I hate the All-Big East teams because they put 11 men on the first team. I realize they have 16 teams to choose and there will be howling over who is left off, but 11 on the team is ridiculous.

Aaron Gray made the 1st team as a unanimous selection. Levance Fields was selected to the second team.

2006-07 All-BIG EAST First Team
*Jeff Green, Georgetown, Jr., 6-9, 235, Hyattsville, Md.
*Roy Hibbert, Georgetown, Jr., 7-2, 283, Adelphi, Md.
Dominic James, Marquette, So., 5-11, 175, Richmond, Ind.
Russell Carter, Notre Dame, Sr., 6-4, 220, Paulsboro, N.J.
Colin Falls, Notre Dame, Sr., 6-5, 200, Park Ridge, Ill.
*Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh, Sr., 7-0, 270, Emmaus, Pa.
*Herbert Hill, Providence, Sr. 6-10, 240, Kinston, N.C.
Lamont Hamilton, St. John’s, Sr., 6-10, 255, Brooklyn, N.Y.
*Demetris Nichols, Syracuse, Sr., 6-8, 212, Boston, Mass.
Curtis Sumpter, Villanova, Sr., 6-7, 225, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Frank Young, West Virginia, Sr., 6-5, 215, Tallahassee, Fla.

2006-07 All-BIG EAST Second Team
Jeff Adrien, Connecticut, So., 6-7, 238, Brookline, Mass.
Wilson Chandler, DePaul, So. 6-8, 210, Benton Harbor, Mich.
Sammy Mejia, DePaul, Sr., 6-6, 195, Bronx, N.Y.
David Padgett, Louisville, Jr., 6-11, 250, Reno, Nev.
Terrence Williams, Louisville, So., 6-6, 220, Seattle, Wash.
Jerel McNeal, Marquette, So., 6-3, 185, Chicago, Ill.
Levance Fields, Pittsburgh, So., 5-10, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Brian Laing, Seton Hall, Jr., 6-5, 215, Bronx, N.Y.
Kentrell Gransberry, USF, Jr., 6-9, 270, Baton Rouge, La.
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, Fr., 6-2, 195, Herndon, Va.

2006-07 All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Draelon Burns, DePaul, Jr., 6-4, 220, Milwaukee, Wis.
Jonathan Wallace, Georgetown, Jr., 6-1, 188, Harvest, Ala.
Sharaud Curry, Providence, So., 5-10, 165, Gainesville, Ga.
Geoff McDermott, Providence, So., 6-7, 240, New Rochelle, N.Y.
McHugh Mattis, USF, Sr., 6-6, 190, North Lauderdale, Fla.
Eric Devendorf, Syracuse, So., 6-4, 175, Bay City, Mich.
Mike Nardi, Villanova, Sr. 6-2, 170, Linden, N.J.
BIG EAST All-Rookie Team
Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati, Fr., 6-1, 200, Indianapolis, Ind.
*Jerome Dyson, Connecticut, Fr., 6-3, 190, Rockville, Md.
Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, Fr., 7-3, 255, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
DaJuan Summers, Gerogetown, Fr., 6-8, 235, Baltimore, Md.
Edgar Sosa, Louisville, Fr., 6-2, 170, New York, N.Y.
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, Fr., 6-8, 250, Schererville, Ind.
Tory Jackson, Notre Dame, Fr., 5-10, 185, Saginaw, Mich.
*Eugene Harvey, Seton Hall, Fr., 6-0, 165, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Paul Harris, Syracuse, Fr., 6-5, 228, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
*Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, Fr., 6-2, 195, Herndon, Va.
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, Fr., 6-7, 205, Newark, N.J.

*denotes unanimous selection

That’s just too many names. It’s at least 2 too many for the first team. Sumpter, Young and Hamilton were definitely not first teamers. You know they put too many slots out there when you look at the rookie group and see Hasheem Thabeet on the list.

We basically knew all of this anyways, but the Big East bracket has been finalized after the final two regular season games finished up today.

Obviously the first thing we see is that we’re most likely going to see Marquette again. Ughh…

(Bracket courtesy of Card Chronicle, who we’ll hopefully get to know a bit more if/when we play them on Friday night.)

