kent state gates (22) and other guard (17) both blew up on us. bradley’s center we could’nt stop.oklahoma st-allen (23) (no other play on osu was in doubles) dwyane wade. crawford. pacific had a guard with 17, another one with 15 and a forwarsd with 17. and in these lossess pitt is usually scoring in the 50’s or maybe the 60s. ucla-ship collison and affalo.

omar turnovers are also part of offense. so are bad shots but there are no statistics for that one. you have to watch the games. like end of nd game. go back and watch it and tell me he didnt’ force bad shots in that loss. that happened. he’s still a very good player and a great glue player. that isn’t a top offensive scorer though. thats a fact omar. deal with it. he averages 12 a game. not top offensivfe scorer numbers.

Pitt’s defense, well good, is not overly aggressive and does not cause lots of turnovers against good teams. Good teams don’t turn the ball over against passive defenses that don’t mix up defenses, nor press you at all, full court or half court. For the season Pitt has a zero net turnover ratio.(we average 11.7 pg and the opposition averages 11.7 pg) When you factor in the 90% non-con cupcakes into that turnover ratio, that is not good. We had 17 turnovers yesterday while L’ville only 9 turnovers. In our other losses Pitt had 16 turnovers against SJU and 15 turnovers against Tenn. You can’t win games against good teams turning the ball over that many times AND HAVING SUB-PAR FREE THROW SHOOTING. We almost lost to bottom feeder Providence because of 23 turnovers. And we let Cincy back into a game that should have been a 25 point rout because of 18 turnovers. This team is very sloppy with the ball. When that happens and you can’t create turnovers or shoot Free Throws, you’re in big trouble against a quality team.

Thank God most of our wins haven’t been close and we’ve had to sweat out several close wins over Rutgers, Villanova & WVU. This teams needs to clean up it’s turnover problem very quickly or it’s gonna be 2 and out in the dance. IMHO
Hope not !
HTP!

Just re-watched the game on TiVO. Ashton Gibbs gets too much of a pass for his ATROCIOUS defense. For the first 30 minutes of the game he didn’t even try to stay in front of his man. The last ten minutes he stepped up the effort a little.

I can understand that he is never going to be quick enough, strong enough, big enough to play great defense. And I understand he needs to play big minutes and be fresh enough to knock down 20 footers. And I also get that he has knee issues. But, there is no excuse for the pi$$ poor effort he showed for most of the game Sunday. If he hadn’t stepped it up the last couple minutes, I would put more credence in the above excuses. But, Come on man, you gotta at least try.

Unless we get lucky in the FT shooting like at Providence where we hit 19 of 25 (76%) where Woodall & Taylor were 9 for 9 and McGhee was 3 of 4 and even Nas was 3 of 5. 19 of 25 and Gibbs didn’t even attempt a FT and 23 turnovers. Wow, the Gods were with us that night.

@andrew
I think the other guard you were thinking about in the Kent State game was Trevor Hoffman who also scored around 20 in that game and he hit several long 3’s.

We’ll go as far as turnovers and free throws in the dance. Pitt won’t be done in by some ‘hot’ shooter from another team if it takes care of #1 and #2. Just get back to the basics.

MelvinB, I think you’re expecting too much. There is no way ESPN is going to change their note card scrip on Pitt. It’s laminated! So once they put the plastic coating on it, it may as well have been etched in stone. “Pitt’s a blue collar team.”

Pitt did have players who could take over the game in the past. In the loss to Nova and Scottie Reynolds, DeJuan Blair completely dominated the second half, unfortunately a couple things didn’t go our way.

I really think Wanny proved that he can take over a game if we need him to. Maybe we’d like to see him do it a little more, but he is such a solid all around and unselfish player that he adds value to the team in so many other ways.

Andrew:

There is a statistic for bad shots. It is field goal percentage. This argument needs to end. We differ in our opinion. No big deal. Go Panthers!

