I tried to put this off. I was fielding calls all Sunday morning from family calling to see if I was “okay,” and then proceed to talk about the game and make me relive the whole thing all over again. Whee. Then I used the excuse of watching the games yesterday, other writing elsewhere, and probably a few too many drinks. But I need to put the final stamp on the game and ultimately the season with a rundown of the stories afterwards.
Then it’s on to the off-season speculations, thoughts and spring football. Somehow that just seems completely lacking compared to being able watching Pitt continuing to play meaningful basketball in April.
I keep trying to at least keep perspective in that this goes down as one of the greatest games in the NCAA Tournament.
With a berth in the Final Four as the prize, Villanova and Pittsburgh waged a fierce, skilled, and dramatic battle that was not decided until Levance Fields’s attempt at a 75-footer hit the square above the rim and fell to the floor.
“When the ball left Levance’s hands,” said Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, about and from whom more will be heard, “it was right on target. He gives a little less on that shot and we could be in another position right now.”
That position was a 78-76 victor. Villanova is going to the Final Four for the first time since an eerily similar Wildcats squad won it all in Lexington (the other one, silly) 24 years ago in a Final Four that featured three Big East teams. And if Louisville takes care of business today there will again be three Big East teams in the Final Four. But I can tell you right now none of them will have earned it more than Villanova.
I say this because the Wildcats had to beat Pitt, and they had to do it by making one more big play than a team that specializes in making big plays. Pitt is a team that lives famously on the edge. The Panthers had not had a smooth game in this tournament, but they had been able to out-tough and outfox the opposing team.
And the Panthers had come from 4 points down with 46.5 seconds to go, and again with 20 seconds left, tying the game on a pair of Fields free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining, having regained possession on a downcourt pass by Villanova’s Reggie Redding that went awry.
Given a second chance, Redding inbounded to Dante Cunningham, who tipped it over to a flying Reynolds, and the 6-foot-2-inch Villanova guard took off, taking it to the hoop with three Pitt players converging on him and sinking a runner with 0.5 seconds on the clock.
Somehow, that makes it sound simpler than it was.
But it wasn’t over until Fields launched his desperation shot, and, given his reputation for late-game heroics, it wasn’t surprising that what is a hopeless heave 99.9 percent of the time would actually be a very legitimate attempt to win the game.
No lesser ending would have done this game justice.
So, yeah, there were a few columns and comments on how this more than simply the best game of the Tournament this year. That it was an “instant classic,” and one of the best ever.
One shot, one play, one slight movement by a defender and maybe this doesn’t happen, maybe the game goes into overtime and the result is different. It was that close.
“We really felt like we should have won the game,” said Dixon, who continued to say how proud he was of his team, especially seniors Fields, Young and Tyrell Biggs. “We felt that we played hard, played smart, but it just didn’t go our way. … It was a split-second play.”
Coaches have said for years that the loneliest feeling in the NCAA tournament is losing in the Elite Eight. Reaching the Final Four has become the standard to which excellence is measured. Fair or not, the Final Four is what gets remembered most.
Wright lost an Elite Eight game in 2006, when the Wildcats were a favorite as a 1-seed. On Saturday they were the surprise as a No. 3 seed, beating the top-seeded Panthers. Wright said he was crushed after that Elite Eight loss to eventual champion Florida three years ago. The swing of emotion is even more dramatic when the game ends as it did for Nova on Saturday.
Tell me about it. The gut-wrenching pain of being on the wrong side of the game. The pain of being the loser.
Pittsburgh-Villanova featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes. The second half had eight ties and 13 lead changes. By the time Fields took the last, breathless shot, we no longer cared that the NCAA had stripped the building of all Celtics and Bruins banners and replaced the parquet with a generic court. By the time it was all over, we finally understood what all the fuss was about.
Villanova won.
The NCAA tourney won.
CBS won.
Boston won.
But Pittsburgh fell hard and it had to hurt.
There’s no easy way getting around the fact in the final few minutes it seemed to slip away from Pitt. Whether it was Jermaine Dixon’s turnover and foul for a 3-point play (whether still bothered by the groin pull from earlier or not), or Sam Young’s turnover, or the poor pass to Blair that resulted in a turnover.
Even then, though, Villanova made their own gaffes that appeared to even things out. And if Pitt had managed to send it to OT and won, it would have been ‘Nova that gave it away at the very end when they appeared to have it in hand — with their own mistakes. It didn’t go that way with the ‘Nova inbounds and Scottie Reynolds score. Instead, it was Pitt that gets the goat ears and Villanova that draws comparisons to their ’85 team. It sucks. It really does.
The one thing noted by many, this was on the supporting cast of Pitt — not the three primary players. DeJuan Blair and Sam Young were named to the regional team. Fields hit the key shots to keep Pitt going. Young did plenty in the NCAA Tournament to advance his draft stock while trying to carry the team many times.
One other story to note. Another piece noting how Coaches Dixon and Wright are poised to be the faces of the Big East in the coaching front in the near future if both are not lured elsewhere.
