Well this was bound to happen. I will say that I was unconvinced of the outcome until Chris [several expletives deleted] Wright scored with under a minute to go for his 27th points. That did it. 1 second left on the shot clock, Pitt’s best defender, Jermaine Dixon, on him. He just makes a little feint away and Dixon bites. Wright goes straight to the hoop for an easy lay-up on the inbound.
In a way this game was like being on the receiving end of the Pitt-Syracuse game. Remember that game? Pitt was killing on 3s. Syracuse was 1-13 out there. That played a role.
About halfway through the first half, I made a note that Georgetown’s jumpers were falling while Pitt’s just were not.
This was the game where Ashton Gibbs wasn’t just shut down, he had a bad night shooting — 3-16 overall, 2-8 on 3s). Yes, Georgetown was blanketing him most of the game. Heck, they kept him from getting good shots and blocked 2 shots of his. So that had a major impact. It’s also a game where we saw Gibbs miss 3 open 3s. He had the time. He had the space. They just were off. It happens. It doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
I thought Jermaine Dixon had one of his toughest games on defense. He just was not as crisp. He was late helping on switches. Got bumped off a lot of plays. He had the tough night. Austin Freeman he could handle, but Wright was having a hell of a game and Dixon could not contain him. Heck on offense, he may have had 14 points but he was 4-11 doing it. I don’t know what kind of spin he is putting on his shots but it was really a problem They rolled all over the rim but out.
It’s a shame Nasir Robinson couldn’t stay out of foul trouble. He looked sharp and confident on offense. But with only 16 minutes not a lot of time to act upon it.
Gilbert Brown’s career high 20 points went for naught. Wanamaker grabbed 13 rebounds and had 7 assists.
Gary McGhee looked good and bad at time. I mean, he was not a good match-up with Monroe, but still had to got at him with Robinson in foul trouble. That made it easy for Vaughn. The good was on offense, where on 3 slams he handled the passes cleanly and went straight up. No putting the ball on the floor. No bending over to gather. He just finished clean on all 3. Just from where he started in the beginning of the season this is significant progress.
More after I have consume more adult beverages — and then get sober.
I also thought the defense was far too slow in trying to double Monroe the few times they did. If you do it quickly you force him to get rid of the ball, and put the pressure on him to find the right guy. They were too slow, and it resulted in some bad fouls on Monroe or the guys he was finding.
On the plus side, Gil was outstanding in the second half.
Oh well, it was due to happen, too bad it happened at the Pete. But hey, 4-1 through the toughest part of the schedule. Hail to that.
Also, I try not to rag on the zebras too much, but the blatant no-call after the steal where Brown (I think?) basically got tackled on a break that would have dropped the deficit to four with a couple minutes left or so was utter garbage. It was probably worse than the no-call on the foul on Gibbs at the end of the Louisville game.
HTscriptP
1. 4-16 from beyond the arc.
2. Failing to capitalize like 5 or 6 times late when up a couple with the ball.
3. Free Throws through the middle of the game. I know we lost by ten, but had we not gone like 5-12 or so at the line through the middle of the game the last few minutes would’ve gone differently.
the only thing i didnt like was gibbs forcing up jumpers early in the shot clock…i hope he learns from this game that the ball isnt going to automatically go in for him….if the shots not there, dont take it…..
very very impressed with wannamaker and gil attacking the hoop……
It was not a good night for Gibbs. Looked like he was steering his shots rather than just letting them fly. Could be fatigue, G’town’s early pressure on him or a combination of both. If he hits either of those open 3s in the final minutes, the home streak might still live.
Still, a good effort all in all. We were in it until the final minute. Just didn’t go our way this time. 5-1 still looks pretty good.
Hail to PITT!