Let’s get the minorly annoying stuff out of the way first. It looks like Bob Smizik drew the short straw among the columnist and will be going to Louisville rather than Indy for coverage. So his column to praise Krauser’s performance also contains his usual backhanded slaps.

It’s been a glorious opening run for the Panthers. At best, this was expected to be a rebuilding season. At worst, it would be a continuation of the decline that began last season when the team lost nine times, including five of its last seven and did not get past the first games in the Big East and NCAA tournaments.

[Emphasis added.]

No one argues last year was woefully disappointing, falling very short on expectations. It was a season that created a lot of questions about coach Dixon’s ability to handle the team — and I was asking plenty of them. It was, however, too soon for most rational people to proclaim the program to be in decline after one underachieving season.

He is, however, right about Dixon with this,

Dixon labored in the shadow of Ben Howland, his mentor and friend, even after Howland left. Now he’s emerging. With the exception of Krauser, these are his players, and he’s not afraid to utilize them. In an unusual coaching strategy, he’s going with a 10-man rotation in league play. It could be called trying to keep everyone happy, but Dixon sees it as making his team as good as it can be.

“In the seven years I’ve been here, we’ve never done this,” he said. “We can even go to 11 players.

“This is what we want to do. This is best for the team. They know the rotation, they know when they’re going in, they know their roles, they know what they’re doing.”

That was a big question for Dixon, dealing with all the talent on hand. A deep bench. Something not seen at Pitt, literally since the peak of Paul Evans’ reign. Last year Dante Milligan left because of no playing time. Benjamin and DeGroat were in for spurts and unpredictably. And woe unto them if they made a mistake. This year, has been one where Dixon has some more patience with the players. While there was a lot of early season head-scratching over what he was doing with the rotation, it is working and players are getting rewarded with increased time as they play better.

Sam Young gets tossed into the mix as part of the young talent in Pittsburgh sports teams.

Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said as Young improves defensively, his numbers also will keep climbing. Young scored 10 points against DePaul, 15 against Notre Dame and 16 against both Wisconsin and South Carolina in recent games.

“He has a knack for putting the ball in the basket,” Dixon said.

Young welcomes the attention, and accepts the pressure that goes with it.

“I think it’s an honor to have people look at you that way, and see you as an exciting player for the future,” Young said. “If this is what it’s like at the beginning, I definitely can’t wait to see what it’s like at the end.”

With Young, the early speculation is just whether he plays 3 or 4 years.

As for Louisville, they are just as younger than Pitt but aren’t so deep.

The Panthers start two seniors and two juniors, while the Cardinals have only two upperclassmen — guards Brandon Jenkins and Taquan Dean — who see significant playing time.

Pitino could lament his team’s inexperience, but it’s just another Sunday in the revamped Big East. With 16 teams playing so many varied styles, the Cardinals, like the rest of the conference, are learning as they go.

“Every night out there’s different things you have to do to give yourself a chance to win,” Pitino said.

The Cardinals will have to find a way to matchup with the bigger, brawnier Panthers to beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.

They do have underclass talent that was considered better than Pitt when signed.

Pitt has three freshmen who are part of the regular rotation. Pitino has four freshmen among his top eight scorers. Pitino’s freshman class was considered one of the top recruiting classes in the country, but the Cardinals are still in the process of figuring out their identity. Louisville has lost both its previous games against ranked teams this season — at Kentucky and at home against Villanova.

“The good thing is we haven’t peaked yet,” said Taquan Dean, Louisville’s leading scorer with 15.9 points per game. “We haven’t touched the surface of what type of team we can be. When our guys realize how good we can be we’re going to be tough.”

Pitino thinks that is one of the big changes for the Big East. The shear variety of styles the teams in the conference play.

“It’s the most talented league,” the U of L coach said. “There’s no league like this. Styles of play are very different in this league. That’s the thing that’s different from when I was there last time, because there are so many more teams. But this is obviously the strongest conference.

“And there’s very little that separates the teams. I think Connecticut, probably, if you look at all the things — the most draft picks, the most size, the most players back — probably has a little edge in a lot of areas. But then Villanova has a unique style. West Virginia has a unique style. Pittsburgh probably physically matches up with Connecticut the best in the league. But there’s not too much difference between No. 2 and No. 12 and No. 3 and No. 13.

