Pitt Panther Prowl

Another Day, Another Let-Down Game

I don’t know what it is, but all too often in conference play, after a big win, Pitt has a big let-down game. Tonight’s game against Rutgers proved to be no different. What isn’t surprising is that Pitt had a let-down against a team with only 1 Big East win so far this season. What IS surprising is that this loss came at the Pete, where Pitt has been virtually unbeatable. Even more surprising is that it came on the night celebrating Pitt’s 100th game at the Pete.

This loss makes their 100 game record since the opening of the Peterson Events Center 91-9.

91-9.

How can you be 91-8 at home, and lose to the worst team in the conference? Well, there are two ways. First, lose your point guard to injury. The injury to Levance Fields isn’t an excuse. The 5 starters on the floor for Pitt are better than the 5 starters on the floor for Rutgers, with or without Fields. And Pitt has played very well in his absence. But just like in the Cincinnati game, the problem wasn’t talent on the floor. It was the lack of a true dribbler; a true creator off the dribble who could spread out the defense a little bit and force things to happen that aren’t just being handed to them by the defense.

Second, Pitt seems to play to the caliber of their opponents at times. It is sad, but, at times, they seem to just not play hard as if the opponent they are playing isn’t enough of a threat to bother breaking a sweat against. This is particularly true of Sam Young. Young is a monster whom I love to watch. But sometimes he just saunters across the floor like there is no urgency. You can’t turn intensity on and off in an instant. You have to start the game with it. You have to maintain it. You have to treat every opponent like they are standing between you and a national championship.

Given their lack of point guard and their willingness to play down to poor competition, Pitt has taken what looked like a final four team after the Duke win, and become a team that could just as easily make the final four or not make the NCAA tournament. It would be a shame if Pitt missed the tournament; it would also be a shame if they continued beating good teams and then losing to the bad ones.

I give Rutgers credit. They played good defense, especially in the second half. They shot 53.7% from the floor while holding Pitt to a mere 38.6%. They out-rebounded Pitt by 3, with 27 of those rebounds coming in the second half. Rutgers has something to play for. Nobody wants to be the basement dwellers. Nobody wants to be the doormat. And having lost 8 straight times to Pitt, they certainly had a chip on their shoulder big enough to want to win this one.

But in the end, Pitt had everything they needed to win. They were, and are the better team. If they played 10 times, Pitt would probably win 8 or 9 of them. Pitt has two of the best players in the Big East with DeJuan Blair and Sam Young. Yet somehow they managed another big let-down game. We can only hope that this trend ends soon. Pitt is getting to the meat of their schedule really soon here. In the next 5 games, 4 of them are against Villanova, UConn, WVU, and Marquette. The other is against Providence, who isn’t going to just roll over and play dead. Pitt can’t afford losses to Rutgers and Cincinnati when they still have these other teams on their schedule. It’s time to regroup, man up, and start playing like the team that beat Georgetown by 9 two weeks ago.
Update (1/28/08 12:15 AM): Check out this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, written 27 hours after my article, but assessing the play of Sam Young against Rutgers and the dangers of Pitt’s upcoming schedule in the exact same way as I had.
Where was this Sam Young Against Rutgers?