Noon on a Sunday. The taste of the toothpaste has barely faded after lazing around on a Sunday morning. A nice breakfast. Extra coffee. Then right to beer. At least there’s an upside to the early game.
Seton Hall got off to a strong start in Big East play, but reality and a lack of depth have been catching up with the Pirates. They had a six game losing streak before beating Rutgers this past week. Jordan Theodore has changed his game this year. Taking more shots, attacking the basket from the point a lot more, and getting to the free throw line. His assists are also up, though, so he isn’t doing it in a selfish way. He’s just stepped up because of the limits on this team’s offense. He’s out on the floor as much as Ashton Gibbs or Tray Woodall are.
Herb Pope is still a rebounding machine, averaging a double-double. The other guy they count on for scoring is Fuquan Edwin. A good, 6-6 wing player.
Pitt, as we know, had a hideous night against South Florida. The offense never got going and the defense fell apart in the second half. Woodall took the blame for the team’s bad night, but there was plenty of blame for that one. The big concern is turnovers. Pitt got taken out of their offense by USF constantly slapping and clawing at the ball. Whether there was fouling on it or not, is irrelevant. If the officials let it go USF were right to keep doing it and Pitt had to adjust.
Seton Hall whether it was under Gonzo or now Kevin Willard are going to put pressure on the ball. They will look to force turnovers. And it is a certainty, that Pitt will turn the ball over. They just will. Pitt has done it plenty already in Big East play. It’s going to happen today. The key will be to be not let that take Pitt out of sync on the offense. Just like in the Duquesne game, be efficient and make them pay.
The game is the “Big East Regional Game of the Week,” meaning this thing is syndicated all over the place:
New York (SNY), Los Angeles (KJLA), Chicago (WCIU-DT2), Philadelphia (WPVI), Washington, D.C. (MASN), Atlanta (CSS), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (Brighthouse), Denver, Colo. (Altitude), Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla. (WRDQ), Pittsburgh (WTAE), Charlotte, N.C. (WLNN-MTN), Indianapolis, Ind. (WHMB-DT2), Baltimore (MASN), Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (SNY-Conn.), Columbus, Ohio (WWHO), Milwaukee, Wis. (TW-WI), Cincinnati, Ohio (EKRC), San Antonio, Texas (KCWX), Las Vegas (KVMY), Harrisburg-Lancaster-York-Lebanon, Pa. (WLYH), Louisville, Ky. (WHAS), Buffalo, N.Y. (TW-Buffalo), Providence-New Bedford, R.I. (Cox-NE), Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa. (WQMY), Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. (TW-Albany), Dayton, Ohio (WBDT), Lexington, Ky. (WTVQ), Green Bay-Appleton, Wis. (TW-WI2), Rochester, N.Y. (TW-Rochester), Syracuse, N.Y. (TW-Syracuse), Madison, Wis. (WMSN), South Bend-Elkhart, Ind. (WMYS), Johnstown-Altoona, Pa. (WHVL), Youngstown, Ohio (WYTV-DT2), Lansing, Mich. (WHTV), LaCrosse-Eau Claire, Wis. (KQEG), Rockford, Ill. (WTVO), Lubbock, Texas (KJTV-DT2), Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, W.Va. (WOAY), Binghamton, N.Y. (TW-Binghamton), Wheeling-Steubenville, W.Va. (WTOV), Clarksburg-Weston, W.Va. (WVFX), Utica, N.Y. (TW-Utica), Elmira, N.Y. (TW-Elmira), Watertown, N.Y. (TW-Watertown), Parkersburg, W.Va. (WTAP-DT3)
It can also be found on ESPN FullCourt package and on ESPN3.com.
The sub-par announcing crew will be Mike Gleason and Bob Wenzel. Wenzel is the color guy who was clueless in the USF game. Be sure to brace yourself with the appropriate beverage.
The usual rules are in place for this liveblog. Moderated chat. Not every comment will get pushed through. Especially when they say the exact same thing as a bunch of other comments. Dumb and abusive comments will be mocked, ignored and/or blocked depending on my whims and whether I can get a cheap laugh out of it. There is no formula to it. It comes down to judgment calls.
As always if you need to break the liveblog from the site Click Here.
Otherwise, just a little lower.
Poor game.
The 4 game win streak was a tease, that I didn’t need.
And, I’ve come to realize, nothing the boys can do, we have a bunch of ham and eggers, what can you do?
NIT to get some extra work and practices I suppose.
On with my day!!
This team is absolutely miserable to watch. In addition to lacking talent, they’re just basketball DUMB. It’s infuriating. It’s like they never saw a pick & roll before!
Absolutely no excuse for losing this game. Like a lot of other games this year.
Art. 1. A held ball occurs when an opponent places his or her hand(s):
a. So firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue
roughness; or
b. On the ball to prevent an airborne player from throwing the ball or
attempting a try and both players return to the playing court with both
hands on the ball or the airborne player returns to the playing court never
losing control of the ball.
sorry to the grammarians in the crowd
Tray Woodall, who did not play well down the stretch today, glossed over some of the old problems during the streak with his scoring. He hasn’t been scoring these past two games and they’ve lost.
Although it didn’t show up in the box score, I thought that JJ Moore provided a lot of energy today. However he then played little in the second half.
Since Woodall’s return, Lamar Patterson has been passing up open shots. He’s been doing it since a 1-7 against G-town. It hurt Pitt a few times in the first half today. Patterson needs to take open shots.
On an up note, Dante Taylor showed some offensive game beyond 2 feet from the hoop. Unfortunately he missed a bunny or two as well.
I guess the bar has been raised so high, that a down year after 10 or so really kick-ass years gets you this response.
Those of you who want to bitch about Jamie Dixon and this team, you have every right to do it. But you know what? Don’t go professing how loyal you are to Pitt.
I will root for this team and watch whenever I can. Jamie D. has earned my respect and loyalty. The guy has been nothing short of brilliant for this program.
Hail to Pitt!
DaveD
I won’t be watching the Nobody Is Interested Tourney. Shameful performance today, players and coaches alike.
A few weeks ago I came to the realization that this season is a wash and next year will get better for Pitt hoops. I have slept better since I made that decision. The toughness, height, and depth is just not there this year. … And don’t underestimate how we’ve lost some good assistant coaches who were good recruiters and teachers.
He’s a MLB trying to play hoops, a bull in a china shop.
No wonder Birch left the program if he was told he’s gotta play behind that….
I did say shorten the bench, but they’re fading down the stretch of these games and making mental errors most likely due to fatigue and injuries.
Nas is playing on one leg, (has been all year) and Woody has to get shot up with whatever, before the game to EVEN play.
For those that suggested this was a deep team during the non-con, I can only say, yea it was deep when playing St. Francis, VMI & SC State.
And for those that say good riddance to Gibbs, just who is going to average close to 17 ppg next year and shoot 85% from the line. Gibbs was the entire offense today in the last half of the game.
We really need to bring in about 5 players next year, not 3. Say something like, well it was nice knowing you Mr. Epps & Mr. Wright but we ain’t footing the bill anymore.
It really does make things a lot tougher.
Just sayin !
HTP !
VEV !
This team is really missing big physical bodies underneath the bucket. Zanna is a stick man that just gets pushed around and consistently misses easy shots. Dante Taylor will be playing in pick up games at the YMCA after Pitt. Never seen such a lackluster team that consistently makes mental errors and doesn’t seem to grasp the fundamentals.
Oh well, I guess the run had to end at some point.
