Major time constraints with Pitt the first game, and a media round-up on that coming.

In my old X-Men comics from the ’80s there was an overused, cliched phrase that went something like, “the battle was fierce and intense, but the outcome never truly in question.” That pretty much describes the game George Washington gave Duke. GW played hard and made Duke work at times, but Duke was going to win.

Florida had a surprisingly easy time over U Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Just too much talent.

The upset that didn’t surprise many as Wichita St. beat Tennessee. No question that Tennessee was overseeded as a 2, but I would also say that the Shockers were underseeded as a 7. A very good game that felt like a 4-5 matchup.

East Coast Bias may have played something of a role in assuming that Illinois would cruise. Instead it was Washington in a game of huge swings. Both teams getting on huge runs. Illinois fans and Coach Bruce Weber will be fuming about the free throw shooting discrepancy for a while.

Boston College took out Montana, who could only hang for one half. Al Skinner finally gets his team past the first weekend, on the back of Craig Smith. Smith was the reason BC somehow got past Pacific and in this game he led the team in points, rebounds and assists.

For the sake of basketball games that doesn’t make your eyes bleed to watch, LSU pulled it out against Texas A&M. They had the game, let it slip away and then got it back on a closing second 3. A&M couldn’t answer.

Not sure what got into Alabama, but they played nothing like the team that stumbled around most of the regular season. UCLA ultimately hung-on to advance, but they did not go away.

Gonzaga beat Indiana, but I don’t see them going any further than the Sweet 16 with the way they play defense.

As the game was just about to get underway, they had a cutaway shot to Coach Jamie Dixon along the sideline, and I was ready to panic. He had a look on his face that made me nervous. He looked pale and tight. Like there was something big and painful about to pass through his system. He looked that tense and I was terrified the entire Pitt squad would reflect that. Shows what I know about reading people’s faces.

I’d say the biggest thing that Pitt did right in preparing for the game, was getting Aaron Gray ready to pass out of the double and triple team efforts of the Golden Flashes.

“Carl set the tone with his nine assists,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “That makes us hard to guard when he’s playing like that. It was a great team effort. We had a lot of guys step up.”

Kendall credited the coaching staff for picking up on a Kent State tendency. Kendall said the Panthers knew the Flashes were going to double-team Gray in the post every time he touched the ball no matter what.

Gray found the open man almost every time, and Pitt’s guards didn’t miss many of their outside shots.

“We’d been preparing for that the last couple of days,” Kendall said. “We knew Aaron was going to make the right choices.”

Gray didn’t have any assists out of those pass outs because the ball would quickly move along the perimeter to another player with the better shot. It was exactly what you want to do when they commit that many players to one guy on one side of the court. You don’t wildly throw the ball to the other side. You move it quickly and crisply out and around. Even if you don’t always get the shot, you force the team to expend tons of energy trying to cover everything.

Gray, was probably excessively modest, bordering on arrogant, though with this.

“I don’t think we did anything different in the way we went about our business of preparing for a game,” Gray said. “We put in the hard work that’s needed. We expected to make those shots.”

Pitt probably had one of its most offensively efficient games of the season. I realize it set a team record for team field goal percentage at 67.4%, but the efficiency numbers were as impressive.

Pitt

Poss 61.1 Pace Moderate O-Rating 129.2 D-Rating 104.7 (Eff. Margin +24.5)
eFG% 73.9 PPWS 1.49
A/TO 1.5 TO Rate 19.6% A/B 58.1%
Floor Pct 60.3% FT Prod 23.9

Kent St.

Poss 64.2 Pace Moderate O-Rating 99.7 D-Rating 123.1 (Eff. Margin -23.4)
eFG% 46.6 PPWS 0.98
A/TO 1.2 TO Rate 15.6% A/B 52.2%
Floor Pct 49.3% FT Prod 15.3

I think something else that points out how well Pitt was shooting. Pitt’s A/B % was only 58.1%, when the team usually averages around 65%. Pitt actually had 18 assists. They just made so many shots that it actually overwhelmed the assists.

The only thing to sort of complain about was that Pitt was outrebounded 29-28. That mainly was because Kent State had a lot more opportunities to grab offensive rebounds than Pitt. Pitt only had 4 offensive boards to Kent’s 10. Pitt did dominate on the defensive boards 24-15. It’s what happens when a team makes more than 2/3 of its shot attempts. If Pitt had missed more shots, there would have been more opportunities to grab offensive boards. I think most of us are comfortable making that trade-off.

Joe Starkey was impressed with what he saw from Pitt.

Pitt created its own energy, not by rubbing sticks together, but by rubbing Kent State’s face in a barrage of early baskets. The Panthers made 14 of their first 18 shots en route to the hottest night in school history.

By the time the smoke cleared, they’d made a school-record 67.4 percent of their field-goal attempts (31 of 46) in a 79-64 victory. That beat the old mark of 66.1 percent, set Feb. 10, 1990, against Providence.

