This ain’t your father’s Pitt team – my game review

[orange79]

If you’re looking for an X’s and O’s breakdown of the Pitt game, you’ll have to read one of the many board experts’ posts. Because I am not one of those. Not even close. This will just be a commentary on the game experience. I have not read the board before writing this, so please excuse anything that has been beaten to death already.

Once again, Mrs. orange79 and I was fortunate enough and privileged to sit in some very special courtside seats, due to the enormous generosity of cto. She is a very special person who is very special to Syracuse and to this board, which to a large extent would not exist in its present state without her efforts and support. Thank you, Joyce.

Got a chance to chat with Cheriehoop, who stopped down from her seats to say Hi. Thanks, Cherie! Didn’t really get a chance to see many other folks this trip – next time!

The game just took off from the start and never let up. A stunning run to blow the game open. Based on recent performance, and our history vs. Pitt, I think I can safely say no one saw this coming.

The game is very different when you watch from close up – and can hear the players talking, see the nuanced expressions on their faces, etc. It just gives you a different perspective. And that perspective today? The kids were into it. Right from the get-go. I don’t know whether it’s the personnel changes, the learning of the zone finally clicking, or what. But the D today was as active as it was in some of the great years. The team seemed committed to it, which I can’t really say that I saw earlier in the season. Whatever the reason, they need to keep it up and get back in this thing. The O seemed more fluid today also, but I’ll leave the dissection of that to the experts.

The following are just some bullet point observations and stream-of-consciousness thoughts:

• So much energy displayed by the team today; based on the season to date, I wasn’t sure they had it in them. So happy to see it.

• When you’re sitting so close to the action (see pic below), you are likely to become part of it. In warmups, I was standing next to my seat with my back to the court when I heard about 6 voices simultaneously say, “Heads up!”. I turned around while unconsciously raising my hands and found myself catching a ball that came my way. Pitt player mumbled, “Good catch” as I threw it back to him. Good thing for my lightning-quick, catlike reflexes

• Otto was most definitely there

• Watching the game from so close of a vantage point, you get to see how big, fast, and strong these kids really are. Wow

• You also get to see how the kids were communicating with each other – really talking and communicating about plays, where they were supposed to be, etc. Good to see.

• Jeter of Pitt most definitely touched the ball last on the OOB play that concluded with Pitt being awarded the ball. It happened right in front of us, and it was clear he touched the ball last.

• The title of this post is This is not your father’s Pitt team, and I think that was evident in the way they played. None of the swagger, the clutching and grabbing, the smash you in the mouth manner of play. Of course, we didn’t give them the chance to do any of that with our quick start, but you can tell Vaseline-head is not coaching this team anymore.

• You could see in the Pitt players’ eyes when we played them even for most of the second half that they knew they were walking out with a loss today.

• What was the deal with the Pitt ‘press’ today? It really did nothing but take some time off the clock. It didn’t appear to be meant to try to turn the ball over, it was so loose and weak. Every time down court it was Gillon to Battle to Gillon (or Gillon to Battle to Gillon to Battle) and the ‘press’ was broken. Really weird strategy, unless your goal was to lower the number of possessions available in the game. If it was meant to waste time, it worked. If it was meant to throw us off our O…well, we scored 42 1st half points. :noidea:

• Speaking of Gillon, he is now playing like he’s the man. Huge difference in his on-court persona. Good to see.

• It’s not often you get to hear the lead singer for Anthrax perform the national anthem. Solid job.

• Fun the see the refs talking to the players and explaining why they called a play a certain way.

• Gillon seemed so psyched to be doing well, both scoring and leading the team, there were a couple times he danced back down the floor.

• Frank spent most of the game sitting between JB and Autry. Not a lot of reaction from him one way or the other. I am afraid we may have lost him. I hate when that happens to players. He may not have had a good season, but you can’t accuse him of not trying.

Overall, not a lot to complain about with this game. SU put the game away in the 1st half, and played Pitt even for most of the 2nd half, so they never really got the feeling they could get back in the game.

