#4 Pitt [79] @ W. Virginia [67] - Recap

Let's recap: I said that if Pitt could do three things they would win this game.

Three!! Three things!!

1. Play lockdown defense

Pitt's D wasn't very lockdown in the first half. The Panthers allowed the WVU guards to penetrate and dish, and a lot of points were scored in the paint against Pitt. Also in the first half, WVU had a good many offensive rebounds and second chance points. This is why Pitt shot 60% from the field and was only winning by two points (39-37) when halftime came. Pitt put the smackdown on WVU in the second half, allowing only 30 points to the Mountaineers and forcing a lot of contested shots.

2. Keep WVU out of transition

Pitt had only nine turnovers in the entire game, at least six coming in the first half. This forced WVU to run offensive sets the entire game, and they just couldn't stay with Pitt in that facet of the game. If Pitt can force its opponent to play a slow tempo game, the Panthers are borderline unbeatable.

3. Someone needs to hit some shots in the second half

Pitt shot 60% from the field in the first half, an incredible number, but it didn't seem like it. Pitt didn't hit any threes in the first half, and most of its baskets consisted of DeJuan Blair powering inside and LeVance Fields hitting some pull-up jumpers. (Note: Nasir Robinson played some spectacular minutes in the first half, scoring two layups on 2-2 shooting. He is going to be a hell of a Pitt basketball player in years to come.)

In the second half Pitt shot a respectable 48%, but it seemed like whenever the Panthers needed to hit a shot, the ball was in one of two players' hands: Jermaine Dixon, Sam Young. Dixon hit three HUGE threes to help Pitt pull away near the mid-point in the second half. These weren't ordinary threes, either, they were all from NBA range. The kind of threes that when the player shoots:

You yell "NOOOO!!"

And when it goes in:

You yell "YESSSS!!"

And then you change your pants...

Sam Young; what more can you say about Sam Young? He sits for most of the first half with two fouls, then gets his third called on him literally seven seconds into the second half. He comes off the bench STRONG after that. He was hitting fadeaways, hitting contested jumpers, driving to the hoop for layups, and giving WVU players extreme facials (no homo). He scored 16 points in the second half alone, and looked basically unstoppable.

Another typical Pitt victory this season: play iffy defense in the first half then totally shut down the other team's O and make a game-ending run in the middle of the second half. Just like the STJ and GTown games (at the top of my head), Pitt just started to force turnover after turnover in the second half and make WVU look sloppy.

Don't think this wasn't a huge win, it was. The Mountaineers were #15 in the RPI Index and winning on the road in the Big East is always a big deal. Big game against Villanova tonight.

Hail to Pitt!!

W. Virginia Scouting Report

West Virginia Mountaineers

(14-4, 3-2)

Last Game: W 75-58 @ (12) Georgetown

The Mountaineers are coming off a surprise win in GTown and are now ranked #15 in the RPI index. WVU relies a lot on its swing players and guards, but not on its frontcourt. The tallest member of W. Virginia's starting five is 6-9; then again, it only starts one player under 6-6: PG Darryl Bryant.

WVU is a very deep team (insert sexual innuendo here). They play nine players over ten minutes a game, except one of those players, Joe Mazzulla, is on the shelf right now. With Mazzulla out, true freshman Darryl Bryant has stepped in at PG and done a decent job. He averages 10.6 ppg on the season, but only 2.8 ASTs to 2.4 TOs per game.

Those ARE ugly numbers, Mr. Paulus, but yours are no better.

Now for some other numbers. WVU has no players shooting over 50% from the field and its point guard shooting 39.6%. Pitt on the other hand has two players shooting over 50% from the field and LeVance Fields shooting exactly 40%. The difference between Fields and Bryant cannot be measured in FG%, however, it needs to be measured in the AST/TO ratio. While Bryant's (as mentioned before) is 2.8/2.4 (or 1.17/1), Fields' is 7/1.8 (or 3.9/1)... The fact that nobody from WVU shoots over 50% from the field is most likely because they have no real center. If DeJuan Blair can stay out of foul trouble (big IF) then he should have a field day against these small bodied Mountaineers.

The #4 team in the country wins games like this 5/6 times, if it is a legit #4 team in the country. Pitt is the real deal this year, and they will win this game. They have to play lockdown defense, keep WVU out of transition, and someone needs to hit some shots in the second half. So Pitt if you can do this, it will spell out a "W" (or a "V") for "U".