Aaron Gray, who shot just 35 percent in the Big East tournament, made all six of his field-goal attempts and played like the dominant big man Pitt needs him to be. He is three inches taller than anyone on Kent State’s roster, and he made sure everyone was aware of it. He scored 17 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Sophomore guard Ronald Ramon also went 6 for 6, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. Pitt is infinitely more threatening when Ramon shoots well. He was coming off a 0-for-4 performance in the Big East title game against Syracuse and was 0-for-everything in the postseason in 2005.

Last night, he poured in a team-best 10 points in the first half.

“The aggressiveness was there because it’s the NCAA’s,” Ramon explained. “You want to go out and perform and not let your team down. At the same time, it was within the flow of the game.”

Starkey theorized that Pitt’s shorter bench aided Ramon because he didn’t have to come out as as often and disrupt his rhythm. I’m not sure I buy it.

Keith Benjamin made it to the bench of the Pitt game and apparently had been tested but cleared of spinal meningitis. No word still as to what has been ailing him or whether he will be available on Sunday (I would doubt it).

Pitt probably played one of the most complete games it could play, and somehow, Bob Smizik still manages to seek out the angle most likely to annoy Pitt fans. He complains that Pitt hasn’t focused enough on being a shooting team in its growth from BE bottom feeder to national contender.

This is what happens when a consuming passion for unyielding defense and relentless rebounding converges with excellent shooting. It’s called a blowout.

Defense and rebounding are what built the Pitt program under Ben Howland, and Jamie Dixon made no changes in that formula when he took over in 2003. If anything, Dixon has accentuated the athleticism necessary to play Pitt’s kind of game.

Left behind, too often, is shooting. Howland cherished it when he coached at Northern Arizona but virtually ignored it when he came to Pitt, opting for athletes over shooters. Dixon has done the same. Just two days ago, he dismissed Aaron Gray’s atrocious shooting in the Big East tournament when he said, “We really don’t look at shooting as it is the last thing we look at.”

Such an emphasis has resulted in Pitt becoming an elite program. But it also makes you wonder what might have been in Pitt’s recent NCAA tournament losses, most notably in 2002 when it was upset by Kent State in the round of 16, if the coaching staff had felt a little more comfortable with recruiting an occasional shooter or two.

Yes, one game into the NCAA Tournament, and it is time to complain that the team didn’t recruit enough diverse talent on its rise. I have to believe he does this sort of backhand swipe on purpose.

Now it’s time to contrast Smizik for one of the best national columnists who happens to — for whatever reason — reside in Akron. Terry Pluto talks about the aftermath in the Kent locker room.

Coach Jim Christian was so shaken that when he tried to talk to his team after the game, he couldn’t stand up. His legs were jelly, his throat dry, his eyes wet.

“I could barely speak,” he said. “I tried to get up, then sat back down. I told them how special they were to me.”

Christian paused as he thought about the season, a year in which Kent State finished with a 25-9 record, the second-most victories in school history.

He thought of how his team was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference East Division, yet won both the MAC regular season and the league tournament.

“No one expected us to get here except the guys in that room,” he said.

He paused.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the place,” he said. “All of us were crying. It’s tough to say goodbye.”

There will be no more games for seniors Nate Gerwig, Jay Youngblood, DeAndre Haynes and Kevin Warzynski.

Youngblood tried to explain what his final game at Kent State meant, but no words would come. All he could do was shake his head.

Haynes mentioned being on the court, watching the final seconds of the clock ticking down, knowing his four years were ending. Suddenly, he realized it went so fast.

None of this is about regret. Entering the game, Pittsburgh was the favorite. The Panthers were ranked 16th in the country and finished second in the grinding Big East Tournament.

Pitt had too much size, too much talent.
…
“It was a pleasure to coach these guys,” Christian said. “They got it. They knew that we had to be at our best to win. We really had to execute. We had to be unselfish.”

An example is how Warzynski gave up his starting spot to sophomore Mike Scott after those first discouraging 11 games. Scott was needed as a starter for his leaping ability and defense.

Warzynski went to the bench, and rather than pout, became a super sub and was named the MAC’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Warzynski totally took over the second half inside from Nate Gerwig who just couldn’t handle Gray and only played 2 minutes in the second half. A sad ending to a gutty kid’s college career. Warzynski was the only one willing and happy to battle Gray for Kent State. Not only was he Kent’s leading scorer, but he got himself tangled up with Gray so that he ended up in a hilarious headlock. Yet he kept coming back for more. He’s exactly the kind of scrapper you want and are proud to have on your team.

But he and KSU was somewhat wrong about it just being Pitt’s shots “going down.” Pitt was making open looks and taking advantage of the overplay on Gray.

For the Kent State senior-laden team, it’s all over.

“Just sitting on the bench and waiting for the seconds to run down, it was tough,” said Haynes, whose eyes had reddened and were puffy by the time he reached the postgame news conference.

“Just knowing this is it for me at Kent State. My career is over.”

That should be something for Pitt players to take note. If they lose, Krauser’s Pitt career comes to its official end. Krauser did take special satisfaction in this.

Pitt guard Carl Krauser recalled watching the postseason loss to Kent State as a redshirt freshman seated in the stands.

“That loss stuck with me all the way up to this day,” he said. “I definitely feel a sense of relief. I dreamed about it last night. It certainly feels good.”

Panthers guard Ronald Ramon could see a sense of relief on Krauser’s face after the game.

