Chaos reigned today. No where near a computer all day.
This game is on ESPN3.com — aka, online. I debated about trying to do a split screen liveblog or run a liveblog from the laptop while watching from the desktop. But given the unreliability of internet feeds, even from the mouse monopoly, I’m taking the easy way out.
Game time is at 7pm. As you would expect, Pitt has been working on its defense a lot since last week. Focused on some rebounding issues. Worked on figuring out the rotation a little more. A lot of work to do.
Afraid that may be the story all year…
Slow and sloppy…LS with a chace to tie.
Interesting that Khem comes in for Dante at center in this second half.
A win is a win!
The big guys better get it together.
21 turnovers against LaSalle. horrible.
Penn is going to beat us if this kind of play continues. Good thing Damian Saunders(sp) of Duquesne is gone, he’d tear us up bigtime. Bobby Mo could gets it’s first win EVER this year against us.
Some signs of life from Sleepy. 11 points 6 rebounds in 22 minutes. But ONLY 5 shots, made 4 of them. All the pre-game preaching about getting the inside guys some touches. Sleepy touched it 5 times, Birch 4 times and Zanna ONCE in 16 minutes. Are these guys that bad at getting position or are the entry passes that bad or what the f*ck is going on here?????
Didn’t see the game, can anyone elaborate???
Birch had 4 and 6 and 3 blocks in 13 minutes.
how can he be so i dont even know what to say.
Khem will be really good bye end of year.
On that note, Nas is our best player, hands down. He does everything and he has improved his FT shooting and, if that 15 footer from the wing is any indication, his jump shot! Gibbs may be the leading scorer more often, but Nas is our most important player. He gets injured or in foul trouble and this team is in deep s@#$!
Zanna should no longer see the floor. He is absolutely useless. There is no justification to play him over Gilbert.
Patterson also had a bad night. If he and Gibbs have an even mediocre shooting night and this was an easy win.
Woodall may make some stupid TOs here and there, but he makes big shots and big plays over and over again. That block at the end was just huge.
J.J. Moore made some important contributions tonight. A few big jumpers and some rebounds.
Birch looked remarkably better tonight. He was much more comfortable.
The TOs are maddening, but there were some positives from tonight, particularly Taylor’s strong play late in the game and the strong showings from Birch and Moore. The TOs can be corrected, so I’m still optimistic for a generally good season, but with a few hiccups along the way.
We should be routing these teams at home, if we’re any good. This is happening at ‘The Pete’ mind you, in front of The Zoo.
What the heck is going to happen on the road, when the crowd is against you and maybe the refs.
Like the next game in Philly at the notorious Palestra. They play like this, they’re going to get routed and Penn isn’t that good, but they did beat Bobby MO and Rider and only lost by 6 to Temple, but they lost to Wagner. Meh
In the second half, the bigs showed themselves better and got some seperation from their defenders ..so they got some passes and made some attempts to score. Where the bigs were great was in the last 4 minutes of the game and as WBB said, Gibbs tried to give the game away..Moore, Tayor, and Birch saved our asses, along with a heavy dose of Robinson. I saw huge improvement as long as you don’t consider the last 1.4 minutes. Pitt has always had trouble with a man/man press. Their reaction tonight was just to hand the ball to LaSalle 3 straight times. Lots of work to do..
Overall, I saw improvement in the bigs late and help defense throughout. A very long way to go.
Love to know how Jamie got the shiner@
When you say Nas is our best player, then we are really in trouble. He plays hard but he is an undersized power forward who can’t shoot (I know he made a jumper tonight). I love the kid but he’s not the type of player that can carry a team. Gibbs is the best player but I agree he should not be playing point at all.
The talent in the front court is there but the team is not shooting the “smart” shots they have in the past. Shooting early is OK but the big men have to be in position for a rebound and not getting caught in the middle of running a set because they weren’t expecting the ball to be jacked up.
I’m concerned but in Jamie I trust…I can’t write of a season as long as he is the captain of the ship.
Concerned that the backcourt is so small and not physical enough to handle a press, even from a middling team like LaSalle. Hopefully we don’t play Louisville at all this year or anybody else good that presses(thank god that idiot Thompson the 2nd doesn’t press like his old man at G’Town). They are going to have to learn, (this year for sure) how to f*ckin pass the ball over a press, because neither Gibbs or Woodall are good enough or physical enough to break a good one.
Or they better hope Johnson develops quickly, but he hardly played tonite.
Dixon not recruiting another point guard for a few seasons when he knew neither Gibbs or Woodall are exactly good protecting the ball is kind of a head scratcher. That could be a real killer this year. As Epps appears to be a miss unless the kid is going to be a late bloomer(or a washout).
Zanna appears to be a miss, again wtf happened to him AFTER the Maryland game last year. ESPN was raving about him. Taylor is another miss, at the best he might be able to contribute 5 fouls a game. haha (though he did do double digits tonight, thaT would be points,,,,,not fouls..lol)
But 11 against LaSalle is pretty lame for a Parade (McDonalds) All-American type.
