Virginia Tech Game & Other Dribbles ...

[DT_PITT]

I think why the "play 1-3-1" comment is particularly frustrating to me, is that the person making the statement has no concept of what it would take in terms of practice time to implement that. They seem to imply that if Dixon would just say to the players "hey guys, play the 1-3-1 for the first 10 minutes of the second half" that somehow it would happen.

That was exactly what I was thinking, and my frustration with the comment.

 

[PittMan 72]

** The reason to follow sports, at least in my mind, and more importantly to follow your favorite team, is for the enjoyment of it. Tonight, I truly enjoyed my favorite team. That was a great deal of fun!

** But more than it was fun for me, and presumably other fans, it surely looked fun for our Panther players. These guys haven’t looked like they’ve been having all that much fun for a couple of games now.

** In his post-game interview, Sheldon Jeter mentioned about how he was just in a good mood today. He said he’s usually very serious and focused on the bench, but today he was laughing and having fun.

** Maybe this good mood helped Sheldon relax at little bit. And with that he scored, early and often.

** When he hit a jumper to score his 13th point near the 13 minute mark in the first half, history was already on our side. Through today, the Panthers are now 7-0 when Sheldon scores at least a dozen points.

** For most of this season, I liked the idea of Sheldon coming off the bench. However, I’m becoming more convinced it’s a luxury we can no longer afford. I’m equally convinced that the only way this team can reach their highest potential is with a greater focus on offense.

** I’m convinced of this point because I’m equally convinced this team cannot improve defensively in a meaningful way.

** That doesn’t mean our defensive effort was poor today. In fact, I thought the defensive effort was better, even if the execution wasn’t always the same.

** But when you can move the ball well enough to score 90 points with 30 assists, no one is going to be terribly worried about defense, are they?

** Interestingly, I read through some of the in-game thread, and found the posts about James Robinson to be fascinating. I say this because I thought James was actually excellent today, and kept the ball moving instead of sticking. At times, James can certainly be guilty of sticking.

** I'm also fascinated with some of the negativity, even a game that was going as well as this one. But I digress.

** Let’s return to Sheldon and what he seems to mean to this team. It’s pretty clear that his early success brought confidence to his entire team. This was a game where many of the Panthers seemed very comfortable letting it fly, even if they weren’t always hitting. Two players to whom this particularly applied were Sterling Smith and Cam Johnson.

** I loved the inbounds play where Sterling quietly walked out the three point line and no one seemed to notice and he canned the triple.

** Sheldon’s confidence also seemed to inspire Ryan Luther. The game was tied at 23 when Ryan let a three fly from the corner that found the bottom of the net. That was really the one that got the team going, and after Sterling followed with his own three, the game was completely in the Panthers’ control from then on.

** It’s now been three straight games where Ryan has had a significant positive impact on the game.

** I doubt that confidence is lacking in any part of Damon Wilson’s game, and it’s great to see him finishing two really tough plays at the basket. I’m looking forward to seeing what he turns into with more experience.

** I don’t know how much fun Mike Young had during a game when he had to get stitches in his mouth. Well, it couldn’t have too bad for him considering he scored 13 points after he returned.

** Maybe a punch in the mouth will help Mike in some way. He’s the leader of this team, and he’s the one that will have to set the tone with greater toughness.

** Obviously, the Panthers looked much tougher today than they did earlier in the week. But they are going to have to find ways to get tougher against the tougher teams.

** I’m not exactly sure what to think about the Panthers surrendering 11 threes, but only 12 twos. I’ll leave that for others to figure out.

** I’m also not exactly sure what to make of the mass exodus that happened at the Pete starting around the 6:30 mark of the second half. By the time the game ended, there were only about 5,000 left in the building. It would seem to me that more Panther fans would enjoy watching some good offensive basketball after a few rougher games.

** I know this team can be very tough to watch when they play the way they did against Clemson or NC State. But that wasn’t the case today.

** What was the case today was a very enjoyable game. Notice however, that I didn’t say impressive. Beating Va Tech at home by 19 is solid, but not impressive. It’s what we should have done, more or less.

** Beating the other Virginia at home next week would be impressive though. I believe the Panthers are capable of this, even if can’t say I’m confident they will get it done.

** But it sure would be fun! See you on Saturday for the BLACKOUT!

Think that if Pitt starts Jeter and plays him significant minutes (and accordingly plays less of Maia and ANO), to beat UVA Pitt will have to continue to shoot it very well. That is well enough to get to at least 70 points; and they will have to find a way to DEFENSIVE rebound effectively. The physical make-up of this Pitt team does not lend itself to being the kind of team that excels as much at offensive rebounding. But if Pitt can't handle their defensive glass and they allow the Cavs to extend possessions that lead to 2nd chance (or more) scores, then Pitt will likely have a difficult time. So boxing out on the def. end will probably be a crucial aspect for Pitt.

 

[UPitt '89]

Pitt has scored 72 or more in each of its wins.

Pitt has scored 61 or less in each of its losses.

The optimist says that Pitt is undefeated when they score 62 or more.

The pessimist says that Pitt is winless when they score 71 or less.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Oddly enough, Virginia Tech played a few possessions of 1-3-1 last night. It didn't work, and they gave it up pretty quickly.

I like "junk" defenses like the 1-3-1, but that's a defense that is really hard to play well.

 

[Delpanther]

I think most of the people who "discount" are those who discount criticisms that lack facts, knowledge or perspective. There may be a few that go past that, but it's a small number, just like there is a small number on the Phil side.

And here's the thing about Phil.

I wouldn't even say that I always disagree with all of Phil's ideas. For example, I too have concerns about how much this team can accomplish.

And to say that this team hasn't beaten any very good teams this year is accurate. (Although his "cupcake" argument completely negates the FACT that all teams are scheduling cupcakes -- ESPN had a discussion about it on game day on Sat.)

Still, Phil's motive is simply to troll and therefore it makes no difference what his thoughts are. The discounters aren't trying to be trolls.

In fact, I think the only "discounter" who is really equal to Phil on the other side of the equation is Dooz3.

There are quite a few buffoons in your clique who have no reasonable perspective, have very limited knowledge of hoops and operate in Dooz3's "neighborhood". And unfortunately they virtually live on this board. They are too stupid to even recognize whether another viewpoint has merit. Some of them must be relatives of coaches and/or administrators given their reactions to negative criticism of anything Pitt. It's incongruous that a program that in the whole scheme of things has achieved so little could possibly be "so perfect."

 

[DT_PITT]

There are quite a few buffoons in your clique who have no reasonable perspective, have very limited knowledge of hoops and operate in Dooz3's "neighborhood". And unfortunately they virtually live on this board. They are too stupid to even recognize whether another viewpoint has merit. Some of them must be relatives of coaches and/or administrators given their reactions to negative criticism of anything Pitt. It's incongruous that a program that in the whole scheme of things has achieved so little could possibly be "so perfect."

I think of the "clique" (as you call it) as any of us who post here regularly. I don't see it is someone who has viewpoints different than my own.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It's incongruous that a program that in the whole scheme of things has achieved so little could possibly be "so perfect."

It's also incongruous that a program that in the whole scheme of things has achieved so little could be considered a failure by some every single year when they fail to win the national championship.