This might seem a little disjointed. I’ve had this up in my browser all day trying to find the right words, and I’m still not happy with the way it is coming out. Still, it doesn’t seem to be getting any more coherent, so I’ll just throw it out there and let everyone tell me where I’m off or unclear.

Don’t really know what to say. It was an incredibly frustrating game to watch and even more problematic in what to recap. There’s a part of me that just wants to give in and say, that this Marquette team simply has Pitt’s number. Whether it’s simply the match-up, something else. Whatever.

I don’t buy that.

I also don’t buy this lack of “toughness” on the team and/or how that’s a reflection of Dixon’s lack of “toughness.” Mainly because I don’t know what the hell that means. Is Dixon not a tough guy because he never says a negative word about the players? Because he doesn’t go off on rants in a post-game interview? Because his approach is to be positive and encouraging in the games? Because he keeps the criticisms behind closed doors? Because he generally doesn’t try to embarrass his players publicly or call them out? It sounds like some sort of cheap convention from a hack writer looking for an easy explanation and assign blame. Or perhaps just the way someone thinks a coach should do it.

Maybe it means, “these guys are no Brown, Page and Knight.” Well, yeah. Isn’t that what made those guys special? Those could be the only guys that would rank as the tough guys still pined for. They were the overachievers. They guys on the undermanned, not as talented or higher potential teams. They at least made the Sweet 16 before falling to teams that had at least 2 future NBAers on the squads.

Surely no one is pining for Chevy Troutman who came up small at the end of his career in the important games — the Big East Tournament game against Villanova and then against Pacific in the opening round — apparently the thing this present team is also failing to do. I definitely know no one is pining for the toughness of Chris Taft. Half the time Carl Krauser — a definite tough guy — is vilified for plenty of other things.

I see toughness as much about what a team does when it is down. Last night, Pitt went down. Deep. They didn’t hang their heads. They didn’t give up. They fought back despite nothing from the perimeter. They battled despite the guards not penetrating or finding the open men.

So, maybe it’s useless self-pity about what might have been if Howland hadn’t gone to UCLA. That’s just pathetic, if that’s the case. It’s been 4 years. Get over it. That’s the kind of speculation that goes no where.

Here’s the final thing, and it may be small comfort. Pitt doesn’t even come close to being a disappointing team this season. Pitt fans aren’t the only ones suffering. LSU was a preseason top-10 team that won’t make the NCAA. Alabama, a top-15 won’t make the NCAA. Washington was a top-20 and won’t make the NCAA. Arizona is unranked, after being expected to be a top-15 team. Florida State was top-25 and may not make the Tournament. UConn absolutely imploded with youth despite one of the best coaches in the Big East. Illinois has quickly fallen from elite to average. DePaul was supposed to be a NCAA Tournament team. Just about all of these teams had at least one All-American player or candidate. They all had big expectations. Almost all of them would happily trade positions to be where Pitt is right now.

Maybe you don’t care. Maybe you think the expectations of Pitt were higher and Pitt was obviously better than these teams from the start of the season. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve lost some perspective, because I’ve been covering so many different teams and had to hear from a lot more fans and their frustrations.

I’m disappointed with some of the losses this season. I wanted more from Pitt. I do know that I also like the future of this program even more. In the long term (the next 3 years or so) I expect a lot even more.

Pitt has gone 25-6 this season, 12-4 in the Big East. And for the entire season, no player’s singular performance was enough to even merit Big East Player of the Week. Obviously some of that has been a little luck where another player on another team had a bigger game or bigger impact that week. It’s also been reflective of the fact that this team has been so balanced and consistent most of the year.

I don’t have a ton of time to post, so I’ll make my point short and simple. Obviously we played a very ugly game last night. It seems we’ve been doing plenty of that in the last 4-5 games. There are things to be worried about. The shooting of Graves and Fields, the fact that teams realize they can let Ramon dribble all he wants to create a shot since it’ll never happen, the defense from almost everyone, the amount that Gray touches the ball, and the fact that this team lacks any kind of swagger.

