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February 7, 2009

Coach Dixon, Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun and Jay Wright would like to thank USF for that upset of Marquette. Not because it opens things wider to win the conference regular season. No, it’s a tremendous object lesson that you never assume a win. All it takes is one bad night.

I actually watched that game (my son fell asleep on my lap so I had nothing else to do). It was a horrible shooting night for Marquette. The Bulls did not do anything different. They didn’t have an incredibly great shooting night. Marquette just had a collectively bad game. Horrible shooting from the perimeter. Shockingly bad free throw shooting — even from good shooters.

So with that happening, you have to believe Pitt will come out and take care of business against DePaul. Regardless of whether they are winless in the conference and may not have Dar Tucker.

“We’re not sure,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said Thursday, “if he will be available.”

DePaul (8-15, 0-10) has lost 10 in a row and 15 of its past 19 games since a 4-0 start.

The news got worse this week when Tucker, averaging a team-high 18.5 points per game, suffered a sprained left ankle when he stepped on a teammate’s foot during the afternoon shootaround before Tuesday’s game with No. 8 Marquette.

Tucker, who scored a game-high 23 points against Pitt last season in a 98-79 Panthers victory, is being replaced in the starting lineup by 6-foot-10 senior center Matija Poscic.

“We’ve been practicing as if (Tucker) is going to play,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

Wainwright said his team showed positive signs in the Tucker-less 76-61 loss to Marquette.

Junior guard Will Walker scored a career-high 30 points, and freshman Michael Bizoukas recorded a career-high eight assists, keeping the Blue Demons close most of the game.

Jermaine Dixon is saying the right things about this.

“We’re not going to look past anybody,” junior guard Jermaine Dixon said. “We need every victory we can get. Even though they don’t have any victories in the Big East, they’re going to come out and compete. They’re going to play hard. We know that.

“A lot of their guys go hard. They fought Marquette hard. They took them down to the wire. They made a big comeback. We know they’re going to play hard, but we’ll be ready.”

The game is on ESPN FullCourt, MSG, MASN, and FoxSports Pittsburgh.

Consider this the open thread for the game.





Pitt should take care of business today and Monday.

I don’t think any of us will really know much about how tough Pitt is this year until they play UConn (and Marquette). They really only have one good win so far this year (Syracuse and that was at home, and maybe FSU — but that’s a stretch) and neither of those is exactly marquee material. You can tell me all the RPI stuff you want……..I’ll reserve judgment until they beat a team that finishes in the Top 10.

Don’t misunderstand me………I’m not being pessimistic……it’s just that nobody’s proven anything yet this year. We’re all anticipating that this is finally the year they get past the 16, but it’s all conjecture at this point.

I know everybody’s going to tell me that the Big East is all good and now they’re just starting to beat each other up………but I don’t buy it. I think Pitt, UConn, Marquette, L-ville are good and possibly The Cuse and Nova are decent. That’s it……..G-town, WVU and ND stink and the rest don’t deserve mention. (I’m not even sure Marquette is good because they haven’t played anybody either….but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt because those guards are veterans.)

So let me repeat……before everybody gets up in arms…….I think (and hope wildly) that the Panthers might be better this year. But nothing they’ve done so far this year proves it. Tough place to play Louisville — loss. Tough place to play Nova — loss. Let’s hope that’s not a pattern.

Comment by hugh green 02.07.09 @ 1:28 pm

I have to agree with Mr. Green. Although this is the most talented Pitt team since Charles Smith’s and Billy Knight’s they still have a lot to prove. They have to prove that they can win close games against the top seeds. Here’s hoping they exceed expectations which are very high.

Comment by gc 02.07.09 @ 1:42 pm

Hugh, I think more weight needs to be given to the Georgetown, Cuse and WVU wins. Georgetown had just beaten UCONN and were playing really well. They collapsed after we beat the hell out of them. Both Cuse and WVU were also playing really, really well and have suffered some setbacks of late. Just because those teams aren’t playing well now does not mean they weren’t good when we played them. I would also argue that the ND win was a good one, considering how well they played in the first half. The fact that we could come from behind and win was impressive. They hit 11 threes in the first half.

