I am a big fan of effiency rankings for college basketball so before previewing any game I give them a look. If you still need a lesson on effiency rankings, here is a good source.
Today when I jumped over to KenPom.com I noticed something that helped explain Saturdays loss and Pitts shooting woes. Louisville is No. 1 in college basketball when it comes to adjusted defensive efficiency. They force teams into a low shooting percentage, block shots and cleanup on the boards. That formula certainly worked against Pitt.
Will Syracuse be able to do the same? According to the numbers, no. They are decent at making opponents miss, but not nearly as good as Louisville. They are much worse at keeping opponents off the offensive glass and are close to the bottom when it comes to forcing turnovers. The numbers may be a bit deceiving here as Syracuse uses the 2-3 zone which just keeps opponents on the perimeter instead of putting any real pressure on them.
Syracuse’s best statistical category is its ability to keep opponents OFF the free throw line. Pitt, not surprisingly, is one of the worst teams in the country at getting to the line. This is described on the stat pages as FTA/FGA or free throw attempts to field goal attempts. Now, if you are a whiner and like to complain about officiating, there is your ammo. I, on the other hand, think Pitt isn’t going strong to the hoop enough. Seriously, what goes around comes around when it comes to officiating. Argh. I really don’t like it when people complain about officials, sorry guys.
Local coverage on the Panther’s is a bit thin this week and probably will be for a few more. Not sure why. Yes, I know why. You don’t need to comment and tell me.
With only one day off between Louisville and Syracuse, Pitt doesn’t have much time to over think the loss.
Coach Jamie Dixon said he is happy his team does not have time to dwell on the Louisville loss.
“Our guys always want to play,” Dixon said. “They want to play in a game, so either way — win or lose — they want to play a game shortly. We’ll be ready to go. We’ll learn from this. You learn from everything. You learn from wins and you learn from losses. We learned from our 16 wins and we have to learn from our one oss.
Again, my opinion of Pitt’s loss will not be complete until I see how they play tonight. Turn it around, and it was a fluke. More of the same, and its the beginning of a trend.
Tonight’s match up puts last years co Big East rookies of the year against up against each other, Johnny Flynn and DeJuan. Well, not really. It’s more of a Flynn v. Fields match up.
Flynn, who last season shared Big East rookie of the year honors with DeJuan Blair, ranks third in the conference at 5.7 assists per game. He is averaging a team-best 16.3 points per game and shooting 49 percent from the field.
Fields leads the conference in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio despite a career-high six turnovers against Louisville. Fields needs five assists to become only the sixth player in Pitt history with 1,000 points and 500 assists.
For those who have not noticed, Pitt dropped to No. 4 in the polls while Syracuse is now No. 8. The Big East has six teams ranked in the top 12.