“It was personal for him,” Ramon said. “He was here. He experienced it. He didn’t want to feel that way again.”

Krauser even called some of his old teammates before hand.

“I dreamt about the loss to Kent State last night,” he said. “I told some of the guys that on that team ‘We’re going to win this one for y’all,’ and we did. That’s a huge relief.”

For all Pitt fans.

Looks like Bradley-Pitt gets the opening time on Sunday:12:10. There is no other game at that time slot so it looks like everyone, everywhere will see the game. It also means no “March Madness on Demand.” The online access will be denied.

One to two sentence summaries (mostly) of yesterday’s action.

Pitt crushed Kent St. (more on this one later) as Ramon and Gray missed only 1 shot — a single free throw — between them.

Partisan crowd in Dayton, 2 seed versus 15, and Ohio St. had to come from behind to pull it out against Dayton should not be filling Buckeye fans with overwhelming optimism.

Steve Alford will now have to wait for Indiana to lose before he can jump home as the Hawkeyes opened the door and Northwestern (Louisiana) St. came back from a double digit second half deficit to win. Shocking in that it was a 3 losing to a 14, but considering it was Iowa and Alford, well…

Bucknell scares the hell out of me. Dropping Arkansas with smart disciplined play on both ends.

Arizona blew Wisconsin out of the joint. I have trouble believing Arizona can play that way again.

Georgetown survived and advanced past Northern Iowa in a game that either team could have won — and at times both tried to give away.

Hoopies put down Southern Illinois early, then kept doing just enough to keep them down.

Memphis built up its lead in the first half, to withstand a run from Oral Roberts, then put them away.

Villanova had no real problems with Monmouth.

Michigan St. concludes an underachieving, enigmatic season by going down to George Mason. A minor victory for doing the right thing as GMU won with its best player suspended for that crotch blow. The coach of GMU did it without pressure and outcries to do something (see, Chris Paul, Skip Prosser, Wake Forest in 2005).

One of the more unattractive games you could see. Not physically brutal, or sloppy just not well played and what seemed like a lot of standing around as NC St. came back to beat Cal.

Apparently, losing its first game in the Big East Tournament didn’t shake the UConn players out of their complacency after all. They did their best to lose, but ultimately the better talent beat Albany.

2nd year coach for 2nd year in a row goes down in an upset. I’m guessing Kansas isn’t feeling much like home to Bill Self after the Jayhawks lose to Bradley. After the pundits flogged Kansas as having a great shot at the Final Four, I think a good number of brackets are wrecked.

But the number of wrecked brackets a UNC loss to Murray St. would have created would have been astounding. Unfortunately, the Tarheels finally got enough separation to hold on.

Everything I said about Ohio State’s win? Apply it to Texas overcoming Penn while playing in Dallas.

Kentucky struggled (of course) put away UAB. That means UAB Mike Anderson can start interviewing at Ole Miss, Missouri, K-State, Iowa State and maybe Cinci. Gives him a head start on the coaches who have teams still playing.

Conference
ACC: 4-0
SEC: 4-1
PAC 10: 3-1
Big East: 5-3
Big 12: 2-2
Big 11: 3-3
MVC: 2-2
A-10: 1-1

A little less than 2 hours to tip time.

Comment freely.

HALFTIME UPDATE: Pitt leading 40-27.

Wish it was more, but that would be being greedy. Kent State got off to a start of not hitting anything and Pitt couldn’t miss. A little run the other way, as the intensity slipped and almost all of the starters getting a blow. Still, plenty of good so far.

Gray slamming the ball, passing well out of double and triple teams. Perimeter shots falling. Sam Young showing some great hands on defense. Krauser with some great interior passing. Ramon hitting shots and passing so well.

Good defense.

FINAL UPDATE: Pitt wins 79-64.

Give Kent some credit for biting, scratching and clawing their way at times. I think the near give away by Pitt to Louisville helped Pitt withstand the run and press from Kent.

Only bad thing out of this win, there is no way Kansas or Bradley will take Pitt lightly on Sunday.

ADDENDUM: It’s Bradley. One of the Missouri Valley Conference teams. They are now playing with house money. All pressure will be on Pitt.

Quick info. Very strong defensive team. Here’s more stats on them. Up until this win, their toughest non-con foe had been Western Kentucky

The Fittipaldo Q&A is really not worth it this week. The whole thing can be summarized like this:

Q: Did Pitt get screwed over in the polls and the NCAA Seeding? Why?

A: Yes. I don’t know.

Vague recruiting talk as a Duquesne recruit is allowed out of his early written commit. The kid would love to come to Pitt or a legit Div. 1 school, but doesn’t have the game. Might go to Hargrave Military in Virginia for a year to work on it.

Focus on Herb Pope the biggest Western PA b-ball prospect since Danny Fortson. And like Fortson, J.O. Stright will decide where he goes.

Pope said the person handling much of his recruiting is J.O. Stright, founder of the Pittsburgh JOTS AAU team. Pope plays for the JOTS. Stright also was heavily involved in Fortson’s recruiting. Fortson played at Shaler with Stright’s son, Justin.

