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February 4, 2013

I don’t know why I have more animosity towards Seton Hall than any of the other schools that will form the corp of the Big Priest. It might be a Jersey thing coupled with being a private school that creates a particularly noxious breed of self-entitled fanbase and program that enjoys more relevance than, say, Farleigh-Dickenson simply for its Big East affiliation. At least Providence had a whole New England basketball culture to claim from the 70s with BC, Holy Cross, etc.

I guess it’s worth mentioning that the Pirates are coached (technically) by a former Pitt player in Kevin Willard. They aren’t particularly good. They sit at a righteous 13th in the Big East. Ahead of the only teams they have beaten this year — USF and DePaul. They have shown themselves capable of being blown out (74-52 to Georgetown) and playing a great game to only fall short (65-59 against Cinci).

The Pirates have had injuries — losing Patrik Auda to injury — and not getting their own transfer waiver to go — Ashton Gibb’s little brother, Sterling from Texas. They have tried to rebuild quickly from the Gonzo years with transfers. They have Brian Oliver from Georgia Tech and Gene Teague from SIU providing an impact.

They have a very good guard in Fuquan Edwin. I do expect Edwin to give Pitt some problems. He’s a wing player so Lamar Patterson will have primary defensive duties. Durand Johnson better be ready to play, because I am betting that Patterson will have some foul troubles tonight.

Coach Jamie Dixon is preaching that the team still hasn’t played a great game in over a week. And that all the games really matter at this point.

“It’s not like it gets easier,” Dixon said. “I think every game is a must-win. That’s the kind of standard we’ve developed here and play with.

“We were extremely disappointed with how we played against Louisville. We didn’t get it done with a three-point game on the road against a good team. You’ve got to finish off and get it done here (Saturday), and we did. We were down after that game because we didn’t feel we played well — or up to our standards.”

Tray Woodall is closing in on the 1000 point barrier to go with 500+ assists.

The list of others that reached 1,000 points and 500 assists reads like a who’s who of Pitt’s all-time great guards. It includes Brandin Knight, Carl Krauser, Jerry McCullough, Sean Miller, Levance Fields and Darelle Porter.

“It would be an honor to join those guys,” Woodall said. “I know when I got here no one expected me to do it.”

There was a time when fans cringed when he shot a 3-pointer. He made just 1 of 12 attempts from behind the arc as a freshman. He shot 27 percent the next season and 29 percent the following season.

Now he’s one of the team’s best outside shooters. He improved to 38.6 percent last season and is shooting 37 percent this season. More than one-third of his 978 points have come from behind the 3-point line. He can thank his improved shooting stroke when he becomes the 41st player in school history to reach 1,000 points.

“It would mean a lot to do it,” Woodall said of scoring 1,000 points. “There have been a lot of great players here. But I’m not focused on it. I’m just doing whatever I can to help the team win.”

ESPNU at 9pm.





Dixon always looka constipated

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 10:37 pm

The way they are playing is much worse. If they have to whine about officials against this crap team they deserve to lose.

Comment by scotch 02.04.13 @ 10:37 pm

I’m seriously sick

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 10:41 pm

@Scotch – agreed but the bad reffing clearly is affecting the way they are playing and the number of additional possessions SH is getting.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 10:42 pm

They have one player, Edwin, who has about 57 points and we still don’t cover him and cannot stop him. We deserve to lose this the way we are playing.

Comment by Dan 72 02.04.13 @ 10:42 pm

Favored by 16 and another nailbiter.

Comment by gc 02.04.13 @ 10:43 pm

pitt deserves to lose tonight. pathetic.

Comment by scott 02.04.13 @ 10:45 pm

to add to the 45 turnovers and unforced errors we are our usual effecient 7 – 14 from the foul line. Glad we fixed that problem.

Comment by Dan 72 02.04.13 @ 10:46 pm

Never tempt fate. 13-9.
It would help if we could cut to the basket more.

Comment by SFPitt 02.04.13 @ 10:47 pm

Edwin hurt so maybe we can win by 3 or 4

Comment by scotch 02.04.13 @ 10:47 pm

Bad T on Adams and no call on the intentional the other way…nice and fair.

Comment by Pendlum 02.04.13 @ 10:50 pm

this has now become the worst officiated game of the year. Where did they get these …the Super Bowl???

Comment by Dan 72 02.04.13 @ 10:51 pm

9-17 from the charity stripe…sweet.

