So, I managed to make sure I have the day off on New Years. Unfortunately, I could not swing getting free today. Instead, it is complete DVR-delay and avoiding all media until I can get home and watch.
Cinci is coming off their first loss of the season. An ugly game that saw them lose to New Mexico.
The Bearcats play good defense, but their offense is not exactly reliable. Especially against better teams. Where they are especially good is on the offensive glass. One of the best in the country at getting second chances off of misses.
Considering the emphasis Coach Dixon places on rebounding, this should be a battle inside.
I too am curious to see how the Zoo turns out today. Taylor hopefully able to play..my guess is Adams is going to be a little help at Center today.
This is the first BE test for these guys, and outside of the Michigan game there has only been one true ‘competition’.
Can’t wait to see who steps up and elevates their game.
Keys for Pitt
*points in the paint – need 30 from the 4/5.
*keep Cinci from penetrating. Pitt guards and small forward have to force Cinci to take jump shots.
*control tempo – huge game for Robinson. He can’t let Cinci speed him up. Pitt needs to their offense. And for that to happen Robinson has to do what he’s been doing.
Sparse crowd so far, as expected. Pitt by six is encouraging. But truth is we don’t have any idea about this team yet. Can’t wait to find out!!!!
Boards Boards Boards…boys
What do you think?
I’m hoping that Pitt’s depth will continue to carry them to being a better 2nd half team as they have been for almost all of the preseason
1. Cincy is alot quicker than Pitt – really get after it on the ball pressure. Gave Pitt a little bit of problems.
2. Pitt once again has no one that can give a consistent perimeter shot. Watching the shooting form of some will make you coaches gag.
3. Pitt team defense ALOT better than last year. Starting with Dixon doing away with the hedge on the ball screens that caused nothing but fouls and mismatches. Only took 7 years , but somthing clicked in.
4. I wouldnt take Robinson off the floor. Real steady presence.
5. Really like Zanna. Just steady, no nonsense, does all the little things.
Pitt better start making some 3′s…
Knight has been a big fan of Pitt because of their team play, passing and defense.
Will anyone step up? What is wrong with Moore?
Until Dixon changes that teams will continue to press.
Pitt will need SOME kind of perimeter shooting to get back in this one.
He has a lot to learn grnerally speaking
and needs tons
of work on his offensive game.
Don’t be discouraged. Cincy is a solid
team.
This is a very young team
This team better take this loss seriously. It’s a joke that we only had one loss going into conference play, anyhow. This loss better hurt. It better hurt to lose on national television and lose your ranking in front of the first full crowd all year. It better hurt that people won’t come back. It better hurt that you have a 7-foot player who can’t play with his back to the basket. It better hurt that you miss key free throws and blow chances when they’re handed to you.
Best of luck to the Panthers moving forward. This loss is important, but if they underestimate it, then what are we really expecting out of this team.
1. Abysmal Foul Shooting
2. Handling the press.
Every other team will see that and go for our jugular. I would say that Jamie has his work cut out for him, but it appears he and his staff have been remiss at that work so far.
Through the years, we ALWAYS used to work the ball down low to the likes of Christ Taft, Chevy Troutman, Aaron Gray and Dejuan Blair. But after Blair left, there seemed to be a shift in the philosophy, obviously Gary Mcghee wasn’t a dynamic offensive talent, but we haven’t attempted to have a low post presence since.
When PITT was at its best in the last 10 years, it started down low. I just can’t believe Dixon won’t go back to it. I’d rather take my chances with our big men posting up then continuing to let Woodall, Patterson and company throw up long jumpshots or running/fading away drives that end up missing bad.
These guys are not a top 30 team IMO and will beat few teams playing only 1 half of BB. They are young in some places but they better wake up fast.
Dixon better go out and a get a shooter for once in his life for ACC play…
Much work to do, but they will get better. Still waiting for a leader.
No flow on offense.
Cincy IS solid. We are not.
I would start Taylor health permitting.
I would bench Tray.
This IMO is the price for playing LaRoche college 9 times before conference play.
Time will tell but we go on the road and I see us starting out 0-2.
Great comments on the lack of any post play. This is a potential NIT team.
Cincinnati was not good from the file line line either, they just had more attempts thanks to Pitt.
This Pitt team will never be a contender unless they start making their free throughs.
bunch of cup cakes.
we will be just as bad as last year many on here last year said he had bad asst coachs wich means if right it was becuse of asst that he won all thoes outher years.
i dont know what is happening but if we have a bad
year agein maybe it will be time for him to go.
maybe it is miller time if he will come home from AZ.
