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December 21, 2015

Pitt Slowly Ups Tempo

Filed under: Basketball — Chas @ 10:26 am

It’s easy to look at many of the final scores of half the Pitt games this year: 100-47, 93-49, 96-75, 95-79 and yesterday’s thrashing of Davidson 94-69; and conclude that Pitt is really upping its tempo. It is moving up and down the court to score that way.

Eh, somewhat.

Pitt is moving more quickly this season. They are getting out in transition more. They are definitely bringing up the ball at a faster pace. But their tempo. The number of possessions they have per game. Well, that is still in the lower half of the country.

Pitt’s adjusted tempo through the first 10 games is at 68.0. Far faster than the 61.3 of last year, but it puts them at only 274th nationally.

The obvious thing is that Pitt is shooting the ball so much better. As a team they are shooting 50.1% from the field, and 39.8% on threes. Last year it was 44.7% and 33.9%, respectively. The eFG% is at 56.8. That is 15th nationally.

Here’s a reason for adjusted tempo to still be in the lower 30% nationally in tempo. Pitt’s defense is significantly improved. Last year was, without a doubt or debate, was the worst defensive team in the Jamie Dixon era. Even that injury and transfer-ravaged 2011-12 season wasn’t as bad defensively. This team is not elite level defense, but they are good and getting better.

They took a team like Davidson completely out of their rhythm. Davidson is a very well-coached team that constantly runs and cuts to create space and good shots. Davidson did that at first, and raced out to a lead that Pitt struggled to match at first. But Pitt was with them defensively. Making them work hard and deeper into the clock to get open. Davidson was just finishing. But you could see them tiring. Making Davidson have to either start firing shots quickly or wearing themselves down trying to get their shots. Davidson ended up speeding themselves up, on offense to try and beat Pitt.

In that game, Davidson came out hitting 3 of their first 4 three-point attempts. But, only one of those shots was uncontested — Young came out late on Sullivan. The rest of the game, Davidson went 3-26 on the perimeter! Pitt kept them completely off-balance.

What this is doing, is shortening the game for the other team. So, even if Pitt is playing faster offensively, they will still have less possessions in a game than a team that fails to slow the opponent down.

Sterling Smith has been a revelation on the defensive end. He’s a rare player that transferred to show he could play defense, rather than showcase his offense.

“Coach harps on we’ve got to get a lot of rebounds,” said the 6-foot-4 Smith, who is expected to make his seventh consecutive start when the Panthers (5-1) face Central Arkansas (1-6) at noon Sunday at Petersen Events Center. “A lot (of it) is hustle. I take it seriously and try to get a lot of rebounds.”

Dixon made no guarantees regarding playing time, but Smith’s willingness to play defense and buy into the team concept moved him ahead of junior Chris Jones in the rotation. His defensive focus is a constant, and he’s becoming more dependable on offense.

“Last year, my team didn’t play a lot of defense,” Smith said. “I know that’s going to win us a lot of games.”

Smith hounded Jack Gibbs in the game. Kept him from getting clean looks outside, and no space to drive inside.

Gibbs scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the first half, but Smith hounded him into 4-of-10 shooting that set the tone for the rest of the game.

“We had a pretty good idea of what he was going to try and do and how they were going to try and use him,” Robinson said. “We used (junior) Jonathan Milligan to simulate how Gibbs would play, and I think he did a really good job giving us their looks, and we were prepared as a team to defend.”

At the other end, the Panthers attacked the underbelly of Davidson’s interior defense. Good ball movement led to multiple players receiving open looks, and the Panthers made them count.

“Pittsburgh’s very, very good,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. “They’re deep. They’re strong. They’re athletic and very well coached.”

Gibbs came in shooting 54% overall and 37.5% from 3s. He didn’t get a single 3, and 8-20 overall.

Pitt did that sort of job to the entire Davidson team. No one was getting open with any consistency. This was the best Pitt had looked playing man-to-man. Not having to switch up to a zone. Which allowed Pitt to grab rebounds with better consistency.





Providence in the top 10 (#10) in AP
A 3 loss Vanderbilt is 25th, WVU is something like 18.
Let’s go Pitt, this is embarrassing.

Comment by Justin 12.22.15 @ 11:06 am

Factors for rating the top 25 college FB and BB teams – politics, past ratings, name recognition, wins, performance, coach, players, prejudice, TV, venue, big stage, bowl and tourney performance, money, fan base, facilities, computers, etc. Try to put these in order, HAHAHA. Probably missed a few.

