Dixon and staff, including AD, outcoached again. Coaches do not have a clue coahing big men to pick inside, block-out, double defend a good big man, play some zone, etc. Bring back Paul Evans.

Wow. That was ugly. Really, really ugly.

I’m sure all the Dixon appolgists will come stubling to his defense, but once again, I feel the coaching warrents concern. JD can’t go out and shoot for the team – not that he could have done much worse – but once again we see a sluggish start and the complete inability to adjust before its too late. They just seemed totally unprepared for Louisville. The players ran into a buzz saw and had no idea how to handle it.

For those who think this team needs a “kick in the ass” and think Dixon’s the guy to do it, don’t hold your breath. He’s always been a “players coach” that played good cop to Howland’s bad cop. Its not his style. He’ll be analytical about it, and we can only hope that will be enough. Personally, this is when I wish he could transform into Bobby Knight and throw a chair at someone.

And as far as Lousiville wanting it more, here’s a newsflash: every team they play until the end of the season is going to want it more. Need it more. With the BE being what it is, everyone needs a “marquis” win right now to solidify their argument for a bid or a seed line. For the time being, Pitt is that oponent. They’re all going to bring their ‘A’ game – good teams find a way to coach and play through that. Marquette, G-Town, and WVU are going to come hungry. I hope we get our sh*t together or we could very well find ourselves playing on day 1 of the BET.

Buzz: good points. I’ve been considering that aspect as well. I’ve made that point in years past, but have been mocked. I still think it might be an issue.

We will not be playing on day 1 of the big east tournament. Come on, that is ridiculous.

Agree that you can’t say “bad games happen.” This was a but whoopin’.

That said, they missed open 3 after open 3. If those are going down, even with the turnovers, it’s a totally different game. It opens up the inside, it creates driving lanes.

A game like this also demonstrates what a liability Kendall is on offense. We need a 6’10” power forward who can hit the 12-15 foot jumper, particularlry at the FT line against a zone, and who can compliment Gray in the post. Kendall literally might as well not be on the floor when Pitt has the ball. The free throw line was open all game, but if you don’t have an athletic big man who can hit that shot, which also opens up the low post and the wing, it creates serious issues.

I don’t know what it takes to get these guys to give it all for an entire game (or, in this case, any part of the game), but Dixon doesn’t seem to have the coaching skills to bring out that kind of intensity. Even Duke (who I despise), when they were getting their asses handed to them last night, they are always giving it their all.

They need to come out the next game and play balls out for 40 minutes. They need to do that one fucking time this year. After a loss like this, nothing else is acceptable.

The following games are what will define this team, not this night. If all else is equal and we shoot our season average for 3’s, we win. Just an awful shooting night and it affected ball handling and turnovers.

Not out of the realm of possibility Oscar. We are ahead of fifth-place West Virginia by three games with four conference games to go — of which three are against ranked teams. Two of those on the road.

Sorry dude. I meant Omar. My bad.
😉

I think we’re missing the obvious. Pitt is now 0-1 with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin in attendance. Coincidence?

Sorry, I was thinking about something else. Omar is right – we will more than likely NOT have to worry about playing on the first day. Not sure where my head was on that.. well, actually I do. Up my a**, no doubt.

Still, a loosing the 1 or 2 spot would be a disappointment – a big one.

Well at least we have a week to practice taking care of the ball. Louisville was due for a win against us, but this type of ass kicking is disappointing. A lot to work on before Washington comes to town. I doubt Pitt plays this badly the rest of the season.

was it really coaching tonight? It looked to me like the guys actually shooting the ball couldnt hit the broad side of a barn on a sunny day. Hell just look at the 3s, if we just hit a few this is an entirely different game down the stretch. On the other hand I do blame the coaching for how we play against the press, its just ugly.

