Despite no articles about tomorrow’s game, there are some stories about Pitt basketball.
Pitt’s brutally bad non-con, something I have been slightly manic about flogging, gets somewhat of a defense.
Big East associate commissioner Tom Odjackjian said CBS tried to arrange for the No. 20 Panthers to play televised games at No. 1 Illinois, No. 5 Duke and No. 15 Michigan State, but all three schools balked at the offer.
“Syracuse and Pittsburgh have had some criticism for their non-conference schedules, but it’s not for their lack of trying or lack of willingness,” Odjackjian said when reached by telephone. “That’s how they ended up in the Jimmy V Classic.”
…
“I think it’s important people understand Pittsburgh and Syracuse were willing to play,” he said. “Pittsburgh, in particular, was willing to go to Cameron (Indoor Stadium), but it didn’t work out.“Some people, philosophically, don’t like to play a tough game in January, but that’s what some networks are looking for.”
January? That doesn’t excuse the whole month of December. And why wasn’t the Athletic Department working to make it happen rather than rely on a TV network to sell it?
Meanwhile, Darrelle Revis, the Freshman Cornerback for Pitt who was going to join the b-ball team, and showed up at the Oakland Zoo meeting. Revis took part in a couple practices and opted to concentrate on football. Just as well, the odds of him getting off the bench from here to the end of the season weren’t exactly high.
An article about how the younger players are showing a willingness to step up and take the big shots at big moments in games. Honestly that has never been a question. Krauser and Graves were willing to do it last year, as well. It’s more a matter of making the big shots.
Another article talks about Pitt working to improve on the defensive end. The article points out that Pitt is shooting well in just about all aspects. The big problem, as far as the offense, has been turnovers. Pitt is still a deliberate, half-court offense. The large number of turnovers Pitt has had, though, limit its already low number of shooting opportunities. The defense, showed some signs of coming around against Rutgers, but it is unclear how much was just playing a bad Rutgers team putting up bad shots.
MSNBC does a series on the best college basketball rivalries (tip-off, courtesy of B.B.). My wife is a Cinci grad, so she is happy they list Cinci-Xavier, the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Pitt-UConn made their list as the best budding rivalry.
Fans and players donÂ’t really hate each other, but the level of play in their games has thrusted this to the forefront. Last yearÂ’s Big East title game, which the Huskies won, 61-58 after the Panthers took the regular-season title, is a great example.
With star Emeka Okafor hobbled by back spasms, guard Ben Gordon hit the game-winner and set the Big East Tournament scoring record in the process. Oh yeah, it was the third straight time theyÂ’d played for the title. It was the fourth straight final for the Panthers and the eighth in 10 years for Connecticut.
Funny, there is still a lot of residual tension and discussion over a game at Fitzgerald in 1998. Still this only remains a good rivalry game as long as both teams are near the same level. It wasn’t much of one, prior to 1998.
