I don’t know why for sure, but when the game reached halftime I felt extremely confident that my DVR-delayed viewing of Pitt-Cinci was going to end the right way. Maybe it was seeing Pitt score the final basket of the half as Cinci let up after a score. After seeing it happen in the first meeting with Cinci and the Michigan game, having Pitt down at the half but getting the bucket to keep the game closer felt positive.
Maybe it was that outside of Sean Kilpatrick there wasn’t much to Cinci’s offense in the first half. He was 15 of their 31 points and take his shooting out of the equation and the rest of the Bearcats were only 6-19 shooting and 1-6 on 3s. And with Cashmere Wright playing through an injury, there just isn’t anyone else on the Bearcats picking up the slack.
“The kid is giving everything he’s got,” Mick Cronin said. “He’s playing hurt and he’s giving everything he’s got.”
Sean Kilpatrick sympathizes with his friend.
“I don’t know how his body feels,” Kilpatrick said. “He’s probably feeling it worse than anybody else. He’s a shooter and that’s what’s going to happen sometimes. He can’t let it affect his game.”
The scary thing for UC is that unless Wright gets his game back, there doesn’t seem to be another player on the team capable of picking up the slack and functioning as a scorinig complement for Kilpatrick. One thing’s for sure. Kilpatrick can’t do all himself. Just look at his one-point second half Saturday after he scored 15 in the first half.
Or maybe it is simply that this Pitt team has just kept on winning this month, and I’m starting to expect them to finish games.
Last month, Cinci had the bravado and swagger claiming to be a team that wore down others. As I noted then, there are limitations to that style, and it has been coming back hard on them in recent weeks. This game being yet another example.
They thought they could grind Pitt in another game. That only goes so far. If you can’t score, the limitations become obvious. And it doesn’t matter how good a game you play in other aspects. That offensive inefficiency wears on a team and leads to more breakdowns as happened in the second half.
“We missed a lot of open shots,” Cronin said. “That’s going to happen. It would be nice if somebody would get an offensive rebound. We went 15 minutes without an offensive rebound in the second half. That’s ridiculous. You can’t win when that happens.”
The Bearcats (18-6, 6-5 in the Big East) have lost two in a row while averaging 51 points, shooting 34 percent from the field, and 18 percent from long range.
The biggest adjustment Pitt made in the second half was going zone on defense. Eliminating the penetration and kick-out for shots. If Cinci wanted to keep firing from long-range it was going to be with a hand in the face. Not from getting ball movement and an open look.
Cincinnati (18-6, 6-5) shot 30 percent, making only five field goals after halftime. The Bearcats were 4 for 25 (16 percent) from 3-point range and did not have an answer when Pitt coach Jamie Dixon went to a zone defense for long portions of the second half.
“The zone was something I thought we would use, but I didn’t anticipate using it that much or having that amount of success that we had with it,” Dixon said. “We’ve been working on it a lot. Tonight, it came in very handy. In the second half, we went to it and stayed with it. We limited their penetration.”
Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick scored 15 points in the first half and the Bearcats led, 31-26, at halftime. But Kilpatrick had a hard time getting open in the second half. He scored one point in the final 20 minutes and missed all seven of his field-goal attempts.
“They were getting everything in the first half off penetration and kick-outs to him,” Patterson said. “We just had to guard our men better in the second half and limit the penetration.”
There were articles going into the game about how similar Pitt and Cinci have looked at times. Pitt spoke of adjusting to what they saw from Cinci in the first meeting. In this case, the Bearcats inability to handle the zone was much like Pitt back in the beginning of January. Pitt, however, has gotten better at handling the zone. Cinci — not so much.
This was a big game for Tray Woodall. Not simply for his career statistical achievement. He helped lead the team to the win in the second half.
Woodall became the seventh player in Pitt history to score 1,000 points and dish 500 assists, thanks to his willingness to take and make big shots when the Panthers needed someone to step forward.
Woodall scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the final seven minutes to propel No. 23 Pitt to a 62-52 comeback victory over No. 17 Cincinnati on Saturday night in a Big East game before 12,478 at Fifth Third Arena.
Woodall reached the milestone when he made two free throws with 4:03 remaining to give the Panthers a 51-48 lead. It was fitting, considering he missed the front end of a one-and-one with Pitt trailing by three in the final minute of a 70-61 loss to Cincinnati in the league opener Dec. 31.
“I wanted to step up and knock those two free throws down,” said Woodall, who now has 1,003 points and 547 assists. “I’m not going to lie. I definitely had the 1,000 points in the back of my mind. I’m glad it’s out of the way now. There’s no more pressure. I’m just happy we came out with the victory.”
That’s why I think Adams’ offensive development could be a major factor in the title hunt. On Saturday, Pittsburgh’s freshman 7-footer finished with 13 points and four blocks. He was an offensive and defensive presence for the No. 23 Panthers, who held No. 17 Cincy to a 30.8 percent clip in a 62-52 win. In a league with a group of teams that are so close to one another, Adams’ offensive growth is a factor. Pitt is good enough to win the rest of its games, especially with its final three matchups against squads (Villanova, South Florida and DePaul) that have combined to win eight conference games.
