I wanna see these kids get mean. Be stingy. Make free throws. Blow these friars out of the water for our last meeting in the foreseeable future.

I agree. Would be nice to see a dominating performance, and we don’t let them come back late.

Just make their free throws and a Pitt win will follow. H2P!

Take it HOME Jerome!

I see Adams having another great game but we need to GUARD their talented backcourt..

Zeigler should keep getting more and more mns..

Woodall will continue to be pedestrian.

Zanna will have a good game as well.

If we come out of the gates like we did against UConn, we’ll prob

oops…. hit send accidentally.
Like I was saying – if we come out of the gates like we did against UConn, great, but if we give up the lead like we did against UConn it’ll be much more difficult to grind out a victory on the road.

We can cover these guards, esp with our zone D, even though they are good and getting better. Just have to keep up the effort and not assume this is a night off.

Pitt hasn’t handled good perimeter shooters well. I’m nervous

Just heard on the FAN coming home that concerning O’Briens visit to Tyler Boyd today – it didn’t happen, Boyd told him it would be a waste of his time. If he wasn’t my favorite recruit, he is now.

Dokish confirmed that Boyd did not meet with O’Brien … also confirmed that Pitt is going to have a big junior day

Dokish confirmed???? C’mon wbb, my ace reporting isn’t good enough?

sorry

Hard to believe Frankcan wasn’t all over this.

Mason up and Tyler down.

Nice cold night to stay home and watch a Pitt game.

Gotta love the Nordstrom Valentine girl. Bring on the Friars. Let’s go Pitt.

Dammit Adams…now he’ll sit the rest of the half

This is going to be wild

Fouling out should just be eliminated just as Gasaway says here: http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2147

Horrible shot clock violation by Robinson – just as the announcers were saying how great of a scorer he was going to be….DOH!

With Sleepy somewhat challenged tonight, we’ll miss Adams this half.

Send it in Jerome!

we never get up for providence need to shred them!

Unforced errors the story so far, starting with Adams fouls. Otherwise we’re killing them.

I’ll take the under tonight

Patterson looks really good tonight

Pitt sloppy.

Zanna not used to playing center in zone. Leaving too much open space on the baseline. Either need to go back to man or get Taylor back in.

I still think Zanna is a waste of a Pitt uni. He brings nothing to the table on offese, bricks ft after ft….and at times is a human turnover machine. I would rather see anyone else in there.

Moore not looking good tonight

I hate when jamie calls a timeout seconds before a tv timeout.

I would get Adams 2 minutes this half. He needs to learn to play with fouls.

Jamie just gave the other coach a chance to out coach him. And he did. Come out of he zone

Good. Like Taylor sub for Moore.

I have been enjoying the fact that we have been making some three’s recently. Gotta say it really opens things up for us…

Sleepy woke up and he’s back to his old self.

Pedal to the metal baby

Sleepy off his game, Zanna is not.

Patterson the glue tonight.

Dan 72 – I know you’ve been commenting here for a long time (as have I) but to say that Zanna is a waste of a uni is just plainly wrong. He’s the best player on our team and a likely NBA draft pick.

That was more than flagrant, it was malicious

He swung both elbows across Woodall’s face (above the shoulders).

good call. Its definitely a foul, screw these commentators

Saunders needs to stick with hockey. Wait a minute, even in hockey that’s a double minor.

Listening to Welsh try and justify that elbow is hilarious. When a player can’t get around a defender without swinging his elbows at his face, that’s called great defense.

great play robinson

left 5 free throws get away,

Need to stop Cotton in the second half.

what’s with using a timeout with only 2 seconds left on the far end of the court? This isn’t the NBA

Anybody know the deal with Cam Wright? Seems like he’s in the doghouse. 5 minutes combined against Nova and UConn and not off the bench yet tonight either.

Mike – we will have to agree to disagree. I find him frustrating as hell to watch and think he does more bad than good on the floor. I will buy you a dinner at the restaurant of your choice if he goes anywhere in the NBA draft if you will do the same if he doesn’t!

Pitt is so much better when Patterson is playing well

Adams staying in the game is the key for Pitt in the 2nd half. I thought we got very lazy on defense in the last 5 minutes of the second half. Glad to have that 7 point lead.

