Wake Forest Game @ Winston Salem & Other Dribbles ...

[DT_PITT]

** Somehow, even in just the first few minutes, you could feel this was going to happen.

** Sure, early on, Jaland worked hard to keep it interesting. But when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes, you know it for sure.

** I certainly can’t feel angry at our Panthers after this total washout loss. After some pretty wonderful basketball, they were due for a stinker. I mean a 33 point stinker is a bit more of a stinker than is easy to swallow. But I can’t say I’d feel any better had this been a 13 point loss.

** What I do feel a bit grumpy about was our work on the defensive end. Wake was indeed clicking on all cylinders. But we never made it hard on them ether. Not in the slightest.

** Wake shot 61%. And for the stat geeks, their team true shooting percentage was an ungodly 76.1%.

** Just for the sake of misery, our true shooting percentage was 41%.

** There’s really not much more to offer this.

** We knew we could lose another one to make the NCAA tournament. This was one we figured we could lose, regardless of the score.

** On ESPN’s Bubble Watch, we were listed as “work to do.” Even if we would have won this game by 3 instead of lose by 33, we still would have been listed as “work to do.”

** The work continues Saturday against the Hokies. Put on your hardhats fellas.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

** What I do feel a bit grumpy about was our work on the defensive end. Wake was indeed clicking on all cylinders. But we never made it hard on them ether. Not in the slightest.

That was the worst defensive performance in a long time.

It will be interesting to see how we come out on Saturday night. Do we come out on fire to make up for this stinker? Or do we slink off into the night?

 

[gary2]

** Somehow, even in just the first few minutes, you could feel this was going to happen.

** Sure, early on, Jaland worked hard to keep it interesting. But when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes, you know it for sure.

** I certainly can’t feel angry at our Panthers after this total washout loss. After some pretty wonderful basketball, they were due for a stinker. I mean a 33 point stinker is a bit more of a stinker than is easy to swallow. But I can’t say I’d feel any better had this been a 13 point loss.

** What I do feel a bit grumpy about was our work on the defensive end. Wake was indeed clicking on all cylinders. But we never made it hard on them ether. Not in the slightest.

** Wake shot 61%. And for the stat geeks, their team true shooting percentage was an ungodly 76.1%.

** Just for the sake of misery, our true shooting percentage was 41%.

** There’s really not much more to offer this.

** We knew we could lose another one to make the NCAA tournament. This was one we figured we could lose, regardless of the score.

** On ESPN’s Bubble Watch, we were listed as “work to do.” Even if we would have won this game by 3 instead of lose by 33, we still would have been listed as “work to do.”

** The work continues Saturday against the Hokies. Put on your hardhats fellas.

For you it was: when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes

For me it was: when a guy as athletic as Zach Austin fails to convert when all alone, next to the basket

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

For you it was: when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes

For me it was: when a guy as athletic as Zach Austin fails to convert when all alone, next to the basket

He is overrated athletically. He’s not strong enough to finish.

 

[gary2]

He is overrated athletically. He’s not strong enough to finish.

I am strong enough to finish that (and I am 73)

 

[pittbb80]

He is overrated athletically. He’s not strong enough to finish.

Yup. He’s been a huge disappointment in that regard

 

[NCLee]

He is overrated athletically. He’s not strong enough to finish.

Thought he struggled terribly tonight. Trying to do too much back at home? He’s not been very good

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

** Somehow, even in just the first few minutes, you could feel this was going to happen.

** Sure, early on, Jaland worked hard to keep it interesting. But when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes, you know it for sure.

** I certainly can’t feel angry at our Panthers after this total washout loss. After some pretty wonderful basketball, they were due for a stinker. I mean a 33 point stinker is a bit more of a stinker than is easy to swallow. But I can’t say I’d feel any better had this been a 13 point loss.

** What I do feel a bit grumpy about was our work on the defensive end. Wake was indeed clicking on all cylinders. But we never made it hard on them ether. Not in the slightest.

** Wake shot 61%. And for the stat geeks, their team true shooting percentage was an ungodly 76.1%.

** Just for the sake of misery, our true shooting percentage was 41%.

** There’s really not much more to offer this.

** We knew we could lose another one to make the NCAA tournament. This was one we figured we could lose, regardless of the score.