5. 4 pts from the 5 position
4. 0-10 from 3 pt range
3. outrebounded
2. 8 day layoff
1. weak non-conf schedule
Where would you put
Starting 2 freshman on a team that was 17-16 and 5-13 in conference last season?
Surely that has to be in the top 5.
Or have we all conveniently forgotten how awful this team was last year?
Cincy 25-35 free throws 72%
Pitt 15-25 free throws 60%
Coming down the stretch in crunch time:
Cincy 14-16 88%
That was one of the shittiest halves of basketball I’ve seen Pitt play in quite awhile.
What, want me to come on and sing ‘Hail to Pitt’??
And I’ll hold my judgement on Cincinnati being such great competition and a great team for a month or two also.
One 3pt and/pr one or two of Woodall’s FTs and we are having a different discussion.
Our A/TO was horrible (12/9), but it was better than Cincinnati’s (7/8).
How does Steve Adams NOT SCORE a single point?
We are going to win more than 5 conference games this year. We’re not going to win the regular season, but this team is going to better than 1 game over .500.
In case everyone forgot, we were 17-16 last year in the regular season.
As for nonco(mpetitive) – it’s pretty standard fare for major conferences. U want major con opponents? You’ll need to schedule home & homes and hope your opponent is good from one year to next. Not sure travelling to play dog opponents in Nov is ideal for your student athletes. Mid majors do it for $ and much needed exposure. Pitt has nothing to gain on either of those fronts
CNorwoodAZ the freshmen were not the problem..if anything Woodall 3 for 9 and Patterson 3 for 9 were the problem…..Woodall especially took some terrible shots in 2nd half one in particular he took way too early that allowed and easy fast break basket since nobody was ready to defend for Pitt…that caused a crucial 4 point swing when Pitt was hanging to the lead.
Patterson passed up a wide open 3 pointer at around the same time that ended up with turnover and a basket for Cinn.
The veterans need to make those plays in those type of situations. And Woodall can not miss that free throw that could of brought the game to 1 at the end.
No doubt disappointing but I still better about this loss than I did when they lost last year to Cinn..need to win at Rutgers next week though.
To date Pitt’s been remarkable efficient on offense and solid protecting the ball, especially considering its frosh starting PG. Isnt Pitt tops or near tops in NCAA d1 in asst / game? Christ – its one bad game!
We should all be grateful. No suspense about making the NCAAs this year on selection Sunday, and no angst losing to Upper Prairie State in the round of 16 this year. C-B-I! C-B-I! C-B-I!
The bloom is clearly off the Howland-Dixon lily, but at least Howland managed to beat a top 10 team so far. FRANKCAN – you stole my thunder – it is indeed Miller time now. Maybe we can red shirt Dixon for a year, and see if he gets the message and transfers.
This doesn’t describe a lack of players. It describes a lack of coaching.
Yes, Pitt should have played a tougher non-con BUT Cincy should have as well … not a reason why we lost this game.
I think a perfect storm of rust (8 day layoff after a lackluster game) and Cincy coming off their first loss of the season contributed to this loss more than anything.
They’ll be better against both Rutgers and G-Town. Adam’s will improve and progress against the BE schedule just like he did in the non-con. It will be an adjustment though.
I’d like to Moore get involved earlier and more often – He only played 10 mins despite only having one foul and no turnovers. He is Pitt’s one true scorer and should have been given a chance when Pitt went cold in the 2nd half – THAT is squarely on Dixon. I’m a HUGE Dixon supporter but he should have played more (pun intended). Ziegler’s 9 minutes were a waste and Patterson certainly did not have a hot hand today.
Obviously, nothing that happened today changes that.
Posted here earlier that those getting excited at beating up on small schools might want to “curb your enthusiasm” until we see what Pitt does when it plays in a tight game against a well-coached, equally talented team.
The funny thing is I truly believe Pitt was the more talented team today.
The times I regret it are like today, watching a Pitt team make unconscionable fundamental mistakes which I know can be (should have been by now Jamie!) fixed. The single thing that concerns me most is not today’s lost game. They happen.
It’s the year after year trend with Jamie’s teams.
Poor form foul shooting that never seems to get fixed; inablility to handle being presseed and making the other team pay for pressing you by scoring easy run out baskets, inability to get into an offense against the man/man defense. While I agree on the 1-4 vs the Flex offense, Pitt has run the same plays so often, other teams are 2 plays ahead defensively stopping any chance of a decent shot. I wish I didn’t know this stuff sometimes because I like Jamie Dixon and know deep in my heart he is a good coach.
