Not a lot of coverage of this game, even as an upset. On the same day that 4 other teams ranked ahead of Pitt also lost — UNC, UCLA, Texas A&M and Ole Miss — losing on the road to Cinci just becomes part of a checklist.

I guess on the semi-bright side of Pitt’s close road loss, is that it was close. A little break here or there. Something else and Pitt gets the win. Unlike, say Marquette which has lost all three of its Big East road games by an average of 17 points. Or Notre Dame that can’t stay within 19 of road foes. Or Louisville that blew several double digit leads to lose the Seton Hall last night. It’s frustrating, to be close but lose. I’d still take that to being completely non-competitive on the road as so many teams seem to be.

Not that the Pitt players and coaches shouldn’t be ticked about losing.

“This is the second one that we lost,” Benjamin said. “You give the other team credit for capitalizing, but, in this conference, you can’t just give games away. This is a game we gave away.”

The final possession was particularly frustrating for Sam Young. When Pitt lost at Villanova Jan. 6, the Panthers failed to get a shot off with a chance to win the game on the final possession. Young, Pitt’s leading scorer, also failed to touch the ball on that pivotal possession.

“We should have gotten a better shot than that,” Young said. “That was a terrible shot. I don’t know what to say about that shot. I really don’t think too much of it. It’s something we can learn from.”

…

“We became too stagnant, looking at the ball, looking at Sam,” Benjamin said.

“We talk about getting good shots every possession, and I don’t think we did,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon.

“I thought we rushed some things.”

But Dixon did not blame the end-game execution for the loss. Rather, he blamed a poor start to the game when the Panthers fell behind and were forced to battle their way back into the game.

They are taking this game a little hard.

“We were outhustled, outrebounded, and we didn’t perform well on offense,” Benjamin said.

“It happens from time to time when you play so well and everyone starts scoring. Everyone gets confident, and you forget what got you there.”

Part of it may be that the Bearcats played in a way that Pitt has played against teams at times. Very physical and gritty.

Keith Benjamin had stitches in his bloodied right hand. Sam Young sported a sore lip and large bandage on his forehead. DeJuan Blair and Tyrell Biggs were in foul trouble.

And, just like that, Cincinnati is ahead of Pitt in the Big East standings.

“They played us real physical and that kind of knocked us off,” Young said. “They really banged us up.”

DeJuan Blair wasn’t a major factor in this game for Pitt — by design by Cinci.

A major part of UC’s game plan was to try to get Pitt freshman center DeJuan Blair in foul trouble. It worked to perfection, thanks to Hrycaniuk, who took the ball right at Blair.

“We wanted to go at DeJuan Blair from the beginning of the game,” Cronin said, “out of respect for how good a player he is.”

Blair, who entered the game averaging 12.4 points and 9.8 rebounds, picked up his third foul less than two minutes into the second half. He finished with four points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.

Part of the learning experience for Blair.

Cinci knows it got a big win.

“That’s a benchmark win for us,” said UC coach Mick Cronin, “over a team that has really been the benchmark program in the Big East over the last nine years.”

From a statistical standpoint, the Bearcats won the game at the free-throw line, where they made 20-of-27 compared with 10-of-16 for Pitt (15-3, 3-2).

“They’re a team that doesn’t get to the free-throw line a lot,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. “Today they scored twice as many as we did. We didn’t want to put them at the free-throw line, and we did.”

If there was one player they really didn’t want at the line, it was Vaughn, who makes 77.6 percent of his free throws.

The only UC player with a double-figure scoring average got in foul trouble and was bottled up for most of the game. He scored only two points in the first half, attempted only five shots the entire game and failed to make a 3-pointer.

But he made 10-of-13 free throws, including six in nine attempts in the final 4:46. He also converted UC’s only field goal during that time.

“It was late in the game, and we were in the bonus,” Vaughn said. “Coach just kept saying, ‘Attack, attack.’ “

Cinci won on the strength of its defense.

Lastly, when the Bearcats offense stalled late – they had just one basket in the last 6:32 – their defense flexed. The Panthers “ran everything at us” on their last possession, Cronin said. The game ended when freshman Rashad Bishop blocked a three from the right wing by Keith Benjamin. Benjamin got the ball right back in his face and launched a desperation airball that Warren grabbed beneath the basket. “A benchmark win for us,” Cronin announced afterward, after declaring “we’ve learned how to win.”

This game actually meant more than upsetting Louisville on the road. The win over the Cardinals was a rivalry, but could easily be considered a fluke. Beating Pitt, meant beating a ranked opponent and showed more than fluke.

