St. John’s first trip to Pittsburgh since last February’s ill-fated visit. Think the NYC media has forgotten? Not quite.

Fear not, St. John’s fans. Win or lose at Pittsburgh tonight, there will be no humiliating repeat of last season’s “sexcapades” at a strip club outside of the Steel City.

The Red Storm (8-11, 2-7 Big East) flew to Pittsburgh yesterday and will take a charter flight home after tonight’s game. No post-game trip to Club Erotica. No chance of an embarrassing pay-for-sex liaison with a woman at the team hotel.

I don’t think that McKees Rocks business establishment can buy publicity like this. Going to be a few Google searches on that today. Of course, they came in last night so how do they know there were no trips before?

He stands only six feet tall, but Vinny Accardi has become St. John’s last line of defense. Accardi is not on the back line of the Red Storm’s 2-3 zone; he is the team manager. And every night the Johnnies spend on the road, he can be found sitting in the hallway until the wee hours, just outside the players’ hotel room doors.

After St. John’s (8-11, 2-7 Big East) spent the day traveling and preparing for tonight’s game at No. 18 Pitt (15-4, 5-3), Accardi spent two hours sitting in the corridor of the Wyndham Hotel after lights out for the team. His assignment: remind those who would leave their room that it’s a violation of team rules.

If only he’d been there 368 days ago.

That’s not to say their paranoid about a repeat occurrence or anything.

As for the actual game. Funny thing, the incident from last year is not included in the “top storylines” list in Pitt’s game notes (PDF).

Pitt has had a lot more close games — wins and losses — than the last couple of years.

In 36 games last season, Pitt had seven games that were decided by five points or fewer. The Panthers were 3-4 in those games with the losses coming against Connecticut (twice), Syracuse and Seton Hall.

In 19 games this season, Pitt already has played seven such games and is 3-4. With the Big East Conference as competitive as it has been in years from top to bottom and with Pitt’s penchant for playing in nail-biters, that number likely will grow over the final eight games of the regular season and postseason tournaments.

Whether Pitt improves its record in close games could determine how far this team goes. Senior forward Chevon Troutman said something is missing from this team that had been present in previous seasons: a killer instinct.

In fact, it seemed like Troutman had a lot to say, that echoes a lot of the fans’ feelings.

“I don’t feel like teams come in here intimidated anymore,” said Troutman, the team’s elder statesman who’s played in three Big East tournament title games and three NCAA Sweet 16s. “They come in here, and they’re like, ‘OK, (Pitt) has a few losses, we can give them another one. We just have to keep plugging away, man.”
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“I feel like we still need some work,” he said. “We’re not as polished as we’ve been in the past couple years. … We just let other people decide if we want to lose, and we have to stop doing that. I feel like we have to come out and just take over the game and show everybody that we are good and, no matter what goes on in a game, we’re going to win.”
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“We ain’t even approaching any tournaments yet,” Troutman said, referring to the fact that the Big East tournament is a month away. “This is still like practice to us. We have to get these young fellas in the groove of the game, and it’s hard sometimes. But they’re young, and you gotta stick with them.

“I feel like we’re a more talented team than we’ve ever been. Our guards can handle the ball more, but I think our guards aren’t as defense-oriented as they’ve been in the past. But they’re still learning, and they’ll get it before they leave.”

The question is whether they’ll get it before Troutman and Taft leave.

Meanwhile, there is still a game, and while St. John’s knows Pitt will be doubly pissed from losing to St. John’s nearly a month ago and the loss to WVU, there is still hope for a big season sweep. Still, even the St. John’s players know that Pitt is not playing the same way.

What has changed most for the Panthers since then is their frontcourt play, especially senior forward Chevy Troutman. With the 6-7 Troutman and 6-10 Xaverian alum Chris Taft playing big, Pitt managed wins at UConn and at home over Syracuse since losing to St. John’s.

Ronald Ramon is still questionable for the game tonight. Benjamin will likely get a lot of his minutes. If Kendall can stay out of foul trouble, he should help and Graves might find his minutes still being squeezed. Especially if Graves doesn’t start improving on the perimeter defense.

A few articles over the weekend that I meant to discuss. A *ahem* puff piece on new Recruiting Coordinator/TE Coach Greg Gattuso and weight issues. The issue of weight discrimination in the hiring of football coaches has become a sporadic issue in the last 5-7 years. Gattuso has dropped some 80 pounds in the last year plus. So that puts him, now around 270.

The problem remained, Gattuso was no small guy. He was a non-scholarship version of Ralph Friedgen and Tom Amstutz and Mark Mangino of New Castle. He was too big a man for a major-college campus, or so incorrectly thought the Division I-A, stuffed medium-to-large shirts — Walt Harris among them.

Gattuso once interviewed a few years ago with Harris across the Mon at Pitt’s Southside facility, but that sit down probably fell somewhere between formality and nicety. Nothing came of it. Nothing came of any major-college assistant’s vacancy, until Wannstedt came along and snapped up Pittsburgh’s most consistent college football winner since, who, Jock Sutherland?

