Duquesne has been up and down this season. They almost upset a ranked Georgetown team in DC, then lost at home by 14 to North Dakota State 9 days later.
Duquesne had 3 players transfer including T.J. McConnell who went to Arizona.
Last Meeting: Pitt 80 Duquesne 69, November 30, 2011
"It's really hard to get a feel for what this Pitt team can do. Obviously the turnovers are a concern, but it seems that every game when one particular facet doesn't go well (e.g. Gibbs shooting poorly, turnovers, etc.) There's always something else that bails the Panthers out (not including LBSU game, they were just outplayed in that one)."
Pitt turned the ball over 23 times in that game. Vomit. Woodall also got hurt.
Detroit plays their home games on Dick Vitale Court because he used to coach there and even led them to a tournament. They beat eventual champion Marquette in 1977 and Vitale danced.
Detroit has one good player named Ray McCallum, Jr. He had offers from Kansas, UCLA and Arizona, but he chose to play for his father at Detroit. It's a touching story. They made the tournament last year and lost to Kansas.
Okay, that's enough about Detroit. I'm probably going to start writing game previews in addition to the recaps so I can put all of this background info there.
Pitt still can't solve a zone, and it's awful frustrating. The first half was a disaster. McCallum dropped 17 and Pitt was a turnover machine. Robinson almost equaled his yearly turnover output (4) in the first half alone. They had 12 points with 6 minutes to go in the half and were down by 13. In the second half, McCallum cooled off and Detroit didn't even score for the first 6 minutes, allowing Pitt to close the 8 point half-time deficit to 2. Pitt eventually took the lead and coasted the rest of the way. It's time for me to give out some grades.
Tray Woodall - He kept Pitt in the game in the first half by hitting a couple of corner threes. Overall, he shot 5-7 from the field for 14 points. This was vintage Tray Woodall all night. With the emergence of Robinson, Woodall is free to pick his spots more. He had a beautiful drive in the first half.
Grade A+
Season GPA = 3.5
James Robinson - It's really amazing that, Robinson shot 5-9 and had 6 assists and I'm acting like he had a bad game. He played very well, but he has been just about flawless in previous games. I hate to admit it, but Robinson will have plenty of games in which he turns the ball over 3 or more times. You can complain all you want about the quality of Pitt's non-conference schedule, but they have played 3 games already against NBA-quality guards. James and Tray have gone against CJ McCollum (Lehigh, projected 12th pick 2013 by Draft Express), Trey Burke (Michigan, projected 17th pick 2013), Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan, 13th pick 2nd rd 2014 Draft) and now Ray McCallum, Jr. (Detroit, 14th pick 2013 Draft). McCallum owned Robinson in the first half. Pitt played better team defense, and McCallum cooled off in the second. These are great measuring sticks for the freshman. I'd like to talk about two plays in particular. In the first half, Robinson drove and threw a bounce pass threw 2 defenders to Zanna for an easy bucket. In the second, he got into the lane, stopped and calmly hit a 12-footer off the glass. We must all bow down to the new King James.
h/t to Fitz
He also went diving into the media section at one point and came out with a bloody hand. When asked about it, he responded that he did not have time to bleed.
He actually had to leave the game because there's sort of a rule where you can't bleed on the court. Weak rule. He was back in 5 minutes.
Grade A-
Season GPA = 3.95
Steven Adams - He needs a lot of work. He had 2 points and 2 turnovers in his 12 minutes. The few times he got the ball, the Detroit guards swarmed him and Adams had to immediately get rid of it. Adams needs to get better if Pitt wants to compete in the Big East. However, this probably means he's going to stay at least 2 years because he does not look like an NBA-prospect at all. Well, unless he's an idiot and I don't think he's an idiot. Then again, NBA general managers have taken crappier college players in the draft (Patrick Ewing, Jr. got drafted one year for crying out loud).
Grade C-
Season GPA = 2.85
Talib Zanna - If you click on that 2014 Draft link, you'll find that Zanna is now projected as a middle second round pick, which is awesome. He dropped 16 points and was the recipient of a few dynamite passes from Robinson. He very easily could have had 20, but he tried a few baby hook shots down low in the first half when he should have dunked it. In the second he had a man's 3 point play. After he converted it, he probably ate a steak rare on the sideline. When Zanna shoots free throws, some of the Oakland Zoo has started to do the Zoltan (Z for Zanna I suppose).
