Now, while I may be done discussing the seeding issue, the local papers need their space.

The strangest thing about the Oakland bracket is how many Pitt connections there are in the coaches.

Fifth-seeded Pitt will meet 12th-seeded Kent State, coached by former Pitt assistant Jim Christian, in the first round Friday; Memphis, the top seed, is coached by former Pitt assistant John Calipari and will face 16th-seeded Oral Roberts on Friday; second-seeded UCLA, coached by former Pitt coach Ben Howland, battles 15th-seeded Belmont on Thursday; seventh-seeded Marquette, which meets 10th-seeded Alabama on Thursday, is coached by former Pitt assistant Tom Crean; and Xavier, the 14th seed, is coached by former Pitt star Sean Miller and will play third-seeded Gonzaga on Thursday.

Calipari was an assistant under Paul Evans and Christian and Crean were assistants for Ralph Willard. Considering the job done by the selection committee, I can’t believe this was intentional.

The storyline on the seeding seems to be, that this is par for the course the last few years.

The Pitt Panthers should be accustomed to this by now. Play the regular season, the Big East Conference tournament and then watch the NCAA selection committee drop them like an anchor. It’s become an annual occurrence, as much a part of the calendar year as Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.
…
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon tried to rationalize the seeding. Dixon has attended meetings with selection committee members at the Final Four. He said the committee reserves the right to move a team up or down one spot in the brackets to make the brackets work.

Dixon said he knew there would be some movement this year because the Big East received an NCAA-record eight bids.

“We’re No. 11 in the RPI,” Dixon said. “Generally that can get you a No. 3 or 4 [seed]. But they can move you up or down, depending upon where they want to keep you. … geography, keeping you close. With our thing, we knew there would be some adjusting because of the eight teams in the Big East. They couldn’t have three in one bracket. We knew some things would come into play. They can move you up or down the line to account for things, and it’s not so much where they think you should be.”

If South Carolina and/or Ohio State had won, I really think Pitt would have been slotted a 3. It really seems, looking at the full bracket, that the only thing keeping Pitt from a 3 seed were the finishes of Florida and Iowa to win their Conference Tournaments.

Aaron Gray briefly talked about his play late in the Big East Tournament.

Junior center Aaron Gray missed an inordinate number of shots from close to the basket in the final two games of the Big East tournament. He missed dunks, layups, any variety of close-in shots that he made routinely in the regular season.

Gray appeared to get a case of the yips as he short-armed shots and played more tentative than he had all season.

“I definitely think it’s more mental than my physical capabilities,” Gray said. “My coaches and teammates have a lot of confidence in me. They kept passing me the ball. I’ll just have to keep on working on it for the NCAA tournament.”

Dixon did not seem concerned with Gray’s shooting woes.

“He came back strong in the second half against Villanova,” Dixon said. “He made some shots and missed shots. I thought he was pretty good all the way through. We kept going to him. I feel real good about him.”

I think I would have preferred to hear him say he was tired, not it being in his head.

The players are trying to focus on the game at hand:

“Oh, man. I can’t wait for that,” Krauser said. “I was there watching Antonio Gates have such a good game. It’s always good to go against Kent State.”

“There will be a bit of a rivalry,” said center Aaron Gray.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon even regaled the current Panthers of the lore of how that 2002 team, coached by Howland, had an excellent chance to get to the Final Four, with a No. 10 seed as a Sweet 16 opponent and No. 1 Duke upset by Indiana just minutes before Pitt and Kent State met

“Coach was talking about it,” said guard Ronald Ramon. “We want to go out there and be humble, but make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Starkey dismisses the seeding issues to focus on the Golden Flashes.

“If anybody mistakes Kent for a mid-major or a team that’s just lucky to get in, it’d be a huge mistake,” he [Western Michigan Assistant Coach Cornell Mann] said. “The difference for Pitt will have to be, you better respect these guys. If you trick yourself into thinking this team isn’t real – and with younger guys, that can happen – you may be looking out of a bus window on your way home.”

Akron assistant Shaka Smart believes the teams could wage a game in the 50s. Both play aggressive, half-court, man-to-man defense, though Kent State — under former Pitt assistant Jim Christian — will use a 2-3 zone.