Interesting. I think the general thinking was that for the most part Gattuso was content to stay in the Pittsburgh area. That he wasn’t looking to leave to be an assistant coach anywhere else. I’m actually more encouraged that he was trying to move up. Ambition and drive are important in all assistant coaches.

There has to be some concession that seeing a big, very overweight man huffing and puffing on a sideline getting stressed just looks like a heart attack on the field waiting to happen. There’s a reason for the treadmill jokes on the Jim Rome show whenever the name Mark Mangino comes up. He just doesn’t look healthy. And how fair or appropriate is it for a coach to be that way while pushing the players in conditioning and practice?

Meanwhile, on the nuts and bolts end, an article discusses the changes at Pitt football in recruiting.

If you were listening closely, however, it’s evident that Wannstedt is making wholesale changes to Pitt’s recruiting plans. Gattuso is a coach first who’s merely in charge of organizing evaluations, mailings and the like. When it comes to recruiting, Wannstedt is the true point man.

“There is a reaction from not only recruits, but every single person in the school,” Pitt assistant Charlie Partridge said of Wannstedt after accompanying him on recruiting visits. “It’s an event when he walks in. School stops. That type of environment certainly affects a kid’s view of our program.”

Partridge wanted the recruiting coordinator job. But he’s a South Florida guy. And this job was as much about image as anything. No matter what he did, Bryan Deal was an Ohio guy. So when Pitt concentrated much of its recruiting on the Buckeye state under Walt Harris, Deal was to blame.

Gattuso, however, is Pittsburgh through and through. He’s a Beechview guy, a Seton-La Salle guy, a Duquesne guy. He’s like you and me. At least, that’s what Pitt is selling.

Wannstedt wants to redirect the focus to the WPIAL, the state. On Signing Day, he outlined plans to concentrate recruiting efforts within a 300-mile radius and Florida.

“I don’t see our recruiting going farther than that,” Wannstedt said. “There’s enough players within a 300-mile radius of our campus that you don’t need to go farther, unless it’s a special tie (to the university).”

You might as well extend the radius to closer to 400 miles. Wanny had already talked of how disturbed he was that there were no kids in this recruiting class from Eastern Pennsylvania. Philly is over 300 miles from Pitt. Then there is New Jersey. Not to mention the distance to Cinci. 400 miles should be the number, at least East and West.

I can’t help but wonder how much of the focus on Western Pennsylvania will last. There are plenty of good players in the area, but the great ones are much less than before and more heavily recruited than ever, since Penn State let the Big 11 come to play more frequently. The criticisms of Harris for not recruiting in his own backyard are only partially true. He succeeded for a while with skill players, but the sheer volume and numbers from other areas — especially Florida became harder to resist. Wannstedt may face the same dilemma as the novelty of him being a former NFL coach wears off, and he starts to deal with the issue of numbers of scholarships and talent.

Final story is one of economics. One that makes me wonder just how much our season ticket prices are going to get goosed.

Pitt athletic director Jeff Long knows there is a lot of unrest among Panthers fans because he had to fill the football schedule by adding a Division I-AA team (Youngstown State) for the second consecutive season. He also knows the reality of trying to build a schedule for a big-time football program is not easy especially given the obstacles Pitt has had to overcome the past two years.
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Long said the main issue this year was the fact that Pitt needed a home game — the Panthers need at least six home games to have a chance of meeting their annual athletic budget — but did not have a return game to give back until at least 2007, more likely 2008.

The Panthers’ schedule already is full for 2006. And there is some tinkering needed for the 2007 non-conference schedule because the Big East schedule is unbalanced so the number of non-conference games Pitt needs varies each year.
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The grumbles, however, likely will turn to growls soon when Pitt unveils its new seat-pricing plan for season tickets that’s a part of a new fund-raising effort by the athletic department. The goal of the overall campaign, called “Quest for Excellence” is to raise $45 million for the athletic department by June 2007.

Fans will be asked to pay a premium (it is called donor-based seating and similar to personal seat licensing), which essentially is a donation to the Panthers’ club in order to have the right to purchase season tickets for about one-fourth of the seats at Heinz Field. The same type of set-up exists for all seats at the Petersen Events Center for men’s basketball games. The donation level will vary based on location.

Not sure if our seats are going to get lumped in there. Despite the annoyance over the YSU game and not exactly a great slate of home games this year, this is still probably the year they will put the biggest goose on prices for tickets. They have two things going for them. Notre Dame to kick off the season, and Coach Dave Wannstedt.

AD Jeff Long discloses the hard truth about the expected permanent 12th game being added. It’s all to get more money.

Long said that fans should probably get used to the idea of Pitt and many other Division I-A teams playing Division I-AA teams because the practice will become the norm once the NCAA passes the “12th game legislation.”

“There just aren’t enough teams out there for everyone to schedule another non-conference game against I-A opponents,” he said.

And some conferences will just add another conference game, so the pool of available I-A teams will shrink even more.”

But a playoff would be wrong for college football.

