Hinson ERUPTS for 27, as Pitt Starts Season with Win

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor JJ Krysinsky

The Pittsburgh Panthers 2022-2023 season kicked off Monday night at the Pete with a BANGER of a win against UT Martin. Blake Hinson WENT OFF for a solid 27 points and 13 rebounds, leading the Panthers to 22 point blow-out against the Skyhawks. 

The Panthers had 4 players in double-figures with Nelly Cummings and Jamarius Burton leading in the playmaking department dishing out 7 assists each, attacking the basket with conviction. Greg Elliot shot 3/7 from deep, spacing the floor, looking like an established perimeter threat on the offensive end. Fede Federiko's presence underneath was too much for the smaller UT Martin roster, as he shot an efficient 6/7 from the field, gathering 3 blocks and 7 rebounds (3 offensive rebounds). The freshman phenoms, the Diaz twins, also debuted their talents as they combined for a solid 20 minutes off the bench. Guillermo looked fantastic in his role as defenders couldn’t contain his spark plug needed energy, grabbing 8 rebounds and a couple of blocks in the process.

The Panthers defensively looked solid. Hinson and Fede really showed the potential Monday night for Pitt to have an elite frontcourt as our leading scorer from last year, John Hugley, recovers from his knee injury. They have the potential to bully teams in the paint all year long, on both sides of the floor. Jeff Capel’s roster showed signs of what they did in the Jamie Dixon era, but with a little more depth underneath. The mass combined with the wingspan and ability to keep crashing the boards all game long will be very good for the Panthers in the long run. Also, I noticed that all that spacing I mentioned earlier helped Hinson and Cummings on the pick and roll/pop actions. This allowed Fede Federiko the freedom to bully the paint 1v1 off ball, creating lanes for Burton, Cummings, Hinson in the half court offense.

The only negatives I can critique on Monday night were the amount of turnovers, shooting 26% from behind the arc, and the opening 5 minutes of the game. They had 15 turnovers, a lot of which were preventable, so they need to take care of the ball a little better. The 26% from deep shouldn’t be a worry because they shot 41 of those things! The Panthers just have to KEEP SHOOTING! Trust me, they will fall. But my biggest thing was those first 5 minutes, because that's what determines the pacing and dictation of what goes on for the rest of the game. They are SO lucky they weren’t going up against a powerhouse ACC school like, Duke or North Carolina, because if they came out playing like that we would’ve been in for a VERY long game. They NEED to come out with that Pittsburgh grit on defense, get transition points early, lock in, and WIN the battle for the boards, everything else will come easy to them if they can execute. If they come out early and show teams that they’ve got that intimidation factor, they can be ELITE.