Self-serving good: Seth Davis at SI.com makes the following observation about Hakim Warrick in relation to the BC game this weekend:

Syracuse has neither high-quality big men nor a bevy of outside bombers. It has a great player in Hakim Warrick, but he doesn’t like to be pushed away from the goal. On Saturday he’ll be pushed — a lot. (The manner in which this game will be officiated is critical.)

That pretty much jibes with what I saw in the Pitt-Syracuse game.

You look at how Hakim Warrick spent a lot less time in the second game under the basket. In the first game, he attempted 4 layups (made 3) and had a dunk. In the second game, he only attempted 2 layups (made 1) and added another dunk. His jump shots in the first game were overwhelmingly taken in the paint. In the game yesterday, all of his shots were outside of the paint. He just did not want to be in there banging.

The thing is, he shied away from contact in the second game. Not the first. I think he’ll be more aggressive inside against BC — at least initially. Davis is right. If he gets the early calls, he should be able to go off on the Eagles.

As B.B. noted earlier, Davis after picking against Pitt in 3 straight big games (going 0-3), gives a kiss of death by finally going with the Panthers.

Villanova got a lot of mileage out of its rout of Kansas a month ago, but the Wildcats haven’t done much since. They did beat Notre Dame 65-60 in the next game, but in their two toughest tests, at Connecticut and home last weekend against Syracuse, they came up short. The loss to ‘Cuse was especially bad considering it came at home and the Orange, who get out-rebounded by everybody, beat the Cats on the boards 42-34. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh isn’t the right team to be playing if you’re susceptible to inside muscle. The Panthers won the battle of the boards by six when they beat Syracuse on Monday, and with freshman guard Ronald Ramon looking healthy and confident again, I think Pitt is a team on the rise.
Seth’s Pick: Pittsburgh 67, Villanova 62

I feel like Pitt has just been given a kiss of death.

Greg Doyel lists the game as one of the weekend’s best.

Villanova has an awesome NCAA resumé aside from one troubling number: The Wildcats (16-6, 6-5) are seventh in the Big East. With everything else going for it, Villanova can finish seventh in the Big East and still get an NCAA bid — but don’t push your luck, Wildcats. Beating the Panthers (18-4, 8-3) would put a nice bow on things. Watch Villanova’s quartet of guards try to fluster Pitt’s Carl Krauser.

Fine. If they can’t protect the inside, Troutman, Taft, Gray and even Kendall should be able to go off.

The SEC drops the hammer on exuberant Gamecocks fans.

5K ain’t so bad, but offense no. 2 bumps the fine to 25K and the third elevates it to 50K.

I understand that the SEC is wary of things getting outta hand in our post-Artest sports world, but, to quote Jimmy, “Come on!”

Seriously, I’ve spent time in Columbia, S.C., and believe me,there ain’t much to celebrate. Let the kids have their moment.

And let the Big East resist the urge to foist nanny-state “solutions” on problems that don’t really exist.

Pitt has its game notes (PDF) for the Sunday match-up. Calling the game on ABC will be Dan Shulman and Len Elmore. That’s a relief. I was afraid Vitale might be brought in after the Saturday night ESPN game or something.

Individual stats from the game notes. Troutman is 25 points shy of 1200 for his career. Depending on how many games Pitt plays in the Big East and NCAA Tournament, he should have a decent shot of reaching 1300. That would place him 15th on the Pitt scoring list, passing Sean Miller, Bobby Martin and Jerome Lane. Carl Krauser, with 372 assists needs only 7 to pass Curtis Aiken and move up to 7th on the assist list at Pitt. Chris Taft is 2 blocks short of 100 for his career. A Pitt win would give Coach Dixon his 50th victory. He’s 49-9.

In the Connecticut Journal Inquirer, a columnist presents his 2004-2005 Big East All-Indispensable first team. The team includes Ryan Gomes, Providence; Jared Dudley, BC; Jeff Green, Georgetown; Marcus Williams, UConn; and

CHEVY TROUTMAN, Pittsburgh: The Panthers’ blue-collar guy underneath, Troutman uses every bit of his four years of experience to get the most out of his talent. Translated, that means the 6-7 forward knows every trick in the book and it makes him one of the toughest opponents in the league. Teammate Carl Krauser makes plenty of big shots for Pittsburgh, but there have been too many games this season in which Troutman simply took over and won the game for the Panthers – the UConn game for one. In league games, Troutman is Pitt’s leading scorer (16.8) and rebounder (7.9). He does all the dirty work that all good teams have to have done.

The great appeal of Troutman, isn’t just how good he is, it’s that you see maximum effort and skill in his game. It’s why he is so widely regarded. He’s leaving everything out there.