** On ESPN’s Bubble Watch, we were listed as “work to do.” Even if we would have won this game by 3 instead of lose by 33, we still would have been listed as “work to do.”

** The work continues Saturday against the Hokies. Put on your hardhats fellas.

I feel like I can tell if Pitt is going to win or lose in the 1st 5 minutes. Looking back at the season, I'm not sure we started strong in a game we lost. I'm also not sure we started slow in a game we won. Like, you can just tell.

 

[Protes]

I feel like I can tell if Pitt is going to win or lose in the 1st 5 minutes. Looking back at the season, I'm not sure we started strong in a game we lost. I'm also not sure we started slow in a game we won. Like, you can just tell.

Pretty sure we started strong against UF and then lost. And we beat WF the first time around after being down at the half by 10, IIRC.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Moe-bservations:

*what a difference one game makes ... go from Blake scoring 41 on his own vs Louisville, and combined last night vs Wake, Blake, Jaland, and Ish scored a total of 37

*Wake dictated the pace and intensity from tip-off to the final 0:00

*As DT said, we were due for a stinker. This one reeked to high heaven

*61/50/95 - Wake's % for FG/3-point/FT
*29/27/68 - Pitt's % for the same

*Last night we were poor despite the high number of offensive rebounds; even if we doubled that number we still probably lose

*As good as Wake's defense was, Pitt missed a large number of open shots. Zack, Blake, and Bub shot 3-19 from 3, and many of them were open, un-guarded shots

*Interesting stats:

a) Points in the paint difference: 38-10 (Wake)

b) Pitt had more offensive rebounds than defensive (16-13)

c) For his 9+ minutes on the floor, Will Jeffress was just a -3

*As I stated in a different post yesterday, I don't think this eliminates Pitt from the NCAAT discussion. The Q1 wins and road wins will keep us in the Committee's "mind". WF needed the win more, and from their play wanted it more

*Hope the Panther cagers have a short memory, and our home court benefits us this next game the way Wake's did last night

*H2P

 

[Chairman Moe]

Pretty sure we started strong against UF and then lost. And we beat WF the first time around after being down at the half by 10, IIRC.

Don't recall the Florida game, but we were down 37-27 to Wake when we played them in January @ home

 

[str61166]

For you it was: when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes

For me it was: when a guy as athletic as Zach Austin fails to convert when all alone, next to the basket

This all checks out but I’ll add for me it was also Austin and Bub taking too many shots that they just don’t typically make.

Also, we were all worried about Reid and he got his but that other big guy Matthew Marsh who came in averaging < 2 PPG had a pretty quick 7 and some big rebounds. Imagine Will doing that. Even Fede rarely scores above 6.

That aside, Wake is a really good team with a lot of guys who can score and tough to beat at home. I had a terrible feeling about this one even from the moment Pitt beat them the last time and I saw they had to play them again. No real issue damn near doubling what they put up on Virginia this past weekend.

 

[OhioPanther99]

For you it was: when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes

For me it was: when a guy as athletic as Zach Austin fails to convert when all alone, next to the basket

Our lack of a better player/starter than Austin is a giant hole on this team. He a 25% shooter from 3, but yet he chucks them up like Curry.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Our lack of a better player/starter than Austin is a giant hole on this team. He a 25% shooter from 3, but yet he chucks them up like Curry.

The Austin for Elliott tradeoff is the biggest problem. I didn't like Austin in real time simply because his PPG average was too low at a low major.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

People Pitt didn’t lose this game because of Zack Austin . He’s certainly not the 38% 3 Pt guy as advertised., but Pitt lost this game because Wake played a great game . They made everything and the ball continuously bounced their way .

Wake showed you that moving the ball to a big down low who can score makes playing offense so much easier . Pitt has nothing inside to threaten a defense .

Bad loss to a good team that played well , get over it , there’s more games to play .