“As I’ve said before, in the last two weeks of the season you’re going to have 11 teams on the bubble. I just hope we’re one of those teams.”

The Pittsburgh papers seem to be enjoying having Pitino quotes to use. Media friendly coaches make everyone’s job easier.

Then there is the expected story regarding Louisville Associate Head Coach, Kevin Willard. Willard was also a player for Pitt under his father from 1995-97.

Willard, 30, is the associate head coach for Rick Pitino at Louisville, Pitt’s opponent today, and is considered one of the up-and-coming coaching prospects in the country.

“Kevin reminds me a lot of a young Billy Donovan,” Pitino said.

Of course, that was what along the lines of what was expected when Pitt hired Ralph Willard.

Not that Kevin will say anything bad about Pitt.

Willard will face his former team for the first time today. Although his father had only one winning season in five years as Pitt’s head coach and was fired in 1999, Kevin Willard said his time at Pitt was enjoyable.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Willard said. “I only have good memories of Pittsburgh. I met my wife there. It was a good three years. I know things didn’t go great for my father, but my experience was great.”

And finally, a game capsule from CollegeHoopsNet.

Pittsburgh at Louisville (Sunday, 1:00 PM, ESPN FullCourt)- This could be the coming-out party for Pitt. The Panthers are one of three undefeated teams left in the country, and are showing they are going to be a team to be reckoned with in March. Carl Krauser is one of the best guards in America, while center Aaron Gray might be the most improved player in the country. Levance Fields is a shifty point guard that can score and fellow freshman Sam Young is a versatile scorer at forward. Louisville needs a quality win in order to bounce back after what seems like a season-long slump. Juan Palacios and David Padgett are a good inside duo and Taquan Dean is one of the best all-around guards in the country. Brandon Jenkins is an underrated perimeter player and Terrence Williams leads a host of freshman that contribute. Prediction: Pitt 70, Louisville 68

In Pittsburgh the game will be on WTAE; Lebanon/Harrisburg has the game on UPN-15 (used to be WLYH, I think). If you get ESPN Regional, and they show Big East stuff, you have a good shot.

It has to be conceded that the Big East has some of the better coaches for press conferences and interviews. Calhoun, Boeheim, Wainwright and Pitino know how to play the crowd. They are colorful, offer more than simply cliches and with at least Calhoun — you never know when he might start ranting at the media. Pitino just handles and plays the media well.

Rick Pitino was ticking off the strengths of the undefeated Pittsburgh club his Louisville basketball team will play Sunday afternoon in Freedom Hall when he suddenly ended his press conference.

“I’m getting the bleep scared out of me. I’m going upstairs,” Pitino said, rising from his chair and heading for the exit at Cardinal Arena.

Of course, he was just kidding about being frightened, but there’s no doubt that No. 12 Pitt (13-0), one of just three unbeatens left in NCAA Division 1 — the others are Duke and Florida — will present a stern challenge in the 1:04 p.m. Big East Conference game.

Before bolting, here’s how Pitino described the Panthers: “Pittsburgh is as good as it gets. It would not be a surprise to see them go on and have a great NCAA Tournament run. They have all the attributes, all the things you look for in a great basketball team. They’ve got great upperclassmen, talented freshmen that blend in terrific, depth, they can withstand foul trouble. They’re extremely well-coached, they attack inside-out. They’re big on the backboard … they’re just tough.”

Coach Dixon, though, sees plenty of things that need to improve.

“We’re not near where we need to be defensively,” Dixon said. “We need to make significant progress defensively. We have the ability to do that.”

Pitt (13-0, 2-0) will need to play better on defense tomorrow when the Panthers visit No. 10 Louisville (13-2, 1-1) in what figures to be their toughest challenge of the season.

Louisville averages 74.3 points and eight 3-pointers per game. Pitt is last in the league in defending the 3-point shot. The Panthers are allowing opponents to shoot 36.6 percent from behind the arc. No other Big East team allows a higher percentage from 3-point range.

Dixon has two goals for his team before each game: The first is to win the rebounding battle, and the second is to hold the opponent under 40 percent from the field. The Panthers missed that second goal in each of the past four games.