Sagarin computer says we 18 BB and 33 FB, Steelers 8.

Comment by Frank MD 12.22.15 @ 11:11 am

Artis has a history of lapses. In fact, after going on a rampage during the mid ACC play last year, he kind of disappeared towards the end.

As for Sunday, remember he was in foul trouble and missed most of the 1st half anad the team didn’t miss a beat. He is capable of big games though and expect a few this season.

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 11:12 am

The college hoops rankings are a complete joke at this point in the season. Using the Providence example, and I’m not taking anything away from them (I watched them a little last night), they are a good team, but I’d put my money on Pitt beating them in a match up right now, and I suspect Vegas would do the same. That’s just one of many examples. Hopefully this will sort itself out over time.

Football and hoops voting are both loaded with favoritism every year. Take notice of certain teams ranked high at the beginning of every season (ie, Georgia in FB) and then drop way down as they inevitably start racking up losses during the year, only to be ranked at the top again the following year.

Oh well, I said my peace on that…

Comment by 1618mt 12.22.15 @ 11:18 am

With Tim Salem calling the plays in the Military Bowl, would it be too much to ask that our tight ends get the majority of throws? Just to make up for the “blind eye” thrown to them during the season.

For Christmas this year, I’m asking for a “tackle eligible” thrown to Oneil, as well. Like, maybe down near the end zone; or on a crucial 4th down!!

Re ratings: if I was one of the raters, I’m going to “protect” my picks as far into the season as I can – if for no other reason than to make me look clairvoyant. I’m not going to drop one of my initial picks out of the Top 25, unless there is someone below that has beaten a couple of rated teams, or “big name” teams. You gotta earn your early season rating. Ego can be a powerful thing! Have patience, and keep winning! We have plenty of name teams on the schedule through which winning will move us up the ladder!

Comment by Savannah Panther 12.22.15 @ 11:35 am

Why are so many picking on Artis this year. Last year he was our best player. This year Young is our best player and Artis is second. Great for Young.

Comment by rayhpgh 12.22.15 @ 11:36 am

I didn’t mean to pick on Artis. From mid January to 1st of March, he averaged a shade under 20 ppg, including a 32 pt performance vs Bryant. But, he is not near as consistent as Young is …. last year or this.

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 12:02 pm

Pitt is currently in the top 20 of every major offensive category except 3 pt % – there they are 28th. Pretty sure that hasn’t happened at any stage of the season for some time.

Comment by Iron Duke 12.22.15 @ 12:09 pm

Pointing out that he has been inconsistent isn’t picking on him, just stating a fact. Some of it has been foul trouble. He has also changed positions which isn’t always easy. Not at all worried about him. The only game where it mattered was Purdue, and he did play poorly in that one, I guess that is picking on him.

Comment by gc 12.22.15 @ 12:35 pm

@ BostonCommons, I will be more than happy with a win over Navy on Monday a 9-4 record and great expectations going forward. Pitt is in the process of changing it’s national profile, one step at a time. a win over a solid Navy team would be the appropriate way to end the season.

On the recruiting front. Damar Hamlin has scheduled all of his official visits. Pitt gets the last one at the end of January. means that Narduzzi gets the last chance to convince Mr. Hamlin that Pitt is it. No doubt about it in my mind that Damar would be the cherry on top of a very good recruiting class that Nard Dog is in the process of finishing up.

Comment by Dr. Tom 12.22.15 @ 12:49 pm

Tossing Thabeets,

I agree that we did well on turnovers against Davidson. I remember quite a few stolen passes by Pitt near the top of the key which Dixon discussed in his post-game interview with ESPN when he said:

“We really want our bigs to take that ball out of the point guard’s hand using the ball screens.”

To watch that interview, go to:

link to espn.go.com

Comment by Howard 12.22.15 @ 12:52 pm

Artis had a bad game, due to early two early fouls and to lack of concentration when he came back in during the second half when the game was already won.

But don’t get down on him for just one bad game. In 8 days, we will play Syracuse, and nobody takes apart the Syracuse zone as well as he does.

Comment by Howard 12.22.15 @ 1:13 pm

I’ve said this before … IMO Michael Young is the most consistent player I’ve ever seen. The only time he didn’t score in double figures was the laughter when we scored 100, and he hardly shot. He’s not the best shooter, scorer, rebounder, passer or defender I saw at Pitt but he seems to do all these things well.

