Notre Dame, Send Pitt to the Line on Saturday!

Now we all know that Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team has a tough task before it on Saturday, when they’re slated to play the Pittsburgh Panthers on the road.  Not only are the Fighting Irish reeling from four straight losses (which everybody is covering extensively these days- we apologize for the pile-on), but Pittsburgh is good. And we mean good.  But they do have a weakness.

If you check out the Pittsburgh Panthers page at Kenpom’s efficiency ratings page, you’ll get a great scouting report on the Pittsburgh Panthers.  You’ll see plenty of good things about the Irish’s next opponent. For instance, they’re overall ranked No. 3 in terms of efficiency (No. 3 on offense, No. 21 on defense).  Pitt has solid wins over Georgetown on the road, Washington State at a neutral court, and West Virginia on the road.  But they lost their last game to Villanova, so Pitt is not invincible.

In fact, if you look at the efficiency stats, you’ll notice that the glaring weakness of the Panthers is their free throw shooting. They are among the worst teams in the nation at the stripe, ranked in the 280s in terms of percentage. This could be the difference in the game.  If you’re listening to us, Irish, foul like crazy if the game is close. Force Pitt to win it standing still.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 30, 2009 - Post a comment