Adams was really feeling it early. The second foul was really dumb though. Patterson and Robinson have excellent games tonight.

Sloppy, but entertaining game.

Shut down Cotton and we win going away.

On the flagrant foul: Can those commentators not see replay? How can Saunders disagree with the call where the replay clearly showed the elbow getting Woodall then saying it would’ve been a flagrant if the elbow hit Woodall? Did someone whisper something in his ear?

Second game in a row with cheerleading instead of analysis. I guess we might as well get used to it. It will be worse in the ACC.

Patterson is again really making an impact. I can’t wait for the day where everyone on the team is having a ‘good day’ on the team… I just hope its against a highly rated opponent.

Hard to complain anout being up at halftime for road Big East game but it felt like Pitt left a lot of points on the table…hope it doesn’t come abck to bit them in 2nd half.

Different team when Patterson plays like this…..

Zeigler is the second best rebounder on the team.

Playing 10 every game, there’s a better chance of hitting the powerball than having all 10 play a good game. All 10 guys are inconsistent.

Question, did Providence get to keep their basket after the Woodall flagrant? If so how come?

How did sleepy not come up with that rebound?

They did keep the 3 points. No clue why.

Zanna has to take that to the hoop, no hands

nothing like an ex Friars coach calling this game. Time to switch to Dick Groat

Sloppy by Pitt..danger time in the game

AGAIN, Pitt’s man-to-man defense stinks — it seems anytme they need to penetrate, they do

Good time for a time out.

They should switch to zone. Needs Adams in the middle of it.

I’d be a lot happier if Adams just stayed in the paint…

Coach en up Jamie

Kiwi time

Can’t believe that call….they fouled before that…

Did someone take the lid from Providence’s hoop and put it on Pitt’s? They are making everything and Pitt can’t make anything

They are hot

Defense has been terrible. Both zone and man.

that’s at least the 4th time that Zanna doubled down leaving his guy wide open

gotta turn it around…good teams find a way to win

what’s the chances that Moore will get an assist this year?

Moore having a tough time, Patterson should be back after the time out.

gotta hit more free throws

Providence has used a lot of energy to climb back in. Pitt needs to make them work hard. Here’s where depth should help. Bring Wright in to guard Cotton for a few minutes.

Every game a nailbiter

they’re called free for a reason

I like the idea to put Wright on Cotton

Ziegler on the boards

Zanna can’t make anything now…

Pitt bigs (other than Adams) just can’t finish strong. Jeez.

Zanna weak on that one

Gotta get Adams back in to rebound.

Great pass by travon.

No quit in Moore, where is Taylor?

Maybe Jamie was punishing or trying to toughen up Zanna making him play center.

Not making it easy

Woodall just standing there. He had to close put on that shot.

gotta make ‘em pay for fouling

Patterson is not clutch.

Give the ball to Robinson, Tray.

Need someone to finish this one.

Tray keeping both teams in the game.

Need to make foul shots

Clutch shot, then he lets Cotton shot right over him.

let’s finish it!

Robinson is clutchbb

JAMES ROBINSON!!!

Looked pretty good early… but finished messy :/

Gutty win for the panthers. Providence is tough.

Robinson ice. Tough win.

Good win. One game at a time.

oh yeah!

Whew…..

A narrow escape, but a w nonetheless. Now let’s kick the crap out of DePaul.

Escape From Providence, starring James Robinson as the Man Who Can Make a Free Throw!

Shots shots shots shots shots shots…EVERYBODY!!!!

Villanova playing Louisville tough

Btw, Nova with the lead on the Louisville.

Providence is better than their record indicates. Despite not closing the game out, probably a better win than it looks.

CNOrwoodAZ…I’m with you man!

@Iron Duke, I like it.

Providence is one of the worst teams in the league but at least it’s a win.

They lost to Depaul at home by 10, so now I might be a bit scared about Depaul.

Good news is that it won’t be at noon, though.

This game should not have been this close. Our poor free through shooting kept the Friars in the game. But a win is a win, especially on the road. H2P!

DePaul: Pitt needs to be aware of all Big East teams. Period.

Neither are very good, but either can beat a team that sleeps on them. Cotton was hurt during the DePaul game btw.

