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January 16, 2009

It’s the start of Pitt’s Big East gauntlet.

No. 1 Pitt is about to embark on a five-game stretch that will feature four ranked teams. And the one opponent that is not among the nation’s top 25 dropped out last week after losing to another of the Big East’s ranked teams.

The Panthers will begin running that gantlet tomorrow at No. 20 Louisville. That will be followed by games against No. 8 Syracuse, West Virginia, No. 23 Villanova and No. 12 Notre Dame. Three of those games are on the road.

For Pitt, the most consecutive games against ranked teams was four in 1990. If West Virginia rejoins the ranks next week, a record could be set.

“Everyone is talking about this stretch and that stretch for different teams,” Dixon said. “We can’t spend all preseason talking about it like it’s the toughest conference in history and all the great teams … and then when it comes up, you have to play them. You can’t talk about it. You have to play them.

The Pitt players are going to keep it up with the “no respect” card for as long as possible.

The Panthers didn’t sneak up on anyone — they were No. 5 in the preseason Associated Press poll — but many still think it’s a little surprising the Panthers are No. 1 for the first time, even considering Pitt’s steady progress and North Carolina’s unexpected vulnerability.

“It’s obvious,” Pitt point guard Levance Fields said yesterday. “They’re always talking about who else should be No. 1. When Carolina was No. 1 you didn’t hear about anybody else that should be No. 1. That’s just how it is at Pittsburgh. It’s something we get accustomed to.

“We have to just keep on winning. We don’t have to say nothing to people.”

I’m good with that.

The Cards are looking to fire up the fanbase further, by honoring the 1983 Final Four Cardinal team at halftime.

You know DeJuan Blair is looking forward to the chance to go against another “young cat” in Samardo Samuels. Well, Samuels is looking forward to the challenge.

“I don’t want it to get any easier,” said Samuels, who’s coming off an 18-point, six-rebound and four-block performance against the Fighting Irish. “I want to play against the best. I think of myself as the best and I want to go against the best. It gets me more fired up.”

The inside game should be fun. The refs for this game are Pat Driscoll, Ed Hightower and Brian O’Connell. Yay. No Burr and Higgins.

Of course, Samuels is a freshman and one of the most sought after recruits last year. This goes back to the whole, Pitt does it without big name recruits (at the moment) along with  players with a chip on their shoulder.

“To be honest, some of us got snubbed, if you really want to look at it that way, from being those kind of recruits,” Fields said. “We’re a bunch of guys who won, who are hard-nosed, and I think we are a great example that you don’t always need the McDonald’s All-American on your team. You just need a group of guys who are willing to work and want to win.”

Added plus, since the game isn’t the “primetime” ESPN game no Dick Vitale. The playcalling crew is the superior pairing of Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery with Fran Fraschilla.

Under all news is local: another NY sportswriter discovers that Pitt has a lot of local NY products.

And as the wins pile up for the Panthers this season – right now they’re 16-0 heading into Saturday’s Big East showdown at Louisville – we would also like to point out that two of the Panthers’ leading contributors are a pair of local products, guard Levance Fields and forward Tyrell Biggs, a tandem lured to western Pennsylvania by current Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen while he was toiling as a Pitt assistant.

Fields, out of Brooklyn’s Xaverian HS, is averaging 10.3 points a game while the 6-8 Biggs, out of New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep, has chipped in with 8.5 points and 5.3 boards, third best on the team.

Good news, while Seth Davis puts Fields-Blair as the best inside-out combo in the country, he’s picking the Cards tomorrow. My sense is, that most are picking against Pitt. Or at least leaning that way.

The funny thing, about the Miami-UNC game being the WWL feature, is that it is — at best — the 4th or 5th best offering on ESPN/ABC. Wake Forest-Clemson might be the top of the list with both teams undefeated. Pitt-Louisville is a close second, though.





While all the upcoming games will be tough, I’m not so sure that the toughest will be vs the unranked team, WVU. You know the team and fans will be be way up, and we usually have problems there anyway.