Inconsistent, intensity, effort, energy levels, identity issues. Still trying to figure out this Pitt team is driving the beat writers crazy — not to mention the fans.

Starting with trying to figure out what kind of team this is. Obviously, this is no longer a defense-only team as tagged the last couple years.

Pitt left Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday night trying to figure out how it could outrebound and outshoot (field-goal percentage-wise) West Virginia and still walk away with an 83-78 overtime loss.

The explanation? Defense — or lack thereof.

It used to be sacrilege to question the defensive play of the Panthers, who’ve done it better than anyone in the Big East in recent years. But when a struggling team such as WVU burns them for 83 points (the second highest point total for the Mountaineers this season), it raises some questions.

We’ve seen Pitt lock down the opposition when they want it. They just don’t always want it, because the team’s scoring is up this year. That means not always being ready or positioned on defense, especially when you are already thinking about being upcourt.

Sophomore center Chris Taft said he saw teammates, including himself, standing “straight up” and “not rotating” on defense at times.

“Those are things we can’t do anymore,” said the 6-10 Taft, who managed just two rebounds in 30 minutes.

Junior point guard Carl Krauser questioned the team’s effort after it had built an 11-point lead less than three minutes into the second half.

“Sometimes, there was a lack of effort,” Krauser said.

The problem is this has been going on all season, and they still haven’t fixed it. Hard to blame the coaches when the players don’t do their assignments.

Taft is under the microscope, and he will keep paying for that ESPN The Magazine piece everytime he isn’t giving full effort.

And shouldn’t Taft be able to move away from the lane and dog a player such as WVU’s 6-foot-11, 250-pound Kevin Pittsnogle? The two are roughly the same size.

WVU took advantage of Taft’s shoddy defense all over the court, including when Pittsnogle faked him off his feet for an easy basket early in the second half.

Did the Mountaineers feel they could run Taft around a bit?

“I thought so,” said swingman Mike Gansey.

Sure, Taft tortured Providence for 25 points and 15 rebounds a game earlier, but the Friars are meek up front. It’s not about the numbers, anyway. It’s about bringing the same intensity to every game, every possession.

Meanwhile, despite his insistence to the contrary, Taft’s offensive repertoire appears to consist of a jump hook and dunks.

Which is fine. Pitt needs him mostly to be a menacing defensive presence and a monster on the boards.

Taft started the WVU game with a few dunks and blocked shots but again was seen jogging back on defense. Dixon probably wouldn’t admit as much, but it sure looked as if he ripped Taft out of game twice in the first half for defensive lapses — once when Taft loafed downcourt; once when he failed to move his feet and got beat along the baseline.

Now I think the blast on Taft’s offense is unfair. Given his size and ability, I prefer him take the high percentage jams and soft hooks. The time for him to try a short jumper or fade was in the early part of the season when games seemed more like scrimmages. Be good to have, but let him use that size properly. No one faults — and they shouldn’t –Troutman for getting most of his points on put backs and lay-ins.

The issues on defense, have been there all season. I find this past game a hard one to get overly critical of the big men inside. All of that long-range shooting is for the perimeter guys to address. Bringing Taft and Troutman outside, often put them out of position when WVU ran a cut inside. Taft and Troutman aren’t fast enough to go inside-out on defense too often.

It’s the teams unpredictability and inconsistencies that are getting to some. The real issue, though, is who and how they are losing.

Pitt players spoke about “relaxing” and “lacking energy” and “taking things for granted” after the loss Saturday.

This is something new in Oakland. A trademark of recent Pitt teams had been the ability to dominate inferior competition.
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Those Pitt teams advanced to the Sweet 16, and they had something in common. They didn’t allow less-talented teams to hang around in games, much less beat them.

Case in point against West Virginia: The Mountaineers made only 2 of 17 shots from 3-point range in the first half against Pitt and made just 29 percent of their field-goal attempts, but still trailed by just seven points at halftime.

“We really can’t keep a team in the game, especially when they’re at home,” Pitt junior Carl Krauser said. “We had to put the clamps on and finish them out, and we didn’t do a good job of that.”

It goes back to a killer instinct. The determination to step on the throat when you have the advantage. Pitt seems to keep thinking teams will just wilt when things go against them. Pitt hasn’t, why should they expect others to?

Tomorrow, St. John’s at home. Ramon is expected to play. No national TV. Showing on FSN-Pittsburgh and ESPN Full Court. No free internet radio. Guess I’ll be hitting refresh on my computer a lot.

My 3rd annual review of the Super Bowl ads can be found here.

Dan Marino, the great Pitt QB, after a decent career in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, has managed to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nice to see a kid from Pitt manage to have a decent career and get this surprising accolade.

Best article on Marino can be found here.

Completely off-topic, but when they kept calling Herber’s name (pronounced Hair-bare) from WVU, it really threw me off. Kept thinking of the bad Hanna-Barbara cartoon, The Hair Bear Bunch. Why no one in WVU’s student section hasn’t created their own little “Herber Bunch” cheering group is beyond me. I mean, other than the fact that most of them probably weren’t even born when they were showing.