PC has some offensive weapons, but overall a bit of a sloppy game. If i were an opposing coach I would press the hell out of Pitt, continue to struggle vs. press.

I would like to see a full 40 min. but no such thing as a bad road win in the BE. One more venue I won’t miss after this year.

Nice game for Patterson (other than missing one and one at the end), nice to see him driving.

I thought Pitt lost intensity on defense with 5 minutes to go in the first half and never got it back. Adams seemed like he didn’t want to put his arms up fully to block a shot in the second half, afraid maybe of more fouls. Zanna again, 1 good play followed by 2 bad ones. Free throws were unexceptable again tonight, but great clutch FT’s by Robinson.

Still, lots of guts and a great finish. I thought Woodall/Robinson had their best game of the year.

Some of the 3′s that Providence hit…you just have to stand there and applaud.

On to DePaul….HTP!!

Adams free throw shooting has to improve or Dixon is going to have to pull him when the other team starts to foul to get back in it.

At their current trajectory, Pitt finishes 10-8 in BE and gets a win in BE tourney. From there everything’s gravy.

This game could have easily been an L. What a team effort by the Panthers. Friars three guards are finally healthy and playing together, witness the second half. Granted they were making a couple of their 3′s with their eyes shut. Liked Zeigler and Moore’s effort. Lamar was the key again. Woody is making senior plays at crunch time. Adams is learning and growing each game. You cant teach his athletic ability for a 7-footer, just need to work in the coordination. Love DJ’s straight on 3 as the backbreaker! Let’s show no mercy to DePaul after the L last season. NO MERCY! UPone

Wow. Nova knocks off the ville.

That should help our RPI

#18 nc state dropped by wake forest. maybe some more carnage this week in the top 25 will be good for us.

Every win in the Big East is hard fought and important. Keep taking them one at a time.

I think it was Emel that pointed out there are no great teams this year. Pitt needs to get better every game and then who knows, maybe this is the team that finally overperforms.

This was…………….a tough hard fought win. The way the Providence guards played in 2nd half the Panthers are fortunate to get out of therewith a W , very fortunate.

day 39 no DC

Day 39…got it. Any comment on the basketball game?

Between the FTs and about 5-6 misses on point blank shots, this should have been a relatively comfortable win. That said, Providence is tough. Scrapped hard, Cotton heats up quickly, and some other guys hit some tough shots.

Good to see Moore actually make some 3s. First in 4 or 5 games, if I’m not mistaken. Patterson an entirely different player when he looks to take it to the hoop. He was huge tonight. Woodall will always be maddening: dumb turnover or two but then a clutch shot.

And James Robinson is playing very well. Makes some of the criticism he was receiving on this blog fairly recently seem a little bit… knee-jerk, eh?

Good win! H2P!!

What a d*ck! Providence Coach: “I think they were very, very, very fortunate to get a win in here,” Cooley said. “And a lot of that was our lack of execution. Were there even any fouls called in the game? Seriously, were any fouls called? That was a football game out there; that was the Patriots and Ravens in basketball uniforms.”

What he doesn’t realize that he admitted is that his team had a part in it. In fact, I believe they had more fouls than us.

After watching Pitt allow Mich and Cin come back to win, it is very nice to see that this team can hold on late in games (UCon, PC).

I hate to look past DePaul…but,
The asst coaches better be studying the Vil/Lou game.
I am glad that DePaul is a pressing/running team. Hopefully the pressure will get Pitt prepped for Lou.

panther94:
Agree. Classless.

Taking care of business…….

and working overtime !!!

PITT took care of business.

And all of a sudden L-Ville looks pretty average as well. We still we can reach our goals!!

The BigEast championship !!!

Oh I forgot..

Wooooooohooooooooooo !

16-4 baby !

Providence coach is an a-hole. Which also reflects the BR conf. office.

As I say

F*ck em !!

D*ickhead obviously conveniently forgot Adams was sent to bench with 17 minutes left in the 1rst half.
Or the game would have been a rout.

What f*ckin nerve from this a-hole.

NO non-con games for the woe-be-gone has been Friars.

If I was Coach, on these conf. road games I would either do one of two things.

1) Tell Adams to play passive in the first 4-5 minutes of the game or until the first TV timeout.

2) Start Sleepy, and then bring Adams in, to negate the officials looking for cheap fouls to call on Adams.