 

[Chescat]

I am strong enough to finish that (and I am 73)

LOL

 

[Chescat]

I didnt post anything pre game because even though we've been
playing great lately, I remembered the first WF game that we
won here. We won that game, it could have gone either way,
and my sense was WF felt thy blew it. Are they 33 pts better?
Of course not, but they were last night when it counted. Their
shooting was on fire, and our D left a lot to be desired. You can't
shoot 20+ % on Fg's and Threes (especially if youre a jump shooting
team) and expect to win, or for that matter stay in the game. WF is
tough at home, and they have some experienced talent. Their coach
came in a few years ago and basically resurrected their pogram.
His two predecessors basically ruined their program (Manning and
Bzdelic). Coach Forbes has them back, he has a winning record
so far despite his initial bad first season. Anyone watching WF
can easily see a well coached team. I was surprised by the point
differential last night, but wasn't surprised by the loss.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I am strong enough to finish that (and I am 73)

With your vertical leap of 4 inches I don’t think so !

 

[pittchagg]

People Pitt didn’t lose this game because of Zack Austin . He’s certainly not the 38% 3 Pt guy as advertised., but Pitt lost this game because Wake played a great game . They made everything and the ball continuously bounced their way .

Wake showed you that moving the ball to a big down low who can score makes playing offense so much easier . Pitt has nothing inside to threaten a defense .

Bad loss to a good team that played well , get over it , there’s more games to play .

I don’t know if Austin was ever advertised to be a 38% guy from three. Until last night’s very difficult game for him, he was shooting about 33% from three in conference play, which is about what his percentages were at High Point, albeit with less volume at Pitt than he was shooting at High Point.

It seems like they clearly liked his ability to be a catch and shoot guy opposite Blake in a similar role to what Elliott was last year. Austin and Leggett both kinda came in with similar profiles: guys who shot it a lot at their prior school, that we brought in with the plan that we could manufacture better shots for them in our offensive scheme and have their percentages go up as a result. We’ve certainly manufactured pretty good shots for both of them, and the plan has been successful with Leggett - not as much with Austin. It’s not fair to put it all on Austin in the slightest, but I think they definitely expected more out of him offensively. He’s been fantastic defensively.

 

[WillyDavis33]

Hard to find any good from this game outside of Ish! Bub stunk the place up!

 

[PittMan 72]

I didnt post anything pre game because even though we've been
playing great lately, I remembered the first WF game that we
won here. We won that game, it could have gone either way,
and my sense was WF felt thy blew it. Are they 33 pts better?
Of course not, but they were last night when it counted. Their
shooting was on fire, and our D left a lot to be desired. You can't
shoot 20+ % on Fg's and Threes (especially if youre a jump shooting
team) and expect to win, or for that matter stay in the game. WF is
tough at home, and they have some experienced talent. Their coach
came in a few years ago and basically resurrected their pogram.
His two predecessors basically ruined their program (Manning and
Bzdelic). Coach Forbes has them back, he has a winning record
so far despite his initial bad first season. Anyone watching WF
can easily see a well coached team. I was surprised by the point
differential last night, but wasn't surprised by the loss.

Forbes - just like a lot of other HC’s & programs - has made wonderful use of the player movement environment so prevalent is CBB today with the Portal and NIL.

Wake started 4 transfers yesterday and they all played very well: Sallis & Reid (Gonzaga); Miller (C Mich.) Carr (Delaware). Plus Monsanto (ETSU) off the bench.

Credit to Forbes for finding these guys, getting them to WF and assembling them so well as a team.

Be interesting to see if Wake can keep it up vs Duke. They have been lights out at home. If they can move the ball and shoot it like they did last night, they will continue to be hard for anyone to beat, especially in Winston-Salem.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Forbes - just like a lot of other HC’s & programs - has made wonderful use of the player movement environment so prevalent is CBB today with the Portal and NIL.

Wake started 4 transfers yesterday and they all played very well: Sallis & Reid (Gonzaga); Miller (C Mich.) Carr (Delaware). Plus Monsanto (ETSU) off the bench.

Credit to Forbes for finding these guys, getting them to WF and assembling them so well as a team.

Be interesting to see if Wake can keep it up vs Duke. They have been lights out at home. If they can move the ball and shoot it like they did last night, they will continue to be hard for anyone to beat, especially in Winston-Salem.

I agree Forbes has done an incredible job of portaling. Its like he's had same team 4 years in a row but every year its new guys who are similar to the guys the year before. That said, he just makes it to the Bubble every year. Forbes 1 = Dixon 2

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

** Somehow, even in just the first few minutes, you could feel this was going to happen.

** Sure, early on, Jaland worked hard to keep it interesting. But when a guy named Parker Friedrichsen hits a pair of threes, you know it for sure.

