Game 2: Pitt 75 Fresno State 54

Eleven seconds into this game, Fresno State hit a three.  After a Patterson miss, Michael Young grabbed the offensive rebound but then had it stolen.  Five seconds later, it was 6-0.  Then I walked into the Pete after racing up from my car and it all got better from there.  The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes until Jamie Dixon tried something he rarely uses, zone defense.  Fresno State had no idea what to do.  It was 13-8 Fresno at the first media timeout.  By the time the half ended it was 35-18 Pitt, a 27-5 run after switching to zone.

Fresno State's Marvelle Harris, who scored 30 points in the opener and hit the first three of the game, didn't have another field goal the rest of the game.  Fresno was completely over-matched in the paint, and thankfully for Pitt, Paul George wasn't walking through the Pete doors.

In case you didn't know, Paul George played for Fresno State for two seasons before leaving for the NBA.  In his free time he enjoys beating Lebron James off the dribble and dunking on one of the best shot-blockers in the world.  He also bought all the unsold tickets to Fresno State's home opener this weekend and is giving them away for free.

Let's give out some grades.

Cameron Wright - I am a believer in Cameron Wright.  I still do not want him shooting from outside 15 feet, but his game has finally matched his effort.  In his first two years, Wright was the guy who hustled his butt off no matter what the score was.  There was a non-conference game at the Pete his freshmen year when the ball was knocked loose in the backcourt.  Wright had no chance at it.  But he sprinted down the court, dove head first and tried to swipe the ball off the baseline.  Pitt was up by 30.  He has always been strong defensively (he had 3 first half steals and 4 in the game), but now he has finally matured on the offensive end.  He knows he's not a great shooter, and he doesn't force anything.  This is really quite amazing.  No matter how terrible some of Dixon's recruits look their first two years, they always end up as very solid basketball players.  Anyway, Wright finished with 13 points 6 rebounds and the aforementioned 4 steals.

Grade:  A+ (MVP)

Talib Zanna - If you watched the game, you're probably wondering why I didn't give the MVP to Zanna.  In his debut, Zanna was a beast, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the 7th double double of his career.  I don't have a reason, really, so deal with it.  When Zanna plays center, he is able to take advantage of mismatches because he is quicker than 90% of them.  At the same time, he still has the strength to deal with some of the bruisers.  The people on the post game made a comment about how strong Zanna looks this year and how he must have dedicated himself over the summer in the weight room.  Honestly, I feel like he has looked jacked at the start of the last three seasons.  I think he might lose weight during the season.  I'm really not sure about that, perhaps that's something most players do, but Zanna always seems thinner at the end of the year.  In this game, Fresno had no answer for him.  He shot 8-10 from the field and they were all easy baskets.

Grade:  A +

Michael Young - Young got the start again at power forward and put up another strong performance.  He finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds including a ridiculous 6 on the offensive end in only 17 minutes.  Everything people said about Young before the season started is true.  His offensive game isn't there yet, but he plays defense and rebounds.  He'll be a star.

Grade:  A

James Robinson - This was a very quiet game from Robinson.  He made a jumper, a layup, and hit both of his free throws for 6 points.  Other than that, he was just solid and didn't make any huge mistakes.

Grade:  B

Lamar Patterson - Patterson had an off night shooting (2-10, 0-4 from 3) but he always seems to make up for it in other areas.  He had 7 assists for the second straight night.  I worry however, that Patterson will be the same offensive player he was last year.  We're looking at another season of about 12 per game from him, which is fine, considering what else he brings to the team every night.

Grade:  B-

Durand Johnson - Durand was 0-4 from three like Patterson (part of an 0-11 night from deep for the Panthers), but I want to talk about one play in particular.  With about a minute left in the half, Durand got the ball on the baseline about 18 feet away.  A quick ball fake and a half a second later he was to the rim, where he finished with a layup.  If he learns to be more explosive like that, he'll be a dynamite player.  Of course, I said the same thing about Gil Brown and JJ Moore but they continued to try and shoot jump shots 75% of the time.  Maybe it will click with Durand, who knows.

Grade:  B-

Josh Newkirk - Not a good game from the freshman.  He missed all four of his shots and didn't score.  He'll get better.

Grade:  C-

Jamel Artis - Artis was a lot more relaxed in this one.  He made all 3 of his shots (including showing some range on a 16 footer) and grabbed 5 rebounds.

Grade:  B+

Chris Jones - He looks to be the odd man out at this point. He played 5 minutes of garbage time and scored 2 points with a turnover.  I barely noticed him.

Grade: C for Chris

Derrick Randall - He wasn't as dominant as the first game, and was a little erratic at times (he committed a couple quick fouls at one point), but he still produced.  His 7 points and 6 rebounds are probably a better indication of what we can expect from him this season than the double double against Savannah State.

Grade: B

Joshua Ko, Aron Nwankwo, Mike Lecak - The walk-ons all played in the final minute and Nwankwo missed a shot.

Grade: S for Studying Hard

Pitt cut their fouls down from 21 to 13 and their turnovers from 16 to 10 so there's an improvement.  Next game is Sunday at 5:00 pm against Howard.

Hail to Pitt,
J.O.