Today.....Women's Bball vs Syracuse

[Chescat]

I hope to see some improvement today
with Harris playing more in control.
and Everett not forcing one on one
situations. If the two of them get
double teamed, I'd like to see them
get the ball to whomever is open.
If we get out in transition, I'd like
us to stay in control, and if it's not
there, don't force it.

Inside we're terribly overmatched
against their 6'7" Center and her
back up who is good. Maybe we can
outwork them.
Hopefully we play better and in control.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It should be interesting. When they played up at the Dome a week and a half ago Syracuse got out to a big lead and held it most of the way. Then late in the 3rd and early in the 4th Pitt came storming back and got it down to two points in the 4th. It was a five point game at the mid-quarter timeout in the 4th, and then Pitt just ran out of gas and got smoked over the last 4+ minutes, 20-2.

Hopefully what they took from that is that if they play well they can hang with a team that is much higher in the standings than they are.

In that game Harris shot 7-11 from the field. The rest of the team was a combined 14-53. As Mr. Obvious might tell you, they need to shoot a lot better than that.

 

[Black Panther]

Looks like they may have ran out of gas again.

 

[MajorMajors]

Tough to win when two starters are 1 for 14. And the number of empty possessions is just crazy - I mean a turn-over on an uncontested inbounds play???

Amazing that they could play so poorly and still have a chance to win at the end. I guess, in a strange way, that’s encouraging...

But the coaching is head-scratching...

Go Pitt.

 

[Chescat]

Looks like they may have ran out of gas again.

I thought it was more a case of
Syracuse finding themselves after
a miserable first quarter.
For the most part I actually liked
our play today.
First of all Syracuse played zone
and we spread the floor and actually
looked for good shots. We made
some of them while Syracuse couldn't
buy a bucket early.

We also didn't run up and down out
of control today, so I'll give the
coach credit for that. I hate to say it
but this was also due to Harris being
on the bench. The offense was much
better with Everett out front. Even
Hayford looked decent with her and
Everett out front. However, Syracuse
was in a zone, otherwise Hayford
probably would have struggled.

My main conclusion, Everett not only
is our best scorer, but also can handle
the point. What to do with Harris? We
upped the lead when she went out, and
lost the lead when she came back in.
We can build on this. Syracuse is good,
and we basically hung with them.

 

[Chescat]

Tough to win when two starters are 1 for 14. And the number of empty possessions is just crazy - I mean a turn-over on an uncontested inbounds play???

Amazing that they could play so poorly and still have a chance to win at the end. I guess, in a strange way, that’s encouraging...

But the coaching is head-scratching...

Go Pitt.

You make good points. Some of
it is as you said, "head scratching.
After the last game, I thought we
played much better today. However
VT pressured us out front and we
couldn't handle it. Today Syracuse
stayed back in a zone.

What part of the coaching did you
find "head scratching?"

 

[PittAU]

that third quarter was rough

 

[MajorMajors]

You make good points. Some of
it is as you said, "head scratching.
After the last game, I thought we
played much better today. However
VT pressured us out front and we
couldn't handle it. Today Syracuse
stayed back in a zone.

What part of the coaching did you
find "head scratching?"

On the coaching - it’s just the same mistakes and poor judgements over and over. Like all the risky passes. Players not coming to the ball when trying to break pressure. Telegraphing passes. All the dribbling into the heart of the zone and then taking awkward shots, instead of kicking it out.

I think Coach White has significantly upgraded the talent. But do they play so poorly because they are mainly young, or is it the “play fast” philosophy and coaching? I guess next season will tell, but I thought they’d look better this season.

 

[Black Panther]

I thought it was more a case of
Syracuse finding themselves after
a miserable first quarter.
For the most part I actually liked
our play today.
First of all Syracuse played zone
and we spread the floor and actually
looked for good shots. We made
some of them while Syracuse couldn't
buy a bucket early.

We also didn't run up and down out
of control today, so I'll give the
coach credit for that. I hate to say it
but this was also due to Harris being
on the bench. The offense was much
better with Everett out front. Even
Hayford looked decent with her and
Everett out front. However, Syracuse
was in a zone, otherwise Hayford
probably would have struggled.

My main conclusion, Everett not only
is our best scorer, but also can handle
the point. What to do with Harris? We
upped the lead when she went out, and
lost the lead when she came back in.
We can build on this. Syracuse is good,
and we basically hung with them.

I guess after looking at it after the game that’s a better way to put it.Loved the effort today! Just a shame they let it slip away.

 

[Chescat]

On the coaching - it’s just the same mistakes and poor judgements over and over. Like all the risky passes. Players not coming to the ball when trying to break pressure. Telegraphing passes. All the dribbling into the heart of the zone and then taking awkward shots, instead of kicking it out.

I think Coach White has significantly upgraded the talent. But do they play so poorly because they are mainly young, or is it the “play fast” philosophy and coaching? I guess next season will tell, but I thought they’d look better this season.

I basically see it the way you do.
Yes, "the coach "has significantly
upgraded the talent." However in
the ACC we still have a way to go
compared to other teams. Syracuse
was better talent wise IMO, and for
sure had more height.
You asked about the "play fast"
philosophy. Actually today it was a
more controlled pace, especially after
what we saw against VT. Of course we
played against a zone today, and Harris
was on the bench for a good part of the
game. Sad to say, but we played better
without her, and for the most part, not
too fast. I hope we don't go back to
outta control again.

AS far as the "coaching".....I'm not seeing
a lot of player development. Harris is still
a problem despite being talented. I also
don't like the way she and Everett are used.
Everett showed me today what she can do
with the ball in her hands as a pg. She gets
the others involved better than Harris. I
also think King, Strothers, and Green are
capable scorers and should be more in the
scheme of things. I feel he needs to figure
out how to use his players better.
One thing coach seems to do well, is keep
his players upbeat, hustling, and giving it
their all.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I mean a turn-over on an uncontested inbounds play???

You may not have noticed, the officials and the game announcers didn't, but Syracuse actually did the same thing in the fourth quarter after a Pitt basket but no one noticed. The player who inbounded the ball had one foot right on top of the line and the other foot well out onto the court. I assume someone on the Pitt bench saw it because they jumped up and immediately started yelling towards the ref, but the ref obviously wasn't paying attention and didn't see it.

WRT the refs, if Gary watched that game today his head exploded before the game even got to half time.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I thought it was more a case of
Syracuse finding themselves after
a miserable first quarter.

I agree with that. At half time, even with an eight point lead I thought we were unlikely to win. You had to know that Syracuse probably wasn't going to go the whole game shooting the ball like they did for the first quarter and a half.

 

[Black Panther]

You may not have noticed, the officials and the game announcers didn't, but Syracuse actually did the same thing in the fourth quarter after a Pitt basket but no one noticed. The player who inbounded the ball had one foot right on top of the line and the other foot well out onto the court. I assume someone on the Pitt bench saw it because they jumped up and immediately started yelling towards the ref, but the ref obviously wasn't paying attention and didn't see it.

WRT the refs, if Gary watched that game today his head exploded before the game even got to half time.

That’s what I thought I saw.They got away with a few walks as well.its amazing what refs do and don’t see.lol