The Pitts

[TVDirector]

We choked.
Plain and simple.
Up by, what 12, 14?
Luckily it's early. 

[Anti-Dentite]

What Wojo brings to the table is mediocrity and he is very good at it.

[MU82]

Wow. I was a little down after the game. Now, after reading this thread, I am perched on the ledge and am truly contemplating making the 40-story leap.

Not only would some of y'all probably say, "Have a good trip," but it looks like most of y'all would say, "And I hope you land on Wojo and squash him like a bug."

Look, I am NOT saying Wojo is the next Al, but ...

Al went 8-18 in his first season. He went 14-12 in his second season. He then started his third with 3 losses in 4 games (the lone win over NYU). The Warriors went into the new year that season with a 3-5 record.

Scoopers woulda been lining up with pitchforks and torches, damning him for eternity and saying he has to go. "That's what happens when you bring in some loser from Belmont Abbey!"

Yep, shoulda canned him. That way, all the recruits he had brought in could have gone elsewhere and we could have started yet another rebuilding phase. What could have gone wrong?

OK, kids, might be time for me to take a little Scoopcation for a couple of days.

Enjoy the bile, folks!

[We R Final Four]

There is not many adjustments that Wojo can make while the game is going on.

Really?? There are not many adjustments that a head coach can make to stop the excessive bleeding?
Just gotta wait til practice next week?

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Observations from listening on the radio:

1. I cringed every time I heard Homer report Reinhardt was taking a shot.
2. Couldn't figure out why we weren't doubling or doing something different whenever Young had the ball.
3. Broeker's no Mac, but not half bad. Still shouldn't quit his day job.
4. The description of our last possessions was bad enough on the radio, must have been excruciating watching on TV.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Really?? There are not many adjustments that a head coach can make to stop the excessive bleeding?
Just gotta wait til practice next week?

Read the post again. Was saying coaches can't make many adjustments while the clock is running. Coaches make major adjustments during timeouts. Young exploded for 12 points in 3 minutes, between timeouts. Once Wojo got a timeout, he didn't score another 2 PT FG the rest of the game. I'd hear an argument that Wojo should have taken a timeout sooner. But the argument that Wojo didn't successfully adjust the defense against Young doesn't really hold water.

[79Warrior]

Wow. I was a little down after the game. Now, after reading this thread, I am perched on the ledge and am truly contemplating making the 40-story leap.

Not only would some of y'all probably say, "Have a good trip," but it looks like most of y'all would say, "And I hope you land on Wojo and squash him like a bug."

Look, I am NOT saying Wojo is the next Al, but ...

Al went 8-18 in his first season. He went 14-12 in his second season. He then started his third with 3 losses in 4 games (the lone win over NYU). The Warriors went into the new year that season with a 3-5 record.

Scoopers woulda been lining up with pitchforks and torches, damning him for eternity and saying he has to go. "That's what happens when you bring in some loser from Belmont Abbey!"

Yep, shoulda canned him. That way, all the recruits he had brought in could have gone elsewhere and we could have started yet another rebuilding phase. What could have gone wrong?

OK, kids, might be time for me to take a little Scoopcation for a couple of days.

Enjoy the bile, folks!

Please stop with the Al record comparison over the first three seasons. Wojo is no Al at any level on or off the court. Al was working with any empty cupboard and virtually no resources. Wojo had an empty locker room and a boatload of resources. Wojo needs to figure it out and fairly quickly.

[keefe]

Enjoy the bile, folks!

Bile is what turns your sh1t brown

[wadesworld]

I'm not really sure what people wanted out of the timeout.  I really think people are just looking for reasons to complain, and the play didn't result in a basket so they're going to complain regardless of what the call was.

Rowsey hit 2 threes and had the defense running at him.  He also drew contact 3 times and was sent to the line.  He also finished 2 layups at the rim and dropped off a nice pass for a Heldt and one going to the bucket.  On the last play he got around a defender attempting to keep him from pulling up for 3 off of the pick and tried to go into the defender's body.  Unfortunately they defended it well and his defender continued to pursue him and made a play.  It happens.  Didn't see anyone complaining when JJJ went 1 on 3 and got swatted out of bounds.

What would posters have liked?  A dump down to Luke for a jump hook?  Because that worked so well the last 2 games (not to mention taking your only big out of a chance for an offensive rebound)...  Maybe a pull up jumper for Katin?  Again, been working great so far this year...  Possibly JJJ running one on 5 into the lane and throwing up a prayer while falling to the ground and letting Pitt get a runout again?  Hmm, sounds good to me...

