Everyone is — and with some good reason — focusing on the offense. That Pitt has more guys that can finish. That can shoot. Generally look less raw on offense. That’s all true, but I’m going to start with the defense.
Pitt made Stanford’s night miserable. Stanford came into this game with a very good offense that knows how to push the tempo. Pitt throttled their offense. They were unable to run and penetrate. They found lanes cut off. Their shots were constantly contested. They had to move the ball and pass far more than they were used to to find shots. Stanford was visibly frustrated, especially since Pitt was doing most of it without fouling and being physical.
This year, Pitt is once more a slow tempo team when you look at the numbers. It doesn’t feel like it, because Pitt is scoring plenty and moves so well in transition. But the tempo of Pitt will be slow, simply because the defense is slowing the other team down so much.