CLASSIC!

Pitt Recaps - Louisville/L & Syracuse/W

This past weekend, Pitt had a chance to retain its unbeaten record. They lost, however, at Freedom Hall on Saturday by the score of 63-69 to a very hot Lew-uh-vull team. There is not much to say about this game. Pitt had the lead after the first half even though they had 15 fouls, mostly ticky-tacky. Note, in this game I caught myself saying/screaming "THAT WAS A FOUL?!" more times than I can ever remember during a Big East game.

That's why you suck Higgins, you're pointing the wrong finger at Jim Boeheim.

Even with everybody in foul trouble, Pitt was up 10 with nine minutes left after a three pointer and  highlight windmill by Sam "I Slam" Young. Pitt fell apart after this, it couldn't hit a shot and couldn't get stops when it needed to. That spelled out a bad loss for the Panthers.

Give Lew-uh-vull SOME credit, though, they play good defense, as for its offense, that's another story... Earl Clark's talent didn't come to play, but he is a hell of an athlete. He could get a double-double in his sleep if he wanted to. Terrence Williams is a big time player, Pitt had no one close to matching up to him and he killed them in the second half when it mattered most. Samardo Samuels is okay. Edgar Sosa still sucks. Pitino is a great coach. End-o-story.

Speaking of great coaches, Jim Boeheim is not one of them. Pitt had a tough test (or so we thought) following its first loss just two days later: Boeheim's #8 Orange. Pitt, now #4, had to do three things: stay out of foul trouble, hope that nobody from Syracuse stepped up, and hit some clutch shots. Well, Pitt did stay out of foul trouble, accumulating only 15 the entire game. Andy Rautins actually did get hot, hitting 5-12 from three ball range, and scored 17 total points to keep Syracuse in the game. To combat that, however, the Orange got only 12 points from Jonny "Where's the H?" Flynn, most of which coming with the game far out of reach. Finally, Sam Young stepped up at one point in the second half, scoring a couple of key buckets along with some nice threes from Wanamaker and Fields.

Pitt whooped Syracuse in the second half, turning a decently close game into an 18-point blowout. Everyone likes to see this because Syracuse is dumb. For instance, #00 for the Orange dunks on DeJuan Blair and instead of just doing his business, he has to shove Blair to the ground and receive a technical. Also, Paul Harris had two fouls in the first half and gets his third in a "T" shape just before halftime when he says something to Blair after he blocks Blair's shot. What idiots. I'm glad Syracuse changed its nickname, they don't deserve to have the "men" suffix.

By the way, Brad Wanamaker, ladies and gentlemen, is for real in Big East play this year. There are a lot of X-factors on this team, him being one of them, and he needs to continue playing well and playing with confidence if Pitt wants to go far this year.

Yesssirrrd!

Big game coming up this Sunday @ West Virginia. Of course we all remember: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3W9ihh7LE like it was yesterday. This is a game I had in my mind that Pitt MAY lose, even before WVU just smacked GTown around a little in its backyard just this week. Hopefully the Panthers will pull this one out like the football team the last two years: 13-9, 19-15, cough.

McKILLOP!

#20 Louisville Scouting Report

Lew-uh-vull Cardinals
(12-3, 3-0)
Last game: W 87-73 vs. (13) Notre Dame

Terrence Williams is good, Earl Clark is good, Samrdo Samuels is good. Other than the stars, they have some good role players to compliment them. Jerry Smith and Andre McGee (not related to Gary McGhee) are good jump shooters who always seem to knock down a few key threes per game. Edgar Sosa could be a star or a no-show on any given night.

Terrence Williams is a big time player (24/16/8 with 3 steals and just 3 TO's vs. Notre Dame on Monday) and he can take over a game at any time. He averages 12.3/9.3/5 with 2.5 steals and only 2.1 TO's per game at the 3-guard/forward.

Samardo Samuels is very talented, very athletic, but also very young and unexperienced. He can be a huge factor in any game, but he gets in foul trouble often.

Earl Clark might be one of the most athletic players in college basketball. The issue with him is that his talent doesn't show up to play every night.

For Pitt to win, they will have to slow Lew-uh-vull down. The Cardinals will press, HARD, for most of the game. If LeVance Fields and co. can control the turnovers and make Lew-uh-vull play a half-court style game, it will greatly benefit the Panthers.

