Pitt beat Lehigh in a game that I thought would be a lot closer. Lehigh is pretty good. And when I say Lehigh is pretty good, I mean C.J. McCollum is pretty good. Obviously, everyone knows Lehigh from their monumental 15 over 2 upset of the Dukies.
Lehigh wasn't the #1 seed in their own conference tournament last year, Bucknell was. That just shows you the magic of March. A team can lose to American and Holy Cross and then beat Duke when it counts.
I had to watch this one on television so I'm not going to be very detailed here. The reason is that it's difficult to focus on other things that are going on because the camera always focuses on the ball-handler. Here are some notes though.
McCollum is all Lehigh has. It's him and a bunch of tall white guys. He got his 17 points,but also turned it over 5 times. There was a white guy named Gabe who had 12 as well.
Pitt got huge games from Woodall and Zanna. Tray had a game-high 23 to go along with 8 assists. Zanna had his 2nd dominant game this season with 20 on 8-9 shooting to go with 6 boards.
The two telling stats from this game are the rebounding margin (Pitt 38-20) and the turnovers (15 Lehigh 6 Pitt). This Pitt team simply does not turn the ball over. Last year against the crappy non-conference teams, Pitt was still giving it up 12-14 times a game. This year it's been single digits every night. It gives them so many extra possessions.
James Robinson had a poor shooting night (1-8) but he played 30 minutes without a turnover, which just shouldn't even surprise me anymore.
JJ Moore was quiet tonight after causing Fordham to probably need therapy later in life with last night's performance.
Dante did his job tonight with 10 rebounds. That is really his only strength at this point, offensive rebounding. He had a nice jump hook in the second half as well.
This game was actually close at half-time. Pitt only led by 5.
Durand Johnson had a huge game with 9 and 7 in 17 minutes. Hopefully this puts him ahead of Cameron Wright on the depth chart.
Patterson, Adams, and Ziegler were all witnesses to the Tray and Zanna show tonight. None of them reached double figures.
This Pitt team is so deep. They're better than the 2010 team, which got a #1 seed. Does this mean I'm predicting another #1 seed in March? Well no, but I do predict that they would beat Butler if they played. I haven't fallen in love with a team like this since the 2008 team. I mean, I love all Pitt teams, but this one has potential to be special. They're the deepest team in the Big East. Louisville and Syracuse can suck it.
They get Oakland at the Pete on Saturday then a date with #5 Michigan on November 21. Wolverines are overrated obviously and Pitt will smack them around.
Hail to Pitt,
J.O.
Dude, totally agree with everything. This is the first time I have been able to see them this year, and to be honest Jordan: you are the greatest blogger in the world, but not even your blog can bring about the awesomeness of this team - no blog can. You just gotta see the phenom team for what it is.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is the scary thing: Pitt is not even up to full potential right now. They are a young team still and still have some experience to build up, and once they do..this team is absolutely the best Pitt team I have ever seen. Well no, next year will be the best ever if Adams stays around.
I can go on and on about this team, but the ESPNU commentator (former coach at Marainotto's alum: Providence) said Pitt was just un-real this year. In short, this team is incredibly deep this year, and there is no one point of their game which lags behind any other. I love the low # of steals, and the inside presence is so there this year with Adams and Zanna. Adams is so sweet on defense, and is exactly that Gary McGhee like player Pitt needs.
Pitt is going to kill Michigan next week - man, they have no idea what they have coming! I actually like that Pitt is under-rated right now, because it lets them sneak up. You definitely want expectations to be low.
Could say more, but just go watch the Panther basketball team this year guys. It is going to be a fun year!