In the postgame excitement, Tray Woodall probably revealed a little bit too much about the coaching staff’s internal battles

Sunday, 18 November 2012 06:43

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

It was not said with malice. It was said in a moment of joy.

But senior point guard Tray Woodall let the public in on a little secret Saturday night that the coaches probably wish he had kept to himself.

Woodall revealed there is an ongoing debate within the staff on utilizing the full-court press following Pitt's 72-62 comeback win against Oakland. Apparently, one coach would like to use it more while another takes the opposing view.

Woodall was asked a question about Pitt forcing four turnovers in the final 37 seconds of regulation against Oakland. He then volunteered the following: “One coach who shall remain nameless doesn’t want us to press much and another coach who shall remain nameless wants us to press more.”

An educated guess is that head coach Jamie Dixon is the coach who does not want to press as much. He has never been a proponent of the press unless his team is trailing and even then it’s only been implemented late in games.

The Panthers, who are concentrating on creating more turnovers, forced 18 Saturday night. Eleven of those came in the second half and overtime. At least half of those second-half miscues were caused by the press.

It will be interesting to see if the Panthers go to the press more often after having so much success with it against Oakland.

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Big Lar, November 18, 2012 - 03:05 PM

Sometimes it's just automtic that you have to press, which is the situation Pitt was in last night. It was impressive that they were so effective with it considering how infrequently they go to it. Getting turnovers without fouling was the key to the comeback last night.

The play of Robinson and the often-maligned Dante Taylor pulled out the game for Pitt. Taylors put-backs kept the comeback alive.

In addition to the plays that Robinson made, he also had a basket taken away late in the game when he penetrated and sored but hd it wiped away when Adams was called for a foul on the screen he set.

I thought that Patterson would break out last night but he did not have a basket. I'm a little concerned that he is not scoring at all. He is a player that you would think would be leading a comeback. I'm not knocking him but it seems to be that he is being too unconcerned with scoring. They will need him to contribute more - probably on Wednesday against Michigan.

+1