Pitt @ Georgetown

Well, it looks like Pitt is for real. You know all that talk about how they haven't played anyone and that their undefeated record is not legitimate? That argument can pretty much get thrown out the window after Pitt beat Georgetown 70-54 at the Verizon Center in DC. To their credit, the Hoyas kept this one close for a long time despite not playing anywhere near their best game (it was tied at 40 midway through the second half when Pitt went on a 17-4 run). The reason for that was the play of DaJuan Summers, who scored 16 of Georgetown's 30 points in the first half (22 overall). He was hitting three's, knocking down pull-up jumpers, getting to the rim, and doing a pretty solid job on DeJuan Blair.

Pitt dominated the Hoyas inside. They outscored them 48-22 in the paint, they ourebounded them 46-21, and they collected 18 offensive rebounds. Blair led the way with 20 points and 17 boards (7 offensive). Yes, while all that is impressive, it isn't what made the difference in this game. Most of Pitt's damage on the offensive glass came after they had made their spurt and pushed the lead to double digits (which is nearly insurmountable against this team).

What won this game was their defense on the perimeter. Chris Wright, Jessie Sapp, and Austin Freeman combined to go 4-22 from the field for just 15 points. Wright could not handle the physical presence that Jermaine Dixon and Levance Fields provided. Freeman, who tends to use his bulk to his advantage when going to the basket, did not have any advantage in terms of strength against Sam Young. Sapp just looked lost out there. All of that was due in large part to the play of Pitt's perimeter defenders.

With about 14 minutes to go, Pitt went on their run. While they did get a couple of second chance baskets, what sparked the run was execution. Pitt was able to force the Hoyas to take tough shots, gather the rebound, and they run their offense until they get a good look on the other end.

This was exactly the type of game that Pitt likes. They are going to play tough and physical basketball until it wears you down and they can make a run. Against Florida State that run didn't come until the final few minutes. Against Georgetown, it came at 14 minutes. They really did not do anything unexpected throughout the entire game.

One of the most impressive things about this Pitt team is that they always seem to score when they really need a basket. They never let you get into a rhythm. Jamie Dixon is so smart when using his timeouts. Most coaches will wait until the other team has made a little run and is playing with some emotion before they use a timeout to quell the momentum. Dixon doesn't hesitate to use his timeouts when it looks as if a run could be forthcoming. He did that twice yesterday, once in the middle of Pitt's game-changing run because Greg Monroe had scored on consecutive possessions. By keeping the team from getting a rhythm and gathering momentum, he prevents those little 8 and 10 point spurts. It forces the other team to execute in the half court, something that few do better than Pitt.

Back to the point, Pitt always seemed to come up big when they needed a hoop or needed a stop. Actually, they did always come up big because Georgetown never led this game. Five or six times, the Hoyas tied it up or cut the lead to one, but everytime they did, Pitt was able to come away with a big basket.

Blair is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players in college basketball. There aren't many guys out there that always seem like they are having a great time on the court, but Blair is one of them. You pick up on a lot of things when you see a game in person as opposed to watching it on TV. The entire game, it seemed like he had a smile on his face, but there were two instances that stuck out in my mind. The first came midway through the first half when Summers hit a three in the corner as Blair was running out at him. It was pretty obvious that Blair yelled something during the shot, because after Summers hit the three he yelled something at Blair as he went back on defense. On the ensuing possession, Blair scored inside on Summers, screamed as he finished the shot, then ran back down court with a huge smile on his face.

The other was during the second half, when Blair was on the free throw line. The crowd was getting on him a bit, and Blair was clearly egging them on at the line. He ended up missing the first free throw, then laughed the entire was through his routine on the second one before knocking it down. He then proceeded to back pedal the entire way to the other end of the court with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out, clapping his hands and looking at the student section at the other end. The kid just loves to be out on the court competing.

While he is the epitome of a monster on this level, I don't know if he has much of a pro career in store. He's not tall enough and not athletic enough. He reminds me a lot of Mike Sweetney, the forward that used to play at Georgetown. Both are/were big, strong guys that were so tough on the glass. But Sweetney had an inch or two on Blair, and despite being the 9th pick of the draft in 2003, Sweetney never turned into much as a pro.

Just a few other thoughts on this game. One of the most important players for Pitt was Gilbert Brown. Brown had five points in the decisive run, and finished with nine points and six boards. He did two things that could be so important for Pitt this year - he knocked down a couple perimeter jumpers and he was able to get out and run the floor. Pitt is not the best offensive team, and they are going to need people to step up and have games like this off of the bench if they want to make a deep tourney run.

I'm not sure what is going on with Jessie Sapp. He is averaging just 4.8 ppg in his last five games. I'm not sure if it is a confidence issue or the fact that he is in JT3's doghouse. I'm leaning towards thinking it is a confidence issue. At one point very early in the second half, JT3 pulled Sapp (after Sapp made some mistake that I did not catch), talked to him for a good 30 seconds, and before the senior even reached the bench he sent him back to the scorer's table to check in.

Greg Monroe had 15 points, but he did not play all that well today, especially in the first half when he missed some really easy looks. He finished the game with four turnovers, and never really seemed comfortable playing against someone with the strength of Pitt's front line.