Could Wright — who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, who said he watched teary eyed when the Wildcats beat Georgetown for the title, who was an assistant for five years under Massimino — become the Jim Boeheim of Villanova? Could he and Dixon, in his sixth year as the coach at Pitt, lead the next generation of Big East lifers along with the Hoyas legacy John Thompson III?
This is a conference that launched itself with coaching personalities that ran extra large. So it may sound strange to pose the following question about the Big East, which has Villanova and UConn going to Detroit next weekend and Louisville positioned Sunday to make it a threesome, but here goes: are the upper-tier Big East teams the generic power coach’s opportunity of a lifetime, or are they more a place to build a résumé on the way to the dream job and score?
Yes, we know how much Jim Calhoun makes at Connecticut, and how he is not giving a dime back. But Ben Howland left Pitt for U.C.L.A., opening the door for Dixon, his assistant, in April 2003. Tom Crean bolted Marquette to rebuild at Indiana. John Beilein traded his Big East post at West Virginia for the Big Ten at Michigan. Some people believe that Rick Pitino, a longtime adventurer, is about due to get restless at Louisville.
We will see with questions looming in the next few weeks.
The last word, though will go to assistant Brandin Knight (who impressed Andy Katz on the sideline) about the end.
The assistant coach bid a few somber goodbyes and walked slowly back to a quiet Pitt locker room full of shattered dreams and broken hearts.
“Anytime you see kids end their careers like this, it’s difficult,” Knight said. “Levance (Fields) has been like a little brother to me. It’s tough. The uncertainty of a guy like DeJuan Blair, what his future may hold.
“Levance, I will never get to see him wear that No. 2 jersey again. Tyrell Biggs the same way, and Sam Young. I am going to miss them dearly.”
We all will.
It still stings (heck it took me a month or two to get over Sid Bream scoring from second base beating Bond’s throw home), but as I told everyone, “As a PITT fan, I hurt, but as a PITT fan I am happy for all these athletic students have done!”
Hail to PITT!
-al-
I’m with you, man. I’m in Tallahassee, and all my friends, most of whom are FSU students are coming up to me like my puppy died.
Great words by Brandon. Big up to the Class of ’03!
While the season may be over for us, the state of the program is strong.
HTP!
The thing making you sick is probably the AIDS you contracted from living in Philly. I suggest you immediately purchase a Malkin jersey, which I hear acts like AZT in these situations, and move out at once.
/Philly hate
I personally believe that PITT’s 2008 season exemplified what great college sports is all about. When you have a team that had three legitimate stars on it – and who all were pretty average recruits who grew into their game over the course of their careers – it shows that good things happen when the correct approach is taken.
The coaching of those players was superb, and not just by the HC – but by the staff who worked intimately over long hours with those kids to refine their games to fit into the HC’s overall approach. But more importantly, it was the way the players themselves buckled down to be the best they could be – with an eye to team first and individual accolades second. It really highlights the age old belief that when a player is ‘coach-able’ and can fit their desires into a common goal, then personal honors will follow. A real positive lesson in life as well as basketball right there.
To be on the losing end of a game like that is tough to be sure, but how the team graciously handled that loss is telling – and will be really recognized over the next few years, starting with the first practice of the 2009 season. There is no doubt in my mind that PITT has the correct man in place to make this disappointment a key element in the continued building of a quality program.
To think that PITT accomplished what it did with the personnel in hand is impressive. Of course, it’s easy to look at the roster and at our “Big Three” at this point and say we should have done more. However, it’s also heartening to look at the recruits Jamie Dixon is bringing in and see that given his ability to develop talent and team cohesiveness, there’s no reason why we can’t hope and expect our current success to continue. I certainly wouln’t bet against Jamie Dixon doing just that, would you?
So, the bottom line to me isn’t the fact that we failed to reach the Final Four – it’s much more basic than that. When I see the sustained run of winning basketball being played at PITT over the years – without one whisper of scandal and with the obvious high character of everyone associated with the program… that’s what makes me proud to be a PITT fan.
I congratulate Coach Dixon and every kid on the team. They played their hearts out this year and did something no other PITT team has ever done – and that alone should be enough to allow them to lift their heads up high and state “Yes, I played basketball at PITT” for the rest of their lives.
What you don’t know is that the Queen of England recently bestowed Knighthood on him. When he knelt before her he forgot the Latin he was supposed to recite. Instead he said “ma nishtana ha leila hazeh.”
The Queen, confused, turned to her grand chamberlain and asked, “Why is this Knight different from all other Knights?”
But nonetheless, when you have a Big 3 like we had, it is hard not to (and even prudent to) rely on them. Also note that Brown, Wannamaker and Gibbs all had ample time in crunch situations this year. For whatever reason, (1) Gibbs didn’t play as a freshmen in the 1st 2 NCAA games but did when he came to Boston, (2) Wannamaker knocked down plenty of key 3s but his shot didn’t show up at all in the NCAAs, and (3) while Brown played well mostly, he still plays too passive including the final defensive play.