It’s a long enough laundry list. But starting on Thursday, the real season starts. We go up to NYC (and play in the ugly 9 pm time slot) and we’ll probably get a chance at revenge against Marquette. Then Louisville. The Georgetown. Then we’ll play in the NCAA tournament.

Teams go on hot streaks and cold streaks but the great thing about sports, especially college hoops, is the fact that things can turn around in an instant. I’m not making any sort of guarantee about that, but the possibility is there. If you need any sort of proof, look at how the Florida Gators finished the regular season last year.

The season is far from over. The season is not down the drain and the sky has not fallen…at least not yet.

Well, Pitt is playing to be co-Big East Regular Season Champs with G-town’s beating of UConn. Pitt’s also trying to stay as a #2 seed in the Big East Tournament.

Marquette is playing in front of the home crowd on Senior Night. ESPN GameDay on hand. On a night they are honoring the 1977 team — with most of them on hand — and trying to snap out of a funk. They have lost 4 of 5. They are locked in as the #6 seed.

8:28: A rare pre-game update. Marquette Guard Jerel McNeal is out for this game. Injured thumb.

9:12: Fitzgerald has his 2nd foul inside of 3:30, so naturally a 7′ senior drops a 3 in his place.

9:21: No, ‘effin’ way. I will not be able to handle it if yet another 6’11” – 7′ suddenly finds his 3-point stroke against Pitt after never doing anything before. Kinsella — a senior — hits the second 3 in his entire career. Both in this game.

9:36: Pitt struggling, on offense. Gray is getting doubled, and he’s not handling it well. The guards aren’t getting great looks but forcing shots. Fields has to drive. Marquette is vulnerable to penetration. Cook was able to do it. Fields and Graves have to at least try.

9:45: This is frustrating to watch. Pitt has allowed itself to be pushed to the perimeter on offense, where Marquette can beat Pitt. Whether it’s on offense off the dribble, or on defense and getting Pitt to take jumpers.

9:57: Pitt down 43-30 at the half. Unbelievably bad half by Pitt. A combination of some sloppy defense and Marquette hitting some deep 3s to open things further for them to penetrate and drive. On offense, Pitt keeps settling for jumpers. You can’t stop repeating that. Fields, Ramon and Graves are not getting good looks, and when they do, they are rushing their shots. Sam Young is clearly hobbled right now and can’t drive. That puts it all on Cook to try and penetrate as Graves has totally lost confidence in his shooting — whether jump shots or driving.

The problem, though, is on defense. 43 points. That’s frustrating.

10:32: Even if Pitt wasn’t playing crappy in the first half, seeing Marquette nail back-to-back deep 3s like that just about convinces me that this is Marquette’s night. 57-40, 11:28 left. Oy.

11:16: 75-71 Pitt loses. Damn. Why did this go quiet? Well, Pitt started coming back after I stopped posting. Had to hope.
Let me just get one small little thing out of the way. How did Matthews not get called for that forearm into Benjamin’s chest on the last inbound? That was pathetic.
That said, Pitt dug itself too big of a hole. After Dominic James went out, Pitt got back into it, but it was too far for Pitt to come back. James went out with a 57-42 Marquette lead. Obvious, now, how valuable he is to the Golden Eagles. He played the kind of game that will put him back in the discussion for a 1st round NBA pick with 11 assists.

Simply put, Pitt’s guards didn’t come close to even being adequate. Fields 2-13, Ramon 3-9, Graves 1-8, Benjamin 1-5.

That doesn’t even begin to describe the problem with the guards. They failed to get the ball into Gray or over to Cook or any of the forwards too often. You do have to credit the Marquette guards and defense for denying it, but they didn’t respond to being challenged.

At halftime, Erin Andrews reported that Fields was the one to try and fire up the team. Hate to bust on a kid, but if you do the talking you have to match it with the play.

More later after I go find a cat to kick.

By most metrics, this is expected to be a close game. The most accurate metric tends to be the betting line which has Marquette as a 1, maybe 1.5 point favorite. Might as well be a pick-em — which if you look at the “wagerline consensus” you see it as nearly split. Yeah, this is a game I wouldn’t want to wager on.