Obviously, this was an upset and the storylines were the sheer volume of 3s taken by WVU and the career game by Pittsnogle. You can also throw in, that yesterday was WVU Coach Beilein’s birthday.

Luck is a difficult thing to quantify. I generally buy into the theory that luck is the result of working hard and taking advantage of an opening. One saw a fair amount of luck, or the ball bouncing WVU’s way in the second half.

But perhaps the most fortunate moment of all for the Mountaineers came early in the second half, at just the time West Virginia was clawing its way back from an 11-point deficit against the Panthers. In a scene right out of the Keystone Kops, there were nine bodies sprawled on the floor in a fight for a loose ball — five Panthers and four Mountaineers. The exception was Kevin Pittsnogle, who reached down as the ball popped out of the pile, turned and took three steps and a dribble to the basket for a ridiculously easy dunk.

“Now that’s what you call luck,” Beilein would say later. “And sometimes when you get a lucky bounce like that, it’s all you need to turn your fortunes around.”

Just one of those things. It was also a much needed win for Coach Beilein. He was starting to catch heat from Mountaineer fans.

John Beilein’s offense has been criticized more of late than Mountain State politicians.

Really. New Gov. Joe Manchin, who attended Saturday’s WVU game with No. 16 Pittsburgh, is in his honeymoon. For Beilein, though, well, the honeymoon is over. That ended when the coachÂ’s team lost to rival Marshall in Charleston.

But give Beilein credit for knowing his constituents — and how to win back their hearts.

Rivalry game wins can do that.

In Pittsburgh, the issue is the effort put forth by Pitt in the game. Especially the second half. It’s a fair criticism.

The latest step back taken by the Pitt Panthers could be attributed to a great many things, from West Virginia rediscovering how to hit a three in the second half, to unpredictable long rebounds, and even to a couple of calls that might have gone the other way.

Still, the Panthers’ Carl Krauser had no trouble identifying No. 16 Pitt’s major flaw in an 83-78 come-from-ahead, overtime loss to the unranked Mountaineers on Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum.

“We didn’t do things right in the second half,” Krauser said. “That’s closing out on shooters, switching out on ‘D.’ They had way better looks in the second half.

“I’ll chalk that up just to effort, sometimes a lack of effort.”

For a team that had already lost to Bucknell and Georgetown at home and St. John’s on the road, such a declaration must be interpreted as disappointing at best and alarming at worst, particularly this late in a season and in a rivalry game.

When asked how he was interpreting it, Krauser back-pedaled.

The effort in question should be about the defense, not the offense, and definitely not one player. Pitt did a good job in the first half harrying and keeping WVU from getting good looks from beyond the arc. There were a lot of WVU possessions where they finally seemed to throw up the ball in frustration that no one was getting free in the first half. In the second, though, they started getting open looks.

In a truly bizarre column, Ron Cook he questions the team effort, but only goes after one player.

The best place to start, probably, is with Krauser. His night was very much like Pitt’s night. For most of the game, he was solid in every phase of the game. At times, he was downright spectacular. But, in the end, sadly, he wasn’t quite good enough.

Problem is, the entire column dwells and ends with Krauser. Krauser started slowly shooting. He was 0-4 in the first half, but had 6 assists, 5 rebounds and only 1 turnover. In the second half, he was 4-6 for 11 points, 5 more assists and 2 rebounds. Even in the OT where he took a couple bad shots, he still made a 3, grabbed an offensive rebound and had 4 assists. So where are the problems?

Not getting a shot off to end the first half is cited. At best it would have been a deep, wild shot. Cook was straining. The only part he can criticize Krauser is for some bad shots put up in the OT. Forget that Pitt committed a turnover when Graves made a pathetic, telegraphed pass to Taft that was stolen by Pittsnogle who was then fouled by Kendall as he dropped in a score — Kendall fouled out on that. Pittsnogle couldn’t miss in OT. He scored 8 points (2-2 shooting and 3-3 at the line) and had a steal.

The shots at Krauser are mindblowing. Two bad shots and not throwing up a shot to end the half? That’s it? That’s his support for showing Krauser’s/Pitt’s problems? Good god, I know getting a column into print given the time constraints is difficult, but this is so far wide of the mark.

Cook wanted to blame Krauser for the loss — mainly, I’m guessing for the shots in OT — but the facts didn’t back him up. Krauser only had 2 turnovers. He dished the ball well. Pitt made the shots, Krauser was solid on defense. There just wasn’t enough evidence, but damn it, the gut says blame Krauser. So nit pick about not getting a shot off to end the half and then blame Krauser for the fact that the team seemed to not make a steady effort.

Hack job.

The good news. Pitt is unlikely to face an opponent in the NCAA Tournament that is that extreme in hoisting the 3s. Pitt did not have a 10 minute stretch where they looked like a JV team, as they have through most of the Big East games. The Big 3 combined for 55 points, 19 rebounds and 18 assists. The team shot 50% for the game, and in the second half shot an efficient 57%.

