Thabeet Destroyed by Blair

[Toine43]

Anyone else catch the Pitt Uconn game on Monday? Really intense game and crowd, fun to watch, with ESPN's 3 best announcers calling the game as a bonus. I've always enjoyed watching Pitt play, so I always end up overrating them in my brackets, but this year I think they may actually be the real deal. Fields is a character, one of those guys that you know doesn't have the physical gifts to make it at the next level, but who's an entertaining college player to watch. He's clearly the leader of that team, and it was great to see him knock down a pair of clutch threes to put his team over the top at the end, after struggling all night with Connecticut's speedier guards. Sam Young has that unorthodox release, but he's still a deadly shooter.

Of course, the real story on Monday night was DeJuan Blair, who simply outclassed Hasheem Thabeet on both ends. Besides a couple of very bad pick and roll defense errors, Blair was fantastic all game. I forget the exact numbers, but I know he had at least 20 and 20. He pulled out every post move in the book against Thabeet, basically turning UConn's biggest strength (Thabeet's defense) into their biggest weakness. Blair clearly understood that the best way to beat a shot blocker is to go right at his chin; it seemed that every time he went at Thabeet he either drew a foul or scored a bucket. Blair was finishing well with both his left and right hand, and even nailed a couple of fade away jumpers over Thabeet. The one time that Thabeet blocked Blair (on a fade away), Blair grabbed the rebound, drove right past Thabeet and laid it in. Juan Dixon's little brother Jermaine hit a key three late in the game for Pitt, although he's got a fraction of the talent that his brother has. Otherwise, for UConn, even though they lost by only 8, most of their top players played poorly. Thabeet was really bad, and Adrien's performance was underwhelming. Their freshman guard Walker, who manned up Fields all game, was pretty impressive, and AJ Price played well.

Even though I've gotten burned by them in the past, I think I might go with Pitt this year to win the National Title. They're as well rounded as any team in the country, with a core comprised of mostly upperclassmen. Blair is a sophomore, but he is smart, fundamentally sound, and plays like a senior.

[yall hate]

Thabeet wouldn't know an offensive move if it hit him in the face.  Without being able to dunk, I am convinced he would make maybe one basket a game.

Unless he improves drastically in the next 2-3 years, I feel bad for whoever wastes a draft pick on him.

[wahz]

Marquette is as likely to win as anyone. 4 solid shooters in the starting lineup and all seniors. It will be good to see how it goes betwen those 3 teams, MU, Uconn and pitt by the ncaa tourney

[fairweatherfan]

Yeah, it was a great game and the highlight was definitely Blair taking Thabeet apart.  I moved to Pennsylvania this year, so I see a lot of Pitt games, and Blair's been something of a binky for me all year.  He's very physical but also plays very smart and doesn't back down from anyone.  The rematch is going to be a great, great game as well.  Pitt is a force to be reckoned with nationally this year - shame the Orangemen won't be there with em.

[MBz]

Pitt will be around in the elite 8/final four I think.  They're a good rebounding team.  They have a great front court.  Also, Pitt's backcourt is pretty good too.  They played terrible against UConn, but Fields is a solid point guard, he has issues with quicker guards, but he still protects the ball and makes good passes.  Dixon is normally a lights out shooter as well, but was having issues against UConn.

[ChampKind]

Even though I've gotten burned by them in the past, I think I might go with Pitt this year to win the National Title. They're as well rounded as any team in the country, with a core comprised of mostly upperclassmen. Blair is a sophomore, but he is smart, fundamentally sound, and plays like a senior.

Living in Pittsburgh and having gone to a ton of Pitt games, I too have been burned by this team.  It seems like every year they're good for one win in the tournament and then an upset loss.  Hopefully the Blair/Fields combination can break that hex, but I'm skeptical.  I'll be holding onto my Chevy Troutman jersey in anticipation though.

[Celtics1990]

I personally hate Thabeet and loved watching Blair repeatedly own him down low. What made this even sweeter was that he fouled out after playing something like 23 minutes with a grand total of 5 points and 4 boards.

Also, I loved how Fields was a non-factor in the game until the last two minutes where he hit two clutch three's.

[papa shuttlesworth]

When Thabeet was a freshman, I did not like him at all.  He seemed to be very raw and did not seem to care while on the floor.  But since then, I've watched him grow into a player who is very passionate on the floor and has greatly expanded his game.  True, he relies mostly on dunks, but his progress in only a couple years has been huge.  That, combined with a nice looking free throw form and his size and blocking ability, shows why scouts are so high on him.

A few years ago, I assumed he'd be drafted way to high, not care and be a bust in the NBA.  Now I think he'll be drafted only a little bit too high, but have a much better chance to make it.  That is the fun of college basketball: you can see kids develop and change your impressions of them. 

[papa shuttlesworth]

All that said, Blair did own him.