AGAIN I SAY TO THE BASKETBALL GODS…..WHY DO WE GET THE MCDONALDS ALL-AMERICANS WHO ARE PROJECTS, AND WHO DON’T HAVE ANY OFFENSIVE SKILLS …..
OTHER THAN DUNKING !!!!
He made a nice move in the first half too when they fed him in the post and spun, but shot didn’t go. He needs to play so he can be developed come tournament time. Get the kid game experience!
Moore was better. I really think these guys, Moore, Birch, and even John Johnson just need to play and we will make leaps and bounds by the end of the year. Maybe take some lumps now but not by years end.
For the last time, Jamie, please do NOT put the ball in Ashton’s hands at the end of the shot clock. It is beginning to be laughable. He is a great player, but is better served being off the ball. He cannot create space and ends up in terrible situations forcing a pass or shot as the buzzer is about to go off. Give it to Woodall if they collapse you hit Gibs!
Well Said.
The talent is there, Dixon has to sort through the roster.
IS Coach more concerned with W’s than developing some of these guys in the non-con. In previous years, YES HE WAS !.
I’d rather lose with the kids with upside, than the oldsters with none in these non-con games, but really should we be losing against this schedule even with kids?? AGAIN THE IMPORTANT GAMES ARE IN MARCH. jUST ask UCONN !!!
Nas is the leader of this team, leading by example on both ends of the court. Woodall admittedly makes stupid TOs, as Wannamaker did routinely last year, but he has vastly improved his offense and his defense. Right now, both are playing better than this team’s “star” player, who continues to entertain delusions of being a multi-dimensional player. Once he stops doing that, we may see some other things fall into place.
I would prefer to see the ball go into the low post more than Gibbs aimlessly dribbling on the perimeter. I wholely agree with all of the above that the less Gibbs dribbles, the better.
In fact, I think more of an inisde out offense would help Gibbs since the perimeter players would double-down on the post, freeing up the shot.
Woodall can/should/will be our leader by the end of the year. Quarterbacks and Point Guards lead. Period. You play that position to lead. CEOs are CEOs for a reason. Middle management is middle management for a reason.
It’s your time, Tre’ ….
He played starters minutes on an undefeated St. Anthonoy’s team and started PG when they lost only one game the next (or previous?) year to nationally ranked team.
Anyway, his only issue eright now is getting his pocket picked a little too often for my liking. TOs by PGs almost always turn into points against too, so this is big. But he’s a junior who has mor ball handling responsibilities than he did last year. He’ll figure it out. Tre’s the least of my concerns.
But his TO’s and fouls contributed greatly to the Long Beach State fiasco (of course it wasn’t just his fault). His interior passing still leaves a lot to be desired. Let’s not anoint him after a good game against a mediocre (at best) mid-major.
Khem Birch finally showed well. He can make this season fun if last night was any indication of his talent.
Notice that Birch played exclusively at the 5, and looked much more comfortable. I know I wasn’t sold on that approach a few weeks ago, but if this continues, I was clearly wrong. He played 13 minutes; it would be nice to see that go up a bit if he continues to improve.
The most perplexing thing to me was the turnovers, particularly from the bigs. Nas and Zanna really struggled handling the ball at the top of the key, and I’m not sure what has happened to Zanna’s hands. More generally, there were several times where it looked like Pitt was going to start pulling away, but would then just have mental breakdowns that would let LaSalle back in the game.
I’ll take the positive, though…some signs of improvement upon which to build.
As for Taylor he is a forward playing center. He made a very nice 10 footer as the clock expired and shows some nice moves when he gets a chance.
Zanna looks totally lost. Where is the player we saw last year at the beginning of the season?
Birch has talent and his quickness is evident but he is way too skinny. Teams are pushing him around now let alone what will happen during conf. play.
This team is not ready to win and could easily loose a couple more non-con games before the BE starts.
Jamie has his work cut out for him.
Since each turnover represents a lost possession for you and a gained possession for your opponent and, since teams are nominally supposed to score a bucket on 50% of their possessions, each turnover is an ~2-point swing in the score. So, the 9 TO differential last night = an 18 point swing in the score in favor of LaSalle.
So, had Pitt avoided that turnover differential the score would have been more like Pitt 82, LaSalle 60. If so, we wouldn’t be having a debate as to whether the offense or defense was at fault, IMO. FWIW, though, most/all turnovers are the fault of the offense (assuming you ignore the good defense by your opponent component). I am sure Coach Dixon regards making turnovers in double digit numbers as a function of poor offensive execution.
Gibbs is a wonderful basketball player that must figure out he will never be an off-the-dribble player at any level. Stick to your guns, Ash. Quit dribbling and focus on defense, moving without the ball, and hitting shots. That will still get him a shot at the NBA in a reserve/role player position.
Taylor looked better, as did Moore and Birch. The key to me for each of them (esp Taylor and Moore) was playing with CONFIDENCE! These guys get down on themselves and look asleep sometimes. That is their biggest enemy!
Also, can’t say enough about Nasir. Great effort at all times and he has clearly worked on his game to add quickness and FT/shooting stroke.
