A new wrinkle in Pitt’s pick and roll defense

We saw earlier this season the struggles Pitt had with the pick and roll defense (see here). I saw them throw in a new wrinkle with their pick and roll defense against Villanova, which seemed to work pretty well. It involves Gary McGhee hedging on the screen, with the help defender rotating to the roll man, instead of forcing McGhee to recover back to the roll man.

Here we see Mouphtaou Yarou setting the screen for Maalik Wayns. McGhee hedges on the screen and this is where the wrinkle comes in to the defense. McGhee has struggled with recovering to the roll man in the past, so Pitt has worked harder to rotate the help man over to the roll man.

Butler plays great D, Duke scores anyway

Duke currently has the second most efficient offense at 121.7, only behind Pitt at 121.8. By the end of the season, I believe Duke will be the most efficient offense, as they were last year. This play is a perfect example of why they are so hard to defend. Butler plays perfect defense, in my mind, yet Duke still comes away with a basket.