masthead.jpg

switchconcepts.com, U3dpdGNo-a25, DIRECT rubiconproject.com, 14766, RESELLER pubmatic.com, 30666, RESELLER, 5d62403b186f2ace appnexus.com, 1117, RESELLER thetradedesk.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER taboola.com, switchconceptopenrtb, RESELLER bidswitch.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER contextweb.com, 560031, RESELLER amazon-adsystem.com, 3160, RESELLER crimtan.com, switch, RESELLER quantcast.com, switchconcepts , RESELLER rhythmone.com, 1934627955, RESELLER ssphwy.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER emxdgt.com, 59, RESELLER appnexus.com, 1356, RESELLER sovrn.com, 96786, RESELLER, fafdf38b16bf6b2b indexexchange.com, 180008, RESELLER nativeads.com, 52853, RESELLER theagency.com, 1058, RESELLER google.com, pub-3515913239267445, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
March 1, 2008

I rarely bother with something like this, but Jay Bilas ticked me off enough on College Gameday with his statements that Young fouled Harris. It seemed that he was trying to make some broader point about Big East officiating and went back to the ‘Nova-G-town game. It was a completely scattershot in whatever his point was (and let’s just abstain from the whole “Bilas hates Pitt” stuff — he doesn’t). The replay showed that Harris had lost control of the ball and that he and Young were both going for it. Young got there first and then the contact.

Paul Harris made no excuses.

“I basically let them take the ball from me,” Harris said. “That’s all it was. They didn’t foul me or nothing.”

‘Cuse fans aren’t saying he was fouled.

It’s also very clear that Orange fans are more than a little frustrated with a team of talented 5-star players. This will be the first time since the 1980-81 and 81-82 season that a Syracuse team doesn’t go to the NCAA Tournament for 2 consecutive years.

On another note, I don’t think we need to recruit so many 5 star, shoe camp All-Stars. Let’s get one or two and surround them with solid, gutsy, hard-working, intelligent ballers (ie: Pace, O. Hill, Moten, E Thomas, L. Sims, Warrick, etc). Enough loading the team up with slack-ass, idiotic playmaking, no-desire-having, all-talk-no-action, waste-of-talent, looking-for-scouts-in-the-stands type of players.

Talent or not, it’s a team sport.

Probably a little over the top in reaction, but there is a point. Chemistry and playing as a team means almost as much as talent. There are no steadying influences on the court for Syracuse. They have no players on the floor who can tell them what to expect in the situations. At this point in the season. UConn went through it last year as well, despite all of their talent.
Interesting thing when Dixon called the second last timeout with 3:37 left.

As he gathered his team around him, he told them that they might not win Saturday’s game, but that he would not permit them to quit.

“It wasn’t called to chew nobody out. It wasn’t called to be negative,” said Pitt guard Keith Benjamin. “It was just called to let us know the bench was fighting for us. And we gotta keep playing.”

Dixon ordered the press, something he’s rarely done this season. The defense, said Pitt guard Ronald Ramon, energized the Panthers.

I don’t think Pitt can do a press for very long, but in short spurts it has it’s place.





I agree that the contact at the end of the game was incidental and shouldn’t have been called. I was listening to the game on Sirius and could only get Syracuse announcers, and they didn’t give any indication that it should have been called. I didn’t know there was any controversy over the call until Bilas commented on it.

There was contact. But my take on it is that the ball had already been knocked loose and Young had as much right to the loose ball as Harris. Harris didn’t make a play on the ball, or a foul likely would have been called. But you can’t fault aggressive play on Young’s part when the whole issue came down to lack of aggressiveness by Harris.

Bilas did make the point over and over again, to the point that I wanted to slap him. But Bilas has been one of the most consistent Pitt supporters in recent years as opposed to guys like Doug Gottleib who obviously HATES Pitt (and probably himself).

Comment by The Prowler 03.01.08 @ 9:47 pm

I was on a golf outing in Myrtle Beach came in for the last 15 minutes of the game showing on big screen Hi Def with my Pitt hat on and my Panther Jacket..Pitt was down 11 and I almost gave up and left but one of the guys in the clubhouse had on a Syracuse hat and told my the JB is the worst ccach in BBall and to hang in theer.

You know the rest…I had a crowd of about 14 cheering for the Panthers….what a great game and ending…missed all the blogging though…

Comment by Dan 72 03.01.08 @ 9:59 pm

HUGE thread i started about it….

link to mbd.scout.com

The short of it: look at the tapes.

