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February 21, 2015

It’s a nooner on ACC syndication. That’s a problem because they ACC has two noon games to syndicate. In addition to Pitt-Syracuse there is the GT-UNC tilt. Sure that’s a beat-up-on-an-old-hobo kind of game with the disparity between the two teams and it being a home game for UNC. Still, that messes things up.

What I’m saying is that my local affiliate in Cleveland is opting for the hobo beating game. Which means I’m stuck watching on ESPN3.com. Which could be tolerable with the news that DirecTV now has the ESPNWatch authentication complete. Which means I could stream it through my TV. If I had taken the time to install it earlier. If I wasn’t looking at a likely DVR delay because of all the weather this week messing things up so badly I have to do a slew of other things all morning and into the beginning of the afternoon. Oh, hey, snow today. Fantastic.

/end self-pity complaining

Syracuse, as we all know, is not going to do anything after their final conference game. No ACC Tourney. No NIT. No bubble stuff for the NCAA. They will simply be looking to be a spoiler team. Pitt can have most of their chances end with a loss to Cuse. Without a doubt, that is on their collective mind today.

The margin is that slim and Pitt has been that bad on the road. 1-7 in road games the whole year. Bad, bad shooting on the road coupled with the porous defense.

We know the defense isn’t going to be doing too much improving at this point, but somehow the shooting has to show today. Pitt has to be shooting at least 47% from the field and near 40% from outside to win today. Basically, Coach Jamie Dixon has to convince the Pitt team that they are playing at the Pete.

But oh, that defense. John Gasaway for ESPN.com looked at good teams having rough years (Insider subs). On Pitt:

Blame it on the Pitt defense. Then blame it on the defense again, and again and again, because you will rarely see such a total and complete defensive collapse as what has transpired in Pittsburgh this season. The Panthers are allowing ACC opponents to score 1.13 points per possession, making this the league’s worst unit on that side of the ball. No, that’s not a misprint — this defense has been worse than what we’ve seen from Virginia Tech or Boston College.

Part of the problem here has been simple bad luck, as conference opponents have connected on no less than 40 percent of their 3s against Pittsburgh. But even when that number comes down to earth — we’re running out of time for it to do so — this will still be a group that has trouble protecting the rim and is questionable on the defensive glass.

Which season was the aberration? This season is the outlier here, clearly. If I ever see a Jamie Dixon team allow 1.13 points per trip in conference play again, I’ll wear an “I (heart) THE RPI” T-shirt for a week.

Even if the whole bit about Pitt’s defense has been a bit based on reputation, statistically, Pitt’s defense has still been solid to upper-tier. This year has been something far different.





Good Job Panthers!! Nice win and congrats Dixon. Still hope.

I didnt know we were playing today!

Comment by Upittbaseball 02.21.15 @ 9:55 pm

I don’t think wel win out so we’re probly gonna have to win a cpl games in acc tourny

Comment by Keith 02.21.15 @ 10:06 pm

lol…very funny posting right after me.

You’d almost think…….nah

Comment by Emel 02.21.15 @ 10:24 pm

Very interested in seeing what Pitt can do on a neutral count in the tournament if they can run the table these last four games.

Comment by Mailman 02.22.15 @ 12:30 am

Really nice win yesterday. I know the tournament is up in the air at this point, especially since it’s going to be very tough to run the table in my opinion, but I enjoy watching this team now- one game at a time. One thing I don’t understand is why Coach has Wright in the game late, in a fouling situation?? He is Pitt’s worse free throw shooter, and not a particularly good ball handler (to be nice). Hey- it worked, so tough to argue, thankfully the Cuse didn’t foul him…. Just didn’t understand.

Comment by 1618mt 02.22.15 @ 7:33 am

1618mt, if memory serves, Jones, Robinson, Artis and Young handled the ball against the press on the out of bounds in the final minutes … or in other words, the best foul shooters.

Wright, who is their best defender, was stationed at half court when Pitt took the ball out from under their basket. The only time he handled the ball was on the final possession, ahead of the break.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 8:16 am

Nice summary from Zeise regarding our next two games:

** Pitt next plays at home against Boston College and frankly the only outcome the Panthers can have is a win. And a win does nothing for them because it is at home and the Eagles are an awful RPI team. But it is the ultimate “nothing to gain, everything to lose” scenario for Pitt because if they lose they are almost assuredly done for the NCAA Tournament. In fact I would say the next two games – they play at Wake Forest after Boston College – are very similar in that regard even though they will play the Demon Deacons on the road. Both teams are bad and have bad RPIs – if Pitt is truly an NCAA Tournament team they won’t lose to either, especially at this point in the season given what is at stake.

HTP!

Comment by Erie Express 02.22.15 @ 8:21 am

IMO, the likely need to win all four but the game they may be able to lose is at FSU. But, no matter what, they may have to win at least 2 in ACC tourney.

