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So the women won today

Joe the Panther Fan

Lair Hall of Famer
Jul 6, 2001
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For some reason they played a nooner on a Wednesday that isn't in the week between Christmas and New Years. As I still have vacation time to use up I took the afternoon off and went.

Pitt beat North Alabama 85-83. Pitt actually trailed most of the first half and into the third quarter. But Pitt had a 28-9 run from late in the 2nd to early in the 3rd, which was enough to carry the day.

I still don't get what they are trying to accomplish on defense. It was pretty clear that the only way North Alabama was going to win, or heck, even stay in the game, was by making a lot of threes. And yet somehow we let them get off 33 of them, of which they made 14. They made 8 of 15 in the first half. And most of them were with the defense sagging off and just giving them open looks. As an example, with about a minute and a half left we had a two point lead. NA is taking the ball out under the basket. We are so worried about the inside game that if you had drawn a line parallel to the baseline about five feet out from the basket, all five Pitt players would have been between that line and the baseline. So NA just passes the ball out to a shooter wide open on the wing. Fortunately for Pitt, she missed. But that kind of defense is just inexplicable.

And I also don't understand the substitution patterns that we use. We have players that have good games, and then in the next game barely play. We have someone like Aislin Malcolm who has had games that she hasn't played or hardly played at all, and today she was on the court for almost all of the last five minutes of a close game. At some point in time they have got to figure out who their best players are and start substituting accordingly. Decide who the best eight or so are and play them that way. It's not like we press a lot or play high intensity defense that requires a lot of substituting to keep players fresh. So figure out who your best players are, and start playing them more.
 
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By the way, the team that Pitt played today has losses of 37 points to South Carolina (they scored 40 for the game), 38 at Ohio State, 11 to Chattanooga when they only scored 44 points, and 14 to Georgia State. And they had 44 points at half time today.
 
For some reason they played a nooner on a Wednesday that isn't in the week between Christmas and New Years. As I still have vacation time to use up I took the afternoon off and went.

Pitt beat North Alabama 85-83. Pitt actually trailed most of the first half and into the third quarter. But Pitt had a 28-9 run from late in the 2nd to early in the 3rd, which was enough to carry the day.

I still don't get what they are trying to accomplish on defense. It was pretty clear that the only way North Alabama was going to win, or heck, even stay in the game, was by making a lot of threes. And yet somehow we let them get off 33 of them, of which they made 14. They made 8 of 15 in the first half. And most of them were with the defense sagging off and just giving them open looks. As an example, with about a minute and a half left we had a two point lead. NA is taking the ball out under the basket. We are so worried about the inside game that if you had drawn a line parallel to the baseline about five feet out from the basket, all five Pitt players would have been between that line and the baseline. So NA just passes the ball out to a shooter wide open on the wing. Fortunately for Pitt, she missed. But that kind of defense is just inexplicable.

And I also don't understand the substitution patterns that we use. We have players that have good games, and then in the next game barely play. We have someone like Aislin Malcolm who has had games that she hasn't played or hardly played at all, and today she was on the court for almost all of the last five minutes of a close game. At some point in time they have got to figure out who their best players are and start substituting accordingly. Decide who the best eight or so are and play them that way. It's not like we press a lot or play high intensity defense that requires a lot of substituting to keep players fresh. So figure out who your best players are, and start playing them more.
I have never seen a coach in any sport, anywhere, less able to decide on who his best players are.
 
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I have never seen a coach in any sport, anywhere, less able to decide on who his best players are.


I could understand using as many players as he does if you were playing a pressing, full court defense and you were running on offense every chance you got (which they do a little of) and trying to get off quick shots and play a high number of possessions per game, because you could try to keep your players fresh and wear the other team out. But we don't play that way, at all. We rarely press. We do run a little on offense, but certainly not a lot. It's not a taxing style of basketball.

Put your best players out there for 30 or so minutes a night and see what happens.
 