“There’s no question Herb is the most highly recruited player around here since Danny Fortson,” Stright said. “His recruiting is all over the map. Even North Carolina is interested now. They haven’t offered, but they’re interested.

“You look at him with his size, athleticism and ballhandling skills, and he’s a unique player.”

Pope has offers from Louisville and UConn as well. Huggins is Stright’s close friend. Bob Huggins — who is rumored for nearly every open job — is now a possibility for the increasingly desperate Kansas State.

[Editor’s Note: A version with more explanation as to the stats meanings and how they work was posted to NEO Babble yesterday. Since most of you already have read that stuff before, I’m keeping it limited to the vitals.]

Here are the basic numbers for Pitt and Kent State:

Pittsburgh — Key Team Stats — Kent State
72.5 ——– Points scored —– 72.5
62.8 ——- Points allowed —– 65.5
.452 ——— FG% own ——- .449
.402 —– FG% opposition —– .439
.352 ——— 3PT% own ——– .357
.344 —– 3PT% opposition —– .332
406 ——- Off Rebounds ——– 363
809 ——- Def Rebounds ——- 738
1312 —– Total Rebounds —– 1211
1.2 ——- Assist/Turnover —— 1.0
17.1 —— Fouls Per Game —– 20.1

Here are the advanced numbers for Pitt and Kent State.

——— Pitt ——-Kent St.
FG% —- 45.2 ——- 44.9
FT% —- 68.8 ——- 71.6
3FG% — 35.2 ——- 35.7
PPWS — 1.09 ——- 1.10
eFG% — 50.8 ——- 51.1
Poss/40 — 68.5 ——- 69.4
O-Rating — 105.8 —– 103.9
D-Rating — 91.9 ——- 94.9
RPG —- 36.1 ——- 30.0
BPG —- 3.8 ——— 2.5
APG —- 16.5 ——- 13.4
SPG —- 6.4 ——— 7.8
FPG —- 17.0 ——- 20.1
A/TO — 1.2 ——— 1.0
TO Rate — 19.7 ——- 18.8
A/B% — 65.3 ——- 55.0
B/PF — 0.2 ——— 0.1
Floor% — 53.3 ——- 49.8
FT Prod — 27.9 —— 29.2

FG% (Field Goal %); FT% (Free Throw %); PPWS (Points per Weighted Shot); eFG% (Effective FG %); A/TO (Assist-Turnover Ratio); B/PF (Blocks-Fouls Ratio); BPG (Blocks Per Game); FPG (Personal Fouls Per Game); APG (Assists Per Game); TOPG (Turnovers Per Game); SPG (Steals Per Game); RPG (Rebounds Per Game); 3FG% (Three-Point FG %); O-Rating (Offensive Rating (Points per 100 possessions)); D-Rating (Defensive Rating (Points allowed per 100 possessions)); Floor% ((FGM + OR) / (FGA + Turnovers) FTProd Free Throw Production (FTM / FGA) ); TO Rate (Turnover Rate (TO/Poss)) A/B% (Assisted Basket Pct. (Assists/FGM))

Points Per Weighted Shot (PPWS), goes to understanding the efficiency of players and teams in translating shot and free throw attempts into points.

PPWS = PTS/(FGA + (0.475 x FTA))

Obviously, the higher the number, the better. Kent St. is actually 70th in the country (out of 334 teams) and Pitt is at #88. Not a significant difference.

Both Pitt and Kent St. have similar numbers, with Kent St. shooting a little better.

The possession/40 number (explanation here). That goes to explaining the pace played by the team. The average pace for a NCAA game is somewhere around 69.0 possessions. So, you can see that Pitt plays a slightly slower pace than the average while Kent St. plays slightly faster.

The offensive/defensive ratings (O-Rating and D-Rating) are based on points per 100 possessions. Despite Pitt playing a slightly slower pace, they do more with their possessions than Kent State. On defense, Pitt is clearly better.

Kent St. is a very respectable team in their adjusted numbers, but Pitt is one of the best defensive teams in the country and an excellent offensive team.

Another area of significant difference is the assists to baskets made % (A/B%). This is simply the percentage of baskets that come from an assist. In other words, teams that pass and find the open man versus teams that have individuals creating their own shot. Pitt has excelled all season at making the extra pass and finding the open shot. It is no surprise then, that at 65.3%, Pitt is 10th best in the country in that number.

Kent is respectable at 55% (186th), but they are more likely to pull up for shots more or come off of screens and pass less. This means that they have players creating or taking their own shot more often.

If the team needed any reminding that the seeding doesn’t matter once the games start, they saw it in their hotel rooms.

Since 1989, No. 12 seeds have knocked off No. 5 seeds 24 times in 68 games. That’s 35 percent. The upsets have been more frequent in recent years. Since 2001, No. 12 seeds had won 9 of 20 games (not counting this tournament), including three in 2001.

Those are the odds Pitt is up against today when it plays No. 12 seed Kent State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I think a lot of teams think too far ahead,” junior guard Antonio Graves said. “All it takes is one mishap. These teams are just waiting to upset people. We have to think every team is UConn or Duke.”

Already half the 5 seeds went down this tournament.

