Pitt is susceptible

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

Come on man… They were picked 14th out of 15 teams in the preseason poll. They are playing with house money! Relax and enjoy it

 

[upj87]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

Shingles doesn't care...

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

I don’t understand this post. We have spent 4 years watching a team devoid of any talent relying on “easy, close to the basket shots” and now that we DO have talent on the team that makes shots you want them to get the ball inside to guys who aren’t as talented? It’s very odd.

This team isn’t gonna win the NCAA tournament but looks bound to make the NCAA if they avoid even a small collapse so why not enjoy the ride? There’s enough shot making to make a slight run in both ACC and NCAA tournaments. We don’t know if we’ll get another team like this for another 7 years. Picking apart their warts at THIS part of the season is odd.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I don’t understand this post. We have spent 4 years watching a team devoid of any talent relying on “easy, close to the basket shots” and now that we DO have talent on the team that makes shots you want them to get the ball inside to guys who aren’t as talented? It’s very odd.

This team isn’t gonna win the NCAA tournament but looks bound to make the NCAA if they avoid even a small collapse so why not enjoy the ride? There’s enough shot making to make a slight run in both ACC and NCAA tournaments. We don’t know if we’ll get another team like this for another 7 years. Picking apart their warts at THIS part of the season is odd.

What if all our shooters are hot at the same time? Final 4 baby!

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

What if all our shooters are hot at the same time? Final 4 baby!

It’s nice to dream… would be a fun ride

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

Yeah conference losses should not be a quad 4 loss. That’s a flaw. I’ve been saying it all year. Alabama St. has one of the worst athletic programs in D1. Louisville should not be considered the same type of opponent as them. Ever. And louisville hung with plenty of good teams like Clemson, etc.

 

[pittjas]

Aren’t basically all teams susceptible?

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Aren’t basically all teams susceptible?

Yeah but Pitt is double secret susceptible, like SMF’s imaginary suspension of Hugley.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don’t understand this post. We have spent 4 years watching a team devoid of any talent relying on “easy, close to the basket shots” and now that we DO have talent on the team that makes shots you want them to get the ball inside to guys who aren’t as talented? It’s very odd.

This team isn’t gonna win the NCAA tournament but looks bound to make the NCAA if they avoid even a small collapse so why not enjoy the ride? There’s enough shot making to make a slight run in both ACC and NCAA tournaments. We don’t know if we’ll get another team like this for another 7 years. Picking apart their warts at THIS part of the season is odd.

I'm not trying to pick apart their warts. I like this team and appreciate the way they are playing. I also am not asking for them to get the ball inside. I am simply saying as we continue our NCAAT push, our style of play leaves us susceptible to lose one of these Q4 games. Now, is that Earth-shattering info for a bubble team? No. Perhaps it was too obvious to even warrant a post. Just saying that our shooting cant take a night off. If we go 5-0 vs FSU, FSU, Lou, BC, GT, there's probably like a 95% chance we make the NCAAT as we'll have no Q4 losses which other bubble teams will have and we'd only need to win 2 or 3 vs Wake, Miami, Miami, UNC, VT, Syr, ND

 

[PHPanther]

What if all our shooters are hot at the same time? Final 4 baby!

Stranger things have happened. We’ve seen teams that have a dominant big man get bounced from the tourney early because they can’t shoot and their big man got in foul trouble. In fact, we’ve seen highly seeded Pitt teams do just that. Give me a team that can shoot, make free throws and I’ll take my chances any day of the week.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Stranger things have happened. We’ve seen teams that have a dominant big man get bounced from the tourney early because they can’t shoot and their big man got in foul trouble. In fact, we’ve seen highly seeded Pitt teams do just that. Give me a team that can shoot, make free throws and I’ll take my chances any day of the week.

If Pitt or any team shoots the lights out in the NCAAT, they can go a long way.

 

[rockypanther]

I'm not trying to pick apart their warts. I like this team and appreciate the way they are playing. I also am not asking for them to get the ball inside. I am simply saying as we continue our NCAAT push, our style of play leaves us susceptible to lose one of these Q4 games. Now, is that Earth-shattering info for a bubble team? No. Perhaps it was too obvious to even warrant a post. Just saying that our shooting cant take a night off. If we go 5-0 vs FSU, FSU, Lou, BC, GT, there's probably like a 95% chance we make the NCAAT as we'll have no Q4 losses which other bubble teams will have and we'd only need to win 2 or 3 vs Wake, Miami, Miami, UNC, VT, Syr, ND

I see where you are going with this and I worry about what happens when we have an off shooting night.