The ‘Nova student paper sees the game like this:

The best way to play against this type of team is to start in zone, but have the defense completely deny any entry passes into the post. The Panthers tend to get streaky from behind the arc, but they are much more of a threat when their interior offense is working well. On defense, Tafts shot blocking and rebounding ability will make it tough for our guards to get layups inside, so it is crucial to hit three pointers and make free throws.

This will no doubt be one of the biggest games thus far for the ‘Cats, and with BC looming next Wednesday, there is no time to relax. This is the time of year when great teams step up and prove how good they are.

We believe in our team, and, with two good games against the best of competition, the rest of the nation will believe as well.

Think the students will be in to this game?

No one story or theme today. You can bid on a game ball from the ND-Pitt game. It’s been signed by Coach Dixon.

An article trying to pump support for Chevon Troutman as Big East Player of the Year. I just don’t see it happening. I think Hakim Warrick of Syracuse will get it. Arguably, Jared Dudley from BC might be the right choice but I think he gets penalized for being on BC and having some votes split by his teammate, Craig Smith. I just want Troutman on the 1st-team All-Big East squad.

Add Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated to the many fans of Troutman.

Staying in the Big East: Pitt’s undersized-but-relentless Chevon Troutman has become one of my favorite players (and could teach a thing or two about consistency to teammate Chris Taft). And it’s nice to see that Boston College didn’t get buried by the pollsters after suffering its only loss of the season last week at Notre Dame. (I figured the Eagles might take a beating.)

Word to ‘Bag pal Pat Forde: Ashley Judd may not be the belle of college basketball after all. Several readers have nominated Kansas team manager Shannon O’Connor, who now has legions of her own fans for reasons that have little to do with hoops.

The link to O’Connor is worth clicking to. That’s one way to help build the team support.

The weekly Pitt basketball Q&A with Ray Fittipaldo, the P-G reporter, is up. Some interesting stuff, and a promise to find out where is Ricardo Greer.

Looking to the future with an article on how the 2005 recruiting class for basketball is doing this year. Makes you feel very optimistic. I like the confidence of the kids that they believe they can get right into things. Some sound so enthusiastic for the physical style of play, it makes me grin. You have to like players that say they want to get in there and bang and play inside.

As for Villanova, they survived a scare at Seton Hall last night. It actually snapped a six game losing streak to the Pirates. ‘Nova was led by Curtis Sumpter who scored 25 points. The Wildcats are still a hot and cold running team. They led the game 43-27 then went 9+ minutes without scoring (0-13) to let Seton Hall back into the game.

Villanova has always given Pitt a hard time. Last year they threw a scare into Pitt, before collapsing in the final 8 minutes. This is an unpredictable team, still. They are fighting to get into the NCAA Tournament. Right now they are a proverbial bubble team.

Bob Smizik is a frequent target of irate Pitt fans, and I have been known to go after some of his columns on occasion. His column today, is worth reading in full. If for no other reason he utters these words.

I goofed.

It is rare for most print columnists to admit when they were wrong or are contradicting what they had previously written. Smizik is probably no better or worse than most. So when he is willing to come out and say this, you take notice.

The column refers to the Pitt Athletic Department’s “Quest for Excellence” fundraising drive. Specifically the plans for mandatory donations to the Panther Club and season ticket seats. I did not pay much attention to the revamping of the basketball season tickets, because I don’t have any. Maybe I should have:

Pitt is attempting to be as fair as possible in what will amount to a total reseating of the Petersen Center. But when the seats are being bid for in what amounts to a silent auction, complete fairness is not possible.

Above all else, Pitt must be fair with its fan.

Pitt has devised a sophisticated and complicated priority list, which, correctly, includes more than the size of a contribution. Seniority also is a factor, as it should be. But the bottom line is this:

No one knows what it will take to keep their seat.
…
Under the new Pitt arrangement, season-ticket holders are contributing blindly. They don’t know what it will take to give them the same seat they currently have or the same caliber of seat. They won’t know where they stand until all contributions are in and all prospective season-ticket holders are ranked.

Furthermore, it’s possible to make a contribution and not get a seat. The contribution, of course, is not refundable.

According to the article, UConn does reseating every year; Maryland every 2; and now Kansas is doing it.

Not to be insulting, but Pitt is not any of those places. Those school have a much larger and more sturdily built fan base and have had longer, more sustained success. In the case of UConn and Kansas, they are also about the only game in town, so to speak.

The brochure for the basketball tickets (PDF) is intentionally vague about what the donor levels are/should/will be.

I know Pitt thinks this is a better way to maximize donations, and can point to a waiting list for season tickets of around 3,000. That’s deceptive. People will get on the list, but when it comes time aren’t necessarily jumping. I have family living in the DC area, who put themselves on the Washington Redskins waiting list for season tickets only a few years ago. The “official waiting list” is supposed to be some 10-20 thousand deep. Within 2 years they were being contacted by the team about getting tickets — they said no and just stayed on the list.