LOL Justinian, you are most likely correct sir.
Watched the WVU game on ESPN 3 and the color guy, I think Fran Fracello keep talking about blue collar this and blue collar that, lunch buckets and hard hats so much I thought we were watching a skyscraper being built.

bad shots isn’t part of field goal percentage. a missed shot isn’t always a bad shot. a bad shot can happen when a guy shoots a contested shot too early in the offensive set.( a shot you can get at anytime). a bad shot can be one that leads to an easy run out for the other team. a bad shot can be one where a guy forces his way into the paint and just throws it up at the basket praying for it to go in. but yes we do differ and i can live with that ha. i just wish pitt would look into playing a 1-3-1 or a press or something to speed up the tempo of some of these games and cover some of the defensive weaknesses (like gibbs man to man d).

The media even suspends beliefs and reality in sports broadcasting. Think what they do with the news on TV, sheesh.

Well, as I’ve reasonbly argued with a few here over the last month, let us, finally, and forever, put the “lack of respect” card, officially, AWAY. Most have put it away over the past few years, but, a couple still cling to it.

Going 1-1 the past week, especially with the loss coming on the Sunday before the pollsters vote, with the game on national t.v. for all of them to see the loss……we stayed the same in one poll, and, actually moved up a spot in the other.

If that doesn’t say RESPECT for the program, I don’t know what it would take to convince the last few. Pure total respect!!! We could have easily dropped a couple spaces and no one would have noticed, but, they kept us right there.

Pitt hoops is RESPECTED!!!!!!!!!

Andrew, if you noticed earlier in the season Pitt was playing uptempo, especially in the non-con.
And when you have better athletes you should play uptempo, Pitt scored 79 against Maryland and 89 against Marquette plus lots of 80’s against some of the non-cons. ND slowed the game way down since Brey realized they didn’t have the athletes to play Pitt uptempo.

One of two things happened with Pitt, as we got into the tougher part of the BigEast schedule, JD felt we didn’t have better athletes than those teams so we went back into our halfcourt offense or the players lacked the confidence, which I kind of doubt. As far as a press or 1-3-1, JD is a disciple of BH and that wasn’t part of his scheme either, so unless he brings in an asst coach who is, we’re not going to see it. Shame because next year we have the type and quantity of players to do it. Grind on.

I think Pitt gets more respect from the pool of National Sportswriters which make up the AP and the coaches and others who make up the USA Today poll than they do from the supposed hoops gurus on ESPN, other than Bobby Knight. And unfortunately the creeps on ESPN have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and several different ESPN networks to deliver their babble on.

George, I need to see a complete game and believe me I watch all games…they have played some great halves, but play well the entire game. Is it coaching, the opponent, officials, players ?….this Pitt team needs to play well entire game not just 20 or 30 minutes….and do it game after game. That is why this team may not go where others before them have not also. We need to get it together….and nobody on this board cares more for Pitt hoops than I. I do not want to witness a close tourney loss again.

yeah melvin i agree with all that. and the notre dame team did what pitt used to do when it was building its program because pitt didn’t have the athletes and played that style and tempo. that is why i thought pitt should have done something to change the tempo against nd like pressing. also i think the 1-3-1 helps cover the 3 and prevent dribble penetration (both areas in their losses pitt has struggled with). it seems dixon is willing to swtich to a zone when we struggle but he only wants to play the 2-3 and that d doesn’t help to cover the 3. But yeah i definitely agree and would love to see a 1-3-1 at least as an option when the man to man doesn’t work and a press to have in case pitt plays against a team that does what nd did. Don’t want Dixon to abandon man to man, just want to see him expand his coaching and have some options to make in game adjustments.

Wow, Omar. One of the only things we agree on is Wanamaker, but even I wouldn’t call him one of the ten best players in college basketball, even in 2011’s depleted roster of college talent. I love his game, but I’m still rooted in reality.

Villanova is rapidly playing itself onto the bubble. Down 20+ in the first half to ND. They don’t look interested in even competing. Another epic collapse from Jay Wright…but hey, he dresses well.

Wanamaker has way too many negative plays to be considered one of the best. Too many turnovers (travels, charges, etc.). If we don’t win these last 2 games I think another 2nd round loss is in our near future. We can’t stumble into the postseason

Exactly andrew. Would have loved to see us press ND or 1-3-1 trap them, however they don’t practice that as far as I know. Can’t play it unless you practice it, you know. And I agree I’m not talking about abandoning the man to man, but I’ve seen some great college teams from the past, a lot of them had the ability to change defenses. Granted that was a different time with different players, but boy would I love to see old Buzz Ridl’s amoeba defense of 1974 with some of these athletes of today. Or Tim Grgurich’s 1-3-1 trap. That defense had the great 1981 UNC team totally confused and out of sync in the 2nd round of the NCAA’s. So much so, that the legendary Dean Smith had the refs change the basketball. (which by the way was pure BS) Surely if Sam Clancy, Carlton Neverson and Sam Ellis could learn it, these kids could too.

