So this Louisville Game

[Delpanther]

Had this game penciled in as an L from the get go but thought that with the Ville's most recent problems, we had a decent chance of pulling out a win tonight. Don 't mind losing but Pitt looked offensively inept tonight but some credit has to go, of course, to the Ville for playing solid D. They were in Pitt's face all night, doubled and even triple teamed the ball on every possession and yet Pitt still couldn't find an open man.

Having said all of that I 'm more troubled by a couple of other things. First, this team seems soft to me. They get jostled around a bit and it throws them completely off their game. Along the same lines, the post D and rebounding are poor when the other team has a physical front line. This was reminiscent of the Purdue game.

My biggest disappointment though is with the guard play. Pitt got nothing but turnovers and bricks from their guards tonight and in a game in which the opponent is playing D the way Louisville was tonight your PG better be on his game. James has had some good games this year but tonight mirrored his performance in a number of games last year in which he was so completely neutralized so that he simply couldn't key the offense-like trying to start a car with a bad alternator! Will be interesting to see how Pitt fares in the rematch.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Chris jones may have been our leading scorer from the guards.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Chris jones may have been our leading scorer from the guards.

Damon Wilson made a three.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Damon Wilson made a three.

Forgot.
Thought jones may have had 4...
But somehow the tackle on the layup wasn't a shooting foul.

 

[UPitt '89]

Tonight's points:

Young 18
Artis 11
Wilson 3
Johnson, Jones, Jeter, Luther 2
Robinson 1

 

[Scruffy the Panther]

Forgot.
Thought jones may have had 4...
But somehow the tackle on the layup wasn't a shooting foul.

That was pretty bad. I finally turned the game off at the sequence where Cam Johnson was bumped hard and turned it over then on the fast break Luther barely touches the Louisville player and gets the whistle. Just brutal.

 

[Scruffy the Panther]

Having said all of that I 'm more troubled by a couple of other things. First, this team seems soft to me. They get jostled around a bit and it throws them completely off their game. Along the same lines, the post D and rebounding are poor when the other team has a physical front line. This was reminiscent of the Purdue game.

This. The two times we've played elite defenses, we've crumpled on offense. Not that I expect us to score 80+ against them, but still.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Don't draw conclusions from your best or worst performances.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Yeah? Here's my conclusion. Same old Pitt.

You may be right. I don't follow Pitt closely. Their shooting %'s are solid, they have an experienced team. Seems the D has tailed off over the years for sure.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Still have a lot of respect for the PITT program. I understand the ups and downs. Good luck the rest of the year.

 

[yc_ballcat]

My biggest disappointment though is with the guard play. Pitt got nothing but turnovers and bricks from their guards tonight and in a game in which the opponent is playing D the way Louisville was tonight your PG better be on his game. James has had some good games this year but tonight mirrored his performance in a number of games last year in which he was so completely neutralized so that he simply couldn't key the offense-like trying to start a car with a bad alternator! Will be interesting to see how Pitt fares in the rematch.

Robinson, Smith, and Jones are all role players. Their games are pretty much as generic as their names. None of them can step up when really needed in a critical situation or showcase game. They only step up when Pitt is clicking on all cylinders. (Jones had that one outlier against Indiana last year.)

As much as I despise Pitino, he always has guards who can step up and make plays when needed. Granted, the biggest problem last night was probably Louisville's length & tenacity on D. And perhaps kids are easier sold on Louisville. But Lee is a playmaker. Louisville seemingly always has guards who can get out there and duel with people. Sometimes you need that. Even guys who were not big scorers like Sosa still had some moxie and an ability to make plays, whether looking to score, penetrate, or dish. Only guy who really seems to have that potential for Pitt is Wilson.