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March 20, 2009

If They Were Reading Clippings

Filed under: Basketball,NCAA Tourney — Chas @ 8:11 pm

Hopefully what they read after the ETSU game will have an impact. Frankly, if I’m Coach Dixon, I scatter these throughout their locker room. I slip them under their doors tonight. Let them read some of this.

Your bracket is screwed. Yes, you. Because you picked Pittsburgh to win the East Regional, and maybe even to beat someone in the Final Four. Hell, maybe you got really ambitious and picked the Panthers, who did after all look so dominant in the almighty Big East this season, to win the whole 2009 NCAA tournament.

Well, you’re screwed. Your bracket is screwed. Because this Pittsburgh team was lucky to beat 16th-seeded East Tennessee State in the first round on Friday. Pittsburgh won 72-62, but the margin was that comfortable only in the final seconds. It was a one-possession game in the final 2½ minutes, and if ETSU could shoot at all — a weakness I highlighted Thursday after watching its dreadful shooting in practice — the Bucs would have beaten Pittsburgh.

By 20.

Pittsburgh was that bad Friday, which means your bracket is that screwed. Don’t be mad at me. Be mad at Pittsburgh, which was constructed by Jamie Scheyer-Face, er, Jamie Dixon, who coached Friday with more intensity than any of his players showed. Or any two of his players showed. Or any five of them.

Let them know the doubts aren’t just back for one game. They are questioning Pitt’s heart. They are questioning the team’s fire and if they can show up for more than one big game. Make them get that chip be about sustained quality. Not just one game.

Whether Pitt is actually favored on Sunday against Oklahoma State, it will become a trendy “upset” pick.

In describing the ETSU game, Pitt center DeJuan Blair described his team’s offense as one that’s not going to blow anyone out. They average 78 points per game. “We’re the type of team that likes to slow the game down and let the game come to us.” How well that plays against OSU remains to be seen. The Cowboys proved earlier in the day in Dayton that they can run with just about anyone, taking their up-tempo game against a more rigid offense, Tennessee’s, with a solid center presence. OSU, on the season, drops an average of 81.

The Cowboys will go right at Blair, attacking him with backdoors and pick-and-rolls to the basket, as they did against Tennessee. With any luck, they’ll lure him into foul trouble. But even if Blair keeps out of trouble (as he did against ETSU) and repeats his solid first-round effort (16 boards; 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting), he’ll need some serious assistance from his guards, who weren’t up to the task today. Fields and Jermaine Dixon combined for just six points.

“We know how good we are, but we didn’t show it today,” Fields said. “We weren’t rattled by [ETSU] or anything. We just have to execute much better next game.” Or else.

Sure.

There’s no way this is a No. 16 seed,” Dixon said of ETSU. “I watched them play.”

Fine, maybe ETSU is not a #16 seed. Even if they are a #13 seed, Pitt should not have struggled like this.  We’ve seen this Pitt team play all season. They are capable of so much more — if they want to.





Watched the post-game media conference. The ETSU players said, they knew we were weak on the defensive boards and that’s why they hit their offensive boards with 3-4 players.

Coach Bartow was class, saying PITT was just too loaded, and gave credit to PITT’s D and the play of Blair, Young, and Fields. He said for them to win today, everything would have had to gone nearly perfect, and it didn’t. He also acknowledged a #16 team playes much looser than a numebr one seeed, and said his big hope was to get ahead by a point or two and have PITT feel more pressure. At the end, he once again gave all the credit to PITT, saying, “PITT is a great, great team!”

So now we know…beat the press and slow it up at times on offense…play under control…forget the seeds, just play with the passion and fire we saw earlier this year…PIIT is still IT!!!

Hail to PITT!
-al-

Comment by Oregon_Panther 03.20.09 @ 9:21 pm

HAVE TO TAKE BETTER CARE OF THE BALL

Comment by w bill 03.20.09 @ 9:27 pm

after reading Kevin Gorman’s fb blob, I found something more disturbing than Pitt’s play vs ETSU “Stull sprinting untouched through the middle of the defense on a draw, then outracing weak-side linebacker Max Gruder in the open field.” (note that Gruder is 1st team on depth chart)

Comment by w bill 03.20.09 @ 9:51 pm

This team is displaying a trait common with many Walt Harris teams — they play to the talent they are against. Dominate Uconn, phone it in at Providence.

That JD quote really disturbs me. ETSU really, really blows. I can’t remember a tourney team shooting that poorly and not losing by 30. What does he mean by saying that they should have been seeded higher? Was he making an excuse for our craptacular play?

Comment by Chuck Morris 03.20.09 @ 11:13 pm

This is a team that is being blinded by the size of its heads.” hey we beat uconn twice(without their best gaurd btw) so all we have to do is show up. Wake up guys your effort these last 2 games has been pathetic and embarassing.
How does Dixon come out after this debacle and spew garbage about how good Pitt played and how ETSU was better than the seed they got. Pitt was lucky to even be in this game, they simply were not prepared for it and had they lost (as they should have) Dixons job status should have seriously been reevaluated.