On the emotional side Marquette will be honoring not just their seniors, you have ESPN College GameDay pumping things up, and if that’s not enough the Golden Eagles will be honoring the 1977 Marquette Warriors team.

For Pitt, on the emotional side, it’s a chance to at least be co-Big East Regular Season Champ.

“Everyone is excited,” sophomore forward Tyrell Biggs said. “We just have to go out and take it.”

Pitt and Georgetown are tied atop the Big East standings with 12-3 records. Georgetown plays Connecticut at noon today, so the Panthers will know well in advance of their game whether they are playing for a share of the title or an undisputed championship.

I have to admit worrying a little if they let themselves slip a little emotionally assuming Georgetown wins and they know they can only be co-winner versus winning outright.

Emotion, though, can only matter so much. There’s a hell of a lot more to do with the actual way the teams play. Pitt wants to take better care of the ball.

Every Pitt player who played six weeks ago in the 77-74 overtime loss to Marquette had at least one thing in common.

And it’s something they don’t want to share again.

All nine who saw action turned the ball over at least one time. In no other game this season — or last season, for that matter — were the Panthers so unanimous in their generosity.

Some more consistent shooting would also be nice.

Of course, as myopic as any fan is concerning their own team, the Golden Eagles have been struggling.

A little more than three weeks ago, it seemed a virtual certainty that tonight’s game would determine the Big East champion. That’s probably a big reason why Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and the rest of the ESPN Gameday crew will be at tonight’s game.

Pitt has held up its end of the bargain. A win against Marquette tonight would secure a tie with Georgetown for the Big East title. If Georgetown loses to Connecticut, the Panthers can win the conference outright.

Marquette, however, has lost four of its last five, and needs both Syracuse and Notre Dame to lose to even have a chance to have a bye in the first round of the Big East Tournament. While Marquette’s NCAA Tournament hopes are almost certainly safe, a win over Pittsburgh tonight would do a lot to bolster the Golden Eagles seed as they ready themselves for the postseason.

“We really need to shore some things up,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said earlier this week. “We have a lot of things to work on to get where we need to be.”

The inconsistency of the Golden Eagles seems to be why Seth Davis at SI.com is going with Pitt.

I’m sure Marquette will be pumped up in front of its home crowd, but I still think Pitt is the better team.

They have also had a week to prepare.

It also comes as no surprise that, with an entire week to prepare, MU enters the game not only fully apprised of the ramifications but also eager to enter the Big East Tournament on an upswing.

“They’ve got a championship at stake so we know we’re going to have to take their best shot. But we’re playing for something, too,” said sophomore guard Dominic James, who has factored prominently in each of the Golden Eagles’ previous three games with the Panthers.

“We’re playing for momentum going into the tournament; it’s our last home game, ‘College GameDay.’ But right now we should want it just because we lost our last game. We desperately need a win for this team to get that momentum and that confidence that we need going into the tournament.”

Especially since Dominic James isn’t exactly committing to returning to Marquette for his junior year at the moment. Of course it’s not a distraction. Nope, never.

We’re about 8 hours away from ending another good Big East regular season. The WWL did the morning part of College Gameday from center court at the Bradley Center and I would be lying if I said Marquette’s fans didn’t impress me. I guess after going to the show myself this year, I watch the students more and the actual show less than I should.

A few notes on Marquette from the Trib.

The Golden Eagles have lost four of their past five games, and can finish no better than sixth place in the Big East standings. But don’t be deceived by the recent slide. Three of the four losses were on the road (at Georgetown, DePaul and Notre Dame), and the other came on a Louisville 3-pointer at the buzzer. Marquette beat Villanova for its lone win in the past three weeks. One problem has been wildly inaccurate shooting by Dominic James (15.2 ppg, 4.73 apg), who scored a game-high 23 points in the win over Pitt. The 5-foot-11 guard went 2 for 11 from the floor against Providence, 2 for 17 against Georgetown and 6 for 20 in the 85-73 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 24.

