Pitt thoughts

[SoBeCuse]

Dixon clearly has these guys playing better and are heading towards a decent seed in the Tourney. Woodall and Grant's teammate from DeMatha are playing well. Zanna and Adams are big boys. I expect there to be lots of slop offensively from both teams. I think our offense will really struggle again. Just worried that it could come down to offensive rebounds...sigh. Thoughts? James back would really help spread the floor against this team especially.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Pitt will mostly be out-sized by SU, but that big freshman center could create havoc if manages to stay out foul trouble. I'd run the offense through DC2 for the first 5 minutes and go right at the kid.

 

[Orange87]

You know what though? Even if they play just like they did against 'Nova, I think they'll be fine. How many lay-ups just bounced off the rim for Syracuse? And 'Nova shot lights out. That's hard to overcome and yet the Orange still could've won it in regulation had MCW hit that foul shot at the end. As long as the defense holds (no reason to think it won't) and they get as many good looks as they did against the Wildcats, the Orange should get the 'W'.

 

[CorduroyG]

UGLY. 55-54 type of game. Flip a coin.

We need james asap

Sent from my SCH-R720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SoBeCuse]

You know what though? Even if they play just like they did against 'Nova, I think they'll be fine. How many lay-ups just bounced off the rim for Syracuse? And 'Nova shot lights out. That's hard to overcome and yet the Orange still could've won it in regulation had MCW hit that foul shot at the end. As long as the defense holds (no reason to think it won't) and they get as many good looks as they did against the Wildcats, the Orange should get the 'W'.

Maybe. Pitt has better players. Guards especially.

 

[Eric15]

There are many coaches that Boeheim owns (e.g. Tom Izzo, John Beilein), but there are very few coaches that own Boeheim. Unfortunately, Jamie Dixon is one of them... he's 9-3 against SU. He simply has a blueprint for tearing our zone to pieces. We can play the "Mom, they're not playing fair!" card and complain about their hand-checking, etc. but in reality, the reason we lose is because we allow them out-tough us and out-physical us year after year, even during seasons when we are significantly more talented (e.g. 09-10).

I really, really want to win on Saturday, but it will be very challenging. Christmas absolutely positively HAS to be tough and not just look tough. We get it, you have a mohawk and a sinister scowl, I don't care, don't let Pitt push you around!!!

 

[Garbs]

have you watched Pitt this year? not really impressed at all. they have not been consistent, interested to see what happens in their game tonight.

 

[Marsh01]

Their bigs are decent but they are prone to foul trouble, especially Adams.

We need to make shots. I look for CJ and Brandon to be the guys on offense who need to make shots. CJ especially. He needs a 14 and 8 type of game.

I just hope MCW takes care of the ball and doesnt try to do too much.

 

[billsin01]

Dixon clearly has these guys playing better and are heading towards a decent seed in the Tourney. Woodall and Grant's teammate from DeMatha are playing well. Zanna and Adams are big boys. I expect there to be lots of slop offensively from both teams. I think our offense will really struggle again. Just worried that it could come down to offensive rebounds...sigh. Thoughts? James back would really help spread the floor against this team especially.

Yeah, I am probably one of the few who would admit this, but I begrudgingly respect what Pitt is able to do almost every year. I thought they were being undersold at the beginning of the year and I fear I was right. I've always liked woodall as a kid who generally plays in total control (3 assists/TO, just 2.0 TOs/game, 49% from the floor, 37% from 3). Zanna is a typical Pitt big, not overwhelmingly talented but far better than they get credit for being.

I look at us as an underdog in this game right now -- we are shooting at a 45% clip, and just 34% from 3. Those numbers are really ugly without Southerland (31% from 3 ... ouch). I would guess we'll have trouble scoring and play a tough game but trail by a few buckets most of the way. Can we make enough plays late to pull it out again? Can we take good enough care of the ball and get enough out of our bigs?

Going to be a tough game.

 

[billsin01]

I just hope MCW takes care of the ball and doesnt try to do too much.

This.

