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January 22, 2014

Pitt Takes It Out On Clemson

Filed under: Basketball — Chas @ 8:39 am

We’ve seen Pitt beat down teams before. We’ve seen them dismantle bad teams like DePaul. We’ve seen Pitt have their way with good teams like Syracuse and UConn in the past. But this. This was abuse against a good team unlike many I’ve seen.

Pitt didn’t run them off the floor or grind them down. They just treated them like they were mannequins they had to move around and through. It was almost like watching Pitt run a drill where they would move the ball and work it around for a set time (roughly 30 seconds) and then finish the play. Over and over again.

Looking at the box score, you know what really jumps out at me? The minutes played by the starters. Zanna scored 22 points but only played 21. minutes. Patterson 26, Wright 25, Young 21. With the bulk coming in the first half. The only reason Robinson played 29 minutes was because Newkirk couldn’t stop fouling. Pitt was able to do this to Clemson the entire game.

After the game, the theme seemed to be about taking out some frustrations.

“We were ready for them,” said senior center Talib Zanna, who scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting. “We were kind of mad about the loss we had against Syracuse, and we tried to take it out on them.”

Tried? You did more than try.

I had myself convinced that Clemson was going to give Pitt a game. Even as Pitt roared out to the 11-2 lead I thought of the games this season where teams have come right back on Pitt in the first half. Maryland, GT, Wake. They all had moments or more. Not last night.

Something that Clemson Coach Brad Brownell recognized less than halfway through the first half. Pitt scored then stole it right back for another

WelpBrownell

 

Pitt finished with 24 assists on its 27 field goals (88.9 percent), including all 12 in the first half and its first 16 of the game.

“They’re a terrific passing team,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “They make plays kind of out of nowhere. You guard them for 25 seconds, and at the end of a shot clock, somebody will make a great read on a pass and they’ll be laying it in.

“The defense isn’t as bad as it looks. They’re just so good passing the ball. That’s demoralizing, to play defense for 30 seconds and then give up a layup. And that happened several times. We just didn’t respond.”

Clemson didn’t, but Pitt also would not let them. The onslaught was thorough.

Coach Jamie Dixon echoed the theme of the players being angry.

Dixon added, “We grew up a lot the last couple of days, and how you handle a very disappointing loss — there is no other way to [describe the loss] — how are you going to handle it? Is there going to be a carry over, are you going to be down after that loss, I was concerned about that.

“But we responded well with practice on Sunday, on Monday guys were out here early, and they looked more angry than disappointed and then you wonder how they were going to handle it.”

Dixon said the Panthers also got motivation from the fact that the Tigers were leading the conference in field-goal percentage defense and were holding teams to 36 percent from the field. He spent two days challenging his players to prove they were better than the Tigers defensively.

That’s what made this game so amazing to watch. It wasn’t just that Pitt was so, so efficient on offense. That the shooting from outside was on. The defense matched it. Clemson was lost out there. They never figured out how to handle the shifts from zone to man defense.

Now Brownell has to see how his team responds to a brutal beginning to a brutal stretch for Clemson.

“It was really our first time in a very difficult environment, and I think our guys played like a young team that looked a little nervous,” Brownell said. “We don’t believe yet that we’re really ready all the time.

“Guys have a little false sense of bravado like most young people. They’re all ready for all this, and then all of a sudden, you get slapped in the face a little bit and it’s real. There’s nowhere to hide, and it showed.”

I mean, you know it was a hell of a game for Pitt when Ron Cook is being the raging optimist.

 





@spiritof… nice review. thanks,

all, in some ways it may be better they lost to Syracuse… they win… they get a bit full of themselves (winning a game really they shouldnt… just like Syracuse really should not win when they come to the Pete)…

by losing we now seem them reacting the right way which should propel them to new heights. Dixon must be thrilled to see how his young team is responding as he looks not only to this year but the next few.

H2P

Comment by Pittscript 01.22.14 @ 8:21 pm

* sorry that should read Big cahuna from kaduna. I have to polish up my Nigerian geography.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.22.14 @ 8:55 pm

I might add he was sure kicking some kaduna last night at the Pete.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.22.14 @ 8:55 pm

The Big Kahuna was sure handed as can be last night. Perhaps he should play angry all the time.