Comment by dan 02.07.09 @ 1:45 pm

Its a home game for Pitt. Many many Pitt fans in attendance.

Comment by Joey T 02.07.09 @ 2:02 pm

Also, Nva is really playing well as of late, only home loss was 1 point to Lousiville, and gave UConn a real good game at Storz.

While BE may be abit overrated, no other confernce is exactly distinguishing itself; i.e., Wake has 2 terrible losses in the past week. Long way to still.

Comment by w bill 02.07.09 @ 2:06 pm

we won’t beat many teams being this sloppy with the ball.

have to be careful not to look ahead to WVU. this game is playing out similarly to the rutgers game, where they had to keep from looking towards g’town.

Comment by pete'01 02.07.09 @ 2:29 pm

We are looking like total garbage in this game. No one really seems to care, and why should they, it’s DePaul – but if they lose, they should walk back from Chicago.

Sam Young needs to quit pretending he is a Harlem Globetrotter when he takes the ball up the court.

Comment by Joey D 02.07.09 @ 2:30 pm

what have all of the other teams proven? duke, north carolina? uconn’s best win was on monday. please explain what all the other teams have proven before questioning pitt’s schedule.

and to mention that pitt lost two games at tough venues is misleading. pitt had commanding leads in both of those games and would have blown the other team out at home or at neutral site. the home crowd was instrumental to both louisville and nova in those games. foul trouble was also a key factor.

pitt is every bit as good as any of the other top teams this year. whether or not pitt will get past the sweet 16 is beyond me, but the team is solid and has a very good chance to do so.

Comment by omar 02.07.09 @ 3:04 pm

Unknown stat: Fields falls to the floor on 88% of his field goals.

Comment by steve 02.07.09 @ 3:24 pm

Duke in OT against Miami at Cameron

Comment by Tiger Paul 02.07.09 @ 3:34 pm

With one more point Fields has a double double, Pitt shooting 50% from 3 pt range. Our 3pt shooting has really improved over the last 6 games.

Comment by Tiger Paul 02.07.09 @ 3:36 pm

Again I ask, we can win without Sam, but how can we win without Blair?

Comment by steve 02.07.09 @ 3:42 pm

Dana O’Neill loves DeJuan. Odds of them getting married? 80%

Comment by steve 02.07.09 @ 3:46 pm

30 points for Blair. The booty dominated today.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.09 @ 3:46 pm

Wish we rested Blair for the last 5-6minutes for the WVU game

Comment by Tiger Paul 02.07.09 @ 3:49 pm

agreed Steve!! I’m pretty sure that we’re gonna see commentators starting to wear Oakland Zoo shirts soon!!!

woohoo!!! AWESOME 2nd half!!! 🙂

Comment by Caroline 02.07.09 @ 3:52 pm

..and yes, Dana O’Neill wants the Baby Shaq Attack. How can you not like Blair though, he’s an awesome human being.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.09 @ 3:53 pm

Caroline, I’m still awaiting your rendition of “Hail to Pitt.” Pleeeaaasssee?

Comment by steve 02.07.09 @ 3:55 pm

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed that Pitt hadn’t come close to playing 40 minutes of bb this year. In the 2 losses, they played a decent 1st half, but terrible down the stretch. But in most of the wins, they play a so-so 1st half, and then dominate the 2nd half.

They seem to play up or down to the their competition, and that may not be a bad thing. They often don’t get style points, but on the other hand, just two short weeks ago, I thought Duke was looking like the best team around.

Comment by w bill 02.07.09 @ 3:55 pm

Most top ten college teams have trouble playing 40 full minutes unless it is against the top teams. It doen’t concern me. Pitt played hard and turned it on after a slow start.

