I was at the game tonight in the stands. Chris covered the game obviously, but I walked into free tickets and took in the game. So first off, I want to say the atmosphere and buzz there at the beginning was cool. The Oakland Zoo was there, and they were loud at the beginning. I think the crowd sort of died down when Duke asserted control, but it was different inside the Pete for the first time in a long time, like the Stallings era and the end of the Dixon era, there weren't crowds like that. It felt like the "old days" when the Pete first opened, so that's a good sign for this program. Yea there were Duke fans, but the Pitt crowd was great.
Jay Z was obviously there to see Zion Williamson and company, he wasn't there to see Pitt. But it was a nice little bonus for the program to have a gigantic celebrity inside Pitt's building for a nationally televised game. It added a little more juice to everything for sure.
As for the players....
Xavier Johnson
This was his first game he didn't score in double figures, and there probably won't be many more games like that in his career. He's going to be a big scorer. Duke's length bothered him. He made some mistakes, but a few of his drives were quite impressive. He can get anywhere he wants on a basketball court, even against teams like Duke.
Trey McGowens
He bounced back some from the other day. The jumper wasn't there, but he had some impressive drives to the hoop. He wasn't out of place on the court athletically, he can play in these kind of games. I think it was a frustrating game for him, but he still managed to get some points.
Au'Diese Toney
Duke did a nice job of limiting the two guards, so in a perfect Coach K breakdown of this game Toney shooting 13 shots is exactly what Duke wanted and what Capel did not want. He's in a weird position from a size standpoint, and he was asked to cover Zion, which nobody can do. But he needs to finish some of his looks around the hoop going forward and if he's wide open for a 3, his shot is going to need to become more reliable, and I think it will over time.
Jared Wilson-Frame
If Pitt is going to see a lot of zone, Wilson-Frame is one of the scoring options Pitt has to counter zone. He hit a couple of three's and was able to score at times when Pitt was really needing a bucket. I think he's good off the bench, but I think Capel held on too long without him at times. If Ellison isn't going to shoot, and Toney is going to shoot poorly, Pitt needs him to hit shots and the past two games he did.
Terrell Brown
Pitt is better with him on the floor. He's better than Chukwuka, and Pitt's small lineup on Tuesday didn't do enough to show me they can play without Brown for long stretches. Obviously his issue tonight was foul trouble. Yea, he dropped some passes and got bullied around, but it's Duke, they can bully a lot of people. Again at the end of the night, if he's giving you 12 and 6 for how limited he is, Capel is going to take it.
Malik Ellison
Malik didn't play a lot, and he didn't do a lot. I don't think he's good in the middle of the zone, but Pitt doesn't seem to have an obvious answer there either.
Kene Chukwuka
He gave them minutes, but he's not a threat to score in a game like this. He's not a very good rebounder either, but again Duke is so good they can just fly over top of the Pitt guys before they know what happened. He played because of Brown's foul trouble, but if he's playing 14 minutes in a game going forward, that's not a great sign because it means Brown is in foul trouble.
Sidy N'dir
Heck, N'dir might have played the best of any Panther. He gave them good minutes, played good defense, showed some great athleticism. I mean he's exactly what you want in a guy to spell Johnson or McGowens. N'dir, like Johnson and McGowens, are very, very athletic and the only issue with that: Pitt's 3 best athletes are all 6-3 and all of Duke's best athletes are all 6-7 or taller.
Kham Davis
Once again, not much of a showing for Davis. I thought he would have built some momentum following the NC State game, but he's gone scoreless the past three games and has only attempted one shot. He needs to be able to be a threat.
Like I said last time, there's another team out there and it was a really good one. Duke was better, bigger, stronger, and faster than Pitt in almost every facet of the game. Without Jones they just become longer, and for Pitt, it created an even worse matchup even without one of Duke's best players. Jones makes Duke a better team, but no Jones makes for a very tough assignment for an undersized team.
