No matter how many times in a row Pitt keeps beating Villanova, it will not make up for that Elite Eight game. But, it will have to do that Pitt keeps beating the Wildcats.
Well, I wrote it after the WVU game, but it bears repeating. This Pitt squad is Tray Woodall’s to lead on the court. When I watch Woodall bringing the ball up court and either Nasir Robinson or Lamar Patterson is going ahead pushing the opposing team’s defender up court. Keeping the defense at bay and from putting any pressure on the ball until Woodall crosses half court and can set the offense. It almost strikes me as the advance guards clearing and protecting the way for the commander.
A bit over-the-top? A little. But it kind of works. The other Pitt players fall in to line and place with Woodall leading this team. He brings a confidence that the rest of the team feeds. The hesitation. The stagnation at both ends. The confusion. All seem to have dissipated with Woodall out there.
This past week’s performance by Woodall also earned him Big East Player of the Week honors.
The rest of the team is just better and more sure of themselves when Woodall is playing.
“I just want to attack,” said Woodall, who is still smarting from an abdominal injury that kept him out of 11 of 12 games in December and most of January. “I don’t know if anyone thinks I’m hurting or whatever the case may be. I just want to leave the floor knowing that I made no excuses. I’m not worrying about my injury. I’m just going out there and playing basketball. At the end of the day, you don’t want to leave the court with regrets. You want to leave the court knowing that you gave everything on the floor… that you fought for your teammates. That’s what I’m trying to do. And it’s helping me look real good.”
That sentiment seems to be running through the rest of the team.
Pitt made it through another game against Villanova. The 79-70 final both did and did not reflect the way this game was. Pitt trailed for nearly 10 minutes in the first half before Woodall led a surge that gave Pitt a double-digit halftime lead. A lead that Pitt briefly built up to an 18 point lead before it settled into a 9-12 point lead for most of the second half.
Most brief runs by Villanova came when Coach Jamie Dixon tried to give Woodall a minute or two of rest. There weren’t many. Woodall played 37 minutes — 19 in the second half. He had to be out there for both ends of the ball. It definitely played into several turnovers in the waning minutes — esepecially that random pass to the 3d row.
But he knows his teammates and they know him. As that homerun play that finally broke Villanova and their almost comeback drove home.
The teams traded free throws, and Pitt led, 71-68, with 22 seconds to play when Nasir Robinson hit a streaking Woodall on a daring, 60-foot inbounds pass. Woodall caught the ball and was intentionally fouled while making a basket. By the time Villanova got the ball back — four free throws later — Pitt led, 77-68, with 19 seconds to play.
Robinson and Woodall had made eye contact before the risky, press-breaking pass.
“That was a big play by Nas and Travon,” Dixon said. “They made that call on their own.”
Perhaps more important than the score was the refs huddling in front of the monitor to determine Ty Johnson intentionally fouled Woodall. That was a free timeout for Pitt to let Woodall get a little rest. He was struggling down the stretch.
Brief aside, I think the refs were dead wrong. It was not an intentional/flagrant to me. It struck me as a make-up call for Jim Burr’s incompetency by blowing his whistle expecting a shot clock violation nearly a minute earlier. A play that could well have put it out of reach then and there with Taylor right there to put down a slam — or just get fouled if he took too long fumbling with the ball.
As for Villanova, 8-days ago they blew an 18 point lead to Marquette to lose by 4. This time, they nearly came back from an 18-point deficit, but couldn’t.
At this point, what more can anyone really say? The Wildcats (10-13, 3-8 Big East) have been able to play with many opponents. But most of the time, they simply don’t have enough to make the ultimate difference. And that’s why they keep score.
There’s been a four-point loss at Marquette, a four-point loss at Cincinnati, a 10-point loss at Louisville in which they led by five at halftime, a second four-point loss to Marquette. And now this.
“It’s inconsistency of inexperience,” said coach Jay Wright, reiterating what’s become the theme of this bumpy ride. “That’s exactly what it is.”
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. Kind of like Pitt during its losing streak without Woodall. Fran Fraschilla doing the color commentary was excellent in the game and made a few great points about how much Villanova really didn’t have anyone else on the outside with some consistency to help in the backcourt. That Maalik Wayans has to do too much back there — like Gibbs without Woodall.
“It’s kind of frustrating,” Cheek admitted. “Everyone on our team would like to see results now. [Not having anything to show for the effort] has been killing us.
“We have to just keep not letting the other games affect us, keep playing. We can’t let [this] get us down.”