** I certainly can’t feel angry at our Panthers after this total washout loss. After some pretty wonderful basketball, they were due for a stinker. I mean a 33 point stinker is a bit more of a stinker than is easy to swallow. But I can’t say I’d feel any better had this been a 13 point loss.

** What I do feel a bit grumpy about was our work on the defensive end. Wake was indeed clicking on all cylinders. But we never made it hard on them ether. Not in the slightest.

** Wake shot 61%. And for the stat geeks, their team true shooting percentage was an ungodly 76.1%.

** Just for the sake of misery, our true shooting percentage was 41%.

** There’s really not much more to offer this.

** We knew we could lose another one to make the NCAA tournament. This was one we figured we could lose, regardless of the score.

** On ESPN’s Bubble Watch, we were listed as “work to do.” Even if we would have won this game by 3 instead of lose by 33, we still would have been listed as “work to do.”

** The work continues Saturday against the Hokies. Put on your hardhats fellas.

Your first statement.....I mean yep. Just felt off from the beginning. Though kept on hoping Wake would cool off and we would heat up based on regressions to the mean but....one of those nights.

I posted this weekend, Pitt was tied for the most road wins in P6 level conferences with 6 (UNC, Creighton, Marquette).

So...to expect Pitt to win at Wake and at Clemson, it just shows you how tough it is to win on the road. So this was kind of coming. Not necessarily the drubbing, but a defeat.

 

[pittbb80]

Heres a question. Why not run off ball screens for Hinson to get him open? They do almost nothing to make the defense work to guard him. The few times he did post up I though he was somewhat effective.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

Forbes - just like a lot of other HC’s & programs - has made wonderful use of the player movement environment so prevalent is CBB today with the Portal and NIL.

Wake started 4 transfers yesterday and they all played very well: Sallis & Reid (Gonzaga); Miller (C Mich.) Carr (Delaware). Plus Monsanto (ETSU) off the bench.

Credit to Forbes for finding these guys, getting them to WF and assembling them so well as a team.

Be interesting to see if Wake can keep it up vs Duke. They have been lights out at home. If they can move the ball and shoot it like they did last night, they will continue to be hard for anyone to beat, especially in Winston-Salem.

Man, Hunter Sallis is a good player and Efton Reid would look great in our lineup.

 

[pittchagg]

Heres a question. Why not run off ball screens for Hinson to get him open? They do almost nothing to make the defense work to guard him. The few times he did post up I though he was somewhat effective.

They do a ton of this almost every game.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Heres a question. Why not run off ball screens for Hinson to get him open? They do almost nothing to make the defense work to guard him. The few times he did post up I though he was somewhat effective.

They tried a few times and of course Fede moving screens repetitively

 

[PittPharm2002]

Only reply I have -
I turned this one off 5 minutes after halftime .
Just wasn’t our night and wake needed this one .

 

[Seneca_Valley]

Only reply I have -
I turned this one off 5 minutes after halftime .
Just wasn’t our night and wake needed this one .

I must have a stronger stomach than you. I made it another five minutes before moving on.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Moe-bservations:

*what a difference one game makes ... go from Blake scoring 41 on his own vs Louisville, and combined last night vs Wake, Blake, Jaland, and Ish scored a total of 37

*Wake dictated the pace and intensity from tip-off to the final 0:00

*As DT said, we were due for a stinker. This one reeked to high heaven

*61/50/95 - Wake's % for FG/3-point/FT
*29/27/68 - Pitt's % for the same

*Last night we were poor despite the high number of offensive rebounds; even if we doubled that number we still probably lose

*As good as Wake's defense was, Pitt missed a large number of open shots. Zack, Blake, and Bub shot 3-19 from 3, and many of them were open, un-guarded shots

*Interesting stats:

a) Points in the paint difference: 38-10 (Wake)

b) Pitt had more offensive rebounds than defensive (16-13)

c) For his 9+ minutes on the floor, Will Jeffress was just a -3

*As I stated in a different post yesterday, I don't think this eliminates Pitt from the NCAAT discussion. The Q1 wins and road wins will keep us in the Committee's "mind". WF needed the win more, and from their play wanted it more

*Hope the Panther cagers have a short memory, and our home court benefits us this next game the way Wake's did last night

*H2P

WF definitely dictated the pace from beginning to end. They made things happen at their pace on both ends of the floor. Also, their ball movement was outstanding. I think those are 2 of the main reasons they won so big last night. They just never let up.