Being outrebounded by DePaul is a legitimate concern. It wasn’t just long rebounds, Pitt was getting beaten inside too much. It showed, in the fact that no one got in any foul trouble for Pitt. There was some lack of aggression.

Krauser and Gray were getting a lot of attention during the DePaul game from ESPN’s broadcast crew. For good reason. They were the team’s leading scorers, rebounder and leader. Early in the season, Krauser seemed to be the only one who could get the ball cleanly inside to Gray. Now, though, Fields and Ramon are doing a much better job of passing inside. Along with penetration and dishing.

Louisville fans are nervous but hopeful. There is hope to make this a statement game for the season and that in the Big East. I was waiting for him to end with, “we must protect this house!”

With a weekend game between a #10 and a #11/12 team this will catch the national college basketball pundits attention. Even if most of the country and Pittsburgh will be watching the Steelers-Colts playoff game.

Seth Davis at SI.com decides to make me very nervous by actually picking Pitt.

Rick Pitino keeps insisting his No. 10 Cardinals are ranked too high, and frankly I’m starting to believe him. The Panthers, meanwhile, are ranked 12th, and while that may be a tad high, I do believe it’s closer to the mark. Pitt has remained unbeaten thanks largely to its notoriously home-heavy nonconference schedule, but the Panthers still have one of the toughest guards in America in 6-2 senior Carl Krauser. I also love the improvement of 7-foot junior center Aaron Gray, who leads the Big East in rebounding (10.3 average) and should give David Padgett fits inside. Pitt also has a future star in multi-talented freshman forward Sam Young.
Seth’s Pick: Pittsburgh 75, Louisville 67

To help set my mind at ease, Greg Doyel from Sportsline doesn’t.

Top 25 voters have Pittsburgh at No. 12, even though the Panthers haven’t lost all season. Top 25 voters have Louisville at No. 10, even though Louisville has lost twice, including a decisive loss at unranked Kentucky. Top 25 voters are funny. Anywhere else in America, this game would go to Pittsburgh. Pick: Home team.

I expect Pitt to get off to a sluggish start. Not nervous, just a little uncomfortable given everything.

Pitt and Louisville have game notes (PDF).

Like the DePaul meeting, this will be only the second time the teams have met. Pitt lost to Louisville back in ’47, 64-42. Not exactly a helpful basis. You can listen to Rick Pitino talk about the game and other stuff here (it’s around 15 minutes). He was asked about playing Pitt when he coached Providence, going 0-2 in ’87. He didn’t remember, and asked who was on the team. When they mentioned Charles Smith and Jerome Lane, his comment was, “Well, now I see why we went 0-2.”

One of the few BE teams Pitt has dominated over the years has been Providence, so Pitt has a 4-1 record against Pitino coached teams. For a truly disturbing experience, go to RickPitino.com.

Pitino’s Associate Head Coach is Kevin Willard, the son of one of Pitt’s worst head coaches, Ralph. Fred was an assistant for his father at Pitt, so that storyline can be expected to be mentioned.

Apparently Appalachian State isn’t the only program with a monster from Scandinavian folklore. Thank you ESPN!

Ken Pomeroy, who’s stuff I often reference when discussing stats, gets a piece in the Cinci. Post.

What Pomeroy wanted to do was see what the statistics told him about each team, how teams compared to each other using statistics. One of the traditional ways was looking at how many points a team scored per game versus how many it gave up.

Sounds pretty simple, except that it doesn’t give you a realistic look at teams based on their style of play. Instead, Pomeroy is interested in how efficient teams are, that is, how often they score in a possession.

“Most analysts tend to think that points per game accomplishes this, but that statistic is heavily influenced by a team’s style of play,” Pomeroy said. “The best example in the Big East is West Virginia, who plays at a very slow pace but has a great offense when you take pace out of the equation.”

West Virginia averages 75.9 points per game, but John Beilein’s team runs a complex offense that isn’t as fast as, say, the four-guard Villanova lineup. What the Mountaineers do, though, is score when they have the chance. Their offensive efficiency is very high, meaning they score on most of their possessions. The formula is actually pretty simple, it’s how many points a team scores in every 100 possessions.

Because the Mountaineers play slower than many other teams, they’re seventh in the league in scoring average. But they’re the second-most efficient team in the league, scoring 113.4 points per 100 possessions. Villanova is second in scoring (82 points per game) and first in efficiency (117 points per 100 possessions). The Wildcats are first in the country in scoring efficiency.