Young going for the lose ball:

link to youtube.com

Brown “not getting a hand to the face”:

link to youtube.com

Comment by Stuart 03.01.08 @ 10:16 pm

I was looking ahead to the BE tourney, and based on how i think we’ll end up (lose to WVU, beat depaul) that should make us the 7 seed…i think that gives us SHU the first game, then the loser of the GU/LU season finale, then Uconn, then the winner of the GU/LU season finale, assuming everyone wins the games they should…

It looks like the only way we could get revenge against MU is if we both make it to the final game…considering they choke their first tourney game all the time, i give that a 0% chance…guess we’ll have to wait until next year to get revenge…

It looks like the regular season champ will be determined in the LU at GU game, the finale for both teams, winner takes all.

Comment by Stuart 03.01.08 @ 10:56 pm

Give both Harris and Boeheim credit–neither blamed the refs for the non-call on that steal (even though J.B. got T’d, probably just because he’s a whiny S.O.B.).

Love Bilas, but he’s wrong here–sometimes it seems like he just loves to choose a platform and hammer it for a few days, then move onto something else…

Comment by jason 03.02.08 @ 9:49 am

bilas has actually been very complimentary about Pitt all year, especially their ability to hang in with devastating injuries. He has said that with Fields and Cook healthy, this team had final four potential. he refs have been bad in the BE this year–but that incidental contact in no way matched the touch foul that was called in the Georgetown villanova game. Our comeback was the basketball equivalent of the 36-35 win over WVU when they lead 35-8 at the half!! GO PITT!!

Comment by tph60 03.02.08 @ 11:37 am

“We just got bullied out there. We weren’t getting bullied the whole game, but the last minute of play we just really looked like boys compared to men.”

SU guard Johnny Flynn after the loss to Pittsburgh

We have to find a way to channel that aggressiveness on defense for 40 minutes. I’m not saying press the whole game, just play tough and smart for the entire game. Hitting some outside shots would be nice too…

Comment by Dave in Orlando 03.02.08 @ 12:02 pm

Its about freaking time we started bullying people. Of course, that’s a tame way of saying what I said in the Open Thread at about the five minute mark…

I think its interesting to hear them gripe about 5-stars, considering the recent debate on this site about Jamie’s inability to bring in a slew of top recruits. Sounds like they’d like to have our problem — one or two studs and ten guys that are pretty good college players — while we’ve been asking for theirs — four or five top 25 recruits that might leave early and wind up not contributing on a consistent basis because they’re all self-absorbed. Its a great indication that no matter how many wins he has, Boeheim is not a GREAT coach. Great coaches manage egos, get players to contribute while they’re there, et cetera. He did that once, and they won the national championship. And if you look back, Carmelo had a great year, but they won a lot of games because of other players (including G-Mac’s SIX 3s in the first half of the national title game, Warrick and Duany, etc.). Since then, I haven’t seen him manage talent at all. Obviously Coach K is the best at it, but even look at Calipari, Bill Self, and Roy Williams. They all have a ton of big-ego players with a lot of talent, and I haven’t seen them on the bubble in a while….

Comment by Maz 03.02.08 @ 12:19 pm

Maz,

I agree, Boeheim is not a great coach he is a very poor coach, look at the talent SU has had for the last 20 years. Yes they have had plenty of 5 stars and yes we settle for mostly 3 to 4 star guys or lower but Pitt is competitive year in and year out.

I have always said Jamie is a great coach because he molds his players and they play hard but I think we all see to advance deep into the the NCAA tourney you need a combination of coaching, some NBA type talent, role players, leaders and a bit of luck.

I hope one day Jamie can pick up a few 5 star players and make it all the way.

Comment by herb 03.02.08 @ 12:38 pm

Gray and Bulls vs Cleveland right now on ABC, Gray starting second quarter, already has a board and drew a foul…

Comment by Stuart 03.02.08 @ 1:34 pm

If those two teams played a playground pick-up 10-game series, Syracuse would win all 10 games because they have a huge advantage in size, quickness and talent. We’re just lucky Boeheim never knows how to use the talent to get the wins.

I’m tired of watching our under-sized backcourt get beaten night after night. It’s OK to be (maybe)5’10” like Fields is, if you make up for it with quickness, but our guards are small AND SLOW. Flynn was running around Fields and Ramon like they were standing in cement. In the first half the announcers were getting all over the defense for not keeping up with Paul Harris getting downcourt, but the real problem was that Fields and Ramon couldn’t slow the ball (Flynn) down when he crossed halfcourt. It’s the same problem we have every time we play Marquette (or when Sosa from L-ville was scoring 15 in the first half)……we just haven’t had the horses in the backcourt since Knight and Page to hang with top-flight competition.

Fields is a gutty, solid player, but he’s worthless against a zone and lousy on defense and he’s a midget. Ramon mostly plays solid D, but he can’t penetrate and doesn’t shoot nearly as well as you’d think he would, given how pure his stroke looks. Benjamin plays solid D, but he can’t handle the ball and he’s streaky on O.