My thoughts on that:
Talib did shoot 10-11 from the line though, which automatically ranks as the greatest performance shooting foul shots by a Pitt big man ever. Not that there was much competition.
Grade A+
Season GPA = 3.75
Lamar Patterson - 12 points + 5 rebounds + 7 assists = typical Lamar stat line. Nothing more to say about that.
Grade A
Season GPA = 3.55
Dante Taylor - He blocked a shot. He also was involved in perhaps the funniest sequence of the season. He got the ball on the left baseline and was immediately trapped. After what seemed an eternity of pivoting around to try and get a pass off, he finally decided to drive. In typical Dante fashion he blew the lay-up. It was his only shot attempt.
@BW628 and I lost it.
Grade D+
Season GPA = 2.8
Side note, there were a lot of traveling calls in this game. Chris Duhon was happy about it.
J.J. Moore - He had one bucket and finished with 7 points. I honestly can't remember it. It was probably a lay-up. Dixon played Zanna, Moore, Patterson, Robinson and Woodall in crunch time last night because Adams and Taylor were so terrible. Zanna is a four, but I have no problem with him playing center for a few minutes here and there. It was terrible last year when he was forced to play it almost exclusively.
Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.5
Cameron Wright - He had two fast break buckets and made both of his free throws. Pitt shot 78% as a team from the line, which pleases me greatly.
Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.1875
Durand Johnson - He only played 9 minutes but he had two HUUUUUGE threes (including one that gave Pitt a 45-41 lead and effectively broke Detroit's will to live).
By the looks of the final score, it would seem that Pitt had an easy time with the Howard Bison. However, you should know that Howard is absolutely terrible. They only have 7 scholarship players, they're 1-6 (including losses to Lincoln (PA) and Gardner Webb), and they have the same logo as the Buffalo Bills.
Probably not a good thing
Anyway, Howard University is most known for having a dorm and cafeteria named after comedian Chris Rock.
By the way, it took me about 30 minutes to remember how to write the code to get that video embedded and start at the right time. I'm giving myself an internet for that one.
Quick Stats:
Points in the Paint - Howard 34 Pitt 32
Rebounds - Tied at 35
Free Throws - Pitt 10-18 Howard 1-3
The points in the paint stat on Pitt's side doesn't bother me. Howard was playing a zone and making Pitt shoot from the outside. Patterson and Robinson couldn't miss from three in the first half so it was okay. The problem is that Howard seemed to have an easy time scoring down low on the Panthers. Pitt had a height advantage at just about every position, which makes the rebounding margin (or lack thereof) another cause for concern. The score was 36-28 at halftime. In the second half Pitt remembered that they were playing Howard and smacked them around.
A staple of last season's Pitt team was one terrible half and one good half (or vice versa). I can think of at least 5 examples last season where Pitt fell into a huge hole at the half and couldn't dig themselves out. Other times, Pitt fell apart in the second.
So far we've seen both examples of this.
Michigan Loss - Great 1st half, Awful 2nd
Howard Win - Awful 1st half, Decent 2nd
We can see how playing well for 20 minutes is not enough to beat quality teams. You can get by with a shoddy effort against Howard, but this inconsistent play is going to kill them in the Big East if it continues. The fact that Pitt only lost by 5 to a top 4 Michigan team on a neutral court despite only playing 20 minutes is flat-out amazing.
That should scare every team in the country.
Look out if this team puts it together.
Onto the grades.
James Robinson - The Talented Mr. Robinson comes through with another excellent effort.
In the first 7 games of his college basketball career, James Robinson has 25 assists and 4 turnovers. Four. Turnovers. And he's playing just under 30 minutes a game.
Wow.
His 6.25 assist/turnover ratio is in the top 10 in the country among qualified leaders. After not scoring against Delaware, Robinson got back in the mix with 11 points on 4-6 shooting. He also dropped 8 dimes versus only a single turnover.
