** Gosh … this team is tough to love. They are even tougher to assess. They really can be such a mixed bag.
** After all, in our last three games, we have played three really bad first halves against three really bad teams. For those who like math, the average Kenpom ranking for these teams is 336. That’s 336 out of 363.
** Let’s go a little further into the math. Against these teams with an average ranking of 336 on Kenpom, in the first half of the last three games, we have scored 99 points, and our opponents have scored … well … 99 points.
** If you are a half full person, maybe you’ll like this math better. In the second half of the last three games, it’s 137-80. For fun, that’s an average of 45.7 per half for the good guys, and 26.7 for the bad guys.
** I suppose it’s up to every Pitt fans to make their own assessments from those numbers. For me, plain and simply, I don’t know.
** What I do know is that I was pretty disgusted watching the first half of this game. The Tribe of William and Mary didn’t outshoot our Panthers in the first frame. The reality is that they outplayed our Panthers in that time.
** The Tribe ran an offense that often the Panthers didn’t seem willing and/or able to defend. Panthers ran an offense of individuals. The Tribe was a team.
** Most troublingly, our Panthers truly seemed to be going through the motions in the first 20. This was especially true of our large man who plays in the middle. Most so on the defensive end.
** The biggest question Big John should be asking himself is how he allowed William and Mary’s Ben Wight to look like an All-American (especially in the first half), or at the least the most notable big man transfer P-5 schools will be clamoring to obtain next April.
** Things looked pretty effortless for Mr. Wight as he notched 24 points and 11 rebounds. So the 24 points is a career high, and the 11 rebounds were only topped by a 13 rebound effort against Navy last year. For a little more math fun, Ben had 10 and 6 in a lost to Va Tech earliest this year. Before tonight, he averaged less than 11 points a game. Tonight he looked like Bill Walton.
** Nonetheless, in the second half, the superior talent and athleticism of the Panthers stepped forward and this one ceased being a contest somewhere around Nike’s 3 pointer near the 11 minute mark of the second half.
** I’ll use this moment is the winning marker because it allows me to give props to Nike Sibande for a truly winning effort tonight. He was fun to watch because of all of the energy he brought to the game on both ends of the court, especially in the second half.
** When Nike played with energy, some other Panthers followed. The biggest example is that Big John didn’t gather a single carom in the first half. But he got 7 in the second half. Of course, he still trailed Nike for the game as the guard snagged 9 and he earned a couple of those through pure hustle.
** Most of my assessment has veered in the direction of the negative thus far. So I think it’s also important to note that a team that averages 46.7 over three halves, even against three bad teams, clearly has some talent. We clearly have some shot makers, regardless of their inconsistency or one-on-one based play.
** Along those lines, it’s noteworthy that Jamarius Burton has become quite efficient with his shooting, especially in his last four games.
** I suppose it will be much easier to assess our Panthers around this time next Monday evening after we learn the outcome against a pulse-worthy opponent in Northwestern. And I actually would not be surprised by any outcome, including a 15 point Pitt win or a 15 point Pitt loss.
** But I’ll be honest. This Pitt fan needs the win because for me it’s getting harder and harder to like this team, let alone love them. I want to pump my fist more that I want to shake my head. During today’s game, I think I had an equal share of both.
** After all, in our last three games, we have played three really bad first halves against three really bad teams. For those who like math, the average Kenpom ranking for these teams is 336. That’s 336 out of 363.
** Let’s go a little further into the math. Against these teams with an average ranking of 336 on Kenpom, in the first half of the last three games, we have scored 99 points, and our opponents have scored … well … 99 points.
** If you are a half full person, maybe you’ll like this math better. In the second half of the last three games, it’s 137-80. For fun, that’s an average of 45.7 per half for the good guys, and 26.7 for the bad guys.
** I suppose it’s up to every Pitt fans to make their own assessments from those numbers. For me, plain and simply, I don’t know.
** What I do know is that I was pretty disgusted watching the first half of this game. The Tribe of William and Mary didn’t outshoot our Panthers in the first frame. The reality is that they outplayed our Panthers in that time.
** The Tribe ran an offense that often the Panthers didn’t seem willing and/or able to defend. Panthers ran an offense of individuals. The Tribe was a team.
** Most troublingly, our Panthers truly seemed to be going through the motions in the first 20. This was especially true of our large man who plays in the middle. Most so on the defensive end.
** The biggest question Big John should be asking himself is how he allowed William and Mary’s Ben Wight to look like an All-American (especially in the first half), or at the least the most notable big man transfer P-5 schools will be clamoring to obtain next April.
** Things looked pretty effortless for Mr. Wight as he notched 24 points and 11 rebounds. So the 24 points is a career high, and the 11 rebounds were only topped by a 13 rebound effort against Navy last year. For a little more math fun, Ben had 10 and 6 in a lost to Va Tech earliest this year. Before tonight, he averaged less than 11 points a game. Tonight he looked like Bill Walton.
** Nonetheless, in the second half, the superior talent and athleticism of the Panthers stepped forward and this one ceased being a contest somewhere around Nike’s 3 pointer near the 11 minute mark of the second half.
** I’ll use this moment is the winning marker because it allows me to give props to Nike Sibande for a truly winning effort tonight. He was fun to watch because of all of the energy he brought to the game on both ends of the court, especially in the second half.
** When Nike played with energy, some other Panthers followed. The biggest example is that Big John didn’t gather a single carom in the first half. But he got 7 in the second half. Of course, he still trailed Nike for the game as the guard snagged 9 and he earned a couple of those through pure hustle.
** Most of my assessment has veered in the direction of the negative thus far. So I think it’s also important to note that a team that averages 46.7 over three halves, even against three bad teams, clearly has some talent. We clearly have some shot makers, regardless of their inconsistency or one-on-one based play.
** Along those lines, it’s noteworthy that Jamarius Burton has become quite efficient with his shooting, especially in his last four games.
** I suppose it will be much easier to assess our Panthers around this time next Monday evening after we learn the outcome against a pulse-worthy opponent in Northwestern. And I actually would not be surprised by any outcome, including a 15 point Pitt win or a 15 point Pitt loss.
** But I’ll be honest. This Pitt fan needs the win because for me it’s getting harder and harder to like this team, let alone love them. I want to pump my fist more that I want to shake my head. During today’s game, I think I had an equal share of both.