As far as Wanny, he’s been playing at Pitt since his freshmen year, this is (more than anyone else) his team. If he can lead us to the Final 4, I will say he’s one of college basketball Top 10 players. We need one guy, hopefully a senior, but I don’t care, want the ball, take the shot and make a play to alter and win the game.

Bite my tongue about my ESPN comment. Just saw a clip on their website with Lunardi (who’s been on Pitt since the first week this year of bracketology) and Gottlieb (who hasn’t and traditional isn’t on Pitt). And they BOTH have Pitt as a #1 seed. So it’s on us, we just have to win the BE regular season and maybe a game in the BE tourney to secure that #1 seed. (I was hoping Nova was going to help us tonight, but that appears busto)

Hugh:

You’re telling me wannamaker isn’t one of the 10 or 20 best players in the country? Really? Name them.

Andrew:

Wouldn’t you say most bad shots don’t go in? Therefore would they not be captured by the field goal %? A player that has a habit of taking bad shots will probably have a low fg %.

I too, was hoping Nova would help us tonight; if they’re in a funk, so be it then, I just hope they sustain it through this Saturday, when Pitt wraps up the Big East regular season.

Villanova is now 2-5 since the declaration of a boycott against Kelly’s Tavern for hosting Pitt’s alumni watch party during the 2/12 College Gameday meeting. Those five losses include the Rutgers 4 point play, Pitt, home losses to Syracuse by 5 and St Johns by 13, and now tonight’s embarrassing loss at ND. The two wins include a 3 point victory over Seton Hall and a 2 point overtime win at Depaul (which they were seconds away from losing in regulation).

Just thought everyone would like to know.

If I had to pinpoint the problem I’d say it was the 6’3 power forward who has 4 blocks on the year, can’t rebound, and shoots 50% from the line, going 1-9 from the field. Call me crazy.

Zanna, Brown, and Taylor needs minutes at the 4 for Pitts to make a real run.

The real problem with this team is that while they are experienced, they are not basketball smart. The starters lack a true point guard who will make good decisions with the ball – especially in late game situations. Wannamaker has been an excellent distributor of the ball, but he is not a late game point guard. The mistakes they have made over the last few games – for a team with so much experience – is astounding. If it’s not Woodall blowing a chance to go into the half vs. WVU with the lead by forcing a play with 12 seconds left in the half and the shot clock off its a senior guard picking up his dribble just over half court against a 3/4 court trap and then throwing the ball away against UL. That is the true weakness of this team – and depending upon match-ups in the tourney – will spell the difference between the sweet 16 and something beyond.

Our last 4 games we just look unprepared and sloppy. I’m not nearly as confident in this team as I was a few weeks ago. Why doesn’t J.J. Moore play? I feel like he is a lot more effective than Patterson

Gates scoring 22 and another guard scoring 17 in a game going to OT is not getting lit up by someone. Page and Knight both had 18 in the game too.

Judging from the piling on, Wanny isn’t that good and Pitt isn;t that good of a team that needs to make tons of changes before the tournament. Wanny is the leader of one of the 4 best college basketball teams in the entire country, a team that almost has a 1 seed locked up and that will most likely win the Big East regular season championship outright.

News flash for everyone on here, Louisville is a really good defensive team that forces turnovers that in undefeated at home in the Big East. And guess what, Pitt wins the game if Brown or Siva shoots his normal free throe percentage.

Another news flash for everyone on here, St. Johns is a really good home team that absolutely gave it to Duke. And guess what, Hardy probably stepped out of bounds.

When you play a good team on the road, most of the time you aren’t going to be your sharpest because the home team has an advantage. Give the other teams some credit.