I don’t know aoubt Tomlin, but I’m betting some of the players choked for Mark Cuban’s sake. It’s got to add some pressure to have an NBA owner sitting courtside. By the way, someone above said this team just not very good…now that’s going off the deep end. What makes all of us so frustated after a game like this is we all know that this is a really good team. Really, they played so bad, you would have thought they practiced turning the ball over! Kendall is taking a lot of hits here (most of them deserved) but Cook played a rotten game tonight. In one sequence, he made three straight turnovers. This game had the same feel as the Wisconsin game, we got down, they turned up the heat, and we had no answer. I would have bet my house that no team would put a beat down like this on us at home this season.

unfortunately i was at the Pete tonight… and i’ve never seen so many fans this upset. i thought we were gonna have a riot up in peanut heaven.

a few things…
Cardinals deserver MUCHO credit.. very athletic, excuted their plan VERY well… much thanks to us sucking and them having Rick Pitino, and the 2-3 zone and full court traps killed us.

how do you all like the whole idea of Dixon’s man to man defense with the switch.. per example big man goes up for a pick… a guard can’t break through so Gray picks up the guard and you have someone like Fields defending a 6′ 10″ dude AND you have Gray out of position for the boards.. any thoughts???

All I am saying is we’re 10-2 in the big east and 22-4 overall. Do you think Penn State or Nova, other Pennsylvania teams would kill for that right now? How about Duke? Texas? Syracuse?, how about UCONN? C’mon, yes we played lousy tonight but what do you want right now? A national championship undefeated team? We all knew the deficiencies that this team had at the beginning of the season. If you are upset at a PITT team losing 4 games out of 26 games, go throw your computer against the wall. Now, if we lose the next game in the same fashion we can start to worry. We’re a streaky team and not yet a top 5 team. We will be in the near future….we might be better next year with the frontcourt we’re bringing in. We start 9, next season maybe 12. So everyone relax and go take some tums. I’m not happy either but we are still ahead of the friggin big east. *Drops the mic and walks out*

Pitino earned his pay last night. My concern is that other teams will use his example – press to eat clock and then get into the zone to frustrate our offense. In his post-game comments he said he watched EVERY Pitt game this year and went with – he called it a “3-2 zone” when the ball was above the foul line switching to man to man when the ball was below the foul line. That way, when the ball was in the paint the guards were covered and Gray couldn’t kick it out, forcing turnovers.

Brilliant.

Oh, I’m glad Cook hit the meaningless 3 at the end so he could feel like he’s done something in the month of February.

I’m glad I missed the game last night….please tell me this game wasn’t at home…

Doing my part to try to get the comments up to 100.

Bad game, good to get it out of the system and now Dixon can plan for what others teams will try to do against us.

It wasn’t a case of one bad shooting night and one bad effort game. L-ville won because Pitt couldn’t solve the press or the halfcourt defense and that was because of weaknesses in their backcourt. Namely:

* Fields and Ramon aren’t fast. Fields is a competent ball handler, but he isn’t a burner and can’t make the pressing team pay for being extended. We never got a dunk or a lay-in off slashing through or over that press, which is amazing after 40 mins of it.

* Our guards are too small and don’t have enough game to penetrate a zone made up of bigger athletes. Pitt has shot a good percentage from the outside mostly because the offense has run through Gray and he gets the ball back out for wide open 3s. When Fields, Ramon, Graves, and Cook (who just isn’t big enough to play swingman) are faced with a rangy athletic zone, they’re stymied. They couldn’t get a shot off, or get inside the zone. Those are the time when you realize that Gray is the only difference-maker Pitt has, and when the guards are too small and not athletic enough to be able to get in positions to feed him……well, you get an a__whuppin.

I personally can’t wait for next yr or the yr after when we’ll have some bigger and (I hope) faster kids in the backcourt and at the 3-spot.

It’s just like I’ve said all year. Pitt’s a very solid Top 15 team based on a good system, unselfishness and a difference-maker at center……but if anybody thinks this team is headed past the 16, they’re nuts.

