Near the beginning of the OT against Duke, Mike Cook went down with what looked to be a really ugly knee injury. He was on the flooring screaming in pain and had to be carried off the court. Obvious it’s not good to speculate on injuries but usually when you see a knee just give out like that it’s a good guess to say he could be out for a long period of time. Maybe (but hopefully not) a very long period of time.
On the postgame radio show, Jamie Dixon was obviously shaken when talking about Cook’s injury — not just because he’s an important part of the starting lineup but also because he’s a senior who might have just played his last game for Pitt.
Gilbert Brown replaced Cook on the court and will probably be the one who takes his spot. Great job by the entire team to battle back; not just by coming back from such a huge deficit but also for playing tough after seeing a teammate go down like that. More info on the injury as it comes out.
what a December, Pitt beats WVU and now Duke in Hoops…
Redshirts are given to players who play in less than 30% of their team’s games. Eric would qualify because he was injured in the 10th game of a 31-game regular season. The Orange would also get a game to count towards their total if they make the Big East Tournament. That extra game would put Devendorf under 30% of games played.”
Source: link to wtvh.com
Cook’s injury is terrible. There will not be much of a drop-off between him and Brown, but we lose a lot of depth at that position because who is after Brown.
Dook sucks, Hail to Pitt!
Sadly, the math is looking like it is going against Mike.
For you WVU and PSU grads still confused, that is over 30%.
If Syracuse plays 31 games, 30% = 9.3 games.
For Cook…IF post season games count (what about exhibition too? who knows what counts) Pitt needs to play 37 games. 11/37 = .297
So Pitt needs (if exhibition doesn’t count) 6 games in the BET and NCAAs combined. So I guess Cook will be rooting for us NOT to get that BET bye 🙂
I’m glad to overlook the fact that he travelled, committed an offensive foul and was the defensive player who let Nelson blow by him on the drive that fouled Blair out. I’ll take the winning shot any day.
Which brings up a very interesting question about game coaching……I couldn’t figure out why Dixon had the defense extended against Henderson and Nelson, knowing that both of them are looking to drive and forcing either one into a 3-pt attempt is what you’re after. Pitt consistently came way out against both those guys, which was led to most of Duke’s buckets down the stretch. (And I’m not even mentioning the fact that Pitt never took Henderson’s right hand away and forced him left, which also would have slowed him considerably.)
Great win, but that’s the kind of stuff you want Dixon and his staff to be improving on…….
They’ll be a more athletic team with Brown in and probably better defensively, but they’ll really miss Cook’s offensive skills. I hope Wannamaker gets some of the new minutes, too……it was painful watching Ramon handle the ball last night.
Go to hell. You are the biggest moron to ever post on this board. To criticize a coach who had his team come back from a 15 point deficit is retarded. A true point guard knows when to look for his shot and when to pass the rock. Pitt needed Levance to score last night. He doesn’t do that every game (see boxscores). And to discuss offensive fouls and traveling? You are a joke and a true hater. Levance shut your dumbass up. Now admit it and go hate somewhere else.
I truly hope Cookie gets the med. redshirt. He is a great guy.
I have to disagree that you’re trying to get Henderson and Nelson to shoot from long range. Nelson especially. I’d rather see him drive and take my chances that he’s going to bowl someone over. On that note, if you think Fields made a mistake by letting him go baseline, then you clearly don’t understand anything about basketball. That’s why you have a rim-protecting big man. It was unfortunate that Dejuan took a gamble and lost on blocking the shot, but that is absolutely the right play for Fields if he hasn’t sealed off the baseline, which he hadn’t. And we all know they’re not calling a charge in that situation, where Fields is clearly not set. You need to watch the tape again if you think that was an offensive foul or a travel. Its sad how biased an opinion can be when you’re seeing what you want to see.
On that note, I have to give two rounds of Kudos I would never have anticipated giving…
1) The refs. The game was basically called consistently. There are a handful of calls that I think they got wrong for us. The Fields “charge” on Singler was awful. The Young call and 1 when Cook got bowled over was bad…either its offensive or the bucket can’t count because that was not close to continuation. Also, I don’t think you can count a continuation bucket if in the process of the continuation the offensive player commits a foul and then scores. Just because you don’t call the foul on the offensive player (no off-setting penalties in hoops ;-)) doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants. Just like continuation wouldn’t count if you travelled in the continuation and then scores. Curious call. But the offensive foul on the fast break called on Nelson was a bad call. I liked it initially, but on replay he clearly didn’t do anything, just put his arm out. The offensive call on Blair when Nelson drew it was a classic example of a Duke flop, but that IS an offensive foul. They just know how a guy’s tendencies because they’re coached well, and they get in position and sell it well. The Blair intentional foul — whether he truly meant to do it or not — looked clearly intentional, which is all the refs have to go on. And finally, Ramon molested Singler on the last play of regulation on the tip-back and it didn’t get called. Now I know that will almost never get called, but AT LEAST THEY DIDN’T CALL IT HERE. I thought the game was officiated consistently, which is all you can ask for.
2) Jay Bilas. This was amazing. I turned to my girlfriend late in the first half and remarked: “This is funny. They lost the most pro-Duke announcer they had, and replaced him with someone less openly pro-Duke, a man who holds two degrees from the school and played for the coach.” Jay was thoughtful, respectful (he was particularly ga-ga about Blair, which was nice) and reasonably fair in his commentary. He often pointed out the questionable calls Duke was getting, and he gave Pitt and Jamie a ton of respect. Kudos to Jay for the best performance I’ve seen him turn in for a couple of years.
Finally, THIS IS THE WIN WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT. Stuart and I had that earlier conversation about the RPI bounce vs. the image bounce, and now we get both. Now all year you’re going to hear about Duke’s resume, and how they challenge themselves out of conference, including playing a neutral floor game against a tough Pittsburgh squad. All year you’re going to hear that Pitt won non-conference games against quality opponents AND beat Duke at MSG. It will get its own category. And that’s the best part. Duke is constantly overexposed and frequently overrated. Now we’re going to ride those coattails to exposure. Thank you Levance! Thank you Dejuan! Thank you Jamie! (And Sam, Mike, Tyrell, Gil, Brad, Keith, Ronald…..and Comcast…and ESPN…and everyone in the world. What a great month to be a Panther!)
Dark lining in the silver cloud: we now have to half-heartedly root for Duke for the rest of the year. Since they win a ton anyway, I guess that won’t be so bad. Remember, they have something like 8 #1 seeds in the past 10 years. If we win or come close to winning the Big East again, and show up in the BE tourney, its going to be AWFULLY HARD to put them above us. Now lets do close out the non-con slate in style with Dayton and Lafayette!
All of that said, I love Cookie as a basketball player and hope that he gets better quickly and that the injury isn’t as bad as we think. If it is, I truly hope he gets the medical red-shirt. He is a great kid.
I have a hard time understanding why everything has to be so all-fired confrontational. Part of being a fan (and I’ve been a Pitt hoops fan since I was a kid going to Eastern Eight games) is actually taking the time to understand a team’s strengths and weaknesses and understanding that even the good players have flaws.
Exactly!!! A great win in respect to exposure,AND recruiting. As for the loss of Cook, Dixon and the team will deal with it. God bless you Mike!!!
