Not sure why, but every year the night of the father-daughter night sponsored by my daughter’s school coincides with Pitt playing a late Saturday afternoon/Saturday evening game. This is no exception. I can probably catch the first half, but the second half will be complete overlap.
Last year, even more than the Rutgers debacle, losing and the way they lost to DePaul was a summary of how bad things were. The only upside is not only does this keep it from letting Pitt look ahead to Louisville on Big Monday. The way they blew it last year should serve as a reminder about how Pitt has lost and struggled at the end of games to finish strong.
DePaul had lost 53 of its previous 55 Big East games before upsetting Pitt, 84-81, last year at All-State Arena outside Chicago. The Panthers blew a 10-point second-half lead and a four-point lead with 17 seconds remaining.
The loss was shocking for the Panthers, who were the defending Big East regular-season champions. It was the first time in Jamie Dixon’s tenure as head coach that he had lost four consecutive games, and the fact that it came against the Blue Demons was the first sign that last season was going to be a long one.
If not for that loss against the Blue Demons, the game today could have been a “trap game” for Pitt with two games against top five opponents coming up next week. The Panthers will travel Monday to No. 5 Louisville and play host to No. 3 Syracuse next Saturday. With the memory of the loss against DePaul last season lingering, though, it’s unlikely the Panthers will underestimate the Blue Demons.
No, I imagine the coaches and players who were involved in the game — Moore, Taylor, Zanna, Patterson and Wright — haven’t forgotten the stinging humiliation of losing in a half-empty Rosemont Arena.
Pitt is in better shape physically and mentally than they were last year. Everyone is healthy. Pitt has shown much more competence at handling the press.
“We have to handle the press. We have to know they are going to be coming at you,” Dixon said of the Blue Demons. “They want to get up and down and shoot quick, make you shoot quick.”
DePaul is third in the Big East in steals (9.56 per game), but Pitt counters with patience on offense and a plus-4.3 turnover margin, which is second in the conference.
Dixon said Providence tried to keep his players off balance Tuesday with pressure defensive tactics similar to what DePaul will try. Pitt remained calm and hit 51 percent of its field-goal attempts in a 68-64 victory.
“I thought we did a good job not settling for contested jump shots,” he said.
“They aren’t the only team to pressure us this season,” said freshman guard James Robinson, who is averaging a team-high 28.1 minutes per game.
The contested jumpers. Something that bit Pitt last year in the second half that fueled the loss. It allowed DePaul more possessions and more time to score.
I have to believe Pitt has been preparing hard for the press this week. Not simply because of DePaul bringing it, but because they will see plenty of it against Louisville on Monday. Pitt will look to control the tempo to help keep the Blue Demons from getting flow and rhythm.
DePaul is still, well, DePaul. They have some very talented players that can go off on offense — Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young. Aside from pressing and forcing turnovers, though, they don’t handle half-court defense well. They will gamble and go for steals. That is scary from the perspective of meaning Pitt will likely shoot plenty of free throws.
It’s a 4pm game. Airing on Root Sports, MSG, MASN, WPHL and some other Big East affiliates. It will also be on ESPNU.
Two big tests coming up.
And yes, we are better than last year.
Lamar with 15 & 8
JJ 10 & 3
Woodie with 8 & 8 (a)
Cam with 8 & 4 (r)
Durand Durand with 7 & 4 (r)
Zanna 6 & 6 (still in a shooting funk)
JR with 1, 4 (r) & 3 (a)
Pitt shoots 49% FG… 75% FT…36% (3)
Agree they didn’t want to show up Depaul real bad by scoring 100 on em.
Since we have a rematch on their court.
These type games are much fun, lol
Only neg is Zanna is becoming a headcase imo.
He’s missing his FT’s bad now too.
Him & Kiwi Steve need to dunk down low rather than lay in, that they tend to miss. Kiwi’s thumb/wrist deal might be causing him to not dunk when opportunity is there.
Elsewhere ranked team #5 goes down
#15 New Mexico gets blown out by SDSU 55-34
#3 syracuse
#5 louisville
#11 kansas state
#12 minnesota
#15 new mexico
#9 Butler barely hanging in the game at home vs. temple.
Maybe the week that Pitt gets ranked.