Pitt can still win a few more games in this league, but when it goes up against the very best...The UNC's, the Duke's, the Virginia's - those teams just have an extra gear that Pitt can't get to right now. But there are still some good teams in this league that Pitt can match-up with on a given night, but the very best teams are still too far ahead right now.
Jay Z was obviously there to see Zion Williamson and company, he wasn't there to see Pitt. But it was a nice little bonus for the program to have a gigantic celebrity inside Pitt's building for a nationally televised game. It added a little more juice to everything for sure.
As for the players....
Xavier Johnson
This was his first game he didn't score in double figures, and there probably won't be many more games like that in his career. He's going to be a big scorer. Duke's length bothered him. He made some mistakes, but a few of his drives were quite impressive. He can get anywhere he wants on a basketball court, even against teams like Duke.
Trey McGowens
He bounced back some from the other day. The jumper wasn't there, but he had some impressive drives to the hoop. He wasn't out of place on the court athletically, he can play in these kind of games. I think it was a frustrating game for him, but he still managed to get some points.
Au'Diese Toney
Duke did a nice job of limiting the two guards, so in a perfect Coach K breakdown of this game Toney shooting 13 shots is exactly what Duke wanted and what Capel did not want. He's in a weird position from a size standpoint, and he was asked to cover Zion, which nobody can do. But he needs to finish some of his looks around the hoop going forward and if he's wide open for a 3, his shot is going to need to become more reliable, and I think it will over time.
Jared Wilson-Frame
If Pitt is going to see a lot of zone, Wilson-Frame is one of the scoring options Pitt has to counter zone. He hit a couple of three's and was able to score at times when Pitt was really needing a bucket. I think he's good off the bench, but I think Capel held on too long without him at times. If Ellison isn't going to shoot, and Toney is going to shoot poorly, Pitt needs him to hit shots and the past two games he did.
Terrell Brown
Pitt is better with him on the floor. He's better than Chukwuka, and Pitt's small lineup on Tuesday didn't do enough to show me they can play without Brown for long stretches. Obviously his issue tonight was foul trouble. Yea, he dropped some passes and got bullied around, but it's Duke, they can bully a lot of people. Again at the end of the night, if he's giving you 12 and 6 for how limited he is, Capel is going to take it.
Malik Ellison
Malik didn't play a lot, and he didn't do a lot. I don't think he's good in the middle of the zone, but Pitt doesn't seem to have an obvious answer there either.
Kene Chukwuka
He gave them minutes, but he's not a threat to score in a game like this. He's not a very good rebounder either, but again Duke is so good they can just fly over top of the Pitt guys before they know what happened. He played because of Brown's foul trouble, but if he's playing 14 minutes in a game going forward, that's not a great sign because it means Brown is in foul trouble.
Sidy N'dir
Heck, N'dir might have played the best of any Panther. He gave them good minutes, played good defense, showed some great athleticism. I mean he's exactly what you want in a guy to spell Johnson or McGowens. N'dir, like Johnson and McGowens, are very, very athletic and the only issue with that: Pitt's 3 best athletes are all 6-3 and all of Duke's best athletes are all 6-7 or taller.
Kham Davis
Once again, not much of a showing for Davis. I thought he would have built some momentum following the NC State game, but he's gone scoreless the past three games and has only attempted one shot. He needs to be able to be a threat.
Like I said last time, there's another team out there and it was a really good one. Duke was better, bigger, stronger, and faster than Pitt in almost every facet of the game. Without Jones they just become longer, and for Pitt, it created an even worse matchup even without one of Duke's best players. Jones makes Duke a better team, but no Jones makes for a very tough assignment for an undersized team.
Pitt can still win a few more games in this league, but when it goes up against the very best...The UNC's, the Duke's, the Virginia's - those teams just have an extra gear that Pitt can't get to right now. But there are still some good teams in this league that Pitt can match-up with on a given night, but the very best teams are still too far ahead right now.
