Well, that was unexpected. I think everyone expected more of a challenge from Memphis than that. I mean,when the last time you can point to where the team was only trailing by single digits was at about the 16:30 mark of the first half.
I didn’t see any postgame interviews with the coaches, but when you figure the best spin John Calipari could put on the game would be something to the effect of, I give our guys a lot of credit. They could have packed it in, in the first half but they were back out there in the second half fighting. Unfortunately we dug ourselves too big a hole in the first half… Or words to that effect.
Well, let’s face it Dick Vitale may have actually nailed it with his truism to start the game concerning Pitt with, “We don’t know how good this team is, yet.”
The game was over early. Pitt didn’t shoot well, but were continually getting a first step on Memphis to force them to foul or give up inside baskets. For the most part, Memphis chose to foul. Pitt went to the free throw line 42 times. They may have only hit 25 (less than 60%), but when you get that many opportunities in a game you can overcome it.
Pitt won this game the same way it did last year — defense first. People forget that last year, Pitt could score on teams (prior to the last 6 weeks), but they still played a defense first game. That was part of their problem. They had a much shorter bench because Coach Dixon and the coaching staff would really limit the bench to those who were willing to put defense first on the court. Ultimately this gassed the starters.
This year, though, it is a much different story. Graves, Gray, and even McCarroll are making a real effort to stop the other side before looking for their shots. The new kids, Ramon and DeGroat are already responding to this approach. Ultimately, what this means is a better distribution of minutes — once again, no Pitt player broke the 30 minute barrier in PT. Let me put it this way, last year in the first 7 games, 3 players per night played 30 minutes or more (pp 23-24, PDF). And the foes weren’t any better. Pitt averaged 71 points per game against the first 3 teams last year. This year, through 6 games they are averaging closer to 80 points/game, but the appraoch isn’t really any different. Just more players willing to play the game the way the Pitt coaching staff demands.
Vitale didn’t bother me as much as he usually does. Probably because his voice seemed strained. He could talk — and he did, continually — but he couldn’t screech. This made it easier to tune him out.
I would have produced better game notes, I swear, but I ended up talking with Lee for about a half-hour early in the second-half and then a call from my sister in the last 5 minutes ruined any chance to track the second half.
Obviously, Memphis was not at full strength, but this has been the best test Pitt has faced so far and it aced it. Another positive and a key difference from last year. It put Memphis away early. Last year, Pitt would forget to put defense first early in the game and try and run as up-tempo as the oppoosition. This would cause problems until Coach Dixon could finally, and after burning a bunch of timeouts, made it clear to the players to play defense and be patient looking for the open shot. This would have Pitt falling behind or playing far closer a game than it should be. Not a problem tonight.
Pitt’s next game is also it’s first official “road game” of the year. A trip to State College to play Penn State on Saturday. Lee, Shawn and Pat are planning to be in attendance. I’m expecting to read some first hand perspective.
