The Pinkie Previews: Louisville (12-5, 3-1) at #16 Pitt (14-2, 4-0)

Louisville Cardinals @ Pittsburgh Panthers
Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday January 16, 2010
Time – 12:00 pm
TV – WHAS-11 (Big East network)
Radio – 790 AM

After a tough home loss to the Jay Wright a.k.a. the Sharp Dressed Man and his Villanova squad, the Cards head to the Steel City to take on Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers. The Panthers are ranked 16th in the country and most recently, the Panthers beat Connecticut 67-57 at UConn to improve to 4-0 in Big East play.

The Cards have to start thinking about the NCAA Tournament and need some quality wins. A win over a top 20 team on the road is a fine way to start. Since joining the Big East, the Cards are 2-0 at Pitt and hope for that streak to continue. Winning at Pitt will not be easy because the Panthers have a thirty game home win streak, including 5-0 this season.

Meet the Panthers

Pitt is 14-2 this season, with their losses coming at the hands of top ranked Texas and a top 10 still not very good Indiana squad, both on neutral courts. Pitt is in the midst of a seven game win streak, including wins at Syracuse and UConn.

The Panthers are not the greatest offensive team as they average 67 points per game. Their game against New Hampshire earlier this season was strait offensive to watch as the Panthers, at home, won 47-32; the halftime score was 15-7.

Pitt is lead in scoring by Ashton Gibbs with 17.6 ppg. Gibb is a 6-2 combo guard and can score in a variety of ways, whether it be slashing or shooting, he can do both. Junior Brad Wanamaker is their other main scoring threat as he averages 12.6 ppg.

It will be interesting to see what Pitt lineup will play. The Panthers have only four players 6-8 or taller, and three of them are freshmen and do not really play that much. The main big man most likely to see serious minutes is 6-10, 250 lbs Gary McGhee. He averages 6.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Defensively, Pitt always plays the same. They are extremely tough, physical, and will not be pushed around. Pitt will contest every shot, inside or outside, and is tough on the backboards. The Panthers are a good rebounding team. Against UConn, Pitt shot 39%, but won the game because they grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.

Keys to Victory

1) Execute in the half court – Pitt is an excellent defensive team. They will mostly play half-court defense so it will be important for the Cards to execute in their half-court offense to get a win. The Cards need to score to apply their pressure, but if they are not scoring in their half-court sets, they cannot apply the press.

2) Smart play - After the loss to ‘Nova, Coach Pitino was upset about the unintelligent play of his team, particularly by his upperclassmen. There is no chance for a win at Pitt if the Cards’ leaders turn the ball over fourteen times, as they did on Monday. The Cards have to have smart play by their leaders.

3) Feed the post – Samardo Samuels has manned up and is playing very well. Pitt has only one player who will play significant minutes, the 6-10 Gary McGhee, and the Cards need to capitalize on that. Sam Sam is passing well out of the post as well, so when Pitt inevitably double teams Samardo, the Cards should be able to get open shots. Bottom line, when the ball goes into the post, good things usually result.