That was an amazingly bad performance by Pitt last night. A real team effort to be that bad as a team. Last time I can recall such a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad performance by a ranked team? Well, Michigan State ranked #6 losing to a sub-.500 Iowa 43-36 in 2008 is still my lodestone in such things.
Every facet of the game saw Pitt stink. 12-20 on free throws? 60-friggin’-%? 1-11 on 3s. 13-38 anywhere else. Nothing inside. Nothing out. Just the occasional mid-range jumper.
Players were afraid to shoot. Sheldon Jeter and Sterling Smith played 47 minutes and only took 3 shots (all misses). Ryan Luther somehow took five shots in 10 minutes. The box score is a monument to a miserably played game.
The officiating was a throwback to last year. The only good thing about that, was that it was an ESPN game that plenty of NCAA and media people noted. So, expect that crew to get some e-mails about the whole freedom of movement — to say nothing of a frontcourt defense just being permitted to camp in the lane.
I can’t bring myself to freak out too much on this one. It was horrid, and I felt like I needed a shower after watching the whole damn thing. But it was such a complete and collective mess, that it really has to be treated as a one-off aberration until shown to be otherwise.
The best way to prepare against playing lewisville is to scrimmage 6 defenders against 5. Very common coaching strategy in preparation for in your face defenders.
Aggressive offenses beat aggressive defenses. Go to the rim and slam it on down…or get them in foul trouble. Or, you can back down. Lewisville was mentally tough and not soft.
I know it’s kind of basic but I wonder why Jamie doesn’t post up his center in the front court to help out against the press.
Throw over the press then right to the rim.
We have to stop trying to beat the press Mano a Mano. Takes to much time and turnovers are under their basket.
Sign of a good team….beat the
teams with poor records, win all home
games, and half on the road.
Pittino has Dixon’s number just like Dixon has Boeheim’s. Purdue beat Pitt b/c they are one of the biggest teams in the country and Pitt couldn’t compete at the 5. A very cold shooting start to the game killed them. Very few teams have the front court size Purdue has. If you watched that game you saw Pitt take a 1 point lead after being down 18 at one point before running out of gas. The final score was a blow out but Purdue didn’t have an easy win.
Louisville on the road is tough. Especially after a Louisville loss. There are going to be teams Pitt doesn’t match up well with … like every team in college basketball this season. Pitt is fine. Are they Final Four fine? Not likely. This is a team that could sneak into an Elite 8 though with the right bracket. It’s also a team that could go out in the Sweet 16 with the wrong bracket.
But bubble? This team is not a bubble team. Lol.