It is also the first time Cinci has notched a win against Pitt in either football or men’s basketball since the Bearcats came into the Big East.

Several little bits and stories that I had collected but not posted before the Cinci loss.

SI On Campus sings the praises of how Pitt responded to all of the injuries.

In college basketball, depth is the great unknown. Coaches don’t know if they’ll need it and fans don’t really know if their teams have it — until a player or two gets injured and everybody finds out.

…

Jamie Dixon, on the other hand, is in finding out what his Pitt squad is made of. December injuries to starters Mike Cook (torn ACL) and Levance Fields (broken foot) seemed to decimate the Panthers, who struggled in a subsequent loss to Villanova. National pundits piled on, all but banishing Pittsburgh from March Madness months before Selection Sunday. But then a funny thing happened. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin — Dixon’s replacements at point guard and small forward, respectively — each scored 18 points in Monday’s upset of No. 5 Georgetown. Happy days were back again.

Similar theme in the Hartford Courant‘s BE Notebook story.

“We’ve had to change, but change is part of the game,” Dixon said. “We’ve lost two or three starters every year for the last four or five years. You have to make adjustments and play to your strengths.”

While Pittsburgh is running more, the biggest changes have come in practice, Dixon said. The Panthers are essentially down to a seven-man rotation and, depending on the turnout of walk-ons on a given day, often don’t have enough players to go 5-on-5 in practice. The emphasis has been on preservation — avoiding injury and resting overworked players — and on skill and instruction.

“We have limited the contact,” Dixon said. “We’ve probably done more conditioning but less 5-on-5 because we don’t have the bodies. We’ve had very good intensity and very good focus.”

That part about the practice, probably came from a story in the P-G last week about having to lighten the intensity of practice.

I do wonder about how DeJuan Blair keeps getting considered a “lightly recruited” player. He wasn’t heavily recruited as a sophomore if that’s what they mean. His recruitment was anything but light in his senior year, as he showed full recovery from knee surgeries.

Keep in mind this is a liveblog, not a gamelog. If you want every shot, play charted, they have computer monkeys for that. This is comments and observations as the game goes along. Number of updates and comments will vary accordingly.

4:09: Wow, nearly 2 minutes before anyone scored. Pitt got it first, but now down a whopping 4-2. This looks to be a brutal, poor shooting game.

4:17: Not only poor shooting, lots of defense, but the video is very dark in this. Poor lighting for this, at least for TV. Pitt down 15-10 with under 12. Cinci showing some really good ball movement on offense.

Can’t say I’m worried. Cinci hitting a lot of shots. They have been very streaky, so they will hit a bad patch.

Pitt looking ragged on the road, but only 2 TOs so far.

4:25: Dixon got a technical foul for something he said to the officials. Right after Blair got called for his second foul. Pitt now down 18-10 with a little over 11 minutes.

4:27: McGhee time with Blair out. Arguably, the right kind of opponent to build his confidence as well.

4:28: Freshman mistake by McGhee tried to go 1-3 to get an offensive rebound and chased too far. Called for a foul.

4:35: Oy, Biggs. You have to be willing to give up the ball. Missed one, got the rebound and never even thought of passing out as 3 Cinci players were dropping on him. Pitt down, 20-18 with 6:07.

Benjamin is being looked at as Mike Jarvis speculates that Benjamin might have a dislocated finger (right hand) on a prior defensive play.

4:37: Benjamin going to the locker. New speculation is a torn fingernail. Ouch.

4:39: Fantastic steal by Brown, even better dish to trailing Young who trails. Scores but couldn’t convert the +1. Damn.

4:42: Vaughn loses the handle then commits his 2nd foul trying to get it back. Good news for Pitt. Keep him silent.

Pitt up 22-20 with under 5.

4:44: Wanamaker getting some minutes. Got a basket on a bit of an out of control fast break (seemed lucky) then gets bailed out a couple minutes later by a foul — but misses both free throws.

Now tied at 22 with under 4.

4:49: Benjamin has a laceration on his pinky. Return, questionable. Uh-oh.

4:51: Pitt trailed by as much as 8, but goes into the half 28-27. Ramon hit a pull-up jumper, and then Cinci hit a big three to keep it close.

Considering that Pitt was with out Blair for over half the half, and Benjamin for the final 6 minutes or so, this isn’t too bad. Cinci is playing some very, very good defense. Have to respect their effort.