Not just showing a scoring touch, but seeing the court.
Cincinnati cut it to 54-51 when Adams dished a backhanded bounce pass to power forward Talib Zanna for a thunderous dunk with 1:35 left.
“In the huddle, (Adams) was saying that they were going to double-team him, so we told him to make sure to be patient and not think too far ahead,” Woodall said. “He was patient enough and dropped off a beautiful pass.”
Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin was furious about the defensive breakdown
“It’s inexcusable, just inexcusable,” he said. “It’s against a zone. A guy got a dunk against our zone. Our rule is the five man never leaves the rim when we are playing a zone.”
And it’s worth noting that Talib Zanna re-emerged in this game with some efficiency. Going 4-6 from the field, getting to the free throw line and scoring 11 points.
This team isn’t a world beater. It isn’t going to dominate. Yet it keeps getting just a little better each game. Improving. Growing. Giving hope for something more.
Remember the calls for Dixon to fire the assistants and bring in a strong bench coach? Didn’t happen. Remember the complaints about a need for a new offensive style? Back to top 10 offensive efficiency. Remember the stuff about Jamie couldn’t recruit elite players? Meet mr. Adams and to a lesser extent Mr. Robinson. Or Jamie couldn’t coach big guys? Adams, like blair gray, McGhee, and even zanna is growing.
Jamie isn’t perfect but he’s a hell of a coach. And he makes following his teams a great ride.
Also, tray Woodall is starting to become one of the better guards in the country and a formidable three point threat that will only open things inside for Adams.
This team may be Top 15 tomorrow.
This team is better than 2010-2011’s team and it may by the end of the season be not even close.
They also call him Kiwi Steve, so we have our name for him now.
And he is the key for our future success this season, as the defense is soooooo much better with him in the middle of the ZONE. Coach seems so reluctant to believe in the ZONE.
Believe in it and embrace it Coach;
as the better we get in playing it, the better chance we have of being a major factor in the Big Dance.
It covers most of the inadequacies of the guards not being great man to man defenders and keeps your shot blocker, Kiwi Steve, in the lane, making it tough for opponents getting any easy shots around the hoop. And it stops the dribble penetration, kick out and having to switch on the hedge.
Believe in it & Embrace it !!
Just more Kool-Aid for the Kool-Aid drinkers.lol
I’m having coffee EMel. That’s why I live in reality. Those Nitters can choke on that Kool Aid.
Other BE teams in Sagarin’s top 50 are–
Georgetown #18
Marquette #19
Cincinnati #22
N. Dame #29
UConn #46
Villanova #48
i think he said no so i think that wwas who he thought he had but the man did not come hope he changes his mind.
Hey maybe that’s life, you have to be as lucky as you are good but we shouldn’t get too carried away.
The optimism should be in the fact that we haven’t hit our ceiling yet. Question is whether it is much much higher or just a little hihher.
ESPN “BPI” rating has Pitt up to #10.
This system takes into account missing (injured) players. And they now have Pitt as a #3 seed in NCAA.
i never said dixon was a bad coach just dont
think he can take us to next level.
dixon allways does good in regular season just not in the tournament.
out that Teryl Austin was who chryst offered
the DC coaching job to.
i guess he said no thank you to pitt.
choose was.
but i do think that austin is not thinking things thru if chryst were to take a different job
in a year or 2 austin would be in line for head
coach.
you could bet on that.
I’m not saying we’re not very good. Just hoping to temper the more manic-depressive tendencies of my fellow Pitt fans. This week we’re manic, tow weeks ago depressive when i think during the L-Ville game there were some that wanted Dixon fired and couldn’t stop talking about all the things wrong with this team. I thought those people were crazier than those who are now really excited.
The field is pretty wide open this year and Pitt is trending in the right direction. Despite playing Mich/LVill/Cuse, I don’t think we played our toughest opponent yet (that’ll happen in the tourny by which point all teams will have figured out who they are, no one is who they were earlier in the year and the best teams will be peaking), and yet i also dont think we have hit our ceiling yet. I’m really interested to see how those things intersect.
when you want to know what is happening at pitt
you can not depend on the post or the trib or
even panther prey or the red shirt bye sam
or panther lair.
they will have what is happening days after it does
that is a shame.
the things that i get like the chryst reaching
out to teryl austin comes from a site that covers all football not just pitt.
but pitt sites have nothing if they do it will be a day or 2 later and they say they cover pitt only with a big brush not a fine one.
time.
dixon is a good coach for the regular season
i give you that and he is a wonderful person.
but cbs sports has posted this pitt is among
the biggest underachievers in the NCAA tournament
every year.
that has been my point if you want a great
regular season every year dixon is your man if you want to win the NCAA it is miller time.
The one year they had the talent to go the Final Four . two NBA players..they were a Reynolds drive away from going so while disappointing hardly underachieving.
Dixon is hands down a better coach than Miller..he’s only shown for 10 years now..I guess some will need another ten years before they become convinced.
