This time... the loss *IS* on Jamie
- Thread starter UPitt '89
- Start date
I think there is some agreement that Ryan needed a break at some point. Banging in the paint with big guys tends to do that.
I suppose the question is just when that best time was. Was it best to take him out when we had a 5 point lead? Maybe if he stays in, L-ville still ties it, and Ryan still needs a blow, then you don't have him for all the minutes of the stretch run.
It does make some sense that was the right moment as his failing to close on a three point shooter could have meant he needed a break then.
The move seemed to hurt us, but there's no way of knowing what would have happened had Ryan stayed in there. And it Ryan is able to finish the fast break at 3:00 to give Pitt the lead, we could be talking about how the break Ryan got helped us get the win.
Who knows, really.
Actually,the first part of that is not true. Luther's man made a trey immediately before the time out to cut the lead to 5. That's why Luther came out. Ryan said as much in one postgame interview cited in another thread.
I didn't like the timeout at that point. I thought Dixon should have waited with the under-8 time out coming on the next dead ball. But, VERY arguably the biggest mistake in that substitution, which NO ONE has talked about, was reinserting Artis for Cam Johnson. Cam was not shooting well, but he was not turning the ball over and making dumb plays. Johnson was playing decent defense and rebounding well. Artis immediately missed shots, made turnovers and gave up an easy dunk and the 5-point lead was gone in the next two possessions. Luther was back in after 3 possessions but the Ville scored on their last 8 shots.
Obviously, the move backfired, but it is difficult to argue with the idea of a coach putting his rested starters back into the game for the stretch run - except in this forum of armchair coaches all with 20/20 hindsight.
If Dixon had NOT called a TO and had let the lead slip away with three back-up players on the floor and our starters on the bench, the vitriol would have been just as strong, maybe worse.
Uh, that's NOT the sequence. Not at ALL. There really is very little in your sequence which has much similarity to what actually happened in that period. People are just pulling stuff out of their very flawed memories that DIDN'T happen that way. Reality is bad enough. You can access the play by play very easily from the boxscore in the scores and schedue tab on here. There are more complete play-by-play charts available which list substitutions elsewhere.
First, Damion Lee made the trey to cut it to 48-43 BEFORE the time out. (which was a Pitt TO, not a Pitino TO as somebody in this thread claims)
Then Artis turnover (offensive foul)
Deng Adel, dunk over Jeter 48-45
Jones has a jumper blocked and fouls on the rebound
Levitch 3-pointer, 48-48
Artis turnover
Young did NOT have a turnover in that last 8 minutes. Artis had a couple. The Onuaku dunk didn't come until 1:06 left. Not counting the trey BEFORE the time out, Louisville made 4 three pointers and an 18 ft. jumper in that 8:16. We had 12 points in those 8+ minutes, 6 by Young and 4 by Robinson.
Great shooting or lousy defense? Probably a little of both. 3 turnovers, 4 if you count Artis's foolish drive into Onuaku, in those 8 minutes.
This team still doesn't know how to win close games.
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Harve - You got it right
Very tough loss - We had our chances
I have not watched a replay of the game, Watching it live, (I did not go crazy about these calls but) I vaguely remember the offensive foul on Artis and thought it was not much, I thought the foul on Jones was strange and late (and not much - a fight for a loose ball) and I thought there could have been an offensive foul called on Onauku when we were down three (again maybe not much, but consistent with the two calls referenced) The officiating was pretty good, but watching things live, those calls at least gave me pause.
These kinds of things happen in close games. The game is tight, one or two calls go the other way, a turnover , a big three - game over. I am sure there was a sequence in our games against Syracuse, ND and Wake where those close games were decided and we took control.
Working my way to 2,000 posts.
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You nailed it, Crimmins. I don't pay any attention to many of the posts on message boards. Just guys posting stuff to get a rise out of somebody. But yours is spot on. I agree with everything you said. The total lack of defensive focus and effort in the last 3 minutes especially was the reason we lost that game.
I don't think he fumbled the go ahead score out of bounds with 2:51 remaining because he was too well rested.
Actually, what is missing in all of this, is that Jeter was also inserted, and his defense was terrible. I'm not sure at exactly what point Jeter came in, or which player went out, but he was definitely a contributor to the poor defensive effort during the timeframe being discussed. Adel's dunk was over Jeter, not Artis. And of course Young just stepped aside rather than offer a little help d.
Yes.
Jamie's been a fantastic coach and I am President of his fan club. But the Louisville game was lost because of strategic errors.... just as the Duke game was won because of a great game plan and great execution.
Jamie gets credit/blame for both.
And he'd agree.
