The rest of the ACC must have such mixed feelings right about now. On the one hand it isn’t Duke-UNC sucking all the oxygen out of the conference as seems to happen every year. But, here are the two teams from the Big East firmly at the top of the conference. The only ranked ACC teams besides Duke. Everyone is mocking the rest of the ACC for being like the Big Ten in football — more reputation/name recognition than what the teams are doing on the court.
The gametime is 4pm on ESPN. Good announcing crew with Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke. The Carrier Dome should be near electric for this game. This is amazing.
Since 2001, Pitt owns a 14-5 record vs. Syracuse. Since Jamie Dixon became head coach, Pitt is 10-4 vs. Syracuse and 5-1 vs. the Orange in Syracuse. In games played against SU at the Carrier Dome, Pitt has won four of the last five and six of the last eight meetings. That span also included a five-game Pitt win streak vs. Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
I know this will shock everyone, but Seth Davis is picking against Pitt. And wow, didn’t see that coming, even as he leads with it in his blurb.
Though I must make the obligatory reference to Pitt’s poor schedule, I also feel obligated to point out that the Panthers have been executing at a high level this season. They are ranked seventh overall in Kem Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings (11th on offense, 20th on defense). Much-improved senior center Talib Zanna is coming off his best game of the season, a 22-point, nine-rebound effort against Georgia Tech, but he is going up against a much stronger frontcourt in this game. The Orange are not going undefeated this season, but it’s hard to imagine them losing this one at home.
Syracuse 68, Pittsburgh 60
CBS Sports has all their basketball people pick the games. Almost all expect Pitt to beat the betting line, only one of them picks the Panthers to win out right. And, oh god it’s Doug Gottlieb picking Pitt. I’m going to attribute the pick of Pitt by Gottlieb to trolling Syracuse fans more than believing in Pitt.
This will not be and up-and-down the court game. Both teams have excellent ball handlers in the backcourt. Both will run their plays and work the ball without concern of the shot clock. Brace yourselves, but Syracuse is actually a slower adjusted tempo team than Pitt this year. Per KenPom.com, the Orange average 62.4 possessions/game which is 343d nationally. Pitt has a blistering 65.1 (281st) by comparison.
We all know that Pitt has been good against the zone.
The Panthers do think their ability to pass the ball, especially their interior passing, is why they have had so much success against Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.
“I think it is just that we are really familiar with their zone,” senior Lamar Patterson said. “We’re just familiar with the way they played. … Coach Dixon knows how to dissect their zone, so as long as we just keep getting inside of it, I think we will be fine.
Junior Cam Wright said: “Coach Dixon has been around for a long time, does a great job of preparing us, but it is up to us to go out and execute. But our coaches do a great job of recruiting players who can all pass the ball.”
Patterson said the key to the 2-3 zone is the length of the Orange’s frontcourt and the fact that they are all athletic enough to cover a lot of ground from the 3-point line to the key. That means there are few openings and very few holes in the zone.
Most teams facing the Orange zone try to shoot over the top of it. Pitt, with solid passing works it inside. The other thing for Pitt, is that they just have not had the outside shooters to try and shoot over the zone. More so without Durand Johnson right now.
Chris Jones will not be lashed to the bench just because he didn’t do well his first time out as one of the first subs to try and take Durand Johnson’s spot.
Is this a rivalry game? Sort of.
Asked to describe the Pitt-Syracuse rivalry, Boeheim replied, “Rivalries are when you have good games. You have two good teams and you have good games. That’s what happened over the last 10-15 years with Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Every time we play Pittsburgh it’s a big game, and it’s a big game this year.”
I would add that something has to be at stake. Whether it is in-state reputation or conference standings. So, I’m not prepared to declare this a “rivalry” game at this time, it is a game that has come to matter every year to both sides.
Sorry, have to cut this short. Traveling to in-laws this morning. No wi-fi at their place, so beyond tweeting from my phone, I’m kind of limited for the rest of the day.
We have a very good hoops team. I was surprised by the smiling and laughing by JD and Zanna and others on the misses underneath with about 2 minutes left when they came to the sidelines.
