Breaking with usually waiting until Friday for the chat round-up for a special.

He had his chat today on ESPN.com (Insider Subs.). I can’t post the whole thing, because that’s going beyond mere fair use. There were some bold-ass questions coming from some keyboards that I can’t even imagine any sane person asking Gray to his face “… do you blame yourself for the loss on Saturday night?” Geez.

brian, pittsburgh, PA: who is the toughest player you’ve ever played against?

Aaron Gray: Oh man. Good question. As far as the low blocks and in the paint … Outside of our team, Taft and Troutman, I’d have to say the strongest is definitely Craig Smith of BC. The most skilled is probably Warrick of Syracuse.
…
Steve: (State College): Aaron, I go to school at Penn State and all these kids from Allentown, PA said you could of lead PSU to the NCAA tournament. Did you ever consider PSU?

Aaron Gray: Yeah, they did. PSU was one of the first school’s to recruit me hard. I took my visit there when JoePa broke the all-time wins record. They got a commitment from another player and took their final scholarship spot and they stopped recruiting me.

Todd (Carlsbad, CA): Aaron, how does it feel to see yourself and your teammates improving on the basketball court and developing relationships with the people of Pittsburgh?

Aaron Gray: It’s amazing. We have such great team chemistry this year. We all get along on the court and off. When we’re not on the court, we’re usually hanging out off the court. People of Pittsburgh see that and they want to be a part of that. People had such low expectations of our season, we didn’t but others did. Now that we’re having success, people want to be a part of that. Especially after the Steelers just won the Super Bowl, they want to see us do the same thing.
…
Terrence (Albany NY): Who is the #1 Pitt player you enjoy watching

Aaron Gray: It would have to be, before I got here, Chevy Troutman. The first time I remember seriously watching Pitt play, when Pitt beat UConn in the championship. Everyone was saying how good Knight and Page was. Troutman was basically playing on a broken ankle and he was going against the best college center in the nation in Emeka Okafor.

Other questions he fielded including a couple from his hometown area including reminding him about shattering a backboard — glass to the face — and not being able to dunk. Good times.