I still think Zanna and Patterson are no more than average players and Tray Woodall less than average. Adams is a major project and Taylor will always be “sleepy”. Robinson has a huge upside and he and Duane may be the best freshman Pitt has had in years (at the perimeter)but you can not dump the entire game on Robinson’s back.
Today, I cannot tell you how many times against the press, Zanna, Woodall, Patterson, Adams, Taylor et al stood around watching Robinson dribble for his life bringing the ball up court 1 on2. As Bobby Knight said 21 x and I counted…”move your feet”
Oh well, the old adage …you are never as bad as you look when you lose..still is in force.
Happy New Year to all the continuessly disappointed Blatherites! As Grace Slick once said “it’s a new dawn!”
Pitt is most lacking a go to scorer to break out of offensive funks. It ain’t Woodall – he is as erratic as ever. It ain’t Moore, he can’t play D well enough to stay on the floor. Patterson is the closest, but he seemed to lack confidence in his shot today. Bad start, but still a long season. Cam Wright and Zanna bright spots but neither can carry a team.
at Ohio State with Jerry Lucas and John
Havichek (sp?) on the national championship
teams. FYI
Wish he would do the commentary on
all of Pitt’s games.
Nothing new, but Jamie seems to let his nerves get the best of him in crunch times. At times “rattled” might be an accurate description.
But even more than that it’s the lack of fundamentals and cohesiveness that’s been Pitt’s undoing over the past couple of years.
Gotta believe these were overcome in the past probably by a couple of assistants who are no longer here.
They were actually the ones making lemonade out of lemons, not Jamie.
The ‘cracks’ Robinson showed were due to getting no help. He was put in poor positions and it made him look uncomfortable at times. He still only had 1 turnover. He is ready for primetime . The 2 guys that I most enjoy watching are Robinson and Wright. They attack and fight the whole game. Cam Wright’s improvement over the offseason cannot be overstated. The kid has made great strides. This team should improve and get better as the season progresses. Not sure when it happens, and it will happen, but when Robinson develops a good outside jumper his game will really takeoff.
Iron Duke…’He (Adams) is farther from the NBA than Aaron Gray was as a freshman.’ I can still remember when Gray first came on the court in 2003 at Pitt..If you would of told me he was going to play in the NBA some day I would have fallen over laughing considering how lost he was on the court and how soft he looked…Adams is already a lot further than Gray was as a Freshman…That said Adams still has a long way to go..it’s his first Big East game…he’ll pick it up.
Replacing Dixon talk is just stupid..I guess we need a Pitt man as head coach since Pitt’s BB history is so spectacular.
Had a hunch we might get the short end of the BigEast officiating stick, since we’re leaving and UC is staying. Sheesh they shot 35 FT’s to our 25, in OUR BUILDING.
Granted we stunk it out on 3′s but did outshoot them in FG% 44 to 41. And not much scoring out of the 5, which could be a problem all year against better teams.
Oy Vey !
But it doesn’t matter.
This team is not ready for big east play and will start the season in conference play @ 0-3.
TOO GOD DAMN PASSIVE AGAINST THE PRESS !
YOU HAVE TO PASS OVER A PRESS, AND GO FOR THE DUECE, NOT TRY TO DRIBBLE THRU IT.
And to further compound the problem, if you don’t do that, YOU’RE HAVING TO BEAT THEIR DEFENSE TWICE. Once in the press across halfcourt and 2nd in the halfcourt offense. Good defensive teams will eat you for lunch.
Gotta beat Rutgers, before the G-Town game.
Team didn’t play very well against Kennesaw scoring only 59 points and then the 8 day layoff.
Wonder why we didn’t have another rent-a-win game in between. Could have used it.
BTW, Both Adams & Sleepy are better in the transition game since neither can play with their back to the basket ! And Adams in particular is faster down the court than 99.9 % of the Centers he’ll be opposing. Food for thought !
U give bearcats a lot of credit – they lay out both a full court press and stiffling half court d. Pitts problem was the press taking them out of their 1/2 court set O. That’s very fixable once they work as a team to beat press. Nothing to panic over
I’m commenting about todays game. It was horrible. You can’t question that.
Me not liking todays game, (or most others) does not mean we don’t love Pitt, Pitt hoops, Dixon , nor does it preclude a lot of us from thinking Pitt will end up possibly a top 20 and tourney team.
Now, not arguing or being sarcastic. I have not read all the posts, not nearly.
How many people have called for Jamie’s head??
