Monday tends to be the recap day for the weekend and week in college basketball. So lots of mentions of Pitt. Not too many that were flattering.

It will be a very interesting week, mentally for Pitt. The team had its worst stretch of play in a few years, and the doubters are coming out in force.

Did Bucknell tell more about Pittsburgh than the Panthers want you to know? The Panthers finished a pre-conference schedule designed to address problems with the same problems as when they began. That is not good.

The loss of veteran wings Julius Page and Jaron Brown meant finding two capable replacements. It hasn’t happened. Senior Yuri Demetris and sophomore Antonio Graves have been getting most of the minutes, and neither has scored more than seven points in his past three games. They might be better defensively than the alternatives, but not so good as to prevent coach Jamie Dixon from using zone in a futile attempt to slow down Bucknell’s attack. Pitt big men Chevy Troutman and Chris Taft have been less precise defending the inside.

There are several quality Big East teams waiting for the chance to bring this program back to the pack.

Pitt claimed the purpose of the week non-con to be to answer questions about some new starters. Setting the line-up and the bench are still unresolved. The team does not look cohesive on the floor except in spurts. In the Sporting News “Power Poll,” Pitt slipped a bit more and there are questions.

18. Pittsburgh (11-2) -13 Comment: The Panthers have a lot to prove after their recent stumble. Back-to-back games at UConn (January 22) and against Syracuse (January 29) should be telling.

Those were big dates before Pitt’s slipping. Now they are deciding dates on how Pitt will be viewed for the rest of the season.

The biggest issue is that the non-con only succeeded in padding the win total. Now people want a whack at that approach.

Turns out Pittsburgh’s now-annual tradition of winning its first umpteen games against RPI bottom-feeders really was a mirage this year. Over the past week, the Panthers (11-2) lost to Bucknell and Georgetown and needed overtime to survive Rutgers.

Hell, ESPN.com’s “Bracketology Expert” Joe Lunardi was even more brutal in an online chat (subscription only):

Seth (Oklahoma City): What teams currently in the top 25 had better do well in conference play, or risk being left out on Selection Sunday?

Joe Lunardi: Pitt…the non-league schedule is SO bad (again), that a marginal conference record isn’t going to cut it. I’m sure there are others.

He took a couple whacks at Pitt throughout the chat (though in his first “bracket” for January he included Pitt as a #6 seed). But he makes a valid point. Pitt’s non-con was so brutally weak that Pitt can’t afford even mediocre play in the BE. Pitt has to go around 11-5 in the BE, not just to make the tourney but to avoid getting a dreaded 8/9 seed. The selection committee is going to hold that non-con against Pitt. That’s not a lot of margin for error.

Then again, to show how far Pitt has come, it now gets lumped in with a bunch of other top “name” teams as an adjective to describe their kind of scheduling:

To be reminded yet again what a rotten idea it is to determine a sports champion with a popularity poll, all you need is a good look at the basketball team Associated Press voters deemed to be No. 14 in Division I last week. In its first two Big Ten games, Iowa didn’t even play like the 14th-best team in its state.

There were three ways to view the Hawkeyes’ performance.

My way: Thank goodness this sport has a playoff.

Steve Alford’s way: That wasn’t the same Iowa team that opened the season 12-1.

Maryland’s/Pittsburgh’s/Arizona’s way: Conference play is really tough.

The first week of league competition revealed more about the 2004-05 season than all seven weeks of nonconference games combined — though we were left with more questions than answers. With 10 teams ranked in the January 3 AP poll losing in the subsequent five days, a lot of teams that appeared solid were exposed as flawed. Those flaws need not be fatal; there are nearly two more months to look for solutions.

That is the glass half-full approach, Pitt was hardly the only team to stumble at the end of non-con/beginning of league play. UConn, NC St., WVU, Arizona, Tennessee and Wisconsin all had bad losses.

There was a little love. Chevon Troutman got a small piece, mainly discussing how he could end up a Tight End in the NFL. Ronald Ramon got a quick mention in Doyel’s week in review at Sportsline.

Pitt still remained in the top-20 in both polls. Slipping from #12 to #18 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. In the AP Writers Poll, Pitt fell from #16 to #20.

In something partially related to scheduling — the exempted tournaments. The NCAA is looking at some changes (sub. only):

The proposal calls for 27 regular-season games, plus an exempted tournament (counting for one game against the maximum), plus a conference tournament. If it passes through the management council and the board of directors in April, the Maui Invitational, Great Alaska Shootout, Preseason NIT, Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Guardians Classic and the like would be able to survive – and likely flourish.