Obviously the missed FT’s can’t happen AND the several missed bunnies but mostly the freshmen need to grow up through these games and if that happens, the seniors will lead.
I think the next 4 games will tell us everything about what can happen in March.
11 out of 12 tourneys. Mostly ranked in the top 10 and top 20 the past twelve years, many times in the top 5, several times #1.
3 or 4 sweet 16’s, an Elite 8.
Calhoun and Boeheim didn’t win NC’s until they were on their 23rd or 24th year.
This is Dixon’s 10th.
Was a great game today. Could have gone either way until the last 30 seconds or so.
And that was without DJ, who could have definitely provided more punch.
I’ll agree with you on football.
Basketball, surely you jest.
And before someone says they haven’t been to the Final Four. Let me say this, we all want them to be in the Final Four and win a NC.
Most coaches don’t even sniff the Elite 8, Final Four or NC’s.
As a matter of fact, there are 351 Division one teams, I would bet that at least 321 of them wish they could have Pitt’s success the past 12 years.
Hell, do you how many college basketball coaches there have been in the last 12 years. The coaching carousel in Div 1.
I have no idea, thousands I would imagine.
So, I would even take it a step further, most college coaches, don’t even sniff the Big Dance in their careers.
Like I said, I’ll agree on the football.
I’ve been know to drop an SOP on the football program many times over the years.
To say that about the Pitt basketball program, compared to many other programs that never even get into the tourney, would tell me that you are being arbitrary for the sake of being arbitrary, or a phony. I believe that I’ve defended you a few times over the years, of being a die hard that is just pissed at where the football program had gone.
I’m hoping you were talking about football when it comes to SOP.
They would have won the game today.
They were 13-5 against Syracuse the last 18 games.
They were 5-1 against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
So, today was not Same Old Pitt. We lost.
Same Old Pitt, would have won today.
“ACC?? This was a Big East slugfest”.
He also gave Pitt a lot of props, without qualification.
Biggest thing for Pitt. Get over it. Move on, I have.
Get your heads together for Clemson and Maryland.
Get right back to winning and moving forward, and don’t let one of these games bite you in the ass, because you’re still thinking about Syracuse.
This bodes well for the team but they need to get bigger. Did our scouting report show Fair was a lefty? Our defense seemed to let him drive to the left a lot but at the end of the day, I think we defended him well. The difference maker was their freshman guard, the number of steals differential and the number of blocks. They played really good defense or we played a little out of control, hard to tell. Absent a few successful half courters from Patterson and that game isn’t close. I do agree that the Zanna shot that didn’t flush was the key bucket of the game. I think we were up 5 and that would have put us up 7. Tough game, but many positives. The technical was a foul down low with body contact and up high with a head shot. Also, many held balls when the orange went over the back to help gain partial possession. Evident blown calls throughout, but at the end of the day, we let that one get away at the end. We will get back up on the horse soon.
Nothing good happened from that point forward but that was a coach trying to get his player to focus. Boeheim would have screamed at him. Jamie recognized the situation for what it was and just tried to help TZ make it pass.
Hopefully the team is ready for Clemson. They are not gonna be a pushover.
The only reason we lost today was poor coaching. We had 3 opportunities to make it a 2 possession game and didn’t and that 26 second possession to end the game was inexcusable. Boeheim beat us on the last 90 seconds. Jamie was out coached.
My point is that there are as many reasons why we lost as why we could have one. JD being outcoached is not the reason.
Fellow blatherites, it’s been a rough week…any words of wisdom on getting past the loss of a loved one would be appreciated.
H2P!
We in?
Comment by Upittbaseball 01.18.14 @ 4:00 pm
So Emel looks like Cuse -4.5 Covered and the Under hit. I will research the local Charlotte Eateries. I will bring the Cigars. That dreaded 1/2 point bit you this week but you won last week with it. Pitt looked good but I just didn’t see them covering up in NY. Did the o/u even get close? Was it 129?
Comment by Upittbaseball 01.18.14 @ 7:29 pm
@ upitt
The spread was a push per our bet. 59-54.
If you’re in Charlotte we can still do drinks,etc., if you like.