This is going to be an ongoing problem on the road, so realize it…..and address the problem.

Pretending like it doesn’t exist is not the route to take.

HTP
VEV

Haven’t seen some ppl who only post when Pitt loses.

upittbaseball comes to mind.

Did he really ? Cause I did ….

oh glad to hear Boyd to O’brien to f*ck himself.

That’s exactly what I would have told him if I was I was HS senior being recruited again.

Although I would emphasized, that I wasn’t into pedophile cults as well

Providence coach much like the Big East commishes from that school are pricks. The world doesn’t revolve around Providence. Talk about a sore loser much like Belechik. So I guess there were some similarities with the Patriots. Need to beat either Ville or Cuse to really help that RPI. And get a quality win. Gtown might be the only quality win so far and that’s only if they keep winning and upsetting teams like the Domers. Quality wins gets you in if on that bubble. Pitt is a 9 or 10 seed at the moment.

This long drawn out process for a DC search better result in a great candidate or why are we waiting this long? Better be Jesus Christ I tell you. Wonder what’s holding things up.

Chryst probably is asking for another miracle be performed…a football national championship. Jesus might be out of miracles that large.

Speaking of Adams, on the flip side of the fouling issue, did I hear the announcers correctly state that Adams free throw % was only in the 30s???? Do they not shoot from the foul line down in New Zealand?

This is a real weak spot in his game and he will be a target for quick fouling at the end of close games going forward when he is in there to close out games.

I just don’t get it, how can any college player accept being such a poor free thrower?

13 for 38 so .342 FT for Adams….I agree Dr. Tom that could be a problem if a smart coach uses that at end of game.

Adams doesn’t play at the end of games. Jamie has been going with Zanna at center and Moore at power forward. Better offense and foul shooting.

On a side note, Jamie needed to get Wright some playing time last night. They really struggled to stop their guards penetration. Wright could have helped. Patterson was rolling on offense, so Pitt could have afforded to give up a little offense for some D.

And Patterson, dude almost blows his career game by missing the front end of a 1:1 then committing a brain dead foul in the back court after providence got his miss. Inexplicable.

What’s amazing about Adams and his fouls shooting is that he is doesn’t miss anything in pregame. Twice this year we were at games very early and he was out shooting around, and he hits threes from everywhere. I kid you not, he made 15 jumpers in a row from all over the place a few weeks back. After he made about 12 them, he went over and stood in front of the bench and drained three in a row from out-of-bounds. My son looks at me and says…”he can’t make a layup in a game.” His shot was fluid and he looked great, and then from the line in the game he looks tense and uncomfortable. I guess the question is why is he shooting threes in practice, but the point I’m making is that I think the touch is in there somewhere, and maybe he will learn to hit FTs under pressure as time goes on.

Based on last year’s results, if you don’t think there’s going to be a “revenge” factor in ALL of our games — Saturday’s Depaul game is a perfect example — you’re loopy!! We will be “up” for everything!

@ RoosterJones, if that is the case, then it is time for a visit to Bob Rotella. That’s a mental issue that needs to be corrected ASAP with Adams. He is too big a resource NOT to exploit to his maximum potential.

@ TX Panther, do you really want JC as a DC. What an announcing nightmare. Coach Chryst is calling the defensive plays today, oops, excuse me I mean Coach Christ, pardon me, it is Paul Chryst calling the plays or the Defensive Coordinator? It is the head coach calling the plays today??? Jesus Christ, whos calling the defensive plays? No, it’s Paul Chryst calling the plays, Whos on first! You get my point! LOL

At least Pitt won the battle of the coaches with the worst hairdos in the Big East. Jamie was working the skunk look and Cooley was bringing the clumps-missing, patch here, patch there.

*Patterson was tough, even with the late mistakes.
*You guys know I hate Woodall, but he wasn’t forcing shots last night, which I appreciated
*Man, did Adams come out like gangbusters. It will take 2 years in college hoops for that to become normal, but nice to see the potential
*Jamie’s becoming a zone coach.
*Zanna can run, but he can’t jump. That said, his ability to beat other bigs downcourt is huge.
*Yes, Moore hit a huge three, but he is as clueless as ever. Just has no idea what’s going on — when to drive, when to dish, when to fire.
*Is it my imagination or is Robinson getting slower? Such a nice floor game and presence for a frosh, but wow, is he slow.

