I feel like I should do something to point out when I get to a post pertaining to basketball. We’ve kind of drowned the blog in a sea of football posts and ruminations. The patsy game tomorrow against St. Francis – PA. Game Notes are here (PDF), but there isn’t much to them. I mean if you like to see what the suggested storylines are, that’s fine.

I think that has been an oddly fascinating thing about everything being on the net. The transparency with which athletic departments provide “suggested” storylines regarding a team for writers and game commentators. Stuff that has been going on for years, usually with the fans blissfully unaware of where some of those weird storylines or stats developed, now know it before the stories are written or the games are broadcast.

With the new mix of talent, Pitt has shown more of an up-tempo game at time. This has been much to the delight of Carl Krauser. For Pitt fans, mainly me, this has to be a little disconcerting. Pitt got burned last year whenever it tried to run. The team functioned best in its half-court set offense. Why would you change what worked so well? At the same time, it only took them so far. I believe the team can do better in the NCAAs and there is a lot of new personnel that you have to adapt the situation to fit. So, for now, I will not complain about trying to fast break and the team running — just as long as they don’t let themselves get burned too often on defense.

That is part of the reason, Coach Dixon has found himself playing 3 guards — Krauser, Ronald Ramon and Yuri Demetrius at times. It has met with success so far, but it remains to be seen if it still works when the competition improves.