Cinci not pressing, or gambling on defense. Arguably, this is the kind of defense Pitt has run. Very difficult, in-your-face, man-to-man that just will be physical and bump. No gambling for steals. Pitt only has 2 TOs.

If not for a little sloppy defense by Pitt inside — late rotating — Cinci would be down more.

The second half won’t be any easier.

5:08: Benjamin back to start the 2nd half.

5:09: Not sure what the foul was on Blair when Hryancuik blew past him? Blair yanked, but I still didn’t see the foul. He got threw him but, what foul?

Now Cinciy up 3 31-28.

5:14: Yeah, Williamson took a scrape across his eye/face by Brown before the strip. No call.

5:20: Credit to Cinci’s ball movement. They are driving Pitt’s frontcourt nuts as they are late on rotation.

Ramon with an easy basket on a goaltend.

McLain looking good taking advantage of Blair.

Young slams home a missed 3 by Benjamin. Pitt down 38-36 with under 14.

5:33: Auugh. Pitt tips in a missed FT. to give Cinci a 45-40 lead.

5:40: Pitt now down 51-40. They just aren’t getting open shots. Cinci’s defense is doing a hell of a job. Limiting opportunities for Pitt more than anything else. Pitt isn’t shooting horribly (except form outside), but not getting second chances.

Pitt starting to rush shots out of frustration.

5:44: Cinci is having a very effective shooting night. They are getting to the free throw line, because Pitt has been late on defense inside. Plus they hold a 12-2 advantage on points off turnovers even though both teams have the same amount of turnovers.

5:50: Perspective moment with UCLA losing to USC and UNC losing to Maryland — both were home losses. Wow.

6:03: Vaughn probably just put it away on the transition basket. Even with the miss.

Just a minute left, Pitt down 59-54.

Cinci has just kept complete control of the pace in this game. It’s been an impressive effort. They have closed fast to limit shots, and just been more aggressive going after the ball.

6:08: Vaughn ices the game with both FTs. 61-57

Damn. Cinci caught a break when there was no +1 when Brown caught the home run and went up with the ball. Instead, they called it a foul before the shot.

61-59 Cinci with 15.9. Cinci inbounds.

6:11: Pitt loses 62-59. Damn fine block on Benjamin’s 3. Risky, but Bishop was clean.

I credit Cinci with a great game. As I said before this game, losing to Cinci wouldn’t be a stunner. The Bearcats –especially at home — are a dangerous team. They were tremendous in almost the entire game on defense. They flew out to prevent good looks on threes, and they absolutely collapsed inside.

If you want to talk about a game where Pitt missed Fields and Cook, this was it. Both would have had success penetrating and driving inside. That was the element missing offensively for Pitt. The way Cinci slowed the pace and forced Pitt to keep using clock to find a shot was the kind of thing Pitt has had to do in the past against more athletic teams.

The Bearcats also converted their FTs. Their best FT shooters got to the line and made them. Cinci was able to penetrate better and follow shots. Getting fouls in shooting action.
Pitt actually had less TOs than the Bearcats.

Cinci is a dangerous team for three reasons — they have home court, they are improving and they are unpredictable in offensive output.

I don’t think I can stress enough how much home court is skewing results. Not just in the Big East, but in all of the major conferences. I really am not shocked when a road team loses in conference (any conference).

No matter how bad the home team or how good the road team. If Pitt were to lose today, it wouldn’t be a stunner. Good article with some numbers on the road issues in the Big East and then Pitt.

They probably have something to do with the talent level Pitt has featured recently. But there is certainly a mental makeup required to win away from your friendly confines, and the Panthers seem to have it.

No. 15 Pitt (15-2, 3-1 Big East) is 3-2 in road games this season, falling at No. 14 Dayton and at No. 25 Villanova and winning at Washington, South Florida and Oakland neighbor Duquesne. Over the past five-plus seasons — since Dixon became the head coach — the Panthers are 29-15 in road games (.659).

But it’s the Panthers’ conference road record that’s particularly impressive. In the Big East over the past five-plus seasons, the Panthers are 21-12 (.636). For comparison’s sake, last year’s Big East teams were 44-84 (.344) on the road in conference. Throw out the bottom four teams in the league standings _ which went a combined 1-31 in league road games _ and the record is still below .500 at 43-53.

“You got to be able to defend. That has to be there every night, and you have to rebound every night,” Dixon said. “Shooting (decreases), and you won’t get to the free-throw line as much. Those things aren’t going to be there.”

Last season, Pitt was 6-2 on the road in conference.
The Bearcats are 2-0 at home in the Big East — beating Villanova and pounding Syracuse.