In the MAC Tournament, Kent was shooting very well. They try to play up-tempo with players often trying to create their own shot. Expect a lot of 3s from Kent tonight.

But while Pitt (24-7) is the better rebounding team, the Panthers have shown some weaknesses guarding the outside.

Earlier this week, Panthers coach Jamie Dixon described his team’s perimeter defense as “not where we want it to be, but getting better.”

The Flashes average nearly 20 3-point attempts per game (hitting on 35.7 percent).

Dixon noticed how the Flashes’ offense utilizes a lot of ball screens and handoffs as it tries to create scoring opportunities.

Pitt has, to be kind, been inconsistent when it comes to fighting through screens and not getting burned.

On defense, they play a man-to-man, but try to trap in the post by doubling down.

The trapping in the post on big men was born out of necessity. Nate Gerwig is their biggest player at 6’9″, but continued to be injury-prone this season.

In December, KSU was dog-paddling through the season at 5-3 when senior center Nate Gerwig injured his knee in the first game of the two-day St. Mary’s Tournament in California. He would not be able to play against St. Mary’s, an NCAA Tournament team from the previous season that had a pair of 6-10 players under the hoop.

Before the game, Kent head coach Jim Christian decided he would start swing man Mike Scott, a 6-6 sophomore being groomed to play in the backcourt, at power forward. At 175 pounds, Scott had no bulk for the inside combat of post defense and rebounding.

But Scott was tall enough and had long enough arms to harass a taller post player into passing the ball back to the perimeter.

In the land of the 49ers, Kent struck gold.

“He had 16 points in that game and he trapped his butt off,” KSU assistant coach Rob Senderoff said.

“Even though we lost [61-59], we played our best game to that point, certainly our best for long stretches in a game,” Christian said. “It just fell into place.”
…
With Scott’s athleticism, he was able to rotate out of the double-team and cover an open man quicker than most players. Even if Scott was late, his 7-0 wingspan would help make up for his tardy feet.

As we all know, Gray has struggled against the double team. Len Elmore, during the Big East Tournament, often pointed out that Gray was all too often dropping the ball too low with his hands. That could be a problem. They way to eleviate that, though, is for the guards to knock down some open shots and mid-range jumpers.

With Kent not being a particularly big team, they rely on leaping and mistakes by their opponents to grab rebounds. This is where boxing out will be very important for Pitt. An area, Sam Young has struggled when around the glass. Kendall could be very important in that respect.

Krauser is Pitt’s motor, and everyone knows it starts verbally.

“He gets us going,” for Levon Kendall said. “The team tends to go how he goes… It gets him going and gets us going.'”

Expect crowd shots featuring San Diego Charger Antonio Gates tonight, as well as the expected flashbacks to the 2002 game.

Someone did press UCLA Coach Ben Howland about the possibility of facing Pitt in the Tournament.

UCLA, which is coached by recent Pitt head coach Ben Howland, is the No. 2 seed and Gonzaga is the No. 3 seed.

UCLA will be the favored opponent Pitt advances to the elite eight.

“It would obviously be great for us to play Pitt since it would mean we would both be advancing far into the tournament,” UCLA coach Howland said.

“Jamie (Dixon) has done a great job with the program since I left.”

Something to help confuse perception further, in a brief Sam Young Q&A, Young says that John DeGroat is the toughest person to go against him in practice.

Finally another Krauser piece, but this is one of the better ones I’ve read.

Krauser has a fondness for language, although it hasn’t always manifested itself in the most polite and conventional fashion. Earlier this month, in a Sports Illustrated poll of the major college basketball conferences, Kraser was named the biggest trash talker in the Big East (and yes, Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara was picked as the most overrated player).

He’s actually proud of the designation. Krauser, a 6-foot-2 senior insists sts he doesn’t cross the line on the floor. He doesn’t swear or insult an opponent’s appearance or his family. He’s a passionate guy who never stops competing and never shuts up. He likens his competitive style to that of his boxing hero, Muhammad Ali.

“Ali fights with passion and keeps his mouth moving,” said Krauser. “He throws his opponent off and gets him frustrated. Then he attacks and he beats you. That’s it. Game.”

Krauser doesn’t have the most elegant game. He has been skewered on the Pittsburgh talk shows for his 39.9 percent shooting. But in the one stat that truly matters – wins – he has few peers in the college ranks. The Panthers (24-7) have won 103 games in his four years. He is one of three Pitt players to win 20 games in four straight seasons.
…
Krauser nearly moved on after his junior year. He worked out at some NBA draft camps, but scouts told him he needed to become a more consistent shooter and wasn’t likely to be drafted. He moved from point guard to off guard, but had the worst shooting year of his career, percentage-wise. Still, Krauser said he has no regrets about returning for his senior year.

“I looked at myself and said, “Hey, you’ve got the opportunity to come back to Pittsburgh and be a better father, a better student/athlete, a better person,’ ” Krauser said. “I got to share my experiences with these young guys who needed my leadership. “I learn from them,” he said, “and they pick up things from me. So I wanted to come back and do those things. I love teaching and I love learning at the same time, and I love working with young people.”

Should have mentioned this story earlier, but I was late to notice.