Some losses that help
#10 Iowa loses to Mich. 67-75
#16 UMass loses to Richmond 55-58

ACC play
Wake beats VT 83-77 @VT
Duke crushes Miami 67-46 @U

Comment by Emel 01.22.14 @ 9:48 pm

Almost got a Duquesne win too to help the RPI….hope Minnesota wins too. They’re up 34-28 at the half.

Comment by Jackagain 01.22.14 @ 10:04 pm

Mike Young has had lots of shots spin out, roll around and find all the iron and not go in.

He’ll be fine, he’s still #2 on the team along with Lamar avg’g almost 5 rpg.

And Y plays pretty good defense for a freshman.

Comment by Emel 01.22.14 @ 10:08 pm

Attendance: 5,031

Announced crowd in Morganhole tonite for
Texas Tech 81 Hoopies 87

Capacity is 14,000

Comment by Emel 01.22.14 @ 10:59 pm

@Emel – add to that unranked Minnesota beating #9 Wisconsin. If we take care of business Saturday we should move up next week.

Comment by Pitt Dad 01.22.14 @ 11:31 pm

Wbb, I’m pretty sure the town of North Bergen is not in Bergen County. What can I tell you!

Comment by Old Pitt Grad 01.22.14 @ 11:51 pm

@Wbb & OPG – Yeah, North Bergen is in Hudson County

link to en.wikipedia.org

Comment by Pitt Dad 01.22.14 @ 11:56 pm

so Louis Freeh was born in North Bergen

Comment by wbb 01.23.14 @ 7:48 am

Its not fair to compare Young to Blair, Different type players.

Blair was an undersized center, and Young is a power forward.

And Blair was a freak rebounder… and one of the best ever to play.

Comment by Snala The Panther 01.23.14 @ 9:59 am

@Snala, I concur, Young is already under a microscope being the “freshman” in a very experienced starting line up. We probably won’t know what kind of ceiling his game has until his junior or senior year. Look how long it took Zanna to mature. If Dixon thinks enough of him to start him as a freshman then you can bet a kidney he will just fine. How have the careers of the other 2 pure freshman regular starters Dixon has had working out. Adams is making millions and Robinson leads the nation to/assist. as a sophomore. Nobody knows at this point that Young might develop beyond any of them, including Blair. He is raw fruit on a good vine.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 10:14 am

Chris Jones is playing through what appears to be a very serious hand injury and it obviously really hurts his ability to shoot. I get the feeling that he might be Lamar II in the developing phase. With 3 more years and two healthy hands it looks to me like we can expect to see a lot of Mr. Jones.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 10:26 am

I was just on a UNC site reading about how Roy Williams has been dropping the ball and losing all the good shooters to Kentucky and Kansas. They listed the top shooting recruits over the last few years. There were about 25 prospects listed. None went to Pitt or Syracuse. Leads me to think maybe coaching comes into play at some point.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 10:54 am

Young is what many now refer to as a “stretch four”, meaning a player with “three” skills AND the ability to guard fours. He is the most skilled four to play at Pitt in years. He can shoot to three point range, handle the ball against the press, pass, score in the post, dribble drive, defend three positions and rebound. He is not yet a physical beast.

He is NOT currently producing points, assists, and rebounds commensurate with his skill level. I am not exactly sure why. Some suggest it may be a confidence issue, likely. Others suggest that he is only a freshman and our expectations shouldn’t be that high. And typically Jamie keeps the freshmen on a very tight leash and doesn’t ALLOW them to do too much. All valid.

This team is playing very good basketball. The top four players are all playing at or near the very top of their game. Realistically, it is hard to expect much more out of Patterson, Zanna, Wright and Robinson.

If this team is going to get better in March, the improvement has to come from from the very talented group of freshmen. The loss of Johnson also necessitates that they fill his role.

The old cliche goes something like, “by the time march comes along, the freshmen become sophomores.” It is up to the coaches to make that happen. These freshmen are clearly capable. Pitt will be much better in the tournament if they improve their production.