I did see a couple half-hearted comments about it, but keep in mind, all over the country on hoops or football boards, you’re always gonna have a couple of those people.
I personally thought todays game was absolutely awful. I still love Pitt hoops, think they may have a good year.
Todays game stunk, that’s all I’m speaking about.
I’ll comment again Saturday after the Rutgers game. If we stink, I’ll say so. If we play well, I’ll mention the good things I saw.
Happy New Year to you, and all Pitt Blatherers!!!
Stay safe!! I’m stayin’ in, so I’m allready covered!!!!
As far as refs..the calls were pretty even…23 to 20 and Pitt had extra fouls because of fouling at the end. and certainly not the reason lost today….plus there is no such thing as ‘Big East’ refs…the refs are free to ref in any college game in any conference and most do..Cahill who was one ref today who made a lot of whistles does almost as many games in SEC and ACC as he does Big East…
http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/john-cahill/schedule?season=2011
That said I thought the refs should of ate their whistle a little today..for both teams.
Milo, the thing about Adams is that all we heard was he was a sure one and done, so perhaps my assessment is born out of frustration. He has far more potential than Gray, but at the moment he is offensively inept. He can barely catch and has zero post game.
Look, not “blaming” the freshman, just saying that’s what they are, compared to Cincy who is an experienced Big East team. Its gonna be trial by fire this year. Cindy not a great team, but they are experienced and scrappy, and agree with several comparisons on here to Pitt teams of the past decade.
The problem today was no go-to scorer and lack of execution in the half-court sets, lack of rebounding especially on the defensive end in the second half, free-throw shooting in the 2nd half. Also, they don’t look inside at all, and when they do, the passes are down by the waist instead of up high so the bigs have something to work with.
Can confirm @JDiPaola_Trib’s report that RB Corey Davis and TE Brendan Carozzoni have left the team and will not travel to Birmingham. #Pitt
He was only listed as one and done because of his potential..not because he was ready to play in the NBA..I think people get confused about that…in some books he still could be a one and done because an NBA team would take a chance on what he can become.
But considering how he has stated he wants to stay in school for a while and learn at Pitt I’m fairly certain he’s here for a couple more years.
Considering how bad Gray and McGhee were in freshman year and what they became, I’m excited about watching Adams get better.
That’s what I love about watching Dixon’s teams… every year we see freshman who you think are never going to be any good grow each year and by the time they are seniors they are leaders on the team.
To see two players like Robinson and Adams start so much ahead of the normal kids is exciting. (And also why Dante has been disappointing.)
Only Chris Taft and Blair do I remember starting out at a higher level this early.
Thing is, didn’t we know Cincy was going to press.
They did what a lot of press teams do. You start off in a more passive press, see how the opposing team handles that.
And then you ratchet it up a notch, see if that cracks the other team. If it doesn’t you ratchet it up another notch, which is what appears to have happened in the 2nd half.
While it didn’t produce a ton of turnovers it did rattle PITT’s halfcourt offense.
But again, I’m assuming we scouted Cincy, watched their tapes, etc. Surely we should have been prepared for their press. Just sayin.
Hopefully Rutgers doesn’t press. Mike Rice is a pretty good coach and knows us pretty well.
Corey Davis didn’t play this year at all, and was #5 RB on the depth chart. The TE didn’t play either and we’re pretty set at TE with JP Holtz and the Scott Orndoff coming in. So…..NBD
Comment by Ghost of Hornman
Once they work on it as a team? LOL….teams have been pressing the Panthers ever since L’Ville starting killing us in BE play with it.
And the reason is because Dixon will not allow the guys to make them pay with fast breakout passes. They have nothing to lose by pressing if all Pitt does is try to get past the timeline and set up their half court offense. You have to break the press!
Today we had 9 turnovers which lead to 4 Cincinnati points. We had 2 turnovers in the 2nd half.
Also, it probably won’t mean much to some, but Cincinnati’s 4 best players are 3 seniors and a junior. Our best player is arguably a true freshman.
Not trying to make excuses, but can we get just a tiny bit perspective/reality/memory? Cincinnati is a VERY good, experienced (scrappy) team that brought just about everyone back from a team that went to the Sweet 16 least year and was a cold shooting 8 minutes away from the Elite 8. Wow!
Which dried up our NYC connections.
Skerry left after one year and one Birch.
Biggest asst. coach loss was Tom Herrion who could tell Dixon things and he would listen. Nobody on the staff like that since he left.
Wonder why Antigua left? Anyone.