Everyone’s favorite walk-on, Charles Small, a Detroit-area native, actually got a nice piece in USA Today yesterday.

His role has remained the same since the day he walked onto campus. But that hasn’t stopped him.

“It’s a family-type setting,” he says. “I know I have to work a little harder. You have the team backing you, so it’s a good feeling.

“I understand my role is just as important as the next person. I encourage my teammates, work hard at practice and feel just as part of the team as anybody.”

Small, a fan favorite, is one of the shortest Division I players. “I’ve been hearing it my whole life,” he says. “It’s just added motivation. I keep working hard and prove people wrong that I can go out there and play.”

Keith Benjamin joined the team in Auburn Hills, but isn’t practicing with them right now. It seems unlikely he will play tonight.

Benjamin, a sophomore who was projected to be in the Panthers’ starting lineup, remained behind in Pittsburgh on Wednesday with what was presumed to be the flu. He arrived yesterday at the team hotel but continued to be evaluated.

“We’re still trying to figure out what it is,” Dixon said. “I’m not sure where he stands as far as playing.”

It is the time of year that Benjamin told teammates he has struggled with similar symptons, which include vomiting, shaking and chills. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native placed a call to his mother for support Tuesday night.

My allergies usually overload me, leading to a sinus infection this time of the year. This seems a little different.

Tyrell Biggs, like Benjamin, will probably not see any action tonight unless absolutely necessary with his injured right calf. The good news is that Levon Kendall’s back hasn’t flared-up again and feels good. The bad news, Sam Young is now dinged a little.

Freshman forward Sam Young jammed his right thumb in practice Wednesday. He had the thumb wrapped during the workout yesterday afternoon. The injury did not appear to hamper his shot or movement throughout the 45-minute walk-through.

Aaron Gray seems to be feeling much better now.

Because Pitt was in the primary 9pm TV slot in the Big East Tournament with all the interest in the bloated BE, ratings had a spike and Pitt gets to claim some credit.

The Big East championship between Pitt and Syracuse on ESPN drew a 2.58 rating, the highest for a championship since 1996. The Pitt-West Virginia quarterfinal game drew a 1.47 for the highest quarterfinal rating since ’96. And the Pitt-Louisville first-round game drew a 1.37 for the highest rating for a first-round game.

Along with expectations that Pitt will be one of the best in the BE next season, that should be an additional reason to expect a lot of Pitt’s BE games will be televised on ESPN.

Let’s get the human interest stuff out of the way.

An AP story on Carl Krauser. standard points hit: boxed briefly, he’s old, from the Bronx. Krauser does make every Pitt fan cringe by talking about a possible game in the Elite Eight.

“The game I’m looking forward to is UCLA,” he said.

To have a chance to face the Bruins and former Pittsburgh coach Ben Howland, the Panthers would have to get to the Oakland Regional final. That’s one step beyond the round of 16 the Big East power has advanced to in three of the past four years.

“I want to play against coach Howland, and say a little something, talk a little trash to him,” Krauser said. “That would be so fun, and kind of weird to play your old coach.”

It’s not that we disagree, it’s just that you are not supposed to do or say that. It’s one game at a time. You’re only supposed to be talking about the game right in front of you.

The day after Joe Starkey said that Aaron Gray needs to have a great Tournament for Pitt to do anything, Smizik agrees but with his usual strawmen.

Still, it’s those nagging layups and short jumpers that fell short, clanged off or rolled around and came out night after night after night in the Big East tournament last week that people most remember.

Try to tell people that Gray is a fine shooter with a deft touch from 10 feet and in, and they’ll laugh.

Memories in sports are short. What people most remember about Gray is that he converted 18 of 51 field-goal attempts last week, which isn’t bad if the shots were coming from beyond 3-point range. But they mostly were coming from the 3-foot range. It was stupefying. Gray made four of 13 against Louisville, seven of 17 against West Virginia, two of nine against Villanova and five of 12 against Syracuse as Pitt lost in the title game.

That wasn’t the Gray who was a dominant player during the regular season, when he made 55 percent of his shots. He looked tired, which he was, and he looked bereft of confidence, which he insists he wasn’t.

Does Smizik’s circle of friends include head trauma victims with only short-term memory? Everyone knows he has been shooting well most of the season. It’s now, that he’s struggling that the screams are loudest for him to just throw it down, to deal with the misses. There was some amusement in the way he described how Coach Dixon addressed Gray’s play at the BET.

Coach Jamie Dixon was at his contrarian best, almost refusing to acknowledge that Gray wasn’t up to standard in the Big East tournament.

“He had a great tournament,” Dixon said with a straight face. “He played very well. You know, we really don’t look at shooting as it is the last thing we look at.”

Continuing with the premise that all was well in New York, Dixon said, “He’s been very good for us all year and he’s going to be good for us tomorrow. I’m sure.”

Smizik, of course, knows contrarian — ususally. But if it hasn’t been made abundantly clear by now, Coach Dixon simply will not criticize his individual players to the media. He will always be positive and act as if all is well. It’s frustrating, annoying and makes you want to scream; but it is the philosophy of Dixon not to tear down players in the press.