The bad news. With the exception of the Providence game, Pitt has shown a nasty trait of playing up or down to the level of competition in the Big East this year. The bench only contributed 4 points on 2-10 shooting and 0-3 at the free throw line. Pitt let itself be out rebounded and out shot in the second half. Pitt didn’t stay attentive on defense, letting the shooters get free more often as the game wore on.

Is this the crisis sort of loss that St. John’s was? No. This was a home game for WVU, a rivalry game, a sellout. A career game for one player. Weird stuff happens. It doesn’t excuse the loss, though. Pitt had the game under control, but simply gave WVU too many extra chances. It doesn’t matter how much better the team’s shooting percentage was than WVU when you allow them to take 11 more shots in the first 40 minutes. WVU may have taken 40 3s, but on its 25 other shots, they made 13 (52%). That’s a problem.

Not having Ramon was not the problem on offense, but it was definitely a problem on defense. Ramon is a better defender than Graves, and Graves seemed to get tired playing more minutes than he has in the last 2-3 weeks. I am wondering how the beat writers for Pitt managed not to find out about Ramon’s strained shoulder. He suffered the injury on Tuesday, and didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday. Even if he was expected to play, you would have thought they might have mentioned that little tidbit.

Anyone looking for a particular player to blame this game on, look elsewhere. This was a team effort to lose this one. Poor perimeter defense, lazy inside rebounding, lots of turnovers, nothing from the bench, missing key free throws, some questionable coaching strategy. This one had it all.

I love it. Apparently we’re not the only one who find the WVU Coliseum’s exterior to be an ugly mass of concrete.

Pitt is working on a five-game win streak in the rivalry – the Panthers’ longest since the 1930s – and has won three straight in Morgantown.

That’s significant because the Coliseum used to be a house of horrors for the boys from the Steel City.

Prior to the current three-game streak, Pitt won just three times in its first 23 visits to the concrete toadstool.

Lee called it a Concrete Trash Can Lid, but toadstool works too. The thing is, it doesn’t even make that “it’s so ugly, it’s charming” leap. It’s just ugly and exudes desolation.

Apparently there may be some pressure on WVU Coach John Beilein.

Still, Beilein finds himself answering questions about his program’s direction. WVU is 14-26 in regular-season Big East games in Beilein’s reign. The Mountaineers are also 0-2 in Big East tournament games and fell last season in the NIT to conference peer Rutgers.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think so,” Beilein said of becoming a first-division Big East team. “Some of it is luck, happenstance and hard work. I believe we’ll do it, but it’s hard to do it. Boston College’s best two players (Craig Smith and Jared Dudley) were not recruited by many people. You hope you find those.

“West Virginia is not an easy job in the Big East because of our location and other factors.”

That last quote should read familiar to Pitt fans. Ah, yes. The lament of Ralph Willard and Paul Evans.

WVU is 1-4 in games where attendance exceeded 10,000 at home under Beilein.

West VirginiaÂ’s only win in those five game with five-figure attendance was in late December when the Mountaineers beat George Washington 71-65. The other four times — Syracuse and Pitt in 2002-03, Pitt last season and Boston College last month — the visitors won.

And while a sellout crowd looking for a win is one thing, a packed house looking for a win over arch-rival Pitt adds even more to the setting. And Beilein, who has never beaten the Panthers, is well aware of that.

“West Virginia fans have been waiting for a while to beat Pitt, I know that,” Beilein said. “They’ve been waiting for quite a while to see us make the NCAA tournament. Those are things we want to give them.”

One additional concern for WVU is that their big man D’or Fischer has been sick. He’s listed in the starting lineup, but his status will be a game time decision. Aside from Fischer, none of their starters are taller than 6’7″. Pittsnogle comes off the bench for about 15 minutes on average, and is 6’11. They also have a 7′ Freshman, Luke Bonner, who sees about as much playing time as DeGroat has for Pitt. Slight size advantage for Pitt.

Useless factoid, Troutman needs one more point to pass Danatas Zavackas on Pitt’s all time leading scorers list.

Not that this will necessarily be a cakewalk for Pitt. WVU is a 3-point shooting team. In 8 Big East games, they have taken 207 attempts from beyond the 3-point line. (By comparison, Pitt, through 7 BE games has attempted only 100 3-point shots.) From everywhere else, they have attempted 243 shots. The fact that they are shooting under 28% from beyond the arc explains why they are 2-6. That means an emphasis on perimeter defense.

The Mountaineers average more than 26 3-point attempts per game, the most of any team in the Big East. The team with the second-most 3-point attempts is Georgetown, which averages 21 a game.

West Virginia is on pace to break the school record for 3-point attempts in a season, which was set last season with 656 in 31 games. At the current pace, the Mountaineers would shoot 806 in a 31-game season.

I might remind everyone, that Pitt lost to G-town in no small part because the Hoyas were 11-21 on 3-point shots.

To be somewhat fair, WVU doesn’t have the players to go inside a lot. The WVU players taking the majority of the 3s are Tyrone Sally (14-40) and Patrick Beilein (13-55). Krauser will probably be blanketing one of these guys on defense.

