Switch in defense preserved win for Panthers
Eagles shredded Pitt’s zone in 1st half
On paper, the general idea behind Pitt’s defense for much of the first half of its 74-72 victory Wednesday night against Boston College made enough sense. Against one of the ACC’s worst shooting teams, the
Panthers would play various forms of a zone and make their opponent beat them in a way the Eagles have been unable to beat so many teams this season. It didn’t unfold that way. The win was exciting and frenzied for any number of reasons, as Pitt managed to overcome a 14-point deficit and squander a 10-point lead in a single night. Maybe the most surprising, or at least initially alarming, element of it was how poorly it managed to contain a struggling Boston College offense in the game’s first 17 minutes.
In that time, the Eagles made 10 of 17 shots and 6 of 10 3-pointers after entering the day shooting just 39.7% on the season and
25.5% from 3 in ACC play. Through their first 18 games, they ranked last among all ACC teams and 277th among 353 Division I teams in offensive efficiency. In their previous five games, they had gone just 22 of 112 (19.6%) from 3.
Against Pitt’s zone, however, they excelled. Part of that had to do with the return of previously injured forward Nik Popovic, a 6foot-11 forward who can move opposing defenses away from the arc to open up shooters. But it also had to do with converting on open looks, the kind they weren’t able to make in other ACC games.
“When we played against Georgia Tech, when we played against Syracuse, we shot like 6 for 1,000,” Boston College coach Jim Christian said. “We made shots, man. When guys make shots, you look a lot better against the zone. It’s not rocket science sometimes.”
The Eagles were able to run a proper offense around the zone, using many of the most proven methods to beat such a defense. With Pitt’s Justin Champagnie pushed out to apply pressure to the ballhandler in the first half, Popovic moved out to just inside the arc in the corner, and his teammate found him for an easy jumper.
Later in the half, while Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens anchored the top of the zone, Boston College’s Julian Rishwain curled around both of them in the soft spot of the zone and came back out, catching McGowens off guard enough to get an opening for a 3 he made.
Sometimes, the zone gave players on the Eagles good shooting opportunities by design, only for those players to be uncharacteristically good from beyond the arc. Forward Steffon Mitchell, for example, was shooting just 21.7% from 3 on the season before Wednesday but made 2 of 5 attempts against the Panthers.
“Some guys we didn’t initially mind shooting stepped up and made some big-time 3s,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “Give them credit for that.”
Trailing by 14 in a game his team could ill-afford to lose, Capel made a change, going back to a man-to-man defense Pitt has played much better in this season.
It worked. After scoring 23 points on their 15 possessions against the zone, an average of 1.53 points per possession, the Eagles scored 38 points on their 39 possessions against the man-toman look for the rest of the game.
The change wasn’t perfect. Boston College’s 0.97 points per possession against the man were still well above its season average, and while the defense applied pressure that helped Pitt get out in transition, it still gave up some of the open looks that doomed it in the first half.
One thing is for certain, though — it’s a change in game plan that saved whatever hope the Panthers had for a win.
“We defended,” Capel said when asked what changed between the first and second half. “We didn’t allow them to just run their stuff.”
Better off the bench
Ryan Murphy’s presence in the game was most noticeable in the crucial final seconds, when he made the winning jumper with four seconds to play, but he was strong for much of the night prior to those heroics. The junior guard finished the evening with 11 points on just five shots, including making all of his 3s.
It continued a trend that is gradually veering away from a statistical coincidence: Murphy has been much better off the bench. Consider the numbers he has posted over the course of the season:
• Starting (12 games): 8.8 points per game, 32.2% on field goals, 24.6% from 3, 38.6% effective field goals.
• Off the bench (seven games): 14 points per game, 50% on field goals, 52.4% from 3, 66.7% effective field goals.
The difference is drastic.
At times, like when Pitt was dealing with injuries to Gerald Drumgoole and Au’Diese Toney, there was little choice other than to start Murphy as the team’s rotation shortened. After his hot start to the season, in which he averaged 20.5 points per game in the first two games coming off the bench, it was perfectly sensible to start Murphy.
His best performances, though, are coming when he functions as something of a sixth man, even if the difference between the two roles isn’t especially noticeable to the player.
“I just start making more shots,” Murphy said.“Shooters, you’ve just got to focus. Like I say all the time, stick with what you do and shots are going to fall. They’re just going in right now. It’s a great feeling every time it’s leaving my hand right now.”