That’s about all I have. A wonderful experience, made that much better by a huge win over a team we usually struggle with. And if I could add, I am 2-0 when sitting in these seats. Just sayin’…

 

[GoCuse1979]

I didn't have amazing seats like that, but I was in 114 and agree with most everything you said. Great review of the game. I thought the atmosphere at the dome was outstanding. It peaked when Pittsburgh got the shot clock violation during "The Run". They couldn't think straight it was so loud in there. During this time I was scolded by my wife for being TOO loud! :blah:

Overall I thought the game was great and the crowd was superb.

Hopefully we see more of this team and less of whoever or whatever those other guys were!

 

[CaptainJ]

I blame it on/summarize it as there being absolutely no "clutching and grabbing" complaints from the board. From years of reading postgame Pitt posts, that's what it usually boiled down to, no?

 

[AZcuse77]

• What was the deal with the Pitt ‘press’ today? It really did nothing but take some time off the click. It didn’t appear to be meant to try to turn the ball over, it was so loose and weak. Every time down court it was Gillon to Battle to Gillon (or Gillon to Battle to Gillon to Battle) and the ‘press’ was broken. Really weird strategy, unless your goal was to lower the number of possessions available in the game. If it was meant to waste time, it worked. If it was meant to throw us off our O…well, we scored 42 1st half points. :noidea:

Nice recap!

'Cuse alum here who's read this board a long time but hadn't posted... After watching STJ and BC games I almost bet against SU vs Miami as I just couldn't imagine that team not getting blown out again but was happy it felt too dirty to do so and I was completely wrong after the lineup change.

Just to comment on this part of your post, I tuned in about 10 minutes in, and from what I watched initially I could not figure out at all how we were up that much. The Pitt 'press' seemed to be doing exactly what they were trying to do. Not to steal the ball but SU was throwing 3-4 lollipop passes losing 10 seconds to start every possession without Pitt losing anything on D. There must have been at least 4 or of 5 possessions where we did absolutely nothing until the clock got down to 5 seconds and Gillon jacked up a deep 3 with a hand in his face. Fortunately pretty much everyone was hitting their shots today just like against MIA. Eventually Gillon started dribbling through the press instead of wasting so much time lobbing it back and forth in the backcourt.

Obviously this team is playing with a ton more energy with Frank not in the mix. They are also hitting their shots and I think the margin of error will be very slim in the ACC if they go cold from outside.

 

[Coach Orange]

• What was the deal with the Pitt ‘press’ today? It really did nothing but take some time off the click. It didn’t appear to be meant to try to turn the ball over, it was so loose and weak. Every time down court it was Gillon to Battle to Gillon (or Gillon to Battle to Gillon to Battle) and the ‘press’ was broken. Really weird strategy, unless your goal was to lower the number of possessions available in the game. If it was meant to waste time, it worked. If it was meant to throw us off our O…well, we scored 42 1st half points. :noidea:

• Speaking of Gillon, he is now playing like he’s the man. Huge difference in his on-court persona. Good to see.

That was a 1-2-2 Containment Press. It's used to slow a team down and to force the opponent's guards to use mental and physical energy while moving the ball up the court. It isn't meant to force a ton of turnovers, though the defense will take them if they happen.

It actually helped Pitt slow us down and forced us into more of a half-court contest as the game progressed. They also mixed in a little 1-2-2 or 3-2 zone in spots, too.

However, their man-to-man defense, like Miami's, was not what it has been in years past. Their help defense rotated slowly, and they couldn't contain Battle and White off the dribble, much less Gillon. Gillon even hit a stand-still three at one point because his defender (who had switched to him as a result of our pick-and-roll offense) didn't bother to have a hand tracing the ball. To quote Mark Jackson, "hand down, man down." The departure of Jamie Dixon has clearly changed Pitt's identity.

We needed these wins badly. Thankfully, neither Miami nor Pitt played the "bullying" man-to-man defense they have in recent campaigns.

 

[llandz]

Nice recap!