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Playing-time is a puzzlement. Hoping the Hayford-as-a-starter experiment is over. I think she should only play in short segments to guard an opponents scorer.

Did Hutcherson really only play 5 minutes today? I think she should play more and Brown less. I’m a big fan of AB and I don’t see White pulling her, but her game is limited.

They must really like Washenitz at PG. She does appear to be a clever player who will only improve with experience. Strickland needs to play - good to see her get the start. And Liatu has to shoot more - but it will be tough for her going against taller paint players - especially with Brown being such a limited offensive threat.

Unfortunately, this squeaked-out win may have been their last win this season…

Go Pitt.
 
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Playing-time is a puzzlement. Hoping the Hayford-as-a-starter experiment is over. I think she should only play in short segments to guard an opponents scorer.

Did Hutcherson really only play 5 minutes today? I think she should play more and Brown less. I’m a big fan of AB and I don’t see White pulling her, but her game is limited.

They must really like Washenitz at PG. She does appear to be a clever player who will only improve with experience. Strickland needs to play - good to see her get the start. And Liatu has to shoot more - but it will be tough for her going against taller paint players - especially with Brown being such a limited offensive threat.

Unfortunately, this squeaked-out win may have been their last win this season…

Go Pitt.
- The Hayford "experiment"
has been going on for four
years.
- Hutcherson should be
playing major mintes.
- Washenitz CAN play. I
expect she'll really develop.
- "Last win of the season?"
All ACC from here on out,
so......
 
I could understand using as many players as he does if you were playing a pressing, full court defense and you were running on offense every chance you got (which they do a little of) and trying to get off quick shots and play a high number of possessions per game, because you could try to keep your players fresh and wear the other team out. But we don't play that way, at all. We rarely press. We do run a little on offense, but certainly not a lot. It's not a taxing style of basketball.

Put your best players out there for 30 or so minutes a night and see what happens.
The above post and your
original post are some
of the same questions
I've asked ever since
White arrived. here. I
used to think, maybe he
goes with whom he feels
performs best that week
in practice. I don't really
believe that's the
case anymore. As you said
the normal rotation of
players whether it;s 1-8,
1-9 or whatever normally
is established. Players
need to know this and
understand why they
get or not get minutes.

Defense? I have no clue
what they're doing or
what the D stradegy is.

Offensively, aside from
the sub problem, they
seem to have a clue this
year. No raggedy ass,
helter skelter, run at all
cost even when you
don't know how. That
is one positive I see.
Another is they hustle,
work hard and seemingly
have good spirit. Problem
is they have A-10 talent.
Will Lyke keep him after
the fast approaching league
disaster?
 
Last edited:
Did Hutcherson really only play 5 minutes today?


Yeah, she played a couple minutes in the first half, and then came in for a couple minutes in the second half, and that was it. So five minutes is right. And she's one of the players I was talking about, in that she's had some good games where she has scored and rebounded well. And then a game like today where she plays five minutes. It doesn't make any sense.

And you mention King. This team today had no answer for her. She took 17 shots today, and it wasn't nearly enough. They should have been pounding the ball into her on most possessions. She ended up with 26 and 16 in 30 minutes. But as we have seen in the past, it's not going to come nearly so easy for her in ACC play.

I like Washenitz's game, but I also fear that some of the ACC teams are just going to eat her alive. She can do a little bit of almost everything, but I fear that she is going to be a half step slow against high level competition. The kind of thing that experience can help make up for, but that she doesn't have yet.
 
Concerning Pitt’s suspect defensive play - I noticed that against North Alabama, their guard Suzuki scored 28 points.

Suzuki is listed as 5’3” and was averaging 14 points per game. A bit scary with ACC play coming up…

Go Pitt.
 
Averaging 14 ppg against
inferior teams and hitting
28 against an ACC team,
tells you all you need to
know about game prep.
How about adjustments
during the game? This,
along with all the other
basic, very basic concerns
mentioed in this thread,
should be areas that AD
Lyke should be considering
as she/they evaluate
White's performance. This
is now year Five. His ACC
record is 8-60. Unreal!
 