This game could be something of a challenge for Taft and Troutman on defense. They want to be closer to the basket and banging around in there. WVU will be trying to bring them out further, and shy away from contact. Add in that with the volume of 3s taken, the rebounds will be coming out further. This could lead to the big guys to drift for rebounding position, and let WVU slip inside more often.

Hopefully, though, Pitt will take care of business and the biggest problem will be the hillbilly firing off the musket.

If WVU is hitting their 3s, it will be a test for Pitt not to try to answer. Pitt has such a clear advantage inside, that it has to use it. The team can’t get caught up in trying to answer WVU’s shooting. That just leads to quick shots and long rebounds, and gives WVU more chances. If Pitt plays its deliberate style and limits their shots, the pressure only increases on WVU not to miss each time down the court. And it gets real hard to take a shot with both hands grasping your own neck.

Apparently the question of new recruiting coordinator/TE coach Greg Gattuso, loyalties were the big questions.

“No, I’m a Pittsburgh guy coming to Pitt,” he said without hesitation yesterday when asked how a Penn State guy (he was a standout nose guard for the Nittany Lions from 1981-83) ended up on Pitt’s staff.

“I’ve been here my whole life. There is nobody in this town that I haven’t played softball against or basketball against and there isn’t a referee I haven’t yelled at. And half the high school coaches either coached on my staff or were my former players so I think I have a pretty good rapport with the people of this area. There is nowhere else I would have gone but here.

“I have always been a huge Pitt fan and a huge Pitt basketball fan so this is something I am really excited about.”

It’s a stupid question. The guy left a fairly comfortable and successful situation at Duquesne for this job.

Gattuso was a two-time Mid-Major Division I-AA Coach of the Year and a seven-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree at Duquesne. His teams were 66-7 in league play, including a 33-game winning streak, and 97-32 overall, winning eight MAAC titles and the 2003 consensus national championship.

Just because he went to Penn State, people wonder if how he could coach at Pitt. Easy. It’s his job, career and livelihood being a coach. Even if he wasn’t from Pittsburgh, that shouldn’t be an issue. The issues are competence, ability and desire. I’d say he has all three of those. If he’s ambitious and hopes this new position will get him further up the coaching ladder, I say great. Hiring ambitious coaches is what you want. They know the only way to move up is with success.

I like how he seems genuinely juiced about all of this.

As recruiting coordinator, Gattuso will assist Wannstedt in re-organizing the way the Panthers identify, evaluate and pursue prospective players.

He’ll also be responsible for recruiting parts of Western Pennsylvania, which means he’ll likely compete with Penn State and his former coach, Joe Paterno, for players. He was asked if he had talked with Paterno and how he felt about recruiting against him.

“I haven’t heard from him but I’m more interested in seeing how he feels in going against me in recruiting, that’s the real question,” he said.

Gattuso was known as a great recruiter at Duquesne and that success should continue at Pitt. He now can give out scholarships as opposed to recruiting at Duquesne, which is a non-scholarship program.

“I just spent 13 years recruiting kids and sitting them down and then telling them, ‘You have to pay $7,000 to come here,’ ” Gattuso said. “Someone asked if it is going to be hard recruiting for Pitt — I know there will be battles, and we will fight them hard, but at the end of the day, we’re bringing them to a great city, a great program, a great school, only they don’t have to pay a dime to come.

“I can’t wait until the first time I can sit down with a kid and tell him he can come to this place for free.”

And he still won at Duquesne. He obviously knows how to coach, and I think he has potential to rise on the staff. He strikes me as a strong fundamentals guy — proper tackling, blocking, positioning. Things that have not been a strong suit for Pitt, despite the progress of the program.

Here’s the Pitt press release on hiring Greg Gattuso as Recruiting Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach.

“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Greg over the last several years when he would visit us at our training camp sites,” Wannstedt said. “He is an excellent coach who has a strong understanding of Pennsylvania football and, more importantly, Pitt football. Greg will be a great asset for our staff.”

“This is a dream come true for me to join the University of Pittsburgh,” Gattuso said. “I’m a longtime admirer of Dave Wannstedt. I actually attended Dolphins camp when he was there and ran his defense at Duquesne for 13 years. I couldn’t be more thrilled to join his staff and Pitt’s great football tradition.”

Paul Zeise’s post-NLI day Q&A is up.

Q: What happened to Pitt commitments Simmons and Marlon Terry? Did they sign elsewhere?

ZEISE: Terry has some work to do academically. From what I understand Pitt decided to part ways with Simmons for a variety of reasons. Terry may still make it back if he gets his academic house in order at junior college or whatever.
…
Q: If Walt Harris was still in charge, given the number of returning starters, anything less than a Big East championship would be considered a failure. Do you think Dave Wannstedt will face similar expectations?