Panthoor –

Good points – I’ve got to agree with you. Everyone who’s been following this thread saw my comments on how we played last night and that I see the inability to beat the press a concern.

However, this team IS still a great team. Someone above said that this team is not good. To me, that’s insane. The team is what, 21-4, 22-4? Even if you want to make the argument and say this isn’t a top 10 ranked team right now, you can’t say this team isn’t very good. They’re in first place in one of the toughest conferences in the country from top to bottom.

As Chas pointed out above, the Louisville defense wasn’t only good in their presses, but the way they were around the ball. We haven’t seen defense like that by anyone this year – even Wisconsin.

The loss was ugly because so many things were against us:

1. We couldn’t handle the press
2. Their perimeter defense was stellar – not giving us a whole lot of clean looks
3. Abhorrent shooting on our end – not even hitting any 3s until late in the game
4. 18 turnovers
5. We were outhustled for 90% of the game

When all of those things add up, you get what you got last night – a blowout loss.

Yes, I’m a little concerned about getting killed like that, but how often does all of the above happen to this team?

Let’s see how they bounce back – I’m convinced we won’t see all of those things happen to us again this season in the same game.

Sorry, Marco – No such luck. The game was at the Pete.

It happens when the team plays other teams who are athletic and quick. When the other team’s guards are athletic/quick, our guards are exposed for what they are not……..quick/athletic.

Trying to push it over 100, then we’ll really need a whaaambulance.

We are not as quick and athletic as some teams, but that can be countered by good shooting and smart, crisp passing. If I have to see Cook get the ball on the perimeter and take 3-4 seconds to decide what he’s going to do or Young and that same ball fake and over and over again, I am going to throw my laptop at the cat.

Especially against a more athletic team, lots of movement and good passing, particularly in and out of the post, are imperative. That’s what creates driving lanes and open 10-15 foot jumpers (contrary to what the guards and Dixon seem to think, not every jump shot HAS to be a 3).

This team is entirely capable of doing these things. But the players need to want to do it and Dixon needs to coach them better on how to execute it.

ONE last thing for Chas, and then maybe I can do some freaking work.

I’ll expose my foodie/dork side here to tell you that the next time your wife wants pancakes, make these – link to nytimes.com.

I used plain yogurt and ricotta cheese. The best pancakes I’ve ever had.

97 comments… if only we could drain a 3 point… oh nevermind.

The players and coaches have a lot of work to do before Saturday. 4 turnovers a piece from Kendall, Graves, and Cook.

Caroline gets award for most basketball knowledge comment. Every opposing coach knows what Dixon and staff never adjust to, namely , take defender Gray outside to clear lane for drives, layups, and offensive boards. And on offense, when was last time Dixon set a pick to free Gray for a layup?

Yeah, funny you mention Gray, floyal.

I don’t know if anyone else saw this as kind of weird or not.

When Gray has the ball, a lot of times he gets double-teamed obviously. But that happens even when the other team has a quality big man (like Louisville had Padgett (sp?)).

However, it seems to me that Pitt doesn’t do the same. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but the more I think about that game, Gray was playing Padgett straight up to my recollection. Now Gray is a good defender and did okay I thought, but Padgett still seemed to get off some pretty decent shots.

Even though we have a 7-footer, would it be to our advantage to occasionally throw another guy down there to at least cause the shooter to think twice on some possessions?

Again, maybe I’m wrong – or maybe it’s something we shouldn’t do. And most of all, it would have made absolutely no difference on the outcome of the game. But I’m wondering if that’s something they should think about down the road if they’re not doing it already.

And also, floyal, it doesn’t look like he gets screens for his layups. All of his baskets look to me like they come from either shorter defenders or his own post moves (which are pretty good). He STILL misses some shots he should make though and settles for too many layups in my opinion, rather than trying to dunk the ball.

