A lot of people have complained that Demetris doesn’t bring much offensively, and shouldn’t be starting. Well, it looks like Ronald Ramon will be starting for Pitt, by default:

Pitt senior guard Yuri Demetris has been suspended indefinitely for disciplinary reason, head basketball coach Jamie Dixon announced today.

“Effective immediately, Yuri Demetris is suspended from the team and will not play or participate in any team-related activities,” Dixon said in a prepared statement. “Discipline and proper behavior must remain the foundation of our program. Even though he is not formally with the team at this time, we will ensure that he receives the appropriate support from the university and athletic department.”

Dixon gave no further details of the suspension.

The P-G said there will be more in tomorrow’s paper. As I recall, last season Demetris nearly quit the team. Reportedly over a lack of playing time, but now I can’t help but wonder if it was something else, and whether this is related.

That’s what I dubbed the group of four “blonde” hotties who park themselves in the front row of the Zoo near half court (so as to maximize TV exposure). You’ve seen them – each is clad in a sleveless white t-shirt that is several sizes too small, with a letter painted on in blue (as well as a small number, I assume for their favorite player) to spell out “P-I-T-T”. Home made t-shirts to honor their university and its team – it’s the kind of enthusiasm that brings joy to my heart.

I was at the Seton Hall game Saturday, sitting in the lower level at half court (great seats), directly across from the group of girls. They are conspicuous in their refusal to wear the gold Zoo t-shirts like nearly everyone else; their ensemble screams “Look at us! We have something important to say!” as they gently sway and bounce during the game. All are white, blonde, and clad in hip hugger jeans. They are not fat, but they aren’t thin either.

That’s when inspiration dawned on me – they are the kind of girls Chevy Troutman would enjoy spending time with (not like the rest of us would not enjoy spending some time, but you get my drift). Thus, I named this group: Chevy’s Bevy.

They appear to be the same girls who park themselves just next to the away tunnel at Heinz Field in the student section – within close binocular distance from our seats. I’m not 100% sure it’s them, but I’m going to assume they are the same group.

As the game continued, I noticed that each had a small number painted on their t-shirt; the “P” had a 23, the “I” had 2, the first “T” a 21 and the final “T” a 2 as well. I assumed they were references to Taft (23), McCarroll (21) and Chevy (2).

I don’t know if we can get this to catch on or not; most girls would probably not want to be associated with such a group anyway, especially if they were to become members of a “bevy” of some sort. Still, I’m proud of my creativity.

As for the game, I thought Taft and Krauser got off to extremely slow starts. I know I hated going to games that started at noon when I was a student, and I wasn’t even playing. Perhaps they were up late Friday night studying? As the game went on, they both performed better (although Krauser is still too much of a ball-hog). Taft really came on strong with the blocks in the last five minutes.

I was happy to see DeGroat finally get some minutes. He took a bad foul, but I thought that was the refs calling the game too closely. In fact, they called it too close all game – this is Big East basketball, not Argentina v. Sweden in the Olympics! If the rest of the season is called this way Pitt is in trouble – we are still suspect in foul shooting.

Aaron Gray needs some extra coaching in catching the ball. If Pitt can only get the ball to him down low, AND have him hang on to it, he could score almost at will.

I did notice that Cerniglia guy from SH doing the “X” move – that got the student’s all riled up.

All in all, I was happy to see Pitt stiffen up and come back. I hope the 2 home losses brought this team down to earth and reminded them they have to work hard to beat average teams.

The stories in the Pittsburgh papers tried to accentuate the positive in Pitt’s blow-the-big-lead-but-then-come-back win.

Pitt was in desperate need of some senior leadership, and Chevon Troutman stepped forward and delivered. Troutman scored 10 of his season-high 23 points in the final five minutes and led the Panthers to a 67-63 comeback victory before 10,103 at the Petersen Events Center.

“He’s done it before, but this one probably tops the list,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said after Pitt outscored the Pirates, 16-5, in the closing minutes to erase a 58-51 deficit.

“He made every big play down the stretch.”
…
The frontcourt had free reign because Seton Hall coach Louis Orr decided to concentrate on stopping Pitt’s outside shooters. The Panthers shot just 3 for 10 from 3-point range, but the strategy left Troutman and Taft with single coverage for much of the contest.

That’s an unusual strategy for defending Pitt. Most of the time, teams concentrate on collapsing inside against Pitt. Wish I’d seen the game to see why Troutman and Taft didn’t have even bigger games.

There was also some wierdness going on in the final 11.5 seconds of the game with the clocks.

The clock started when the official handed the ball to Seton Hall for the inbounds play. At least five seconds ran off the clock before the ball was put into play. By the time Andre Sweet attempted a 3-pointer the buzzer had sounded.

Orr was unaware of the mistake at the time but acknowledged afterward that time seemed to go by quickly on the final shot.

“It did didn’t it,” said Orr, who was made aware of the mistake by reporters afterward.

Orr said he was so focused on the play on the court that he didn’t look at the clock.

Dixon didn’t see the clock start early, either, but also acknowledged that time ran off fast. The clock starts when the officials trigger it to start, not the timekeeper who is employed by Pitt.

Not exactly homecooking, so much as a ref who must have wanted time to see the football game perhaps?

Troutman, of course, was the hero for Pitt. He was feeling good after the game:

“I think I’m the best power forward in the country,” the brawny senior said Saturday, moments after carrying the Panthers to a down-to-the-wire, 67-63 victory at Petersen Events Center. “I really believe that.”
…
“I felt like it I needed to take over a little there,” said Troutman, who had 15 points in the second half, including 10 in the final five minutes.

He did that and more. The 6-foot-7 bruiser had no intention of letting his team lose on this afternoon, particularly with a chance for the senior class to clinch its 100th victory and with his parents sitting proudly among the crowd of 10,103.

“Sometimes, I have to remind myself to score more,” Troutman said. “And at the end of the game, I knew that’s what I needed to do. The three three-point plays were right there for me, and I had to make sure I finished them off.”

The game was also, the 100th win for this senior class. They need 8 more wins to pass last year’s class for the most wins ever by a class of Pitt players. The win was also Coach Jamie Dixon’s 50th game as head coach. His record is now 43-7.