Pitt Panther Prowl

Good and Bad to Take from Pitt’s Latest Loss

The bad news begins with the fact that Pitt has lost its third straight game. The other side of that is that Pitt has played one of the toughest 3 game spans that you can play, losing to Marquette, Notre Dame, and Louisville, all of which are ranked and two of which are in first place (or 1/2 game back in ND’s case) in the Big East. This was a tough stretch of games to have Levance Fields returning for. It would have been much better if they could have had Fields back and in game shape prior to this stretch. It could have made the difference, giving them a shot at winning at least one of these games. But the silver lining to this cloud is that in the last 3 games, the 3 games that Fields has used to get back into game shape, he has improved markedly each game. Also, the team played progressively better competition over the last 3 games while getting progressively closer to winning one of the games.

So there is bad news and good news, but it is all mixed up into one. A third straight loss sucks, but the improvement of the team gives much to be excited about. In the last two games, Pitt has scored 70 points or more, effectively ending the shooting slump that has plagued them the past month. Against Louisville, Pitt shot a respectable 44.6%, which should be a good enough percentage to win most days. DeJuan Blair looked good, scoring 20 points and getting 11 rebounds. Sam Young had another Sam Young night, scoring 20 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and adding 5 assists showing that he can give as well as receive. Ramon had a respectable 11 points and 4 assists on 4-8 shooting. Levance Fields was the real wild card. He looked great as a point guard, netting 7 assists and 0 turnovers. You can’t ask for more than that. In fact, between Fields and Ramon, the two primary ball handlers didn’t turn the ball over once, and Pitt only had 4 turnovers on the game. But Fields struggled again shooting, going 4-13 from the floor. I am not sure if he is forcing shots to try to get his rhythm back, or if he is taking comfortable shots and they just aren’t falling for him yet. I do think that once he can get a few to fall, that is going to be the real difference for this team.

With all that was working offensively for Pitt, they lost this game on defense and on the glass. Pitt was out-rebounded 34-28 and allowed Louisville a ridiculous 57.7% shooting night. This seems to be the biggest problem for the Panthers lately. They just can’t seem to keep the other team from scoring. Watching the last 7 minutes of the game, Pitt was making every shot. I felt like they were in control, even while losing. They just couldn’t seem to stop Louisville from getting layups. This is the third straight game that poor defense has cost the Panthers, and it is a problem that needs corrected if they want to beat Syracuse, Cincinnati, or WVU. None of those teams will let Pitt get away with giving up easy shots.

Defense comes down to two things. You have to WANT to be good at it and work hard for it. And you have to have the endurance for it. Right now, both of these things seem to be lacking for Pitt. Jamie Dixon has in the past gone with an 8 man rotation. It seems that the more Fields gets back into the game, the less he is using his bench, which is only adding to fatigue. Fields played 37 minutes against Louisville and only two starters, Keith Benjamin and Ramon had under 30 minutes, logging 29 each. Gary McGhee got 0 minutes, Tyrell Biggs had 12, and Brad Wanamaker had only 2. These kind of minutes aren’t going to help with an already fatigued team down the stretch. Beyond that, this team has to work hard on defense, and they just aren’t doing that right now. It is going to take an intentional commitment to playing good stop D, which we know this team is capable of.

Despite this loss, and the 3 game skid the Panthers are currently on, the players seem to have a confidence they have been lacking recently. That confidence is going to translate into a few wins and hopefully end any bubble talk. In the AP article on espn.com Fields said:

We’ve got to find a way,” he said. “We’re right there. This is a resilient bunch and I think this is going to turn, and I think we deserve it. If we keep pushing, something good is going to happen.”

And Young had this to say:

“I think we’re going to take off as a team,” Young said. “That motivates me more than these losses. These losses are going to be a stepping stone for us.”

That is the kind of confidence this team needs coming off a bad stretch and heading into the stretch run. If that confidence crosses over into their play on the court, this team can still recover and be dangerous. It is going to take a team effort and a commitment to defense, but it is possible.