BY THE NUMBERS

G Jerel McNeal Is second in the Big East in steals at 2.62 per game.

G Dominic James Is 4 for 31 from 3-point range in the past seven games.

There’s a bit of payback in the air tonight from the previous meeting.

If the Panthers want to win another conference championship they’ll have to do it against a team that has given them fits the past two years. Marquette has won two of the three meetings between the two schools since joining the conference last season and each game has been hotly contested.

The combined margin of victory for all three games is 11 points. Marquette beat Pitt in overtime, 77-74, in January at the Petersen Events Center.

“We definitely want it bad,” Graves said. “Second chances don’t come too often. We definitely have to take advantage of that and capitalize on it.”

It seems like they enjoy throwing around a certain seven letter “r” word up in Milwaukee. Is it because MU doesn’t have a true rival?

But throw in what’s at stake in the teams’ regular-season finale tonight – No. 12 Pittsburgh playing for at least a share of the Big East title and No. 20 Marquette for post-season positioning – and this fourth meeting in the past two seasons could wind up being the best one yet in what’s quickly become a full-fledged rivalry.

I sort of gave my thoughts on the whole rivalry thing back on Thursday after Tom Crean talked about it.

And if you’re not watching the UConn-Georgetown game, well, you should be. The Hoyas lead by 4 at the half on CBS. I still think the best possibility would be that both G’town and Pitt win and we get the #2 seed in the Big East Tournament — and that 7 pm start time on Thursday.

EDIT: 1:42 pm — UConn is slipping quickly so they went to the Texas-Kansas game. Looks like Georgetown will get that top seed in the BET.

So the Penguins won in an overtime/shootout thriller last night. Whatta great game. Sorry, that’s honestly the last time I’ll ever mention the Pens on this blog.

On the other hand, the last time Antonio Bryant was mentioned on this blog was after his little reckless/drunken driving ordeal when he was clocking at over 100 on a freeway in his Lamborghini.

Now, he’s been cut by the Niners.

The 49ers hoped they achieved addition by subtraction Thursday with the release of troubled wide receiver Antonio Bryant.

Bryant was waived after a meeting last weekend in Indianapolis with 49ers coach Mike Nolan. Bryant, according to his financial adviser Chuck Sanders, asked for a larger role in the offense next season. Nolan said that because Bryant is in the middle of a four-game suspension and possibly faces jail time stemming from his Nov. 20 arrest on reckless driving and resisting arrest charges, that he couldn’t depend on Bryant.

I guess he still won’t be able to afford a belt.

I don’t know. A big game tomorrow night. At least a share of the Big East Regular Season Championship on the line, and yet there’s a disjointed and odd feel to the coverage and attention.

The first thing I thought of when I read this:

Pitt starting forward Levon Kendall did not go through a full practice yesterday because of a nagging turf toe injury…

was, “He should have hurt it sooner.” Kendall’s shooting has been pretty good the last week or so. Still, with Sam Young’s tendonitis in the knees flaring again, this is troubling. It means serious minutes for Tyrell Biggs is a possibility. Biggs keeps showing flashes, especially in the last game, on offense. It’s inconsistent, though. He’s still not much of a rebounder or defensive presence — and has often been quite foul-prone. It’s good that he’s got a positive attitude.

“I know it’s going to happen,” Biggs said of his improvement. “All I have to do is step up.”

Senior guard Antonio Graves said Biggs’ mental outlook is his most important trait.

“The key thing is that he kept cheering (in the WVU game),” Graves said. “His spirit was up. That kept him in a positive spirit, so when his chance came, he was ready and he wasn’t down on himself.”

Biggs doesn’t know any other way.

“You just got to hold your head high,” Biggs said. “Sometimes we find ourselves slouching on the bench. I’m going to try to do whatever I can do to get us going.”

Marquette’s had a week to stew over their road loss to ND. They raced out to a big lead, but by halfway through the first half ND was taking over and just ran away with the game.

The ND game, again exposed their poor post and inside play. Add in their guards having a horrible night, and you’ve got the simple answer for how Marquette lost that game by 12.

