First, cudos to Jamie and the guys for being in the running for a bid to the big dance. Nobody thought that was within reach at the start of ACC schedule. Great job
Looking at the big picture, while there is always a lot of chatter here about lack of scoring punch from our PG and SG and that Cam is a bricklayer, make no mistake, any discussion of this team's shortcommings have to start and end with defense.
There is
nothing that puts this in perspective like the
following statistics from Ken Pomeroy concerning the national rank of our
defensive efficiency in the Dixon years
Year National Rank
2003
2
2004
1
2005
58
2006
11
2007
30
2008
64
2009 24
2010
28
2011
22
2012
149
2013
21
2014
29
2015
213
There is no
question that we went completely "off the rails" on defensive ability in 2012
and did not make the tournament. Yet as bad as that year was, this year's
defense is far, far worse. To put it bluntly, this is not
only a poor defensive team; it is one of the worst defensive teams in the
country and likely the worst in Pitt history
Looking at the big picture, while there is always a lot of chatter here about lack of scoring punch from our PG and SG and that Cam is a bricklayer, make no mistake, any discussion of this team's shortcommings have to start and end with defense.
There is
nothing that puts this in perspective like the
following statistics from Ken Pomeroy concerning the national rank of our
defensive efficiency in the Dixon years
Year National Rank
2003
2
2004
1
2005
58
2006
11
2007
30
2008
64
2009 24
2010
28
2011
22
2012
149
2013
21
2014
29
2015
213
There is no
question that we went completely "off the rails" on defensive ability in 2012
and did not make the tournament. Yet as bad as that year was, this year's
defense is far, far worse. To put it bluntly, this is not
only a poor defensive team; it is one of the worst defensive teams in the
country and likely the worst in Pitt history