But I still think we can overcome that against quad 4 teams. Against better teams I think our lack of rebounding and high turnover rate will be a big problem if we aren’t hitting our 3’s. But I also think there are some players on this team that haven’t hit their ceiling yet. I would go as far to say if Nike continues playing like this he may become 1B to Burton as our best and most valauable player come tourney time. Honestly, he may already be that as of the last few games. With his ability to drive the lane and finish and Burton with his mid range I think that can withstand a bad shooting night. I don’t worry about not having post play because nobody really does anymore.

 

[Upg bobcat]

Clearly, this team's strength is shooting. There are some relatively serious weaknesses with big man game and rebounding. We aren't bad, however, defensively, and we aren't bad at penetrating and trying to get to the basket.

We certainly are not as good as Jamie's best teams in terms of defense, but we are okay -- it seems we are much improved from Capel's other Pitt teams. Same thing with dribble driving to the hoop ... maybe we aren't as good as Capel's teams led by Xavier Johnson of Femi at getting to the hoop, but we aren't bad which could help save us on an off shooting night.

But to the point of losing to any ACC team on any given night, yeah there is definitely a possibility. Especially with the fear of a mid season collapse that has happened like a broken record during recent seasons. Knock on wood that it's not coming this year!

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Of course we're susceptible; we're not that good. I think everybody knows that. And the Jaguars probably won't win it all.

It's been an entertaining season, aided in part by the fact that teams across the board just aren't as good as they used to be, but we're obviously a few pieces away from being a serious threat of any sort.

 

[PHPanther]

If Pitt or any team shoots the lights out in the NCAAT, they can go a long way.

Absolutely. Take the game against UL the other night. A traditional Pitt team would have grinded out a win, maybe suffocated UL with D and won by 8-9 with the game never in doubt. In the tournament it would only take one guy to go off and we would lose because we couldn’t match the scoring. This years team has the potential/ability to be the team that smacks a team in their mouth, as they did with UL, by hitting 7 straight 3 pointers, extending the lead and do some of the things teams have done to us in the past. This team excited me.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

Guys. Do we have to reference Jamie Dixon in every thread? It's nauseating.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

Guys. Do we have to reference Jamie Dixon in every thread? It's nauseating.

Then the references to Dixon 1 v Dixon 2 as if he had two different tenures. Next we’ll hear about the conference within the conference that isn’t a confefence.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Absolutely. Take the game against UL the other night. A traditional Pitt team would have grinded out a win, maybe suffocated UL with D and won by 8-9 with the game never in doubt. In the tournament it would only take one guy to go off and we would lose because we couldn’t match the scoring. This years team has the potential/ability to be the team that smacks a team in their mouth, as they did with UL, by hitting 7 straight 3 pointers, extending the lead and do some of the things teams have done to us in the past. This team excited me.

That seems like a stretch. The Howland/Dixon teams pummeled a lot of teams into submission, too. They didn't only win every game by 10 or less.

 

[Pitt2006]

Whereas this team has exceeded my expectations already and also feel they are playing with house money should they make the tourney, I feel they have enough players to not have a bad night against FSU, BC, GT, and UL. If burton is off, then Nike, then Cummings, etc. None of those teams are good enough to stop everyone barring injury. Conversely, Pitt is that team we dreaded playing in the tourney. Not great, but capable of upsetting you if they got lucky. I can see a first round loss, or making it out of the first weekend. Neither would shock me at this point.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

I do not understand how you can say this Pitt team isn't great defensively. From what I've seen in most games, they are pretty darned good defensively. And that's where the offense and scoring starts. It's all about wanting to play defense and effort, and these kids want to play defense, take pride in it and they put forth the effort. Sure, there could be a few stumbles along the way, and probably will be some head-scratcher losses. But for once in at least 6 years, enjoy watching some pretty good basketball from this Pitt team. There is no guarantee this is going to last very long or into next year. Enjoy the ride while you can.