80minutes for guards. I would go 24 Robinson, 25 Woodall, 21 Zeigler and 10 Wright. I would go three guards some too.
The 38-point margin of victory was the highest ever by Pitt in a Big East game, eclipsing a 36-point romp over West Virginia in 2003.
(that honor so belonged to our toothless couchburners to the south) haha
We were ranked as high as #21.. like 2 weeks ago before Cincy/Butgers.
We didn’t garner many votes last week so I seriously doubt. But we will have our opportunities next week.
Sacred Heart 31 31 1st
William Pitt Center – West Gym (Fairfield, CT)
Check it out, this is the guy Pittsburgh is named after
William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham
This is today’s history lesson !!
2. When Oliver Purnell left Clemson for DePaul, I was left scratching my head …. my scalp is still itchy
This is a big game coming against Louisville. Coming off of 3 consecutive losses, it’s enourmous for Louiville. I expect they will press a lot and hopefully the Panthers will handle the press a little better. Despite the big win against DePaul, they got a lot of easy baskets off their press. Pitt will have to do a better job protecting the ball against Louisville. Too bad it’s not at the Pete.
i love the way adams is playing. hes protecting the rim and hes more aggressive with that hook shot. I still wish that he would just try to slam it home every time he gets an offensive rebound right next to the hoop but..
zeigler is coming on at a great time. Pitts really now starting to get into the meat of the big east schedule. their next 6 games include 5 of the conferences best teams. Lville, cuse, seton hall, cincy, marquette, and notre dame. lville is reeling right now. i dont know whether thats good or bad for pitt. if they split lville and cuse, then win 3 of those next 4 which is certainly possible i think that would almost garauntee pitt is in the tournament with a respectable seed. that would put pitt at 9-5 in the conference with nova being the toughest team they play after that.
Still hoping for a RB in this recruiting class. I have read that Jojo leaning UK. Any insight? Two spots left…
Howland may only have played 7, but his two resrves logged twice as much floor time as ASU’s 3 RESERVES! BNot much bench play at all in that game. Perhaps they don’t foul in the PAC12.
Went to the Piit gane againsr DePaul.
1. Good for Cam. He has a left hand and dribbles better to his left:his first bucket was a drive
2. Adams is grabbing the ball with two hands now
3. Trey brought his shooting touch but was very sloppy in “breaking” the press.
4. Zanna has a case of the “yips”.
5. Johnson and patterson can shoot.
6. Really liked Taylor yesterday. Liked he and Adams on the floor together.
7. Robinson needs to shoot when open or no one will respect his passes.
8. Incredible balance yesterday.
9. Ziegler has found his spot…spots actually
10.Crowd was great….especially the drop dead gorgeous brunette with the bedroom eyes just to my left.
11. Adams didn’t shave. I did. So I got to look at the ladies and he got to play. I remember when I could do both.
When I got to the Pete and saw Adams’ silly stash, I kwew he was going to have a good game.
It was nice to see those horses run, yesterday.
Although Louisville is a better team, I hope that Pitt punishes them for pressing.
There were 80 possessions in the game. With Pitt able to go 10-deep, I hope that Coach Dixon realizes that he does not always have to hold the reigns on those guys.
Even though D Johnson had a lot of TOs I still love his game.
*..better team than DePaul,…
Hard to believe that their star guard will have another stinker. Will we be tight or loose on the big stage?
Although I think winning at Louisville tomorrow night is nearly impossible. They are coming off three straight losses. So I’m sure they will be extra fired up and how often does Pitino ever lose 4 straight? Doesn’t matter though. The goal is to he your best in March not January. So playing an extra ready Louisville will only help.
the #1 team in the country a week ago could be the #10 team in the Big East if Pitt wins tomorrow.
This Pitt team now has:
the largest win ever at the Pete,
the largest Big East win ever and
the 2nd largest Big East road win ever (which was also Georgertown’s largest home lose in 42 years).
I know each game only counts as 1 win but I think this is a sign of how good this team can go this year.
…just another reason to hate Villinova for doing first what we all hope Pitt will do in the next 6 days…beat LV and the Cuse.
With four first year players, this year should be different. Zeigler and Adams are just now starting to scratch the surface of their potential. Robinson and Johnson are both playing well and getting better.
How far Pitt goes is hard to predict. But it is reasonable to expect they’ll be playing their best in March. Finally.
