleeping on his man
4) Threw a pass from baseline to top of the key, picked off for a turnover, and returned back for a layup by Maryland
I’ve given up on Brown at this point as a 5th year Senior. He will make his blunders– and I attribute those to effort and lack of playing time (due to injury, suspension, and effort).
But Wannamaker has had ample amount of playing time and hand holding…enough with the stupid play at critical moments of the game!!!!! WTF?
Even if McGhee or Taylor are not huge offensive threats, at least getting them some balls in the post forces their man to play D, allows the perimeter to open a little bit and, you never know, one or both of them might make a bucket or two, get on a roll, and contribute some real O or, at the very least, draw more fouls on the opponents’ big men. I see little to no downside to getting just a few more balls into the post.
I got ya covered ๐