Rowsey was our best player today.  When you're down 1 and in the double bonus I see absolutely nothing wrong with giving it to a guy who's already shot 8 FTs to the point and letting him try to either finish or go to the line.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This game was lost in a three minute period. Sam Hauser had just hit a three to put us up 10. Seemed like we had killed the mini run they had gone on. Was feeling pretty good with only 12 minutes to play. The following three minutes was just brutal:

1. It started with Young getting the first 2 points of the 12 consecutive points that he was about to score. That shot wasn't poorly defended. It was a late in the shot clock fade away shot from around the baseline with a hand in his face. No business going in but good player make tough shots. Pitt down 8.
2. Traci getting his pocket picked. Was careless with the ball and Pitt managed a steal. What's worse, he responded by unnecessarily hacking the guy who took it from him and was called for his 3rd or 4th foul.
3. The foul sets up Young for another jumper. This one was a higher % shot but Luke was still there. Luke had had three fouls and wasn't nearly physical enough with Young. Pitt down 6.
4. Sensing the momentum shift, JJJ takes it upon himself to barrel straight at the defense in the first 5 seconds of the possession. Young not only swats it, but gets his own rebound. This is not the first time we have seen this. The last two games, whenever the other team gets on a run, our team stops running the offense and starts playing hero ball.
5. Other end, Young makes another jumper. This one was open IIRC. Pitt down 4. This is where I think we should have called timeout. Mistake on Wojo's part IMHO.
6. Duane decides its his turn to play hero ball, drives right at the bigs and this time the white big swats it. This creates not quite a fast break, but they hustle down before the defense is set and Young bullies his way past Luke for a contested layup that goes in. Pitt down 2.
7. This time, they dump it in to Luke. He dribbles the ball in the post for at least 5 seconds before putting up a contested hook shot from too far away.
8. Pitt runs and beats the defense down again and Young gets an easy layup. Game is tied.

The main issue I took away from this run was that our team stops trusting the offense when the other team goes on a run. It seems like JJJ, Duane, Katin, or Luke take it upon themselves to stop the run themselves. The ball stops moving and they just try to iso themselves to the bucket. I appreciate the mentality, but the only way we will win is as a team. We simply don't have the individual star power to take over like that. Part of this is a decision making issue on the players. But it is also a coaching issue. Wojo needs to make sure that his seniors know that the way to end runs is by executing the offense. Not by hero ball.

A lot has been made of the defense on Young. He exploded for 12 points in three minutes between timeouts. I think Wojo needed to recognize the run and call the timeout sooner to make the adjustment. But after that timeout Young only managed three more points and it was on a three pointer. Since he made all of 4 of them last season, I don't really mind letting him shoot that.

I criticized Wojo's defensive strategy yesterday. Really thought he should have turned up the pressure and turned it into a track meet. I thought he should have done the same here tonight. I wonder if the early foul trouble kept him from unleashing the dogs. High pressure often leads to fouls. The way the refs were calling it, we couldn't afford any more fouls. I really struggle understanding what is and isn't a foul these days. Jamel Artis was allowed to barrel in out of control and was gifted with 4 foul calls. Hannie, Rowsey, and JJJ were driving all night and getting bumped and hit constantly and only managed three fouls drawn between the three of them (not including Rowsey's 3PT fakeouts).

Ryan Luther had one of the dirtiest plays I've ever seen. Shoved Duane in the back of the head, throwing him to the ground when he was bending over for a loose ball. Ref must not have had a good angle on it because it was very obvious from where I was sitting behind the MU bench.

For all the moaning on here, it was a three point loss to a bubblish/NIT team on a neutral court. Certainly not good, but far from the disaster it is being made out to be. We kept turnovers down and we outrebounded them on the offensive glass. We lost the free throw battle and we had an awful shooting night. I don't think there will be many games this season where we shoot 28% from 3 or less. We shoot how we normally should and we win this game easy. Hopefully we use the next three cupcakes to get our shooting confidence back and reestablish trust in the offense.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400926409

Recap of the game. Liked this bit:

"Marquette: The Warriors are home for three games against IUPUI, Houston Baptist and Western Carolina."

[WarriorFan]

The Kentucky dribble drive offense that Wojo is trying to run (because kids love to hear it) is OK for KY when you've got the top 6'8" athletes in the country doing it.  When you are doing it with little guys, it just becomes an excuse for selfish play.  When the coaches don't teach where the kickouts are and how to use them, it's even worse.

In other words, time for a new offense that's suited to the talent the team has. 

[4everwarriors]

Wow. I was a little down after the game. Now, after reading this thread, I am perched on the ledge and am truly contemplating making the 40-story leap.

