[EDITOR NOTE: Very late, but this is what happens when you forget to get something beyond “draft.” I went back and cut out a lot of the recap and quote stuff because of that.]
Whether it carries forward, well, we can hope.
It didn’t look promising at first. Syracuse came out hitting some 3s. Beating Pitt in transition. And just looking sharper. Up 13-5, 6 minutes into the first half.
James Robinson kept things in reach for Pitt early. Then, Jamel Artis snapped out of his funk in a big way.
The offense getting very efficient and getting tons of extra chances thanks to offensive rebounds (slightly diminished by 14 turnovers, though). The counter-point — which I don’t totally disagree — is that Pitt is one of the few teams that absolutely loves seeing the Syracuse zone.
Even with that, seeing the defense put forth effort and get rewarded should be taken as a positive.
Pitt made a committed effort to take away their primary perimeter and penetrating threats — Trevor Cooney, Malichai Richardson and Michael Gbinije — holding the 3 to a combined 3-18 on 3s and 3-11 on 2s. It left their freshman Tyler Lydon open frequently but that was the risk. Lydon had a great game, but no one else really did.
Pitt is not that good on interior defense. Mike Young really struggles to defend, and when he out there with Sheldon Jeter it can get very ugly. So, seeing the guards really work to keep the Syracuse guards in front of them all game was a welcome sight.
It helped that Syracuse has no consistent offensive threat inside.That made it less likely to see passes into the post or many chances to see the Pitt frontcourt get backed down in the paint.
Still, Pitt finally held a team to under 40% shooting. The way the defense has been, under 50% would have felt halfway decent.
Hopefully that will give us some confidence heading into Wednesday night. L’Ville will be a really tough game and we all know the match-up issues but anything is possible and home court should help a little.
I thought Robinson really kept us in the game early Saturday. He knocked down some shots, including some 3’s and played with confidence. That really allowed the rest of the team to wake up and get involved.
I don’t think we are a very good team still but we’re not a bad team either. And watching a lot of other teams down the stretch proves that save 10 or so teams, there are weaknesses everywhere. A lot of games come down to matchups and who gets a little rhythm going.
The last 4 games will be interesting. I’ll take the easy road and say we go 2-2.
Any news on Jeter? Is he healthy and ready to go?
But the most important determining factor seems to be Robinson’s scoring. When he is up around 50% we have a chance, when he is down around 20% we have no chance.
We also need someone other than the big three to be having a good day. We need scoring from Jeter, Jones, Luther, and Johnson.
And of course rebounding need to be a team effort. Young is always solid, but the other guys need crash the boards as well.
I’ll take those numbers averaged out over the next four games from Ole Artis.
I think Jamie figures out a way to finish 3-1. I think he may have these guys finally believing that D and rebound can in fact win games.
Pack the Pete and ruin Ricky’s thug-fest.
HTP!
They are not going to win this game bombing from the perimeter. Solid defense, limit the unforced turnovers (looking at you MY and Artis!), and attack the rim.
Pitt has won 17 of 24 against Syracuse.
Unbelievable. The kids would call that being owned, or Syracuse is our b*tch.
Much like Pitt is 6-1 in football in last 7 against Va. Tech.
It’s good to be the pimp sometimes.
If you are interested in projected brackets.
Unlike ESPN & CBS Sportsline, This SB Nation writer does spends some time with a thought or two on each team.
Spoiler alert – PITT 7’th seed.
Pitt Hoops 17-7 last 24 vs. Syracuse
Pitt FBall 12-2 last 12 vs. Syracuse
HTP!
Hustle, made FT’s and rebounding will keep us in this game regardless. Those are three things (besides making baskets) that we did NOT do last time against the ville.
HTP!
Does anyone think Iowa is worthy of such a high rating?
How about nd at 18-8 being ranked at #23 and Pitt (who beat nd) is all the way back at #30.
The B1G 10 is overrated, as is the BIG East.
Shuffle the Cards tonight and we come out looking like Kings…
HTP!
Both Iowa & ND have more quality wins than us. ND is 9-5 in the ACC with wins over L’Ville, UNC & Duke, and we’re 8-6 in the ACC with only one quality win. So they figure correctly that our extra wins are rent-a-wins.
H2P