'Cuse alum here who's read this board a long time but hadn't posted... After watching STJ and BC games I almost bet against SU vs Miami as I just couldn't imagine that team not getting blown out again but was happy it felt too dirty to do so and I was completely wrong after the lineup change.

Just to comment on this part of your post, I tuned in about 10 minutes in, and from what I watched initially I could not figure out at all how we were up that much. The Pitt 'press' seemed to be doing exactly what they were trying to do. Not to steal the ball but SU was throwing 3-4 lollipop passes losing 10 seconds to start every possession without Pitt losing anything on D. There must have been at least 4 or of 5 possessions where we did absolutely nothing until the clock got down to 5 seconds and Gillon jacked up a deep 3 with a hand in his face. Fortunately pretty much everyone was hitting their shots today just like against MIA. Eventually Gillon started dribbling through the press instead of wasting so much time lobbing it back and forth in the backcourt.

Obviously this team is playing with a ton more energy with Frank not in the mix. They are also hitting their shots and I think the margin of error will be very slim in the ACC if they go cold from outside.

Explain your name AZcuse77 please. No AZ in a name gets past me. Are you in AZ? Do we know you here? Do you come to our game watches if you are in AZ? If not join us N. Carolina game at Salty Senorita Old Town Scottsdale...

 

[nycfan]

.

That’s about all I have. A wonderful experience, made that much better by a huge win over a team we usually struggle with. And if I could add, I am 2-0 when sitting in these seats. Just sayin’…

Tremendous recap my friend. Really gives some great perspective on what the experience is like down there in the "Spike" seats. By the way, do you have time to get to Lambeau by 4:40pm tomorrow?...

 

[orange79]

That was a 1-2-2 Containment Press. It's used to slow a team down and to force the opponent's guards to use mental and physical energy while moving the ball up the court. It isn't meant to force a ton of turnovers, though the defense will take them if they happen.

It actually helped Pitt slow us down and forced us into more of a half-court contest as the game progressed. They also mixed in a little 1-2-2 or 3-2 zone in spots, too.

However, their man-to-man defense, like Miami's, was not what it has been in years past. Their help defense rotated slowly, and they couldn't contain Battle and White off the dribble, much less Gillon. Gillon even hit a stand-still three at one point because his defender (who had switched to him as a result of our pick-and-roll offense) didn't bother to have a hand tracing the ball. To quote Mark Jackson, "hand down, man down." The departure of Jamie Dixon has clearly changed Pitt's identity.

We needed these wins badly. Thankfully, neither Miami nor Pitt played the "bullying" man-to-man defense they have in recent campaigns.

This is why I leave the X's and O's to the experts. Thanks, Coach!

 

[AZcuse77]

Explain your name AZcuse77 please. No AZ in a name gets past me. Are you in AZ? Do we know you here? Do you come to our game watches if you are in AZ? If not join us N. Carolina game at Salty Senorita Old Town Scottsdale...

Hi llandz... We might have met out here... graduated in '99.. I think the last alumni event I went to out here in AZ was the 03-04 Alabama Sweet 16 game where there was a meetup downtown before the game. It was fun meeting everyone I believe we skipped the prior UConn game and just went to see SU. Then I believe Bama started raining 3's on our vaunted zone.

When is the NC game? I'm actually going back for my PhD at ASU now but I can try to make it.

 

[llandz]

I was not here then I still lived in NJ. That game is on Jan 16 at 5pm. PM me you email and I can add you to my email list, unless you were on an old list that I have. I am the alum club president here.

 

[bballbeadle]

That was such a great write up, Orange79! I am very interested in the players talking to each other. Can you give an example of what they might say? "Hey, Gillie, throw ME the lob next time, okay? Yeah, you! I'm talking to YOU!" Would it be stuff like that?

Re: Anthrax, at the end of the anthem, I said to my daughter, "Man, he's really milking it, isn't he?" She said, "Mom, that's a real star!" Hmp. He was milking it. I had no idea who he was.

