It's the little things that the Pitt frontcourt players did Tuesday night that allowed the Panthers to prevail over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
With apologies to senior guard/forward Lamar Patterson, the Pitt Panthers don't possess a guy who can take their man off the dribble and get to the rim at will. This was rather evident in the Panthers win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Tuesday night: 78 - 69. The Panthers weren't particularly sharp on the offensive end, especially in the first half. With that said, I was very impressed by the activity of the frontcourt players on nearly ever offensive possession.
X's and O's:
- At the 15:26 mark in the first half, RS sophomore Durand Johnson, badly missed a 2-point jumper from the right elbow that didn't hit the rim. Heading into the game, Johnson was shooting exactly 0% on his 2-point jumpers this season, so it wasn't an ideal look for him. However, he got the open look due to some creativity by the Panthers on offense. Johnson was initially positioned on the right block while freshman forward Michael Young, was positioned on the right high-post. As sophomore point guard James Robinson, brought the ball up on the left side of the court, Young went towards the right block to set a down-screen for Johnson who was making his way towards the right elbow. The Penn State big got caught going with Young for a second too long, while the guard assigned to Johnson got picked around the mid-post area by Young. While Johnson missed the attempt badly, inverting where the players normally begin their offensive sets was "successful" largely because of the Pitt frontcourt players ability to move quickly and time their off-ball screens. In this particular instance, it was Young.
- In the first half, PSU doubled Patterson coming out of every screen-and-roll with senior forward Talib Zanna. Patterson was unable to find Zanna when he would slip the screen in obvious over-play situations. He also wasn't able to find him in side pick-and-rolls in which Zanna would roll to the short-corner. In the second half, with Pitt down: 39 - 33, Patterson again was doubled coming out of the screen-and-roll, however, he was able to find Zanna for a dunk and a foul to cut the deficit to four. This was mostly a successful play because Penn State sophomore forward Brandon Taylor, didn't show on the screen and no one went with Zanna who had slipped to the right block area. Still, in the first half Patterson wasn't looking for Zanna in those situations, but they connected twice in the second half for easy baskets - both of which Zanna was fouled on.
Observations:
- I liked how Pitt ran some pick-roll-and-replace between the guard dribbling and both frontcourt players in the first half. The initial screener was able to get deep position around the basket after setting the first screen, as the other frontcourt player would move to the high-post area to set a new ball-screen. The ball would move to the wing and into the post rather easily.
- Penn State senior guard Tim Frazier, was relentless attacking the basket. I didn't think Pitt did a great job defending him in pick-and-roll situations. The Panther defender assigned to Frazier really needed to go under the screen to encourage him to shoot more triples - Frazier entered the game shooting just 28% from 3-point distance for the season. Furthermore, the frontcourt players of the Panthers should have just sunk into the paint, as Frazier was able to easily get by them on multiple occasions for easy looks at the rim.
- Sorry Pitt fans, but freshman point guard Josh Newkirk doesn't remind me of LA Clippers guard Chris Paul, at all...like not in any way whatsoever. Perhaps it was the sloppy play and spotty shot-selection in the first half that promoted the female announcer on ESPNU to say such a thing.
Well, that's all for now. Honestly, I've only been able to watch a handful of Pitt games this season. Breaking down a handful of offensive sets doesn't require extensive knowledge of any team. With that said, watching more games will help identify trends, which usually enhances the breakdowns as well as the observations - something I hope to accomplish in the future.