 

[Knicks411]

There are many coaches that Boeheim owns (e.g. Tom Izzo, John Beilein), but there are very few coaches that own Boeheim. Unfortunately, Jamie Dixon is one of them... he's 9-3 against SU. He simply has a blueprint for tearing our zone to pieces. We can play the "Mom, they're not playing fair!" card and complain about their hand-checking, etc. but in reality, the reason we lose is because we allow them out-tough us and out-physical us year after year, even during seasons when we are significantly more talented (e.g. 09-10).

I'm just hoping that we can turn the tables like we did on Pitino. He owned us for a while, now we've got 3 in a row off him.

I expect Pitt to be very tough. After that, the schedule is very manageable. We have one more team left in the Pomeroy top 25; Lville at home on March 2. Hell, after Pitt, we play 5 straight against teams outside the Pomeroy top 40.

 

[Room 914]

Pitt is just starting to figure it out as they had a lot of new pieces to their team this year. Ziegler, Adams, Robinson, Johnson are all new players in the rotation. They will slow the pace down and make Syracuse play in the half court. They've have done it to everyone, and it is much easier to slow down a game then speed one up.

I go to school at Pitt, and have seen every one of their games and like a few people have pointed out, getting Steven Adams in foul trouble is key. He will be totally eliminated from the game if he gets an early foul. Syracuse will win if Woodall, Patterson, and Durand Johnson don't shoot well.

Right now I see it as a coin flip. I expect Pitt to be favored by about 1 or 1.5. Too bad the game is at 12 because the students won't get as drunk.

 

[billsin01]

There are many coaches that Boeheim owns (e.g. Tom Izzo, John Beilein), but there are very few coaches that own Boeheim. Unfortunately, Jamie Dixon is one of them... he's 9-3 against SU. He simply has a blueprint for tearing our zone to pieces. We can play the "Mom, they're not playing fair!" card and complain about their hand-checking, etc. but in reality, the reason we lose is because we allow them out-tough us and out-physical us year after year, even during seasons when we are significantly more talented (e.g. 09-10).

I really, really want to win on Saturday, but it will be very challenging. Christmas absolutely positively HAS to be tough and not just look tough. We get it, you have a mohawk and a sinister scowl, I don't care, don't let Pitt push you around!!!

I always love the hand-checking complaints -- yeah, it's ugly and I wish they weren't allowed to make it such an ugly game, but as long as they are allowed to they are winning a ton of games because of it. And the sets Dixon runs against the zone are easily the best we see all year most seasons.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yeah, I am probably one of the few who would admit this, but I begrudgingly respect what Pitt is able to do almost every year. I thought they were being undersold at the beginning of the year and I fear I was right. I've always liked woodall as a kid who generally plays in total control (3 assists/TO, just 2.0 TOs/game, 49% from the floor, 37% from 3). Zanna is a typical Pitt big, not overwhelmingly talented but far better than they get credit for being.

I look at us as an underdog in this game right now -- we are shooting at a 45% clip, and just 34% from 3. Those numbers are really ugly without Southerland (31% from 3 ... ouch). I would guess we'll have trouble scoring and play a tough game but trail by a few buckets most of the way. Can we make enough plays late to pull it out again? Can we take good enough care of the ball and get enough out of our bigs?

Going to be a tough game.

I'm in this camp as well. I thought they would be a player by the end of the year. Rak is really gonna have to be stellar and we will obviously need to make some shots. If CJ forces it too much inside he will get rejected a bunch, imo.

 

[jncuse]

Power rating systems love Pitt so far (KenPom has them at 7). It seems the 160-240 type RPI games are the reason for this -- bad teams, but not SWAC awful -- against such teams Pittsburgh might have performed as the best team in the nation -- consistent 30 point blowouts. Against top 100 level competition, Pitt has been OK -- their ratings get a big boost due from the 28 point win at G'town, but really it is not that of a top seven team in the country against top 100 teams.

 

[jdubs30]

Blackshear and Ware are both out for Ville tonight, so we won't see the Cards at full strength.