Pomeroy uses the same formula to examine defense.

Pitt is one of the slowest teams in the country (209), but is very efficient on offense (41) and even better on defense (13). The team’s biggest weakness — no surprise to most of us — is the 3-point defense.

ESPN.com’s latest Power Poll, puts Pitt at the top of the #3 seeds. Most of the ESPN.com experts have Pitt right around their poll value in the individual power polls, except for Jay Bilas who has Pitt down at #16. And yet, he has Florida at #3? Well, Andy Katz has Pitt at #3.

I’ve pimped Every Day Should Be Saturday before, but this is an absolute must read. They’ve been deconstructing university’s promotional spots. They hit the motherload with Appalachian State University. I mean the spot alone is off the chart in sheer badness, but the breakdown is overwhelming. Maybe it was the cumulative effect, but I was completely in tears of laughter by the time I got to this point.

We’d like to state that the ASU mountaineer looks less like a congenial mascot and more like the fuzzy incarnation of a baby-eating monster from Scandinavian folklore.

Read. It. All.

The late game on Thursday, coupled with general national disinterest in the teams, means not a lot of stories.

The AP story, picks up on the DePaul Coach’s complaints.

What did catch Wainwright unprepared was how rough-and-tumble Pitt was for a team that starts only one senior, and ended the game with only one player having more than two fouls.

“Maybe I should give Coach Cowher and the Steelers a call and see if we can play them a scrimmage while we’re here,” Wainwright said, in a thinly veiled criticism of the officiating. “I wonder if there would be as much hitting in that game.”

Pitt went 20-of-28 at the free throw line to DePaul’s 5-of-8, and Wainwright appeared to question why there was such a big disparity.

“We’re not good enough to be up by 13 on anybody,” he said. “After that, you have to earn some baskets and get to the free throw line and we didn’t do that.”

That’s gamesmanship at most to BE refs for the next game. It was physical, but the foul disparity has more to do with shot selection and style. DePaul wasn’t driving and dumping down inside. They settled for a lot of jump shots or at most a little penetration before pulling up. Pitt played inside a lot more, and DePaul found itself out of position to stop it. Especially in the second half when Pitt attempted 21 FTs, Pitt only took 3 shots from behind the 3-point line.

Coach Dixon was encouraged by the second half effort.

“We were very efficient in the second half,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We wanted to get it inside to Aaron from the start. We missed some easy ones early. Our patience was good in the second half. We used the clock and got shots at the end of the clock, which can wear down teams. We really had good clock management.”

Gray had five of his seven field goals in the second half. He was 6 for 9 from the free-throw line and had six offensive rebounds.

“The coaches just told me to be patient,” Gray said. “I get real anxious when I see teams are playing me man-to-man. Early on, I had a lot of bad turnovers. I think that goes to the fact that we hadn’t played in eight days.”

Pitt of course doesn’t want to discuss still being undefeated.

“I haven’t given it much thought,” Dixon said. “We’re always just looking at improving and just getting better. This week, we haven’t even talked about our record.

“The number of wins never comes into conversation in practice. Of course, we get asked about it by the media and other people. I think it does bring some exposure to the program, and that’s always good.”

In Chicago (sort of) Paul Zeise freelances this piece.

Coach Jerry Wainwright said the combination of his team’s inexperience and the Panthers’ depth, size and physical style was too much to overcome. He said one positive is that the Demons clearly have progressed from their first Big East road game, an 82-60 loss Jan. 4 at Cincinnati.

“I thought we played exceptionally well given the circumstances we had to overcome,” Wainwright said. “It is never experience that wins games, but what you do with that experience, and it is clear we have to continue to build depth, get stronger and add some weight. If we continue to move forward, we’ll have a great future, but I’d like to see the growth process accelerated.

“If you look at Pitt’s minute distribution, there is no dropoff. It seemed like they just interchanged guys the entire game, and that had a wearing effect on us. It is like a boxer taking body blows. Early in the second half, they finally got us to drop our gloves.”

Pitt definitely started wearing down DePaul, but the depth for Pitt is one of the strengths of the team this year. Coach Dixon has recognized and exploited it well this season, while getting the kids more experience.