He had a bounce pass to Zanna in the first half that is illegal in 28 states. What amazes me the most about Robinson is he never forces anything. He never takes a bad shot and never tries to take something that the defense isn't giving him. On one play in particular, Robinson had an open 3 about 5 seconds into a possession. A normal freshman takes that shot. Robinson knew that with that much time left, Pitt could get a better shot. The three point shot will always be there.
By the way, that possession finished with an easy lay-up for J.J. Moore with an assist by James Robinson.
Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00
Tray Woodall -
If I had a dollar for every bad decision Tray made in this game, I could have bought myself dinner at Pasta Plus at half-time.
For the record, Pasta Plus during the Pitt game costs about $12.
Howard had 11 blocks in this game. I'd say about 4 of them were on Woodall trying to drive into traffic and then throw up scoop shots. He was 1-6 from 3, but redeemed himself by getting some easy buckets in the second half. He finished with 15 points, but it was really a sub-par effort. Woodall is always going to get his 12-14 points just from the number of shots he takes. If he plays well it will be around 18-19. If he shoots poorly, expect 10-12.
Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.375
Lamar Patterson - In the first 6 games, Lamar was 4-17 from three. In the first 18 minutes of this game, he was 4-4 from deep. He finished with 5 threes on the night to give him 15 points. He also had 5 assists. If Lamar makes 5 threes and has 5 assists, there is only one grade I can give him.
Grade A
Season GPA = 3.4375
Talib Zanna - Zanna leads all of division 1 in PER (Player Efficiency Rating). PER is like sabermetrics for basketball. It was developed by ESPN Insider writer John Hollinger.
h/t to @BW628 for the find
It was your typical Zanna night. He had 12 points on 4-6 shooting with 8 rebounds. He also got to the line a team-high 8 times, which should have been a lot more because Howard murdered him a few times down low.
Grade A
Season GPA = 3.6875
Steven Adams - It was another passive night for Adams. He's settling into a Gary McGhee type role right now in the sense that they rarely look for him on offense. I believe in his entire 26 minutes, he received two entry passes. He couldn't convert the free throw of an and 1 for his only 2 points of the game. Adams needs to hit the weight room or start training with the Predator.
Grade C-
Season GPA = 3.125
Dante Taylor - Sleepy didn't do much. He had a tip-in for his only 2 points. He also had 6 rebounds. Yawn. Dixon played Taylor and Adams at the same time for a few minutes. It was a disaster. Neither of them can play the power forward position.
Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.1875
J.J. Moore - Moore had the play of the game with a huge dunk. I'm fairly certain he could've dunked it on a 12 foot rim. Other than that, he had a couple layups. Not a good shooting night from him though (4-12).
Grade B
Season GPA = 3.6875
Cameron Wright - He made a jump shot and made both of his free throws. That's about it.
Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.33
Durand Johnson - He missed both of his shots in 4 minutes.
Grade C
Season GPA = 3.00
Game GPA = 3.00
Season GPA to Date = 3.375
Pitt plays Detroit on Saturday. Expect unlimited "So Cold in the D" references.
Trey Ziegler proves that in addition to making terrible decisions on the court, he can also make them off the court.
Dixon has suspended Ziegler from the team until further notice. Ziegler issued this statement:
"I want to apologize to my family, the University of Pittsburgh, my teammates and coaches and the entire Pittsburgh community. This is not indicative of the kind of person I am, nor the kind of person I want to be."
Dixon stated that he believes it was out of character for Trey, but that he understands and respects the importance of accountability for one's actions.
Obviously, this isn't that big of a blow for Pitt in the short term as Ziegler was not contributing much. However, Pitt will need Ziegler to mesh with the team if they are to compete in March. This obviously gives him fewer games to do so.
In a hotly contested battle of schools attended by Joe Flacco, Pitt routed the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens.
I didn't watch this game because I was at Heinz Field rooting for my students. They lost, sad face.
Some guy named Devon Saddler scored 28 for Delaware, evidently he's decent.
Pitt probably offered him a scholarship to return punts for them next season.
Zanna and Patterson both had double doubles. Moore, Woodall and Adams also had double figures. Pitt built a huge lead and the game was never in doubt. They never trailed. Delaware sucks.