Not only would some of y'all probably say, "Have a good trip," but it looks like most of y'all would say, "And I hope you land on Wojo and squash him like a bug."

Look, I am NOT saying Wojo is the next Al, but ...

Al went 8-18 in his first season. He went 14-12 in his second season. He then started his third with 3 losses in 4 games (the lone win over NYU). The Warriors went into the new year that season with a 3-5 record.

Scoopers woulda been lining up with pitchforks and torches, damning him for eternity and saying he has to go. "That's what happens when you bring in some loser from Belmont Abbey!"

Yep, shoulda canned him. That way, all the recruits he had brought in could have gone elsewhere and we could have started yet another rebuilding phase. What could have gone wrong?

OK, kids, might be time for me to take a little Scoopcation for a couple of days.

Enjoy the bile, folks!

Wow, didn't know Charlotte had 40 story buildin's. what a metropolis, hey?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The Kentucky dribble drive offense that Wojo is trying to run (because kids love to hear it) is OK for KY when you've got the top 6'8" athletes in the country doing it.  When you are doing it with little guys, it just becomes an excuse for selfish play.  When the coaches don't teach where the kickouts are and how to use them, it's even worse.

In other words, time for a new offense that's suited to the talent the team has.

Don't confuse the team offense for the offense that some of our players fall into when the other team gets on a run. Some of our players take it upon themselves to end runs by themselves and try to iso their way to victory. Wojo needs to nip that in the bud right now. It killed us during the Pitt game and was one of the many things that killed us during the Michigan game.

[GGGG]

The Kentucky dribble drive offense that Wojo is trying to run (because kids love to hear it) is OK for KY when you've got the top 6'8" athletes in the country doing it.  When you are doing it with little guys, it just becomes an excuse for selfish play.  When the coaches don't teach where the kickouts are and how to use them, it's even worse.

In other words, time for a new offense that's suited to the talent the team has. 

He's not running dribble drive as I understand it.  Kentucky's dribble drive has no screeners up top.  We screen up top all the time. 

Now the last play had some of those elements with Rowsey driving there but I don't think that is their base offense.

[Jay Bee]

I will say this...

Pitt is:
- a very tall team (average height on the floor)
-a very experienced team with high minutes continuity from last season

We held our own on the boards; turnovers were essentially even.

We took a lot of threes and didn't make a good percentage of them 7/25 for 28.0%.. 38.5% of our attempts were threes.

Pittsburgh used their size and our poor defense to waltz to a 60.0% 2FG outing - just like Michigan did.

MU allowed opponents to shoot 60% or better 2FG 5 times last season. We've done it in 2 of 4 this year.

[Loose Cannon]

Don't confuse the team offense for the offense that some of our players fall into when the other team gets on a run. Some of our players take it upon themselves to end runs by themselves and try to iso their way to victory. Wojo needs to nip that in the bud right now. It killed us during the Pitt game and was one of the many things that killed us during the Michigan game.

Amen

[warriorfan 14]

I have zero expectations for the rest of the season with wojo at the helm. best not to get let down.

if this continues hopefully the empty seats in jan and feb get the administration's attention that change is needed

[rocket surgeon]

"if this continues hopefully the empty seats in jan and feb get the administration's attention that change is needed"

   correction-hopefully, it's the win/loss numbers that get the administrations attention, enna so?  the other numbers should speak for themselves. 

[#UnleashSean]

We're making freshmen mistakes -- AGAIN. This time as sophomores.

Wahhh? Our SENIORS are making freshmen mistakes. They have been for 3 years and no one has fixed it.

[Herman Cain]

I have zero expectations for the rest of the season with wojo at the helm. best not to get let down.

if this continues hopefully the empty seats in jan and feb get the administration's attention that change is needed

Unfortunately our University leadership has a man crush on Wojo.  He is here for the remainder of his contract.

[ecompt]

Unfortunately our University leadership has a man crush on Wojo.  He is here for the remainder of his contract.

Doubt it. Losses pile up, students and alumni don't show up, players taking hikes. Under ,500 in the BE and they should look seriously in another direction. You can't pee away the next three years because Wojo got an extension he didn't deserve.

[WarriorFan]

Just re-watched the game.  Our best 5 was at the end of the first half with:
Heldt
JJJ
Rowsey
Hauser
Duane

This combination of shooting, driving and hustle really worked.  I want to see more of it. 

[MU82]

Wow, didn't know Charlotte had 40 story buildin's. what a metropolis, hey?

Did I say 40-story building? I meant 40-inch building block.

Management regrets the error.