SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- That 22 point run was the stuff of legend, reminiscent of the run against Virginia last year, although we did it from the half court zone rather than the press. We were facing a team that has dominated us in a must win situation and we dominated them for an extended period that gave us control of the game. The Panthers were scoreless for 8:23 and without a field goal for 11:15. Pitt a team that scored 112 on Marshall and 88 on Virginia missed 15 shots in a row: 4 treys, 4 two point jumpers, 6 lay-ups and a dunk. They also had 5 turnovers in that stretch.
- Our zone defense in that stretch was as active and strong as any I’ve seen. We blocked any effort to get the ball into the paint with two guys who looked like they were playing 4th and 1 at the goal line. And we were in the face of any shooter. We had 9 blocked shots – 9! = and seven steals. We held Pitt to 37% on two pointers and 32% on three pointers, much of that after the game was already in hand.
- Offensively, we had great ball movement and got people open shots, which allowed us to make 52% of our two pointers and the same percentage of treys, (14 of them).
- We also had only 10 turnovers, which is good because Pitt was forced to press us much of the second half. We had only one of those turnovers against the press and it came when John Gillon didn’t have the ball. Gillon was often double and even triple-teamed but he always found his way out of it. He had his second straight 11 assist game and scored 20 points to boot. He’s clearly won the point guard positon until further notice.
- I had typed Andrew White as a stand-still jump shooter. In this game he showed he could set up his own shot, dribbling toward the defender and then back to create space and then sinking jumpers both outside and inside the arc. The guys who guarded him will see that sweet jumper in their dreams.
- Tyler Lydon reminds me of Hakim Warrick in that he seems to reveal something new that he’s learned every game. Suddenly he’s posting up and doing turn-around jumpers and hook shots. He can take his man off the dribble. He scored 13 points s and only one was on a trey. He passed for three buckets. He was credited with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks but it seemed like more. He’s our center the rest of the way.
- Tyler Roberson was all over the court, especially in the big first half run, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking 6 shots. He was a huge reason why Pitt missed 24 of 38 two point shots.
- Tyus Battle had a bad pass on a 4 on 1 fast break but that was about the only thing he did wrong in the whole game. Just as Roberson was dominant on defense inside, Battle was a big reason the Panthers missed 13 of 19 three pointers. Battle scored 15 points himself on 6 for 9 shooting, including 3 treys.
- Like I always say, if we have 1-2 guys playing well, we probably lose. If it’s 3-4 guys, we probably win. If we have more than that, we will blow you out and that’s what we did today.
- We are still in the deep end of the pool but we are keeping our heads above water. To get to 17 wins and assure the continuation of the winning streak, we now only need to go 7-8 the rest of the way and the team we’ve seen in these last two games will certainly do that. Can we get enough quality wins to ensure a spot in the Big Dance? Stay tuned. Get a couple of good wins and anything seems possible.
10-6 with 15+ to go!
LET’S GO ORANGE!
- Our zone defense in that stretch was as active and strong as any I’ve seen. We blocked any effort to get the ball into the paint with two guys who looked like they were playing 4th and 1 at the goal line. And we were in the face of any shooter. We had 9 blocked shots – 9! = and seven steals. We held Pitt to 37% on two pointers and 32% on three pointers, much of that after the game was already in hand.
- Offensively, we had great ball movement and got people open shots, which allowed us to make 52% of our two pointers and the same percentage of treys, (14 of them).
- We also had only 10 turnovers, which is good because Pitt was forced to press us much of the second half. We had only one of those turnovers against the press and it came when John Gillon didn’t have the ball. Gillon was often double and even triple-teamed but he always found his way out of it. He had his second straight 11 assist game and scored 20 points to boot. He’s clearly won the point guard positon until further notice.
- I had typed Andrew White as a stand-still jump shooter. In this game he showed he could set up his own shot, dribbling toward the defender and then back to create space and then sinking jumpers both outside and inside the arc. The guys who guarded him will see that sweet jumper in their dreams.
- Tyler Lydon reminds me of Hakim Warrick in that he seems to reveal something new that he’s learned every game. Suddenly he’s posting up and doing turn-around jumpers and hook shots. He can take his man off the dribble. He scored 13 points s and only one was on a trey. He passed for three buckets. He was credited with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks but it seemed like more. He’s our center the rest of the way.
- Tyler Roberson was all over the court, especially in the big first half run, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking 6 shots. He was a huge reason why Pitt missed 24 of 38 two point shots.
- Tyus Battle had a bad pass on a 4 on 1 fast break but that was about the only thing he did wrong in the whole game. Just as Roberson was dominant on defense inside, Battle was a big reason the Panthers missed 13 of 19 three pointers. Battle scored 15 points himself on 6 for 9 shooting, including 3 treys.
- Like I always say, if we have 1-2 guys playing well, we probably lose. If it’s 3-4 guys, we probably win. If we have more than that, we will blow you out and that’s what we did today.
- We are still in the deep end of the pool but we are keeping our heads above water. To get to 17 wins and assure the continuation of the winning streak, we now only need to go 7-8 the rest of the way and the team we’ve seen in these last two games will certainly do that. Can we get enough quality wins to ensure a spot in the Big Dance? Stay tuned. Get a couple of good wins and anything seems possible.
10-6 with 15+ to go!
LET’S GO ORANGE!
(mind you, that was back in the 80's before political correctness had enveloped us and it was still ok to use tongue-in-cheek humor). 
