Okay, I have two games to talk about before Pitt plays Indiana tonight.
Last Tuesday, Pitt was outclassed in every way against San Diego State. They turned the ball over 17 (to 9 for SDSU) and shot a measly 37.7% while allowing the Aztecs to shoot an incredible 58.7%. That makes the 3rd game in row that Pitt allowed an opponent to shoot above 50%, which is just awful. They were lucky that Chaminade is such an awful rebounding team or they might have lost that one too. Thankfully Kansas State ended the streak, but more on that one in a minute.
The long bright spot was James Robinson, who had a game 17 points. Unfortunately, he supplemented that with a career-high 17 turnovers.
Pitt led 2-0 on a jumper by Young. San Diego State tied it on the ensuing possession, Robinson missed a layup, San Diego State scored again, and the Panthers never got any closer the rest of the game.
When Pitt was an underdog against highly ranked teams in the Big East (namely Syracuse and UConn), you knew Pitt always had a chance because of familiarity. Dixon had seen them enough times to counter-act the talent disparity. Pitt frequently fails when playing a high-level non-conference opponent (in the regular season or tournament). The game against San Diego State reminded me a lot of the game against Florida in the tournament last year. Florida was so much bigger, faster, and stronger than Pitt that it seemed like they were playing two different games. San Diego State was the same way. Now, UConn won the national championship last year and beat Florida along the way. Pitt lost to Florida by 16 in the round of 32 and Florida was average in that game. If the brackets were switched, and Pitt ended up playing UConn in the round of 32, the outcome would be much different. Pitt still probably would have lost because they are Pitt, but it would have been closer than 16 points. Why? Because Pitt had played UConn the past three years as members of the Big East. Dixon would have three years of game type to figure out how to stop Shabazz Napier. Granted, Napier took his game to another level that year, but Dixon has shut down high-scoring UConn guards before.
What is the point of this rant?
The point is that Pitt needs to continue to schedule tougher non-conference games like this one. Yes, it was part of a tournament, but BYU would have tested Pitt as well had they won earlier. Getting more exposure to talented teams outside of your conference prepares a team to face different styles in March. The move to the ACC was a great thing for Pitt. They mastered the Big East, and now it's time to expand.
Last Wednesday, Pitt destroyed Kansas State. A three point game at the half, Pitt dominated the Wildcats in the second half to finish 3rd at Maui. Every Panther scored except Randall (of course) and walk-on Aron Phillips-Nwankwo. Joshua Ko hit a buzzer-beating three to score in his home state. The star of the game was Ryan Luther, who was excellent defensively while also scoring 13 points on 5-7 shooting. He has improved by leaps and bounds in the four months he's been with Pitt. He played 24 minutes and I'd like to see his minutes stay in the 20-25 range the rest of the season. The kid will be good.
Pitt plays Indiana tonight in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Jamie Dixon faces off against his old Big East nemesis Tom Crean. Tom Crean recruited, coached, and is still friends with Dwyane Wade. I hate Dwyane Wade so I hate Tom Crean.
Hail to Pitt,
J.O.
No comments :
Post a Comment