Jay Bilas continues to sing the praises of Pitt (Insider subs.).

Positively Pittsburgh: I have been amazed at the strength of character shown by Pittsburgh since Mike Cook and Levance Fields went down with season-ending injuries. After Fields was lost against Dayton, coach Jamie Dixon was admittedly feeling sorry for his team’s plight … for about five minutes. After a very short pity party, Dixon said to his staff, “we’ll be fine.” He also told his team that they could be as good as they wanted to be, and that they had individuals that were more than capable of doing more. They may have been a player in a role, but they were not just role players. Since the Fields injury, Keith Benjamin (17 ppg over the last five games) and Ronald Ramon (32 assists and 11 turnovers over the last five games, 32 points in the last two) have been nothing short of brilliant. Dixon has simplified things and shortened his playbook, going from over 50 set play calls to about 20, and the Panthers have been more efficient as a result. Dixon has been upbeat and encouraging, while at the same time demanding accountability. We talk about toughness a lot, and sometimes that is taken to mean physical toughness. Pittsburgh is tough. They will also be in the NCAA Tournament.

The mental toughness of Pitt, is arguably also why the team has been so successful on the road.

The Bearcats are an improving team, as I said.

After losing five in a row in December, Cincinnati has turned things around with four wins in its past six games.

Sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn has been a big reason for the recent surge. Vaughn is the third-leading scorer in Big East games with a 20.2 average. He scored 29 points in the victory against Syracuse, 25 in a win against Villanova and 24 in a loss at St. John’s.

Pitt guards Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, who have done a fine job of limiting big games from opposing teams’ guards, draw the assignment of covering Vaughn.

“He’s come on lately,” Dixon said. “He has deep range, can put it on the floor. He can get to the basket, can get to the foul line. He scores in a variety of ways. We’ve faced a number of guys like him. It will come down to Ronald and Keith. They will be the two guys on him for the most part.”

Vaughn was limited to only 10 points in a road loss to Notre Dame,  so he will be looking to pick it up back home. Vaughn will get at least 15 I think against Pitt. His coach, Mick Cronin does want the guard to realize when to pass.

The Bearcats are looking to rebound from Tuesday’s second-half collapse in a 91-74 loss at Notre Dame. They already own one conference victory on the road against Louisville, the co-favorite to win the league. Now they’d like to defend their home turf against a team that has been the class of the Big East in recent years.

They’re hoping that sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn, who was averaging 22.8 points in Big East play before Tuesday, will recover from his 10 point performance vs. Notre Dame, which constructed its defense to stop him.

“If you’ve got two guys on you, you’ve got to make the pass and your teammates have got to put the ball in the basket,” Cronin said. “You’re not going to be able to get 20-plus every game. Nobody can.”

It’s the rest of the team what you don’t know what to expect.

For Cinci there is more depth — they go about 9 or 10 deep in terms of double-digit minutes. Their offensive production after Vaughn though, is spotty — to be kind. Williamson and Hrycanuik average a combined 18.2 points. They are the second and third leading scorers.

Cinci, as an offensively challenged team, live off their defense. They will pressure Pitt bringing the ball up-court, so that is a concern.

Pitt now has 3 coaching vacancies — O-line, WR and Defensive coordinator. Jeff Hafley was promoted to secondary coach. Tony Wise is expected to be hired at some point as the offensive line coach.

So really, there are only two openings. Greg Gattuso is the in-house candidate. I would be fine — thrilled even — with him being promoted to DC. Beyond his recruiting for Pitt which has been outstanding, he has plenty of experience as a head coach and game planner at Duquesne. His work as a position coach — tight ends for the first two seasons and D-line this year — has shown him to be a very good teacher.

There is a long list of possibilities. Zeise has a good list, but I’d eliminate Partridge and Jerry Olsavsky. Neither has enough experience to be the DC at this point. Foge Fazio is going to be 70 this year. I really don’t see him wanting to go through that grind.

Tom Bradley would be a highly hysterical hire. I’m not saying he would be a bad hire, but I can’t even take that seriously. (Especially with the renewed rumors that PSU’s administration might actually build up the stones to ask Paterno to at least considers some sort of succession plan and eventually call it a career.) Funny to think about, though.

There’s always the question of money and how much Pitt is willing to pay for an assistant. Something that may stop Pitt from considering Tim Lewis (Carolina Panthers secondary coach), Sal Sunseri (Carolina Panthers D-line coach) and Teryl Austin (Arizona Cardinals defensive backs coach).