Comment by Tiger Paul 02.07.09 @ 4:04 pm

I guess when you’re 21-2 the only thing left to complain about is how you win…

Comment by Gruber 02.07.09 @ 4:24 pm

So, now we are an offensive powerhouse? Fantastic! Good things happen when the perimeter game matures. Brad and Dixon have turned this team into a scary one to defend against. It is possible for us now to have 5 guys on the court that can all hit 3 pointers. That’s hard to prepare for.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.09 @ 4:39 pm

To all – this is the best Pitt team I have ever seen and maybe the best all time….Been following since 66…How far they go will be up to them of course…but we have the best guards ever and the best big man in the country. Only weakness is speed and quickness at point guard and a head case in Sam Young

Comment by dan 72 02.07.09 @ 6:32 pm

agreed, except that Fiels makes up for his physical shortcomings with smarts and instinct

Gruber, I guess my previous post made it looked like I was complaining … my point, which I didn’t make very well, is that while Pitt never comes out and blows a team out of the gym (like Duke did to Maryland 2 weeks ago), they are more than competitive every game (not like Duke which was just blown out by 27 pts)

Comment by w bill 02.07.09 @ 7:30 pm

…the Gold and Blue shall wave forever on high through fair and stormy weather, we’ll sing our praises far and wide until the end of time!!

in case somebody is unfamiliar with this, it means Hail to PITT!!

Comment by IronManEE68 02.08.09 @ 12:00 am

I just don’t get where people think Sam’s a head case. He always plays hard and we can’t win without him.
Levance was incredible today – 16 assists ties Pitt’s record. (and only 1 turnover).

Comment by Crackbaldo 02.08.09 @ 12:37 am

is anyone else annoyed with how inconsistent the refs are? today was a freaking hack fest with plenty of walking but the calls were sparse. i think this is why pitt gets into trouble: one game the refs are letting them play “big east” basketball and the next game the refs are calling everything.

the louisville seemed to be a game where the refs called a tight game and while i didn’t see the nova game i’m sure it was similar.

Comment by drk 02.08.09 @ 12:49 am

I liked the stat on Fields hitting the ground on 88% of his field goals. That’s awesome.

Omar – you’re right. Not too many other teams have proven much either, though some have definitely played some better out-of-conf competition than Pitt.

I think the article in the PG today kind of summed up my feelings about the state of college hoop right now. All the good players leave early or skip college entirely and it creates a general parity and mediocrity around the country. You realize it when you watch an NBA game and you don’t recognize half the players because they’re either foreign or they went from HS straight to the big time. The NCAA and the NBA have to get together and find a way to get the good players into college and keep them there for 2/3 developmental yrs, because the system right now is ruining the quality of the college game.

Comment by hugh green 02.08.09 @ 9:40 am

To start, maybe the NBA can quit drafting all of the underclassmen or underdevoped foreign player so highly. I realize that you can’t pass up a Lebron or Koby, but for every one of those, there also is a Kwame or that foreigner Detroit took with the 2nd pick who was so bad that I don’t have a clue what is name is.

Comment by w bill 02.08.09 @ 9:52 am

Why do some fans think Sam Young is a headcase? HuH, maybe its the look that he always has,never smiling always down looking. A couple of seasons of that influences folks perception of him. Hey Sam smile for us sometimes

Comment by buzz 02.08.09 @ 9:55 am

buzz, didn’t you watch the game yesterday? He clearly wasn’t focused especially in the 1st half when he commtted SIX TURNOVERS. Also, he didn’t hustle twice in transition when DePaul stole passes … you don’t remember Jamie yanking him after one of those? Which game were you watching?

BTW, the 6 TOs and his yanking were written about in one of the PGH papers today if you don’t believe me.

