There’s just no way to avoid one game or the other. Well, I could watch the basketball game and not check e-mail, twitter, texts and everything else for the roughly two hours. But that just isn’t realistic.
Detroit is the third team from Michigan that Pitt will play in the first 8 games. The Titans are only 2-3, but it looks like a good 2-3. They lost by only 3 to St. John’s. Miami beat them soundly, but Miami is actually a pretty good team this year. I expect them to give Pitt a game. Especially since Pitt will be trying to work on getting the ball inside.
12-8 Detroit w. the ball on another Pitt to.
Now down 15-8 after being up 8-0.
Here’s a solution….dribble drive to the post and pass!! Please do it soon.
Pitt is going to see zone EVERY game..
they better figure it out… and soon..
Pitt will be looking at an NIT invite if they don’t figure out how to penetrate the zone soon.
I think Detroit is the better team on the floor tonight…at least so far. I am encouraged by Woodall’s play. Robinson getting tied in knots by detroit’s top guard…Cerrtte?
I’m bouncing between both games.
which is one of the “tweaks” I wanted to see on transitions… missed shots or turnovers.
Woodall hardly played the 2nd half…
They are a different team when he is out…
Ended up shooting 48% FG….47% from 3 and 78% FT.
Not bad shooting. Had two more rebounds than the Titans, which has got to improve.
Basically zilch out of the Center position, as Adams only played 12 minutes and Sleepy slept thru 13 minutes on the floor.
The line for 25 minutes from the Centers:
2 points , 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 1 block,
0 assists.
Team played a lot better with both of them on the bench, to be honest.
@panther94….skip the 1rst half, if u can bro.
A win is a win is a win ( i keep telling myself)
We are now 7-1 and the big City game coming up on Weds. (good thing DU stinks)
HtP !
Like Howard, Detroit was a goon squad. Refs let a lot of it go. Pitt needs to get a bit of a mean streak.
After the last couple of games their talent and depth won. But they need to be prepared for more talented teams that play a physical game.
James Robinson, on the other hand, is amazing. Not flashy but so solid at both ends of the floor.
He is showing signs as a true freshman of a being a special player. He hardly ever shoots, but when he needs to they go in. Late in the second half he iced the game with a bank shot and two long ones. His demeanor never changes. He is a calm, cool, collected operator. And to think this he is only 8 games into his career at Pitt.
I like when Jamie lets the team run. You could tell that in the second half there was a concerted effort to push the ball upcourt and it resulted in some easy baskets. OMHO, Pitt has more finishers on the team then possibly ever. The team is very athletic. He should take the reins off a little more in the first half because the defense seems to feed off transition buckets and the turnovers start to come from the opposition in bunches. A lot of credit goes to Jamie and the coaching staff for their halftime adjustments. It made the difference in the game.
It is fair to say that Pitt is a work in progress; much like Kentucky. UK got humiliated at ND and spanked at home by Baylor. Mostly because they got pushed around in the paint.
My observations thus far center on our bigs having mild dispositions. I don’t want a gentle giant in the post.
I want the damn not jolly Green Giant pissed as shit because he found someone stealing peas from the garden!
Get mad boys!!! Ok, you made me do it. Hey Adams, your mother wears Army boots ! Dante, you couldn’t get laid at a nymphomaniacs convention!
That ought to piss ’em off.
Ontario Lett was the most underrated player at Pitt in the last 30 years!
1. He is not aggressive when sealing his man off for an entry pass into the post.
2. He hesitates too much when he does get the ball on the block allowing teams like Detroit, who are hell bent on hacking away at more skilled teams, the ability to be “successful” on the defensive end.
3. He does not have any block-out instinct when a shot goes up. Several times he was beaten for a rebound because he was caught watching the shot instead of finding a man to put his ass into.
I agree with the refrain on here that our front court needs to start playing with a little more fire and edge. To hell with worrying about foul trouble…we need to set the table early in games with our desire to hit the glass hard.
On a side note, when you have Jamie Breeding as the “good” ref on a crew, you get the kind of game we had last night. Horribly inconsistent calls, Detroit got away with a lot of bush-league stuff and the chippiness just ramped up throughout the game. Serious body banging on one end would be allowed. Then this group of zebra idiots would call a hand check on the next set. The game had long stretches with little flow, due in part by the way the game was called.
Three important positives:
1. Like the Howard and Oakland games earlier, even when Pitt plays poorly, they are showing the ability to regroup and not loose focus. Granted, grinding out games against lower level teams is easier than coming back after a poor half against the likes of Louisville and Syracuse.