…”They’re starting to look like the old Pitt team again,” Wright noted. “[Woodall] makes everyone more comfortable, in the way they normally play.”
The Wildcats led by five after 13 minutes before Pitt went on a 22-2 run that helped make it 40-28 at intermission. But James Bell and Johnson each fouled out in a combined 45 minutes, and the young bench contributed seven points, two boards and three assists in 38 minutes. Much of that came from junior Maurice Sutton in his 8 minutes.
“It’s been tough for [Wayns],” Wright said. “He’s handled it really well. Everyone knows they have to stop him. We’re trying to establish [other people].”
It’s getting late.
Fraschilla also pointed out, that despite the Wayans-led, highly regarded recruiting class (Scout.com ranked them #2 and Rivals.com said #3 in 2009) that included Cheek, Yarou and Armwood (4-star recruit who transferred, but wasn’t doing well before that) that it was a class that hasn’t delivered outside of Wayans. Both Wayans and Cheek were McDonald’s All-Americans. No matter the coach, it does happen.
The other key for this Pitt win was the free throw shooting.
The Panthers made a season-high 27 free throws on 31 attempts in their 79-70 victory over Villanova on Sunday to extend their recent success at the line. Since going 1 for 6 against Louisville on Jan. 21, Pitt is shooting 83.0 percent (78 for 94) during its four-game winning streak.
Even Dante Taylor is getting into the act. The 6-foot-9 junior center is shooting 77.8 percent (14 for 18) since Jan. 1.
“I’ve been practicing,” he said. “Being more focused, taking it more serious. Those are easy points, and it’s a way to help my team out.”
Sunday, Tray Woodall (12 for 12) and Ashton Gibbs (7 for 7) didn’t miss, and Pitt made 21 of 23 in the second half.
Nice to see and by the end, it was needed.
Nice to see Taylor hitting FTs. Are we being too hard on him at this point? He’s actually playing OK, if below the expectations we all had for him.
Regradless of how they ultimately finish the season, it’s good to see them playing Pitt basketball again.
Hopefully not, but I guess after the past few months I’m bracing for a setback. Fortunately, USF and Seton Hall might be beatable even with a down game from Woodall. Either way, wow, he’s playing ridiculously well.
If Tray doesn’t fall down (like he seems to do after every contact — including the 2 times is shots were blocked in 2nd half), it wouldn’t even had been an issue.
What a nice ride these last 4 games have been.
It’ll really be interesting to see how far it goes.
I have never agreed much with any of Burr’s calls and the one FF could have gone either way…but it’s “Mr. look at me!” Burr…loves the dramatics on TV.
I know we won and at times looked like a top 10 team, but can we have just one game without Gibbs turning the ball over at the top of the key…either with a lazy pass or like Saturday when he tried to spin dribble without his bar arm up for protection. He might as well have just handed the ball to the Villanova player for a layup.
Great foul shooting…can’t wait for SF. HTP
As for Woodall going down when he is hit, all I will say is that from my seats, it looked like Woodall was getting body checked and mugged all game long. Villanova clearly wanted to play physical with him, and for the most parts the refs let the contact go early in the game.
Question on the shot clock violation – was it obvious that the ball hit the rim? Again, it looked like it at the Pete, but we don’t have the benefit of replay. The strange part of that play is that it seemed like the whistle blew when the ball was in the air halfway to the hoop (and it appeared that it was Burr that blew it, since he was the one waving off the shot). What was the final ruling on that play – shot clock violation or alternating possession to Villanova?
Of course, the related question is how does Jim Burr keep his job year after year?
More accusations surface against former Wisconsin AD
By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press
Dixon does a fantastic job of developing players, and has done it many times with the pg, and another example as Woodall seems to be coming into his own.
Woody isn’t exactly Hulk Hogan out there, and you factor in his injury and clearly one element of Nova’s game plan was to be physical with Woody and try to wear him out. Add 19 minutes of 20 being played and it showed in the last couple minutes.
If he goes down when he gets fouled or when his shot blocked, again Woody is usually the smallest guy on the court. I would think that would cut him a little bit of slack, at least with us.
He’s a star player which for most everyone else in the BigEast, it usually gets some slack from the refs as well. I know it would for certain select teams.
As for Woody having an off game and Pitt not being able to overcome that, I give you the Georgetown game as Exhibit A, as to why that’s not a given.
On to Tampa & USF and let’s keep this train rolling !