This legislation would allow teams to play in events like this every year, although they couldn’t be in the same event more than once every four seasons. The current rule that limits these events to only one team per conference would still apply – something that may impact the new 16-team Big East and 12-team ACC. The big-name tournaments likely would rotate the highest-profile teams on a four-year cycle, but the good news is the other teams in the leagues will get to play in exempted events every season.

This proposal also would be great for mid- and low-major teams, which would get the chance to play high-profile teams on a neutral court every season. These kinds of games always help a team’s postseason résumé.

The NCAA membership also forwarded a 29-game proposal that likely would wind up in a lawsuit with the NIT. This proposal makes all games count as one, essentially eliminating exempted events, as a team couldn’t schedule without knowing whether it would play one or four games in events like the Preseason NIT.

The overall hangup is what to do with exhibition games. Some schools want to get rid of them all together, while others want to hold onto the revenue. The thinking is the 29-game schedule proposal would give schools two more home games that would replace the exhibitions. Currently, teams play 28 regular-season games.

Pitt hasn’t played in a real tournament in years. My sense is that either proposal would likely extend the drought when you look at the marquee teams in the BE next year. Pitt will need to improve their non-con because they will be hard pressed to get an invite for some time.

Pitt has had a bad spell. People are having doubts. I don’t know if this was the idea of someone in the athletic department or it came from Coach Dixon. I do know that I think it a smart move:

Join Coach Dixon in the Petersen Events Center

OAKLAND ZOO HOOPS MEETING

Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Time: 8:00pm

Location: On the court in the Petersen Events Center

(use regular student game day entrances)

Dear Zoo Members,

Since opening the Petersen Events Center, the now nationally recognized Oakland Zoo is what has made the Petersen Events Center one of the toughest places to play in America. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your exceptional support as we get ready for Seton Hall. See you Wednesday.

Hail to Pitt,

Head Coach Jamie Dixon

Event Features:

*Q & A with Coach Dixon

*First 300 students to receive an Oakland Zoo T-shirt

*Contests and Prizes

*Pizza and drinks

Start with the students. Shore up the base. From what I understand, the crowd was pretty much stunned into silence during the Bucknell and G-town games. At least someone is figuring out you can’t take the fans and students completely for granted.

Pitt doesn’t play again until Saturday, so there is probably going to be way too much time to chew over this game. The long break will be good for Pitt if they are as banged-up and flu-ridden as Coach Jamie Dixon says.

In the game, Rutgers turned thing around when Chevy Troutman was given a technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk about 4 minutes into the second half. The dunk gave Pitt a 41-33 lead. They sank the free throws and scored on the possession, and for the next 11 minutes the game was all Rutgers. They went on an 11-0 run in less than 5 minutes, and 18-4 overall in that stretch. Even Ramon, who played such a breakout game made the dumb mistake of fouling Douby when he was attempting a 3 (Douby sank all 3 FTs). It was and is disturbing how Pitt just seemed to collapse for about 11 straight minutes. Lost energy, focus and desire. There was no leadership anywhere. Coach Dixon burned through most of the timeouts in this stretch with little changing.

On the positive, Pitt rallied. They regrouped and went on a 10-4 run to tie the game. And while Rutgers clearly out-hustled Pitt in the second half, Pitt’s defense was better. Rutgers shot nearly 45% in the first half (and from inside the 3-point line, over 50%); but in the second half, they couldn’t even get to 36% (6-17 inside the 3-point line, 4-11 outside). Rebounding and turnovers nearly did Pitt in, but not the defense.

The second half, also obscured the fact that Pitt came out and played a good first half for the first time since Richmond (Dec. 23). Ramon had 11 points in the first half and Troutman and Taft had already combined for 15 points and 10 rebounds. Pitt had gone 5-5 at the FT line (Taft was a shocking 3-3). Pitt had only committed 4 turnovers. Yes, Graves was not shooting well, and Krauser was not creating; but Pitt was playing a tougher defense and getting the rebounds.

Concerns have to remain with free throw shooting. Especially late in the game. Technically, Pitt improved on its overall team shooting % by making 12-18. The trend was scary: 1st half, 5-5 (100%); 2nd half 5-8 (62.5%); OT, 2-5 (40%).

Looking ahead a little, I have to believe Pitt will start getting away from the 3 guard line-up a little more. If, as claimed, part of the issue with the forward position were little injuries, that should be resolved with the week off. Add in the extra practices, and DeGroat, Benjamin and Milligan should be seeing some increased playing time. Likely at the expense of Demetris and even Graves. Demetris was already being pushed for time by Ramon, and Graves hasn’t been nearly so consistent as the competition’s talent levels increased.