Robinson scored a team high 19
Alright, I have to admit I’m surprised. Not that the Huskies lost, but the fashion in which they did so…puzzling. This was a home game, a big game, and the boys just did not play well in the critical moments. A listless start to the game saw the Huskies fall behind 18-8. They chipped away, helped by Stanley Robinson’s 13 first half points, and went into the break down 32-29. The second half started the same way the first one did, poorly…Pitt pushed the lead back out to ten, 43-33. Again the Huskies mounted a come back, using a 16-5 run to take the lead, 49-48 with 6 minutes to play. And then the wheels came off…Pitt finished the game on an 19-8 run, and put the Huskies away.
What happened? The Huskies were gassed. Kemba Walker was hunched over clutching his shorts with under 5 minutes to play. Robinson played 39 minutes, and after coming up so big all night, disappeared. It became the Jerome Dyson show with under 10 minutes to play…he scored 8 of his 14 down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough.
Look at these minutes : Robinson 39, Dyson 35, Walker 37, Oriakhi 32, Edwards 34.
Only Ater Majok saw significant time off the bench, playing 10 minutes, scoring 4 points and blocking 2 shots. I’d love to know why Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, coming off one his best games, only played 3 minutes. He didn’t even take a shot…I can’t make any sense of that.
Not Good: Outrebounded 36-31
Bad : 1-5 from three
Terrible : 6-13 from the stripe, 46.2%.
What does it all mean? It means we have to adjust our expectations. All is not lost, there is still time for this team to improve and make a run…but by a run, we have to start thinking about just making the tourney. It won’t be easy, the remaining schedule is a gauntlet. The Huskies likely need to go 9-6, 10-5 the rest of the way, which is not impossible.
The next three games are huge…at Michigan, home for St.John’s, and home for Texas (Gampel). The Huskies have to take out Michigan, roll that into a win over St. John’s, and with some new found confidence and a raucous Gampel crowd, go toe to toe with the #1 Texas, and see where the chips fall.
First things first, Sunday @ Michigan 1:30 ET CBS…let’s get the ship pointed in the right direction.
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Can’t believe we are talking 9-6, 10-5 the rest of the way to get into the NCAA tournament.
Agree that it is much more in line with where my expectations should be, just tough to swallow.
Next three are huge. Obviously if we could get to 3-0 my expectations would soar again. Of course that would involve a win against the top team in the country.
Minutes on our top 5 are telling. Will be looking for more insight from Jimmy C into why JMC played only 3 minutes.