ZEISE: I think those expectations have to remain. Pitt should be the favorite to win the Big East and anything less should be viewed as a failure. I know Louisville on the road is a tough assignment but Pitt needs to win that game so that it can establish itself early as the top program in the new Big East. Next year the Panthers will have the team to do it and outside of the Louisville game, will likely be favored in all its remaining conference games. Wannstedt also needs to have a highly successful season to gain some momentum in recruiting. I think it goes beyond the Big East, though, I think Pitt needs to win at least one, if not both of its two non-conference games against marquee teams (Notre Dame and Nebraska). That would go a long way towards showing the Panthers are indeed going to be a player and that the coaching change was for the better (remember, Harris was criticized for not consistently winning those kind of big games).

The whole thing is a must read.

I honestly don’t see how Taft won’t enter into the NBA draft. We can all agree that Taft has not made the leap expected this year. The fact is, though, that the NBA draft is not about drafting the best player; the NBA is about drafting the best potential player. Chris Taft fits that description. He has size, he will only get stronger and bigger, he has shown decent touch, and when motivated has a mean streak to battle inside. Most importantly, he has size. Look back on any NBA draft in the last 10-15 years. You will consistently see Centers who were stiffs, drafted very high. Why? Because they were big men. How else do you explain Chris Mihm going Number 7 a few years ago?

Krauser, though, is not going into the draft. The beat writers seem to want to speculate on this, and maybe its because Krauser says things to them to make them believe he is really considering it. It’s not going to happen. I have not seen his name in any national publication when it comes to speculating on kids who will declare for the draft. Not even in the columns mentioning those who might but shouldn’t. The other reason is that this 2005 NBA draft will be ridiculously heavy with point guards.

The latest is from Chris Ford who covers the NBA for ESPN.com (subs. req’d.). He breaks down the list of underclassmen in terms of who Will, Might and Considering. Krauser isn’t there. Taft tops the list.

1. Chris Taft, So., Pittsburgh: Big man looked like a lock for the top three before the season began, but he’s struggled this year. However, scouts still claim he’s still near the top of their draft boards and believe he will definitely declare.

Now on his list, here are the Point Guards:

Will:
3. Deron Williams, Jr., Illinois: His stock has never been higher, and he won’t miss the opportunity to make the jump. Most scouts believe he’s the second-best point guard prospect in the draft behind Chris Paul and should be a lottery pick.

4. Raymond Felton, Jr., North Carolina: Felton has flirted with declaring the last two seasons, this will likely be the year he actually does it. While scouts remain split on how good of a prospect he’ll be, his stock is high enough that he knows he’ll go in the first half of the first round. That should be enough.

Might:
1. Chris Paul, So., Wake Forest: He’s a consensus top-five pick in the draft right now and could go as high as No. 1. So, what is he waiting for? Paul loves playing for Wake Forest and isn’t sure he wants to leave just yet. If the Bobcats get the No. 1 pick, they might make him an offer he can’t refuse.

6. Jarrett Jack, Jr., Georgia Tech: Jack has interest in the NBA and if he can get assurances that he’s a top-20 pick, he’ll likely declare. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem given his unquestionable talent, but this is a deep point guard class that might push Jack a little further down the charts than he’d like.

7. John Gilchrist, Jr., Maryland: Gilchrist has a well-documented jones for playing in the NBA. He has the talent to make him a mid-first rounder. But questions about his attitude, focus and constant comparisons to Stephon Marbury have hurt his stock to the point that he might be better off returning for another season.

11. Ronnie Brewer, So., Arkansas: Brewer is a tough guy to project. Some scouts believe he has the talent to be a lottery pick, others aren’t convinced he’s really a point guard. He could be another guy who declares, keeps his college eligibility, and then looks for a promise in the mid first round. He has some fans.

12. Randolph Morris, Fr., Kentucky: He’s not ready. That’s clear. But he’s a real center, something this draft is almost totally devoid of. Someone will take him in the first round because of that. However, he could really improve his stock by playing another year or two at Kentucky.

15. Mardy Collins, Jr., Temple: Collins has drawn a lot of praise over the past month from scouts. He’s got great size for the position, has true point-guard instincts and really racks up the steals. A sleeper who could really rise with great workouts.

23. Mustafa Shakur, Jr., Arizona: A highly-touted prospect who has slipped in the eyes of most scouts. He must improve his jumper and work on running the offense in the half-court set.

Considering:
1. Curtis Stinson, So., Iowa State: He’s already 22 years old and knows his window is closing. Enough teams like him that he has a shot of cracking the late first round with great workouts and a good camp in Chicago.

9. Darius Washington, Fr., Memphis: He should meet Anthony Roberson Jr. Washington’s another shooting guard in a point guard’s body who, for some reason, still believes he’s a point guard. His open battles with Sean Banks this season haven’t helped his stock. He has NBA-itus, but he’s going to have to either wait or risk slipping into the second round.

10. Jose Juan Barea, Jr., Northeastern: He’s a scoring machine who has shown some good point guard skills. However, he tries to do too much on Northeastern and is paying for it, averaging 4.6 turnovers a game. He could improve his stock at Chicago if he can prove that he can play under control.