Since we like to bring back former employees who left. (we all know how well that has worked out)
http://www.pacifictakes.com/ucla-bruins/2012/12/20/3789466/ucla-bruins-ben-howland-hot-seat
Happy New Year’s Eve Everyone !!!
Drink safely my friends !
U don’t have to score off press any more than the pressing team doesn’t need to force turnovers. UC goal was to disrupt Pitt’s halfcourt offense and it worked. Pitt could have beaten pressure and forced UC out of position in their halfcourt, either exploiting with numbers or creating easier looks.
Every team is going towprk a young team
This group is much better suited to handle press than last couple years, a little work and they should be ok.
Ga. Tech 21 USC 7
Clemson 25 LSU 24
Not to mention Va Tech sending Rutgers off to Big 10 with a loss and soon to be fellow member Syracuse sending the hoopies reeling back to the Big 12!!!
Can’t win em’ all, NC State lost to Vandy and Cincy got a late score to beat Duke.
Much better than previous years, especially the Clemson LSU game, if you’re a college football fan and missed that one, shame on you. Fantastic game!!!
Let’s go Pitt, beat SEC Ole Miss!!!!!!!!!!
I saw several fb players at the game today. Dan Mason looks like his old/new self.
Wonder if he will play in this game. He was on the phone or I would have asked him.
notice anything about LSU and Clemson at all???
Well, most college football fans would tell you in about 2.5 seconds walking by the t.v., who was playing.
Their uniforms, about the same as they’ve had for the last 40 years.
It’s called tradition. They don’t do gimmicks.
By the way, Pitt had that same tradition, Pitt was known across the country. Even in bad years.
Another by the way, Pitt had more tradition than both of them in the 70′s and 80′s, so, it’s not just because they are top 10 teams now.
I could give you a list of teams in the BCS, that pretty much haven’t fooled with gimmicks, whether they are a powerhouse, or just have some good years every once in awhile.
It’s who they are, and who we should have never gotten away from, and who we should return to be.
SFPitt, ya, said the same thing, announcers too, “what are they doint”.
First down, ok I guess, I little bit chancy, but caught them off guard. Next two downs????????
Hey, sorry about the rant on the uniforms.
There is a method to my madness.
I post those comments every once in awhile, because of Chas saying, the Pitt Ath. Dept does read this blog, or knows of people at the Ath. Dept. that have confirmed to him that they do check it out.
So, I like to rant about it a bit, in the case of them missing it at times.
It’s a bore I know, please just scroll on by.
Yep, let’s get Ole Miss!! HTP!!
Thank goodness we loaded up on the cupcakes this year to pad the record otherwise no shot at the tournament again. Dixon needs to do some serious re-evaluating on his coaching methodology. Ever since the loss to Villanova for a trip to the final four this team has looked unorganized, confused, mentally lacking, unfocused, soft and inconsistent just to use a few adjectives. Really disappointed that Dixon doesn’t have this team ready.
I do agree, however, with your other points. He has to not only schedule better opponents, he needs to play at least one or two away games … and I’m not talking neutral floors
As I think back about the Cinncy press and full court pressure, I cannot for the life of me understand why Jamie did not bring our centers, either Taylor or Adams to set up a high post at half court and throw over the screen….instead of letting Robinson take his man/men one on one and use up precious seconds getting the ball over half court while the rest of the team stood around waiting for the ball. Maybe he just does not trust their ball handling skills yet, but I bet you see in in the next game. Opponents now, will press Pitt coming out of the locker room.
Inbounding the ball to the near corner double team, time after time, still baffles me.
The next best way to beat the press (other than throw over it)is to press back. Pressing teams hate to be pressed back. We have 10 players in our rotation…why we do not press is beyond me.
It’s easy to “Monday morning QB” and I never lost a game…the day after thinking about it which brings me to my last point. Do we have an assistant coach like BRorhson,that can help Jamie manage the in game “chaos” and make better decisions. We have seen very bad decision making since the Butler debacle several years ago. A good relationship between HC and assts. is huge
Oh well, it’s only one game. I hope we are not having this discussion again on Saturday evening.
I am disappointed in our 7 footer too, but Adams does bang. He was beating on no. 33 for Cincy but got some bad fouls called on him. He is raw and needs an offensive game, but our guards don’t even look for him on the pick n roll. He needs to better position himself for putbacks, but I still love his potential. We lost because we couldn’t hit a 3, got outrebounded badly in the last 3 min, and Cincy MADE their FT. It was a very physical game and we got out-physicaled (word?). Have to fix that.
