I don’t know if anyone else has the CSTV March Madness on Demand. Best $10 I spent (I ordered it early). I can watch the games and still be on the computer. I figure I’m going to be skipping back and forth between the WVU-Creighton game and UCLA-Texas Tech. Maybe peak in on UAB-LSU.

Additionally, you can watch the games later. Because of the score at halftime, they didn’t go back to the Pitt game in the second half. They went back a few different times for a minute or two when it was under 10 minutes left, but didn’t go back for good until the 4:42 mark. So, I am darkly contemplating, cuing the Pitt game up so I can see the first 15 minutes of the second half. Probably not a smart idea.

There is so much to be frustrated over this game. Troutman had a bad game, again. He was something like 1-5 in the first half. At around the 11:45 mark of the first half, he missed again and was fouled. The arena was only half-filled so you could hear him scream in frustration. He was taken out of his game because his defensive assignment kept drawing out to the perimeter. When that happens, he is not that good or fast. He needs to be able to stay near the basket for rebounding and better play.

Krauser had a bad start but turned it around in the second half. His ball handling and recognition in the first half was frustrating. I was actually very pleased with Taft in the second half. He couldn’t play much in the first because of foul trouble, but he picked up the slack for Troutman on the boards — getting 13. He also had 12 points on 5-9 shooting.

Ramon. Maybe it’s the shoulder, but he has absolutely no confidence in his shot right now. He plays good defense, and basically turned into Yuri Demetris. Graves and Benjamin were the only ones even remotely keeping Pitt in the game in the first half, when no one else seemed able to score.

DeGroat never got off the bench. Kendall got only 2 minutes, and McCarroll had 9. Pitt just stuck with 3 guards. No wonder Pitt ended up taking 23 3-point shots. Aside from Benjamin, the bench gave them nothing. Besides his 7 the rest of the points came from 4 starters. Anyone remember when Pitt had a bench that gave production? The big wins at mid-season over UConn and Syracuse. What happened to Aaron Gray?

Now we come to the coaching. Dixon got a free ride this season. Despite the inconsistency of the team, and more disturbingly, the lack of any visible signs of improvement or development by the players and team. Krauser and Taft still do the same things — for good and maddening. Ramon has an injury. Kendall had a spurt then disappeared. Same for Gray. DeGroat had one game and that was it. Benjamin seems to be making progress as he got over some early injuries.

Dixon is going to have to show something more next season. His grace period is ending. Part of it is his own fault. He is just so bland and cliched in his interviews. Here’s what I said about Dixon last March:

… Dixon has had a great first season, but he has been the blandest and most boring copy I’ve ever heard or read in a coach. His players love him, so there is obviously something he doesn’t show the public. Dixon needs to show this side. If for no other reason, than his own job security. He won this year, but it’s easy to say he won with Howland’s players and recruits. If he doesn’t get out in a way that makes the fans and alumni comfortable and personally like him, they will turn on him at the first bump. Show some personality Dixon. Give us a reason to like you and give you space to have problems — because problems will come, they always do.

This season, we’ve seen Dixon not to be the best gameday coach. He can go in with a game plan but he doesn’t seem able to make adjustments until halftime. He has seemed unable to cope with problems in-game. The first half of the Pacific game drove that home. Pacific kept changing the defensive looks, and Pitt was being confused by them. The team couldn’t adjust or find a way to beat it — other than just trying to hoist 3s.

At the other end, he stuck Troutman on Maraker. Ostensibly because Troutman is his best defender. The problem as we saw in the 2 Villanova and WVU games, is that Troutman is not effective against forwards who can take the ball inside and out. Get Troutman outside and he can be exposed. Dixon didn’t change the defense until the second half. Not so coincidently, Troutman started playing better at both ends and so did the rest of the team.

Dixon has also landed in the Sports Guy’s pantheon of faces:

2:44 — Down by six with 33 seconds left, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon calls timeout, takes a few frightened steps away from the bench, then picks his nose on national TV. Not his finest hour.

2:46 — Pacific pulls away for the win — I’m 0-2 for the day. By the way, Chevy Troutman’s game today could best be compared to the performance of Tony in “Blue Chips.”
…
2:53 — Just had the following exchange:

Chip: “I can’t believe you have the Playboy Channel in your house.”

Me: “I just ordered it for this week, (the Sports Gal) doesn’t know about it.”

Chip: “Well, isn’t she going to find out when she reads the column?”

(That’s followed by me making the “Jamie Dixon Picking My Nose on National TV” Face.)

The other thing that Dixon is going to have to work on is figuring out his bench. He got some mild criticisms/questions last week.

That’s it for now.