Finally a nice article about Coach Dixon’s father travelling back and forth to see Pitt and the Army women play basketball for the last few weeks.

In case our Philly viewers were wondering, the Kent St.-Pitt game will be the featured game in the Philly market.

Aresco said the Bucknell game would be shown in 43 percent of the country. The Villanova game will be aired in 17 percent, mainly in the Northeast. The Penn game will be broadcast to 16 percent of U.S. homes, and the Pittsburgh contest to 12 percent.

Even though Pittsburgh is a Pennsylvania school, interest in the Panthers is not overwhelming for many in the Philadelphia area.

“We are aware that Pitt doesn’t resonate in eastern Pennsylvania, but if there was a game of more interest, we would have considered it,” Aresco said. “You are a Big East city, and with Pitt in the Big East, we felt there would be interest.”

People in those markets won’t be able to watch the game on the computer.

I assume that all of Pennsylvania and Ohio will see the game to make up the majority of the viewership. West Virginia also seems likely to see the game. Looking at the choices at the 7 pm time slot, I am guessing most will get the NC St.-Cal game. Sorry DC-area. Looks like that or perhaps George Mason-Michigan St.

Pitt is favored by 6.5 over Kent State. WVU is only a 3.5 point favorite over Southern Illinois. Kansas by 7.5 over Bradley.

And I know many of you have already seen this article about Kent St.’s game.

History and tragedy repeated themselves on the Kent State campus Thursday as 12th-seeded MAC champion Kent State Golden Flashes were decimated in front of a chanting, screaming home crowd by the superior offensive firepower and tactical game plan of the fifth-seeded Ohio National Guard in the very first round of this year’s NCAA tournament.

“It was an absolute bloodbath,” said Kent State head coach Jim Christian, who said he was “still in shock” from the on-court massacre. “We certainly weren’t ready for what happened out there. It seemed like one minute we were getting ready to square off, and the next they were just taking shot after shot. They kept shooting all day long, and we just couldn’t defend against them out there.”

Don’t mess with the ONG.

Marquette continued the bad start for the Big East with a surprisingly bad first half against Alabama. They battled back but were not able to seal the deal. Think Steve Novak will be seeing that missed wide open 3 in his sleep for the next week, month or year? Now, with all apologies to our friends at Cracked Sidewalks, and I know I should close ranks with BE teams…

But there was some small, venal part of me smirking at the fact that Marquette lost to a team they were better than, because one opposing player took over the game, made his shot seemingly at will, and was clutch. Jean Felix will not be a name thought well of in Milwaukee. The Big East is off to a bad start.

Winthrop was unable to pull of the semi-upset of the overseeded Tennessee Volunteers. Last minute, off-balance, 9.5 on degree of difficulty shot gave Tennessee the win.

Good news for Pitt, a 5-12 upset occurred today as Nevada went down hard to the Montana, uh, Plains(?)

Florida started slow then blew out South Alabama.

UCLA similarly mistreated Belmont, only the slow start ended sooner and the blowout was bigger.

LSU had a huge second half to make it look like a laugher against Iona. LSU fans had to be sweating a bit.

UNC-Wilmington fell short in getting over on GW. Not that it really matters. The reward is to be sacrificed to Duke.

Sean Miller and Xavier looked like they were going to get the upset over Gonzaga. Then Adam Morrison went off, and started getting the NBA star treatment from the refs early.

Illinois let Air Force stay close, but never really had the game in doubt.

Never really in doubt, still Duke never seemed to fully put away Southern.

Syracuse was doomed versus Texas A&M when McNamara’s groin gave.

San Diego St. snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Indiana. They had the game then gave it away on some dumb plays at the end.

Washington handled Utah St. Most people (including me) were sleeping by then.

But damn close.

Witchita just crushed Seton Hall. Not even close.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Oklahoma. What is it about some mid-majors, even when they change coaches, the team continues to do the job in the Tourney?

Boston College did their best to give the game away a couple of times to Pacific. Including blowing a 15 point second half lead, before finally getting the win in Double OT. That would have absolutely decimated brackets everywhere.

Damn shame.

If you are planning to watch games on the net today, you might want to log on now. The whole “waiting room” thing means you have to wait until they let you in. I’ve been waiting a few minutes now to get connected.

Less than an hour to the opening tip of the Tourney. I feel giddy.

Coaching stuff.

The Dixon siblings got a national AP piece. This thing has been in just about every paper today.

“What can I tell you? It’s beyond belief,” said their proud father, Jim Dixon. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.”

Historical, too. The Dixons are believed to be the first brother and sister to coach in the Division-I tournament in the same year.

“It was never determined, ‘This is what you’re going to do, be the first brother and sister in the NCAA tournament,”’ Jim Dixon said. “You never thought about those implications. But since this is what we’ve got, we’ll take it.”
…
As for Jamie and Maggie, they’re just enjoying the ride.

“The exposure the last couple weeks for Jamie’s team and my team really means a lot,” Maggie Dixon said. “Jamie and I are going to be doing this for a long time. Hopefully people will still think it’s a cool thing in 20, 30 years.”

That of course takes us to the coaching rumors.

Arizona State is still watching.