Chicago newspapers, of course, now get to have fun of puns on Pitt’s name, hence the editor who came up with this original headline “Demons find road the pits.” The story itself is a mostly perfunctory summary of the game without anything really worth excerpting.

DePaul came out shooting and with energy. Pitt did not. It took Pitt about the first 10-12 minutes of the game to start shaking things off and playing better. During that period, DePaul was just looking faster than Pitt. They were able to keep Pitt from getting clean looks, they got to the loose balls and rebounds faster and were able to get clean shots. Pitt was just slower looking.

It also helped that DePaul was making their shots. They had the shots and hit them. A team that only averaged around 31% on 3s started out hitting 3-4. They came out hitting their first 5 shots, and overall they hit 9-11 in the first 7 minutes. That’s how Pitt found themselves down 21-8. Chandler and Mejia were the big beneficiaries of Pitt’s slow start. The 2 combined for 9-11 shooting and 20 points in the half. The rest of the team shot 5-18

In that same 7 minute stretch, Pitt was 3-8 and turned the ball over 3 times. For the entire half, Pitt found itself running in spurts and sputters. Hitting a few shots in a row, missing a few. No real flow or order to the offense.

The defense started coming around first. Creating more pressure and turnovers. The shots were more tightly contested as Pitt adjusted to DePaul taking the mid-range jumpers. DePaul had trouble trying to get the ball inside more and find the uncontested shot.

One of Pitt’s key second half adjustments was simply not letting Chandler and Mejia get the same opportunities. Really, putting bodies on them to prevent the jumpers. Make the rest of the Blue Demons make shots. Chandler was completely taken out of the picture, only going 1-4 in the second half. Mejia, who could penetrate more, was a little more productive with 3-6 shooting. Still, neither was able to get the shot opportunites they had earlier.

On offense, Pitt went completely inside and stopped committing turnovers. Pitt had 11 in the game, but only 4 in the second half. Gray was the main culprit with 4 turnovers. Going inside on drives or passes inside not only led to high percentage shots, but got the team to the free throw line. As per, Pitt’s inconsistency from game-to-game, Pitt shot 20-28 from the free throw line (16-21 in the second half).

Krauser and Gray were excellent and really led the team in the second half. Krauser had 19 points on 7-15 shooting (3-5 on 3s) — an eFG% of 56.7% — 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover. Gray had another double-double with 20 points (7-14), 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 turnovers.

Levance Fields and Sam Young are not just good young players, but are becoming very efficient, unselfish players. They combined for 20 points on 6-9 shooting and 8-10 from the free throw line. Both played very sound defense. I really liked what I saw from Young on defense, because he was in much better position to avoid the dumb fouls. Just better footwork and awareness, rather than just assuming his athletic ability would do the job.

My only concern was in the final 5 minutes or so. Krauser went out of the game because of some cramps, and Pitt started having trouble closing the game out. Pitt went from being up 9 to only 5 with a little under 3 minutes left, and not looking totally focused. Krauser was forced to come back in and help re-settle the team. It was the second game in a row, Pitt had trouble closing the game without Krauser out there. It isn’t completely unexpected at this point, but a concern.

Overall, a game that was about as expected. A rusty start after 8 days off, and a strong second-half as the team got comfortable once more with playing.

Open thread for the before during and after the game.

So, the Big East announces that the Big East Basketball Tournament is fully sold out for the first time, ever. By that, they mean the member schools have purchased all of the ticket packages, and there will be no general sales from Madison Square Garden.

Go figure. There are 16 teams purchasing tickets. Even schools that know they won’t be qualifying for the BET — USF and Seton Hall — are going to buy ticket packages to sell to their students and alum. If they don’t sell them, they can always make them available to others (and maybe at a nice mark-up). Hard to be that impressed.

Last week, I got on my typical commentary about weak non-con schedules. Ken Pomeroy actually goes a little deeper (ESPN Insider) based on the criticisms of Louisville and UConn’s home-heavy non-con being responsible for some surprising and big losses.

Out of these two events has sprung some criticism of each team’s schedule. The criticism is grounded in a theory that says prolonged stretches in the comfort of one’s home arena(s) against lesser opponents create teams that are not prepared to handle a decent opponent on the road. To further bolster this idea, realize that neither Kentucky nor Marquette look like it will be ranked anytime soon (although Kentucky was when it beat Louisville), so these double-digit losses seem especially out of place for two teams expected to be playing well into March.