Of course, it also depends how the other bubble teams are performing.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 8:29 am

Same opinion as 1618mt – Thought I saw Cam handle the ball twice when the game could have been decided at the FT line. He passed it quickly, but they could have fouled him anyway.

I’d like to think he’d perform under pressure, but we have seen Artis and even JR miss some this year when the game got tight at the end.

Comment by TVax 02.22.15 @ 8:47 am

I don’t think we can say “win and they are in” at this point. Too many bad losses and bad wins (if there is such a thing).

If you look around at the other conferences, their middle teams are in worse shape than Pitt. The B10 and the PAC10 are weak in the middle, but getting lots of love by the media.

If we can put together a “full game” effort, we can beat anyone in the ACC – and that’s saying something. Duke is beatable and we had a shot at UVA and Louisville, if not for late collapses.

HTP!

Comment by Erie Express 02.22.15 @ 8:49 am

I am always late to the party. I have been stuck all year with not being able to watch games. I cannot connect to ESPN3. So, yesterday I was planning to follow the Gamecast on ESPN as best I could.

By chance I used my phone to connect to the ACC Network website to check on the score and I discovered that I was able to watch our game live on my phone. News to me.

So, now someone please tell me what I need to do to get my phone (Android) to display on my TV. Is that possible?

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 02.22.15 @ 9:02 am

OK, this Audrey Snyder “journalist” who covers PSU for the PP-G has to be the most worthless reporter in existence. She spends yesterday covering the football team dancing while the hoops team gets killed at Northwestern.

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 02.22.15 @ 9:06 am

Yesterdays win was big. Not because syracuse is great, but because it was a rpi top 50 win on the road. Imo, if pitt wins the next 4 regular season games and at least 1 acc tournament game their in. That would have pitt at 23-11, 12-8 in the acc, and in the rpi top 50. I cant imagine theyre left out at that point and history almost garauntees that would get them in.

Comment by Pk 02.22.15 @ 9:12 am

Looking for a star to rise up along side T.Boyd this fall – here are a few candidates:

Jordan Whitehead in the slot – speed and “need” to be on the field. (Promoting him as playing on both sides of the ball)
D.Ford – good size and showed signs of talent “by getting on the field last year.
Tony Harper (currently a rsFR TE) – good size at 6’4′ 220lbs – big target for Voytik – not sure about his speed – comes from a football family.
2 rsFR walk-ons from IL with size – Jordan Jones 6’3″ 215lbs and Kyle Brown 6’4” 205lbs

There are 8 others that are on scholarship and have some speed, size and talent (Zeise, Weah, Wuestner, Challingsworth, Davidson) and the newly signed recruits (Tipton, Henderson, Ivery).

We also have some really good TE’s, that should get more catches this fall. Chaney has to find a few diamonds in our rough assortment of young WR’s to compliment T.Boyd, (and eventually replace his All-American self).

HTP!

Comment by Erie Express 02.22.15 @ 9:14 am

Erie, that begs the question, why do have around a dozen wide receivers when we will only play half a dozen at most? Is this normal? Why not carry more guys on defense that can at least make tackles on special teams?

Comment by gc 02.22.15 @ 9:23 am

Really satisfying game yesterday. At the very least, still have hope that we might make the Dance. Also great to see Jones come through.

Missed threes cost us early in the season, bodes well for next year. The team has gone from the guys that can’t shoot straight to pretty respectable shooting for the second half of the year.

Also team defense on Christmas was pretty good.

I would be surprised if they win out, but they have turned out to be much better than most of us thought they could or would. Jamie has done an exceptional job and the kids have worked extremely hard to get better.

Hope the fans turn out better for BC than they did for Bryant. Still a lot at stake and the team deserves better.

Great turnout at Syracuse for a team that has little to play for. Gotta respect that.

Comment by gc 02.22.15 @ 9:34 am

pmdh2p, I look at Audrey a bit differently. She lives in State College and is totally dependent on what happens in Happy Valley … which is not much except for PSU. Poor girl … reporting on a dance marathon on a Saturday night. She has also given blow-by-blow accounts via Twitter of the past two PSU Board of Trustees meetings … I assure you, I am not kidding.

BTW .. in a chat Q&A 2 weeks ago, I asked Sam Werner why he didn’t cover the Pitt BOT meetings. He did answer, which was probably the appropriate action.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 9:34 am

gc, we probably have so many WRs because of the emphasis on the previous staff on offense.

Erie, counting the conferences tourneys, there are still 3 weeks left to build NCAA resumes … thus, it would very difficult to decide right now who is in and who isn’t … whether it be Pitt or any other bubble team. About the only thing sure is that Pitt needs to win as many as possible.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 9:44 am

If anyone cares, there is a half hour bio of Sean Miller on CBS today at noon.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 10:04 am

Interesting that on a very young team, seniors, Garner, Spoon, Bennett and Jones caught 53 passes.