If there’s a way to rate the candidates, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon is still the No. 1 seed on ASU’s wish list, according to multiple sources among boosters and within the university. It’s not clear where ASU is, if at all, on Dixon’s list.

With Pitt preparing to open the tournament Friday against Kent State in Auburn Hills, Mich., he’s not commenting.

After reports linked him to the ASU job, there were further reports that Pitt will sweeten a contract that already is good for four more years at a $600,000 annual salary.

However, there also was talk that Pitt would redo his contract last fall. It never got done, hence speculation linking the former Northern Arizona University assistant to ASU and now Missouri.

Yes, Coach Dixon is seeing his name now coming up a bit more with the Missouri job.

With the NCAA Tournament getting into full swing tomorrow, Athletic Director Mike Alden is on the clock, and MU fans are waiting to see whom he will entrust with the task of rebuilding the program.

At least six potential candidates – Alabama-Birmingham’s Mike Anderson, West Virginia’s John Beilein, Memphis’ John Calipari, Marquette’s Tom Crean, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Texas A&M’s Billy Gillispie – will be trying to steer their teams through the Field of 65. When their runs end, they might be listening to overtures from Alden.

Alden said Monday he wants to reserve further comment about the process until he has found his coach.
…
“Billy has given me every assurance that he is committed to Texas A&M,” Athletic Director Bill Byrne told the Star-Telegram. “And we are certainly committed to him.”

Pittsburgh might need to show similar commitment to keep Dixon, 40, from listening to offers from Missouri and Arizona State. Budget constraints have forced Dixon’s team to take commercial flights to most road games, and his current contract, which has four years remaining, only pays him about $600,000 per season.

Athletic Director Jeff Long seems prepared to give Dixon a raise after his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and an appearance in the Big East championship game.

“I want to make it clear that we think the job Jamie is doing is outstanding, and we want him to be here a long time,” Long told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette two weeks ago. “It’s my job to keep Pitt the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon. And I think Pitt is the best opportunity for Jamie Dixon.”

The school was reportedly willing to pay Dixon’s predecessor, Ben Howland, more than $1 million per season when he left for UCLA three years ago. Dixon could command that much, and he has hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him as he seeks a new deal.

Coleman represents more that 35 college coaches, including West Virginia’s Beilein. Like Dixon, Beilein could be willing to listen to an offer from Alden. Five of the Mountaineers’Â’ top six scorers are seniors this season, meaning he could be rebuilding if he stays in Morgantown, W.Va.

Missouri fans and columnists really want Beilein, but Dixon is at least the second choice.

In order, I like the following short list of coaches who fit that profile: West Virginia’s John Beilein, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Alabama-Birminghan’s Mike Anderson.

Of the three, the home run hire is Beilein. The least likely to reject is Anderson. The most likely to use this process to get a whopping raise from his current employer is Dixon.
…
Dixon’s ability is a little less certain because he inherited a strong program from Ben Howland and didn’t have to rebuild it. But he certainly hasn’t let anything slip in three years, going 77-21 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The 40-year-old Dixon has four years left on a contract that underpays him, although Pittsburgh Athletic Director Jeff Long has publicly stated that he will do his best to keep Dixon around. Arizona State is expected to make a push for Dixon, who grew up in California, but Missouri should be able to outbid ASU if Dixon is ready to move.

I think the general perception is that Dixon’s preference is to stay at Pitt, but with a significant pay raise. That puts the onus on AD Long to get the job done. The longer it gets drawn out, the greater the risk that the money from elsewhere grows as does the temptation.

Speaking of coaching hires, it seems Kent’s Jim Christian is now a potential candidate for the Duquesne job (seems like a lateral move to me, not to mention a real potential career killer).

Two names have become more prominent in Amodio’s search this week — Kent State coach Jim Christian and Murray State coach Mick Cronin.

Christian, 40, a former assistant at Pitt under Ralph Willard from 1996-99, has a four-year record of 89-39 at Kent State heading into the game against Pitt tomorrow in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Golden Flashes (25-8) earned the bid by winning the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Christian’s contract runs through the 2011-12 season, but those close to Christian have indicated he’s intrigued with the idea of coaching in the Atlantic 10 Conference which is a step up from the MAC with teams in major markets.

Here’s what collegeinsider.com has to say about Duquesne and Christian: “It won’t be easy changing perception. Amodio knows the best way to do that would be to hire someone like Jim Christian. The program needs a coach like Christian.”

Earlier, it had seemed the job was Ohio State Assistant John Groce’s if he wanted it. He must have come to his senses.

I find the timing of the article amusing given this story on the MAC seeking to do a better job keeping their coaches.

Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy said he has learned quite a bit over the last basketball season, traveling the country as a member of the NCAA Men’s Tournament Selection Committee.

He said one major point sticks out, particularly for mid-major programs that want to maintain a level of success.

“We need to invest in our coaches,” he said.
…
While many people have pointed to the Missouri Valley Conference for supposedly finding a way to beat the RPI, Kennedy said the success of that conference landing four NCAA Tournament teams is simpler than that.

“They have invested in coaches, big-time,” he said.

During the recent MVC tournament in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch critiqued the success of the conference. Keeping coaches was considered critical.

Good luck with that plan.