Anyway, theories are fun, but it’s more fun to see how they stand up to some objective analysis. This one isn’t particularly easy to attack, but closer scrutiny of what has taken place this season, and in recent seasons, provides some insight.

Pomeroy sees some short-term problems. There are a lot of losses immediately after extended home stands, but the long-term outlook is not much of a problem.

That said, it appears there is a more definitive “no” on the second question of potential long-term effects. The 2003-04 UConn team went on to win the national championship. Syracuse had a similar schedule the season before, and also won the title.

In fact, when it comes to the benefit of a tough schedule, the conference portion has more importance. The last time a team from a one-bid conference made it to the Final Four was UNLV in 1987. This could have implications for Memphis and Gonzaga teams that could be feasting on relative cupcakes for the month or two before the NCAA Tournament.

So while the weak non-con may hurt the RPI and Tournament Seeding (which is an issue regarding match-ups and how close to home you play), it would not appear to be quite so crucial. Not that pundits will give up their cliches and easy explanations regarding non-con schedule. It will be a cold day in hell before terms like “battle-tested” or blaming a loss to a good team in March on beating up on crap teams in November.

Over at SI.com, Luke Winn moves Pitt to #12 in the power ratings, but doesn’t expect Pitt to remain undefeated by the end of their hell week.

If things get ugly for the Panthers next week — when they enter a stretch of four games in nine days (with three straight on the road) — they can put part of the blame on ESPN.

He read the article about the schedule shifting and went with it.

Big East Basketball Blog previews tonight’s game, and picks Pitt. This despite DePaul winning some fairly impressive road games at Wake Forest, Dayton, and Cal. Why? Match-ups and style.

Pittsburgh does have to like the match-up with DePaul as the Blue Demons do not shoot the ball very well from beyond the arc (just 31.9% on the season), they do not rebound very well and they will likely be without a strong offensive post presence to challenge Aaron Gray defensively. Although, they might get the services of Wesley Green back, but it would be on a very limited basis for this game if they do. Green would be the offensive threat that would force Gray to work a little harder on defensive and could get him in to a little foul trouble.

DePaul does have Sammy Mejia, a 6’5 junior guard who is averaging 15.6 PPG, 5 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game and has an excellent mid-range game. This is the type of player that can also give the Panthers some trouble as they do seem to lack a big guard that can defend physically at this point in time.

Mejia or bust, then.

No, DePaul isn’t a pushover or a gimmee, but I happen to agree with this:

This is a huge game for Pitt.

Not because of any deep-rooted rivalry with DePaul. The two teams actually haven’t faced the each other since 1936 and most Panthers players probably couldn’t tell you which city the DePaul campus is in.

But because the national media so badly wants a piece of the Big East action, Pitt has been forced to rearrange its schedule to accommodate the television networks. As a result, after playing DePaul on Thursday night, Pitt will play three straight road games before hosting Syracuse in a game that will be its fourth in a nine-day span.

That means the undefeated Panthers need a win at home while they’re fresh, before the schedule puts the squeeze on them. They come into this game on a week’s rest, whereas DePaul played on Saturday.

You can’t help but peek ahead and see that Louisville game, then going to the RAC to play Rutgers and then back to NY/NJ to play St. John’s — where Pitt with it’s large NYC-based players always seem to press and struggle. Add in Syracuse at the end, and it is a very draining and rocky point about to hit.

Of course, now it’s time to re-focus on winning the game in front of Pitt. With Pitt’s extended lay-off, the game tonight has more of the feel of really starting the second half of the season. For DePaul after starting conference play against Cinci and ND, this is really their first game against the unknown teams of the Big East.

The Big East season begins tonight at No. 12 Pittsburgh for DePaul — or at least the “feel” of the Big East.

“I don’t think we’ve had a full sense of the Big East yet because we’ve played teams we’ve played before,” junior guard Sammy Mejia said of games against Cincinnati and Notre Dame. “This will be the break-in point for the Big East. It’s a totally new team we’ve never played.”

What the Blue Demons (8-5, 1-1) do know about the undefeated Panthers (12-0, 1-0) is enough to warrant respect.

