Originally Posted by
CDu
Pitt is your typical Pitt team: undersized (height-wise) up front, but very physical all over the court. They'll want to make this a bar fight type of game. It is not likely to look pretty, and the fact that the game is in Pittsburgh is not in our favor.
Center: Pitt doesn't play a traditional center. They have a bevy of relatively big guys that rotate through the center and power forward position. Rafael Maia is the starter, but that's in name only. He generally plays no more than 10-15 minutes per game. He's a relatively big (6'9", 245lb), rebounder who provides little else besides fouls. After Maia, the Panthers have a trio of options in Sheldon Jeter (6'8", 225lb), Ryan Luther (6'9", 215lb), and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa (6'9", 235lb). Jeter and Luther are reasonably athletic. Jeter can score inside, and plays the most minutes of the bunch (15-20 mpg). Luther is a decent 3pt shooter and hustle guy, and plays about 10-15 mpg, sometimes more. Ododa just comes in for spot minutes.
Forwards: While Pitt isn't terribly big at center, they are quite solid at forwards. The starting PF is Michael Young (6'9", 235lb). Young is a terrific player. He rebounds solidly and is their leading scorer. He's an inside presence that must be accounted for. He plays about 30 mpg. The majority of the backup PF minutes go to the quartet of bigs already mentioned, as Pitt always has two PFs on the floor. Alongside Young, Pitt has a rather big SF in Jamel Artis (6'7", 220lb). Artis is a really versatile player who can score in the post and can shoot the 3. Whereas Young is a rugged, consistent presence, Artis is more mercurial. He'll have monster games (multiple 20+ pt games) and he'll disappear (multiple games with 6 or fewer points). Hopefully he's not having an "on" day, because if he is he can be a real handful. Artis is kind of a cross between a wing and a forward, a college 3/4.
Wings: Aside from center, the wing position is the weakness of the Panthers' team. Along with Artis, they start Chris Jones (6'6", 215lb) at SG. Jones is an inconsistent outside shooter, and is more of a role player (defense, hustle) than skill player. He plays a lot of minutes, but rarely provides much offense. Aside from a 23-pt outburst against Wake, he's topped 8 points just once more in ACC play. Behind Jones and Artis, Pitt rotates a trio of guards: Smith, Johnson, and Wilson. Smith (6'4", 185lb) is the shooter of the bunch, shooting over 40% from 3 over his last 3 seasons (two of which came at Coppin State). But he is quite mercurial, and has really been out of favor recently (just 7 total points in his last 6 games combined). Johnson is a 6'7", 185lb freshman who has shown signs of a good shooting touch in limited action, but has been very inconsistent in terms of game-to-game production. Wilson is a 6'5", 200lb freshman combo guard who doesn't really stand out in any aspect of the game, and doesn't play major minutes. None of the three backups have had any consistent impact from game to game. Sort of a twist on the "if you have two QBs, you've got no QBs" concept applied to backup wings.
PG: The steady-Eddie guy on the team besides Michael Young is James Robinson. Robinson is a throwback PG. He's a tough-nosed, defensive-minded, pass-first PG in the truest sense of the term. He doesn't turn the ball over (nearly 5:1 assist:turnover ratio). What he doesn't do particularly well, though, is shoot. He's never topped 35% from 3. For that reason, he's often been reluctant to shoot, which has been a bit detrimental to the team in my opinion. This year, he's been a bit more aggressive, and has actually won them some games as a scorer. How involved he gets in the scoring may be a key factor in this one.
Again, Pitt is going to leave our guys with some bruises. I hate to speculate on Jefferson's return, but this would absolutely be a good game to get his leadership and toughness (and if nothing else an extra body) out there. We are definitely the more skilled team, at almost every spot on the floor. But Pitt has a way of dragging the game into the mud. Hopefully we can come out on top.