Must have been a lot of action on this game. 🙂
wtf..it’s late, you know.
btw Myron Medcalf must like brown nosing all the Cuser’s who are in upper mgt. at ESPN. What a hole.
A 3 point loss amounts to one bucket or two free throws you didn’t make and the same amount they did.
So that’s 2 possessions. Not very much is it?
That is why little things matter.
I am not a believer in the “we lost to the # 3 team by small amount on their floor so we must therefore be pretty damn good.”
IU beat Wisky this week and then lost at home to Northwestern. Then Wisky loses at home.
So much for being close.
We are what our record says we are. Clemson could give a rats ass. Dixon too. Me 3.
We lost to Syracuse. The only thing that matters is the practice today and the Clemson game. Time for others players to step up and get us a win.
Panther 94….take it one day at a time. Just because someone has passed doesn’t mean you stop loving them.
Both coaches did a fine job working their teams and should be complimented. It was a tough loss for Pitt but the season has a long way to go before tournament time. I’m biased in cheering for Pitt and I see them as a top 10 team. Hail to Pitt.
1. we SHOULD HAVE WON THIS GAME!!
2. Pitt is ALOT better than what I thought
3. There is no reason we can’t finish in the top of this conference.
Charlotte Food Scene: if you want to try chef inspired Southern cuisine Tupelo Honey Cafe on South. Even great for apps and drinks. Nothing is ordinary, everything homemade. Even have a frost rail to keep drinks cold.
What’s up with that?
I still stand by the belief that poor coaching lost this game. Panther94, Jamie’s record against SU is irrelevant in this argument. It has nothing to do with the last 5 minutes of this game. I agree there were a lot of things PITT did to lose this game on the floor, but even after all those missed FG, TO, FG%, etc, we were up 3 with the ball on 3 occasions and then left ourselves 4.8 seconds on the clock after the missed shot. He needed to draw something else up. That is on Jamie.
– Vs Nova in Elite 8 — Game tied with 5 secs left yet Scottie Reynolds has little resistance in driving length of the floor
– vs Butler in NCAA — Pitt in its final full possession with 1 pt lead lest shot clock ex[ire with 9 secs left. Then Stephens draws up a play and it works to perfection, again with little resistance.
Already, Young with his key FTs the last 2 games had contributed more than any of the upperclassmen in their first years
I saw a Syracuse team with far superior talent as usual. Without Patterson’s three bombs this game was a blow-out.
We are a well coached, disciplined team, besides Patterson, which of our starters would you take over theirs?
I have said we would not know how good we are until we played some close games, we have failed twice.
Robinson and Wright scored in the first half, where were they in the second? Solid players but offensively challenged when you need to score.
We really miss Durand, there is no alternative to Lamar when you need a score. Jamie needs to develop some plays where Newkirk or Artis tale the three because Robinson and Wright can’t be counted on at crunch time, or any other time for that matter.
Unfortunately we are a one trick pony, at the end when we needed a shot there were three guys on Patterson.
Our freshmen need to get better in a hurry or this could go down hill fast.
We had been getting production from Young and Artis, but against better teams not so much.
It is a very good thing we have Clemson, Duke and VA at home.
The Clemson game may tell us which way we are going.
Syracuse has five that can score, we have two.
I think we are recruiting better now, but it is no secret that you don’t make final fours without final four players.
This years team is exceeding all expectations so far, and Jamie is to be commended for the accomplishment. Losing Durand proves we were not deep enough or talented enough, but it is still going to be a very good season and fun to watch.
Jamie and Slice definitely need to find some quality big guys if we want to crack the top ten again.
As we all know, Adams didn’t make it happen in his first year at Pitt but who does’t think if he had stayed, the DJ loss would be less meaningful. Had Blair stayed longer, does anyone believe we would not have been a contender again and maybe made it with him as a junior?
I like what JD is doing and seeing him continue to grow and evolve. I don’t know if he will ever make it happen(NC) but I am enjoying the ride. We have been close for over 10 years and are back to being close again. ENJOY IT!!!!
VCU & George Mason also come to mind recently in the F4.
