A rough start gave way to a blow-out. Is it wrong that I was a little annoyed that Pitt let Duquesne get to 51 points in the final 20 seconds? So close. When Duquesne failed to score another basket for nearly 4 minutes it was like Pitt really was putting some effort into denying them. This Dukes team came in averaging just over 80 points/game. Pitt completely shut them down 78-51.
Pitt held Duquesne to 36.4 percent (20 for 55) from the field — its fifth consecutive opponent under 37 percent. The two teams combined for 43 turnovers, including 25 by Duquesne.
Trailing, 20-19, nearly 14 minutes into the game, the Panthers went on a 26-10 run that spanned the first and second halves, turning a tight game into a runaway win.
Pitt ended the first half on a 17-8 run and then opened the second half with a 9-2 surge to go ahead, 45-30, on an alley-oop dunk from junior guard Jermaine Dixon to Young with 16:25 to play.
Pitt led by at least 12 points the rest of the way.
Coach Dixon wasn’t pleased with the slow start to the game for Pitt (neither were the players), but the overall performance was good.
“Our offense has been pretty good,” Dixon said. “I don’t think we’ve taken lot of bad shots. Offensive rebounding, as I’ve said all along, is a byproduct of good offense. By sharing the ball and taking open shots, by moving the defense, scrambling the defense, they have to recover late.
“Our guys know they’re shooting it. When they know it’s going up, they’re going to the glass. The bottom line is [Blair] goes and gets them. He has great hands. He’s got a knack. It’s something we really emphasize in practice and something we continue to work on.”
Right now, Pitt is one of the most offensively efficient teams in the country.
Pitt unlike, say Boston College (with Holy Cross), recognizes that playing the City Game and even going to Duquesne’s campus every other year is a good thing for the City of Pittsburgh. It is a low return, high risk game. If Pitt wins, they are supposed to; lose, and it is a big blow to the team’s national profile. It is a tradition, even if not much of a rivalry right now.
“We’re doing the right thing by playing the game,” Dixon said.
Why else would a match-up like this bring public officials and members of the Steelers to the game?
Finally, a puff piece on Blair.
As for Woodall, he’s only a freshman and is Fields’ backup. It’s not easy being the backup to one of the best PG’s in the country. He will learn from Fields and next season will be better because of it.
you failed to mention the biggest and most conspicuous upgrade from last year. Jermaine Dixon is just an outstanding pick-up by the staff. The way he plays defense reminds me of the best defender I have seen in my life, Julius Page. The difference is the team that surrounds Jermaine is infinitely more talented than Julius Page’s teams. Did you see the job he did on Aaron Jackson last night or against Thompson from Washington State? The commentators on Saturday said something like “…Thompson is going to dream that Jermaine Dixon is under his bed tonight with the way he has defended him.” The upgrade defensively with Dixon over Ramon is just a huge advantage for this team. Additionally, Dixon can create his own shot which Ramon was never very good at. The 2-guard spot has been upgraded substantially and with a mature and physical player with experience. That is the biggest improvement from last year to this year.
This team can absolutely play with anybody…..my point was they’re still a few pieces short of being a Final 4 contender. With capable back-ups for Fields and Blair I think they’d be a very strong contender to go far in March…….not having those backups leaves them exposed every night they hit the floor. This team doesn’t rebound without Blair and doesn’t handle the ball without Fields and that’s dangerous.
UNC is excellent, but I think Pitt can play with them. Remember this same MSU team got blasted by Maryland last week as well. They are probably way overrated at this point. Pitt can play with UNC. Biggs would need to pick up his game. They wouldn’t get beat by more than 10 points against the Heels. Best part is, they probably wouldn’t have to play them until the Final 4 anyway.
Different situations on the other teams you mentioned……….Adrien is still in the lane for UConn when/if Thabeet goes out and UNC would miss Lawson a ton but still probably be rated #1 without him. (They’d plug Drew in and just depend more on Ellington, Green and the inside guys.) I think you’re right about L-ville being a a much lesser team without one of their pieces, but I think they’d miss Williams or Samuels a lot more than Clark.
