Pitt Panther Prowl

So Dreadfully Sweet

First of all, I just have to ask the question: Why did I get stuck at a meeting 3 hours from home during this game? When I finally got in my car and got the satellite radio on, Pitt was down 11 with 3 minutes to go and my wife called on my cell phone. I told her about the game and she asked if I wanted to go listen. I told her that down 11 with 3 minutes left, I didn’t need to listen. Then as she talked for the next few minutes and I pretended to listen (don’t tell her), I began to hear the Syracuse announcers (for some reason this time Sirius didn’t have Pitt announcers on) start to get concerned. So I turned the radio up and missed some life changing story about how my wife’s mother needs a liver transplant or something, still giving the obligatory, “uh huh uh huh” as I listened more intently to the game. Finally I hear that Pitt is down one with 25 seconds left and the ball. My wife’s mother’s liver transplant was going to have to wait. I finally told my wife (politely) to hold on and I gave her a play by play of those last few seconds.

When I heard that Gilbert Brown had tried to go baseline and ended up throwing up some junk shot (remember, I am listening to Syracuse announcers) I assumed the game was over; or at the very least, that Syracuse was going to be shooting free throws soon and Pitt would be throwing up another end of the game desperation three. Next thing I know, I am hearing that Keith Benjamin had the ball and laid it in for a one point lead. The Syracuse announcers, who maybe two minutes earlier were already singing the praises of their beloved Orange were now all in a frenzy over the last second events. After an awful Syracuse shot and subsequent Pitt rebound, Syracuse was forced to foul. When Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim drew a technical foul (for which the announcers never gave an explanation, but I am smart enough to make an assumption), the announcers stopped even talking about what was happening on the court and began what could only be described as the biggest pity party since Dec. 2007 in Morgantown. Listening to them whine and cry, I didn’t know what was going on until they announced that Pitt won the game by five. Being on the highway and trying to steady my car in 50 mph winds while driving 70+ mph, I had to keep my giddiness under control. But after assuming that they were going to lose just a few minutes earlier, I allowed myself one celebratory chicken-swerve into the other lane as an old lady going 27 mph relieved herself in her depends at the thought that she was going to die, despite driving at such a safe highway speed.

It was a good drive home.

Now that I got that little story out of the way, there are a few things to mention about this game. Pitt had another solid offensive day, shooting 47.5% from the floor. They have been shooting at around this average the last few games, but it seems to not be enough because of the field goal percentage they have been giving up. Things were no different today as Pitt allowed Syracuse to shoot a horrid (from our perspective, great from their’s) 58.8%. That stat is ridiculous. If I was Jim Boeheim, I would seriously make my players do nothing but run suicides for a week after shooting nearly 60% and still finding a way to lose. It is no wonder he looks like this:

Analyzing Pitt’s defense the last few games has been difficult, though. The last three games, by traditional standards such as field goal percentage, Pitt has played very poorly on defense. But if you examine other areas, such as steals and forced turnovers, you realize that the defense has had some bright spots. Today Pitt had 12 steals and 18 forced turnovers, the final steal the Sam Young game-clincher. The difference between this game and the last several is that, for the first time in five games, Pitt out-rebounded an opponent. If Pitt had lost on the glass, they would have almost certainly lost the game. You can’t let a team that is shooting 60% also get offensive rebounds for second and third chances.

Another bright spot for Pitt is that five players scored at least 12 points, including Gilbert Brown who has been struggling recently. Brown hit some clutch shots late in the game, including a three-pointer with roughly a minute to go that put the game within a point. The nice thing about the shot was that Brown looked to call for the ball and didn’t hesitate to shoot. As soon as he caught it, he spotted up and nailed it. That is the kind of big time play that is going to help Brown’s confidence; something Pitt really needs for a post-season run. The only starter that didn’t have double digit scoring was DeJuan Blair who finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds on 4-6 shooting.

Maybe the biggest factor in this game to be excited about was the free throw shooting by Pitt. The Panthers shot 88.2% on 15-17 from the line. Free throw shooting hasn’t been their strong point, and they would likely have a few more wins if they converted more than they have been. There is no doubt that every point mattered in this game. If Pitt had missed two more free throws in the game, they would still have had a respectable percentage and they wouldn’t have been in position to win on the last possession. Since free throw shooting is primarily mental, seeing Pitt hit almost 90% of theirs today shows a great boost in mental toughness that they are really going to need.

Even with all of that, Pitt got lucky that they didn’t get called for a foul at the end of the game when Sam Young stole the ball and passed it back to Keith Benjamin for the game winner. I am not saying that it should have been a foul call, but if it had been, it wouldn’t have been a bad call either. Jay Bilas seems to think that Young should have been hit with a foul. He maintains that the no call isn’t why Syracuse lost, but said at least 4 times in a 15 second analysis that Young fouled him. The announcer on the espn.com highlight video seemed to think Benjamin was guilty of a foul on the play. I disagree with that analysis. Benjamin made a strong play and forced Harris into a trap situation on the baseline, but Benjamin never touched Harris or the ball. To me, that wasn’t even a good no call. It just wasn’t a foul. There was no contact. The contact initiated by Young, on the other hand, is more debatable. While I see Jay Bilas’ point about the contact, and I recognize him as one who has been high on Pitt, so he isn’t a Doug Gottleib Pitt hater, I still disagree with him that it was a foul and here’s why. In Bilas’ own words, Paul Harris (Syracuse) should have been strong with the ball. Instead, he lost his balance trying to shield the ball from Benjamin and almost fell over when he did draw contact from Benjamin, which caused him to lose possession of the ball himself. When the contact was initiated between Harris and Young, the ball wasn’t in Harris’ possession anymore, effectively being a loose ball. At that point, Young had just as much a right to the ball as Harris. Since Young made the play on the ball and Harris just kind of watched the ball get away, contact was incidental. If they had both been diving at the ball, I could see a foul being called. But Harris made no real move for it. Sam Young just beat him to the spot and the ball and made the aggressive play that if Harris had made would have cost Pitt the game. Instead, Young made the play and Syracuse took the loss. Harris even admitted after the game that he turned the ball over and that he wasn’t fouled be either Young or Benjamin on the play.

All in all there were some bright spots and some concerns, but the fact that Pitt won for the second game in a row, and did so on the road in a difficult environment, there is much more reason to celebrate than to worry. Sam Young, who has been ripped by many “fans” for not playing hard enough, especially on defense, even though he is the one player Pitt has been able to count on all season, finished the game with 3 steals (after having 5 against Cincinnati) including the game winner, 5 rebounds (3 offensive), and a blocked shot. If other players around Young can step up and play like they did today, then we may have gotten our first glimpse in a while of why Pitt is a team most teams won’t want to face in the post season.