Dixon needs to wake up and be willing to adjust to game conditions. When it became apparent that L-ville was scoring at will in the point (they ended up with over 40 pts in there), why wouldn’t Dixon consider packing in a zone and forcing L-ville to hoist up some 3s? If he had done any scouting, he would know that Pitino’s team is notoriously undisciplined from the outside and has taken bad shots all year long. We all know Dixon is inflexible on the defense thing, but sometimes you have to look at what is happening in front of you and adjust. If Fields can’t stay in front of somebody, then protect him. If you don’t have the athletes that the other side has, then go zone for 5 mins and see if Williams or Palacios or Sosa starts forcing shots. L-ville has 8 losses for a reason; because their offense has stunk all year and they take bad shots. Why, of why, wouldn’t Dixon realize that. I’ll tell you why…..because he’s a coach who has maintained a great program but has one huge weakness…..no game skills.

It would not hurt to throw someone else down there but who?

Also, Gray is not the fastest player and he does get tired and has to be rested. His coming out to set screens necessitates him running back to the hole and setting up for interior D. I believe that leads to him being tired, which leads to him not being in the right position to fend off inside player’s moves.

Pitt faced a 3/2 trapping zone press then Louisville fell into either man or a 2/3 very active (almost matchup zone). The only way to beat it is for each ballhandler to turn and face up to his defender (triple threat position) beforee he moves or passes. You must make your defender play you before you pass/dribble etc.

As an ex coach, I have seen the sloppiness, casual ballhandling, and poor fundamentals in Pitt the last 5 games. We have so much depth, we have simply overwhelmed our opponents. Getting out hustled and losing boards the last 2 games is
simply in excusable. Pitt can not win a “jumping
contest with anyone” under the boards. They must box out. Jury is out on JD and staff. Here’s a chance to show their stuff…..

I have never been a Dixon fan. He is starting to make some adjustments at half time, but they are usually minor and fairly obvious. I kept screaming for them to go zone for a few minutes, to try double teaming in the post, to pull Gray up to the free throw line and look for some alley oops to Young or Benjamin. Nada.

Dixon is a nice guy and a decent coach. I still wish we had chosen Sean Miller instead.

Whatever he said at halftime seemed to work. We came out much more agressive and when we got the lead down to about 11, I thought we were actually going to pull it out.

But five minutes later, we were back to playing crappy. Not sure if that was Dixon’s fault or not, but if you asked me whether I was a Dixon fan or not, I’d have to say I am.

I can’t completely blame the loss on him last night. He might not have had them prepared for the press as well as they should have been, but he also didn’t shoot 2-17 from three point land.

Even though I don’t agree with everything he does, I don’t agree 100% with any coach of a team I support.

He’s done one thing in particular that Mr. Wannstedt hasn’t learned – he’s adapted the style of play to his team. Pitt is far from being a run-and-gun type of team, but he’s not only allowed them to shoot more 3s – he’s encouraged it. A lot of coaches might tell them not to shoot so much, but that’s clearly (in my opinion) the reason why have the potential to be a Final Four team.

Let’s see, Dixon has continued a top-tier program for the past three years and gotten Pitt to the tournament easily each year. Oh, and did I mention he’s done it by running a squeaky-clean program? (At least it appears so)

Plus, now he’s starting to get recognition from the top recruits.

Not saying he doesn’t have his faults, but I’m very happy with the way he’s run the team.

Dixon can prepare the team all he wants to bring the ball up against the press and it isn’t going to make Fields or Ramon any faster. I don’t blame Dixon for that; those kids have been playing long enough now that they oughta know you beat presses by either reversing the ball or getting it into the middle. What I blame Dixon for is not ever realizing that L-ville was pounding his man-to-man inside and penetrating it on the perimeter. When you see that, you have to try a zone for a few minutes to change the rhythm up. Yes, he runs a clean program. Yes, he’s recruiting better. Yes, he’s produced an unselfish team. He still stinks as a game coach, which kills Pitt against good opponents. His subsitution patterns are baffling and it takes him too long (if he does at all) to react.