“We know they’re like Cincinnati in that they like to body up and overwhelm you with their physical play, and they have a senior guard [6-2 Carl Krauser] who is very good,” Mejia said.

DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright called Krauser “the most dominant player in this game,” an experienced leader averaging 17.6 points after forgoing thoughts of turning professional early.

“You like to think Sam will be that for our team,” Wainwright said.

The 6-6 Mejia has earned high respect from his new coach — not as the team’s scoring leader, as expected, but as its new go-to defender. That means Krauser is likely to be Mejia’s assignment as the Demons enter the Petersen Events Center, where the Panthers have lost five league games in the last four seasons.

They also have their own NY player who is looking forward to the game and style. Kerron Clarke, a transfer from Miami.

“I’m from New York, so basketball is always [played] tough,” he said. “It’s the type of basketball everyone should want to play.”

Just what fans of a team in Chicago want to hear about their style — not as tough as NY.

Since Pitt is one of 3 remaining undefeated teams, there is increased focus and questions on that issue.

Nobody’s mentioning what many are thinking around the Pitt basketball camp these days.

In the same way that it’s bad form to talk to a pitcher about his no-hitter in the fifth inning, with more than half of the Panthers’ regular-season schedule remaining, it’s probably too early to focus on the subject of an unbeaten season.

But it is interesting to note that only a handful of Division I men’s basketball teams have ever conquered their regular-season schedule without a loss. Not long ago, the 2003-04 Pitt squad — the third of three consecutive Sweet 16 teams — won its first 18 games before falling to Connecticut in mid-January.

“That’s not even on our minds,” Pitt guard Ronald Ramon said.

Um, I think someone must have mentioned it.

“Right now, we’re not looking to go undefeated,” Pitt center Aaron Gray said. “If we do lose, one of the things that’s going to determine how good this team is, is how we come back and how the guys respond. I feel we’re ready.

“We easily could have lost that game to Notre Dame,” Gray said, referring to the Panthers’ 100-97, double-overtime victory in its most recent game eight days ago Jan. 4. “The way the young guys played, it just shows they’re not going to give up. We don’t want to lose. If we do, it’ll add fuel to the fire.”

Again, if no one is mentioning it, why are Pitt players answering questions about it?

“Obviously, you want to be No. 1 and stay undefeated, so that’s your goal,” Pitt redshirt junior forward Levon Kendall said. “But it’s something you try not to get too caught up on because anything can happen.

“Look at Connecticut, they got a little bit overconfident, and Marquette snuck up on them, and that’s something you have to recognize in the Big East. There are so many good teams that it’s a challenge every night.”

Kendall and Gray need to discuss their talking points.

One area of concern for Pitt is the same area of concern that has been there since Ralph Willard was fired. Free throw shooting. And as it has been, Coach Jamie Dixon is publicly stating he is not concerned.

“We’re shooting better,” Dixon said. “Our percentage is high. We’re just short of 70 percent, which is middle of the pack in the Big East. That’s higher than we’ve been.

“I thought we’d be better this year, and we are. Every year, we have improved as the year has gone on. We’ve always been better in the conference games. I think this will be the best free-throw-shooting team we have had since I’ve been here.”

Pitt is shooting 68.6 percent from the line this season entering the home game tonight against DePaul at the Petersen Events Center. That ranks Pitt 12th in the 16-team Big East. And, believe it or not, that modest percentage, if maintained the rest of the season, would represent Pitt’s best percentage from the line since 1998-99, the final season under former coach Ralph Willard.

Pitt’s best free-throw percentage during the Ben Howland/Dixon era was 65.9 percent last season.

And as always, others are much more concerned.

For some inexplicable reason, the Panthers still can’t shoot foul shots. That was highlighted when they clanked their way down the stretch of last week’s win over Notre Dame. As the Irish were popping 3-pointer and off-balance 3-pointer, Pitt went 7 of 10 from the line at the end of regulation, then 3 of 8 in the final minute of the first overtime.

Because the score in the second overtime stayed rather tight, the Panthers only attempted two free throws in the final two minutes. Of course, they missed one of them.