2. Woodall and Patterson are getting more consistent with their deep shots and Durand Johnson is looking like he can become a little instant energy off the bench.
3. James Robinson is the real deal. He never gets rattled, makes a lot of really good decisions, and has a perfect demeanor on the court for a point guard. He is ICE on the court. Love that kid’s game.
Woodall is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. While his three point shooting kept Pitt in the game in the first half, his lack of defense and lack of play making against the zone helped Detroit build a lead. There was no one on the Detroit team that Woodall could gaurd. At one point, Dixon had him guarding Bruinsma, a 6’8″ set shooting forward. He picked up three fouls in the first half and Jamie started Wright in the second half. Wright did a nice job on defense and on the break.
Zanna, Robinson and Patterson had better all around games than Woodall. Robinson (6 assists) and Patterson (7 assists) did much better creating offense against the zone in the second half. They both were able to penentrate off the dribble and ball/shot faked to move the zone. Zanna played a ton of center and was much more aggressive on offense in the second half. His free throws were huge. Robinson also did a nice job on defense slowing down McCallum a little. Robinson also hit some key shots.
Early on, it looked like the team was really trying to get the ball inside, but Adams just couldn’t do anything with it. He had a few turnovers and really wasn’t a threat. He just bogged down the offense. Taylor was no better. So Dixon had to go small with Zanna at center and Moore at power forward. And while the zone offense works much better, they have a tough time rebounding. Rebounding has to get better. Adams’ development is critical to Pitt’s success. He needs to be on the court and he needs to grab rebounds.
Heard some disturbing rumors that the team is unhappy with Adams in the starting center spot, they think Taylor has put in the time and should be the starter. If true, Jamie needs to be all over this. Clearly, Adams gives Pitt the better chance to be good. But if the team losses confidence in him, that could start a vicious cycle. How Dixon handles Adams development in this month of cupcakes will go a long way to determining how the Big East season will go.
Thanks for the thorough analysis. My problem with Woodall is that he is a defensive liability on the floor. I would rather see him coming off the bench to provide some instant offense. I’m hoping Zeigler will be starting opposite Robinson once the Big East season rolls around. The lack of rebounding concerns me at this point. Pitt should be a much better rebounding team with their size down low.
Detroit is no cupcake. Defending Horizon League champ and gave Kansas everything it could handle in 2nd round of NCAA Tourney last year (not CBI ftr)
Pitt has talent this year, but the youth is going to preclude a lot of “gimmee” games, even against less talented teams.
Zanna at center and Moore at power forward seems to be Dixon’s preferred late game frontcourt.
I agree that offensively Woodall can do some good things but defensively is completely another issue. He is a defensive mismatch any way you look at it. Small guards his size just blow right past him. He is too small and weak to guard athletic shooting guards. One of the big issues last year was that Woodall and Gibbs could not man up on anyone. Pitt suffered when they had both of these guys in there at the same time.
However, Woodall as backup PG is fine…
I just have a problem with Woodall as SG…
Robinson is a great PG… for a frosh.. wow.
The disappointment last night was with Adams and Dante. Need more RBs from those two. Talib bounced back from a shaky start to star. His block at one end and 3 pt play was a key sequence. and he was making his FT! As noted, Jamie went with JJ and Talib down the stretch and it was his best 4-5 combo. Detroit was very physical and hacked away all night. The intentional foul on JJ was a mauling.
Unlike our FB team, this team comes from behind and wins. Jamie makes great adjustments and our depth gives him alot of options. A good win against a physical team with a very good guard. Will need better play from Adams/Taylor once the BE schedule starts and we see better bigs. HTP
What is it in Woodall’s game that causes Adams and Dante to omit rebounding and scoring from their games?
but not as a SG…
He can’t play defense as SG… he is 5’11 going against 6’2″min SG’s…
and when he plays SG… the team just stands around and doesn’t play the same when he is not SG… reminds me of last year with Gibbs.
Woodall tends play defense with his upper body as if he were playing low, so he loses the first half step.
But whether he plays SG or PG, he will still be matched up with someone on defense. If Dixon wanted, he could put Trey on the center, so call me crazy but isn’t a solution to have him defend the the lesser threat of the opposition?
I see so much else in his game to make him a starter, that while I agree he is not our best defender, he is one of our best players.
But let’s see how the season goes…I see him better at playing off the PG as they tend to pass first, but if the PG is a penetrating guard and the scorer is a spot up shooter, then maybe he plays the spot up shooter.
But considering all around play and the fact that Robinson, while giving every sign of being a curt general of the highest order, has not yet played 10 D1 games, I am going to stick with Trey.
