Few positives from the Cuse game

[joeydavid]

After an abysmal first 15 minutes Pitt became more consistent at attacking the 2-3 zone. Pitt will beat Syracuse the next time because of a few things.

1. When Xavier decides to split defenders Pitt gets good to easy looks at the basket. He can do this at will- it's puzzling when he doesn't.

2. T Brown was the most effective in the high post - J Champagnie is good there too. T Brown needs to a bit more patient and aggressive there but right now he's Pitt's best option.

3. Justin was the difference from the short corners to the blocks in the second half. Toney should be good here too but he wasn't today.

4. Lastly, standing 28 feet from hoop playing catch is what killed the start. We saw less of it after the 15 minute mark but still more than im sure the coaches cared to see.

This isn't high level stuff. You have 1 second to decide to shoot, drive or pass against a zone. When Pitt did that- they craved up the 2-3.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

2. T Brown was the most effective in the high post - J Champagnie is good there too. T Brown needs to a bit more patient and aggressive there but right now he's Pitt's best option.

There were a couple times that I thought if Brown could have waited just a second longer when he had the ball in the high post that he'd have had Champagnie wide open on the baseline for a dunk. But maybe that's asking too much of a guy who just isn't used to having the ball in his hands at that area on the court.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

There were a couple times that I thought if Brown could have waited just a second longer when he had the ball in the high post that he'd have had Champagnie wide open on the baseline for a dunk. But maybe that's asking too much of a guy who just isn't used to having the ball in his hands at that area on the court.

Hoping next season one of the new bigs proves talented enough to play the low blocks well because Brown will be more offensively effective mostly playing forward shooting short to medium range jumpers—and not just vs zone defenses.

 

[joeydavid]

There were a couple times that I thought if Brown could have waited just a second longer when he had the ball in the high post that he'd have had Champagnie wide open on the baseline for a dunk. But maybe that's asking too much of a guy who just isn't used to having the ball in his hands at that area on the court.

No doubt. He played well there but waiting just a beat would have opened up a couple more finishes at the rim.

 

[PittAU]

We shot 12/15 inside the paint. That’s crazy.

 

[joeydavid]

We shot 12/15 inside the paint. That’s crazy.

It really could have been 16 of 20. If not more.

 

[tps48]

After an abysmal first 15 minutes Pitt became more consistent at attacking the 2-3 zone. Pitt will beat Syracuse the next time because of a few things.

1. When Xavier decides to split defenders Pitt gets good to easy looks at the basket. He can do this at will- it's puzzling when he doesn't.

2. T Brown was the most effective in the high post - J Champagnie is good there too. T Brown needs to a bit more patient and aggressive there but right now he's Pitt's best option.

3. Justin was the difference from the short corners to the blocks in the second half. Toney should be good here too but he wasn't today.

4. Lastly, standing 28 feet from hoop playing catch is what killed the start. We saw less of it after the 15 minute mark but still more than im sure the coaches cared to see.

This isn't high level stuff. You have 1 second to decide to shoot, drive or pass against a zone. When Pitt did that- they craved up the 2-3.

Well, I'll probably get toasted for this, but here goes. Coach Capel has been great for Pitt and his recruiting, and getting the kids to play hard has been exceptional. He is going to succeed at Pitt. That said and from my untrained eye, this coaching staff has a long way to go in game planning. Trey and X have played Syracuse before so I cannot understand just the team being listless and just chucking up long threes to start the game. That start cost them the game.

 

[pittfan1313]

I’m sure they prepared for the zone in practice and on film. One thing to note is that in practice they may have been getting plenty of good looks. It doesn’t always translate that way to the game because Syracuse is really good in the zone, something that they can’t quite replicate in practice.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I’m sure they prepared for the zone in practice and on film. One thing to note is that in practice they may have been getting plenty of good looks. It doesn’t always translate that way to the game because Syracuse is really good in the zone, something that they can’t quite replicate in practice.

And a Syracuse is longer and taller in their zone. That can’t be replicated in practice with our roster barring something creative like having up top and wing defenders holding brooms overhead sort of like teams once did to prepare for Chamberlain or Kareem Jabbar’s post defensive presence.

 

[joeydavid]

Well, I'll probably get toasted for this, but here goes. Coach Capel has been great for Pitt and his recruiting, and getting the kids to play hard has been exceptional. He is going to succeed at Pitt. That said and from my untrained eye, this coaching staff has a long way to go in game planning. Trey and X have played Syracuse before so I cannot understand just the team being listless and just chucking up long threes to start the game. That start cost them the game.

I put this more on the players. In their defense- this was a quick turnaround verses a unique defense.

 

[Warchtorch]

Well, I'll probably get toasted for this, but here goes. Coach Capel has been great for Pitt and his recruiting, and getting the kids to play hard has been exceptional. He is going to succeed at Pitt. That said and from my untrained eye, this coaching staff has a long way to go in game planning. Trey and X have played Syracuse before so I cannot understand just the team being listless and just chucking up long threes to start the game. That start cost them the game.

With the lack of options, it is tough to tell if the issue is the player or lack of coaching. Our two stars are wildly inconsistent and we have zero options behind them.

 

[CCHS82]

Passes to the paint vs the zone need to be quicker AND the guy in the paint must flash quickly and present a target.

Problem yesterday was multiple. Guy was often open in the paint for a short time and our guards didn’t get it there quick enough. On the other hand, I also saw where the opposite big that was supposed to flash was too slow getting there. I even saw one time where both Brown and Penny were there at the same time and Penny actually told Brown to get out! He waved him out!

Installing a zone offense should have been occurring over the early practices in the fall, not now. Can’t just wake up and say, “Hey, we are playing Cuse this week, better put in a zone offense.” Not saying that happened but it sure looks like it.

Repetition every week whether you play against a zone team or not. I wonder if that is happening.