Pitt’s free throw issues have been frustrating, but they have paled compared to UConn’s. I just have to go to this as Calhoun essentially lost it after the Villanova game when the team went 24-44.

“It is inexcusable that we can’t make foul shots,” Calhoun said. “Thank God those glass backboards are pretty sturdy because otherwise we would have broken them. … Deplorable.”

Calhoun went on to criticize his team unlike he has all season. He said they were embarrassed on national television. He questioned their work ethic. Asked what he told players, he said, “That I’m not going to accept it and maybe you don’t belong here, a couple of you, if you can’t step up and make a foul shot.”

“He just wants everybody who is missing free throws to take extra shots,” Jeff Adrien said.

Asked what he thinks Calhoun means when he says a few players might not belong at UConn, Adrien said, “I don’t really know.”

…

UConn is the worst free-throw shooting team in the Big East at 62.9 percent (498-for-792). In conference play, the Huskies are also last and even worse (61.3 percent). It has baffled Calhoun since the Huskies began to struggle in January.

“We are not a bad basketball team,” Calhoun said. “We’re a bad foul shooting team, for sure.”

The Huskies, who close the regular season Saturday at Georgetown and could be the 12th seed in the conference tournament next week, have shown small signs of growth lately. They have scored at least 63 points in each of the last five games. Dyson has become a go-to player. A.J. Price is showing signs of life at point guard (seven assists Wednesday). In general, ball movement has improved and prolonged scoring droughts are not as much a signature.

Missed free throws are negating progress. UConn achieves desirable offensive position and does not cash in when fouled. The numbers suggest the Huskies are inaccurate throughout, not just down the stretch. With the score differential in single digits, UConn is shooting 65.3 percent in the final five minutes of games, 68.8 percent in the final two minutes.

UConn players shoot free throws every day and sometimes are forced to stay long after practice until they make 10 in a row. So is there an answer?

“I really don’t know,” said Price, 2-for-5 Wednesday and 69.5 percent on the season. “Guys who are missing free throws are not bad shooters at all because we see them make them in practice every day. That’s the most difficult part.”

Sounds familiar only without the openly caustic coach.

Sorry for not posting for a little bit (thanks for picking up the slack Dennis). I’m trying to get as much done as possible in the 3-dimensional world before the weekend and all of next week. So many games to watch, so much to write. I’m really just trying to get as much done, and stockpile the essential supplies while I spend a lot of time watching basketball. Really, it starts tomorrow afternoon with the semis of the MVC Tournament.

The Tuesday telecast had Sanders and Wenzel mention that Charles Smith was in the Pete, but there wasn’t even a pan shot to him in the game. Seems that it was a spur of the moment thing.

A last-minute offer afforded Charles Smith a private plane to Pittsburgh and a courtside seat at Petersen Events Center for the Pitt-West Virginia game Tuesday.

It was fitting that the former Pitt All-American arrived just as Aaron Gray was standing at center court, where he was presented with a framed jersey on Senior Night.

After all, Smith advised the 7-foot center to return for his senior season, a decision Smith himself had to make 19 years ago and one that ultimately paid great dividends.

…

Now Northeast regional director for the NBA Players Association, Smith’s main assignment is running its rookie transition program. He counseled Gray during the NBA’s week-long, pre-draft camp in Orlando last year.

…

“When making one of my decisions to come back here for my senior year, I don’t regret it all,” said Gray, who is averaging 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game this season. “This is my family now and they are going to be my family forever. I’m just so glad that I could spend this whole year and this whole experience with them.”

I have to be honest, I have no problem rooting for UConn over G-town. I don’t see it happening, but why not? I’d rather Pitt be the #1 seed. Besides I have enough bad memories of the Hoyas against Pitt in the 80s and early 90s to carry me past any distaste.