I agree with the above comments on breaking the press and getting quick baskets. Our half court O sucks right now. Love Jamie but he better review the film on this one. Mike Rice will.
In the first half Pitt went zone primarily because Tray Woodall and James Robinson each had two fouls and Trey Ziegler had played horribly. In the second half it was primarily because Wright and Kilpatrick, and to some extent Parker, were killing them by getting around and into the lane. Pitt’s rebounding out of the zone was terrible.
Pitt was so much better on defense in the first half. It seemed like Cincy didn’t even get a shot off in their first few possessions.
I was at the game, so no replays. I would have loved to have seen some of the foul calls. Why is that? It’s kind of annoying. It can’t be purely UP policy since they show replays at the football games.
In my opinion Cam Wright played the best of any Pitt guard in this game.
It’s going to have to be Robinson, because no one else wants to step up. It probably should be Woodall or Patterson, but so far they have not shown up.
We have not had a leader since Wanamaker. Robinson is a freshman, who is not a scorer, and with only 2 assists yesterday can not take over a game.
Cashmere Wright took over the game yesterday. We had no answer. Wright was also 6-7 from the line and Kilpatrick was 9-11. Our guards were 6-12 and Zanna was 4-8. We had 10 less attempts. Far from a winning formula.
Patterson is the key, he must play better, he was 4-12 in field goals and made all 5 of his ft’s.
I still don’t get why Moore only played 10 minutes. He is our best offensive weapon. Is his D that bad? Patterson was 0-5 for 3′s. He did lead with 4 assists. He played 32 minutes to Moore’s 10.
Ziegler played 9 minutes.
I guess Taylor only played 14 minutes because of injury.
The combination of no 3′s and no easy dunks or put backs from Adams and Taylor was the key. Add poor foul shooting and it is amazing we still had a chance if Woodall made the key free throw.
This team will be better than last year. They need to learn how to win and I think they will. It may be a rough start though. No more cupcakes.
Since our 3 tallest players are ALL finesse players, and they can all run for sure. Adams I would say is probably the fastest Center in the conf. running from baseline to baseline. Sleepy and Zanna have wheels as well.
Why not use this unusual foot speed Adams has for a 7 footer and play an uptempo game. Let Adams beat his man up court and pickup the easy layups and dunks, as they did against Delaware in the 2nd half, which turned into a rout when they started playing uptempo. Neither Adams or Sleepy are particularly effective in the halfcourt since neither can play with their back to the basket and neither are adept at getting position.
We’re going to see against better teams, what happened against Mich & Cincy, when you have no legit inside guy in the low post, they can run out at your 3 point shooters and make those shots a lot tougher. We only got 4 points(all by Sleepy) from the Center position in both the defeats. So if we don’t start getting some production, as in at least 10 ppg out of the 5, it’s going to be a long year.
Easiest way I see of getting at least 10 ppg out of the 5 is get them out on the break, score in transition. Again Adams can really run for a big guy, GOT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT !!!
This team needs to get some easy buckets instead of always having to work extremely hard in the halfcourt to get a bucket.
As Coach Chryst says often, you coach to the strengths of the players. This teams glaring weakness is halfcourt offense. It’s strength is big guys who can run and a deep bench. So pickup the tempo, create some turnovers and run, run, run.
I too wonder why Moore is not being utlized more … and I believe the reason is that he, like so many before him, is playing out of position (he is not a 4, especially against BE Teams.)
THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION DIXON’s BIGGEST FAULT … due to attrition or just not recruiting wisely, too many of his players are not being used optimally
Should we pounce on some recruits this weekend?!
It would fit Moore’s game, Adam’s strength (running), Zeigler’s game and even Woody is better in transition as his lack of height at the 2 isn’t as big an issue.
And by speeding up the tempo, you would tire out teams with not as deep as bench.
Happy New Year ! btw
Woodall should be the leader. But like Gibbs last year, he just isn’t. I don’t know what to make of him. When he’s on, he’s great but is lackadaisical at times.
Moore made 2 bad defensive plays, one in each half and was on the bench right afterwards. It doesn’t appear to be lack of effort but poor decision making regarding when to hand off his man or when to help/not help.
Suddenly Rutgers is a big game.
You have no Center who can receive a pass on the blocks or foul line and score, or do the inside/outside pass to free up a open look 3.
And you don’t have particularly good shooters when they are open. For if they aren’t open or are closed out fast, they can’t create to get an open shot. The PG, while good for a lot of things, shooting isn’t one of them right now.
So he is not a threat to score from the top of the key.