Jennings, also gone caught 6,

Boyd 78, and Holtz 21.

So lots of room for some guys to step up. Should be an interesting battle. Since none of the young guys have really stepped up, maybe a chance for one of the frosh in fall camp.

Really rather see Whitehead concentrate on D, but he is a special talent.

Comment by gc 02.22.15 @ 10:09 am

If they win all 4 they are definitely in. #37 or #40 in RPI now depending where you look plus teams ahead of them will lose and have bad losses. Win and in and there’s no way they don’t get in and get in comfortably. They’ll have an RPI most likely in the high 20’s/low 30’s by that point.

One loss to Miami or FSU and they still most likely get in but will certainly put a wrench into things. Lose to BC or Wake and they’re done.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 02.22.15 @ 10:11 am

Back to basketball, really sad to see Newkirk disappear. Hope he can stay positive and come back strong next year. Loads of talent, just not translating to good play. Be nice to see him have a good game down the stretch. Surprised he wasn’t on the floor to handle the press at the end of the game yesterday. Especially after Jones threw one away.

Comment by gc 02.22.15 @ 10:16 am

Yes, please show up for the game Tue night the kids need you if you have tickets and can’t go give them to someone

This team has fought and deserves support

Comment by keith 02.22.15 @ 10:19 am

Not sure about the WR numbers, but 8 doesn’t seem especially high, given the math. 85 scholarship players, plus about another 10-12 walk-ons, which equates to 95-97 players on the squad. At 22 full-time positions, you go 4 deep at each one, with a few extras. Two WR positions x 4 deep equals 8 WR’s. I am just floating a hypothesis there, but mathematically, it makes sense.

It would be interesting if we ever looked at the 4 deep so we could actually see who is on the roster and how Pitt coaches rank them.

As far as Pitt hoops is concerned, I think if they go 3-1 and win 1 game in the ACC tourney, they should make it. The teams in front of them are very comparable. Unfortunately, the previous years easy schedule perception and lack of tournament success with Pitt will hurt them with the committee in my opinion. In their favor, will be the big push from the conference to get more teams into the dance. It’s the power of the ACC Political machine that should help Pitt…again, in my opinion.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 02.22.15 @ 10:22 am

Newkirk regressed while each of the other super sophs took a giant step forward this year. But he does have 2 years left, and as we saw last year, a good deal of athleticism and talent.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 10:24 am

keith – i’m not too worried about Newkirk. A lot of players traditionally struggle in the sophomore slump year, especially under Dixon. He’s playing two spots, the 1 and 2, vs just the 1 last year. I’m confident he’ll be fine.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 02.22.15 @ 10:26 am

Newkirk played well earlier in the season, and now he hit a slump that he can’t get out of.

I’m hoping we blow out BC and/or WF to give Newkirk some minutes to find his game again. I like his speed – we don’t have a player like him.

Comment by Erie Express 02.22.15 @ 10:32 am

@wbb

Yeah, I saw the tweets during the Trustees meeting. But, does she not know that PSU has a hoops team? Or does Franklin follow the Paterno MO and only permit her to report “happy” things?

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 02.22.15 @ 10:55 am

I think the talking heads (CBS and ESPN) keep trying to not talk about Pitt in NCAA. But as long as we keep winning …

Comment by Frank MD 02.22.15 @ 10:57 am

pmdh2p, obviously, she would know PSU had a hoops team if they weren’t in last place. Heck, I would rather watch a dance marathon over the PSU basketeballers

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 11:33 am

but pmdH2P, isn’t Snyder’s incessant tweet about irrelevant events a metaphor of what has happened a Happy Valley? Their entire world is PSU, and precisely the B team …. thus, the continued denial of just how heinous the inaction of their leaders was is something they need to do. It is their entire world

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 11:45 am

@wbb

Yes, but she is supposed to be a journalist—and rise above that. Anyhow, if I learn later that the PP-G does not pay her, then it is fine. She can be a cheerleader.

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 02.22.15 @ 12:16 pm

PPG pays her, I’m sure. But she is no bigger cheerleader than Adamski was for the Trib … not even close, and he didn’t even spend all of his time in State College.

The beat writers for both papers are PSU alums, heck, even the beat writer for Pitt FB at the Trib is a PSU alum.

I agree they should rise above the cheerleader, but apparently the sports editors of both papers don’t mind …. who I believe are both PSU alums.

Comment by wbb 02.22.15 @ 1:21 pm

JR
Totally tongue in cheek. Love the win and I try not to call anyone names for real in real or blog life!

Comment by DD 02.22.15 @ 5:17 pm

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