This Pitt team needs to play with an aggressive (dominant) attitude from the start; get the lead early then keep the pressure on for 40 minutes. (Lately I noticed ND’s attitude improved and their ranking). At times it appears this team likes to start slow to see how far they can come back from behind. These slow starts cost them several games that they should have won. One way to keep the pressure on their opponent is to have a contributing bench. Early in the year, Pitt’s bench was solid but lately has been in a funk. Pitt has the ingredients to be a final two team, it just needs to play with confidence and keep pressure on their opponents on both ends of the court. Quite a few of Pitt’s fouls occurred because of their hesitancy which put them one step behind the play. Regardless, how this team ends up in the BET and NCAA championship, I enjoy watching them on TV – admittedly, was frustrated at times but never the less this is a fine basketball team. HTP

I notice now Wanamaker’s among the top 20 players. Talk about a moving target.

Just off the top of my head, ten is easy. Williams, Sullinger, Hamilton, both Morrises, Singler, Smith, Dunn, Smith, Fredette. I didn’t even have to put any thought into that.

But don’t miss my point. Wanamaker is a stud. We’re very lucky to have him. Let’s just keep it real here.

Ya, Melvin, was going to say something about ESPN, then, saw you’re additional post. Really, ESPN gives us a lot of love. We’re on their constantly. Bill Raftery absolutely loves us, “Send it in Jerome”, when Dickie V. is in the house, always says one of the top couple places to play for atmosphere, “Oakland Zoo Baby!!!”, Jay Bilas always talking about one of the top programs (I could do without his always having to say ‘blue collar’, ‘lunch bucket’), but, whatever. And, ya, Lunardi.

What I was going to say, before I saw your second post, was, remember, ESPN has a ton of teams to cover, BCS & Mid Majors.

In my humble opinion, I thing we’re all over the t.v. and airwaves constantly, and most of it positive Pitt.

Hope Jamie has em’ ready tomorrow night, he has got to some how get them fired up and get them ready. Last thing we want is to be on here bitchin’ Thursday a.m.. A good day to all. Hail to Pitt!!

I like the attitude of the last 4 comments. I think some people get way out of whack when their team loses. We are a top 5 team in the country in 2009 and this year and top 15 year in and year out. What more could you want?

Not a basketball aficionado, but a fervent Pitt BB and Jamie Dixon fan/loyalist nonetheless. My perspective is the season is a marathon, not a sprint which places a huge amount of stock into Pitt’s final two games. If they win them, go 27-4 and win the BE then it will have been a hugely successful year. The BET then becomes icing on the cake with not much meaning either way (unless they run the table which would be a crowning achievement). If they stub their toes this week by losing one or both (I think the Villanova game could get dicey), and ND goes on to win the BE, then the BET price of poker just went up and the season will leave a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. Anyway, I am not one to overemphasize the NCAA as that will always lead to disappointment for all but one team. I am a conference champion supporter and, at least for me, these next two games are where I will invest my feelings/evaluation of the season. The NCAA is gravy time. Bottom line, Pitt has had a great year and the ride has been, overall, fun.

@drgags:

If you watch all the games then you know that college basketball is a game of runs…ebb and flow. The other guys are going to make shots and take advantage of a mis-match here or there. You pick spots to give certain guys a rest. What team has played ‘a complete game’? Notre Dame last night? It amazing how a team can play a complete game when 20 three-pointers go down and your opponent (Villanova) aprears to have mailed in the season.

Sure, there are a few things that I would like to see from Pitt…fewer turnovers….mix in some zone, and not just for a couple of possessions (and if it works…stay with it). But…many of the posters here are lame….predicting a loss in the tourney. 67 of the 68 teams will experience a loss in the NCAA tournament people…

Man, am I sick of hearing about ESPN. We are on all the time and when we are not, we are on ESPN3.com. I have seen every single game this year and I live in DC. We get a ton of respect.

Gottleib may be a D-bag but until we dominate an NCAA tourney he is right. Bilas and Katz are big fans of the program and always say that Dixon has built a program the right way. Bobby Knight picked us to win the NCAA’s a few years ago.

PItt has 4 losses and all but one is currently ranked in the top 25. That ND loss is looking better and better as the season goes on…and they had to use a gimmick offense to do it. We beat St. Johns if the ref is paying attention. The Tennessee game, I believe, was during finals week.