Comment by Pendlum 02.04.13 @ 10:53 pm

It really has been a terribly officiated game..but our effort is terrible tonight

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 10:54 pm

So Teague hanging on the rim long enough to grab the rebound is only offensive basket interference, no T but Adams trying not to fall on his back gets T’d up. Truly unfucking believable.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 10:55 pm

pitt up 5 w/ 4:30 to play. here’s a hint pitt: guard 23.

Comment by scott 02.04.13 @ 10:55 pm

And no contact on that Edwin steal? Give me a break.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 10:57 pm

And now a foul on Pitt. If I were Jamie I would just take everyone off the floor and say screw it.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 10:57 pm

please…just win!!

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 10:57 pm

We are turning Edwin into superman. He just gets his 6th steal with slopping dribbling in traffic by Robinson. I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing . We are handing SH this game!

Comment by Dan 72 02.04.13 @ 10:58 pm

Need to get Adams 2 more pts for a double double

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 10:59 pm

By the way, great move by Adams before the hang. Hope we see a lot more of that one.

Comment by gc 02.04.13 @ 10:59 pm

screw the double double…i want a win!!

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 11:00 pm

Guards CANNOT miss FTs.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 11:01 pm

the fucking pg can’t make a free throw!

Comment by scott 02.04.13 @ 11:01 pm

I would rather have 6 people score 10 points than 9 players score 50. Nothing like averaging just over 5 points per player.

Comment by Pendlum 02.04.13 @ 11:02 pm

6 scoring ten is only 1.6666 per player

Comment by scotch 02.04.13 @ 11:04 pm

Patterson, 2/2 FTs.

MVP.

Comment by Lou 02.04.13 @ 11:04 pm

How bad is Seton Hall that were up 9..the way we’ve played is sick

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 11:05 pm

Whew.

Comment by Scott 78 02.04.13 @ 11:07 pm

Looks like we will pull this one out.

I have only done this with one team I ever coached but if I was Jamie, no one would get out of their uniform They would stay and shoot free throws for an hour and the guards would play one on one dribbling with their bar arm up until they dropped.

10 – 21 from the foul line is unacceptable!

Comment by Dan 72 02.04.13 @ 11:07 pm

THANK GOD WE WON!!

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 11:07 pm

Win ugly baby!

Comment by gc 02.04.13 @ 11:07 pm

Calls are finally starting to pile back up on Seton Hall. 2 players fouled out. Imagine if the refs called it even all game?

Comment by Pendlum 02.04.13 @ 11:08 pm

Dan……I like it….pathetic display

Comment by Keith 02.04.13 @ 11:08 pm

@lou, lmao.

Comment by panther94 02.04.13 @ 11:11 pm

We’ll take it! H2P!

Comment by MariettaMike 02.04.13 @ 11:11 pm

@Dan – the NCAA probably doesn’t allow it but I’m with you. This was just the ugliest, worst reffed game I think I’ve ever seen. I’m glad we got the W but it was incredibly painful to watch.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 11:12 pm

Thank God that Cam Wright didn’t bring a sense of entitlement to the Pete tonight. After all, he did go to a private high school.
I admire what SH did and I admire what Pitt did too!
We had to dig deep.
And we did; mostly with defense.

Comment by SFPitt 02.04.13 @ 11:13 pm

Adams with 15 rebounds, Patterson with 10.

Comment by panther94 02.04.13 @ 11:13 pm

It wasn’t pretty, but we’re 7-4 in the BE.

Comment by Scott 78 02.04.13 @ 11:13 pm

I am just glad Pitt won! It was an ugly 1st half.
It’s very very good to get the W on this one.

Comment by Justinian 02.04.13 @ 11:14 pm

Oh, btw, HTP!

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 11:18 pm

If Pitt can’t stop one great player from a team like the Hall, it could get bad in the ACC the next few years.

Comment by Jackagain 02.04.13 @ 11:19 pm

Just curious, how did it work out that we’re the only team in the conference to have played 11 games already?

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 11:20 pm

Second Big East team with 7 wins. Got it out of our system, payback time at Cinci, then Marquette and then the team I hate the most Notre Dame.

I love the Big East.

Comment by gc 02.04.13 @ 11:20 pm

We ended up 19-29 from the stripe and made 12 of our last 15. Not pretty, but it got the job done. 7-4, one game from 20 wins. Take the win and enjoy the rest of your evenings. #H2Pitt

Comment by cnorwoodaz 02.04.13 @ 11:24 pm

A great player is a great player wherever he plays. It is tempting to equate SH with a bad high school team, but that isn’t fair to anyone.
At work today I didn’t bring my best. I had a big project due at the end of last week. I was burned out.
It happens. We won and had to tough it out. Anyone can win when they are on their game; show me a team that can win when it plays poorly and I’ll call that team a “winner”.
Winning is a frame of mind. Pitt is a winner whether anyone likes it or not.