We need better guards. These guys aren’t getting it done. Combine an average backcourt with the fact that Dixon got us in a situation where we have to have Blair play out-of-position at center with no depth on the front-line and Pitt is no longer on of the Big East elite teams. We’re fighting to stay at the top of the second tier, which is not where Howland left this program.

Comment by scottie columbo 03.02.08 @ 2:00 pm

Scottie why don’t you go complain and insult players elsewhere. Fields is one of the best players in the conference. The kid is coming off a broken foot and you come on here and call him a midget and insult his speed. Ramon leaves everything he has on the floor and all you ever want to do is discuss his limitations.

Flynn has really led his team to great things. I’m sure he’ll kill it in the NIT, while the two midgets we have will be playing in the Big Dance. Ramon for the fourth year in four tries and Fields for the third year in three tries.

Your bull-shit is tired and needs to stop.

Comment by Omar 03.02.08 @ 2:22 pm

I’m also sick of watching our slow and short backcourt. I hate having to watch players that win 20+ games every year and play in the NCAA tournament. It really sucks having such awful talent that we make the Big Dance year after year. It’s so hard to watch a team and a coach that doesn’t whine, complain and make excuses. It’s funny that Syracuse would beat us 10 times in 10 tries considering we just played an organized game with officials and beat them in our only try. Your argument is ludicrous. It really is.

Comment by Omar 03.02.08 @ 2:26 pm

HUGE HUGE HUGE win. hopefully our guys can get behind this win and take it to WVU and into both the big east and ncaa tournaments.

Comment by the breast stroke is the best stroke 03.02.08 @ 2:32 pm

Gilbert Brown coming out party. Beautiful drive in the first half. We’ll really need him down the stretch.

Comment by steve 03.02.08 @ 3:46 pm

we need more athletic and faster guards! D-FENCE!!!!

Comment by texaspanther 03.02.08 @ 3:53 pm

I love how people like Scottie look back to the golden years of Page and Brown, longing for such stars, but never mentioning their limitations. Primarily the fact that neither of them could shoot to save their lives. JP and Brown are two of my all time favorite Pitt players. They are also the top two reasons Pitt couldn’t advance past the sweet 16. No matter how good their defense was, they seemed to find a way to score no points in big games. I am not ripping them. I am just trying to point out that we can act like the grass was greener, but the reality is that a few years ago Pitt excelled with really flawed players, much like they do now.

For the record, I would take Levance Fields over any guard Pitt has had in the last 10 years. He has great quickness. He is a great passer. He can create with the dribble. And while he isn’t the best shooter, he WILL make the clutch shot when needed- the exact opposite of Page and Brown. And in fairness, you need to cut some slack to a guy who just came back from a broken foot. I am surprised how fast he has been able to contribute as much as he is. But I don’t expect him to have his quickness back until next season. I guess it is Dixon’s fault though. Any good coach would know to recruit players who aren’t going to get injured.

Comment by The Prowler 03.02.08 @ 4:03 pm

i agree fields is a more than adequate guard, his toughness is his greatest attribute. He handles the ball well, passes great, and hits alot of big shots…none bigger than the duke game. just check out his assist to turnover ratio. he is not a takeover the game, depend on for scoring guard, but that isnt usually what wins championships. and with good legs, he can penetrate whenever he wants. what we do need is some size across the board. other teams seem to always have the size advantage on us at more than one position, and that is tough to defend. because of that our players have to get the smack you in the mouth attitude and out hustle, out physical the other teams…this will lead to wins. that is why if Gil Brown gets better he is a great player with his size and athletic ability at guard/small forward. and just one comment on Ramon’s defense….he is good on defense, but is not a shutdown defender, ie Page. As i have said many times it is the help and weakside defender that is out of position. Young is in no mans land alot, and the freshman are inexperienced. Lets face it, they never had to play team defense in high school. Who did Schenley ever play that Blair could not dominate inside? Having lived in Western PA all my life, the basketball in this area is weak. The bottom line is this, the interior guys have to protect the rim, and be a stopping point to all the layups, as far as a hot 3-point shooter, nothing you do will stop that.

Comment by drgags 03.02.08 @ 4:47 pm

I’m not insulting Pitt’s backcourt……this is reality. Pitt’s backcourt is small and slow. Get out the tape measure and then watch them struggle to cover quicker guards —- not much subjectivity in that opinion.

They’ll do much better against WVU tonight, because Nichols and Ruoff and Mazzola don’t scare anybody……but they’ll struggle again in the BE and in the NCAAs when they come up against some speed.

I agree on the Knight/Page point about them being flawed players, too. That’s true — they certainly had their offensive shortcomings — but at least you didn’t have to worry about them getting lit up by guys like Flynn.

