Pitt heads down to the home of Coca Cola and a Delta hub, Atlanta, to face Georgia Tech (5-3, 4-2 ACC) in a battle for ACC mediocrity. This is actually a huge game for both teams because it’s needed for bowl eligibility. Georgia Tech has a tougher finish to the season than Pitt because if they lose, they’ll need to upset Clemson or Georgia to be bowl eligible. They have an easy win against Alabama A&M in there as well, but it won’t count towards bowl eligibility. Why? It’s due to playing Elon earlier in the season and only one FCS victory can count towards bowl eligibility. Pitt needs to win two of their last five and after losing to Navy last week, it’s obvious no game is a gimme. (more…)
October 31, 2013
Lots of stuff basketball related I haven’t gotten to in a couple weeks. Hard to believe Pitt’s already played one exhibition game. There’s one more exhibition on Friday night and then it is realsies the following Friday.
I’ve made no secret over the year how much I like advanced stats in basketball. In particular the work by Ken Pomeroy has been very important. Turns out Coach Jamie Dixon likes the stuff too. He is quoted in an article about coaches who embrace advanced stats (Insider subs.).
Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon did his master’s at UC Santa Barbara on statistical analysis, and has been a numbers guy ever since he can remember, but even he is amazed by the recent explosion of analytical data.
“I love it,” Dixon said. “The numbers can be really helpful, but you’ve got to be able to understand them.”
Dixon said he has someone on his staff checking KenPom.com daily, and he’ll add different components each season. For 2013-14, he’s focusing on breaking down the Panthers’ efficiency after baskets, free throws, steals and offensive rebounds.
This also lends credence to my theory that Coach Dixon oft citing of rebounding margin (a highly discredited number by basketball stat people) is more as a motivating tool and quickie stat to look at after a game (like batting average and RBI are in baseball) rather than a vital statistic.