Comment by w bill 02.08.09 @ 10:11 am

Stats on Attempted foul shots for the season. Pitt has attempted 442 for the year. Conn. 625,Marq.626 ,Villi.567,Syr.607, NC.607, OKla.652 and UCLA 417. What is that telling us? Is it just a coinsidence that Howland and Dixons teams shoot the least amount of Foul shots in the country. Why is that? It doesnt have to do with how much we foul, because on the avearge Pitts total fouls per game is about avg. for all teams in the NCAA. Id like to get some opinions on this subject, I have some thoughts on it,but being such a phyical team and were always mixing it up you would think that we would shoot as much or more than other teams. What is it that causes us not to get to the line as much. Im not saying REF bias or anything either. But is it in or off. set? How is it we dont get fouled as much as 95% of the teams?

Comment by buzz 02.08.09 @ 11:29 am

W.Bill, I did not get to see the game since I was coaching one at that time. Sorry. But even if he is playing well he has that scorn.

Comment by buzz 02.08.09 @ 11:30 am

Buzz, one of the big reasons is the shot selection by Dixon and Howland teams. Arguably they are some of the best teams in shot selection. Their guys aren’t usually forcing shots, which can at times lead to fouls. They usually are getting decent open looks and aren’t getting fouled. Another reason is their unselfishness. I’d be willing to bet that they get assists on more baskets than most teams in the country. When your getting baskets on assists its usually open looks. Guys pass up tough looks for teammates open looks. Pitt and UCLA both run systems and their players believe in the systems. They don’t rely on one on one games and driving as much as many teams do. Because of this they aren’t getting a lot of shots that they are drawing contact on. Watching their games I’d say there is nothing wrong with this. I think you’d be hard pressed to find people who thing the panthers aren’t taking good, open shots most of the time.

Comment by Yinzer 02.08.09 @ 11:56 am

I think, at this point in the season and for his own good, Sam should begin focusing more on basketball than writing mission statements.

Comment by steve 02.08.09 @ 12:29 pm

I also think, as crazy as this may sound, is that beacuse of Blair’s physique, refs don’t call as many fouls that he draws compared to others. I’ve seen more than a few replays where he was hit on the arm when making a shot, but wasn’t called

Comment by w bill 02.08.09 @ 12:35 pm

2 Comments–the first to Hugh Green and others who keep on with the “Pitt hasn’t played anyone”. Pitt is one of the top 4 teams in the country, out of the 340+ out there. If you are saying that most of there games have not been against the top 4, you are correct. If you think that most have not been against the top 10% of those teams, you are incorrect.

About the guy in the PG talking about no elite teams in college bball. These guys just need to fill up space in the paper. Three months ago, everyone had already handed the national championship to Carolina, because they were the greatest team ever.

Comment by Fred 02.08.09 @ 12:44 pm

As to Pitt not drawing fouls. Pitt has no one that goes to the basket with authority. That’s what generates fouls. Young can do it, but he often chooses not to.

Comment by Fred 02.08.09 @ 12:45 pm

Pitt really needs to step it up defensively. The defense on this team is not where it needs to be right now. We are giving up way too many easy looks. Granted in most of the games we have played recently the score has been out of hand relatively early, but I would like to see the defensive intensity picked up a bit. Sometimes your offense just isn’t going to be there and you need a solid defense to pick up the slack. The team hasn’t played a solid defensive game since Syracuse a few weeks back. Hopefully they play with more intensity tomorrow night. WVU is pretty good and they know what to expect having played us a few weeks ago. Cinci is pretty solid as well. I’m sure Coach Dixon has noticed the same things I have and will make sure they play harder on that end on Monday.

Comment by omar 02.08.09 @ 2:14 pm

Fields, Dixon, Brown and especially Wannamaker all have the ability to go to the rack with authority. I think Wannamaker has been pretty consistent in drawing fouls. Young just doesn’t seem to be getting any calls. That phantom charge yesterday was just complete nonsense.

