Pitt women lose to BC in OT

[MajorMajors]

The Pitt women basketballers had their chance today. Outscored BC by 8 in the 4th to tie it, but got clobbered in OT.

Only saw the box score. Looks like turnovers, what else, were too much to overcome. Pitt with an embarrassing 26 turnovers to BC’s 11. Malcolm and Battle each listed with 7 turnovers. Points-off -turnovers went to BC 27 to 8. Ouch!

Liatu and Jordan had good shooting stats and both scored 18.

Good to see Rust get some action - 12 min. Marley had a Marley game with 3 TOs and 5 PFs in 25 minutes.

Hang in there, Coach Verdi, better times will come with a few more better players…

Go Pitt.

 

[mike412]

Has he signed any players for 2024? The early signing period is over and I haven’t seen anything.

 

[Garyzimmer]

The Pitt women basketballers had their chance today. Outscored BC by 8 in the 4th to tie it, but got clobbered in OT.

Only saw the box score. Looks like turnovers, what else, were too much to overcome. Pitt with an embarrassing 26 turnovers to BC’s 11. Malcolm and Battle each listed with 7 turnovers. Points-off -turnovers went to BC 27 to 8. Ouch!

Liatu and Jordan had good shooting stats and both scored 18.

Good to see Rust get some action - 12 min. Marley had a Marley game with 3 TOs and 5 PFs in 25 minutes.

Hang in there, Coach Verdi, better times will come with a few more better players…

Go Pitt.

A lot of Malcolm’s turnovers were into the bigs that did not catch the ball or did not move to the ball
I really would like to see a change in his offense. The handoff thing every time down the floor does not work. Especially when no one else move’s except for the girl with the ball. Defense does not even have to move and they just jump the hand off.

 

[MajorMajors]

Has he signed any players for 2024? The early signing period is over and I haven’t seen anything.

Has he signed any players for 2024? The early signing period is over and I haven’t seen anything.

Pitt women's basketball signed two players in the Class of 2024 to National Letters of Intent during the Fall Signing period. New head coach Tory Verdi announced the signings of Audrey Biggs and Kiara Williams.

(I don’t remember the specifics about them…)

Go Pitt.

 

[MajorMajors]

Pitt women's basketball signed two players in the Class of 2024 to National Letters of Intent during the Fall Signing period. New head coach Tory Verdi announced the signings of Audrey Biggs and Kiara Williams.

(I don’t remember the specifics about them…)

Go Pitt.

Audrey Biggs | 6-0 | Guard/Forward | Catlettsburg, KY | Boyd County

Biggs, a Catlettsburg, KY native, is entering her senior season at Boyd County high school where she is a two-sport standout (basketball, volleyball). The athletic wing player had a huge sophomore season in 2021-22 as she averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 44% from the floor and earning 16th Region All-Tournament Team honors. The prolific scorer surpassed the 1,000-point plateau during her sophomore campaign.

After suffering a torn ACL during the 2022 summer, Biggs returned midway through her junior campaign last season and averaged 12.0 points and 4.9 rebounds across 13 games for Boyd County.

 

[MajorMajors]

Audrey Biggs | 6-0 | Guard/Forward | Catlettsburg, KY | Boyd County

Biggs, a Catlettsburg, KY native, is entering her senior season at Boyd County high school where she is a two-sport standout (basketball, volleyball). The athletic wing player had a huge sophomore season in 2021-22 as she averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 44% from the floor and earning 16th Region All-Tournament Team honors. The prolific scorer surpassed the 1,000-point plateau during her sophomore campaign.

After suffering a torn ACL during the 2022 summer, Biggs returned midway through her junior campaign last season and averaged 12.0 points and 4.9 rebounds across 13 games for Boyd County.

Kiara Williams | 6-0 | Forward | Palm Bay, FL | Palm Bay

Williams, a 6-0 forward, is entering her senior season at Palm Bay High School in Melbourne, FL. The physical post players is a three-time FACA All-State, First Team All-Space Coast and First Team All-Cape Coast Conference performer. As a junior, the talented player averaged 13.1 points, 8.0 rebounds (3.7 offensive rebounds per game), 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game while leading her team to a 21-9 overall record.

