If I’m correct (if?), this is the first Super Bowl Sunday game for Pitt in six years. Let’s hope the end is a little better than that one.
This a 2pm game on ESPN. Villanova is tied with the same conference record as Pitt with a 3-7 mark. The difference is they were also below average in the non-con side. Expect some TV commentary about both coaches having a down year at the same time.
Both teams feature frontcourts that tend to get exploited and is a little undersized at the power forward spot. The key, as always with a Jay Wright team, will be how the Wildcat guards are playing. Lots of high-level talent that came out of high school, but not nearly the success or consistency that would be expected by now.
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Otherwise, just a little lower.
Back to basketball. We need Nas to contribute in 2nd half.
loved the aerial photos
Now for the game….adversity does some amazing things to teams…especially the ones that overcome it. As a coach, I always said the best teaching moments are after losses. Having said that, Pitt is finding out that they have very little room for error. We sure are tough though and for the most part a pleasure to watch them overcome the odds.
If I am Jamie, I am practicing nothing but press breaks and clock management plays. Great win… Hail to Pitt!!
IMO, 18 seems more realistic to me, 19 maybe, but I don’t think that’d be enough for our guys to make the tourney even with a couple of BE tournament wins. I think 20 is our magic number. What’s the likelihood of that happening?
But a win is a win is a win….
Keep taking them one at a time.
i know at the pitt complex they have a astro turf set up with yard markers like a real field, and then hanging from the ceiling they have active players uniform and set to formation..like revis at cb with nyjets uniform
Hail to Pitt!
87% 87% 87% 87% 87% 87% 87%
A WORK OF ART!!
A win. I wouldn’t call it a good win, in that those last 12 minutes or so were difficult to watch. But Woodall is carrying this team. He may will them to the Big Dance.
Dante Taylor with two good games in a row. Keep it up.
I sincerely hope Jamie is keeping the players from doing that. They haven’t yet earned that luxury.
All that matters is South Florida, and that will not be an easy game.
Yes it was ugly after we built it up to an 18 point 2nd half lead, but imo that was due to very poor bench point production & performances other than Sleepy. And Nas & Patterson & Zanna all had off games. So it was a good thing Woody and Gibbs both went ‘off’ in the same game. And boy DID THEY, that might have been the best backcourt game from starting Pitt guards in Pitt history, even with the turnovers.
Whatever happened to Woody when he was out, maybe it was sitting on the bench and watching, but he is twice the player he was before the injury. Maybe he realized his Pitt career is winding down and now he has a sense of urgency(yes I do realize he has another year left) and they do realize the season and our NCAA streak is in jeopardy. And who wants to be on the team, that broke the streak in a bad way.
USF just got hammered by G’Town by 30 points so they will be licking their wounds and will be ready. Let’s pack up the gear and head to Tampa and get another win.
Hail to Pitt !
Veritas et Virtus !
Great win.
If he keeps hitting the 3s, we may have to call him ‘Trey’
When Gibbs is hitting like that, it’s like a running back getting 5 or 6 yards per carry in a pro set …. dare we dream?
Hey Very big win today at the Pete! Even though they tried to give it away at the end. Naz’s long ball inbound pass saved the day, Now let’s if they can keep this thing going at South Florida. Every win from here on in matters.
Wbb, I really don’t think it’s fragility. Really I think this is proof what difference a few adjustments can make and that Woodall is actually just a really good player.
Love, LOVE, that Taylor has been stepping up.
Lastly Woodall being back is the difference between having one main go-to guy, who if he’s off or the focus of the d is going to completely undermine your offense, versus having two go-to guys who now open up the floor for everyone by spreading the defense and when either can step up as needed. Not to mention we now have a true distributor. It’s all obviously changed everything .
Thought they were reverting to form in the second half. Lucky that Villanova is not very good.
Pitt doesn’t have the depth OSU does, but it is building it.
Whatever, this is a really interesting season!
Last night I was surprised that the announcers didn’t mention his blocking at all. On every big rushing play the Giants had Hynoski had a key block – usually sealing off a LB.
Plus, notice how far down field he was when the Giants receiver fumbled and Hynoski was there to recover. A lot of RBs and FBs in particular just execute their one block and let the rest of the play go on without them but He was trailing the play down field.
Also saw a good bit of what I call the twin towers (Zanna and Taylor) yesterday. I actually didn’t think they played bad together. Although, I am a huge Dante Taylor apologist. Speaking of Dante Taylor another solid game by him. Since January 1st, he is a solid 11-14, 79% from the line.
Pitt also greatly represented in Hall selection!
Great day for Pitt!
I don’t know if Kelly purposely allowed Pitt to score their last TD easily. But, I always thought Pitt should have tried to take more time off the clock before scoring to give Cincy less time to score at the end because neither team’s defense could stop the other late in that game.
“If were Wannstedt, I would kneel on the ball 3 times, run the clock down, and then kick the field goal.”
The very next play Dion ran it in from 7 yard out for the TD…………..and then they missed the extra point. That miss ultimately cost Pitt the game and the Big East Championship.
It was a very VERY tough loss. but who’s to say we wouldn’t have missed the chip shot field goal.
Taylor absolutely loves being on the highlight reel. Whenever he has even the slightest of chances to dunk the ball, even when out of position, he tries. He tries hard. He pounds his chest and screams when he dunks. We love it. He loves it more.
For a guy like Tray, two points is two points. Dante is used to being in the spotlight as a former McDonald’s All-American. He needs plays like that to get him going. Once he does, he’s better at both ends of the court, particularly on defense.
Dixon/Woodall need to recognize this and get Dante going early. I don’t think Jamie’s the type of coach to give into a player’s ego, but Dante is our best big man when he’s at the top of his game. Feed Dante early on some pick and rolls and get his motor started. We’ll absolutely need him down the stretch. H2P.
Good weekend for the Panthers.
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I don’t know if he was specifically talking about it, but I think Tray was interviewed after the game, and mentioned something like “when the team is happy on offense, they play better defense, too.”
What I’m seeing from this Pitt team offensively, is that they’re much more confident in their shooting, much more fluid with their shots. You can see this in their foul shooting from earlier in the season, compared to now. I pray that nothing shakes this confidence down the stretch!
Why he needs to be getting more looks:
We are not deep enough in the backcourt to rely solely on our jump shooters. Taylor and Zanna need to be more and more involved, whether or not the shots fall at a high percentage. Defenses need to be kept honest so that we have opportunities to kick it out for jump shots. I know this is a stretch, but Ray Allen’s best looks come after Garnett tosses it out. If defenses begin to collapse on our bigs, it makes life much, much easier.
Dante is perfectly capable of being a star. It’s in his nature to be complacent. I think if more plays were designed for him, or even just to get him involved, he’d play with more tenacity.
Note: this is all speculative. I’m perfectly happy with how we’re playing right now because we’re winning, but if Tray doesn’t score 20+ per game our games will turn into very long nights.
Because of foul trouble on Robinson and Patterson, Jamie was forced to play Dante and Talib together. It worked. As soon as zanna came in the post defense improved and the defensive rebounding got better. Nova was killing Pitt on the offensive glass up until then.
I wish Jamie would play the match up game a little more and use the two bigs when the opponent goes big.
BTW, with their inclusion, that ties Pitt with Ohio State and Michigan as the third highest number of inductees from one university. Pitt football may be in an extended slump compared to other college football powerhouses from a win/loss point of view over the last few years but we are obviously a NFL player factory and therefore a school that continues to create a great history with a rich football tradition. Hail to Pitt.