This team is solid. Every time there has been a “big” game, the team has dominated. UCONN, G-Town, Syracuse. I think you will see another BIG game for seniors night against ‘Nova. I really believe this team is built for a long tourney run. Will they win it? Who knows, luck always plays a part. It takes time to break through to that elite level. Once someone does it though, they generally become a mainstay…Go Pitt!

BTW, Wanny is the man and people need to chill…if Gil makes that layup and is fouled, Wanamaker looks like a genius. Pitt’s offense is designed to find the best shot and Wanamaker was just doing his job…he found the man with the best shot and enough time on the clock to get another possession. The offense runs through him but he is not our go-to guy. There is a reason that EVERY post game blurb from the opposing coach mentions him as Pitt’s best player.

That was not directed at anyone in particular, just an overall observation…so don’t take it personally.

What is being experienced on this board/blog at the moment is pure March Madness angst. It’s hard to suppress. Every close loss like the SJU and ‘Ville games, at least for me, conjures up terrible memories of NCAA tourney losses — games that, had the team just done or two things differently, they would have advanced. At this point in the season, I view pretty much every game through the lens of the Big Dance, to the point where I just want the BET to come and be over with, regardless of how Pitt performs in it.

I can take losses at this point in the season, I just want it to be a good loss, I guess, one where we shot well from the line, didn’t miss layups, didn’t commit turnovers for no good reason. If you lose playing like that, then you were truly beaten. I see that Louisville game, and I don’t think we were beaten by a better team, and I’m scared of a repeat performance in the second or third round of the tourney. And it’s causing a heck of a lot of angst for me, that’s for sure.

In my humble opinion, if Pitt wins its next two games and wins the BE outright, they will get a #1 seed regardless what they do in the BET. The BE is a very competitive conference loaded with top 25 teams and is considered the #1 basketball conference in the NCAA. Pitt would have earned a #1 seed by winning the BE which, in my opinion, would be a great accomplishment. What they do in the NCAA tournament will be icing on the cake. HTP!

Well said, Carmen. I can’t think of anything else to add–most of us believe in what the Panthers can do, but we don’t want to rationalize a first-game exit in the Big East Tourney, and we damn sure don’t want to explain away a second-round loss in the NCAAs.

By the way, has anyone seen the latest bracket projection on CNN? Still a #1 seed in the NCAAs, but playing in the Southeast Region. If we went by their projection, we could have:

– A (possible) re-match with Tennessee in the second round
– A (potential) SS matchup against UNC or Missouri
– A (potential) E8 match-up with WVU, Wisconsin, or Texas

link to sportsillustrated.cnn.com

hugh:

I get your point. However, I still contend that Wannamaker is one of the top-10 or 20 players in the country. I should have said top-10 or 20 to begin with, that was an oversight. Out of your initial list I would take Wannamaker over: Singler, Markief Morris, and Lacedarius Dunn. Also, you mentioned Smith twice.

If you’re talking “complete” ball player on both ends of the court, I have to agree with Omar. Wannamaker is one of the top complete ball players in the country.

He gets overlooked mostly because he’s not a big scorer. I think he sacrifices that because he buys into Pitt’s team concept of getting the ball to the hot hand (Gibbs and sometimes Brown) or the person in the best position to score (Nas or McGhee). IMHO, he’s the last option in his own mind, which differs from most of the guys in hugh’s top 10.

It’s not word of God and they are evaluating based on NBA prospects not as college players, but Draft Express (link to draftexpress.com) is charting Wannamaker as #60 overall. If you remove all foreign players and some of the younger players on the list who are on simply because of their potential upside, then he starts rising on the charts. From there, start ticking off players who are good athletes but not as complete or well-rounded or accomplished in college. Gil Brown is ahead of him and would be checked off- among others. Even if you added strong collegiate players not on the list such as Hansborough, Pullen, Isiah Thomas, etc., you can make a compelling debate for Brad over those guys. I don’t think he’s quite top 10, but top 20 to 30 maybe. And certainly one of the top overall guards.

