You know, I feel like it was my fault Pitt nearly lost. At the very least ended up in OT. In the final couple of minutes I started typing some of my thoughts of the second half, and had even typed that Pitt won. I should know better.
I’d say the general consensus on the ESPN Full Court On-line set-up is thumbs down. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of broadband connection — cable or dsl — people had periods of picture freeze and skipping around. The sound was consistent throughout, which was good. I don’t see how, other than for those who have to be at a computer or somehow have a cable system not offering the package you would pay the same price for the plan that you would for the TV deal. Now if the price point was about 1/2, then I’d see the value and interest. Not at that price and for that quality, though.
I’m not sure how the schedule worked out that way, but it is a good thing Pitt has over a week off to rest. Especially to let Gray’s ankle and Kendall’s back heal.
Despite ND losing, let’s face it, the story was Chris Quinn.
No matter what defense Pitt tried against Chris Quinn, no matter what defender was used against him, he made shots — some from beyond the NBA’s 3-point range. But on a night no lead was safe against Notre Dame and its Quinn-led comebacks, what proved the Irish’s undoing was their inability to hold one of their few leads.
Ronald Ramon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the second overtime and No. 22 Pittsburgh withstood Quinn’s 37 points and frantic Notre Dame rallies at the end of regulation and the first overtime for a 100-97 victory Wednesday night.
Quinn was just hitting shots, and there was nothing to stop him. The defense was there, it wasn’t like he was getting clean, open looks. He was catching and shooting without any thought. Only 3-7 in the first half with 7 points, he just started hitting shot after shot late in the game and throughout the overtime. 10-16 the second half and OT, which included 5-5 at the line and 5-7 on 3s.
What Pitt had going for it was the fact that the rest of the ND team did not raise their game. It helped that the rest of their guards were fouling out along with Rick Cornett — removing the only inside presence they had.
Time to ponder the fate of Torin Francis. How shot must his confidence be? Once more, he wilts when he actually faces another team that plays strong inside. He played 29 minutes for the game. Only 14 in the second half and OTs. The only reason he played that much was because Cornett and the other guards had fouled out. He was stuck on the bench after a brief flash of effort to start the second half. And just how much smaller does his game look, when Quinn was literally carrying the Irish on his back.
In the end, and despite some shaky (to be kind) free throw shooting in the final 12 minutes of the game and OTs — with Krauser having fouled out of the game — Pitt came through.
With Pitt trailing by one, Ronald Ramon made a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left for the victory the Panthers tried to give away twice, once at the end of regulation and once in overtime.
Sam Young set a pick up high, Levance Fields penetrated and kicked it out to a wide-open Ramon for the winner. The Panthers did it without senior leader and leading scorer Carl Krauser, who had fouled out with 2:06 left in regulation.
“It was perfect execution by two freshmen and a sophomore,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “Five guys did exactly what we wanted to do.”
And that not only should provide confidence for those players and the coach, it should make every Pitt fan very optimistic about the future. And, I’m almost ready to say that Coach Dixon deserves a little more confidence in him from the fans. Question a lot of things, but this team is showing noticeable improvement from the first game to now. From how they played last year to this season.
The basic numbers for Pitt were excellent.
Gray recorded his seventh double-double of the season, leading Pitt with 25 points and 11 rebounds. He also contributed four blocks, three assists and two steals.
Before fouling out, Krauser had 21 points and six assists, while freshman Sam Young had 15 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. Ramon added 12 points, and Levance Fields had 11 points.
“It’s tough not having Carl out there,” Ramon said. “He’s the energy guy, the guy going out there and making plays.”
Pitt shot just 6 for 15 from 3-point range and was 30 for 46 from the free-throw line. The Panthers shot 49.2 percent (32 for 65) overall from the field.
Free throws could have been better, but I think that goes without saying.
Some numbers later, but here’s something that astounded me. Pitt had 30 assists on 32 baskets. That’s an Assist/Basket % (A/B%) of 93.2. Even more stunning to learn that Antonio Graves led with 7 assists, Krauser 6, Fields 5 and Ramon 4.
