Not sure what kind of crowd will be on-hand for the doubleheader tonight. Fordham-Pitt at 6pm, Lehigh-Robert Morris to follow. But there is that Monday night game at Heinz Field. Granted the Steelers should kill the Chiefs, but it’s the Steelers playing football so you know where most of the local interest lies.
It’s hard not to look past the Fordham Rams. They have been a perennial cellar dweller in the A-10. They dropped their season opener to the Texas State Armadillos Bobcats. By 10. Their best player, by far, is senior forward Chris Gaston. He has averaged a double-double for them over his entire career, along with well over 30 minutes a game. They have no real bench as four players averaged more than 30 minutes in the opening game.
Tom Pecora, who was hired from Hofstra a few years ago, is a Jay Wright disciple. He was on staff at Hofstra under Wright and took over the Dutchmen Pride when Wright went to Villanova. Pecora, by all accounts, is a solid coach (and a nice guy) and he has improved the Rams since taking over the program. Still, they should not be a huge challenge.
All the focus is on the expected second night, when it is presumed Lehigh advances past Robert Morris to play Pitt. Lehigh got smoked by Baylor 99-77, despite the highly decorated pre-season All-American guard C.J. McCollum going for 36 points.
What else was missing from that game were two of Lehigh’s starters. Senior center-forward, Gabe Knutson (pre-season all-Patriot League) and junior guard B.J. Bailey (transferred from Boston U). Both suffered injuries in practice before the start of the season. The Lehigh coach has hedged on when they would return, so that will be something to watch for tonight.
news paper shows his photo and just says brakeing news
Pitt really looks sharp defensively…BBall
A win tomorrow would set up a meeting with top 10-ranked Michigan at MSG. That should give us a good indication as to where Pitt is at.
Also, (probably old news) John Johnson was a no show and now transfer.
I did, however, find it interesting that the new football playoff format decided on has cast the BE into a ‘Group of Five’ conference pool to fight for scraps with the mid-majors.
could have run that tommarow .
stupid
Zeigler: Showed good D and can surprisingly handle the ball very well. Handled the point towards the end of the game.
Adams: Continues to improve although I would like to see him develop more offensive moves and aggressiveness.
D. Johnson: Finally had a chance to see this kid play. Very active, long, and shows good talent. Excited to see him develop.
JJ Moore: Great game overall. Shot way too many 3’s for my taste but can’t argue if he’s nailing them down. Liked to see him drive more.
Patterson: Somewhat improved from previous game where he was a no-show. Still need him to be more of a factor.
Woodall: Kid plays with heart and drive. Love his game.
Robinson: Smart decision maker and has an interesting jump shot that seems to work for him. More speed and he would be tough to stop.
Taylor: Frustrating to watch him fail on two fast breaks…doesn’t handle the ball well. All mental with this kid.
Zanna: Good rebounder and support player today.
Remind the readers that it is essential for the Pitt basketball season ticket holders to show up at the Oakland game Saturday 11/17.
High profile football recruits (Foster and Johnson) will be in attendance and they need to see a filled and rocking Pete. Our football team needs a full house at the Pete to impress the football recruits.
-Pitt forced 18 turnovers and created 11 steals. Hello defense!
-Nice individual performances from JJ Moore, Woodall, and Adams. Happy to see JJ knock down some shots, although the double pump chuck up in the second half was a good way to get pulled out of the game…Tray looks great overall…Adams ran the floor and looked to and did finish most anything he was fed. He was the recipient of some nice looks.
-Robinson seems to be a decent mid-range shooter. Another night of low statistical showing but solid performance. Very active on defense. Keeps his head about him and understands team defense- i.e. keeping track of his man while keeping track of the ball.
-Patterson was quiet but had a nice game on the wing. Had 6 assists and some rebounds and knocked down a 3. Played fine defensively. In my mind, he can be this team’s forward version of Jaron Brown. A glue guy. Maybe he was the man at Greentree, but whatever it takes to win now that we are into the season.
-Durand Johnson looked confident and hustled downcourt for a couple of fastbreak dunks and knocked down a long 3 pointer late. That dude looked like he was having FUN. Excited to see more of him.
-Zeigler ran the point late, with both Woodall and Robinson out of the game. It wasn’t pretty in the halfcourt. Downright scary actually. But he and Cam Wright, along with Johnson, are quite the wingspan group and ended up disrupting defensively anything Fordham tried late. That turned into some fastbreak opportunities. Would have liked to see him convert that baseline hammer dunk he was trying to throw down.
Two point guards are usually enough for a team. I don’t think John Johnson would do any better than Zeigler anyway. So we should be fine…We better win tomorrow. I already bought tix for the games at MSG next week.
Echoing the above comment: Get out to The Pete on Saturday and raise the roof for Foster and Johnson.
Freshmen PG James Robinson had ZERO and so did starting 2 guard Woody Woodall with ZERO.
That is huge cause last years team was a turnover machine besides not being able to play defense.
Big Test against Lehigh, as they blew out Bobby Mo. And the Colonials aren’t that bad.
Goodbye John Johnson, nice to have known yee, keep up the tweetering. See what it got ya, a one way ticket to Palookaville.
Win Number 2 in the Bag !
Hail to Pitt !
Boise State and San Diego State would have just been better staying in the Mountain West.
As BSU has had no problem finishing ranked in the Top 10. Now it’s just much added travel expenses for both of them.
Be interesting to see if they pull a TCU and decide to stay put.
Again everyone at PITT should send Gene DeFilippo of BC a Christmas Card (at least) !
in reference to Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ passing game. The network later changed the sign to read “Dink and Dunk”.
However it’s usually much more subtle and usually just verbal.
Pitt Basketball is so much fun to watch. I see great things for this season. Big East history books smothered in dino cats and mustard.