Obviously not all of those players will declare. Still if even half come out, that is 6 underclassmen point guards. Nevermind any seniors and foreign players. The most Krauser might do is test the waters at some tryout camps, but not hire an agent.

You know, I’m willing to give myself plenty of credit for making BC my dark horse pick to win the BE regular season, so I should also concede that I overestimated WVU this year. They have just sunk again in the Big East. They just have had a lot of trouble adjusting to Big East basketball. But wait, this is WVU’s 10th year in the Big East. They are still adjusting, it seems.

Three seasons into his tenure at West Virginia, John Beilein has gleaned a keen appreciation of what it means to compete in the Big East.

“We just got done playing an undefeated team, and now our present after that one is Pitt,” he said.

Beilein’s Mountaineers most recently helped keep No. 5 Boston College undefeated, losing 62-50 on Tuesday night at the Conte Forum.

Now comes a Saturday evening visit to the WVU Coliseum by the No. 16 Panthers, who are “playing their best basketball of the year right now,” Beilein maintained.

Welcome to the Big East.

Sorry, that sort of opening is good for 1st year coaches, not 3rd year. Especially when the National Champs have come from the Big East the last 2 years. None of this should be new. It strikes me as kind of strange to be writing a piece talking about the difficulties and challenges of playing in the Big East at this point.

For one of the few times in Pitt-WVU basketball, Pitt is absolutely dominating.

Until this recent skid, West Virginia had never lost more than two consecutive games against Pitt, dating to the mid-1950s. To make matters worse for the Mountaineers, the past five games have been noncompetitive.

Pitt has won by an average of more than 20 points a game during the streak. Pitt’s nine-point win last season was the closest margin in the past three seasons. It was preceded by Pitt victories of 36, 19, 27 and 10.
…
West Virginia’s seniors could be facing regret if they fail to beat Pitt tomorrow or Feb. 23 at the Petersen Events Center. No player on West Virginia’s team has beaten Pitt, and the two games this season represent the seniors’ last chance. If Tyrone Salley, Duriel Price and D’or Fischer don’t win, they’ll be the first West Virginia players in 70 years to leave the program without beating Pitt.

Something to shoot for. The game was a complete sellout back in December. The fans are expected to be at the game early, and they let their hillbilly mascot fire off that musket indoors.

The P-G Pitt beat writer, Ray Fittipaldo, has his weekly Q&A up. Nothing too interesting.

A puff piece on back-up center Aaron Gray. Focusing on how much he has to eat. Nothing like seeing the diets of the really fat or tall for amusement.

On Wednesday, Coach Wannstedt said he would be starting his interviews for the recruiting coordinator position. He had a short list and hoped to have someone in place by Monday. Apperently he only got one name into the list before stopping.

Greg Gattuso, who led Duquesne University to football prominence at the NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major level, has resigned to become the recruiting coordinator at Pitt.

First-year Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt hired Gattuso to replace Bryan Deal, a member of former coach Walt Harris’ staff. Deal is expected to be named coach at Fox Chapel High School.

Gattuso, 42, the all-time winningest coach at Duquesne following a 12-year run, met yesterday with Duquesne athletic director Brian Colleary.

Gattuso is a Western Pennsylvania native and played football at Penn State. He will also serve as the tight ends coach. In a general note at the end of this story, former Pitt WR and member of Pitt’s radio broadcast crew for the last year, Yogi Roth, is going to California. He has been hired asan assistant director of football operations at the University of Southern California.

The hiring of Gattuso was already rumored, and people seem to think highly of him in the area. It would appear to be a good fit and hire.

Both Pitt and WVU have their game notes (PDF) for the Saturday evening matchup, 6pm ESPN2. Dan Shulman and Len Elmore will be calling the game. This is either the 166th or 167th meeting of the teams depending on who you ask. According to Pitt, WVU has an 88-77 lead in the all-time series. WVU maintains it is 89-77. I’m not sure why there is some sort of conflict in the total games played. Pitt has a list of all the games and outcomes by opponent in their media guide (pg. 236 [57 of the PDF]). WVU, though, only provides season-by-season list of the wins and losses, and even I’m not that obsessive.

Pitt has won 5 straight against the Hoopies, including 3 straight at the WVU Coliseum. Before this run, Pitt had only won 3 games at the Big Concrete in 23 attempts all-time.

WVU has collapsed, going 2-6 in the Big East. They have lost 6 of their last 7. Looking at their game notes, it’s not hard to see why. In the conference, they are giving up almost 71 points and barely reaching 59 for themselves. They have only one player averaging double figures (Tyrone Sally, 11 pts/game). Opponents are shooting 50% against them, while they are at 36.4%.

They looked good in the non-con, notching what appeared to be quality wins. Then conference play began and they were exposed. They are still a decent team, and they are desperate. Morgantown has never been a good place for Pitt basketball. The place should be a sellout and quite loud.

An upset is possible and would be quite crushing. The best thing for Pitt, would be to get out in front early, like they did against Providence, and take the crowd out quickly. But, that’s pretty standard, isn’t it? Sorry. Long day, and I’m getting tired.