Concerning Pitt’s suspect defensive play - I noticed that against North Alabama, their guard Suzuki scored 28 points.

Suzuki is listed as 5’3” and was averaging 14 points per game. A bit scary with ACC play coming up…

Go Pitt.


She was their point guard. She took and made some deep shots, ones that I have to assume that they didn't think she would make because of the way they generally played off of her to keep her from driving. But once she started making shots they needed to adjust to that, and they really didn't.
 
When they tried to stop Suzuki on the perimeter she drove to the hoop and threw up shots on the run that went in. Washenitz did not look good in the first half but was strong and clearly directed the team in the second half.

I agree that the substitutions are confusing and that this team might not win a game in the ACC. White said this is his best team since he arrived. That is sad.
 
White said this is his best team since he arrived That is sad.
When one considers his
previous teams, he's
probably right about it
being his "best team."
It's good enough to win
against this pre league
schedule. They're in
some ways actually
looking improved, but
as we've been posting
on here, it can't win in
the ACC. Drop down to
the A10 and our talent
can compete and win.

Again, 5 years and we're
8-20 in the ACC This
league is what he
signed up for when he
came here. By the end
of this season that 8-20
will be far worse. I feel
badly for these young
women who seemingly
are giving their all.
 
I think if the 6’4” Rita hadn’t transferred out, this would have been Coach White’s best team. But that’s a huge missing piece.

Being here 5 years, I find it hard to believe that Coach has brought in only one at least semi-legit center. Otherwise we have a couple 6-2s and some 6-footers playing in the paint — the same problem Suzie had…

This has been a glaring recruiting failure by the Coach, IMHO. Im sure it’s tough to compete for the taller players with some skill, but one tall player in 5 years seems pretty poor…

Go Pitt.
 
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I think if the 6’4” Rita hadn’t transferred out, this would have been Coach White’s best team. But that’s a huge missing piece.

Being here 5 years, I find it hard to believe that Coach has brought in only one at least semi-legit center. Otherwise we have a couple 6-2s and some 6-footers playing in the paint — the same problem Suzie had…

This has been a glaring recruiting failure by the Coach, IMHO. Im sure it’s tough to compete for the taller players with some skill, but one tall player in 5 years seems pretty poor…

Go Pitt.


You would think with all the transferring that goes on that you would have been able to bring in a good transfer center at some point, what with the complete lack of good post players here. You could sell tons of playing time in the ACC to any transfer big, whether they were at a smaller school looking for a chance to step up or someone at a top level program that was maybe a higher level recruit but who is stuck behind a better player on the depth chart who wants a chance to play at an ACC program.
 
You would think with all the transferring that goes on that you would have been able to bring in a good transfer center at some point, what with the complete lack of good post players here. You could sell tons of playing time in the ACC to any transfer big, whether they were at a smaller school looking for a chance to step up or someone at a top level program that was maybe a higher level recruit but who is stuck behind a better player on the depth chart who wants a chance to play at an ACC program.
Yup, you woulda thunk!
He did get a good transfer
in Gabby Hutcherson, a
sub at a better Ohio St.
program where she only
avraged 3ppg. She's now
one of our better players
at 6'2," but not a big. She
is better on the perimeter
as opposed to inside. I like
her as a transfer, but did
White think he was getting
a 6'2" big?? She's a good
wing. If White thought he
could win in the ACC with
our current talent, and
without a big, he's not
awake.
 
Yup, you woulda thunk!
He did get a good transfer
in Gabby Hutcherson, a
sub at a better Ohio St.
program where she only
avraged 3ppg. She's now
one of our better players
at 6'2," but not a big. She
is better on the perimeter
as opposed to inside.


I agree, Hutcherson is a good get as a transfer, but she is not a post player. Ideally her game seems to suit a four, or even a three although you'd probably want a little better handle than she seems to have at the three, much more than a five.
 
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