Coming into this year I felt good about Travon Woodall and the team’s chances. Last season Woodall had really come through in several games, comming in off the bench. He was playing well early in the year, then when he got hurt the the wheels came off. It’s good to see him back and let’s see where they can go from here.
Here’s a question for the rules aficionados out there…does an inadvertent whistle only revert to the possession arrow at the end of the shot clock? When nobody is in possession of the ball at the time of the whistle? Anytime?
Trying to think logically about this, I guess if Burr blew the whistle while the ball was in the air, then technically nobody had possession. Pitt clearly got the rebound, so I assume if the whistle had blown at that point Pitt would have retained possession.
As for Burr, like Higgins he has been around forever and somehow has the reputation of being a good ref, but for the life of me, I can’t figure it out. I remember him being bad back in the 1980s, and he hasn’t gotten better with age.
I guess “inadvertent” is the technical term, but “mistaken” might be more apt. Burr’s reaction indicated that he really thought there was a shot clock violation, so it seems he was quite purposeful in blowing the whistle…he was just wrong. At least it didn’t affect the outcome…this time.
time to brink David Walker back to Pitt
Newly hired Pitt RB coach bolts to Wisconsin
By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Monday, February 6, 2012
Last updated: 3:32 pm
Eddie Faulkner, the Pitt running backs coach for less than a month, was hired to coach tight ends at the University of Wisconsin, Badgers coach Bret Bielema announced today.
Faulkner played running back at Wisconsin from 1996-2000 and spent last season as the running backs coach/special teams coordinator at Northern Illinois. Prior to that, he was on the Ball State staff for seven seasons.
Pitt coach Paul Chryst hired Faulkner on Jan. 12.
Read more: Newly hired Pitt RB coach bolts to Wisconsin – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review link to pittsburghlive.com
I agree, Walker would be a welcome addition.
Here’s the rule:
Section 3. Alternating-Possession Situations
Art. 1. The ball shall be put in play by the team entitled to the throw-in at a
designated spot where:
g. An inadvertent whistle occurs, and there is no player or team control.
Art. 1. An inadvertent whistle occurs any time an official blows the whistle as an
oversight and does not have a call to make.
By this definition, it would seem almost all Burr’s whistles are inadvertent.
Good riddance, I say.
Remember to vote for The Oakland Zoo as the Naismith Student Section of the Year. First round voting ends February 12: link to facebook.com
I’m the same way with RB’s, “they won’t ever be able to replace (insert name)”.
Hey guys, not making light of losing the RB coach, but, minor!! He’ll get one. And as Chas’ new post suggests, maybe a guy with a different recruiting area, he was MAC/Big 10 area. I think we have that covered.
First, Patterson has to be more consistent. Tray will not be able to carry this team on his shoulders every game, and Gibbs’ ability to score big is closely linked to Tray’s performance. Patterson will have to step up and contribute double digit scoring and more assists on drives to the hoop.
Zanna & Taylor cannot miss layups. The idea of a layup should be zapped from their brains. Everything within a few feet of the rim has to be a hard move with the intention to dunk. In close games, or even games with a comfortable lead, those misses can come back to haunt you. Villanova began to turn the game around in the second half after Taylor missed what should have been a dunk.
Late in the game, Gibbs cannot have the ball in his hands with the shot clock winding down, even if Woodall is not in the game (which, barring foul trouble, should not be the case). It happened again in the Nova game and the result, a turnover, was totally predictable.
Moore or Wright need to contribute more offensively. Not much, but 8-10 points b/w them per game would be huge. Heck, if Moore could just make one of the several open 3s he gets every game, that would be tremendous.
Really looking forward to this final stretch. Totally different than it’s been in recent memory, where this part of the season was more about whether this team would be a 1, 2, or 3 seed.
I liked seeing Zanna & Taylor in the game at the same time. Naz needs a break every once in a while and I would prefer one of those guys comes in for him instead of Patterson.
I couldn’t agree more with Carmen about DUNKING. Taylor and Zanna both need to DUNK as often as possible as layups are not a given.
link to beyondthearc.nbcsports.com
I agree with Tony on Cam Wright – expecting much offense out of him at this point is probably wishful thinking. He missed a bunny towards the end of the Villanova game simply because of nerves. That being said, his rotation on defense has improved, and he is providing some rebounding from the 2/3 that is much needed. Because of that, he will continue to get spot duty and be valuable down the stretch.
USF is not a pushover, and road games in the Big East are never easy. That being said, Pitt needs to find a way to win tomorrow. No style points, just win…
