Pitt-Wisconsin postmortem .....

[goalieman]

1) Another tough loss where we didn't execute down the stretch.

2) One of our better overall defensive efforts this season.

3) Rebounding failed us in the 2nd half ..... Wisconsin got too many offensive rebounds.

4) Our offense was obviously poor ... we only scored 43 points ...... but think about this ..... we shoot 37.5% from the field (18-48) .... take away JRob's numbers (3-15) and the rest of the team shot 45.5 % (15-33), not terrible.

5) Seemed like a lot of coaching mistakes or at least odd decisions ..... (a) the implication was that Jamie didn't play Ryan Luther because he thought Ryan couldn't guard Happ so Maia and Ododa played 27 minutes and Luther played less then 4 minutes .... well Maia and Ododa scored ZERO points and Happ was the leading scorer and rebounder for Wisconsin with those two in the game ..... on the other hand, Luther was one of our better players down the stretch and scored and defended against players as good as Happ in ACC games.... head scratcher....... (b) As DT_PITT pointed out, Jamie made no offensive/defensive substitutions down the stretch when he could and should have ..... (c) JRob took ~ half our shots in the last 5+ minutes even though he could not hit the ocean off the Steel Pier.

6) I was wondering if any of our assistant coaches ....(a) suggested to Jamie in practices before the game that not playing Luther might be a defective strategy ..... (b) suggested to Jamie during the game that Maia and Ododa were offering no offense and that Happ was the leading scorer for Wisconsin and maybe he should give Luther a chance ..... (c) suggested some offensive/defensive substitutions to Jamie ..... (c) suggested some plays on offense to get shots for Young/Artis/Jeter/Jones who as a group were shooting 50% (14-28) and keep JRob in the role as an assist man instead of a shooter especially down the stretch........ If the assistants didn't make some of those suggestions then that says something about them .... if they did, it says something about Jamie.

7) Winnable game that we lost ..... yes, the players overall didn't execute quite well enough to win but IMO the coaches didn't coach well enough either ..... we need to see improvement from everyone in the program starting now if we expect to improve next season!

 

[maxxwell]

# 3. As I was watching the game that was the thing that stuck out to me. We dominated the boards in the first half and it felt like they dominated the second half.

 

[pierre93]

Wisconsin was in the bonus with 15 mins left which was absurd.

 

[oldpantherfan]

Wisconsin was in the bonus with 15 mins left which was absurd.

Thank you. That is unheard of. I don't care what anyone thinks someone please tell me when they ever played, coached, or watched a game when a team was in the bonus with less then 5 minutes played. Dixon can't coach and team can't play d against that. That equates to every time they came down the court a foul was called. That was ridiculous officiating. That is the game in a nut shell. On the last play Robinson bumped into young but he was bodied by hall with no call. Jeter got called twice for a foul with his hands up. Including once on Hayes when he had no where to go and 2 seconds left.

 

[pierre93]

Thank you. That is unheard of. I don't care what anyone thinks someone please tell me when they ever played, coached, or watched a game when a team was in the bonus with less then 5 minutes played. Dixon can't coach and team can't play d against that. That equates to every time they came down the court a foul was called. That was ridiculous officiating. That is the game in a nut shell. On the last play Robinson bumped into young but he was bodied by hall with no call. Jeter got called twice for a foul with his hands up. Including once on Hayes when he had no where to go and 2 seconds left.

Robinson got hammered...no call. Refs totally took PITT out of their game 2nd half. This gets way overlooked!

 

[gary2]

# 3. As I was watching the game that was the thing that stuck out to me. We dominated the boards in the first half and it felt like they dominated the second half.

Maia did not play after 2 early (and stupid fouls). I believe Jamie would have left him in if not for those fouls.

1 - An attempted steal (initially looked good to me - certainly no more contact than the contact that caused Young's turnover late in the game)

2 - Attempt at a post move called an offensive foul (No need for that there)

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Robinson got hammered...no call. Refs totally took PITT out of their game 2nd half. This gets way overlooked!

Why because they don't like PITT??
How ridiculous but this is said everytime we lose.
Had we won nothing would be said.
The loyalists are grasping at straws!
PITT lost! Both teams were terrible but PITT was worse!
Remember teams have to adjust to the officiating and Wisconsin did that PITT didn't!
fyi- That's one reason teams have coaches to help them adjust to conditions as the game moves along.
Actually on Friday I heard that said twice by announcers. The announcers said the coaching staffs aren't adjusting to the officiating.

 

[pierre93]

Why because they don't like PITT??
How ridiculous but this is said everytime we lose.
Had we won nothing would be said.
The loyalists are grasping at straws!
PITT lost! Both teams were terrible but PITT was worse!
Remember teams have to adjust to the officiating and Wisconsin did that PITT didn't!
fyi- That's one reason teams have coaches to help them adjust to conditions as the game moves along.
Actually on Friday I heard that said twice by announcers. The announcers said the coaching staffs aren't adjusting to the officiating.

Grasping? No, just stating the facts about the officiating. One posession PITT was called for 4 fouls.....get lost

 

[CCHS82]

Grasping? No, just stating the facts about the officiating. One posession PITT was called for 4 fouls.....get lost

Jamie constantly yelling at the refs doesn't help either. If he wasn't our coach and we didn't know what a good dude he was, what would we think of him and his sideline antics?

 

[pierre93]

How many times has Pitt been the beneficiary of calls for the

Jamie constantly yelling at the refs doesn't help either. If he wasn't our coach and we didn't know what a good dude he was, what would we think of him and his sideline antics?

I'm stating facts about the game. I've sat close to Pitt's bench several times and he is yelling out instructions.