So now what you’re looking out, is almost no offensive production from 2 of the 5 positions on the court. That being Center & PG.
Any good coach is going to see this and hedge/double team on the other 3 players on the court.
If you don’t go uptempo I could see where this is going to be quite the dilemma. Uptempo can mask a lot of your problems/deficiencies.
Buttgers is huge. For they are traditionally a BigEast cellar dweller or close to it.
It will be an indicator of where PITT is trending,
upward or downward.
Don’t know how this plays into it. Cincy had a pretty good barometer of what they had and a very tough game (actually lost) to New Mexico, a couple days before the Pitt game. New Mexico had been #16 or so before getting beat at home by South Dakota State Jackrabbits of all people right BEFORE they beat Cincy. Don’t know what that says about the BigEast this season. I digress.
Anyway, Buttgers goes up to play Syracuse at the Carrier Dump tomorrow night. So they are going to learn exactly what they got for sure and will be battle tested. Again don’t know how that’s going to play into our visit on Saturday to Piscataway, interesting to note though.
ESPN/USA Today poll
PITT had been moved up to #22 yesterday
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=3
We got to win on Saturday
A lot of these teams in the bottom 10 of the Top 25 lost (Mich St., SDSU, Mizzou, Okie St., New Mexico, UNLV). So we could still be ranked next week, but we got to win on Sat., hopefully convincingly.
Interesting to note, after New Mexico beat Cincy they go to St Louis U and get clobbered, were down by 20 at halftime, 33-13.
Go Pitt !
THERE’S NOTHING ON BUT LITTLE 11 GAMES. Blah
Give me New Years Day circa 1981 or so.
You probably had 1, count it one… Little 11 team playing on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl.
That was it, and that was enough.
They have really screwed up college football, especially New Year’s day. ! 
We have become one dimensional and predictable.
Jamie needs to grow as a coach as well, and I agree, he needs to utilize his player’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Round pegs in square holes are to be avoided. Another long depressing season would put him under the microscope.
Let’s see how they do on the road, another new experience. The RAC and Georgetown will be major challenges.
I am too old to be fighting much of a hangover, but the pork/sauerkraut/kielbasa are a worthy tradition.
He’s only made one official visit that was to Pitt. Boyd even recently stated that if he were to decide on saturday, it would probably be Pitt.
Take that with a grain of salt, we all know what happened with Foster, but it would be great if we can at Boyd to this recruiting class
This one has raw talent but needs a lot of refinement. Jamie is not a coach that will adjust a lot to the talent. He makes them adjust to him.
That’s just the way it is at Pitt. Maybe Jamie’s formula doesn’t work anymore…or it hasn’t worked to get us past the NCAA 16 to this point.
But it is HIS way. I think in another 2 years, we will have a final decision on if it’s the right way.
Great observation. You may have summed it all up with the following “Jamie is not a coach that will adjust a lot to the talent. He makes them adjust to him.”
I think that you are correct in stating that time will be the ultimate judge on this approach.
The grass is always greener till its not.
On a side note: Watching FSU prepare for the Orange Bowl. Love the tradition of the seminole and the horse. Can’t wait to watch a game in Tallahassee in the coming years.
It is wierd rooting for the ACC though. Anyone else feel the same?
Let’s see how things go against Rutgers on Saturday.
Actually, I think Pitt will win. But, we’ll see.
Unfortunately JDix’s style in his heart is stifling defense and shortening the game on offense. Perhaps he’s taken the Pittsburgh, blue collar, three yards and a cloud of dust a little too literally.
I think he was pretty flexible when Blair and Sam Young were here. And he’s made some minor adjustments on defense.
I also think Jim Boeheim and his 900 wins would have a little something to say about adapting systems to players at least on defense.
Syracuse plays both ends equally, very agressive. Seems we are getting better talent but the results are the same.
Time for the old dog to learn some new tricks.
May need some innovation on offense to overcome the deficiency. But D is still the key.
Offense stagnated in the 2nd half when we needed a three-point threat, which we don’t have and this may be our biggest flaw this year. A little more JJ Moore may have helped attack more. But no 3pt threat makes it harder to attack, unable to keep D’s too honest.
Also, Adams getting in foul trouble early was a big problem (and at least 2 of the calls were super-weak ACC type calls. Qeu sera sera). But this was really the only poin after the first 5 minutes that swung the game from us up about 4-7 to us down 7. The rest of the game as tit for tat.
Not a huge disappointment, as there were many reasons that Cinncy had some edge (rebounding form the New Mex game, being very experienced and very talented, Pitt being inexperienced, coming off a week long break etc). Let’s see what happens the 3 games.