Pitt shot 15-17 from the line, which has to be a record for them. They also had a season-high 25 assists versus only 6 turnovers.
That's it. The point of this post was really only so I could say I wrote a post about every game.
Ray Fittipaldo is the Pitt basketball beat reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He also happens to be an expert on hockey hits involving elbows.
After the win over Oakland, Tray Woodall was asked about Pitt's utilization of the full-court press. Dixon has never been one to press consistently, but this year he may have the players to do it.
“One coach who shall remain nameless doesn’t want us to press much and another coach who shall remain nameless wants us to press more.”
Old Fitti decided that this comment meant there were problems with the program because two coaches disagreed on something. I'm not linking to that story.
Tray destroyed him on twitter.
I would like to see Pitt press more, however, even if the coaches disagree, it still means nothing. Dixon is the head coach and he has the final say. Case closed.
And Bob Knight rejoices. These Pitt Panthers will not be the first team since Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to finish the season undefeated. I know he was worried about it.
I wasn't home, so I didn't get to watch the majority of this game. I had a crappy stream running on gf's computer, but I could barely tell who was who. Add in the fact that I couldn't hear the announcers calling out the players and I basically had no idea who was doing what. I just knew when the ball went in the hoop, which really, if you think about it, is all basketball is. Five nameless players trying to put the ball in the hoop. Perhaps I should take this blog in a different direction where I just talk about the team as a whole.
Herb Brooks would be so proud.
On the other hand, though, what am I going to do with all these photoshops I made?
Pitt had a lead at halftime, and according to the 5 and 1/2 pixels going across my screen, they appeared to be playing well. Michigan was not shooting well and Pitt was playing well defensively.
At some point in the first half, Cameron Wright ran a pick and roll with Dante Taylor. I just threw up in my mouth a little typing that, but somehow it worked beautifully.
Cameron Wright made all three of his shots (including 2 three pointers!) and didn't turn the ball over in 9 minutes. I know, I can't believe it either.
Steven Adams had a terrible game. He didn't score and had 1 rebound in 10 minutes. Pitt needs more from him if they're going to be a top 4 team in the Big East.
Lamar Patterson got back on track and was Pitt's best player all night. He was more aggressive, had a couple and 1's, and showed some of what we saw last year.
With a little under 12 minutes left, Ziegler hit the fir
st of two free throws to give Pitt a 44-39 lead. After that, though...
To say Pitt couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the last ten minutes, well...
Pitt made 8-20 from three and shot 45% to Michigan's 46%. They held the Wolverines to 3-17 from three point land. The turnover battle was even (10 for Pitt to 9 for UM). The game was decided by two categories.
Rebounds - Michigan won that 31-21
Free Throws - Michigan 18-22, Pitt 6-11
Pitt, and by Pitt I mean James Robinson, attempted to make a comeback by driving for quick two's and hoping for a few missed free throws. I wish more teams would adopt this strategy instead of trying to catch up quickly with three pointers. It's normally the better option. However, Michigan made 10 free throws in a row down the stretch. Robinson almost single-handedly brought Pitt back in the final minute by taking what the defense was giving him. He scored 6 of his 8 points in those final 30 seconds. With 5 seconds left he scored and was fouled to bring the Panthers back to within 3. He missed the free throw (either it wasn't on purpose or Robinson is brilliant at doing that) and the rebound bounced high in the air so that Pitt had a chance at the offensive rebound. There was a jump ball, but sadly the possession arrow gave the ball to the Wolverines. Had it gone back to Pitt, I might be writing about another miracle comeback. Sadly with only 2 seconds left, UM hit two more free throws and that was your final score.
Robinson finished with 8 points, 6 assists and 3 steals with only 1 turnover in 34 minutes. Man, what a player.
Even though Pitt lost, this game proves a lot. On a neutral site against an experienced major conference opponent ranked #4 with NBA-level talent, Pitt lost by 5. If Adams and Robinson continue to progress as I think they will, Pitt will beat Michigan in March should they meet again.
Pitt plays the Delaware Fighting Blue Hens on Friday at 2:30. I'll be at Heinz Field rooting for my students in the WPIAL Finals so I won't be able to watch. Pitt will win by 20 so I'm not worried.
