As is usual these days with a new coach, it isn’t enough for him to be good coach and recruiter. We have to like him. We have to know his story, the losses and what made him who he is.
Sorry if this sounds too cynical. It’s just that while this is the common thing, it still comes down to wins and losses. It won’t matter how sympathetic his story is, or carefully packaged information that might offer insights into what makes Todd Graham tick. It is simply about winning.
That’s not to say there weren’t interesting nuggets in the profile pieces today. The influence of a high school coach that helped change his life. The mother that worked multiple jobs and sacrificed for her kids.
There are games where one player dominates and changes the game. There are others where a team plays so far over its head, or a team plays so far underwater. This was not anything like those games. This was a game where a team played a simple game of using its strengths to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent.
Pitt is blessed with outstanding depth at virtually all positions. Seton Hall not so much, and even less in the front court. That quickly became an area Pitt targeted in a relatively easy rout of Seton Hall, 74-53.
The Pirates have a frontline of Herb Pope and Jeff Robinson and that’s about it. The one other guy that tries to spell both is a true freshman. That means a relatively undersized frontcourt can’t play aggressively for fear of picking up too many fouls. Pitt’s game plan was to take advantage of this by going inside, often.
