The end of this game proves how much FTs matter

[levance2]

As for Young.... both the announcers during the game alluded to the fact that teams can't bang Young inside as much, because of his FT shooting. Brian Gregory, GT's coach, even said they had to alter the way they defended in the final minutes of the game because they couldn't risk fouling.

I think it's more about being smart than backing off. You aren't going to give Young room to make an uncontested layup because you are afraid of giving him FTs. You just don't want him to out-maneuver you and get a layup AND a FT. I would guess that was more Gregory's implication. With most centers Pitt has had, the other team might be fine playing a little dumb and being liberal about fouls. Maybe you frustrate the guy a bit and he screws up. Worst case, you send him to the line and he bricks one of two. With Young, you can't afford to be dumb. With Blair, he was just powerful enough to do whatever he wanted with the ball, and go through whatever contact he had to.

Think about Dante Taylor as a polar opposite. You give him any contact at all and he was done.

 

[PITTLAW]

Actually, a lot of people were quite dismissive of this anytime someone brought it up the past few years when we lose some close games.

Probably really helps having Young and Artis play their natural positions too combined with the addition of a couple of natural 5's Hail to Pitt!

 

[Zaratoughda]

You're right about Maia.... which is why you will never see him on the floor in the final 2 minutes of a game that Pitt leads (that isn't a blowout). The worst FT shooter on the floor for Pitt at the end of games will be around 77%.

As for Young.... both the announcers during the game alluded to the fact that teams can't bang Young inside as much, because of his FT shooting. Brian Gregory, GT's coach, even said they had to alter the way they defended in the final minutes of the game because they couldn't risk fouling.

Good FT shooting impacts the way the other teams defend you. It is something that is going to be key on Thursday against Louisville, I believe. The new rules and emphasis messed with Louisville's press against Clemson yesterday. Physical play in their press is now getting called, they aren't getting away with it anymore like they always did. These new rules that basically have eliminated hand-checking ... and also the elimination of the 5-second rule ... have been harmful to teams like Louisville that rely on pressure and some tolerance of physical contact. (The same thing is hurting Virginia, by the way. They're getting called for lots of fouls they never got called for in the past).

Combine that with a team like Pitt that will make the FTs when Louisville gets called for their hand-checking, and I give Pitt a much better chance on Thursday than most will give them.

Good post '89 re Ville and... looking at the stats in their game against Clemson.... two guys fouled out and another three had four fouls and them doing that against us would be a problem for them to be sure.

I watched the first half of the Ville/Clemson game on ESPN3 replay and, you can't expect them to shoot that bad against us on their home court, but otherwise they press as Pitino always has but most of the time they back off after the ball gets in. But, they play tight, in-your-face defense and that might present problems for us. Purdue played D like that and it did present problems. But, Purdue had major shot blockers and Ville does not.