Notre Dame opens as 4-point favorite
- Thread starter UPitt '89
- Start date
I am not surprised. ND is very tough at home and we have not played a true road game.
In this case better to be an underdog than an undeserving favorite.
In this case better to be an underdog than an undeserving favorite.
Sagarin's computer has ND by a point or two with average home court advantage figured--so 4 might be a little high except that it is our first true road test and ND is perhaps a tougher place to play than some other schools gyms.
Sagarin's computer has Pitt by 2.5 on neutral floor. That's why I thought it would be a pickem.
I said when people were posting a couple weeks ago that Notre Dame would be an easy game that unless there was some significant change Notre Dame would be a small favorite. This stuff really isn't that hard to figure out if you pay attention. There was no chance that Pitt was going to be favored short of one or two of Notre Dame's top players getting injured or otherwise not being able to play.
I think one guy -- maybe Steel Curtin or something like that -- made it sound like this would be a fairly easy game.
5 available at multiple places if you have the availability to shop. I made the number 3.5 so it probably won't be a play for me, but purely as a fan I feel a lot better about this trip to ND than I have historically.
Pitt is absolutely the underdog. We can win the game but its on the road and ND is very good. Jackson, Vasturia, Beachem (the assassin), Colson, and Auguste. Thats a real good starting 5.
Steel curtain made a thread a couple weeks ago about how at worst we should be 8-1 or something like that over a stretch of games which included up to the Louisville game. Implying that Notre Dame shouldn't be a problem.
Where did he disappear to anyways?
The key is to get Auguste in foul trouble. Without him there will not be a need to double down and leave jump shooters to do so. Also, if he's on the bench we should be able to control the boards.
It is idiotic to double down in college basketball, especially against a 40% 3 point shooting team like ND. I would hope Pitt is not doubling Auguste. If he scores 25 shooting 2's, tip your cap.
Game plan is simple. Dont let Jackson get into the lane and hold Vasturia and Beachem to 6 or less 3s. If Beachem goes 6 for 8, that's a problem.
Playing at ND is always one of those games where if you are the visiting team, you either have to be far superior to ND in talent and they're bad or you have to shoot the ball at >50% and they have to be cold for you to win. The officiating always favors ND and they make sure that if you're beating ND by anything less than 20, they will do their very best to get ND back in the game quickly.
Well, I called that one so far. Pitt would have had to be up by 40 or more in the first half for it to be a safe lead at ND.
I'm still around. Just watching the team win.
I'm so glad I was wrong about the game today. Pitt is good enough this year to even overcome a team that just throws up shots that go in while we get garbage fouls called against us or non-calls that they don't call. We more than deserved this win the way we played in a hostile environment.