It is natural to compare Young to Artis so he, and just about anyone else, would come up short to Young as far as consistency goes … so I guess I am picking on Artis. I apologize

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 1:32 pm

from dokish:

Sterling Smith is shooting 48.8% from the field, 54.5% from three, and 91.7% from the line. That’s some pretty crazy shooting.

(and he can defend)

Also, JR is shooting > 40% from 3 pt line compared to 29.8 last year. Hope he doesn’t wear down

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 1:38 pm

I’m also a bit worried about Artis, but there’s plenty of time for him to have a great season. He seems like the type of player to give you 12 every night but then explode for 25 when you need it most.

As far as rankings I think many have good points. It does matter to some extent for exposure and perception but winning will do that also. I kind of reject the notion we don’t know much about this team. I thought the Purdue game told us a lot. They need polish: they got smacked around in the first 5-10 minutes and lost their heads a bit toward the end, but they also have heart: the comeback was very impressive and implies we could have won it if not for the slow start. It’s way in the past now but the Gonzaga non-game is really a shame. Had we held on I’m sure we’d be ranked right now.

Very excited for ACC play. The media scoffs at our #10 pre-season ranking, and yes that sounds a little off, but all 9 teams ahead of us are typically great programs. We can’t afford to drop any winnable games this year. A couple bad loses or un-clutch finishes could be the difference between a 4th and 8th place finish.

Geeked as ever for the Syracuse game. Our big three are veteran zone breakers and match up well. Young in particular with his mid-range game and passing ability should be huge.

Hail to Pitt!

Comment by tacocat 12.22.15 @ 1:45 pm

Reed

What is the answer about Weah’s two yards?

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 12.22.15 @ 2:32 pm

the #10 ACC pre-season ranking is warranted based on how we finished last year and the fact that didn’t pick up any studs. Wilson is the most talented newcomer but hasn’t been a major factor … and transfers from Brown, Richmond and Coppin St aren;’t going to impress anyone … INCLUDING US.

If the team continues to do well and exceeds expectations … more power to them and JD. I must admit my expectations have risen than what they were just a month ago.

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 2:37 pm

Hudl highlights of 2017 commit Exree Loe

link to hudl.com

PoD will see a WR, PN will see a CB

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 2:58 pm

Another two way player

Comment by gc 12.22.15 @ 3:19 pm

Let’s just be like most Class A teams and play 8-9 guys both ways.

Comment by Iron Duke 12.22.15 @ 3:30 pm

Iron Duke – how about we play our best guys at their best position and win some games?

Why not start with Navy?

Manhandle the Midshipmen and knock them out of the top 25 – if Pitt can’t get in with a win, so be it…

HTP!

Comment by Erie Express 12.22.15 @ 3:49 pm

more accolades

Whitehead — #4 best frosh per Bruce Feldman, Fox Sports and #10 per Mike Farrell, Rivals

K Pugh — PA AA Player of the year (D Jeter all-state)

Garner, Wheeler, Coleman — AAAA All-State (as is M Saunders, D Hamlin and D Adams)

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 3:53 pm

… and K Hudson

Comment by wbb 12.22.15 @ 3:54 pm

He had the ball lateralled to him on the last play of the Miami game and picked up two yards before he himself lateralled the ball to someone else.

Comment by Reed 12.22.15 @ 3:56 pm

Following video running on Panthers’ FB page.

link to facebook.com

Hope the 412 crew is paying attention.

Comment by dinosaur 71 12.22.15 @ 3:57 pm

Watching that Exree Loe highlights, a couple things are clear… Narduzzi got a good one off the board before word got out. And Johnstown is going to run that WR screen every other play next year.

Comment by BostonsCommon 12.22.15 @ 4:31 pm

Pitt is back to getting some big, hard hitting athletes again, that has been missing for the past 5-6 years. The difference, I feel Nard Dog and crew is/will be better at coaching up these young men better than The Stache could.

Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Digdug 12.22.15 @ 5:06 pm

Johnstown has produced several great players but unfortunately all of them did not go to Pitt.

Comment by Frank MD 12.22.15 @ 5:36 pm

Dino 71. Thanks great production

Comment by Chick 12.22.15 @ 5:54 pm

The 412Crew video was well done.

Hamlin, Hudson and Mathews need to see that before they make their decision on which school to commit to.

Thanks for the link Dino…

That was DYNOMITE!

Comment by Erie Express 12.22.15 @ 6:47 pm

Comment by xfmrman 12.23.15 @ 12:32 pm

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