 

[Chescat]

Kiara Williams | 6-0 | Forward | Palm Bay, FL | Palm Bay

Williams, a 6-0 forward, is entering her senior season at Palm Bay High School in Melbourne, FL. The physical post players is a three-time FACA All-State, First Team All-Space Coast and First Team All-Cape Coast Conference performer. As a junior, the talented player averaged 13.1 points, 8.0 rebounds (3.7 offensive rebounds per game), 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game while leading her team to a 21-9 overall record.

I know nothing aout womens bball recruiting, but I do know this much:
The key isnt Pitt just getting good players, it's getting ACC level players.
I've used the A-10 as a comparison on here before. We have some decent
players who would be very competitive in the A-10. When you lose
by 50 to VT and 30 to Louisville (two ranked ACC teams, with more to
follow) you're in way over your head. Realistically Verdi is going to need
time to get ACC level players. Why would any of them sign with Pitt
given the status of the program? If the above recruit is better than what
we have, that's a step up. Liatu King is our only ACC level player, and she
was a diamond in the rough. If the portal situation handed out big bucks
and I have no idea if that happens in womens' bball, that could be a
possiility. Let's see what recruits Verdi can add to the program. Hopefully
the above mentioned ones are a good start.

 

[Chescat]

The Pitt women basketballers had their chance today. Outscored BC by 8 in the 4th to tie it, but got clobbered in OT.

Only saw the box score. Looks like turnovers, what else, were too much to overcome. Pitt with an embarrassing 26 turnovers to BC’s 11. Malcolm and Battle each listed with 7 turnovers. Points-off -turnovers went to BC 27 to 8. Ouch!

Liatu and Jordan had good shooting stats and both scored 18.

Good to see Rust get some action - 12 min. Marley had a Marley game with 3 TOs and 5 PFs in 25 minutes.

Hang in there, Coach Verdi, better times will come with a few more better players…

Go Pitt.

I watched the second half and we could have and IMO should have
won this game. You're right aout the TOs (26 is beyond awful). A few
of them at the end of regulation killed us. We even had a 1 pt lead
that we had opportunities to build on. Malcolm threw a head scratching
cross court pass that went the other way. On the other hand, she made
a couple of nice shots that got us back in it. We had the ball with 24
seconds to go with the score tied. Verdi called time out and apparently
set up a play. We came out of the time out with Battle handling the ball
out front, standing still and bouncing the ball milking the clock. What I
cant understnd was why everyone else also just stood there, no motion
or movement from any of our players. Meanwhile Battle gets stripped,
BC doesnt score and we stink the place out in OT. BC totally outplays
us in OT, 19-6.

I felt BC had more talent, but our players hung in there and fought. I still
think there's an upset somehere in these league games. BC is no VT, ND.
Louisville or other top ACC teams. Hopefully we get an ACC win somehow.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The handoff thing every time down the floor does not work.

We even had one time today when the BC defender jumped ahead of the Pitt player and literally took the hand off and went the other way for a layup.

We do that all the time, and I don't get what it accomplishes, other than sometimes it gets a player pinned to the sideline in a double team. Which, I assume, is not the goal.

I would also say that the officials today were bad. Really, really bad. Early in the game it seemed as if Pitt was actually getting the benefit of a few questionable calls. But as the game went on it surely swung the other way. For those who didn't watch, Verdi got called for a technical late in the game (BC's last two points). He just couldn't take it any more, and he let the refs have it for probably a minute or more straight before they gave him the T. Which I think says a lot, because normally the refs absolutely would not allow a coach to go on the way he did for anywhere near as long as he did before giving the coach a technical.

On several of the calls the game announcers basically said that the refs got the calls wrong. Which certainly doesn't happen often, but they were bad enough that they couldn't be ignored.

Besides turnovers, the other thing that killed Pitt was the defensive glass. BC got 19 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 22 second chance points. I think that some of the Pitt men's players look for someone to box out rather than just go get the ball too often, but the women's players are the opposite. No one ever looks for someone to box out. They just turn to the basket and stand there and wait for the ball to come to them. And sometimes it does, but when it doesn't they don't get it.