But just remember, we lost a heartbreaker to a team that were just 2 days removed from dismantling a noted program with 6 MacDonald A-As and a HOF coach. That doesn’t make soften the blow, but at least it is a little more acceptable. When Blair said “we won the game, they just stole it from us” was (I beieve) him saying that they played well enough to win the game, ‘Nova was just a little better … (as evidenced by their 22-23 ft.)
Maybe it is their style of play, or that Jamie needs to do a better job with the players’ confidence, or it has more to do with the players’ athleticism … I don’t really know.
What really hurts is that we miss out on our shot at UNC. Villanova will get spanked, no way they shoot perfect from the free throw line again and UNC will not miss the opportunities Pitt did.
All in all it was a terrific season but it still hurts to be so close and not know when you will ever get back. But as a Pitt fan I’ve learned to deal with these losses, disappointment is nothing new. On the other hand, Pittsburgh sports has been pretty solid over the last 12 months: Penguins play for the cup, steelers win the super bowl, Pitt football gets to a New Years day bowl, and bball gets to the elite 8, the pirates…..never mind.
tough to be in Philly with all the obnoxious “Nova fans. If necessary–you can always go “nuclear”
“How’s that”Super Bowl thing going for them” !!!
Jamie has hurdled every arbitrary barrier that the naysayers said that he could not.
-They said he couldn’t get passed the Sweet 16
-They said that he couldn’t recruit elite talent
-They said we could never be ranked #1
Be patient and enjoy the ride, dude. Better days are ahead.
Yes. I can say we played well in the tournament. We didn’t care against a 16 — so what? We scored 49 points in the first half against OK State, while they remained one of the hottest teams in the country. What happened in the second half? We took over.
Then we played a top 20 team, and forced them into tough shots, made our big shots all game, and made every little play necessary at the end to win. (Remember Levance following Dixon’s “dunk” on the fast break? Good teams sometimes miss that play. Great teams don’t.) Then we played a Villanova team that is the worst matchup for us of any team in the BE, and maybe anyone in the country. I’d say our worst matchups in no particular order are: Nova, Memphis, Missouri, Michigan State, Carolina w/ Lawson. Granted, those are a lot of teams’ worst matchups, but still. Nova is a GREAT team. And we not only pushed them to the limit, we took the game back from them at the end, and made them make an historic play where their best player (who was one of the top recruits in the nation three years ago — most of those, like Kevin Durant, are in the NBA now) made the play of his life.
So did we play well in the tournament? Yes. We did. Did we play our best game? No. We played our best game in Hartford in a matchup of #1 vs. #3. National tv. Earned us a 1 seed. I have no qualms about that. Here’s the list of teams that played their best game of the year in the tournament: Missouri, Cleveland State, Siena, Michigan State, Villanova. I would argue every other team in the tournament failed to play their “best game of the year” in the tournament. That’s not the measuring stick though. Did we play well enough to win every game? Yes. Did we play better against Nova than we did last time? Yes. Did we take the best shot of one of the best 10 teams in the country on a neutral floor and still come within 1 second of overtime? Yes.
I’m sorry. You could’ve bitched about how this team played the BET. Or the 1st round game. But overall in the NCAAs this team played good basketball. Better defense than we played for a lot of the year, and a lot of timely offense. Tournament games are strange beasts because teams get hot, teams get cold, new players emerge (Roburt Sallie anyone?) other players fade away (Samardo Samuels!)and conferences that haven’t seen each other match up in foreign arenas with strange referee crews. Expecting teams to play one, two, or many of their best games is somewhat unrealistic. But I think we did play one of our best games against Nova. They just played THE BEST game of the year for them. And it was just enough to end our dream. Hats off to them.
And may God bless Tyrell Biggs, Sam Young, and Levance Fields with as much joy in their lives as they’ve brought to ours. You’ll all be in the hearts of Panther fans forever, and we’ll root for you wherever your lives take you. (And if the Big Fella heads for the draft, he’s still done more for us in two years than most players could in four.) Thanks guys. For everything.
HAIL TO PITT!
I am thinking that that comment could be said of 61 teams that made it to the NCAA tourney.
1) look at UK Self’s recent NCAA failures prior to last year with the great talent he had — he last to both Bradley and Bucknell in the 1st round in the past 5 years. You have to keep plugging away.
2) speaking UK, look how that team progressed this year after losing much to graduation … and note that Pitt is bringing in its best recruting crop in the modern era. While there is no reason to believe that next year’s team will again make the Elite 8, I fully believe it will be dancing next year.
It seems if Cal takes the UK job the players that committed at Memphis will be released from their commitment, only some will be able to follow Calipari to UK. The odd man out looks to be JUCU Power Forward Will Coleman who picked and signed with Memphis over Pitt in August. Pitt was is only other offer. He played one year at Miami Dade County College and would have 3 years remaining. He is 6″9, 230. Here are some more tidbits about him:
Miami Dade coach Matt Eisele:
“There is not a big in the country that runs the floor how he does. And there is not a big in the country that is as athletic as he is, either. He’s an absolute freak.”
Coleman, a 6-foot-9 post, is one of the most explosive power forwards in the junior college ranks.
Averaged 16/16 last season
