So Pitt’s offense is ahead of the defense at this point.
Pitt is giving up a respectable 63.1 points per game, but that number is not indicative of the type of defense the Panthers have been playing lately. They are yielding 69.5 points per game in Big East Conference play, which is 10th out of 16 teams in the league.
In the past six games, Pitt is giving up 71 points per game, and three opponents have scored 77 or more points in that span.
The offense, meanwhile, is playing better than at any other time in the Jamie Dixon-Ben Howland era. The Panthers are averaging 74.3 points per game. The only team that fared better in the past six seasons was the ’02-03 squad that averaged 0.6 points per game more than this one. But that team only averaged 72.2 in Big East games.
In the past few weeks, the offense has been soaring. Pitt has scored 76 points or more six of its past eight games. To put that in perspective, Pitt scored 76 points or more eight times in 36 Big East games the previous two seasons.
“Every team is different,” Dixon said yesterday after practice. “We don’t have a Jaron Brown or a Julius Page defensively. We just don’t. Those were senior guys, fourth- and fifth-year guys. We need to get better in a lot of areas, and defense is one of the areas.”
Dixon said this season has been strange because many of Pitt’s games have been low-scoring, then morph into high-scoring affairs at the end. He pointed to the 100-97 double-overtime victory against Notre Dame as an example.
Dixon also noted that the defense has been inconsistent. Great games have been followed by subpar ones. He said that comes from inexperience.
Looking at the schedule, it seems worth mentioning that only in the UConn game did Pitt give up a lot of points to a team not shooting a lot of 3s. Coach Dixon points out that the changes to the conference in terms of teams and style is a major factor.
“Right now, we’re shooting the ball better,” Dixon said. “That’s been obvious. Oftentimes, it’s the teams you’re playing against and the style, too. I think our conference has changed over the years. West Virginia has completely changed their style of play. Georgetown has changed their style of play. And you have five new teams this year. The diversity of the teams has definitely changed things. That has something to do with it.”
Aside from Pitt and UConn, most of the teams in the Big East don’t exactly have dominating front courts. More of their offensive system is being run from the wings or guards. Where in the previous few years you had BC, Syracuse, G-town, ND, Providence and Pitt playing with strong frontcourts. Happy to slug it out inside and battle. Now things have changed.
Villanova, Marquette, Louisville, WVU, Rutgers, Seton Hall, ND, DePaul, G-town, Providence and Syracuse all attack from the perimeter. Either with guards taking 3s, screens and motion offense, or with forwards on the wings taking guys off the dribble to go inside or pull-up. Only Pitt and UConn will play with guys posting up right around the basket with any regularity (and success). That’s going to have an impact on scoring and the number of possessions in the game.
To honor the Pitt basketball Centennial and all-Centennial team, Pitt will be going old school against Providence.
Pitt will honor more than 80 former men’s basketball players, when the Panthers wear blue throwback uniforms for their Big East Conference game Saturday against Providence at Petersen Events Center.
The 1960s replica uniforms will feature gold block lettering with gold piping around the sleeves, neck and shorts.
The unis are supposed to be made available on Pitt’s online auction and at team stores as well — go figure. Nothing was there at this time.
Then, there is a piece on “bracketolgy.” As we all are aware, Pitt is expected to be a 3 seed, though 2 or 4 are not out of the question.