If you want to compare coaches like Krychevsky or Boeheim to Dixon and talk championships and track record I’ll concede, but what’s Milelr actually accomplished in his relatively short coaching career? I’m calling BS yet again on a thin resume that had him at Xavier all of 2 years ago. I’m so sick of hearing how a parallel move at best serves Pitt whatsoever. FFS give it a rest.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Dixon is our coach and any thought of firing him is just plain silly.
However, Miller almost was in 3 Elite 8s if it wasn’t for a 25 ft Levance Fields timeclock beater in the final minute, leading Pitt over a much less talent Xavier team.
Give me the list of players that Miller has coached that have improved as much as Dixon’s players have over the years… ..Aaron Gray doens’t go to the pros with Miller.
..Miller doesn’t get this Pitt team into the NCAA’s.
.Miller has a great recruiting class at Arizona, much better than any at Pitt I’l give you that… but that is beacuse it is Arizona and excitement for a new coach…because he didn’t get the same players at Xavier..if Dixon would of went there I dare to say he could of even gotten a better class.
Miller, in 4yrs at Arizona, has missed the tourny more times than Dixon has in 10 years at Pitt. Add in the unknowns that come with ANY new coach and its just bad business to bring in Miller.
I understand. The swings in emotion, even for a non-alum like me, are terrible and wonderful.
But I want to be positive and acknowledge the fact that Pitt is earning high marks from the numbers based raters (Kenpom, BPI, Sagarin).
Will the subjective polls follow?
Win at Marquette and probably so.
Miller is a much better recruiter that Dixon. Some would argue…give me the Jimmies & Joe’s over the X’s & O’s. (see Kentucky)
If Dixon starts to be a better recruiter and gets and keeps (that’s the problem) assistants who can recruit, we won’t ever hear it’s Miller time again. I frankly doubt Pitt will ever do better than Dixon…I hope I’m wrong about that though.
I like Dixon but he didn’t recruit Adams…he was gift wrapped and handed to Dixon with zero competition from other coaches. Time will tell if this current crop of assistants can recruit, which is all I really care about.
Didn’t recruit him? maybe your memory was affected by an pulmonary embolisism? Oh wait — that was Jamie Dixon on one of five 16 hour flights to recruit Adams and gain his commitment. Given his family health history and his sister’s tragic death, it’s incredibly disrespectful to suggest that he didn’t earn that commitment from Adams. There was absolutely nothing “gift wrapped” about it, even if he didn’t have to compete with sneaker pimps to get it.
“. He was an unknown prospect, but his athleticism and size were obvious even as he approached his 16th birthday. Dixon had played professionally in New Zealand with two of Adams’ brothers, and he was friends with Kenny McFadden, who runs a basketball academy in the country. It was McFadden who suggested Pitt “recruit” Adams, a process that essentially consisted of Dixon offering a scholarship and Adams accepting.”
Get it? He was gift wrapped by his local mentor who knew Dixon who happened to be in the area coaching the USA team. He told Adams to let Dixon coach him and Adams said yes.
“How does a big kid from New Zealand, one that is projected as a one-and-done at Pitt and a potential top three pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, fall into Jamie Dixon’s lap? The Pitt head coach has plenty of relationships in good-standing in New Zealand from his days there as a player. That includes former Cleveland State star and NBL legend Kenny McFadden who was a pro teammate of Dixon’s in New Zealand. McFadden was Adams’ mentor in his native land.
McFadden believed that Dixon was a man that could guide Adams and here we are today.”
Recruiting is gaining the trust and commitment of prospective student athletes. Dixon had to 1) convince him to travel 1/2 around the world to a city he probably never heard of. 2) Get his academic credentials in order to qualify and 3) forgo a likely NZ amateur/pro career that would have been a safer bet if he wasn’t convinced to think bigger (both for college studies and pro prospects). The only reason he was off the radar was due to his limited means and the ‘pay to play’ set up for NZ elite amateur play. That was the biggest “luck” factor in his avaailability
Recruiting isn’t sport and it’s not a game. He wins by gaining a player who no one else got. The why matters much less than the what. I still can’t figure out how he convinced Khem Birch to come to Pitt. Bad fit and bad attitude. Anyone in D1 would have signed Birch if they could have, but it wouldn’t have made him a good signing for many teams.
It shows that Coach Dixon has a good eye for coaching talent. And other schools must realize this. They are confident that a former Pitt assistant coach will be ready to run a program.
Dixon didn’t recruit Birch, his assistant Pat Skerry did.
Your really determined to prove your ignorance. Skerry was Dixon’s assistant… sorry bit that made him Dixon’s recruit. Skerry left Pitt before Birch enrolled. Did Birch follow him to Towson St? Did he pull the commit? Last I remember he played at Pitt for 1/2 a season.before transferring.
I read quotes… as opposed to what? Just making shit up?
I give Jamie credit for identifying a potential opportunity that all other coaches missed. It’s true that his connections to New Zealand certainly helped, but it was Jamie who established and maintained those connections in the first place. That’s what good recruiters do. They establish connections and when opportunities arise, they leverage those connections to their advantage.
