Rivalry games. You gotta love ’em.
— Especially when Pitt wins. That makes it 4 in a row in hoops over WVU.
Just some assorted notes.
The look of anguish on Wellington Smith when Ramon hit that game winning 3 was a delicious topping. Smith was the Hoopie who came to help on Benjamin and left Ramon to plant in the corner.
Did someone forget to tell DeJuan Blair that Hasheem Thabeet was not guarding him any longer? He was 3-13 with the only baskets coming when there was no one in front of him. Everything else he shot looked like he was trying to aim it around people. He was altering his own shot. The early bad/cheap/questionable offensive foul he picked up versus Smalligan very early may have gotten in his head.
Technically, Blair’s 3-13 was more than offset by Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler’s combined 3-20 and 3-8 on free throws for a grand total of 11 points. Not to mention Alex Ruoff only adding 5 points. That’s 16 points from WVU’s top 3 scorers.
Of course what kept WVU in the game was Darris Nichols 16 points and Joe Mazzulla going for 15 on 6-7 shooting (3-4 on 3s). Damn those streaky jump shooters. Nichols and Mazzulla were 12-22 for 31 points. The rest of the Hoopies were 7-31 with 23 points.
Benjamin came up with some big moments late in the game. The inbound slam when Blair slapped it right to him — sweet. Then there was the dribble penetration in the closing seconds that brought the other defender off Ramon freeing him for that beautiful, game-winning, open 3.
That said, Benjamin has no confidence in his perimeter shooting right now. He was 0-4 and became increasingly afraid to shoot it. WVU practically dared him a couple times in the second half, by staying off of him. You could see him literally freeze as he started to square-up for a 3 and change his mind.
I’m going to give Sam Young the benefit of the doubt on the issue of pouting. His facial expressions generally range from grim to sullen. He just doesn’t do a happy face real well. He was understandably frustrated by the early foul trouble and having to sit for 13 minutes. And if it was a little pouting, well his second half effort was 3-3 (2-2 on 3s) and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Between Young’s early foul trouble and Gilbert Brown’s second half foul issues, Bradley Wanamaker played 23 minutes. Definitely showing more patience on offense, but his court awareness of defenders not directly in front of him is, um, lacking. I find myself holding my breath any time he brings the ball up court with any defenders trailing behind him. He doesn’t keep the ball particularly close to his body when he dribbles which makes him prone to those turnovers and steals. His defense, though, is his strength. At the very least, he looks to be a defensive specialist. Of course, he is only a freshman and raw. I can see him developing steadily in his career as Antonio Graves did.
As a team, I wasn’t thrilled with the rebounding. Pitt was only +4 on rebounds despite the volume of brick-work by WVU. I know part of that was the fact that WVU spread the court and took a lot of jump shots. That meant only Blair seemed to be around the basket, surrounded by those new jerseys of the Mountaineers. Still, it seemed that WVU players were getting after the ball a lot more. A definite hallmark of a Huggins coached team.
Show of hands of Pitt fans holding their breath or screaming in fear at the sight of Levance Fields charging off the bench in that walking boot when Ramon hit the game winner?
Question: Did Fields’ velour sweat suit (what color was that? Chocolate?) top or tie the sweat suit Aaron Gray busted out for the game last year at Seton Hall that he had to sit out with his bum ankle?
Obviously stoked we won and I’m proud to be a fan of this team as it continues to battle despite adversity.
At some point, however, we’re going to need to make progress on the offensive end of the floor. I think UConn and WVU are good defensive teams, but if we want to be elite we need to find a way to “score the basketball” consistently — with or without Fields.
We can play lights-out defense, but if we let teams hang around by not taking advantage on the offensive end we’re in trouble (think Rutgers and just about every game since). I like how we looked to push the ball in the early going. Maybe that’s the way to go because our half-court sets are not producing at an acceptable rate.
For a spin on Pitt’s situation, consider that after Duke they looked like a final four team. But they still had Fields and got run out of the gym by Dayton. So while they had final four potential, they also had first round tourney loss potential.
But with these injuries, some players that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten some serious experience. At the beginning of the season, Pitt was a ‘next year’ team, until they went on a tear, ending with the Duke game. The experience the younger players are getting right now, especially through adversity and close games, makes them a very dangerous ‘next year’ team.
That is my silver lining to a cloud that I wish had passed us by.
But the problem becomes the offensive scheme. They don’t run an offense centered around a star. So in tough games, instead of running the ball through one person, the whole game is spent waiting for a player to assert themselves. Historically, in big games, especially Big East Championship and Sweet 16 games, the entire game passes by without anyone deciding to be the go to guy for that game.
The whole “team” vs “star” system is great until we need a star. Inevitably, every NCAA tournament, we need one and none arrive.
It has it all – we didn’t win, they lost it, our team has no talent, officials took away FTS….just take a look at the hoopie who wrote this dribble, that should say it all…
“Forget the final play. Heck, forget the free throws that were taken away from the losers. Those who were here, those who saw the game close up and personal can tell you: It was a game just waiting to be placed in the West Virginia win column. And the Mountaineers kicked it.”
“The bigger picture, though, is West Virginia – especially if it is NCAA tournament caliber – should have won this game. The Pittsburgh team that Panthers coach Jamie Dixon put on the court Thursday is no more a Top 25 team than Syracuse or Cincinnati – or WVU. The team Pitt put on the Pete’s court had less talent than unranked Louisville, Cincinnati or even 13-8 Villanova.”
Now listen to the hoopie media – It has it all – we didn’t win, they lost it, our team has no talent, officials took away FTs…
“Forget the final play. Heck, forget the free throws that were taken away from the losers. Those who were here, those who saw the game close up and personal can tell you: It was a game just waiting to be placed in the West Virginia win column. And the Mountaineers kicked it.”
“The bigger picture, though, is West Virginia – especially if it is NCAA tournament caliber – should have won this game. The Pittsburgh team that Panthers coach Jamie Dixon put on the court Thursday is no more a Top 25 team than Syracuse or Cincinnati – or WVU. The team Pitt put on the Pete’s court had less talent than unranked Louisville, Cincinnati or even 13-8 Villanova.”
“In other words, the Panthers are a Top 25 team in name only. They’re wearing a sheepskin. And WVU couldn’t imitate the fox.”
They just can’t take the fact they’re owned by Pitt…back to the trailers and sisterwives hoopies…
There is a better argument that Pitt would be undefeated in the Big East if we still had Fields, given how close the games have been and how much we have needed a point guard.
As to the article you linked, I have been hearing that stuff too. WVU is mad because they can’t seem to buy a win against Pitt lately. If they can’t beat us, they have nothing left to do but whine and hit on their sisters.
And you are right, if Blair made any shots tonight, this whole conversation isn’t happening right now.
Mitch writes for the Charlestown WVa paper what do you expect him to say? “Great win for Pitt, WVU lost to a better team”?
Mitch is a homer!
We stole their national championship dreams in football. 99.9% of the state hates us with a deep rooted passion (including Mitch).
He has a lot more talen than Graves and should end up averaging about 15 a game.
really…a sheep reference. Im sure when his readers hear sheep, they are not thinking of imitating a fox rather than imitating what they did to their sisters last night!!
Sam Young is a workhorse and Blair with more consistency, Pitt tough to beat, just ask Duke. That win at MSG gets bigger and bigger with each Duke win. With the injuries to Fields and Cook who would have thought we’d be 5-4 in the Big East and still looking good for the tourney.
The players have turned to drugs.
So WVU is off the island and Louisville and Rutgers are sliding… who will be our biggest challenge for Big East football next year? USF? Cincy? UConn?
