You know what it means when you have plenty of people praising Pitt in a loss to UConn? It means people haven’t really been watching them. Oh, sure, maybe they saw the highlights of some games. Read the write-ups, checked the box score, looked at the RPI and even raised an eyebrow when they realized who they had beaten. They just hadn’t seen them play and there was no singular player that was carrying the team (making storylines that much more difficult). Each team they beat, no matter how much it was supposed to be a test, was suddenly found wanting. It was enough to make even the most level-headed, reasonable fan paranoid. Most egregious was the line of thought that Pitt this year is merely a version of last year’s Boston College. College B-Ball Stat Guru, Ken Pomeroy, disputes the notion:
But I say, buy into Pitt. These teams are different. I wasn’t running the Pythagorean rankings last season, but I was curious where BC would have been at this time in 2005, when they were 18-0 and ranked #5 in the AP poll. Turns out they were 21st in Pythagorean. Pitt currently ranks 10th.
BC really played down to weaker competition a lot during the win streak. Pitt isn’t doing that. The Panthers will lose a few the rest of the way – the Big East will do that to everyone. But don’t slap the “overrated” label on them yet.
From Andy Katz’s ESPN.com blog (Insider subs.) comes an interesting nugget/complaint about the Pitt-UConn game:
The officials working Tuesday night’s Pitt-Connecticut game might have thought they were the show. Ed Corbett handed out two technicals, one each to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and UConn coach Jim Calhoun.
Corbett’s officiating prompted this comment from Calhoun: “I’m worn out and I’m sure at least two of the officials are worn out, too.”
Meanwhile, this crew wasn’t done ensuring the crowd saw them. Dixon complained that the officials let Hilton Armstrong enter the lane for a free throw after the official blew the whistle for the free throw. He pleaded for an explanation, but to no avail. At the next timeout, official Karl Hess came over and jawed with Dixon. It was, let’s just say, unbecoming of the official to react that way.
This was a first, as well: One of the officials stuck his head into Pitt’s huddle in the final six seconds to tell them to break it up, when Pitt’s Carl Krauser snapped back. The Panthers’ coaching staff didn’t want Krauser to get ejected, so he was escorted to the locker room with six seconds remaining. Krauser had already fouled out with just under three minutes remaining.
Interestingly, the UConn media reaction to this game was that the Huskies passed a major test.
The Big East rivals, who met in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 league tournament final, staged another epic battle Tuesday, with the winner getting a leg up in the conference race. The Huskies (19-1, 7-1), who have won eight games in a row, remain tied with Villanova for second place in the Big East standings. West Virginia, unbeaten in league games, remains on top.
“For us to go any place, we have to beat Pittsburgh,” Calhoun said. “And for Pittsburgh to go, they have to kind of go by us.”
…
UConn couldn’t pull away with Gray still doing damage down low and Krauser willing his team along. Krauser fouled out with 2:58 to play and his team trailing 69-66, but the Panthers still had life. A 3-pointer by Ronald Ramon — the Panthers first trey after missing 16 in a row to start the game — cut the UConn lead to 71-69.“You can see a team that believes it’s going to win,” Calhoun said. “They had no doubt they were going to win. None. Therefore, that’s the toughest guy to face all the time, the guy who believes he’s going to win.”
The media and even the coach seemed to be questioning UConn’s will and desire.
And perhaps a bit … soft?
Hence, if we accept the coach’s assessment, the Pittsburgh Panthers should have been the perfect test case. They have fearless guards in Carl Krauser, Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields. They come by their reputation of physical basketball honestly, big and strong and tougher than flank steak.
Pittsburgh did not disappoint here Tuesday.
And neither did UConn.
There was nothing soft here.
It had been two weeks earlier when coach Jim Calhoun said his team wasn’t “ferocious” enough yet. And then it was late Tuesday night, it was UConn 80, Pitt 76, and the ferocious-o-meter was climbing. That’s the residual effect of beating Pittsburgh.
Calhoun likes to call these games “rock fights.”
“In this game, you find out what you are,” Calhoun said. “There’s a knock on the door and you have a choice to open it or not. If you open it, you face the dragon. This was the most physical team … even though we may have faced it a little at Louisville, this was a team that truly believed they were going to win. You can see it in their eyes. After 35 years of coaching, you can see a team that believes it’s going to win. They had no doubt. None. That’s the toughest guy to face.”
Or at least it made for a good storyline once they passed. That story also had more gratuitous shots at the refs.
Indeed, this was a night when Ed Corbett, Curtis Shaw and Karl Hess must have taken their cues from counterparts in the WNBA: Call nothing early, call everything late — and without a hint of the game’s rhythm.
And at the same time, this game left those who saw it hungry for more.
Too bad there’s no regular-season rematch down the road. This rivalry deserves a sequel.
Fans will have to be satisfied with what transpired Tuesday when top-ranked UConn emerged with an 80-76 win over No. 9 Pittsburgh in a Big East Conference thriller at Gampel Pavilion.
The Huskies (19-1, 7-1) held a shaky grip on the lead for nearly the entire game before sinking 9 of their last 11 free throws in the final two minutes, 58 seconds to secure their eighth straight win.
“It was a hard-fought basketball game,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “We’re terrifically happy. I’ll go home and sleep exceptionally well with this one because I feel wonderful about the win. I feel wonderful about the fact that our character and our toughness is being tested. … We’ve got a long way to go.”
…
“If we (let up), they would have taken the game from us,” Boone said. “We weren’t going to allow that.”It took every ounce of determination for UConn to finish the game.
And Boone was apparently tired after coming up clutch.
“Pitt was really, really tough tonight,” Boone said. “I think I’m still running on adrenaline. You’re playing out there, the crowd is hyped, the game is close, they’re coming back. … It’s tiring. Hopefully you’re able to finish it, just like we did tonight.”
Boone scored 10 of UConn’s 13 points in one stretch. His three-point play gave the Huskies a 58-53 lead. Pittsburgh, however, followed with consecutive baskets, the second coming on an uncontested putback dunk by Sam Young. Boone kept rolling, dunking on an offensive rebound, then dunking on a feed from Gay, who zipped a pass into the post. Boone had noticed Levon Kendall cheating to his right, so he went left. That made it 62-59.
All seven of Boone’s field goals seemed to come with the Huskies reeling a bit.
The UConn player of the game though, was clearly Rudy Gay. He was the reason UConn won. I admit, that was the first time I truly saw why he is expected to be a #1 pick for the NBA come June.
The other story is the issue of the Jeff Jacobs column calling-out Jim Calhoun, I mentioned yesterday. Radio is now involved.
WFAN radio’s Mike and the Mad Dog plan to broadcast live from the Hartford Civic Center leading into UConn’s Feb. 21 game against Notre Dame. It should be a controversial show. Hosts Mike Francessa and Chris Russo spent much of Tuesday’s show discussing Jeff Jacobs’ column in Tuesday’s Hartford Courant. Jacobs, who’s in Detroit for Super Bowl media week, was a call-in guest on WFAN. His column centered on the suspension of UConn’s Williams, who was arrested for his involvement in trying to sell stolen laptop computers over the summer, and the contentious relationship between Jacobs and Calhoun.
While Mike and the Mad Dog had much to say Tuesday, Calhoun did not discuss the issue after Tuesday’s game.
This story isn’t going away.
