1. Panthers literally one of the worst in two key areas
Considering that the team had already lost over 85% of their scoring production from last season, not having three key rotation pieces entering the 2021-22 campaign was a hurdle nearly impossible to overcome. But what made the absences of Horton and Sibande even more problematic was that they were Pittsburgh’s best three-point and free throw shooters as well.
That has been incredibly apparent for the Panthers so far in the first four games. The team has made a total of 11 three-pointers in four games. In contrast, over 100 teams have made at least 10 in a single game. And only freshman Nate Santos has made more than two shots from deep on the roster.
The issue is that starting guard Femi Odukale is more of a slasher than someone who shoots from deep off the bounce. And again, Pitt only had one scholarship true guard on the roster before Burton returned. William Jeffress (0/8) is off to a cold start while most of the forwards on the roster aren’t good at spacing the floor. There was hope that Stony Brook transfer Mo Gueye could be that player but he’s 0/4 from deep himself.
Pittsburgh ranks last in both attempts and makes in the country, while also in the bottom-10 in percentage (24%). So they haven’t been taking many and focusing on driving to the basket, which has created a lot of fouls and trips to the basket.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, that’s another problem they deal with. Although they rank in the top-tier in terms of getting to the line, the team is shooting a dreadful 55% from the charity stripe, good for 5th-worst nationally. In the loss to The Citadel, the team shot 15/31 from the free throw line, combined with going 2/17 from deep.
Regardless of injuries and the current lack of depth, you cannot win games being unable to shoot three-pointers AND struggling to make free throws. The only potential positive is that Pittsburgh can put the opposing team’s key players in foul trouble but since they themselves don’t have depth, how can they take advantage.
I’m not sure how this current roster can fix this double-whammy but they’ve been lucky to get by lower-tier mid-major programs. If the percentages don’t climb to at least respective ranges, even lower-level power conference programs such as Vanderbilt and Minnesota will blow them out.