I don’t know what to say about free throw shooting. It’s not like the team doesn’t work on it. Everyone says they do, but Pitt simply has half of their players — Gray, Graves, Biggs, Young and Benjamin — who shoot poorly. The coaches can only do so much in teaching them and helping them — I’m assuming Brandin Knight is not in charge of that. It comes down to just executing them in the game. You don’t think UConn and Jim Calhoun or Jim Boeheim and Syracuse don’t work on FTs with their players? It doesn’t change things that guys from Thabeet (freshman) to Roberts (senior) just don’t shoot free throws well.
Hopefully, this will be the last week for power polls. The ESPN.com power poll puts Pitt at #9.

If healthy, this team has Elite Eight-type possibilities with the right draw. I like the Panthers’ overall offensive balance better than Georgetown’s as far as Big East heavies go.

Individual votes are here. Almost all had Pitt either 9 or 10.

I really can’t follow the logic of Luke Winn at SI.com. I don’t think he has anything personal against Pitt. I just think he doubts the Panthers in the Tournament.

Georgetown at home beats Pitt that has a hobbled Aaron Gray and then gets blown out in Syracuse — by a bubble team. He moves them up from 9 to 8. Pitt rebounds from the loss to beat bubble team and a rivalry game with WVU. He moves Pitt down to 15 from 12. Well, it’s really too late in the season to get too fired up about the “disrespect.”

Marquette head coach Tom Crean had an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A few things were pertaining to Pitt and are of some interest.

Has the series with Pittsburgh become a rivalry? Absolutely. I think we’ve had more games turn into that in the Big East. You want that. You get two programs that respect each other and have really solid traditions in a great league that have had great games. There’s no great rivalry if there’s not great games, and we’ve had great games with them. Every game has been that way and I don’t anticipate anything less this time.

I’m undecided on this one. We’ve definitely had a great series thus far but I feel like it’s kind of hard to pull a “rivalry” out of our butts every time we have a good stretch of games between two teams.

Is shoring up the interior defense a focus especially important? Oh my goodness, yeah. That’s an understatement, it really is. We’ve got to get better, whether it’s our positioning inside or the way we get down and dig on the ball. We just gave up too much room. These games where we’ve struggled we’ve given up too much room.

Obviously as he says this, he’s picturing Aaron Gray in his mind scoring all kinds of points by dominating them down low if they have trouble in the post.

There’s a lot of talk about Aaron Gray but is Levance Fields the guy that makes Pittsburgh go? I think they’re too good to put it on one person. Gray is certainly a unique matchup because of what he does inside but no, Ronald Ramon is an outstanding guard, Antonio Graves, Levon Kendall. Sam Young since we’ve played them has had 21 against West Virginia a few weeks ago. Tyrell Biggs came off the bench (Tuesday) night and played really well. They’re really good. They’re really deep. They’ve got a lot of guys that could start on a lot of teams. Fields is outstanding; he runs the show. But he’s far from being the main wheel. They’ve got a lot of good players.

And that is exactly why we’re a good program. You can also argue the lack of that go-to guy is what keeps us from being an elite team.

Pitt got Ramon open a lot in the first game. Does that play into you guys having better pressure on the ball? We’ve got to do a better job of getting around screens and making sure we stay connected to him. It’s a physical game. There’s going to be moving screens. We’ve got to get around them. We may have to, every once in a while, run into them. But we’ve got to do a great job of staying connected to him. He’s so quick. He’s one of the quickest shooters in the game of college basketball.

There better be screens that they can’t get around because Ramon won’t be able to shake a guy off one-on-one to create a shot.

As soon as I saw this I figured I’d pass it along. I doubt there’s any better way to start your morning.

Thursday, March 1st – 10pm
Peter’s Pub (116 Oakland Ave.)
21+ over, $3 Cover***
LADIES NIGHT – $1 drinks All Night***
EVERYONE- $5 Bud Light Pitchers

With Performances by…The Sole Vibe
Da Button Pusha
Solid Ground Entertainment
Pitt Basketball Star, Keith “KB” Benjamin
…additional Music by WPTS 92.1fm DJ Karazmatik

That’s Keith Benjamin — oops, I mean “KB” — performing live tonight. Tonight!

Somebody definitely needs to file a report from tonight’s “show”.

(Hat tip: Mondesi’s House)

(Honestly, if you go, please send something to dennis.pittblather@gmail.com afterwards.)