Comment by Mazz6668 03.21.09 @ 2:21 am

“A game like this keeps you on their toes,” Young said. “It makes you want to go back to drawing board and prepare a little harder and give a little more effort than you did tonight.”

…well, it shouldn’t be too hard for Pitt to show more effort than they did against ETSU.

Comment by Joey D 03.21.09 @ 7:14 am

What time does Pitt play on Sunday? Anyone recommend a site for the TV schedule? Even CBS’s site is lacking any detail on the game times tomorrow. Odd.

Comment by Desmondo 03.21.09 @ 7:19 am

Again we made a mediocre team look good, and if ETSU could shoot at all, we would have made them look great. The Big Dance is supposed to be a “second season,” but we looked unprepared, tired and disinterested. From here on out, if Pitt is to succeed, we better be willing to leave it all out on the floor, as there aren’t anymore ETSUs on the road to the National Championship. To get where we want to go we’re going to have to play like a number one seed, and stop playing down to the competition. The line on the ETSU game was 26, and should have been 40 if one matched up the potential talent of both teams. As Gene Hackman said in “The Replacements,” …”HEART, MILES and MILES of HEART!” Its time to play with the HEART this team, and all the teams in recent memory have had.
HAIL TO PITT!

Comment by Rich 03.21.09 @ 7:25 am

Post-gazette says the game is at 2:30.

Comment by Mac 03.21.09 @ 7:31 am

Chuck, Hubert Davis (ESPN) made a point after the game that when a team plays with as high of energy that ETSU did (and they were all over the floor), then the shooting usually suffers, especially at the foul line. I think this was very evident — they outhustled Pitt in the backcourt, forecourt, and under the boards but it is hard to slow down the body down for the proper form and focus required for good shooting.

Comment by w bill 03.21.09 @ 7:47 am

CBS Sportsline lists tomorrow’s game at 2:50.

Comment by w bill 03.21.09 @ 8:00 am

This team has played like crap more and more often as the season’s gone on. It’s not injuries and it’s not a one-game lapse. I blame coach Dixon for 1) apparently not giving the players enough grief when the make stupid decisions and freelance 2) not making any changes in his game-plan, under any circumstance and 3) just not getting this team mentally ready to play. This isn’t the first time a Dixon team has mentally crumbled and it’s not the first wildly undisciplined team either.

Comment by Frank 03.21.09 @ 8:00 am

If nobody else can’t see that Fields simply isn’t “right” then I don’t know what else to type. When he made his first shot yesterday I thought maybe he was back, but after that EVERY SINGLE SHOT was short – way short. I almost want to see him shoot a brick off the back of the rim so I know he is at least cognizant of the fact he needs to follow through or stop with the fade away crap. I know he’s hurt and runs the floor well, but he’s turning into Carl Krauser for me.

Comment by Bobby 03.21.09 @ 8:36 am

All those bridges in the ‘burgh almost had a new purpose yesterday. If we’d lost that game, a lot of people would have been jumping in the Mon. That was scary.

Comment by Greg in New Orleans 03.21.09 @ 8:47 am

[…] Pitt off as even having a shot at advancing past the Sweet 16, let alone making a Final Four.  See Pitt Blather for a roundup of what the media has to […]


A day after the loss and thinking how the Panthers season has gone I have a much more positive feeling about the game Sunday. Every single time this team has been rated number one this year, and every single time people have talked about them as the best, it seems as if they read into it and come out and play worse than we ever thought was possible. However, this team plays like animals when they have a chip on their shoulder. Blair already had that chip yesterday. Now, if they are reading the press and hearing what people are saying (which it seems this team likes to do) they will know that everyone is picking them to lose. And lose early. For some reason they need a chip on their shoulder, I believe this will give this team that chip and they will come out strong. Although, my biggest concern is Fields health. He just is not moving at all like he can, and can’t elevate on his jump shot. Hopefully he has a miraculous recovery.

Comment by Ontario Lett's Go Pitt 03.21.09 @ 9:32 am

Pitt will be fine tomorrow if they play with a little more intesity. Offensively they played very well yesterday except for the turnovers, especially in the first half. Pitt hit timely jumpshots and didn’t fold when East Tennessee made it known that they would not go away. Defensively Pitt played okay. Fields played a really bad game. I don’t think he will play any worse. Jermaine Dixon really struggled as well. And, finally, Biggs needs to play better. Pitt is not a strong rebounding team when Biggs is on the bench. Gilbert Brown is the worst defensive rebounder on the team. I don’t understand why he refuses to box out. Pisses me off.

Comment by Omar 03.21.09 @ 10:38 am

Been watching Pitt Bball tapes of games in Jan and early Feb all morning…specifically Fields and Jermaine Dixon….yesterday Fields winced alot after shots but most of all he could not cross over dribble and go left with any quickness.
That also carried over on his D. His man beat him all day….while he has never been the fastest player on the floor, Fields in these tapes is sneaky quick, especially with his hands and first step off the dribble.

