NCAA Tournament: Taking A Purely Objective Look At Pitt Vs. Colorado
By Josh Svetz
Mar 15, 2014; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard London Perrantes (23) drives to the basket against Pittsburgh Panthers guard Josh Newkirk (13) in the semifinals of the ACC college basketball tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Virginia defeated Pittsburgh 51-48. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Next, let’s look at team stats.
From the comparison between both teams I’ve gathered that the only thing Colorado does better than Pitt is rebound. Pitt shows a better ability to score, share the ball, get assists, steal the ball, shoot a high percentage and most of all, they play tough defense as they are ranked 22nd in points allowed according to ESPN.com.
Furthermore, Colorado’s big strength is not a weakness for Pitt as the difference between rebounds per game for both teams is minimal.
Now, let’s look at the top players and overall depth for both squads. Colorado is immediately at a disadvantage as I previously mentioned Dinwiddie is out for the year. I took a look at what players actually played and contributed in the last five games of the season for both teams and this is what I came up with:
For Colorado, the Buffs have two bench players, not counting the sixth man, that provide impact off the bench. Pitt has four.
The two best players for Colorado are forward Josh Scott and guard Askia Booker. Scott has been consistent, averaging 14.0 points per game and 8.5 rebounds. In the last five games Scott had double-digit points and over six rebounds four out of five times. The lone anomaly is when he was matched up against Aaron Gordon and Arizona in the Pac-12 conference tournament, where Colorado was easily beaten.
Scott will have his hands full as he will match up against Pitt center Talib Zanna. Booker is an inconsistent guard that shoots under 40 percent and turns the ball over. Despite this, he averages 12 PPG and leads the team in assists among active players. In the past five games, Booker has scored in double digits all but once, although he shot over 40 percent just twice in the last five games. Booker also has three multiple turnover games in the last five games.