Well, that's a little unfair. King goes and gets the ball. But she's the only one. The rest of them wait for the ball to come to them. Which is why they aren't good rebounders.

And something I've mentioned before, this team is so, so bad passing the ball into the post. There were a couple times today when they actually had someone in great position in the post, had the defender on their hip, all they needed was a good pass to the right spot to get a layup (or a foul, or both). And time after time we refuse to throw the pass. But then other times we've got people who simply are not open, where you have to make an absolutely perfect pass to get them the ball, and even then they aren't going to be in good scoring position if they do get it, and we throw the pass anyway. And usually it gets picked off.

 

[BargeDog]

They have no one who can rebound; they get killed on the offensive glass; and have a lot trouble finishing underneath.
Other than L King, who's very good, but can disappear for long periods and who's a SR, they get stripped of the ball way too much

 

[Chescat]

We even had one time today when the BC defender jumped ahead of the Pitt player and literally took the hand off and went the other way for a layup.

We do that all the time, and I don't get what it accomplishes, other than sometimes it gets a player pinned to the sideline in a double team. Which, I assume, is not the goal.

I would also say that the officials today were bad. Really, really bad. Early in the game it seemed as if Pitt was actually getting the benefit of a few questionable calls. But as the game went on it surely swung the other way. For those who didn't watch, Verdi got called for a technical late in the game (BC's last two points). He just couldn't take it any more, and he let the refs have it for probably a minute or more straight before they gave him the T. Which I think says a lot, because normally the refs absolutely would not allow a coach to go on the way he did for anywhere near as long as he did before giving the coach a technical.

On several of the calls the game announcers basically said that the refs got the calls wrong. Which certainly doesn't happen often, but they were bad enough that they couldn't be ignored.

Besides turnovers, the other thing that killed Pitt was the defensive glass. BC got 19 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 22 second chance points. I think that some of the Pitt men's players look for someone to box out rather than just go get the ball too often, but the women's players are the opposite. No one ever looks for someone to box out. They just turn to the basket and stand there and wait for the ball to come to them. And sometimes it does, but when it doesn't they don't get it.

Well, that's a little unfair. King goes and gets the ball. But she's the only one. The rest of them wait for the ball to come to them. Which is why they aren't good rebounders.

And something I've mentioned before, this team is so, so bad passing the ball into the post. There were a couple times today when they actually had someone in great position in the post, had the defender on their hip, all they needed was a good pass to the right spot to get a layup (or a foul, or both). And time after time we refuse to throw the pass. But then other times we've got people who simply are not open, where you have to make an absolutely perfect pass to get them the ball, and even then they aren't going to be in good scoring position if they do get it, and we throw the pass anyway. And usually it gets picked off.

I'll only comment on our attempted passes into the post. So much
of it is just plain wrong. We telegraph the pass when our post player
has position, it often takes that split second for the D to react. Also
post players get coached to come and meet the ball as it's incoming.
Don't just stand there and wait for it. We're guilty of this over and
over, and today they were a large part of our 26 TO's.

 

[Garyzimmer]

I sat behind the bench during a game this year and I kept hearing him yelling get the ball inside they are hearing that and listening to a fault. He has no outside game. He has a shooter in Malcolm and he does not try to get her open at all with his plays. She should be taking more threes than she does. I think she took 1 three last game. Even Perkins can make some when she is on. He has to realize that a 3 point shoot is important at this level especially if you have someone who can shoot them and I have seen her make them from the logo at times when she was in high school in WPIAL championships she has range.

Just wish there was more movement in the offense to give these girls a chance to score.

 

[mike10003]

I always find it interesting to compare high school stats to how players end up looking at Pitt over the years. As I was watching Pitt get demolished by Louisville the other day, I was talking to my friend about Marley and her HS stats:

29 points, 11 rebounds, 8 steals, and 5 assists per game her senior season

And how hard it is now to imagine her doing a fraction of that. Obviously the competition wasn't great at WV I guess, but still, she was like Lebron James in HS and now she can barely make a layup.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I always find it interesting to compare high school stats to how players end up looking at Pitt over the years. As I was watching Pitt get demolished by Louisville the other day, I was talking to my friend about Marley and her HS stats:

29 points, 11 rebounds, 8 steals, and 5 assists per game her senior season

And how hard it is now to imagine her doing a fraction of that. Obviously the competition wasn't great at WV I guess, but still, she was like Lebron James in HS and now she can barely make a layup.