Pitt center Aaron Gray must contend with Kent State’s penchant for trapping in the post with long-armed, 6-6 forward Mike Scott.

“Kent State has four seniors who kind of willed them to win late in the season,” Smart said. “Whoever wins is going to have to earn it.”

Pitt has a huge advantage inside, as Kent State’s tallest regular is 6-9 forward Nate Gerwig (Schenley). Syracuse pounded the Golden Flashes for 52 points in the paint in a 78-66 victory in December.

Offensively, Kent State is balanced and likes to shoot 3-pointers. The two main weapons are 6-5 swingman Jay Youngblood and ultra-athletic, 6-2 senior point guard DeAndre Haynes, the MAC’s top player.

“His favorite move is to pull up off the dribble,” Mann said. “Their offense is about as simple as you can get. He’ll penetrate and kick to somebody to shoot the three or make something happen himself.”

They don’t make a lot of extra passes before shooting. They only have around a 55% A/Baskets Made%

The game between Pitt and Kent State should have a lot of fans for both teams making the trip. It may only be a 5 hour drive from Pittsburgh, but it is an even shorter trip for most Northeast Ohioans.

“We were hoping for the No. 12 (seed),” said Scott Day, a 1996 graduate of Kent State. “No. 12 is always a big upset.”

Players, coaches, athletic staff and fans crunched into the student union’s basement to watch the announcement live on CBS. As the projection screen showed the Panthers cheering from Pittsburgh, CBS commentator Greg Gumbel said the words that ignited the crowd of several hundred fans.

“They will play… the Kent State Golden Flashes.”

It was great news for three KSU players — seniors DeAndre Haynes and Jay Youngblood and redshirt freshman Isaac Knight are Detroit natives.

It was also great news for fans, many of whom will make the three-hour drive.

Four years ago, Day watched from a Cuyahoga Falls sports bar as KSU upset Pittsburgh to advance to the Elite Eight.

“I’d love to see them play again,” said Day, who this time plans to attend the game.

This will be an interesting venue for Kent State, since they have recruited with success from the area. It also means potential distractions.

DeAndre Haynes is going home. So are his Kent State teammates, Jay Youngblood and Isaac Knight.

All three are Detroit natives, and all three will travel to the Palace of Auburn Hills later this week as the No. 12 seeded Golden Flashes face No. 5 seed Pittsburgh on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Game time will be announced today.
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Perhaps it’s fitting that the Flashes (25-8) play the Panthers (24-7) in Motown. Detroit has long been KSU’s recruiting hotbed. Some of the school’s best players have emerged from within the city limits, including Antonio Gates (2002-03), Andrew Mitchell (1999-02), Ed Norvell (1996-99) and Anthony Grier (1982-85).

Assistant coach Arnette Jordan is working hard to make sure that doesn’t change.

Jordan is a former Detroit high school basketball player and coach.

It will be a concern for the KSU coaches to make sure their players from the area don’t come out pressing, trying to do too much before their friends and family. With all of that local flavor on their roster, Pitt can expect much more of the crowd to favor Kent St.

Kent St. are a superstitious lot.

From the first game this season, a 65-56 loss to Delaware State, KSU players and coaches began falling into a lucky charm repetition of things that seemed to favor victory while discarding that which came with defeat.

It started at the top with head coach Jim Christian. He would not call them “superstitions” but Christian acknowledged he had “rituals.” He wore the same clothes during the MAC Tournament. And his favorite shoes “haven’t seen the light of day” since Kent lost that opener.
layers said everything started to mount over the course of the season. If assistant coaches switched up the order of how they delivered game plans, players would have coaches start the sessions over again.

During the MAC Tournament, DeAndre Haynes focused on 7 a.m. wake-up calls. A locker room fan was not turned on when the team first won at The Q. It wasn’t turned on again. Players said they all started walking the same way. For Kevin Warzynski, “Everything I did was left side first. Left sock, left shoe.”

Senior center Nate Gerwig would not wash his uniform. “I didn’t want to lose that good sweat,” he said.

I really hope it gets washed before Friday.