 

[Piranha]

Playing ANO that many minutes lost the game. Bottom line. The guy is not a good rebounder or post defender, and you are playing 4 against 5 on offense with him in the game. He does one thing well - block shots as a weak side defender, but that does not warrant that many mins. Not only is he not good, but it throws off the team chemistry on offense in particular. We should have and would have had a bigger cushion in the first half and second as well, and would have won the game if not for Dixon's mistake of playing ANO, so many minutes.

 

[gary2]

Playing ANO that many minutes lost the game. Bottom line. The guy is not a good rebounder or post defender, and you are playing 4 against 5 on offense with him in the game. He does one thing well - block shots as a weak side defender, but that does not warrant that many mins. Not only is he not good, but it throws off the team chemistry on offense in particular. We should have and would have had a bigger cushion in the first half and second as well, and would have won the game if not for Dixon's mistake of playing ANO, so many minutes.

Totally agree - If Dixon was not going to play Luther, who might have provided some points and offensive rebounding, he should have put Maia back in for defense and rebounding.

ANO is exactly as you describe him

I have to believe that Luther at the five would have created huge matchup problems for Wisconsin on defense, right?

 

[pierre93]

Playing ANO that many minutes lost the game. Bottom line. The guy is not a good rebounder or post defender, and you are playing 4 against 5 on offense with him in the game. He does one thing well - block shots as a weak side defender, but that does not warrant that many mins. Not only is he not good, but it throws off the team chemistry on offense in particular. We should have and would have had a bigger cushion in the first half and second as well, and would have won the game if not for Dixon's mistake of playing ANO, so many minutes.

Agree to disagree it's fine we all have our opinions. I just hope that Pitt can find a happy medium to all this.

 

[CCHS82]

How many times has Pitt been the beneficiary of calls for the

I'm stating facts about the game. I've sat close to Pitt's bench several times and he is yelling out instructions.

A little micro-managing perhaps? His players have been playing like he coaches, with a tightly wound *ss.

What is disappointing is that Jamie has gotten worse over the last few years with his antics IMHO. A veteran coach like him should be feeling more comfortable, not less with the experience. Yes, this is my observation and opinion but is also backed by several national polls over the last few years regarding coach's demeanors.

Jamie has not handled losing very well and the arrow is pointing the wrong way, He needs to somehow get a hold of things, make a few changes. This is why I have been pushing for a veteran bench coach to sit beside him. I don't care how old Jamie is and how many years experience he has. He needs some help.

 

[Piranha]

A little micro-managing perhaps? His players have been playing like he coaches, with a tightly wound *ss.

You are 100% correct.

 

[pierre93]

A little micro-managing perhaps? His players have been playing like he coaches, with a tightly wound *ss.

lol, some of you have those after reading your posts.

 

[CCHS82]

lol, some of you have those after reading your posts.

See my edit above.

 

[NC Panther]

Robinson got hammered...no call. Refs totally took PITT out of their game 2nd half. This gets way overlooked!

No way...they swallowed the whistle for the most part all game and made the correct no-call on Robinson's last play.

 

[goalieman]

Playing ANO that many minutes lost the game. Bottom line. The guy is not a good rebounder or post defender, and you are playing 4 against 5 on offense with him in the game. He does one thing well - block shots as a weak side defender, but that does not warrant that many mins. Not only is he not good, but it throws off the team chemistry on offense in particular. We should have and would have had a bigger cushion in the first half and second as well, and would have won the game if not for Dixon's mistake of playing ANO, so many minutes.

Playing Ododa and Maia so many minutes and Luther so few was the strategy that didn't make sense to me ..... the reason given was that Luther couldn't guard Happ even though Luther is our best post defender (Jamie's words) and he defended players in the ACC who were as good as Happ successfully ...... Luther also is much better offensively then Ododa or Maia ..... Ododa didn't really show much at either end of the court all year ..... head scratcher and what appears to be a miscalculation by the staff.

 

[CCHS82]

lol, some of you have those after reading your posts.

Let me add this. I think that Jamie has become Charlie Brown's teacher. Its white noise to these kids and to some fans too. Aren't you a little tired of hearing about rebounding and defense OVER AND OVER again? I think that the kids might be too.

Everyone wants to blame the kids for not being mentally tough but how about giving them a little space too? If us "older" fans get tired of hearing the same stuff over and over, perhaps they do too and they get to hear it every day. Would you like your boss beating your ear day after day on the same thing?

For those that say every coach is the same and the kids need to respond, that might be true. In that case, perhaps Jamie recruited the wrong type of player with the wrong type of attitude.

IMHO, Jamie needs to change, to grow, to adapt. I think that his stubbornness and inability to adapt has contributed mightily to this downward trend with the program. I think that he is a control freak and wants to run everything. He needs to relax a little, for his health and for the health of the program.

 

[pierre93]

See my edit above.

It's cool and agree.

 

[goalieman]

A little micro-managing perhaps? His players have been playing like he coaches, with a tightly wound *ss.

What is disappointing is that Jamie has gotten worse over the last few years with his antics IMHO. A veteran coach like him should be feeling more comfortable, not less with the experience. Yes, this is my observation and opinion but is also backed by several national polls over the last few years regarding coach's demeanors.

Jamie has not handled losing very well and the arrow is pointing the wrong way, He needs to somehow get a hold of things, make a few changes. This is why I have been pushing for a veteran bench coach to sit beside him. I don't care how old Jamie is and how many years experience he has. He needs some help.

Agree with you that a veteran respected top assistant would likely help ..... we were better when we had top assistants like Lombardi, Herrion, Rice on the bench next to Jamie ....... not just Jamie, but no head coach can do it all, they all need to have a lot of help .... the better the assistants, the better the help.