Simply put, Pitt didn't play very well. There haven't been too many times this year when I've been furious at their effort, but tonight was certainly one of them. I don't even have the energy to provide links and his game has really left me wondering just what Pitt will do in the tournament.
They looked apathetic in the beginning, played better in the middle, then downright stunk at the end. It seemed like when they came back and made the score close that they just expected Notre Dame to lay down and die. What a load of crap.
And someone please shut Gilbert Brown up. All the talk of wanting to play Notre Dame again looked like just that - talk. I try not to criticize college players too much, but Gil, maybe you should focus on playing defense and scoring more than three points than opening your mouth to take on all comers. They not only stunk up the joint offensively, they allowed Notre Dame to shoot over 50% from the field. Again. And even in the 2nd half when they played better defense and held ND without a field goal for seemingly an eternity, they couldn't get anything going offensively.
The disappointing part was that it wasn't hot shooting from outside this time. It was major defensive lapses on Pitt's part. There was a play around the 12:00 mark of the 2nd half that summed it up perfectly (even though it didn't result in a field goal). Dante Taylor was out on the arc covering a guard and for some reason unknown to me, left him to cover another player leaving him wide open. The guard was so stunned to find himself open, he stepped up and promptly airballed (or wildly missed - can't remember which) a three-pointer - probably because he couldn't believe what just transpired.
The end was no 'walk in the cake' either as Wanamaker missed a layup and got a second chance on a tie up. Little did they know it would do them absolutely no good as they (can't remember who took this shot) would miss a wild layup attempt.
Now, the optimist will chalk this up and say it doesn't matter or say, 'well, they were just rusty.' That's fine, but the problem is they're now off for at least six more days. You can talk all you want about the 'disadvantage' of going deep into the Big East tournament, but at least you're less likely to be rusty if you do that.
For their sake, they better hope they don't play like this in the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, it will be a long night for them against a 13 or 14 seed.
Lee,
ReplyDeleteThis team is very well coached but unless they play great defense and rebound they are in trouble because they have a hard time scoring points.
Their inside game is horrible, I have said it all along, McGhee is just a big body who takes up space, would you happen to know how many turn overs he has this year?
He seems to miss a ton of easy baskets or he seems to either miss or fumble a lot of passes to him in the low post.
What is up with Gilbert Brown he is MIA every other game, no consistency what-so-ever.
They are a gritty team but that alone will not win you games, they will be a low 4 or high 5 seed in the NCAA's and yes I agree if they don't get their act together it could be one and done.
Agreed - I said in a Q&A with another Big East blog (can't remember which) that asked about the best way to beat Pitt. If you can beat them on the glass, the battle is half won. Pitt can still win when losing the rebounding battle, but they have to play well offensively. While they are capable of doing that, there are times when they don't. And when that happens, it's imperative they crush the other team on the boards. They had a +6 advantage against ND, but that's not enough to overcome scoring 45 points.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you said, while McGhee has improved, he's far from a strong offensive force. He makes baskets when wide open and has improved his defense greatly. But he has no go to move offensively and is horrible with his back to the basket.
All year I've been thinking Pitt could count on Gil to be their go to scorer next year. But he's too inconsistent for me to keep believing that. He's such an enigma because it's not like his points come easy. He beats guys off the dribble and when he has a good game, can look like a great player at times.