AD Steve Pederson says the money shouldn’t be a problem.

“We’ll hire good coaches. I don’t think we’ve ever been in a position where we said we couldn’t afford to hire a coach,” Pederson said. “You find the right coach. So far, we’ve been able to hire them and get them in here.

“Sometimes, a school comes along and offers a coach more money than you feel you can justify paying at the time. We’re going to be fair, but we won’t get into bidding wars for assistant coaches.”

That Rhoads got a reported $400K from Auburn. Wow. No. I’m not going to bother. He’s gone, that’s all that matters. OK, maybe this highlight from his press conference at Auburn.

“We are going to be fundamentally sound. Before I even talk scheme, we are going to be very fundamentally sound. We are going to back-pedal well, we are going to take great steps as linebackers, we are going to get off and use our hands well. We are going to do all the things a great football team does fundamentally. We are going to be sound schematically. We are going to have people in the gaps they are supposed to be in. We are going to have people deep and keep offensive players in front of us.

“We are going to do those things, regardless of scheme. We are going to tackle extremely well. It is obvious that the better athletes you are playing with, the better tacklers you are going to have. I believe wholeheartedly that you can teach average athletes to be great tacklers and great athletes to be even better tacklers. And we are going to run to the football. Those things I can guarantee you.”

[Emphasis added.] Fundamentally bend-but-don’t-break folks. I will skip the part about tackling.
Coach Wannstedt doesn’t see any harm to the recruiting class from the coaching turnover, and he does say that recruiting accumen is vitally important to being hired. Not to mention, being a FOW (Friend of Wannstedt).

“None of these jobs will have any bearing on recruiting,” Wannstedt said. “We’re out there and still working hard, so we’re not under a lot of pressure to try and get them filled. We want the right mix of guys and want to make good decisions.”

…

“Usually, I have found that hiring people I am familiar with or I know has produced the best results, and this is no different. Obviously, I have a lot of people whose opinions I trust who I will look to.”

One thing that is clear. Anyone who wants to be considered for a job on Wannstedt’s staff needs to be an excellent recruiter and like that part of the job.

“Like I said at my first press conference, you need to have two excellent coordinators and the other seven coaches on your staff need to be recruiters,” Wannstedt said. “That’s always been my philosophy and that’s how successful programs do things as well.”

Waiting and watching.

You know, for a team that finished 5-7, Pitt’s coaches seem to be in demand. Ball, Rhoads (obligatory, awkward self-high five) and now WR Coach Aubrey Hill. He is taking the WR Coach spot at Miami.

A Miami native, Hill played at the University of Florida and was a graduate assistant there from 1996-98 and an intern with the Miami Dolphins under Wannstedt in 2002.

“The personal reasons for him going back to Miami make sense,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said today. “He went to high school there in Miami. It’s a great opportunity to come back home and personal reasons were a major factor in him returning home.”

Hill did a very good job at Pitt, and will be working with probably the worst position on the Hurricanes (okay, QB was rather shaky as well). If he can help that group, he will be moving up the coaching ladder.

Coach Wannstedt said in the statement that he has no specific timetable or rush for hiring a new WR Coach. Clearly he doesn’t think it is a major issue with the recruiting class for that spot.

It’s nice but hard to take seriously. With football season over. The BCS hashed, rehashed and playoffs pumped then torn down. The head coaching carousel done. Recruiting stuff has already gotten tiresome for many — or they don’t want to sully their hands with the discussion. That leaves precious little to write. That means it is time for sports writers to predict 2008 polls.

Dennis Dodd at CBS Sports puts Pitt at #22.

Stewart Mandel at SI.com has Pitt at #25.

Yeah, it has little meaning. On the other hand, Pitt has been absent from even the discussion since the 2004 season. So, there is the fact that Pitt is still somewhere in sportswriters’ minds.

Did someone drag Fran Fraschilla to an apartment party in deep South Oakland (Insider subs.)?

If you’ve ever been to Pittsburgh’s campus in the Oakland section of the city, you have to know that the Panthers are not going to lose their toughness even if the janitor has to suit up for Jamie Dixon. No surprise to me that they beat Georgetown.

Grant Wahl did his “Magic Eight-Ball” predictions for teams that will win the national championship in his mailbag.

Are you going to be smart enough to have Pitt in your Magic Eight? The Mike Cook injury hurts and the Levance Fields injury hurts more, but if Fields is back for March then Pitt will be much better for it. Look at the depth that is being created by their absence. Three freshmen (two true, one redshirt) are getting tons of PT because of the injuries. I would just advise you to consider them as the dark horse candidate. When Fields comes back, they are going to go deep into March regardless of seed.
— Josh Grubbs, Gibsonia, Pa.

