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January 14, 2009

Levance Fields and DeJuan Blair ended up with double-doubles. Blair had 18 rebounds and 13 points. Fields is now in a rush to get those 500 career assists. 14 assists and 11 points. Pitt came away with the 75-62 win.

A little frustrating on the defensive end. Pitt did a good job early with turnovers, then that went away. What remained consistent was making South Florida work for their scores. Yet they did. They had to use a lot of clock, but they did a great job of scoring. Gus Gilchrist showed why teams pursued him despite the flakiness.

I hate. I mean, I really hate complaining about officiating. I’ve avoided it to date, but this game was called horribly. The refs were letting anything go inside, but guards driving to the baskets they call touch fouls. Obviously, the problem for Pitt against a team like USF that relies on the backcourt to score the officiating benefits USF while killing Pitt. Blair and Young were getting mugged and hacked inside, while Dominique Jones and Chris Howard for USF merely had to dribble towards the basket and get a call. If this officiating crew is calling the game when Pitt faces Marquette or Villanova, I don’t like Pitt’s chances.

In the last two games, Sam Young has opened the game by draining a 3 in the corner. Then he proceeds to struggle shooting the entire game. Overall, though, on the offense there was just tremendous patience for most of the game from Pitt. Just waiting to find the best shot.

Tyrell Biggs was huge in the first half. He finished with 16 points to lead Pitt. He has stepped up in his senior year to be the player he was recruited to be. Following the senior step-up of the past few years from Graves to Benjamin to Biggs.

Meanwhile, Brad Wanamaker really seems to get it after a disappointing freshman year that had people writing him off. Another solid performance off the bench.

Three point shooting was absurdly good. I just fear that will mean come Saturday, we will see some 3-20 performance from the perimeter. At the very least, though, it will make Louisville concerned that they can’t just dare Pitt to shoot the 3s, and let Pitt get inside.





Pitt may be more focused vs Louisville and play a 40 minute game — remember how inconsisent they were at Rutgers but a few days later, handled GTown.

They seem to have a weakness in perimeter defense — remember the problem they had with Rutgers guards in 1st half.

Nonetheless, they win ugly more often than not — nutways seem to have someone pick up for another who is having an off night

Comment by w bill 01.14.09 @ 10:51 pm

This seems strange to say, but I do have concerns about Sam Young. He’s getting his points, but he never seems to be in the flow of the offense. Maybe it’s because the other teams are working hard at locking him down, but the last few games he just seems to disappear for long stretches, doesn’t get many touches, and then often forces a drive, gets the ball smacked out of his hands or just loses it.

Feel like an effort needs to be made to get him more involved in the offense, ’cause we’ll need it against the top teams in the conference. Maybe I’m just nitpicking.

Comment by Carmen 01.15.09 @ 9:19 am

I agree on the Sam Young concern. They’re a balanced enough team that Sam doesn’t have to get 20 every night, but the way he’s playing is a bit strange. He’s over-penetrating, trying to get all the way to the basket when it’s not there and isn’t getting the type of baskets recently that he used to rely on………jumpers in the lane or one the baseline that came off quick cuts and post-ups. All his pts in the last couple games are off 3-pt shots or on awkward drives to the hoop when he sometimes gets a foul call.

I think some of this is because the high-post shots he used to get in the lane against zones are now being taken by Biggs (which is fine). I would like to see Young get some touches on the baseline, where he has always seemed comfortable.

Can’t wait for the L-ville game….will be a great battle.

Comment by hugh green 01.15.09 @ 9:32 am

Bill,

I don’t think there was a problem with our perimeter defense, or at least a big one.

South Florida was hitting a lot of inprobably shots with hands in their faces. We did everything short of mugging them, and they still made their shots.

It was just that kind of flukey night for them shooting.

We played our B game, and they came out and shot the lights out and played one of their best games, and we still won by 13. That’s all anyone needs to know.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 01.15.09 @ 12:34 pm

Also, don’t be deceived by USF’s overall record. They didn’t have Gus Gilchrist available in November and December. They are a stronger team now than they were before the New Year.

Comment by pitt1972 01.15.09 @ 2:43 pm

Isn’t it great that Pitt’s B game is better then most teams A game. Enjoy the ride, it hasn’t always been like this. Question: Did Pitt try to recruit DJ Kennedy, or did he just choose to attend St. Johns? If we didn’t recruit him, why not?

Comment by ltl 01.15.09 @ 4:15 pm

I think DJ was on their list but not high – don’t know if he received an offer. I know Blair, Wannamker, McGhee and the JC center (forgot his name) who was forced out, were all early committals so don’t know if they went after him hard since he was not a 4 star.

Comment by w bill 01.15.09 @ 5:51 pm

Pitt offered Kennedy, but he wanted to leave the city due to some negative surroundings..

Comment by Chris 01.15.09 @ 9:40 pm

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