Comment by omar 02.08.09 @ 2:16 pm

I’ve been noticing Pitt’s “Defensive Efficiency” rating by Pomeroy seems to be slipping as of late, when at one time, we were in the top 10 (now 35-ish). Any concerns with this–where’s Pitt’s vaunted defense?

When you can put up > 90 points against teams like Robert Morris and Depaul, you don’t need much defense, I suppose. But can Pitt still buckle down when they need it, such as they might against Cincy and UConn?

Comment by Colt Convert 02.08.09 @ 3:57 pm

Hey Fred……….I’m not sure how you could possibly think the quality of the college game hasn’t suffered since kids started leaving early or skipping school entirely. It doesn’t take sportswriters in the paper to notice that. I’ll give you one obvious example — there are no talented big men out there. Why do you think Thabeet gets so much attention? He’s the only 7-footer I can think of currently playing the college game. All the big men with potential head straight to an NBA bench, most of them without stopping for a year of school.

Carolina is a perfect example of the problem. Some of the guys on that roster will play in the NBA, but nobody is a guarantee and none of them look like they have star potential. Contrast that with the days of Jordan, Daugherty, Perkins, Reid, Kenny Smith, Rasheed Wallace, Worthy, Felton, Jamison, Vince Carter, Lynch, Fox etc. etc.

If UNC can’t put together a team of obvious NBA players, including some future stars, that should tell you something about the talent pool and how it’s been affected.

Comment by hugh green 02.08.09 @ 5:33 pm

My reaction to this morning’s PG article lamenting the absence of premiere NBA talent among this year’s college teams was “so what?”. So there’s some parity. Is that so bad? So a new team rises to the #1 ranking practically every week. A competetive season where a host of teams have a reasonable shot at the big prize is a lot more interesting than watching a team of should-be NBA talent pound the heck out of their competition.
If a kid chooses the NBA money over college ball then I wish him the best and give the scholarship opportunity to someone who wants it.
Call me old-fashioned but I’d prefer to see a bunch of equally talented college kids, well coached, and playing their guts out for every win on thier way to a tournament bid and maybe a national title.

Comment by Docktor Pitt 02.08.09 @ 8:22 pm

Competition and well-coached teams are great, but at some point you want to see great players make great plays.

If it’s all about equally-talented college kids playing their guts out, then you should be happy with Feinstein’s book and the Patriot League. (I’m not being facetious…..I love that kind of college basketball, but it’s not what I want to watch in March and April.)

The Florida nat’l championship teams of a couple yrs ago are a great example. They were a great exception to the current standard because they stuck together a while longer because they knew they had a chance to go back-to-back. Most of the time guys like Horford and Brewer would have skipped college or stayed one year and we never would have seen that team make history.

I want to watch a “bunch of teams of should-be NBA talent pound the heck out of” each other…………and that’s not what we get to see these days.

Comment by hugh green 02.09.09 @ 8:02 am

The only player on those Florida teams that is doing a thing in the NBA is Horford. The rest are bums.

Comment by omar 02.09.09 @ 10:17 pm

Even Horford isn’t lighting it up. He averages 10 points and 8 boards. Brewer can barely get off the bench. Blake Griffin is going to be a solid NBA player for quite some time. Thabeet is going to be a solid player. Gerald Henderson. Jordan Hill. Kalin Lucas. Damian James. Patrick Patterson. Jerel McNeal. Jerome Dyson. Greg Monroe. Dejuan Summers. Dejaun Blair. Johnny Flynn. Jeff Teague. Farouq-Aminu from Wake. Ebanks for WVU will play in the leauge. Harangody. Ellington. This is all off the top of my head.

You are thinking about Lebron James-Kobe Bryant type players. They don’t come along that often. Remember there are only 24 NBA All-Stars and most of them are the usual suspects (KG, Paul Pierce, Kobe, AI, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki etc.). NBA All-Stars don’t come along every year.

Comment by omar 02.09.09 @ 10:27 pm

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