It’s a mad, mad, mad world. I know some won’t believe this but a bit of love from Luke Winn.
The argument for Pittsburgh as North Carolina’s prime title challenger is a strong one. The Panthers are the only team in the country in the top 10 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
This follows an earlier post where he put Pitt as the prime contender to be the team that can challenge UNC for the national championship.
1. Pittsburgh
Optimistic View: The DeJuan Blair-and-Tyrell Biggs duo could go blow-for-blow with Hansbrough and Deon Thompson in the post, and Levance Fields is the nation’s only floor general with a steadier hand than Lawson. Last year’s Panthers wouldn’t have been able to defend Carolina’s offense, but this year’s Pitt D has been ratcheted up to an elite level, ranking seventh in adjusted defensive efficiency, 13 spots ahead of UNC.
Pessimistic View: Speed isn’t Fields’ strong point, and Lawson is the fastest end-to-end point guard in the country. The perimeter length of Danny Green and Marcus Ginyard might be able to bother Sam Young, whom most opponents struggle mightily to defend. Pitt also doesn’t have the quality depth to match Carolina’s.
Staying at SI.com, I’m a bit surprised that with Pitt ranked #1 Seth Davis still labels Pitt a “Buy” in his team stock report.
I still have some nagging suspicions about the Panthers’ ability to score quickly and easily enough to win a national championship, but their 16-point win over Georgetown left no doubt that when it comes to intelligence and toughness, they are as good as they come. Levance Fields has some physical limitations, but no point guard in America does a better job of distributing the ball to the right people in the right places. (Fields leads the Big East in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.) I generally prefer teams that are more prolific from three-point range, but I also like that this team is not dependent on threes.
Plenty from Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News to note. Even before the Pitt win over G-town, DeCourcy was high on Pitt in the Big East.
4. So how about your Big East power ranking right now, Nos. 1-16?
OK, so you went quickly from the easy stuff to the tough question. I’ll manage. Here we go, not in order of ability or performance to date but in order of potential to win the league regular season: 1. Pitt; 2. UConn; 3. Georgetown; 4. Syracuse. 5. Notre Dame; 6. Louisville; 7. West Virginia; 8. Marquette; 9. Villanova; 10. Cincinnati; 11. Rutgers; 12. Providence; 13. Seton Hall; 14. DePaul; 15. St. John’s; 16. South Florida.
One byproduct from my days covering Pitt basketball in the late 1980s and early 1990s for The Pittsburgh Press is a friendship with a man named Sammy D. He sits courtside at nearly every Panthers game and has for as long as I’ve known him. Sammy D’s expressed ambition through all of that time was not for his team to make the Final Four or win the national championship — but to be ranked No. 1 for at least one week of the college basketball season.
It’s never happened before at Pitt: not with Don Hennon, Billy Knight, Sam Clancy, Jerome Lane or Brandin Knight.
Sammy gets his wish now, but the No. 1 ranking may be more trouble than it’s worth for the Panthers. Although they’re closer than ever to having the talent to support such esteem, they still seem best suited for a role as a lovable underdog admired for effort as much as results.
Two things you hear constantly from broadcasters when watching Pitt play: DeJuan Blair grew up five minutes from the Petersen Center, and subtle condemnation regarding the Panthers not making it past the Sweet 16 this decade. (The flip side of that is the Panthers have made it to the Sweet 16 four times in seven seasons).
This team will carry that burden into the tournament in March, which could turn out OK. Remember how much pressure was on Kansas last year just to reach the Final Four?
As for when they could suffer their first loss?
4. When and why will No. 1 Pitt suffer its first loss?
With the next two games being at home against St. John’s and South Florida, perfection seems safe for a while.
The first real danger for the Panthers should come in their Jan. 17 road trip to Louisville, although the Cards have a long road to travel to bring their play to a level where they would be competitive in that game. If Louisville’s not ready, certainly West Virginia will be on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 25.
But the game that might be most intriguing in that stretch is at home on Big Monday — Jan. 19 against Syracuse. The Orange have played better at the Petersen Center than a lot of Big East opponents, and this is the best team SU has taken to Pitt in while.
I’m already getting edgy about the St. John’s game. D.J. Kennedy coming home, a young team that can just get streaky, decent defense, lots of hype around Pitt, a presumed gimmee. I’m so glad they knocked off Notre Dame. No excuse not to take them seriously after that.
