Week one of the Panthers’ season is in the books and it went as expected. In their two games they played St. Josephs of Indiana and University of Detroit. In those two match ups Pitt came away victorious in both winning 84-43 and 95-79 respectively.
Coming into this week the Panthers were coming off a tough Gonzaga half of a game, which was cancelled due to poor court conditions. Tuesday started the week off on the right foot against St. Joseph’s a Division two team from Indiana. As expected Pitt flexed their muscles running over the inferior team. The game was highlighted by standout junior forward Michael Young who had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. The defense held the Puma offense in check holding them to 20.8% from the field.
On Friday the Panthers were back in action this time against Detroit. Pitt got the early jump on the Titans leading by double digits early, but that lead was cut to just five at half. At the 15:26 mark in the second half Chris Jenkins made a lay up to give the Titans the 53-52 lead forcing Dixon to call a timeout. Out of the timeout the freshman Damon Wilson Jr. made a clutch three that led to the Panthers taking over the game from there. After that three Pitt outscored the Titans 43-26 to seal the deal. Once again Michael Young led the way finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds on seven of nine from the field. Fellow junior Jamel Artis chipped in 15 points on six of nine shooting.
St. Joseph’s Analysis
Offensive Grade: C+
The offense showed some clear rust, but there were some good signs. The Panthers showed a strong commitment to attempting three point shots. On the evening they had 23 attempts, but only made six of those. Free throws were another area where Pitt struggled as they went 12-19 from the charity stripe. That is only 63.2%, which is not going to get it done if that trend continues. Overall though their field goal percentage was what you would expect against a Division Two team, at 47.1%. Michael Young once again showed he is the most dangerous offensive player Pitt has on its’ team. Jamel Artis looked out of sync on offense as he missed several close lay ups that he usually hits at ease. Cameron Johnson proved to be a valuable asset scoring off the bench he had 10 points and hit two threes. As a whole the offense was solid, but needs to make better percentages from the free throw and three-point lines.
Defensive Grade: B
The defense had their way against an inferior St. Joseph’s team. Anytime a team is held to 20% from the field and 26.7% from three the defense did its’ job. As well the Panthers forced their fair share of takeaways as the Pumas had 15 turnovers. One problem was evident on defense though, big man Alonzo Nelson-Ododa’s foul trouble. In the game he fouled out, which against a division two team is not a good sign. The team also protected the rim well blocking 11 shots. Overall this game does not show too much about the defense, as St. Joseph’s is not a high-octane offense.
Coaching Grade: A-
Once again Dixon is going deep into his bench to deal out minutes. On the night 11 different players played ten minutes or more. Also, with the offense attempting more threes it seems as though he has finally adapted to modern offensive basketball. The same can be said for what lineups he has been using. Ryan Luther saw solid minutes at power forward to help space the floor. As a whole Dixon did a good job dealing out minutes to bench players to see who will be counted on as they progress through the year.
Overall Grade- B
Detroit Analysis
Offensive Grade: A
The offense looked much better in this outing than it did against St. Joseph’s. On the night they shot 33-67(49%) from the field, 9-22(40.9%) from field, and 20-28 (71.3%) from the line. Each of those percentages are up from a year ago. In reality this game was much closer than the final score indicated and if the offense did not play as well as they did it could have been a very different outcome. One of the things that was great to see was the Panthers continued focus on perimeter scoring. Last game they did not hit well, but on this night they put together efficient shooting. However, the two best signs the offense showed was Artis returning to form and improved free throw shooting. Free throws have been the Achilles heel of Pitt teams in the past, so this showed good improvement. The offense looks like the strong suit for this Panther team.
Defensive Grade: C-
This was not a particularly good outing for the Panthers. They had built a solid lead in the first half, but lack of defensive intensity let the Titans back into it. At one point in the game Detroit converted 6-11 from deep, which is over 50%. However, the defense stepped up down the stretch as Detroit missed their last eight three point attempts. At the end of the day letting up 79 points against an inferior opponent like this is not what you want to see.
Coaching: B+
Once again Dixon utilized his bench well as he played nine different guys 10 minutes or more. However, one semi-surprising move was only playing Cameron Johnson five minutes. He hit a three and last game he played 15 minutes, so with his offensive ability it was a little surprising not to see him get more minutes. Playing Ryan Luther for 23 minutes proved to be a good decision as he scored 15 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Dixon got the win, but the defense was not ready to play and that needs to change.
These two games will not set the college basketball world on fire, but in each one the Panthers did what they needed to do. Losing to either of these two teams would have been a huge black mark on their tournament resume, so as the old saying goes a win is a win. Next on the schedule are Cornell and Kent State on Wednesday and Saturday respectively.