Game Ball
Champ: 24 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal. Just a complete overall game today. He was fantastic and coming off the injury makes it all the more special. If his play continues to develop and improve, he has a chance to become an All American later on in his career. His dominance on the glass is in Blair territory for the year with a DR of 28.1.
Game Ball Assist
Horton- 20 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers. Horton is now shooting 37% from 3 for the season. More impressive, is that Horton has a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio his last 7 games as a 2 guard. And his offensive ORTG power rating for the season is now 106.1. Most importantly, he has been on fire his last 4 straight Acc games shooting 13-30 (43.3%) on threes while averaging 15 points per game all against ACC teams.
Game Ball 2nd Assist
Odukale-5 points on 2-3 shooting, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 0 turnovers in only 20 minutes. While Toney and X certainly played well today, it was Odukale making the big plays in crunch time as he beat the brakes right off the Cuse defense in the 2nd half. In the final 8 minutes of this game with Pitt holding on by 4 points, Femi scored all 5 of his points while dishing 5 assists as he took this game over late in the 2nd half. Ice water in his veins just like Levance Fields in crunch time. Odukale is averaging 9 points per game, 4 rebounds per game, and 3 assists per game against ACC teams while shooting 47% from the field. Amazingly, had Pitt made the same wide open shots in the first half as they did in the 2nd from his passing, Femi easily would have had 10-12+ assists today. NY tough
Quick Hitters:
-Pitt was +12 on the glass today, the dominance on the glass continues
-Pitt as a team only committed 6 turnovers
-The 2nd best scoring team in the ACC shot 40% from the field and 13% from 3 against our defense today
-Pitt scored 64 points in the 2nd half while shooting 58% from the field
-The team communication on both ends is getting better every game
The Big 5 Offensive ORTG Power Rating
AKC-119
Champ- 115.1
Johnson-110.4
Toney-109.4
Horton-106.1
This looks really good for our starting unit especially with 3 sophomores and zero seniors in terms of our future. Our depth players need to be a lot better on offense as the season continues if we want to get back to where we once were or just compete for a tournament berth. We have a really strong nucleus right now but need some more additions in the future to really improve the depth. If you want a comparison, take a look at our 2011 starting 5 a year prior in 2010. It looked like this for the season.
Gibbs-118-ORTG offensive rating
Brown-112
Mcghee-109.6
Wanamaker-106.7
Robinson-97.7
Femi is turning into a strong 6th man off the bench and is going to be big time in the future. But we still need 2 more players to step up as the season continues on offense off the bench. The defense was respectable today but not great since we only forced 5 turnovers. But our overall team defense for the season is still holding in the Top 40 Nationally with the bulk of our players as underclassmen. If you didn’t recognize it earlier this year, there is now some decent light shining at the end of the tunnel.
At 3-1 in the ACC, there is a lot of opportunity to make a move in our next 6 games, each of which is winnable. I will be disappointed if we don’t win at least at minimum 3 or 4 of our next 6 games assuming no more injuries or covid issues. The opportunity is there for the taking.
Onward and upward we go…
Champ: 24 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal. Just a complete overall game today. He was fantastic and coming off the injury makes it all the more special. If his play continues to develop and improve, he has a chance to become an All American later on in his career. His dominance on the glass is in Blair territory for the year with a DR of 28.1.
Game Ball Assist
Horton- 20 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 turnovers. Horton is now shooting 37% from 3 for the season. More impressive, is that Horton has a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio his last 7 games as a 2 guard. And his offensive ORTG power rating for the season is now 106.1. Most importantly, he has been on fire his last 4 straight Acc games shooting 13-30 (43.3%) on threes while averaging 15 points per game all against ACC teams.
Game Ball 2nd Assist
Odukale-5 points on 2-3 shooting, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 0 turnovers in only 20 minutes. While Toney and X certainly played well today, it was Odukale making the big plays in crunch time as he beat the brakes right off the Cuse defense in the 2nd half. In the final 8 minutes of this game with Pitt holding on by 4 points, Femi scored all 5 of his points while dishing 5 assists as he took this game over late in the 2nd half. Ice water in his veins just like Levance Fields in crunch time. Odukale is averaging 9 points per game, 4 rebounds per game, and 3 assists per game against ACC teams while shooting 47% from the field. Amazingly, had Pitt made the same wide open shots in the first half as they did in the 2nd from his passing, Femi easily would have had 10-12+ assists today. NY tough
Quick Hitters:
-Pitt was +12 on the glass today, the dominance on the glass continues
-Pitt as a team only committed 6 turnovers
-The 2nd best scoring team in the ACC shot 40% from the field and 13% from 3 against our defense today
-Pitt scored 64 points in the 2nd half while shooting 58% from the field
-The team communication on both ends is getting better every game
The Big 5 Offensive ORTG Power Rating
AKC-119
Champ- 115.1
Johnson-110.4
Toney-109.4
Horton-106.1
This looks really good for our starting unit especially with 3 sophomores and zero seniors in terms of our future. Our depth players need to be a lot better on offense as the season continues if we want to get back to where we once were or just compete for a tournament berth. We have a really strong nucleus right now but need some more additions in the future to really improve the depth. If you want a comparison, take a look at our 2011 starting 5 a year prior in 2010. It looked like this for the season.
Gibbs-118-ORTG offensive rating
Brown-112
Mcghee-109.6
Wanamaker-106.7
Robinson-97.7
Femi is turning into a strong 6th man off the bench and is going to be big time in the future. But we still need 2 more players to step up as the season continues on offense off the bench. The defense was respectable today but not great since we only forced 5 turnovers. But our overall team defense for the season is still holding in the Top 40 Nationally with the bulk of our players as underclassmen. If you didn’t recognize it earlier this year, there is now some decent light shining at the end of the tunnel.
At 3-1 in the ACC, there is a lot of opportunity to make a move in our next 6 games, each of which is winnable. I will be disappointed if we don’t win at least at minimum 3 or 4 of our next 6 games assuming no more injuries or covid issues. The opportunity is there for the taking.
Onward and upward we go…
