Maia and S.Smith

[gary2]

played 9 and 13 minutes tonight. These guys are two of our better defenders and rebounders and were sorely missed tonight.

Maia and Smith were good enough to play 32 and 28 against Geo.Tech and 22 and 26 against N.D. - Why did they play so little tonight?

Clearly, playing them so little did nothing to help.

I really hope Jamie does not fall back into playing small. Maia and Smith belong on the floor. They provide defense, rebounding, patience and stability, attributes that Pitt definitely lacked in tonight's game.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

As I posted in another thread, tonight Maia played 9 minutes, 0 points, 0 shots, 1 offensive rebound, 0 defensive rebounds, 0 assists, 1 turnover, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 3 fouls. In short, he stunk. Much like everyone else.

 

[gary2]

As I posted in another thread, tonight Maia played 9 minutes, 0 points, 0 shots, 1 offensive rebound, 0 defensive rebounds, 0 assists, 1 turnover, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 3 fouls. In short, he stunk. Much like everyone else.

Maia is not in the game to score. Stats are not everything, He does the little things well. He bodies people up, forces them to shot contested shots. He gets deflections, forces bad passes, boxes out, etc.

We got pounded on the boards and gave up a lot of largely uncontested interior scoring.

Maia played 9 minutes. He played 32 against Geo.Tech and their strong inside players with good results, (played 22 vs ND and 2 decent interior players as well) I would have liked to see him get the same chance tonight.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Maia is not in the game to score. Stats are not everything, He does the little things well. He bodies people up, forces them to shot contested shots. He gets deflections, forces bad passes, boxes out, etc.

He did nothing well tonight. Literally, nothing. Pitt was -11 in his 9 minutes played. That works out to a 49 point loss over 40 minutes. In the minutes he did not play we were on an 8 point loss over 40 minute pace. The only way you could think that he did anything at all tonight to deserve more playing time is if you weren't paying attention. Let's also not forget that in those 9 minutes he played he committed 3 fouls. All more playing time was going to do was get him fouled out.

He was in over his head tonight. Bad day at the office, much like pretty much everyone else.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Maia is in for defense and rebounding.
He failed significantly at both jobs tonight.

 

[PittPoker]

Maia is in for defense and rebounding.
He failed significantly at both jobs tonight.

They ALL failed at everything.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

They ALL failed at everything.

Well, yeah...
But the topic is on those two players.

 

[PittPoker]

Well, yeah...
But the topic is on those two players.

Do you think Ano should be used more? We need a BIG underneath and although he is nothing special, he can at least be disruptive underneath, agree? Also don't you think Sterling should be on the bench more? He won't even shoot the ball anymore.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Do you think Ano should be used more? We need a BIG underneath and although he is nothing special, he can at least be disruptive underneath, agree? Also don't you think Sterling should be on the bench more? He won't even shoot the ball anymore.

Ano can't play 2 possessions without fouling too often.

And yes, I'd start Damon at the two.