I’m skipping a lot of quick hit articles that have 1 line capsule takes on the games. They generally are split 50-50 on Pitt and Pacific. None have been particularly insightful. Speaking of not insightful, an article listing the favorite snacks for the Pacific players.
There are a couple, fairly good articles about the match-up. The 5 things Pacific must do to win:
Get back on defense — Pittsburgh runs the ball up the floor very quickly. The Tigers have to play solid transition defense to stop the Panthers’ fast break. Pittsburgh has one of the top point guards in the country in Carl Krauser, and their big men, Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman, run the floor very well.
Rebound: Pittsburgh is a great offensive rebounding team. The Panthers average 14.4 offensive rebounds per game and are plus nine in rebounding margin.
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Pacific was second in the Big West in rebounding margin at plus-6.4.Toughness: Pacific has to match Pitt’s toughness and how hard it plays.
The Tigers haven’t been comfortable in physical games. They’ve improved in this area, but they took a step back against a determined Utah State squad in the Big West title game.
The Panthers like to bang bodies and whether Pacific can handle that or not will be a big key to the game.
“They’ll try to out-tough us and push us and be physical,” said Thomason, “and the way the referees call it is going to have a lot of input. We’ll have to have those guys blow the whistle a little.”
Confidence: The Tigers have to have an air of confidence and remember how good they really are.
Execute offense: When Pacific shares the ball on offense it’s a really good team.
SI.com has a decent breakdown of both teams, though it seems a little shallow regarding Pitt (and probably Pacific). I really don’t think anyone knows for sure about this game for a variety of reasons:
- Pitt’s inconsistency means you don’t know what they will do.
- Pacific, despite being a top-25 team, is still a relatively unknown mid-major and given the geographic distance between the two programs, there are no writers or pundits with a good sense of how these teams will really match-up.
- The officiating. Will the game be called close or loose?
I just don’t think anyone will be too surprised if either team wins.