Watched UNC v NC State last night, not impressed. ACC is down this year. With Adams staying, Pitt will contend next year. Big Ten is best hoops conference this year by a lot.
Great piece of coaching by Jamie as we are in 3rd place currently and can knock L-Ville down another rung on Big Monday. L-Ville has to be doubting themselves atm, so this is an excellent time to be playing them (best to catch at a low ebb). Their shooting % has dropped every game, their last 3 games and we are a better defensive team than any of those teams.
The big question is: what tempo is Coach going to play the next game at ? Because L-Ville will press. He talked halfcourt pre-Depaul, but we played the opposite. Pitino will be expecting half court offense. Will the 18 turnovers by Pitt spook Dixon ? And how many minutes will a clearly struggling Zanna get ? Can Zeigler continue his almost meteoric rise ? How will JR & Woodie handle L-Ville’s press ? Will Kiwi Steve get a Double/Double ?
These and many more questions will be answered come Monday nite. Same Pitt time. Same Pitt channel. Tune in !! 🙂
HTP
VEV
One thing I am looking for is to see Zanna and Adams stop putting the ball on the floor in the paint. It’s one of the most difficult things for an inexperienced big man to learn. You have posession of the ball with two hands…either go to the rim, pass or shoot, but once you take a dribble in the paint, you have just given your opposition a chance to steal the ball….and missed a open player somewhere on the floor.
Zanna has been lost lately on offense and I think that single thought would help him. I would rather see Adams take and miss a sky hook (ugly as it is) than put the ball on the floor.
Hail to Pitt. Psyched for tomorrow.
19 ranked teams were in action.
6 of them lost. Or approx 32% (spot on)
Syracuse, Louisville, Minnesota, K-State,
VCU & New Mexico.
The latter four lost to unranked teams.
Louisville is coming off three straight losses. In those losses their guards have been struggling. Key to the game will be Pitt’s perimeter defense NOT letting them get on track. I imagine Siva is licking his chops. Hopefully Zeigler will follow Groat’s sage advice and knock Siva on his ass.
Pitt guards also need to be smart against the press. Pitt is most effective when Robinson can bring the ball up against one defender or when they can get the ball to the two guard at mid-court where he can attack from the middle.
And as always, Pitt needs to win the rebounding war to get extra possessions.
I want to see 7-3/8-2. Nothing short will please me and it should not please our Panthers either.
On a final note, it is going pretty much under the radar, but the men’s basketball team at Sandusky State College just dropped its 18th straight to Ohio State.
18 straight with no end in sight.
How humiliating!
They also need to go over the top down the court instead of getting trapped in the backcourt. Easier said than done with Louisville’s quickness
But compare the amount of possessions in the DePaul game (80) to Pitt’s average possessions/game (60). And with the style of play that DePaul brought, 18 is higher than you would like, but not outragous.
SF:
Being that tonite’s game is in Louisville, KY, is there any advantage to Adams keeping that silly mustache?
I had to refresh my recollection as to the quality and quantity of the U of L cheer squad. Consequently, I referred to the following slide show {http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/hottest-louisville-cardinals-cheerleaders} for that “refreshment”.
Tasty eye candy treats await the red blooded Adams so I ask him to maintain his scruffy look and shave only twice a week and never, never on game day.
I don’t need him gazing at the southern hospitality. I need him to kick ass.
Stache stays.
Okay, I respect your opinion.
I just figured that hey were headed for KY, not UCLA…
This is such big business with recruits that I tend to feel sick to my stomach. And with regard to the “kids” — let’s face it; they are “savvy young adults” — it’s no longer unfair to spread the blame albeit parents teach and children learn their ways, as a result.
So in reference to our newly branded “soft” verbal, we should stick it to parents’ life-decisions made chiefly in “their” personal interests. Not in the character building of their sons’.
Can we really speak of “high character” parenting when we get news of “soft” verbal commitment?
I’m not naive here. Things have certainly -increasingly- changed, A LOT! And it’s inescapably observable.
Utter BS
Hope Boyd & his folks like moonshine & tolerate inbreeding.
In other words, Boyd’s, when the doors spanks your ass on your way out of the good-grace that is Pitt. Don’t turn back. Just keep Rollin to the Hills.
It’s all for the best in the end,
