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
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