Fields is a tough player — everybody knows it — he does the most with what he has. He just doesn’t have that much to work with in terms of size and speed. Of course it’s great he’s come back from injury, but he wasn’t any taller/faster before Dayton and the foot. But forget Fields for minute — he’s only 1/3 of the backcourt and I don’t care how much Ramon and Benjamin leave out on the court. Neither of them is good enough offensively or defensively to get Pitt back to where they were.

Comment by scottie columbo 03.03.08 @ 8:16 am

And somebody obviously completely missed the playground point…….the point is, it’s tougher to win when you don’t have the size and talent that the competition does. On the playground, size and talent generally wins because coaching and strategy don’t matter as much — it’s just up to the players and their ability and Syracuse has a ton of talent and size on that team.

It would just be nice if Pitt didn’t always face a size/talent deficit when they played teams like Syracuse. Of course I’d rather take our success in terms of NCAA berths and 20+ win seasons over the fast few years, but why can’t we have both?

Why can’t Dixon get a few more studs in here (like Blair) and coach them to play in the Howland system and actually take the next step with this program? Howland is bringing in big names at UCLA and those kids have agreed to play in a defensive-minded system, so I don’t buy the argument that elite recruits won’t come here because of the style of play.

Comment by scottie columbo 03.03.08 @ 8:31 am

Howland walked into the perfect situation at UCLA. He came in as a named coach with some good success at Pitt, and he came to one of the most storied programs in the history of any sport. All they have needed was a coach there and everything would fall into place. That isn’t to diminish what he has done. But it would be the same if Dixon took over at North Carolina. He would have his choice of 5 star recruits. On the other hand, not matter how far the Pitt program has come, we have to remember that it has only been a good program for 7-8 years. It will take time to build the kind of name recognition that would cause a player to choose Pitt just because its Pitt. To help move that along, Dixon needs to get a team or two past the sweet 16. If he could get one final four appearance that would help dramatically. But in many respects, this is a baby program that has a lot of growing and maturing to do in order to compare to the elite storied programs. I believe Dixon will take us to that next step, primarily because he has shown that he can coach and get more out of a 3 star player than a lot of coaches can out of 5 star players. But being forced into doing that also means that some of the players won’t exceed their 3 star rating. It is going to take time to change all of that.

As for Fields, he has great quickness and I don’t know why you say he doesn’t. He lost a lot of weight in the off season and found a new gear this year before getting hurt. Before getting hurt he was one of the tops in the nation in assist to turnover ratio. His only weakness is shooting, and that shouldn’t be a huge deal because he should have four other guys around him to score.

Comment by The Prowler 03.03.08 @ 1:04 pm

I am not sure I understand the assessment that Fields does the best he can with what he has to work with when he is easily the best point guard we have had at least since Jerry McCullough.

I agree that we need to get more out of Ramon and Benjamin, but that comes back to a coach who squeezes the most out of his recruits, but that you can’t always get a 3 star recruit to play like a 5 star one. He gets enough of them to outperform expectations, though, that the program will continue along and the Pitt name recognition will build.

In that regard, this season has helped immensely. First of all, coming into this season, the media was much more behind Pitt than ever before. That means more high school kids hearing how good Pitt is. Jay Bilas says even now that Pitt was a final four team prior to those injuries. That kind of media attention will pay off.

Wins against Duke and then Georgetown down two starters will only help that kind of recognition. The second thing that helps is that players can see that Dixon cares about his players. One big time recruit who was at the Pitt/Duke game said he wanted to play for Dixon, not because he beat Duke, but because when Cook went down, Dixon was out there holding his hand and he cried in the post game interview. That kind of stuff makes an impact. It all adds up to us having a classy coach who does things the right way and people notice.

It is only a matter of time before we catch the next big break.

Comment by The Prowler 03.03.08 @ 1:10 pm

Prowler, I hope you’re right. I’m a bit more cynical about Dixon and what’s coming.

The idea that Pitt was a Final 4 team before the injuries is hard to take seriously. Guys like Bilas say a lot of things — so they stimulate enough discussion to keep their jobs.

The storied program years at UCLA were a distant memory at UCLA when Howland walked in. Comparing that to walking in at UNC is crazy. Very different situation. UCLA had been a turnstile for coaches for years….and some of them had pretty good pedigrees. They even have crappy facilities to recruit with — I’ve seen Pauley and it’s a hole.

I also differ on Fields and the quickness thing. Quickness is most evident on defense, when you have to react to an offensive player’s move. Fields has a hard time staying in front of quicker guards — that’s just the way it is and one of the reasons why we always have trouble against Marquette every year. Fields hides his footspeed on offense because he handles the ball well and has some nice moves — which is doing the best you can with what God gave you.

Let’s go out and beat Huggins. At least he doesn’t have any athletes yet.

Comment by scottie columbo 03.03.08 @ 3:38 pm

Powered by WordPress © PittBlather.com

Site Meter