Purdue Game: Watching the Replay

[Zaratoughda]

OK, we came out totally flat and got ourselves into a 17 point hole... but then Purdue went totally flat and we erased 14 of that 17 point deficit... and then took a lead a while into the second half.... but then the game just got away from us and we ended up losing by 13.

You can say we missed a lot of wide open shots but... so did Purdue. A TON of open 3 balls in that dry spell. They hit a lot early on but then later were only around 33% with all the ones they were missing.

One of the Purdue fans posted that the game would be close until half ways through the second half and then we would run out of gas and they would pull away.... this because that is exactly what the other teams they had beaten had done... and we have seen that ourselves... like with the 28 point turnaround against Detroit.

So, a matter of fatigue... running out of gas. But, this is not what I think happened.

Dixon has this lineup which he sees as his best lineup and the one he wants out there down the stretch... and it is Robinson, Smith or Jones, Artis, Jeter and Young... with Young thus playing C.

So, he went to this lineup around the 10 minute mark and that... is when the game got away from us.

And, watching the replay, ANO, Maia and Luther had been the ones covering Hammons, and they were at a major size disadvantage but they were keeping him from dominating... by playing active defense against him, harassing him and what not.

But, once Dixon went to his 'end game' lineup, it was Mike Young covering Hammons, and he was playing a much more passive defense and, with that, Hammons started going wild... scoring himself or drawing a double team and getting it to his teammates for open 3 balls.

In short, Dixon's end game lineup may be the best choice against some teams... but against Purdue with Hammons, it was a disaster.

Uh, ANO, Maia and (at least to some extent) Luther are out there to play D and rebound... so why not let them do it and let the three of them handle the C position. Right now Dixon has four players playing C (the above 3 and Young) and that is too many. If this means playing Jeter at SF again, and sending Slim or Jones to the bench, then so be it.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So you watched the game live and you watched it again on the replay and you still haven't noticed who was playing center in the zone on most of the possessions where Young, Artis and Jeter were in the game together. Why I am not surprised?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Maybe this will be like that Louisville game that you said you watched 20 times last year before you made some great discovery about the game that most people saw when they watched it live.

 

[Chescat]

Bottom line is right now we do not have even ONE legitimate center. Ano seems athletic enough but he has done nothing/zilch on both the defensive and offensive end. Will that change? I hope so. Luther is ok against small front courts like Detroit, but he is a PF, and a substitute at that position...he is no center, and will get eaten alive in the post against most ACCeams. Maia at least is physical, but was outsized against both Purdue and Kent St. However he can come in for short amounts of time as a substitute. Young obviously is the best player on the team,But as we all are seeing he is a legit PF, and a very, very good one at that. The biggest problems when he goes to Center are he gets worn down, has to play with his back to the basket, and struggles both defensively and offensively against legit centers like we see in the ACC. The other problem with him at C is that Jeter has to play...weather at PF or SF. He is a liability defensively, and offensively, either gets hot occaissionally or disappears completely.
Zara forget about who was on the floor when and where when Purdue was hot or later when they cooled off.
IMO, it had nothing to do with any of that. Sometimes teams get hot, and sometimes they get cold. Our defense is not very good, and that is both man to man and zone. Sometimes the zone looks good, but since our man D is SO bad the zone looks a little better when teams miss a few open looks. That doesn't mean we have a good zone.
Now, where I do agree with you......let the three centers rotate in and out and keep Young at PF.....glad you now
see the light. I was suggesting this to you through many posts even before the season when you wanted Artis at PF and Young at Center.
I do think we're gonna be ok. We aren't elite, and we have some limitations, but we do have depth. Jamie is
Still feeling this out and I expect to see the NCAA'S for Pitt at the end of the season.

 

[Pittx9]

Luther has to play center a lot more. As much as he is at a disadvantage in size, he puts forth so much more effort than anyone else. And quite frankly, he is worlds better than ANO and even a little better than Maia during his runs of decent play. I'd be ok with maybe Maia getting a shot at the starting 5, but ANO is just filling out the middle. He really has been doing nothing at all.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

The only trouble with some of this opinion is that the assumption that the ACC is loaded with legit centers (like the Purdue one) is simply not true. We are mostly going to be facing guys with PF size and skills in ACC play--not true centers.

 

[Pittx9]

The only trouble with some of this opinion is that the assumption that the ACC is loaded with legit centers (like the Purdue one) is simply not true. We are mostly going to be facing guys with PF size and skills in ACC play--not true centers.

That is a very good point. Personally though I think ANO seems to be mostly be standing around and lackadaisically standing under the hoop when a shot is missed. I just don't see him performing because his effort seems to be very marginal at best. Luther on the hand, brings a ton of intensity and is playing really well IMO. (Although he could really stop shooting 3's any day now)

 

[Chescat]

The only trouble with some of this opinion is that the assumption that the ACC is loaded with legit centers (like the Purdue one) is simply not true. We are mostly going to be facing guys with PF size and skills in ACC play--not true centers.

How about the Kent St. Big guys. They ate our lunch inside, and that's the MAC. Did you watch the Detroit game?
Their 6'7" center went off on us. The ACC does have centers, and they are more legit than ours. However, I
don't think all is lost inside. If Jamie can create a three man rotation at Center, even if they get four fouls apiece,
I do think we can be competitive in the league and win more than we lose.

 

[Zaratoughda]

Bottom line is right now we do not have even ONE legitimate center. Ano seems athletic enough but he has done nothing/zilch on both the defensive and offensive end. Will that change? I hope so. Luther is ok against small front courts like Detroit, but he is a PF, and a substitute at that position...he is no center, and will get eaten alive in the post against most ACCeams. Maia at least is physical, but was outsized against both Purdue and Kent St. However he can come in for short amounts of time as a substitute. Young obviously is the best player on the team,But as we all are seeing he is a legit PF, and a very, very good one at that. The biggest problems when he goes to Center are he gets worn down, has to play with his back to the basket, and struggles both defensively and offensively against legit centers like we see in the ACC. The other problem with him at C is that Jeter has to play...weather at PF or SF. He is a liability defensively, and offensively, either gets hot occaissionally or disappears completely.
Zara forget about who was on the floor when and where when Purdue was hot or later when they cooled off.
IMO, it had nothing to do with any of that. Sometimes teams get hot, and sometimes they get cold. Our defense is not very good, and that is both man to man and zone. Sometimes the zone looks good, but since our man D is SO bad the zone looks a little better when teams miss a few open looks. That doesn't mean we have a good zone.
Now, where I do agree with you......let the three centers rotate in and out and keep Young at PF.....glad you now
see the light. I was suggesting this to you through many posts even before the season when you wanted Artis at PF and Young at Center.
I do think we're gonna be ok. We aren't elite, and we have some limitations, but we do have depth. Jamie is
Still feeling this out and I expect to see the NCAA'S for Pitt at the end of the season.

Hmmmm... I expressed... 'concern'... about Young moving back to PF and even more concern about Artis moving back to SF because of poor performances by both in those slots previously.... but IMO *NOT* doing it meant bigger problems... undersized starting inside players getting pushed around and worn down.

 

[heybandguy]

The game got away from Pitt on the four shots from Cline. They were largely uncontested. Defensive rotations did not happen and that kid just drained the shots. Big shots. Momentum swinging shots. That was a lapse of team defense that put them into some holes.