The upcoming week will probably tell more than what we already know about Pitt — expect team to play up to its competition but not go undefeated thru this stretch. There will be at least a game or two or 3 in the next month where the team will not be able to make up for Blair’s foul trouble and Young’s off-night. Losing No. 1 ranking will be a little disappointing but eye is on the ultimate prize.

Comment by w bill 01.16.09 @ 5:55 pm

Pitt matches up very well with a very undisciplined L’ville team. I expect a win….with the “little Peacock” roaming the L ville sidelines…

Comment by dan 72 01.16.09 @ 6:14 pm

How do you know who the refs are? Thought that was always kept under wraps till they came thru the door!

Comment by judy 01.16.09 @ 7:04 pm

After the Cards try and fail with the press, they will switch to zone to make us beat them from the perimeter. I’m feeling our big men will be able to break their zone with crisp passes and key rebounds. I see Sam Young struggling a bit, but LeVance having a coming our party with 20+ points and GB with two or three highlight reel Alley Oops… we live to fight another day at #1!

Let’s go Pitt!

Comment by Pauly P 01.16.09 @ 7:55 pm

What I like about our team is that this year Pitt’s patented toughness is combined with tremendous talent and a very fine bench. We will beat Louisville Sat. night. Sam, Lavance Dejuan and Biggs are too strong and too skilled to lose against a far less experienced Louisville team. Go Pitt!

Comment by Mike

Comment by mbuncher 01.16.09 @ 8:15 pm

Louisville sports commentator just predicted a Cardinal win by 8-10 pts due to some match up problems that Pitt has with athletic teams (Gtwn?)
So I hope that someone mentions that to Blair and the boys before the game starts! Time to start establishing that we are truly the “Beasts of the East!”We have to get after it defensively from the get go–instead of waiting for the second half–although it is a sign of how spoiled we are when we complain about double digit wins!!

Comment by tph60 01.16.09 @ 11:06 pm

Every year I hear about how we have problems with “athletic” teams…

Huh?! What’s this “athletic” crap? So our guys are not athletic? I don’t understand this at all. Do you mean faster teams? Teams that can jump better? What the hell do they mean “athletic”?

I’ve seen Pitt play, and in my eyes, they’re pretty effing athletic!

It’s just that type of nonsense sports-speak that drives me up a wall! If you have no real good reason why you’re picking a team, don’t just make up some bullshit about them being more “athletic”.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 01.17.09 @ 1:57 am

pitt is legit this year, with the development by biggs (especially) and wannamker and dixon (Who by the way was a grade 40 commit to pitt last year)have tremendously added to pitts depth and offensive ability….i mean has anyone noted dixon’s ability to get to the hoop and finish it off? its been a while since we’ve seen a guard take it to the hole so hard and be able to finish so hard with no fluff.

p.s. not to mention fields dishin out he assists like he owns the floor.

from every angle we own the court. my only fear is blair getting in foul trouble and diggs having to put in a fair number of minutes. granted he’s played with people from time to time but just as many times he’s come up big he’s failed us too……..HAIL TO PITT….here’s to number one for at least another week.

Comment by chris 01.17.09 @ 3:57 am

chris, I guess when you email in the wee hours, you may not be in the best frame of mind for one reason or another. Diggs (Cassin) was shown the door last spring to make room for Dixon. Not to worry, McGhee will give Pitt the minutes allotted for Diggs. I do agree that Blair’s chronic fould problems can always be an issue.

Comment by w bill 01.17.09 @ 8:39 am

I actually like McGhee in Zone situations. He seems to have improved his passing, and to me, his offensive weaknesses are minimized when he has a little spacing to maneuver. Either way, Blair on the bench is NEVER a good thing!

Comment by Pauly P 01.17.09 @ 9:04 am

We’re 3 pt underdogs. We get no respect.

Comment by alcofan 01.17.09 @ 9:40 am

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