Against Pittsburgh..

[Syracuse44]

We need to do the following to win in my opinion:

1. Send everyone to the boards, including Ennis and Cooney. All hands on deck rebounding. Plus, run outs for our team are very few and far between.

2. Get quality minutes and some kind of contribution on offense from Gbinije and Roberson. Give me 8 pts 6 reb, and a couple assists combined.

3. Cooney has to hit some shots. Period. He's been pretty great our past few games, we need that to continue.

4. Raheem Christmas needs to play 30 minutes, and be effective for the duration. Hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble, because Grant at center against Pitt is a recipe for disaster.

Thoughts? Additions?

 

[jimsonjunction]

I pretty much agree with what you said, especially the first and fourth points.

It's funny how inversely related rebounding and transition baskets are. It makes sense that you'd clean the glass better if players stay home, but I never thought I would witness it so obviously over the last couple seasons.

My biggest worry is obviously the absence of Keita. As we all know, Pitt is an excellent interior-passing team. Keita's mobility and energy in the middle was a humongous asset against that, and I'm not sure Grant has the experience to combat it. It will be interesting to see if we pack the zone in more than usual when Christmas comes out. No matter what, this will be a dog fight, but I think we are better offensively and will execute better down the stretch.

 

[pearl31]

d everyone to the boards, including Ennis and Cooney. All hands on deck rebounding.

Agree with this for our D rebounding but I don't think we want to send 5 guys to the offensive glass - think Pitt would definitely hurt us with quick run outs that way

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Wednesday will be a dog fight for sure. The key as always against Pitt is to deny the post and cut off the interior passing lanes. That and win the battle on the boards, especially the defensive end. The kids know this all too we'll and will be up to the challenge! LGO!

 

[pearl31]

With the center position (BMK probably out and Roc either playing less aggressively or hindered by fouls) guards and wings have to be especially active in the 2-3

 

[Upstate]

We could really use a Raheem Christmas right about now.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

We need to do the following to win in my opinion:

1. Send everyone to the boards, including Ennis and Cooney. All hands on deck rebounding. Plus, run outs for our team are very few and far between.

2. Get quality minutes and some kind of contribution on offense from Gbinije and Roberson. Give me 8 pts 6 reb, and a couple assists combined.

3. Cooney has to hit some shots. Period. He's been pretty great our past few games, we need that to continue.

4. Raheem Christmas needs to play 30 minutes, and be effective for the duration. Hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble, because Grant at center against Pitt is a recipe for disaster.

Thoughts? Additions?

Score the most points. The rest is window dressing.

 

[Syracuse44]

We could really use a Raheem Christmas right about now.

Sorry, iPad auto correct related typo..

 

[HoustonCuse]

I have come to the conclusion that we can simply outscore Pitt and not fret so much about Xmas being all alone inside with just 5 fouls. We have the horses to outscore this team. We did it to Duke we can sure as heck to it to Pitt, who has been putting up 40's and 50's games.

If Rock gets in foul trouble and you slide Grant to the 5 and put in Mike G at the wing, we have four players on the court capable of hitting a 3 and an extra ball handler to get out in transition. If you play Roberson at the wing, I think he is likely to at least equal and maybe even exceed the number of rebounds Baye would have gotten with those minutes so maybe it negates their offensive rebounding advantage somewhat.

 

[Upstate]

Sorry, iPad auto correct related typo..

At least you have an out. The ACC Regional Sports Network sure doesn't.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

I have come to the conclusion that we can simply outscore Pitt and not fret so much about Xmas being all alone inside with just 5 fouls. We have the horses to outscore this team. We did it to Duke we can sure as heck to it to Pitt, who has been putting up 40's and 50's games.

If Rock gets in foul trouble and you slide Grant to the 5 and put in Mike G at the wing, we have four players on the court capable of hitting a 3 and an extra ball handler to get out in transition. If you play Roberson at the wing, I think he is likely to at least equal and maybe even exceed the number of rebounds Baye would have gotten with those minutes so maybe it negates their offensive rebounding advantage somewhat.

The problem will have with Grant at the 5 is rebounding from the center position. Jerami rebounds much better from the forward position (as demonstrated against Clemson on Sunday). If Rak does get into foul trouble, I think JB will go with Robison so we have some height on the boards, but we will suffer defensively. We'll need a great defensive effort again tonight to beat Pitt. I think we'll get it, but I also do not think that Rak and foul trouble means a zero sum game for us. We are weaker defensively with Jerami at the 5.

 

[HoustonCuse]

The thing is, Baye isn't an especially good rebounder himself. I'm confident Grant will at least equal Baye's production from the 5. Roberson may not equal what Grant has done from the forward spot, but rebounding is clearly the strongest part of his game. I totally agree that our defense will be weaker without Baye or Xmas in the middle, but our offense will be stronger.