I couldn’t go far enough to put Pitt in the Magic Eight, but I’m awfully impressed by how Jamie Dixon has handled the injuries to Cook and Fields, and the Georgetown win was particularly striking. Dixon is making his bones as a coach this season, and if he can keep Pitt in the top three of the Big East he’ll be a candidate for Coach of the Year.

So after a week of absence, Pitt is back in the power rankings.

ESPN.com has them at #13.

Jamie Dixon has rallied the troops and the shorthanded Panthers stepped up big time when they knocked off Georgetown. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin can knock down jumpers with regularity. Dejuan Blair and Sam Young will take care of the glass. So much for getting ready for next season!

Luke Winn at SI.com returns them to #15.

I’ll admit I was expecting the Panthers to fold after losing Mike Cook and Levance Fields — and they did, to a degree, losing big at Dayton and narrowly at Villanova in the following two weeks. But they’ve rebounded nicely to win three straight in the Big East, including a Power-Rankings-worthy victory over Georgetown on Monday. DeJuan Blair, who had 15 points and nine boards in that game, and did yeoman’s work defending Roy Hibbert, remains under-hyped in this freshman class. He well behind Mike Beasley in terms of production, but stacks up against the other power-forward phenoms:

I’d just like to see solid conference road performances at Cinci and St. John’s in the next week. Cinci is a lot better than expected — especially at home — and St. John’s has been an inexplicable nightmare for Pitt. The road in conference is looking like a nightmare this season. Pitt needs to get road wins where ever they can. The road games in February and March will be brutal (UConn, Marquette, ND, Syracuse and WVU). Pitt has continued to dominate at home — and that can’t change.

Levance Fields and Mike Cook had their first meeting with the media since their injuries. The local media isn’t saying much about the questions and such yet — after all they have to have something to put in the paper tomorrow.

Mike Cook is indeed looking to get a medical redshirt. He doesn’t expect to find out from the NCAA until after the season.

Levance Fields is very optimistic about how quickly he is healing. He expects to be back around Valentines Day.

If Fields’ projection is true, his first game back would be Feb. 15 at Marquette.

The initial projected date of return was March 1. By moving up his timetable, Fields could play in the final seven regular-season games before the Big East tournament.

“If everything goes as planned I’ll be back before you know it,” Fields said.

That would give him time to be worked back in. To slowly get himself back into playing shape over the final 7 games.  Then carry things into the Big East Tournament.
If you missed the Ray Fittipaldo chat, there was a suggestion of a nickname for DeJuan Blair.

Blaznasty: Blair needs a nickname … “Grizzly Blair”?

Ray Fittipaldo: I saw that Dick “Hoops” Weiss from the New York Daily News wrote that in his Pitt-Georgetown game story Tuesday morning. We’ll have to see if it sticks.

I don’t know if Weiss intended it as a nickname, but I have to admit I like it. It was the final line of Weiss’ story.

“We weren’t going to lose in our house,” the grizzly Blair said.

I also like that Fittipaldo knew where it came from. It works.

Panther Club members and football season ticket holders should have received/will shortly be receiving an invitation through the mail. The invitation is for a “National Letter of Intent Event”:

Join the Pitt coaches as they provide exclusive insight into those football student-athletes who signed binding letters of intent to attend Pitt earlier that day and show video highlights from each student-athlete’s high school career.

When: Wednesday, February 6th

Time: 6:00 PM, Doors open at 5:00 PM

Location: Heinz Field, East Club Lounge

I’m contemplating whether to go or not. On the one hand, it might be interesting to hear what the coaches have to say about these guys. On the other hand, I just don’t know if it’s really worth it to drive down to Heinz Field, especially if it’s not really all that exciting and they don’t tell us anything we don’t already know.

You’re allowed to take yourself and a guest, but you must provide your guest’s name so that Pitt can be assured no NCAA rules. Anyone out there (who is not a family member of a recruit, not in grades 9-12, and not a high school or JuCo coach) that wants to accompany me? Right.

Ironically (If I’m seeing this correctly), there is a picture on this invitation of Paul Rhoads speaking at a previous event. It’s safe to say he won’t be there this year.

Now that Paul Rhoads has accepted, and it’s (hopefully) too late for his return, I thought I’d give the Auburn fans some of my very biased perspective on the Rhoads tenure. They keep visiting and seem somewhat surprised that Pitt fans aren’t rending their shirts at the news of his departure.
Here are the basic numbers.