 

[Pitt2006]

I do not understand how you can say this Pitt team isn't great defensively. From what I've seen in most games, they are pretty darned good defensively. And that's where the offense and scoring starts. It's all about wanting to play defense and effort, and these kids want to play defense, take pride in it and they put forth the effort. Sure, there could be a few stumbles along the way, and probably will be some head-scratcher losses. But for once in at least 6 years, enjoy watching some pretty good basketball from this Pitt team. There is no guarantee this is going to last very long or into next year. Enjoy the ride while you can.

This could be the highest seeded Pitt team in 10 plus years. We focus on the recent disaster but they would only need an 8 or higher to match the 2013 team. After the last number 1 seed in 2011, they sort of fell off the cliff and never fully recovered. Im happy for the coaches and players and excited again as a fan.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

This could be the highest seeded Pitt team in 10 plus years. We focus on the recent disaster but they would only need an 8 or higher to match the 2013 team. After the last number 1 seed in 2011, they sort of fell off the cliff and never fully recovered. Im happy for the coaches and players and excited again as a fan.

We have a long way to go before we're even seeded let alone saying we could be an 8 seed or whatever. As long as we get in, it's something to appreciate. I really didn't expect much more than NIT this year. And that could still be the case by March. But it sure is nice to even be this optimistic in late January, considering how horrible the last 5 seasons have been.

 

[PHPanther]

That seems like a stretch. The Howland/Dixon teams pummeled a lot of teams into submission, too. They didn't only win every game by 10 or less.

Maybe putting a point total on it was stretching in a bit. The point remains we have shooters that can shoot us to victory quickly not saying that will happen but the potential exists.

 

[303vND]

It’s nice to dream… would be a fun ride

Living here in Houston - I would LOVE IT!!

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Yes. They are playing with house money now. We fans should still be minimally satisfied if they have an overall Ws vs Ls winning season since that hasn't happened in what? Six years? Anything better than the ~17 wins that outcome requires is pure gravy!

The 4-5 guards/wings are skilled enough that it is doubtful all would have an off shooting game simultaneously. We shouldn't worry about that possibility very much because this group is not dependent on only 1, 2 or 3 guys to be successful. As long as 1-2 of the 4-5 are hot we will be okay in most games.

Yes, defensive rebounding could improve if there would be more and better boxing out executed---I am sure the coaches see that as an area for improvement.

 

[sonofabit]

If Pitt or any team shoots the lights out in the NCAAT, they can go a long way.

Right. Proven already that this team can play away from the Pete. Foreign rims seem perceptually friendlier than the Pete’s. Or is it just the style and intensity on the road. Should be an advantage if the tourney comes acalling.

 

[HOF Coach]

Shingles doesn't care...

Neither does Honey Badger...

 

[Ski11585]

100% of college basketball teams are susceptible to losing if they shoot like garbage. Not sure what's novel about that insight.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

100% of college basketball teams are susceptible to losing if they shoot like garbage. Not sure what's novel about that insight.

Rutgers shot 2-17 from three last night at MSU. Guess what. They lost by 15. It happens.

 

[Wanstash21]

I don’t understand this post. We have spent 4 years watching a team devoid of any talent relying on “easy, close to the basket shots” and now that we DO have talent on the team that makes shots you want them to get the ball inside to guys who aren’t as talented? It’s very odd.

This team isn’t gonna win the NCAA tournament but looks bound to make the NCAA if they avoid even a small collapse so why not enjoy the ride? There’s enough shot making to make a slight run in both ACC and NCAA tournaments. We don’t know if we’ll get another team like this for another 7 years. Picking apart their warts at THIS part of the season is odd.

I said this the other day.. I'd rather us keeping firing from deep than get into the paint. Sure, we can be awfully streaky, but if we get to March and it's clicking? Well, the upside is really high.

Dixon had some really good teams, but IMO was sort of capped with the play style. I don't think you can muck up games the whole way to an NCAAT Final 4 or Title. You need guys who can flat out score ... and when Pitt is on, they can flat out score it. If this team is clicking, they can score with anyone.

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

Oddly enough, isn't Burton our best (and only?) real option in the paint? Hinson is disinterested and Fede, well, he tries.

 

[rockypanther]

Absolutely. Take the game against UL the other night. A traditional Pitt team would have grinded out a win, maybe suffocated UL with D and won by 8-9 with the game never in doubt. In the tournament it would only take one guy to go off and we would lose because we couldn’t match the scoring. This years team has the potential/ability to be the team that smacks a team in their mouth, as they did with UL, by hitting 7 straight 3 pointers, extending the lead and do some of the things teams have done to us in the past. This team excited me.