Agree with Carmen about MM angst, every tough loss will open that faucet; and what we’ve been waiting for season after season is that break through game. There were indications weeks ago that this team could get us that game, and then some. The 88 team teased us with a end of regular season win in the Carrier Dome, but couldn’t get there. The 08 team trips in the round of 8 and we are still bleeding. The issue to me is whether or not this team get us that break through game? I’ve been around too long to focus on what we don’t have (true PG, etc.), what we do have is enough to beat any team with our A game, play heart stoppers with our B+ game and probably lose with our B game. There were early season indications that this team could break through, again in 2nd half against WV but they were home. The pattern I’m starting to see I’ve seen from other JD in March; constriction. The offense constricts, the team get tight, we’ve seen it before. I stood 10 feet from JD just before tip for the ETSU game in Dayton. He was so uptight I thought he was going to implode. I’d like to see them loose and fluid, more wide open in Tampa. If we win in Tampa the way we win might be an indicator, if we lose I doubt there will be a break through this year.

I would be terrified of playing UNC. They are peaking and massively improved. Believe they will blow Duke off the floor this week. If we cannot win the BET, I hope we are out first round.

Dan, I don’t doubt we could WIN the BET, the question in my mind is, would it help or hurt our efforts in the NCAA tourney? Seems like at some points in the past, Pitt has expended so much energy to win the BET, that they had nothing left in the tank for the NCAAs.

I don’t have any stats to back that last comment up, but it certainly feels that way. Certainly, losing in the BET first game last year didn’t extend our NCAA tourney past the second round.

Excellent post Old School Panther.

A team is a reflection of their coach and if the coach is tight, worrisome or overly hyper, the team more than likely will reflect that. Maybe JD should have a few belts or take a lude or something. (just kidding)
He does seem to pace the sideline a lot, probably because being an ex-player he just can’t sit and watch. He’s been a great regular season coach, approaching record levels in his number of years in ALL-TIME wins. He by all accounts is a great guy and very good person, I hope for his sake (and ours) we get this monkey off our collective backs. HTP !

This is arguably the strongest Pitt team ever, and the last two losses are nothing to hang our heads about. My only worry is that they peaked too early in the season. What matters most is who they draw in the big dance. They can beat anyone with their “A” game, but if they get teams they don’t match up well against, it’s a nightmare all over again. Dixon’s recruiting classes get stronger and stronger, so the program will get over the hump sooner rather than later, I think

And one final thought as we come full circle back to acrosstheriver’s 1st post concerning this game,,,,
FREE THROWS!
FREE THROWS!
FREE THROWS!

It would be good to see Pitt’s “A” game tonight against USF, because there’s a lot on the line right now:
– Maintains the 1 game lead over ND for the BE regular season crown. I then like our chances with a home game against struggling Nova on Senior Day, while the Irish travel to UConn on Saturday.
– Gives Jamie the NCAA record for most wins in his first 8 years of coaching.
– Also believe it makes this Senior class the winningest in program history.
– Solidifies that #1 seed for the Big Dance with one more conference road win.

Seems like that’s plenty of reason to come out fired up and stick it to the Bulls early instead of letting them hang around like they did at The Pete.

I’ll be there of course, and I hope there’s a good turnout of Pitt fans like last year. The guys deserve and need our support.

Hail to PITT!

Both Tribune and PPG had blurbs/tweets yesterday about a Pitt-Duke rematch at MSG in fall/early winter of this year- the first half of the 2011-2012 season. I might start tailgating now for that!

Tampa: Root your ass off. I contemplated cheap Allegiant Air to see this game, this game means that much. Instead I’ll allocate travel allowance for first round and watch ESPN. I cannot visualize ND losing in CT. Watched Marquette beat UCONN, don’t think Calhoun’s presence would have made a difference. We need to win both remaining games.

Don’t care what USF’s record is or their scoring average. They aren’t going to roll over, this is is their shot for attention. We need to kick their assess early & often and we have the talent to do it. GO PITT!

The latest theme for Pitt has been that they need to get out early, score often, and not let up on the gas. Let’s see if they can show that tonight.

Personally, if I was custom-scripting the game, I’d want to see all cylinders firing evenly. Gibbs with high double-digit points (>15); Wannamaker with a nice double-double in assists and points; Brown with a double-double in points and rebounds; McGhee with > 4 blocks; Nasir and the rest of the team with balance. Plus, if they can shoot > 70% free throws, I’ll be ecstatic!

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