Tough stretch coming up, but they look like they’re coming together.

The Big Kiwi had better get his free-throw issues fixed, or coaches will play Hack-a-Shaq on him late in games, for defacto turnovers with the clock stopped.

Either that, or else Jamie Dixon will be forced to play Dante Taylor at 5. DT is a decent FT shooter.

Team playing much better. I think they are getting to know each other better in terms of who can do what.

I’m told that Adams hits his free throws in practice. If that’s the case, he just needs to get more comfortable in game situations. I also thought he was going to have a big game, before he got called for his 2nd foul early in the game. I think he will come around. I am a little concerned about Zanna. He struggling right now and seems to be having issues finishing. I still would like to see Zeigler get more playing time.

Once, when she was in junior high school (shows how old I am), my sister made 50 free throws in a row on our backyard hoop shooting underhand (a la Rick Barry). Maybe Adams should try it that way and see if he gets better results.

Impressed w/the last 3 games. 2 road wins are nice. Hey Justinian == What part of Zeiglers’ game makes you want to see him receive more playing time ??

No one on this planet gives a rats ass what any coach at Providence thinks or says about anything.
Say hello to Duquesne’s Rhode Island branch basketball squad.
The guy who should be really pissed is the clown in line for the Ad position. He probably thought BE commish was is in his future. Oopsie.
Pitt won on the road. I hate syle points anyway. They are meaningless. Just keep winning and having someone else carry the load that day at the office.
As for Adams and free throws, practice, practice, practice and with guys standing on the line too.

Good one Dr. Tom.

Pitt needed this win. It was ugly but so was that Michigan St and Wisky game last night. In fact, that was uglier.

A lot of turnovers, but still a WIN on the road.
Adams is slowly coming along, which is good news.

The main issue I see with this team is stopping penetration. Good guard play really hurts this team. Adams really helps here with his ability to clog the lane.

Cotton is a beast. He shoots lights out and can also create his shot and drive. He is averaging like 31ppg. He was going to be tough for us to stop. Providence is finally fully healthy, and they have some serious talent at guard. They always play Pitt tough.

Patterson needs to continue to drive to the hoop. BUT make the FTS!!! Woodall sucks on D, can be turn over prone, but one of the best options we have on critical possessions. (even though that turnover late was bad)

Robinson – Ice cold. He is a pleasant surprise. Obviously is and will have growing pains in the big east, but you can tell he will continue to grow.

Last item, is why JJ moore never elects to drive..ever ? He is not spot up shooter. Granted he hit a big three, but he always looks to that.

ESPN RPI rankings have Pitt at 17.

pitt dad, Glad your sister is such a good shot.I get frustrated with foul shooting too however I think Adams is injured and has a good excuse.You might have noticed his right hand is heavily taped through the the thumb slot for at least the last 2 weeks.There have been pictures in the trib 2 days in a row that show how big the bandage is.My guess is even your sister would miss occasionally with what appears to be a painful and strategic point injury.I noticed in the game he doesn’t even slap 5 with his teamates with his right hand.I am amazed no one in the media seems to have noticed it.I think Adams is coming along great and will be ready to make some serious noise by tourney time.

That was a nice win over a quickly improving Providence team last night.The win over Nova is also looking better after the Louisville loss there last night.In fact the Woodall excuse in the Marquette game and young teams first road game excuse for the first half at Rutgers I think one could make a case that this team is on a roll.

Good win! Keep it up. Just keep collecting W’s.

Man, Patterson pulls me in many directions!!

Soon the word will be out that to beat Pitt foul them in the closing moments. Shooting 57% from the line last night almost cost them the win. Fortunately Jamie sat Adam’s and went with his best shooters. But against better competition Pitt will lose closely contested games unless they improve at the free throw line. I am baffled as to why Pitt can’t improve in this important part of their game.

MMike Last night was certainly closely contested and so were the previous two victories and Pitt hit the freethrows when they had to.You are right about needing to improve but the strategy you suggest hasn’t worked in the last three games.I think the rebounding inconsistancy is a larger weakness that needs to get fixed if we are to make a serious run this year.