PItt is relatively small. They have only two guys in their rotation who are taller than 6'5", McGee and Taylor, and they are almost never on the court together. When Pitt has two sub 6' guards on the floor, they get very small. While McGee looks pretty strong, but nothing like Pittman in that regard, Texas should make Pitt pay on the boards. Pitt hasn't been a three point shooting team for some years now, averaging making between 6 and 6.5 threes a game in each of the last four seasons. Gibbs is pretty effective in that regard, so he will need to be watched. Pitt plays mainly man to man, and are pretty aggressive at it. If Brown and the other guards are careful to avoid turnovers, this should be a comfortable Texas win, but we've certainly seen careless ball handling before.
I haven't heard any mention of Bradley's hand injury or Brown's leg injury. Bradley didn't return after about the 10:00 minute mark, but he was definitely favoring his hand/wrist on the bench. Brown was hobbling around a bit late in the game. Any word? I couldn't find the post game broadcast or transcripts, but none of the wrap-ups I've seen mention either player's status for tonight's game.
I would assume Brown's leg problem was the screw in his foot that has consistently plagued him. He needs to get that **** removed...
^^ Your house. We are going miss about the first 10 minutes of the first half. No reason to go out then...
I have the game pulled up on ESPN360, so I will try to give as many updates as possible is the Ball State game goes a little long.
Im at the game. Ward was being stupid trying to show off with an allyoop and landed wrong. Looked like a torn acl.
Basketball could use some instant replay... ball bounces off 2 Pitt players and it is called out on Texas. That is uphauling.
Same old Texas basketball. Great effort, in your face defense, physical, but we have no plan and no clue about running offense and we can't shoot free throws for beans.
Some bad bounces, bad luck and bad shooting. I think they got really frustrated with the pace of the game, basically having to trade free throws (and in our case missing them.) Big guys have to start hitting free throws, because the refs are clearly going to make this a free-throw shooting contest down the stretch.
Sloppy play and questionable officiating. I've seen better offenses from Greg Davis... seriously they only played offense the first 10 minutes of the half and last 10 minutes they just stood around and took horrible shots.
Lapses on defense AGAIN. Guys need to stick with their man. Absolutely no plan on offense AGAIN. We should be blowing these guys out of the gym, but here we are, down at half.
Our offense, in my humble opinion, has only truly clicked with TJ and DJ. In other words, a tremendous point guard who can create. Otherwise, Barnes doesn't seem to be an offensive guru....
Seems like the same problem as the last few years on offense. No real set plays. No attempt to drive and dish. We just settle for semi-open threes, and Damion James fade aways against a double. They better get something figured out or UNC and MSU are going to blow us out of the gym.
Bright spots: Bradley and Balbay forcing turnovers by Pitt. With those two on the floor, it sometimes takes Pitt 20 seconds just to get the ball to the three point line. Pittman is unstoppable, when he isn't in foul trouble. The not so bright spots: No offense at all after Pittman went to the bench again. While there are only 3 turnovers scored, that doesn't include lost dribbles turning into scrums with a foul, losing control of the ball on a drive and making a poor pass that is eventually gathered, but only after the defender closed.
I somewhat disagree about the drive and dish assessment. Balbay is doing a lot of it, he just isn't finding anyone or making a clean pass. Brown isn't adept at that aspect of the game, certainly. Rebound advantage isn't nearly what it should be. Anytime Johnson has a smaller defender on him, he should get the ball immediately.
I guess I would just like to see it done more and more effectively than just jacking up 3's. The offense just isn't fluid.
If we're gonna struggle, then let's struggle with Hamilton and Bradley; I don't want to sit here and remember why Mason and Balbey aren't really all that great. They have no upside.
Is James playing tonight? Sheesh, he should dominate in a game like this. There needs to be some ball movement instead of all this one on one.