Or maybe somebody will take over like...

In the 2007 Big East Tourney semis.

Pitt needs this win to prove it is better than Wake Forest and deserves to still be #1... And because I like to see Rick Pitino squirm.

S. Florida [62] @ #1 Pitt [75] - Recap

The success continued for the #1 Pitt Panthers (16-0). Past the halfway point of the season and the Panthers are still undefeated... Remarkable!

But just like the St. John's game this past Sunday, Pitt started off slow. People are getting worried about these slow starts and wondering how we play against the elite of the Big East(nothing against South Florida, they put up hell of a fight). But hey, it's the BIG EAST! What else do you expect in conference play?

In the first half, a couple of strong defensive stands with a shot clock violation twice against the Bulls and some nice baskets put Pitt ahead early with a 7-0 lead. But then the defense started to unravel and offense sputtered a bit. The Bulls shot over 50% from the field in the first half, unacceptable. Still, even against a below average opponent, Pitt was winning 41-37 at the half. This lead was largely in part to Tyrell Biggs' huge first half, where he scored in double figures, and LeVance Fields' shot clock beater from beyond the NBA three point line just before halftime.

In the second half, Pitt started off strong with another 7-0 run but then cooled off to a 47-44 lead. The turning point in the game, or at least what put the game out of reach, was the the three pointer made by Brad Wannamaker to make it 55-44. This was the first double digit lead of the game for Pitt, and they never looked back. Blair was dominate in the paint as usual.

Grades:

Offense --> A-
Pitt executed very well on offense. The offense produced opened threes (10-18) and quality shots the whole game. Pitt hit 48% of its shots, and if they didn't fall the rebounds were eaten up on the offensive glass by Blair and Young.

Defense --> B-
The Panthers' defense played mediocre allowing the Bulls to shoot 47%, while the Bulls as a team shot 41% from the field per game before Wednesday. Augustus Gilchrist, yes I said AUGUSTUS GILCHRIST, killed us. Mainly the first half, he made mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper. But other than Gilchrist, Pitt's defense played well, contesting every shot.

Jamie Dixon --> A-
Dixon did a very good job of substituting with Sam Young and Jermaine Dixon getting into foul trouble early in the second half. But calling the timeouts after Pitt made some baskets trying to get on a run in the second half was questionable. The use of only seven players was proof that South Florida was no team to take it easy on.

Crowd/Fans --> B
The crowd was pretty impressive considering how bad the weather was outside. But still the Oakland Zoo and the crowd that was there did not show the enthusiasm needed to have a distinct home court advantage in the Big East.

Starters:

LeVance Fields --> A+
Fields had a perfect game. He managed the team exceptionally well and as usual and he had a ridiculous assist to turnover ratio (13-1). Those 13 assists were his career high. LeVance hit key shots, including one at the end of first half to keep the lead for Pitt and at the beginning of the second half to extend the Panthers lead.

Jermaine Dixon --> C
Dixon did a decent job on Dominique Jones, who is the Bulls leading scorer with 17 points per game, in the first half. But during the second half he couldn't stay in front of Jones without fouling. As a result he was in early foul trouble and earned himself a quick trip to the bench. On offense he was solid, cutting to the basket and taking a small amount of threes.

Sam Young --> B-
Young had a mediocre game and still put up double digit points (14). Young was on fire from beyond the arc, hitting 3 of 6 attempts. But as far as his offensive within the three point line, there was none to be found. Young hit only 1-8 two point field goals, and most of those shots were him trying to force the issue. Sam just needs to let the game come to him and he will have even more success.

Tyrell Biggs --> A-
Biggs played an almost perfect game. He was 7-10 from the field and kept the Panthers in the lead during the first half. Tyrell's jump shot was on, along with his cuts and offensive rebounding. His offensive game was flawless, but on defense he was a little suspect, giving Augustus Gilchrist open shots, allowing him to score 22 points.

DeJuan Blair --> A
Blair played BIG again in the paint, ripping down 18 rebounds including 9 offensive boards. Even if Pitt doesn't play through him in their offensive sets, Blair still can create his offense with his offensive rebounds. DeJuan finished with 13 points, all from in the paint.