Not yesterday or at the BE….he was a real liability and has not been to the foul line in almost 3 games, sure sign of trouble.

JDixon is my biggest enigma…cannot understand why he not only has stopped shooting his J’s, but
why he is not even pump faking a shot. Just get’s it and passes it on…this allows the “D to collapse on Blair/Biggs and overplay Sam Young.

This is big trouble and I think Coach has to make a move to fix it.

Having said all this….I know this team is well coached…the problems’yesterday were in panic and execution.

Believe this staff and this team will pull it together and beat OSU in a close one.

Go Pitt!

Comment by Dan 72 03.21.09 @ 10:39 am

How will we defend against the OSU guard show. I can’t see Blair chasing around a guard all day. Will we see some zone today or will that play into their ouside shooting?

Comment by Tiger Paul 03.21.09 @ 11:08 am

Wow…for Greg Doyel to say that Blair did not play with intensity tells me that he did not watch the game…This game was close for one main reason…Turnovers!!! Convert 3 or 4 of those to a 2 point bucket and now we are talking about a 16 to 18 point win…And for all those (you too Mr. Doyel) who say the “game was closer than the socre”…nope, sorry it was a 10 point win for the Panthers. All of the minutes in the game count. Anyone who watches any basketball knows that good teams pull a lot of games out at the end. One last point, did anyone notice that ETSU took 77 shots in a 40 minute game! A lot of those shots were missed because they were bad shots to take…rushed, well defended, or just plain 30 feet from the bucket. It was not a pretty win, but it is win. I suspect we will see a far different Pitt team on Sunday.

Comment by HbgFrank 03.21.09 @ 11:42 am

Early Vegas Line on the game tomorrow…Pitt by 8

Comment by Dan 72 03.21.09 @ 12:33 pm

Bobby – 100% correct.

Comment by KeyboardKev 03.21.09 @ 1:22 pm

“had they lost (as they should have) Dixons job status should have seriously been reevaluated”

Mazz, I want to make sure that I understand you. Jamie has been head coach for seven years. He has averaged approximately 27 wins per year and has never won fewer than 20 games in any year. He has brought the team to the NCAA tourney every year, and you think that his status as head coach should have been re-evaluated if ETSU beat Pitt yesterday. Is that accurate?

Comment by BigGuy 03.21.09 @ 1:57 pm

villanova’s performance is encouraging. They looked horrendous vs. american for most all of the game yet today they are killing UCLA with 8 min left. Hopefully Pitt can come out with the fire Nova has.

Comment by Ontario Lett's Go Pitt 03.21.09 @ 2:01 pm

“Jamie has been head coach for seven years. ”

This computer of mine keeps posting my messages inaccurately. I typed “six years” and it posted “seven years”. Maybe Chas has a bug in his software.

Comment by BigGuy 03.21.09 @ 2:04 pm

Calling for re-evaluating Dixon’s status if we had lost is one of the most completely and utterly ridiculous things I have ever heard. Come on. I hope I am misinterpreting your comment , Mazz.

Comment by TJ 03.21.09 @ 7:07 pm

I stand by what i said about Dixon, How many times are we gonna watch his teams play their worst at the tourney. You guys are happy with regular season success, thats fine. You obviously think its fine for this team to continually lay eggs in the biggest games. Regular season and Big East tournament titles are great and we all enjoy it.
But NOBODY REMEMBERS THAT SHIT, ALL THEY REMEMBER IS WHAT YOU DO IN THE BIG DANCE. Ask a recruit if he would want to go to a school that just lost to a 16 seed.
And if what I said is one of the most completely and utterly ridiulous things you’ve ever heard, than you missed Dixons post game comments.

Comment by mazz6668 03.21.09 @ 11:46 pm

Like I said, one of the most ridiculous comments I’ve ever heard.

I did not miss Dixon’s post game comments. I’m sure he was not pleased at all with how the team played, but he’s not the type of coach who is going to bash him team and players in front of the public in a post-game press conference. “Continually laying eggs”…yes, we’ve not made the final four. But for the most part, we’ve lost to good or better teams. Last year this team was left for dead before they made their run in the Big East tournament. They lost to a solid Mich. St. team. The whole “laying egg” thing is a misconception. What Dixon has done with the talent that he has had is nothing short of amazing. This is the first year we’ve actually had the horses to make a legitimate title run. I’ll be disappointed if we lose, of course, but calling for Dixon to be fired is absurd.

Comment by TJ 03.22.09 @ 8:05 am

TJ…I agree with you 100%

Comment by HbgFrank 03.22.09 @ 7:33 pm

And just an FYI, with the win today against Ok. State Coach Dixon has more tournament wins than any other coach in ncaa history in their first six seasons. So gimme a break with the “re-evaluating” thing.

Comment by TJ 03.22.09 @ 9:25 pm

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