It was a sloppy affair, as has become typical, and some absurd differentials. Turnovers and rebounds were absurd. Pitt outrebounded Duquesne 39-15. Pitt outrebounded the Dukes just on offensive boards with 16 of those. The flipside, Pitt turned the ball over 23 times while Duquesne kept theirs to only 12. So depending on how you look at it, the Panthers could have destroyed the Stage Magi if Pitt was better with their passing — because that was the bigger issue than ball handling with regards to the turnovers — or Duquesne might have pulled off the upset if they just could have grabbed some rebounds.
Since this is a Pitt blog, and we’d rather be much more concerned with Pitt’s flaws, let’s take a look at the turnover issue.
Get this out of the way, now. Pitt turning the ball over a lot against Duquesne should not have been a surprise. To anyone. This was the City Game with Duquesne operating under Ron Everhart. Only twice has Pitt kept the turnovers to something that would not create the, “this team can’t play this sloppy against better teams” style angst.
2006 — 11 turnovers, Pitt W 73-56
2007 — 18 turnovers, Pitt W 73-68
2008 — 18 turnovers, Pitt W 78-51
2009 — 12 turnovers, Pitt W 67-58 (2OT)
2010 — 19 turnovers, Pitt W 80-66
2011 — 23 turnovers, Pitt W 80-69
Honestly, the 2009 game seems like the biggest aberration. Not last night.
23 is not good. It’s downright ugly, and it is a concern since it is Pitt’s second game this season where Pitt turned the ball over in such high volume (21 vs. LaSalle). So I’m not minimizing the issue. I just want to put it in some context. Duquesne’s gameplan, and only opportunity to get the win was going to be by getting Pitt to turnover the ball, panic and cede control of the tempo.
They got the turnovers, but no panic. That’s a big positive out of that. There was a brief wobble, but Pitt didn’t freak out and try to do too much. Nor did they break apart to see indvidual players try to do too much. Pitt stayed in control.
In fact, they made the Dukes panic during the game. Pitt kept dominating on the boards. They put more pressure on Duquesne to be perfect every possession. If they missed a shot, they knew they weren’t getting the rebound.
Duquesne shot well when they penetrated. When they got to the hoop. The problem was, they had to work for most of those shots. Pitt’s defense is still a struggle about letting teams finish, but unless Duquesne was out in transition or fast break they could not score at the pace they wanted or needed. They were only able to take 48 shots. The other problem was that they couldn’t do was hit free throws or threes.
Pitt on the other hand was much more efficient in their shooting. They shot 18-33 on 2-p0int shots (54.5%) and 11-21 on 3s (52.4%).
The size of Pitt inside was a problem Duquesne couldn’t overcome.
Apparently Pitt’s dominance of the City Game has Gene Collier bored by the whole thing.
That’s not entirely true. Duquesne would really like to get a win. In fact, this piece suggests that both Duquesne and Robert Morris get too amped to try and beat Pitt that it costs them in the form of a bit of a malaise in subsequent games.As has been learned from the folklore of the earliest Native American naturalists, autumn does not fully end until Pitt beats Duquesne by double figures.
So welcome then to winter, the frosty season that perpetually follows events such as Wednesday night’s metronomic Pitt victory, this one typically desultory, the Panthers’ 11th in a row against their Uptown “rival” and a further solidification that if they play this thing annually for another 20 years, Jamie Dixon still might never lose to Duquesne.
A nice crowd of 15,880 showed up at the Consol Energy Center (yes, they were very nice), not so much to see if Duquesne could beat a ranked team on a neutral court for the first time since that Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town spring of 1969, but because fans of The City Game are more of a co-mingled congregation than a convergence of hostile factions.
“It’s good to see all my friends and family come,” said Duquesne guard T.J. McConnell, “but I don’t look at it as a bigger game than the others. I play every game the same.
The fact is there’s no enduring reason for this affair other than it seems like a nice thing for Pittsburgh’s basketball community. Pitt certainly isn’t buttressing its non-conference schedule by including Duquesne, and Duquesne, even though it has everything to gain and nothing to lose (other than another game) by playing a Big East powerhouse, doesn’t lose a minute of sleep over whether it will ever beat Pitt again.
Since Ron Everhart took over the Duquense program in 2006-07, the Dukes are 15-19 in games (of varying sample sizes) following the City Game. The Colonials are 10-10 in games after Pitt, 2-6 in the eight following last year’s game. This coming from teams with a collective .623 winning percentage since 2007-08.
Certainly, Toole and Everhart realize beating Pitt isn’t the major milestone of a season. Getting to the NCAA Tournament — which usually means winning their respective conferences — is for what these teams should strive.
But because the players are so close — recruiting showcases, summer leagues and social media make the dynamic different between these rivals than in the Steel Bowl days — they put pride on the line. RMU has never beaten Pitt. Duquesne hasn’t beaten Pitt in this millennium (the Dukes have lost 10 straight). The bitterness derives from the lack of bragging rights.
I will say, that if there is one player on Duquesne’s team that I wish was on Pitt’s. It would be T.J. McConnell. The kid is really good. He was always a lock to go to Duquesne with the family ties, but he would be a great defender to have in Pitt’s backcourt.
Dante Taylor returned to action in this game. He didn’t start, but when Khem Birch picked up an early foul, he got in the game and really came to play. It was his turn for a double-double. He had 15 points on a perfect shooting night (6-6 and 3-3 on FTs) along with 11 rebounds. Not only that, but he didn’t have a turnover and was credited with 3 assists. He earned the playing time last night. He even admitted that watching Birch and Zanna play so well was an extra motivation.
“It definitely was motivating, because everyday we battle in practice just to get each other better,” Taylor said. “But, yeah, it was definitely tough to sit there and watch.”
To be fair, Taylor was playing a good game against LaSalle before taking the elbow to the face. His energy level in the game, though, was much higher than seen.
And it isn’t like Birch was playing bad in the game. He just had a little more trouble getting in a good defensive position against speed from Duquesne — hence 3 fouls in 13 minutes. Right now, there is not going to be any set consistency to the minutes in the frontcourt — other than Nas. Birch and Taylor are pushing each other for the playing time. Something that should continue for most of the season. Both players know it, and it should just push each of them to play harder.
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