Bench:

Gilbert Brown --> B
Brown had a solid game. He played good defense as usual, but on offense he struggled with his confidence to shoot the basketball. Nonetheless, he played 26 minutes which is six more minutes than he is averaging.

Brad Wannamaker --> A-
We have seen Wannamaker develop this season into one of our most consistent players night in and night out. He showed it again Wednesday night, coming through with eight big points in 26 minutes. The biggest points came from the three he hit to give the Panthers their first double digit lead of the game, and we never looked back.

Gary McGee --> C
He only played five minutes and played ok in that time. He recorded two points on a three point play in which he missed the free throw. Another time he was fouled and missed two more free throws.

Ashton Gibbs --> B
Gibbs only played three minutes to spell Fields for a little. He recorded an assist and a solid performance.

Next Game:

#1 Pitt @ #20 Louisville
Saturday January 17th, 6:00 pm
Freedom Hall

The SEC Sucks

Want to know why the SEC is a joke?

You don't let a 13-16 team win a conference tournament. Period.

Oh yeah, NOBODY PLAYS ANY DEFENSE! As you may know, Jodie Meeks of the Kentucky Wildcats put up 54 points on Tennessee last night. First of all, if what is considered the best team in your conference gives up 54 to any player, that is a sorry excuse for an elite team, let alone any team at all.

If Tennessee were any kind of good team at all, after Meeks scored 26 points in the first half, the coaching staff would have stuck a guy on him, and told him to not let the guy breathe in the second half. But no, Meeks continued to get open looks, and he continued to embarrass the Volunteers. At some point, the coaches or players need to realize that this guy is ON, and make somebody else on the team beat you. For goodness sakes, Meeks made 15 of Kentucky's 30 total field goals.

Do you think North Carolina would let this happen? Do you think Pitt would let this happen? Shit, do you think Seton Hall would let this happen?

I almost forgot to mention that I give props to Meeks. 54 points is a hell of a game, regardless of the fact it came against a pathetic defensive squad. Most in Kentucky history, now THAT is impressive.

Pitt game tonight, I don't get ESPNU, but whatev, I'll mooch off someone else's TV.

1-Year anniversary for the blog.

"Sir, the possibility of S. Florida beating Pitt tonight is approximately three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one!"

South Florida Scouting Report

South Florida Bulls(hits)

(6-9, 1-2)

Last game: W 80-58 @ DePaul

First of all, South Florida is not that good, but we need to realize that anybody can beat anyody in the Big East; actually in college basketball as a whole.

The Bulls(hits) have no players averaging more than 4.7 rebounds per game. In comparison, DeJuan Blair averages 6.1 offensive rebounds per game.

Those are some good numbers.

However they do have eight players who average between 4.7 and 3.3 rebounds per game, so our guards will have to be active on the boards.

S. Florida has two good players: Dominique Jones and Jesus Verdejo, who are both guards. However, Jones shoots 40% from the field and Verdejo shoots 41% so we know they are going to miss shots. In order for Pitt to win this one comfortably, it will have to limit these two to under 40 points combined and make the other Bulls(hits) beat it, which S. Florida is incapable of doing against an elite team such as Pitt.

Cut the Bulls(hit).

St. John's [67] @ #1 Pitt [90] - Recap

Still Undefeated. Still #1.

Some people are saying Pitt's victory yesterday was sloppy, some are saying it was dominant. Honestly it was neither, but somewhere in between.

In the first half, Pitt did not play very well and St. John's played above average basketball. The thing is, however, that when Pitt plays badly against mediocre teams like St. John's, they will still win. In this case, Pitt won the first half by five points, 41-36, thanks mostly to a few highlight dunks by Sam Young and Gilbert Brown in the last minute of the half.

Pitt started out strong in the second half, hitting a few threes and basically putting the game away right there. For the rest of the half, a St. John's guard would pass the ball directly to DeJuan Blair or Jermaine Dixon and Pitt would then score on the following possession. Pitt won and Ryan Tiesi got almost two minutes of playing time, so by and by, it was a solid win.

Grades:

Offense --> A

Pitt took quality shots the whole game and did not waste many possessions. When they missed, the rebounds were soft off the rim and the Panthers, primarily DeJuan Blair, were able to get offensive rebounds and get a lot of second chance points.