 

[JeremyCuse]

You know what though? Even if they play just like they did against 'Nova, I think they'll be fine. How many lay-ups just bounced off the rim for Syracuse? And 'Nova shot lights out. That's hard to overcome and yet the Orange still could've won it in regulation had MCW hit that foul shot at the end. As long as the defense holds (no reason to think it won't) and they get as many good looks as they did against the Wildcats, the Orange should get the 'W'.

Agree with most of your post but Nova shot far from lights out in the game, they had stretches where they didnt score for minutes on end.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Honestly, I wish we were playing any other BE team on Saturday, Pitt just continues to be a nightmare game/matchup for once. Every year they turn it into a rock/boulder fight that is unbearable to watch. I know its been said 9 million times allready but getting James back for this game would be an immense help. Without him I can easily see a loss in this game unfortunately.

 

[GardenOrange]

Pitt will mostly be out-sized by SU, but that big freshman center could create havoc if manages to stay out foul trouble. I'd run the offense through DC2 for the first 5 minutes and go right at the kid.

If they run it through DC2 5 times, it will be a record. I can't believe our team cannot figure out if they post up and feed the post it may create some spacing and open up some lanes for slashers or we could play a little inside out for some open looks. Playing one on from the guard position has become our most featured play along with high pic and roll. Cuse should start creating some offensive threats down low or it's going to become awful hard to score 7o very often.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Pitt doesn't shoot the three well this year. Pack it in, and they don't have much of a chance to score.

 

[ORRange]

Pitt will be a very difficult game. They are 11th in the country in FG% (.492) , 5th in assists/game (17.8) and average only 10 turnovers/game. Yet they don't score a ton of points/game. They take care of the ball, shoot it very well, pass it real well and milk the clock. That's a nightmare scenario for us. Don't shoot the messenger but we will have to play very well to win. We could use some Big Game in this matchup.

 

[ORRange]

Pitt is just starting to figure it out as they had a lot of new pieces to their team this year. Ziegler, Adams, Robinson, Johnson are all new players in the rotation. They will slow the pace down and make Syracuse play in the half court. They've have done it to everyone, and it is much easier to slow down a game then speed one up.

I go to school at Pitt, and have seen every one of their games and like a few people have pointed out, getting Steven Adams in foul trouble is key. He will be totally eliminated from the game if he gets an early foul. Syracuse will win if Woodall, Patterson, and Durand Johnson don't shoot well.

Right now I see it as a coin flip. I expect Pitt to be favored by about 1 or 1.5. Too bad the game is at 12 because the students won't get as drunk.

So who will you be rooting for?
And if you are going to root for SU will you be wearing orange?
Finally, if you will have Orange garb on will you be in the student section?

 

[Room 914]

So who will you be rooting for?
And if you are going to root for SU will you be wearing orange?
Finally, if you will have Orange garb on will you be in the student section?

Syracuse basketball is by far my favorite sports team and pretty much always has been. But these 4 years I will be cheering for Pitt when we meet up. I'm too connected (student manager) to the team not to. But otherwise I still go hard for SU ball, but quietly. Can't be letting people know.

I would not advise any student to wear Syracuse gear in the Oakland Zoo. Two West Virginia kids got into fights last year trying that haha, just not smart.

 

[jimsonjunction]

Syracuse basketball is by far my favorite sports team and pretty much always has been. But these 4 years I will be cheering for Pitt when we meet up. I'm too connected (student manager) to the team not to. But otherwise I still go hard for SU ball, but quietly. Can't be letting people know.

I would not advise any student to wear Syracuse gear in the Oakland Zoo. Two West Virginia kids got into fights last year trying that haha, just not smart.

What a strange, double-life you live.

 

[rstone7727]

Syracuse basketball is by far my favorite sports team and pretty much always has been. But these 4 years I will be cheering for Pitt when we meet up. I'm too connected (student manager) to the team not to. But otherwise I still go hard for SU ball, but quietly. Can't be letting people know.

I would not advise any student to wear Syracuse gear in the Oakland Zoo. Two West Virginia kids got into fights last year trying that haha, just not smart.

Serves those WVU kids right for wearing SU gear to a Pitt game.. BTW, I'm turning you in at the Panther-Lair... They need to know the truth.