 

[pittbb80]

They do a ton of this almost every game.

I dont see it that much. Blake pretty much drifts on the perimeter. He rarely is running baseline or through the lane and someone else sets a screen for him to run off of. Maybe Im just not paying close enough attention but I dont see it happen that much and certainly not much against wake.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I must have a stronger stomach than you. I made it another five minutes before moving on.

When it was 8-2, I honestly thought we couldn't win. Seems like you can normally tell in the first 5 minutes.

 

[PittPharm2002]

I must have a stronger stomach than you. I made it another five minutes before moving on.

Too late for me anyway .
I decided I rather be able to sleep than get so angry I would be up all night

 

[Seneca_Valley]

When it was 8-2, I honestly thought we couldn't win. Seems like you can normally tell in the first 5 minutes.

Not really. I've seen too many "insurmountable" leads evaporate to buy in. The way they played/shot their way out of it made this more predictable early on. Oh yeah, the defense did not show up either.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Pretty sure we started strong against UF and then lost. And we beat WF the first time around after being down at the half by 10, IIRC.

Yeah, but clearly what he meant to say was if you excluded all the times we started well and lost and all the times we started poorly and won, that other than those games you could tell what was going to happen in the first five minutes.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yeah, but clearly what he meant to say was if you excluded all the times we started well and lost and all the times we started poorly and won, that other than those games you could tell what was going to happen in the first five minutes.

I did think we were going to win the Florida game the way it started. We looked ready for the moment. The home Wake game, I didnt have a feeling either way the first 5 minutes. At halftime, I thought we would lose but that's not what I'm talking about.

Even going back to last season and I dont mean this for every single game but most games you can tell in the 1st 5 minutes if we'll win or not. Go back to the Duke games. Iowa State and Xavier. Notre Dame. Capel's team reminds me of an above average starting pitcher who you can tell what kind of stuff he has that day in the 1st inning.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Even going back to last season and I dont mean this for every single game but most games you can tell in the 1st 5 minutes if we'll win or not. Go back to the Duke games.

In the Duke game where they bitch-slapped us the score after five minutes was 9-8. In the North Carolina game when they beat us pretty bad, after five minutes North Carolina still hadn't scored. In the Notre Dame game that you mentioned after five minutes we were losing 7-6. After five minutes Virginia was beating us. After five minutes the Hoopies were beating us.

Like I said, if you exclude all the games that you can't tell, you can tell every time.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

In the Duke game where they bitch-slapped us the score after five minutes was 9-8. In the North Carolina game when they beat us pretty bad, after five minutes North Carolina still hadn't scored. In the Notre Dame game that you mentioned after five minutes we were losing 7-6. After five minutes Virginia was beating us. After five minutes the Hoopies were beating us.

Like I said, if you exclude all the games that you can't tell, you can tell every time.

I felt we were going to lose UNC because we couldn't score. We were up like 6-0 after the first 5 minutes. I had a bad feeling. The Duke game, I guess I figured we had no shot anyway regardless of the score. I knew we couldn't guard Flip. The ND game, I didnt think we'd lose and being down 7-6 didnt bother me. UVa I felt good about. Its not just the score. Its how whether they are getting good shots, giving up easy buckets, etc.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

Too late for me anyway .
I decided I rather be able to sleep than get so angry I would be up all night

One thing though...a blowout like that is easier for me to "sleep off" than trying to break down the few possessions that cost the game.

 

[Millerton24]

I dont see it that much. Blake pretty much drifts on the perimeter. He rarely is running baseline or through the lane and someone else sets a screen for him to run off of. Maybe Im just not paying close enough attention but I dont see it happen that much and certainly not much against wake.

Nope, you're seeing it correctly. I agree, they don't do enough of it. No baseline screens. Defense would overplay because Hinson is dangerous then boom backdoor or the guy setting the screen rolls to the hoop.