Three Takeaways from Zoo Crew's Loss to Herd That
PITTSBURGH -- The Zoo Crew, representing the Pitt Panthers at The Basketball Tournament, fell well short of the $1 million grand prize.
The group of Pitt alumni who traveled south to Wheeling, West Virginia for their opening round matchup fell, 86-71, to Herd That - a team made up primarily of Marshall graduates. It was a bitter ending but this group of former Panthers stars gave their fans plenty to watch and hope for should the Zoo Crew decide to return to TBT.
Nostalgia Wins
That was far from the finest basketball display any of these players have put on while sporting the blue and gold, but it was plenty of fun to watch them compete on the court and revive some of the magic of their pasts.
Levance Fields, who opened the game looking like he would perpetually be a step behind the younger, faster Herd That players, careened through traffic for a critical bucket at the end of the first half and drew crafty fouls to frustrate defenders late in the game. Sam Young proved his patented pump fake will never age. And Jamel Artis scored 17 second half points in a flurry reminiscent of the guady scoring outputs which became commonplace late in his career.
Up and down the Zoo Crew lineup, there were calls back to their playing days at the Petersen Events Center. Their skills are timeless and even as their bodies age, these former Pitt stars leave traces of their old selves in their games, which was a treat to watch regardless of the result.
Zoo Crew Could Use Young Blood
The Pitt alumni fell behind 13-0 before they could find the bottom of the net and trailed by 14 before converting their first field goal of the night. Herd That used an advantage in speed and athleticism to find easy buckets in transition and above the rim.
Make no mistake, The Zoo Crew fought hard and was competitive for most of the contest, but they began to make gains when they inserted more youth into their lineup. With players like Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, Jamel Artis and Josh Newkirk in the game, the Zoo Crew was able to feed Herd That some of their own medicine by getting just a little bit faster, turning defense into offense and finding easy buckets against transition defense.
This was a decidedly older team that the Zoo Crew was fielding, with an average age of 31.3 years. While the veterans held their own, it's fair to wonder what a younger group of Panthers alumni could do in this competition. Nike Sibande (24) and Ryan Luther (27) were out for this game, and Mo Gueye (25) did not join the roster as he originally planned, which hurt, but perhaps James Robinson, Cameron Wright, Michael Young, Lamar Patterson or some of their other contemporaries might be available the next time this group wants to make a run at the $1 million prize.
Give Coach Blair Some Credit
The transition opportunities that helped the Zoo Crew get back in the game didn't simply materialize out of thin air - they were earned through tough play and good coaching.
DeJuan Blair, who Pitt fans remember more as a dominating presence inside the paint, manned the sideline for the Zoo Crew as its head coach and his decision to employ some zone looks and even a box-and-one against Herd That, which helped spark the 12-2 run that cut a 16-point deficit to six.
Blair told local media prior to the start of the tournament that he is considering a career in coaching and would use the TBT as a trial run. If his in-game adjustments are any indication, Blair has some talent for working the sideline and could have a future in that side of the game as he moves on from his playing career.
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