Can anyone comment on Gillon and Battle throwing the ball back and forth to each other as they brought it down the court to our basket? It didn't look so bad when I watched the replay, but live and in person, it made me very anxious. I have to assume Boeheim told them to do that (?).

It seemed impossible that we would lose that game after being up 34 - 8, but I don't think anyone in the Dome was relaxed about the outcome. When Pitt got under 20, I was definitely starting to sweat. But not nearly as much as the man in front of me, who I thought would have to be carried out on a stretcher. There could have been a lot of 911's if we had lost that game.

BUT WE DIDN'T!

 

[iommi]

That was a 1-2-2 Containment Press. It's used to slow a team down and to force the opponent's guards to use mental and physical energy while moving the ball up the court. It isn't meant to force a ton of turnovers, though the defense will take them if they happen.

It actually helped Pitt slow us down and forced us into more of a half-court contest as the game progressed. They also mixed in a little 1-2-2 or 3-2 zone in spots, too.

However, their man-to-man defense, like Miami's, was not what it has been in years past. Their help defense rotated slowly, and they couldn't contain Battle and White off the dribble, much less Gillon. Gillon even hit a stand-still three at one point because his defender (who had switched to him as a result of our pick-and-roll offense) didn't bother to have a hand tracing the ball. To quote Mark Jackson, "hand down, man down." The departure of Jamie Dixon has clearly changed Pitt's identity.

We needed these wins badly. Thankfully, neither Miami nor Pitt played the "bullying" man-to-man defense they have in recent campaigns.

Coach Orange I think the press was also designed to shorten the shot clock for us. It made us get into out sets later and work with a shorter clock. I think Stallings hoped it would lead to some late forced shots. It actually did on a lot of occasions and we were bailed out with some late jumpers that happened to go in.

And orange79 Don't feel bad for Frank Howard. This didn't "happen to him." He brought this on himself. And I could accuse him of plenty, actually, pointing my finger at him would not be to make accusations, it would be to condemn. If that sounds judgmental, so be it. He better get his stuff together.

Enjoyable post. Wait, Joey Belladonna sang the national anthem? Huh?

 

[iommi]

That was such a great write up, Orange79! I am very interested in the players talking to each other. Can you give an example of what they might say? "Hey, Gillie, throw ME the lob next time, okay? Yeah, you! I'm talking to YOU!" Would it be stuff like that?

Re: Anthrax, at the end of the anthem, I said to my daughter, "Man, he's really milking it, isn't he?" She said, "Mom, that's a real star!" Hmp. He was milking it. I had no idea who he was.

Can anyone comment on Gillon and Battle throwing the ball back and forth to each other as they brought it down the court to our basket? It didn't look so bad when I watched the replay, but live and in person, it made me very anxious. I have to assume Boeheim told them to do that (?).

It seemed impossible that we would lose that game after being up 34 - 8, but I don't think anyone in the Dome was relaxed about the outcome. When Pitt got under 20, I was definitely starting to sweat. But not nearly as much as the man in front of me, who I thought would have to be carried out on a stretcher. There could have been a lot of 911's if we had lost that game.

BUT WE DIDN'T!

It was a zone press that Pitt was utilizing. Those passes over the defense are called "skip passes." If you don't throw them over the defense, you'd have to try to throw them through the defense, which would lead to deflections and steals and turnovers. Can't have that. It's basically a way to play a game I used to play as a kid, "Monkey In The Middle." You pass over the opposition, in usually a two-on-one situation to advance the ball across halfcourt, and then Pitt drops out of the press into their regular defense.

 

[bballbeadle]

It was a zone press that Pitt was utilizing. Those passes over the defense are called "skip passes." If you don't throw them over the defense, you'd have to try to throw them through the defense, which would lead to deflections and steals and turnovers. Can't have that. It's basically a way to play a game I used to play as a kid, "Monkey In The Middle." You pass over the opposition, in usually a two-on-one situation to advance the ball across halfcourt, and then Pitt drops out of the press into their regular defense.