Comment by SFPitt 02.04.13 @ 11:26 pm

Well said/written SFPitt.

Comment by panther94 02.04.13 @ 11:28 pm

Yeah…but my point is that a few ACC teams like Duke, UNC have more than one of these guys on the team.

Comment by Jackagain 02.04.13 @ 11:32 pm

James Robinson is afraid 2 shoot. Need more Cam Wright let Robinson back up Woodie at point.

Comment by steve 02.04.13 @ 11:34 pm

Robinson actually looks like he’s regressing some. I wonder if he’s hitting the wall already?

Comment by Jackagain 02.04.13 @ 11:39 pm

Could be Robinson is feeling the strain but give the kid credit for carrying us in a lot of the early/middle part of the season. Let the veterans carry us the rest of the way and let Robinson come up big at MSG and in the NCAAs.

@SFPitt – couldn’t agree more. Thanks for making the point.

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.04.13 @ 11:49 pm

Sleepy with 0 points. What happened?

Patterson is frustrating even though he often ends up with the most points. Maybe it’s because he can do much more.

Comment by panther94 02.04.13 @ 11:54 pm

I thought it was a good win after the emotional win and atmosphere Saturday.

7 wins, tied with Cuse’ for tops in BE.

Back in the top 25. 19-5.

Sloppy yes, but I think most of us could have called that after a big game.

I also saw a little bit, for the first time, a little bit of the bravado of “ok, there’s 5 minutes to go, we’re the better team, let’s win the game”.

Free throw shooting nauseasting. Robinson does not have one fluid motion. He dribbles, bends his knees, then looks like me throwing a dart in the bar.

Two big ones coming up!!!

H2P!!!

Comment by Dan 02.04.13 @ 11:54 pm

I think Adams is going to start having big games. Dixon needs to find a way to get Sleepy more minutes at diff positions…he’s been too solid lately.

Comment by panther94 02.04.13 @ 11:57 pm

In an effort toward objectivity – and it does take some effort tonight – I was somewhat impressed with SH defensively. Match up zone really made Pitt uncomfortable. Thankfully they were equally unimpressive on offense.

Who played well tonite? Adams, Wright. Who was MIA? The Z’s, Taylor. Put Moore on both lists. Here’s to hoping that was a trap game and not a regression. Two tough roads games coming.

Comment by Iron Duke 02.04.13 @ 11:58 pm

Gotta love the trolls. I was at the game. The crowd was as hungover as the team was. I’d say it was about half-full. So if fans can’t bother to attend, then I’m not going to get on the team about the game. A double digit win is a double digit win.

Big positive Adams was really good. He owned Teague who going into the game was averaging double figures in points and nearly 8 boards a game. If Adams keeps it up he will be force.

Also, by the way Tim Higgins wasn’t reffing the game. There was a John Higgins who has never really reffed Pitt games before. Although, he actually reffed the Pitt-Butler NCAA tournament game. So he is probably not much better than Tim Higgins. But there was a ref who is usually horrible during Pitt games present. John Cahill. He is the tall skinny guy with gray hair. I’ve seen him call some of pretty bad games.

Comment by Wardapalooza 02.05.13 @ 12:01 am

Don’t forget, last year we lost these kind of games.
Adams making a huge difference in the middle. Everyone contributing something positive.

Hopefully we just keep getting sharper, cut the turnovers, make the layups and foul shots, keep up the work on the boards and strong defense.

The next three games are going to tell us a lot about this team. Need two out of three.

Comment by gc 02.05.13 @ 12:03 am

@wardapalooza…Who are the trolls on here? I recognize everyone who has posted and I don’t see anyone trying to antagonize.

Comment by panther94 02.05.13 @ 12:05 am

oops, just reviewed. scott?

Comment by panther94 02.05.13 @ 12:07 am

There’s a new thread btw.

Don’t know how we won, but we did.

Just got home from watching that semblance of a game at a local watering hole.

Only thing that saved us was SH shooting 33% and 25% from 3. Cause we were god awful as well.

35% for Pitt. We did outrebound them, I guess cause we missed 30 shots. lol There will be lots of rebounds when you miss 30 shots.

Moore was the only one above 50% for the game, so naturally they only gave him the ball so little he only took 4 shots….making 3.

Glad we won, but we play like that and it will be one & done in the BE tourney and the Big Dance (if we get in). Blah.

HTP
VeV

Comment by EMel 02.05.13 @ 12:21 am

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