Year — Def. Ranking — Run Def. — Pass Def.

2007 —– 5th ———– 33d ——– 3d
2006 — 87th ——– 107th ——— 29th
2005 — 31st ——— 94th ———- 2nd
2004 —- 73d ——– 48th ———- 100th
2003 — 79th ——– 87th ———- 54th
2002 — 12th ——– 24th ———- 18th
2001 — 7th ——— 26th ———- 6th
2000 —- 29th —— 17th ———— 80th

That’s the kind of consistency Pitt has seen on the defensive side in the Rhoads tenure. The minute the talent previously recruited started graduating, the defense slid. Rhoads as a recruiter has been anything but good.

I’ll start with this post back in November about this season. After years of preaching “read and react” defensive schemes, Rhoads then had the gall to claim he has always been a proponent of aggressive defenses. He doesn’t do halftime adjustments or any adjustments. There’s a gameplan and he’ll stick to it.

The media will love him. Rhoads is a charmer in person by all accounts. It is why he has been well supported by media and the administration. He also disappears when things aren’t good. When things go well, he’s happy to talk. No one likes a guy who won’t be accountable in the bad times as well as the good.
Even halfway through this season, it looked like Rhoads was finally done as the media had finally conceded he hasn’t performed well.

This past season, Rhoads was stripped of secondary coaching and instead oversaw the linebackers. This was Wannstedt’s call to force Rhoads to pay more attention to stopping the run. Emphasis up front more. It was a brilliant move by Wannstedt because it recognized and used a key issue with Rhoads — When he had the focus on the secondary, he wouldn’t put them in a position to get burned at the expense of the rest of the defense. Now that he’s got the linebackers, he doesn’t want them looking bad. The result, for the first time in Rhoads’ tenure, the safeties were actually brought up in run support. Something Pitt fans had been screaming for years.

He preaches “fundamentals” but teaches crap. The focus has been on how good the defense has been this year. Consider what he’s done in past years, as well. If it’s about talent, then the question still remains — what role does the DC play as a recruiter? Rhoads escaped a lot of accountability for the talent slide on the defense.

Oh, and finally, Rhoads has historically sucked at getting the defense to handle spread offenses. I don’t think that can be stressed enough.
Thank you, once more Auburn and Tommy Tuberville for hiring Paul Rhoads. He’s your problem now.

I hate revisionism. The play of Sam Young and now Keith Benjamin have people second-guessing their usage in 2006-07.

Q: In light of the current play by last year’s bench players, doesn’t it make you wonder what could have been if coach Dixon would have let these guys (Benjamin & Young) play more last year? The outside game they bring is exactly what we were missing in the NCAA tournament. I think he had more loyalty to Levon Kendall than he to developing the younger players.

Mike Nixon, Libertyville, Ill.

FITTIPALDO: You might have a point, Mike, but you have to remember that Young was not completely healthy last season. He had problems with both knees that prevented him from being the player he is now. If Young had been healthy all season, I believe he would have received more playing time.

Benjamin is someone who is thriving with more playing time. This is the first time he has ever been in position to play 30-plus minutes per game. I guess you can say Benjamin deserved more minutes last season, but at whose expense? Ramon? Graves? They both played vital roles on a team that advanced to the Sweet 16.

Dixon is going to have an interesting dilemma on his hands when Fields is healthy enough to return to the lineup. Does he send Benjamin back to the bench? Or does he have Fields come off the bench? I suppose these types of problems are nice to have. It means you have players who are playing well and deserving of playing time.

For whatever reason, the other obvious possibility is having Ramon coming off the bench. As he was before the injuries. Several other points.

Even while Young was struggling to get healthy, Pitt was trying to get him more time. The early 2006 experiment was to play Young at the small forward. That would have gotten him on the court more as spelling both Kendall at PF and Cook at SF. We now know he was hobbling, but he wasn’t comfortable at the small forward. Struggling, especially, on the defensive end. Ultimately, if he wants to make the NBA, he has to look to that position. With his range showing this year, he has a chance.

Prior to this season, Bejamin never showed the shooting touch, patience, or restraint. He also struggled in defensive assignments, because he was more eager to work the offensive end. I know the contra argument is that he was only getting limited minutes, and was looking to make them count and show what he could do. The problem with that, is it only got him yanked faster when he’d rush down the court and hoist a shot. It finally seemed to get through to him this year. Even before he got into the starting line-up with injuries, he was just playing within the team. So much better.