Disagree with one thing. Every Pitt team with the exception of Stallings 0-18 team, would be Louisville even playing poorly. They were bad.

 

[rockypanther]

Oddly enough, isn't Burton our best (and only?) real option in the paint? Hinson is disinterested and Fede, well, he tries.

It makes me think too have we ever had a team have less dunks so far in a season from forwards and center position.

 

[PHPanther]

Disagree with one thing. Every Pitt team with the exception of Stallings 0-18 team, would be Louisville even playing poorly. They were bad.

Completely agree Louisville was not a good team. Really wasn’t talking about Louisville in particular. I was more so pointing out our ability to drain (7) 3-pointers in a row.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

100% of college basketball teams are susceptible to losing if they shoot like garbage. Not sure what's novel about that insight.

A lot of them are. Not all. For example, the way Dixon's teams rebounded and defended, they werent susceptible to lose to bad teams. That's part of why he played that style. The idea is that defense/rebounding never takes a night off. I'm not going to rag on this team for its lack of rebounding or defense. The defense has improved to the point where its ok.

 

[DT_PITT]

I don’t understand this post. We have spent 4 years watching a team devoid of any talent relying on “easy, close to the basket shots” and now that we DO have talent on the team that makes shots you want them to get the ball inside to guys who aren’t as talented? It’s very odd.

This team isn’t gonna win the NCAA tournament but looks bound to make the NCAA if they avoid even a small collapse so why not enjoy the ride? There’s enough shot making to make a slight run in both ACC and NCAA tournaments. We don’t know if we’ll get another team like this for another 7 years. Picking apart their warts at THIS part of the season is odd.

Indeed!!

 

[4Mark_Marty]

A lot of them are. Not all. For example, the way Dixon's teams rebounded and defended, they werent susceptible to lose to bad teams. That's part of why he played that style. The idea is that defense/rebounding never takes a night off. I'm not going to rag on this team for its lack of rebounding or defense. The defense has improved to the point where its ok.

 

[PittMBA]

I don't think this is big news for a bubble team but this team has weaknesses which leave it susceptible to losing to really, anybody. To their credit, they've avoided bad losses this year but as we've started the Quad 4 portion of our conference schedule, we must continue to avoid these kind of losses. In fact, our games vs Lou, FSU, BC, and GT might be the most important games left on our schedule because the committee seems to put a lot of emphasis on Quad 4 losses. Now, whether GT or BC at home should really be in the same category as a game vs North Alabama is debatable but it is.

This team, as we know, is not overly talented. They aren’t great defensively, they don't rebound well, and have no inside scoring threat meaning they get very little scoring on layups/easy short range baskets. The team relies heavily on 3 pointers and mid-range jumpers, especially by Burton. In fact, if there was a metric for the reliance on 15+ foot shots, Pitt would probably be near the top. What, this means, obviously is that a bad shooting night means you can lose to anybody and a good shooting night means you can beat anyone. This isnt a team that can overcome a bad shooting night because they dominated the glass or held the team to 52 points like Jamie's old teams. Just need to keep making them.

I don’t think PItt is poor defensively and isn’t as reliant on 3 Pt shooting as it seems.

Pitt has been good on defense and didn’t shoot the 3 particularly well vs UNC and UVA and found ways to win.

For me , this is an elite FT shooting team thst has limited TOs , played solid defense — with pretty good rim protection- and has enough capable shooters to keep the floor spread out.

We look best when hitting 3s , but have capably scored when not shooting 3s well— getting to the rim, not turning the ball over , and getting to the FT line where we are outstanding.

 

[DT_PITT]

I don’t think PItt is poor defensively and isn’t as reliant on 3 Pt shooting as it seems.

Pitt has been good on defense and didn’t shoot the 3 particularly well vs UNC and UVA and found ways to win.

For me , this is an elite FT shooting team thst has limited TOs , played solid defense — with pretty good rim protection- and has enough capable shooters to keep the floor spread out.

We look best when hitting 3s , but have capably scored when not shooting 3s well— getting to the rim, not turning the ball over , and getting to the FT line where we are outstanding.

I think that your take makes lots of sense.