Lets not rush to judgment on these kids yet, the back ups to Fields are freshman. You are basing your judgement on a few games, the first ones of their career. The adjustment to college ball is a tough one, physically and more importantly mentally. I think for the first games in his career Woodall is doing a fine job. He will continue to grow as the season goes. Yes he needs to cut down on TO’s but that will come. This guy was still playing high school ball last year. He seems to be extremely quick and athletic and will be a fine backup. Also, I disagree with the Wannamaker comment, I think he looks much better this year than last. He is looking more comfortable each game. Yes, if you expected him to be an all american then I’d say he may never achieve that. But, the truth is he looks to be coming along. One thing I’m not worried about under Dixon, is player development, and backups coming along. In the past 9 years, the Most Improved player in the big east has been awarded to a Pitt player 5 of the years. So, don’t worry, Dixon will develop these kids as the season goes on. The more minutes they get, the better they will become.
And our biggest problem is that our shooting guard cannot shoot a 3. He is 4 for 22 or something awful like that…still can’t buy a bucket from 3. I think we just missed another…
I definitely would love to play UNC. It would be in the final 4 or latter stages of the tournament and I think Blair, Young and Fields would rise to the occasion. They are as good as any trio in the country. Dixon isn’t going to back down from anyone and neither is Brown. We might get beat, but it won’t be a beat down like Michigan State took last night. I will guarantee that.
Even without hitting threes we are the most efficient offensive team in the land. Luke Winn broke us down and compared our offensive efficiency to Memphis last year. They couldn’t buy a bucket from three either and their season went pretty well. Actually we shoot a little better than last year’s Memphis squad.
Dixon really adds value on the defensive end and breakind down defenders off the dribble and creating his own shot. If he starts knocking down threes, then that is gravy.
I’ll hold out more hope for Woodall (or Flavor Flav, as my section has named him)……..but realistically, how much hope can you have for a kid that’s 5’8″ 145 soaking wet? Unless he’s Tyus Edney (which he obviously isn’t), I’m just not sure what the staff saw in him. I watched some of his HS games on TV and wondered the same thing last year. When you play at St Anthony’s, you play against D1 competition in every practice and in a good number of games, so this shouldn’t be so much of a shock. He seems quick, so I’m waiting for him to use that quickness to do something, anything……..a steal, a penetration and dish……he’s getting a lot of minutes right now and showing no flash.
Sure, it’s early, but this is his team next year and they could sure use productive minutes from him this year.
Actually, hope I’m wrong about that and Dixon lets him play some this year so he’s more ready for next year.
And no, I think I’ve only missed one game this year so far, either at the pete or on TV. I wouldn’t bother offering the opinions if I didn’t watch the games.
I also don’t see Woodall’s minutes decreasing that much in BE play. Fields, is weighing more since the injury and will need spells unless he drops some weight. Also, Dixon seems to always make sure the backup PG gets time throughout the past several years.
He doesn’t have to play Woodall much at all — though I hope he does, since I think he needs to find out how his freshman PG handles the BE comp. I don’t expect Woodall to set the world on fire his freshman year, or even have to play more than a few minutes each half…….but I think those would be important minutes and would help tell the coaching staff whether they’re OK at PG for next year or whether they have a problem.
They’re deeper this year (I especially like what Robinson brings and I hope he stays in the rotation), but that depth hasn’t supplied the key back-ups they needed. They needed a strong back-up PG if Fields ever goes out for any reason and they needed a strong rebounder to board when Blair gets in foul trouble. They still don’t have either of those players and I doubt McGhee or Woodall is ever going to turn into much.
They’re also missing the same thing they’ve been missing for years and years and years……..perimeter shooting. (Yes, Ramon could shoot but he couldn’t get a shot off against decent comp.) No, it doesn’t matter against Duquesne, but it will matter against the long arms of L-ville and UConn, when the buckets inside don’t come as easy.
I thought last year’s team was legitimate Top 15 and I think this year’s team might be legitimate Top 10, and I think that’s great for Dixon and the program. I love having what could be a Top 10 program here in our backyard.
I think they’re still a couple players away from Final 4 contention, though. It sounds like the’ll have a couple of those type players coming in next year, but that team won’t have a point guard……which will be a major problem.
Someday we’ll play with the big boys……….