AAhhhhhhhhhh. Okay. I kinda thought they were doing that even when no Pitt players were in sight, but I bet I am wrong about that. And I have the tape to prove it!

 

[AZcuse77]

I was not here then I still lived in NJ. That game is on Jan 16 at 5pm. PM me you email and I can add you to my email list, unless you were on an old list that I have. I am the alum club president here.

I believe i signed up back then but i don't think I received anything. I have another grad friend out here who is on the list and I asked her if she'd like to go (she isn't sure yet). I don't know how to PM or see that option on your profile.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I want more X's and 0's

 

[cto]

Glad you enjoyed the experience. The Pitt game in 2003 (the famous three court-storming game) was the start of our run to the NC that season. Maybe history will repeat itself.

 

[upperdeck]

Pitts use of that press wast just dumb coaching.. we were up 30.. because they didnt put any pressure on us we just lobbed it back and forth and then took 30 secs off the clock for the last 25 min of the game.. we had like one TO against it and used up the game clock.. The only way we could blow that lead was to make zero shots and even at the end when we just went thru the motions it never really got close enough to put any pressure on.

you cant slow the game down when you are down 30 and get back into it and that press is not going to turn the ball over unless we play like a JV team..

it also let our lack of depth not even be an issue. We walked it up the court time after time.

 

[hungrychuck]

The OP here was really well done and an enjoyable read. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

 

[Cheriehoop]

That was a 1-2-2 Containment Press. It's used to slow a team down and to force the opponent's guards to use mental and physical energy while moving the ball up the court. It isn't meant to force a ton of turnovers, though the defense will take them if they happen.

To be honest I had to laugh when I saw Pitt defending us making us use clock when that's probably what JB would have done having such a huge lead anyways . If there hadn't been a slew of foul calls against us stopping the clock (funny how foul calls happen when a team is so deep in the hole), - they had 14 foul shots scoring a 11 points off them alone in the 2nd half( scoring over 30% of their points total on foul shots), the game would have been remained a 20+ won. The foul shot disparity was so high that Pitt had to intentionally foul us about 4 times the last few minutes to even get us to 7 fouls so we had to shoot foul shots at the end.

 

[Coach Orange]

To be honest I had to laugh when I saw Pitt defending us making us use clock when that's probably what JB would have done having such a huge lead anyways . If there hadn't been a slew of foul calls against us stopping the clock (funny how foul calls happen when a team is so deep in the hole), - they had 14 foul shots scoring a 11 points off them alone in the 2nd half( scoring over 30% of their points total on foul shots), the game would have been remained a 20+ won. The foul shot disparity was so high that Pitt had to intentionally foul us about 4 times the last few minutes to even get to 7 fouls so we had to shoot foul shots at the end.

Great point.

The irony: our team was playing so energetically and confidently that Coach Stallings felt it best to slow us down, which actually worked against what his team needed--time--being down so many points. Is that strategy discussed in The Art of War?

To be fair, it worked to some extent; it did effectively slow our offense down. However, it also forced us to exhaust the shot clock during several of our possessions. I'm sure Coach Boeheim was okay with the tradeoff.

And are you suggesting that referees may call fouls based more on game situations than the rulebook?

 

[SWC75]

I've sat below for some NCAA and NIT games you really get an appreciation of how much energy and athletic ability it takes to play the game. You hear the squeak of the sneakers and the grunts when bodies collide.

From Section 308 the players almost look like they are floating around. But you also get to see the strategies being played out. At court level it's much harder to see the patterns to the player's movements.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Great point.

And are you suggesting that referees may call fouls based more on game situations than the rulebook?

I thought I was much more subtle than that .

Funny though I did forecast the foul calls for the 2nd half at half-time knowing there would be some help with the huge score disparity.

However I didn't foresee Stallings stalling the game himself assuming he'd realize that elapsed time was a factor that favored us. In fact I thought JB himself would slow down the game and use clock - he got help from Stallings. Good experience for our players to see ACC opponent coaches changing scheme and tempo and learning ourselves how to adjust our own offense to effectively deal with it.