Cam Wright looked great, aggressive on O and D.
Ziegler was downright terrible.
Moore needs to be on the floor more. If Patterson isn’t going to step up, then give Moore the opportunity. I’d rather see him taking some ill-advised shots and trying to create than watch Patterson just move the ball around the perimeter as if it’s going to magically find it’s way into the twine.
I appreciate that Dixon wants to control tempo, run the offense, make the extra pass. But his offensive style does, for the most part, breed a passive mindset. Attack the rim is only a consideration in the context of rebounding.
How they respond on Saturday will be telling.
Otherwise, I agree that the state is not representing its citizens
A big win, against SEC Ole Miss, would set the tone for spring ball and going into the ACC.
Yep, even a 6-6 SEC, still an SEC, would be a big tone setter!
HTP!!
Should never have been agreed to by Penn State or allowed by the State of Pennsylvania.
Now, in retrospect… the Governor is moving to try and keep the money in State?
What a bunch of crap.
Instead, maybe the State should issue a legal challgent to the levying of the fines altogether?
But this would leave open PSU to additional NCAA sanctions that are proably more appropriate and legally well-grounded.
Good chance to see what they have. Saw their two leading scorers are their guards. Eli Something and Myles Mack who is only 5-9 or so, so I would imagine Myles gotta be super quick.
They also have a couple of 6-9 250 lb. bangers.
Teams with good guards give this team problems.
Let’s see if we can put the clamps on them.
Cuse is a game or so removed from losing to Temple at home. I think the conference is going to be a little down this year(regardless of who is ranked where right now), so for us that’s a good thing.
Is anyone going to the Sayonara Sunseri Bowl ??
Turns out the State of Pennsylvania is issuing a legal challenge to the fines altogether and not just trying to keep the money in-State.
This is exactly what should be done, as I mentioned in my comment.
Remains to be seen if it opens Penn State up to the possibility of stiffer sanctions should the fines be thrown out.
Maybe the possibility of further sanctions is what O’Brien might be using as an excuse to open the door to consideration of other offers including the NFL.
PSU joined a voluntary organization and there is no recognizable “protected class” (race, age, etc…) to which PSU belongs that would be targeted for discriminatory practices.
Pay up Pedophile Protectors….now, you will have to pay AND air dirty laundry again.
Could not happen to a better group of assholes (truly, that is the correct anatomical part).
Pennsylvania suing to have ALL sanctions and fines lifted including ban on bowl games.
Well that’s what you do when you sue. You ask for the world with the goal being a compromise.
I thought the goal of a lawsuit was to ask for the world but have the jury award you the universe? 
We’re looking forward to hosting and meeting you. Thanks for participating!
HAIL TO PITT!
It was 39-20 at Half. Now 64-36.
Is this good or bad for us ?
Looks like any confidence Butgers had should be history after this beatdown.
All(99.5% of em)of these pols are spineless slugs.
I hate PSU and all the stuff that took place and the cover up, but I’m also a PA tax payer. So if Corbett’s suit will ensure that the fine is spent in PA, then I’m all for it! I’d hate for my tax money to go to the NCAA. The govt wastes enough of my money already!
The it will be up to Pitt to maintain the perfect record
By not accepting the sanctions. Penn St may end up in NAIA. ?
L-Ville does the BigEast-ACC proud. Handily beats the supposed great #3 Florida. L-ville was about to put another 7 on the board to get to 40. Mercifully the game ended for the Gators. lol
As I posted the other week, the SEC is overrated.
Only 3-3 in Bowl games.
Sure Alabama could win the NC, still won’t effect the fact the SEC is overrated.
Both the much maligned BigEast and ACC have better bowl records than the SEC and of course that blowhard league we all love to ridicule the Little 10 or L1G.
surely you know we NEVER would have recruited anyone who would have actually been so superior to Sir Tino that we would have recruited him.
That my friend was never going to happen 
Emel, as much as I love to find fault with SEC and Big Ten etc using Bowl records don’t really tell the tale…these are meaningless games for some and Super Bowls for others and when those two collide we see a result like last night…..
Louisville had everything to play for since probably half their team is from Florida and were probably not looked at by Florida in High School. Florida was there for the player gift bag and the parties.
Something not right going on. Even BCS rankings biased by voter polls.
Now if Pitt can just finish up the season the same way, it will be all good. Perfect Pitt Saturday trifecta would be beating Old Miss and Rutgers and Boyd announcing that he is becoming a Panther. Yeah baby!