Finally, both Young and Benjamin are better and like playing much more up-tempo. The team’s configuration last year with Aaron Gray just wouldn’t work that way. In that respect, Levon Kendall was a much better compliment inside.

Look at the numbers last year. Young shot .458 from the field and .310 on 3s. I know, I howled “NO!” when Young hoisted from outside last year. Benjamin was even more brutal — .420 from the field and .255 on 3s, not to mention below 50% on free throws.

Keep perspective.

You know, when this AP story on how the Pitt win over WVU has produced such huge dividends, it was even before Paul Rhoads was able to ride finally getting a handle on the WVU spread to jump for the Auburn Defensive Coordinator gig. Words can’t adequately express how happy that Rhoads has finally moved on.

I didn’t think it would happen. I now have such optimism for 2008, that I am a little stunned. I do get a kick out of how he got characterized as an “excellent recruiter.” There’s little evidence of that. The talent on the defense started sliding after he got there, it has only rebounded since Wannstedt and Gattuso came to Pitt and started recruiting. As much blame as Walt Harris gets for letting the recruiting slip, after a good few years, there has been little evidence to suggest that Rhoads did much to help.
Consider, the areas Coach Wannstedt most wanted recruited were Western Pennsylvania and the rest of the state. Ohio was where Rhoads was assigned geographically. He had him recruit the area, of least concern and lowest expectations. That seems telling.

The good news for Auburn is that they have a good recruiter and coach in Tuberville. And Tuberville is a defensive guy.

This story on Holley announcing for Pitt, also includes some video of the announcement.

“After talking with my family and a lot of the people that I trust in the community, I’ve decided that this fall I will be attending the University of Pittsburgh,” Holley said, breaking out in a smile, something his coach Steve Shiffert said Holley had not done in a while.

…

An exhausting recruiting process that included 30 scholarship offers was narrowed to Iowa, Virginia and Pittsburgh by Holley, who was visited one last time at Easton by Panthers’ head coach Dave Wannstedt on Tuesday.

“I was hoping he didn’t have him come all the way out here to say no,” Easton coach Steve Shiffert said.

Part of the appeal for Holley was the fact that it isn’t in the middle of nowhere.

“I kind of had a good feeling about Pitt when I visited there last summer,” Holley said. “Then when I came back out for my official visit, I got to see the city at night, got to know the coaches better and got a better feel for the school. Basically, I just like everything about it.”

Holley said one of the main reasons he likes Pitt is because it’s in the city.

“There is a lot to do in a city like that. A lot of stuff going on,” Holley said.

Some pressure from family helped too.

Almost everyone has one, and Frank Varju happily admits to playing the role of Jarred Holley’s crazy uncle.

So when Holley returned from an official recruiting trip to the University of Pittsburgh on the weekend before Christmas, Varju, his wife, Kelly, and daughter, Marissa, all walked into the Sunday evening family dinner get-together wearing gray, navy and gold Pittsburgh Panthers sweatshirts.

“I guess if he was going to spend all that money on those three sweatshirts,” Holley said, “I had to go to Pittsburgh.”

Everyone say, “Thank you, Frank.”

According to Kevin Gorman, Pitt has only one scholarship still available and is saving it for a linebacker.

Holley is the 20th recruit in Pitt’s 2008 class, and the Panthers are reserving only one more scholarship, likely for either linebacker Steve Gardiner of Dublin (Ohio) Coffman or safety Robert Sands of Miami (Fla.) Carol City.

I have now idea how Pitt has 21 scholarships. I thought this was going to be a smaller class.

It’s everywhere.

Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads is the leading candidate to become the new defensive coordinator at Auburn under head coach Tommy Tuberville.

Rhoads, who was not available for comment, has reportedly not made a decision, but sources within the Pitt football program expect him to take the job.

If Rhoads does leave, the top candidates to replace him are current defensive line coach Greg Gattuso and Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Sal Sunseri.

Please don’t dash my hopes. I’ve already broken out the Dalmore 12 year old. If I was absolutely certain, it would be the last of my Royal Salute.

Now, Gattuso being promoted to DC would not surprise me. I think it makes the most sense and Gattuso has been an outstanding addition for Pitt since he joined the staff. He took over the D-line last season in a minor shake-up and the improvement there was tangible. He has been an outstanding recruiter for Pitt — in no small part to the ties he has in the area as a native to the region and being head coach at Duquesne for years.

I would be fine with Sal Sunseri taking over as DC, but Gattuso seems a natural for promotion.