Saturday, December 19, 2009

Observations from the Mount/Pittsburgh game

The Mount fell for the fifth straight time dropping a 66-48 contest at Pittsburgh.
  • There were some aspects that offensively I felt good about for the Mounties. But the final numbers seem to make it all pretty bad. And there were stretches in the game (3 in fact) where the Mount went prolonged periods without points.
  • I thought Kelly Beidler had a nice game. Finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds. But he put the ball on the floor well and scored off the dribble. A nice effort.
  • The Mount lost the battle on the boards 44-30 - and I thought that was the real difference in the basketballl game. Pitt had 17 offensive rebounds - and countless 2nd chance points.
  • Getting Will Holland back - and Jacolby Wells and Raven Barber into the lineup is going to help this group. Holland made a pair of threes - and seemed to have a good long range touch, but missing the time seemed to affect him with some plays. Looks like it might take him a few more appearances to get the total feel back. I liked Wells when he was in the game. He had three rebounds in seven minutes. He is athletic and he must rebound for this team. I think he can really add something for them. Barber hasn't practiced all season, so I expected that we wouldn't see much of him. But getting a first look at him in the Blue and White was good. He got in there and immediately made things happen. He has the potential to be a real good one. It will be interesting to watch how he develops and how he is used as this season progresses.
  • Jeremy Goode seemed more aggressive at times. He needs to be. He might not be a vocal leader. But he needs to be the heart and soul of this team. If he plays well, this team will play well.
  • It is hard to watch Jean Cajou struggle offensively. He plays so hard that you want him to do well. But there is no doubt that he's fighting it right now. He did get himself to the foul line late and it seemed to get him going a bit. Hopefully, that carries over.
  • Pitt is a good team. Not a great team. Not sure where they'll end up fitting in the Big East. I think there are definitely four teams better (Syracuse, Villanova, Connecticut and West Virginia) How they fit in with Georgetown (which lost at home to Old Dominion) Notre Dame, Seton Hall, St. John's and that middle group will be interesting to see.
  • I liked Brad Wanamaker and the contribution he made for the Panthers. He'll definitely be needed to add something offensively. Because it seems that is where the Panthers have the most trouble. They don't have a go-to guy on the offense.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:04 PM

    I went to the game on Saturday and left highly disappointed in the Mount's effort. I disagree that Pitt is a good team this year. They are not. When they hit the Big East schedule, it's gonna get ugly for them. The frustrating thing about this game was that it was a game that the Mount could have won if they played halfway decent. It was the perfect scenario to get a marquee win against a brand name opponent. Pitt has a bunch of new players that haven't meshed yet this early in the season and the home court advantage was non-existent in the near empty arena due to christmas break and the snow storm. Pitt played pretty terrible and was missing nearly as many shots as the Mount (no easy feat). I wasn't so much disappointed with all the missed jumpers as I was with their lack of intensity. The shots will start falling eventually, but I saw a team with no heart. Nobody looked like they even cared with the exception of Lamar Trice. Trice played with hustle and an edge and an attitude that was missing from everyone else on the team. From a viewing standpoint it seemed like he really wanted to win whereas everyone else just wanted to get back to their hotel room and play video games. A truly disappointing performance. They still have the potential to be really good this year, but that's only gonna happen if they raise their intensity level, unite as a team, and start playing with a sense of purpose.

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  2. Obviously when you are at a game you get a different feel then when you watch it on TV. I did not get the sense that there was a lack of effort from the Mount. Moreover, I thought the missed shots were good shots, where as sometimes earlier this year, they have been forced shots.

    I understand the poster's frustration. This has been a difficult season to be a Mount fan. I wholeheartedly agree that something has to change to get them back to the level we as fans expected of them.

    I thought some of those changes started to take place on Saturday. Maybe I'm wrong.

    I don't think I'm wrong about Pitt, maybe I didn't voice my opinion clearly enough. Pitt is a good team. They are far from a great team. They will have difficulity with the top echelon on the Big East. But can they do well in the Big East (500) because of their defensive intensity? Yes I think they can. I think that teams such as Notre Dame, Providence, Depaul and Rutgers are all a level below Pitt. And the Panthers are lumped with the group that includes Marquette, Seton Hall, South Florida, St. John's, Louisville, and Cincy. They are below UCONN, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse and West Virginia. We'll see how it transpires.

    Also be interesting to see how things work out in Boston tomorrow night. For me, that will give us a better guage of where this team is headed.

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  3. Anonymous6:29 PM

    Raff - I told ya many messages ago that the team was planned with Wells and Barber contributing. Let's hope they get it together, we all want to scream and yell for some wins!

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