Defense --> B

Don't be fooled by St. John's shooting percentage in the first half, they were taking some difficult, contested mid range jumpers and making them. Pitt's defense forced 24 turnovers, which included 13 steals, and Pitt rarely gave up easy baskets or offensive rebounds until the game was out of hand.

Jamie Dixon --> A

Dixon did an outstanding job of substituting and managing the team, calling well timed timeouts at the end of the first half to make sure Pitt would stop St. John's from scoring on a last shot possession, and at the beginning of the second half to make sure Pitt stayed focused even though they came out firing. Dixon also got Ryan Tiesi two minutes of Big East playing time, which is obviously a great coaching move.

Crowd/Fans --> B

This was the rowdiest the Petersen has been in recent memory. Still, however, the overall intensity of the Zoo and the crowd as a whole is not where it needs to be in order for Pitt to have a dominant home court advantage as it did in the early years of the Petersen.

Starters:

LeVance Fields --> B+

Fields did an excellent job of managing the team throughout the game, knowing when to run the court and when to run sets. He hit some key shots in the first half to keep Pitt in the game and had nine assists. However, He had four turnovers and missed two foul shots in the first half that Pitt needed at the time.

Jermaine Dixon --> A+

Dixon played a perfect game. Perfect. He really needs to realize that he is going to be most valuable to the team if he slashes to the basket instead of settling for jump shots, even if they are open shots. He was 6-7 on two point field goals, and 1-5 shooting three pointers. He also played outstanding defense on the St. John's two guard and had four steals, at least three in the second half.

Sam Young --> B-

Young did not have it going offensively, at all, but he still ended up with 12 points. The best thing about his game today, is that he did not try to force anything as he sometimes does when he is not scoring, he let his teammates do the job on the offensive end. In contrast to possibly playing his worst offensive game of the season, he might have played his best defensive game of the season. DJ Kennedy was not a great factor when he was on him, and he also accumulated two blocks, coming from the weak side on guard penetration.

Tyrell Biggs --> D+

Biggs just did not have a good game today. He had a few good rebounds, but could not get into the rhythm of the game because he was in foul trouble, and he took a few bad shots. Overall, he was a non factor, which is okay against St. John's. There is still no doubt in my mind that his improvement this year will lead to Pitt's ultimate success this season.

DeJuan Blair --> A

Blair had 23 points and 15 rebounds... in 26 minutes! Of those 15 rebounds, ten were offensive boards, and he went 9-11 from the foul line. He looked like he wanted the ball more than anyone else on the court on every possession. If it were not for his countless offensive rebounds the the first half, Pitt may not have kept its composure long enough to make a push at the end of the half. Even though he has six steals (yes six!), it did not seem like he had the same intensity on the defensive end as he did cleaning the glass. Maybe this is being a little picky, but he did give up a few easy baskets to the St. John's front court.

Bench:

Gilbert Brown --> B

Brown looked like a zombie for the first couple minutes of the game, not hustling for a couple of loose balls and picking up a stupid intentional foul. He picked it up by the end of the first half, with an incredible alley-oop from a Sam Young pass that put Pitt in front by five heading into halftime. He knocked down a few open jump shots that were huge and he played okay defense on DJ Kennedy.

Brad Wanamaker --> A-

Wanamaker continues to play with great confidence, taking over at point when Fields is on the bench and penetrating effectively and knocking down shots when he needs to. He had seven points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals off the bench. The only setback to his performance today was four turnovers and a 1-3 performance from the foul line.

Ashton Gibbs --> A+

Gibbs was 2-2 from three point range in seven minutes with no turnovers. Perfect game for him.

Nasir Robinson --> A-

Robinson had an offensive rebound and put back and played solid defense for the seven minutes he was in the game, but he did have two turnovers.

Gary McGhee --> C

McGhee spelled Blair for eight minutes and played some pretty good defense, but when he was given a chance to score from in the paint, he was called for traveling and immediately taken out of the game.

TIESI!!! --> C+

St. John's put its best defensive player on Tiesi for two minutes and Tiesi did a good job of not trying to force anything.

Sean Brown --> C-

Got about seven seconds of playing time and missed one shot, should have been a foul, but if the ref would have called a foul, it would have been insane.

Note: I was really impressed by DJ Kennedy, he has no jump shot, but he is a hell of a player.

Next Game:

South Florida @ #1 Pitt

Wednesday January 14th, 7:00 pm

Petersen Events Center