I'm guessing that she scored that much in high school because her handle is good enough to beat your average high school player, but it's not good enough to beat your average college defender. So in high school she could drive to the basket and get lots of layups or short pull ups, and she just can't get those in college.

Plus she averages 4.5 rebounds per game as a point guard now, so I could easily see her averaging big numbers in high school, especially if she was playing more as an interior defender rather than defending the opponent's point (or playing up top if they played a zone).

She seems to be one of those players who is good enough to be a really good high school player, but because of the limitations of her game she's not going to be a really good college player. Malcolm is the same way. Good enough to be really good in high school, not athletically gifted enough to be a really good college player.

 

[MajorMajors]

I sat behind the bench during a game this year and I kept hearing him yelling get the ball inside they are hearing that and listening to a fault. He has no outside game. He has a shooter in Malcolm and he does not try to get her open at all with his plays. She should be taking more threes than she does. I think she took 1 three last game. Even Perkins can make some when she is on. He has to realize that a 3 point shoot is important at this level especially if you have someone who can shoot them and I have seen her make them from the logo at times when she was in high school in WPIAL championships she has range.

Just wish there was more movement in the offense to give these girls a chance to score.

Agree completely on Malcolm. She has a great shot - nice high arc. But the way they pass the ball around the outside to her always lets a defender be close by.

Go Pitt.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Agree completely on Malcolm. She has a great shot - nice high arc. But the way they pass the ball around the outside to her always lets a defender be close by.

Go Pitt.

Yeah, but there are also times when she is wide open right at the line and she just won't pull the trigger. They should be encouraging her to take every open three that she can. And maybe they are. But she passes up too many of them, especially on a team that struggles in the half court as much as this team does.

 

[Chescat]

I'm guessing that she scored that much in high school because her handle is good enough to beat your average high school player, but it's not good enough to beat your average college defender. So in high school she could drive to the basket and get lots of layups or short pull ups, and she just can't get those in college.

Plus she averages 4.5 rebounds per game as a point guard now, so I could easily see her averaging big numbers in high school, especially if she was playing more as an interior defender rather than defending the opponent's point (or playing up top if they played a zone).

She seems to be one of those players who is good enough to be a really good high school player, but because of the limitations of her game she's not going to be a really good college player. Malcolm is the same way. Good enough to be really good in high school, not athletically gifted enough to be a really good college player.

Yes, all good points. The question that really needs to be asked is who else
recruied her? Did Louisville, ND, VT. or for that matter did any school in the ACC
which has far superior talent than Pitt go after her? Again A-10 talent level. Could
she be on the team at any of these schools? Yes she could, but as maaybe the 12th
or 13th player, getting very few minutes .Load your team up with recruits like Marley,
and you'll see these results. I've said it before, she's a good athlete IMO. But she's not
a hoopster at this level.

 

[Chescat]

Agree completely on Malcolm. She has a great shot - nice high arc. But the way they pass the ball around the outside to her always lets a defender be close by.

Go Pitt.

My sense is, she has a green light to shoot whenever open. I also feel she's an
unselfish player, and she does pass up open looks. The other factor, and it's
a big one.....she's slow afoot and worse, she's not quick which really hurts her.
She's easy to guard. On a good note, she's now driving more, and yesterday
hit a few pull up J's. That's a good sign and shows progress. Unfortunately her
floor game is not strong as she had 7 TO's yesterday. Put that up with her
zero assists, and that about wipes out her 8 total points (all from the floor).

Could she play at a top ACC school? And if so, how often? My guess is yes,
and probably somewhere off the bench in limited minutes. Some of these
ACC teams are showing us they have players who can hit the three and are
quicker and have a floor game. Again, put her in the A-10 and she's a killer.

