Ishmael Leggett holds his follow-through after hitting a three-pointer Monday night at Petersen Events Center.
The Pitt basketball team's been dominant through three games of the season, and the Panthers were on again Monday night in an 83-64 rout of Gardner-Webb at Petersen Events Center.
But the Running' Bulldogs presented a new challenge, and Jeff Capel said afterward his team will be better for it: Gardner-Webb was in and out of a 2-3 zone all night long and the Panthers struggled with it.
"I didn't think that we played with the necessary pace against the zone," Capel said. "When teams go zone, I think part of it is they want to try and slow you down a little bit and they make you think and when you haven't seen it and you switch up sometimes it can make your offense, 'OK, what are they in? OK, what are we supposed to be in?' So it just throws the rhythm off for a bit."
One of the best ways to combat a 2-3 zone is to make shots and that was something the Panthers didn't do. They missed 21 three-point attempts and only made nine. Ishmael Leggett made three of them and scored a team-high 21 points while Zack Austin and Guillermo Diaz Graham made two apiece. Amsal Delalić and Brandin Cummings added two more.
"We did get wide-open shots and we missed them and that kind of messed with us a little bit. Guys got into their head a little bit. Those are two things we can't allow to happen," Capel said. "That's why I said it was good for us, because we hadn't seen it. We knew they played zone, so we practiced against it for a couple of days, but practice is a lot different when there are people out there, popcorn's going, the band is going, they have a score up on the board and the video board is going. It's a lot different in those situations. So it was good for us to get this experience and I expect us, when and if we see zone again, we'll be better."
The Panthers now move to a tougher part of their schedule as they'll play West Virginia this Friday before playing in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 18-22.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
3:56 am - 11.12.2024PETERSEN EVENTS CENTERANOTHER ROMP ... BUT WITH A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
PITT ATHLETICS
Ishmael Leggett holds his follow-through after hitting a three-pointer Monday night at Petersen Events Center.
The Pitt basketball team's been dominant through three games of the season, and the Panthers were on again Monday night in an 83-64 rout of Gardner-Webb at Petersen Events Center.
But the Running' Bulldogs presented a new challenge, and Jeff Capel said afterward his team will be better for it: Gardner-Webb was in and out of a 2-3 zone all night long and the Panthers struggled with it.
"I didn't think that we played with the necessary pace against the zone," Capel said. "When teams go zone, I think part of it is they want to try and slow you down a little bit and they make you think and when you haven't seen it and you switch up sometimes it can make your offense, 'OK, what are they in? OK, what are we supposed to be in?' So it just throws the rhythm off for a bit."
One of the best ways to combat a 2-3 zone is to make shots and that was something the Panthers didn't do. They missed 21 three-point attempts and only made nine. Ishmael Leggett made three of them and scored a team-high 21 points while Zack Austin and Guillermo Diaz Graham made two apiece. Amsal Delalić and Brandin Cummings added two more.
"We did get wide-open shots and we missed them and that kind of messed with us a little bit. Guys got into their head a little bit. Those are two things we can't allow to happen," Capel said. "That's why I said it was good for us, because we hadn't seen it. We knew they played zone, so we practiced against it for a couple of days, but practice is a lot different when there are people out there, popcorn's going, the band is going, they have a score up on the board and the video board is going. It's a lot different in those situations. So it was good for us to get this experience and I expect us, when and if we see zone again, we'll be better."
The Panthers now move to a tougher part of their schedule as they'll play West Virginia this Friday before playing in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 18-22.
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