Comment by Boubabcar Aw 01.23.14 @ 10:55 am

Boubecar, we keep telling you why … he is currently the fifth option on the starting lineup. The Go-to guys in order (on most games) are Patterson, Zanna, Wright and JR.

If you look at their half court offense, you will notice he gets a lot less touches than anyone of the above. His job priority on offense is apparently screens and rebounds, and many times he is not in the position to rebound because of the high screens he often does.

Comment by wbb 01.23.14 @ 11:14 am

Youngest player on team. All other freshmen are 20 or turn 20 within 3 months, Young not until September.

I think confidence is key and that is part of why Dixon should limit him. I’m not sure how great his hands are yet as opposed to Zanna who handled every pass to him as if it were perfect(and they all were NOT)in the Clemson game. Adams didn’t show the hands either, as opposed to Blair who did as a freshman.

Comment by TVax 01.23.14 @ 11:18 am

@Boubabcar, what you call “skill level” and “skilled” doesn’t equate to wins without strength and experience unless the skill difference is so great that it dominates everything else. Young is like most freshman, too reliant on his skill level. Time is the only thing that turns freshman into sophomores. We would all like to see them grow up by mid March but that is an unrealistic expectation to place on any coaching staff. This team as constituted is exceeding expectations dramatically. The capabilities of the freshman aren’t likely to turn things up much by March because they are freshman. The improvement needs to come from Zanna, Robinson, and Wright. The Clemson game looked like that might be exactly what is happening too. The team that played Tuesday night could make the Final 4.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 11:27 am

The only worry I have about Young is that he doesn’t get too frustrated because he probably thinks he can do more .. but I don’t see any lack of effort on his part.

I am very much loking forward to see him playing at what I expect to be a pretty high level in the next couple of years

Comment by wbb 01.23.14 @ 11:43 am

The experience Young and his fellow freshman are getting is invaluable to the program. They are playing with an excellent team blessed with fantastic senior leadership. They would do well to do near as well when they are seniors.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 11:52 am

Lunardi has Pitt as a 5 seed.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 1:10 pm

Games tonite that can help Pitt’s RPI/seeding:

Albany over New Hampshire (Albany should pick-up a road win)

Youngstown State over Valparaiso (YSU should win at home)

Penn State over Nebraska (PSU should win, but Neb is coming off of a big upset win)

Cincinnati over UCF (this space intentionally left blank)

Loyola Marymount over Pacific (LMU likely loses their 7th in a row)

Cal Poly over Cal State Fullerton (Cal Poly may get a road win)

Stanford over UCLA (At UCLA. Stanford is only a 6 point dog)

Comment by xfmrman 01.23.14 @ 3:15 pm

espn rpi 12-espn bpi 3-kenpom 2-ap 20- usa coaches 19- parish 15-cbs rpi 15

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 5:40 pm

Our current rpi would make us a likely 4seed which is where Jerry Palm has us pegged but Lunardi still has us at a 5. That is 3or 4 slots above what our hoped for numbers were going into the year. That would be satisfying but since we have done so well some of us are hoping to reach all the way to a 3seed by selection time.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 6:36 pm

My understanding of the Pitt scheme is; the 4 is the toughest position to learn out of the 5 positions.

Z is playing better as a 5 than he was as a 4.

This year we have 2 freshmen splitting the 4.

Both are showing promise at times and also trying to learn how to play the 4 in Pitt’s scheme.

If you look back at all the kids who played the 4 over the years, and they all struggled to an extent in the first and sometimes second year playing the 4. Nas comes to mind immediately. And Z as well. Levon Kendall, another one.

They all got dramatically better as they learned the position and so will Young and Artis.

Comment by Emel 01.23.14 @ 8:10 pm

I think our true freshman are doing great. The proof that I am right is all three are playing significant minutes. Dixon wouldn’t play them otherwise. I think they are contributing about as much as what we can expect now. Against Clemson it looked to me like Nuke had the green light when they left the 3 door open. I don’t care to see him force any 3’s but if it’s there he should take it.

Comment by spiritofsection22 01.23.14 @ 8:42 pm

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