Even Krauser, a usually solid foul shooter, has fallen to 69.9 percent this season. Only Ramon (84.6) shoots better than 80 percent.
…
In the past, I’ve said poor foul shooting could cost the Panthers wins, and it has.

This season, I’ll guarantee it will at least once.

I know in the past I’ve blown my top at Pitt for missing free throws and Coach Dixon’s public statements of non-concern. Watching missed free throws is akin to a kicker going wide right on a 30 yard field goal. It’s maddening and there doesn’t seem to be any excuse for it.

Accroding to this report, it reads like a decent recruiting weekend for Pitt.
While the majority of the official visit weekends in December were about hosting previous commitments, the month of January was to put the finishing touches on the already stellar class.

The Panthers hosted top prospects like four-star Aaron Berry who went into the trip with Minnesota and Pitt leading Michigan State. Other top visitors included three-stars Elijah Fields and Andy Miller.

Miller came away impressed seeing the Panther program up close.

“I have been to Pitt before but most of my contact was to their practice facilties,” Miller said. “I liked how Pitt is set off a bit from the City of Pittsburgh. To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised.”

The choices that remain for Miller include Pitt, Ohio State, Indiana, and West Virgina.

Who knows, but I think Pitt may end up with 2 of the 3.

Meanwhile, the Blue Hens of Delaware welcome their latest transfer from Pitt.

But unlike Flacco, who is expected to battle for the starting quarterback job this spring, Agnone may take some time to make an impact at Delaware.

The newcomer was a receiver as a junior at Red Land High, catching 30 passes for 429 yards and eight touchdowns. He then switched to QB as a senior, throwing for 1,490 yards and 13 TDs while earning honorable mention All-State honors.
…
Delaware returns two of its top three tight ends next fall in Steve Selk and Mike Mailey.

Good luck.

Every school has those black sheep. Virginia Tech’s latest is Marcus Vick. If VT is lucky, the events will be forgotten and obscured 40 years later.

For Pitt, it is not so simple. Not when the former QB and letterman (1960-62) sits in a federal prison selling bad paintings.

Former U.S. Rep. James Traficant is known to most people for his toupee, bombast and penchant for accepting bribes.

Now, for less than $200, you can purchase a softer side of the maverick Youngstown-area Democrat – the one who spends his time in federal prison painting scenes of pastoral tranquility and equine majesty.

Traficant was forced out of Congress after he was convicted of racketeering and bribery in 2002 and sentenced to eight years in prison.
…
Local painter and art critic Doug Utter found the paintings lacking: “There’s no overwhelming talent or expertise in evidence.”

And Utter noted that Traficant, who was easily recognizable by his oversize wig, draws the horses with flowing hair.

“His emphasis on manes and tails is almost fetishistic,” Utter said.

Now that’s just mean. This is lacking in talent?

You can find this example and others for sale here.

According to the site:

Most of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to Mr. James Traficant, so that he can be provided proper and sufficient materials to continue with his art and painting, while he is still imprisoned.

Uh, okay. Anyone with access to the athletic department and registrar’s office think we can delete all records of his existence from Pitt?

It’s a few days old, but I still enjoy reading about it. Call it Schadenfreude if you like; I say it was only a matter of time. Yes, Marcus Vick, the dumbest college athlete this side of Maurice Clarett, was aressted on firearms charges.

RICHMOND, Va. — Former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick, kicked off the team last week for his behavior on and off the field, was charged Monday with pulling a gun on three teenagers during an altercation in a restaurant parking lot.

Vick surrendered at the Suffolk magistrate’s office after three warrants were issued for his arrest Sunday, Magistrate Lisa Noel said.

The reason for the gunplay? High school kids.

Police said the parents of a 17-year-old boy reported that Vick pointed a weapon at their son and two others during an altercation at a McDonald’s in Suffolk, a southeastern Virginia city where Vick’s mother lives, Sunday night.

Yup. High School Kids. It seems they were, y’know, mean.

The Post reported that a person close to Vick said the teenagers were taunting the quarterback, and that Vick showed the gun to scare them.

And now this is where things stand:

If convicted on all three counts, Vick could be sentenced to up to three years in jail and a $7,500 fine, [Lt. Debbie] George said in a statement.

It’s been said before on this blog but it bears worth repeating: The ACC wanted these guys and now it’s got ’em. Careful what you wish for boys! Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.