 

[MajorMajors]

Yeah, but there are also times when she is wide open right at the line and she just won't pull the trigger. They should be encouraging her to take every open three that she can. And maybe they are. But she passes up too many of them, especially on a team that struggles in the half court as much as this team does.

Agree that there are times she is wide open and drives instead of shooting the three. But, though maddening, that only happened one time the last game I was at…

Go Pitt.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The question that really needs to be asked is who else
recruied her?

She was originally a West Virginia verbal, but when they had a bunch of players come back for their extra covid year they didn't have room for her any more. That was how Pitt got her.

 

[VincePITT]

Transfers, new recruits and players who were there the year before, sometimes take time to develop chemistry! The only one who's consistently playing well is Liatu King (19.3 pts, 9.7 rebs) and if the other 6-7 players could play consistently, Pitt might be closer to a winning record! IMO

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Transfers, new recruits and players who were there the year before, sometimes take time to develop chemistry! The only one who's consistently playing well is Liatu King (19.3 pts, 9.7 rebs) and if the other 6-7 players could play consistently, Pitt might be closer to a winning record! IMO

I don't think the problem is chemistry. The chemistry seems fine. The problem is the level of talent. There is a reason why so many of the players aren't very consistent.

And it doesn't have anything to do with chemistry.

 

[Garyzimmer]

My sense is, she has a green light to shoot whenever open. I also feel she's an
unselfish player, and she does pass up open looks. The other factor, and it's
a big one.....she's slow afoot and worse, she's not quick which really hurts her.
She's easy to guard. On a good note, she's now driving more, and yesterday
hit a few pull up J's. That's a good sign and shows progress. Unfortunately her
floor game is not strong as she had 7 TO's yesterday. Put that up with her
zero assists, and that about wipes out her 8 total points (all from the floor).

Could she play at a top ACC school? And if so, how often? My guess is yes,
and probably somewhere off the bench in limited minutes. Some of these
ACC teams are showing us they have players who can hit the three and are
quicker and have a floor game. Again, put her in the A-10 and she's a killer.

I am going to get Malcolm’s back a little bit. She was a top 100 and had 20+ D1 offers out of high school 5 of those from power 5s and 3-4 Ivys. All of those schools could not have been wrong about her. She might not be the quickest or the most athletic but she is a 3 level scorer and is a team player. She should be a little more selfish. And if you look at a team like VT. Their guards are not very athletic but they can shoot and have an offense that continues to move and the girls pass the ball very quickly to the open player. Pitt has to learn when they get the ball inside and they have 2 people on them the wings are open. There are many times they just don’t see the open man.
And if you watched the game a lot of her turn over’s yesterday were getting the ball inside and the bigs not catching the ball. She did have a cross court pass which was a bad decision.
At least they didn’t get down by 15 in the first quarter. Hopefully they can get grow and get better through the season.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And if you look at a team like VT. Their guards are not very athletic

Well yeah, look at a team like Virginia Tech. Their guards are not very athletic, but they are certainly more athletic than Malcolm is.

But having said that, Pitt could certainly scheme their way into getting Malcolm more shots. For whatever reason, that isn't what they do. It doesn't help that they don't really have a good drive and kick guard. Or even an average one.

 

[VincePITT]

I don't think the problem is chemistry. The chemistry seems fine. The problem is the level of talent. There is a reason why so many of the players aren't very consistent.

And it doesn't have anything to do with chemistry.

Chemistry is how and why a lower seeded team upset a higher seeded team in the Tourney! Chris Rotelli explains how team chemistry is important for success. He says that “team beats talent when talent isn’t a team” and they need on court chemistry, HC Verdi has changed the starting 5 through out the season hunting for the 5 with the best chemistry.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

HC Verdi has changed the starting 5 through out the season hunting for the 5 with the best chemistry.

The PG actually had a story about how Verdi has been picking the starting lineup a few weeks ago, and it literally has absolutely nothing at all to do with chemistry.

Chemistry is what the teams that lack talent like to hang their hats on. Meanwhile, there are teams in all sports where the players notoriously hated each other, and yet they won championships. Because if someone gives you a choice between good players without chemistry or bad players with great chemistry, pick the good players, every single time.

Unless you like losing.