First the big blowout 20 point win over Penn at the Palestra and now tonight. The game was pretty much over at halftime as Birch & (surprise) Talib Zanna totally controlled the boards in the 1rst half.

I think around the 5 minute mark PITT was still up by about 20 and they got a little disinterested, also Birch was on the bench for quite awhile which coincided with RMU coming back.

None the less, I’m glad RMU didn’t start pressing until the 3 minute mark, cause that as it always does immediately produced a turnover by Woodall.
Why RMU didn’t press earlier, you’ll have to ask their coach.

Big games from Zanna with 10pts & 15 rebounds, if we get that from him, we’d be in good shape. A huge comeback from Wright with 13 points and some nice moves to the hoop after hardly playing against Penn. Don’t know if that had more to do that these two guys were familiar with RMU’s players due to the Summer League or not. We shall find out.

Still too much shooting from the outside for my liking, as Nas only had 1 shot (which he made), Birch only had 2 shots, but did make several FT’s, would have liked to seen him shoot more after he hit that 15 footer. And Zanna’s points were mainly putbacks. Guards are still not getting the ball inside enough, can’t rely on shooting from the outside, which tailed off at the end, which also allowed RMU to come back.

Overall though, this team had mad a ton of progress in a week. Truth & Virtue

Hail to Pitt !

John Johnson, JJ Moore, and Cam Wright really get after it on the perimeter. All three are susceptible to backdoor cuts and getting lost defending a well run motion offense, as most young players are, but they are aggressive on the perimeter. Gibbs and Woodall just let their man do whatever he wants. They don’t pester him at all. It is frustrating and unacceptable.

Birch is much, much better than Dante Taylor. I don’t feel bad for Taylor. The freshman is better. Coach Dixon needs to play his best players. Khem Birch is certainly one of the top-5 players on this team. Dante Taylor is not.

71 points is misleading as well. Pitt was up 20+ with 5-6 minutes left. Bobby Mo scored a bunch of points in garbage time.

I agree with you to a certain extent. However, Dante Taylor was never able to dominate even weak opponents like Birch did the past two games. Taylor will contribute, however I do not believe that he deserves the majority of the minutes. Honestly, I do not believe Taylor deserves to start.

Patterson will be a valuable player. He can play the 2,3, or 4 offensively. Unfortunately, he is not a talented defensive player. Defense is where this team needs the most help. Patterson and Taylor do not really add a whole lot on that end.

I do not think it is a coincidence that Pitt played its best two defensive games without Taylor or Patterson. Hopefully they can pick up their games on the defensive end.

Lots are commenting on Birch supplanting Taylor. But I also see there being less room for Nas if Birch and Zanna continue to improve. Dont get me wrong I’m a huge NAs fan, but he has limitations.

There’s even some questions at the guard positions now.

Gibbs is definitely one of our best guards but so far this year his shooting percentage is the lowest of all of our guards. He’s not terrible at defense but not very good. And he’s not gotten a handle on how/when to distribute it seems. I don’t have the stats to back it up, but he just seems like a much less efficient player.

In the long run, I’m thinking he will return to form and sync better with his team mates. Its too early still, but his minutes may decrease a little if you have someone like Wright or Johnson bringing more of an all-round game to the table, which is quite possible. Just sayin.

and while Patterson may not be the best defensively, he still may be better on defense than JJ