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November 16, 2009

I still miss Bloom County.

Pitt survived its game with Wofford. Time will tell just how tough Wofford was. Off-hand and without having seen the game, I’d say Woodall and Gibbs shooting a combined 6-22 was a big issue.

That said, it still went in as a win. Gary McGhee is not Blair, or Gray or even Ontario Lett. Still he’s showing progress.

Plus, while the defense was spotty in the first half, they held Wofford late.

Pitt, which trailed 31-24 at halftime, clamped down on Wofford defensively. The Terriers, who returned all five starters from a 16-14 Southern Conference team, scored only six points in the final 6:22 of the game.

“I thought we were in good shape, but they made more plays than we did when it counted most,” Wofford coach Mike Young said. “Our guys are devastated that we didn’t finish the deal. They feel like we blew it.”

Coach Dixon felt that the team would respond better to reassurances than lots of screaming at halftime.

Dixon started five new players for the first time in his career, and it showed in the early stages. There were uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns, bad turnovers and poor blockouts on rebounds. That was the most disappointing part for Dixon, whose program was built around defense and rebounding.

Even though things looked bleak with a 31-24 deficit at the intermission, Dixon took a different approach in the locker room.

“I didn’t hop all over them,” he said. “I told them, ‘I guarantee you that we play better in the second half.’ It was almost like we were too pumped up to play.”

That was the result of the emotional pregame ceremony when the players watched taped video messages from the four departed players who meant so much to the team a year ago — Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs.

“It was real emotional, seeing those guys,” Wanamaker said. “Then, we had the jitters. It was everyone’s first start, so we were nervous.”

Hopefully. We will see a little more tomorrow  when Pitt plays at 5:30 as part of the ESPN Hoops Marathon. The game is on ESPN2. Andy Katz at ESPN2 has a list of reasons to watch all the games.

14. The imploding program: Binghamton. This almost feels like slowing down to see the damage left by a wreck on the side of the road. After six of the Bearcats’ best players (who accounted for 89 percent of the scoring) were thrown off the team in September, just three bodies remain of the defending America East champs, and the roster includes six walk-ons. Former Temple star Mark Macon got his first win as interim coach when the Bearcats beat Division II Bloomsburg 54-49 on Saturday. But trying to beat Pitt at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2 is a different story.

15. The next DeJuan Blair: Dante Taylor, Pitt. Taylor has the physique but doesn’t muster the Blair effort just yet. He scored 13 points and grabbed five boards in Pitt’s comeback win over Wofford on Friday night. The Panthers will need a consistent effort out of Taylor.

Yeah. Before Binghamton self-detonated, it looked like that could have been a very tough game. Not going to be able to liveblog it. In fact, I have to DVR-delay watching. There will be an open thread, of course.

As big a recruiting weekend as it was for Pitt football, the Pitt basketball team is already angling for 2011 with Sterling Gibbs stopping by unofficially. I’m not sure how serious either side is right now, but the lines are still open. Even plans for 2012 are afoot as Omar Calhoun, a 6-4 sophomore guard already offered by Villanova and getting interest from Louisville and Kansas took a visit.

“It was a tremendous visit,” said Calhoun Sr., “Coach Knight has been incredible and it was great because we were able to see what kind of emphasis Coach Dixon and their program put on supporting their players academically. Seeing that piece of the puzzle was very important to both Omar (a 4.0 student) and I. It was also really nice to see the way they still have their arms around players from the past as well as both Carl Krauser and Ronald Ramon were around, two New York guys, and still welcomed with open arms even though they’re no longer student athletes. That was impressive and definitely showed that it’s a family at Pitt. It was obvious to me they really care about the kids on and off the floor and give them a lot of individual attention.” Calhoun was also impressed with the Peterson Events Center.

“The facilities were beautiful,” said Calhoun, “and we were able to experience a true game-day atmosphere because the game was very competitive and exciting, they showed a lot of grit in coming back to win that game and their crowd was into it. Coach Dixon was gracious enough to spend time and talk to us after and expressed that Omar is a priority for them.” Asked about any list his son might have in his head Calhoun Sr. said: “After that visit Pitt has to be right at the top, it’s hard to imagine anything topping it.”

Sounds nice. Again, this is only a high school sophomore. Take it all with a grain of salt.

This time, next week Pitt will have a tough game against the Wichita State Shockers in Kansas City. One thing to note, while Pitt will still be without Jermaine Dixon (probably) and Gilbert Brown, the Shockers will lack their senior starting guard and leading scorer.

Wichita State is already 1-0 without leading scorer senior guard Clevin Hannah, who was suspended for the first three games because he wasn’t properly certified last season. The error was deemed to be administrative. That’s too bad for the Shockers. Hannah misses the Arkansas-Moticello game but will also have to sit out the CBE semifinal against Pitt in Kansas City, a game the Shockers would (and maybe still can) have a shot at winning.

Pitt’s got a couple games between now and then to keep improving.





I also miss Bloom County. Bill the Cat, acckkkk !!!!
Gary McGhee…think Torrie Morris without freckles. Start him every game and bench him after 2 minutes.
Hail to Pitt.

Comment by Fear The Mustache 11.16.09 @ 9:57 pm

Ben Howland’s UCLA Bruins are on ESPN right now. I will forever root for any Ben Howland team for what he did for Pitt basketball. Plus, are there better cheerleaders in America than the UCLA squad?

Comment by Bryan 11.17.09 @ 12:13 am

well Bryan, you apparently didn’t root hard enough. I do agree that Ben did a great job here and always wish him well except when he plays us.

Comment by wbb 11.17.09 @ 7:47 am

I am glad to hear you all still miss us here in Bloom County. We are all doing fine. Steve is now on his 5th marriage with a 21 year old cutie who he met at his local Starbucks..Bill the cat came out his 10th rehab stint a year ago and has yet to relapse and Opus is also now married to a woman who looks a lot like Sarah Palin…they are accepting their 1st child in Feb. As you know we are all huge Pitt fans here in Bloom County…we had a huge party last weekend to watch the Pitt/ND game. Go Panthers, Milo

Comment by Milo Bloom 11.17.09 @ 10:05 am

I hope Knight gets a head coaching chance soon, preferably at Duquesne or Robert Morris so he can stay in the city. He’s done a great job as an assistant.

Comment by Chris 11.17.09 @ 11:29 am

If you want to “root” for someone for what he did for Pitt Basketball,then it is Steve Pederson that you should be rooting for. It was his wise decision to tear down Pitt Stadium and relace it with a state of the art Basketball Palace. Believe me, that building is our No. 1 recruiter. Ben Howland treated the University of Pittsburgh, and its fans, with the same arrogance and disrespect that RichRod did WVU. The man was the head coach for “directional” Arizona when Pederson hired him. Basically, Pitt made Ben Howland just as much as he made Pitt. Again, the Pete launched both of them to new highs.

Comment by HbgFrank 11.17.09 @ 12:52 pm

That UCLA loss made me feel better about almost losing to Wofford. I turned it off around 2:30 when the 2nd OT started. It is one thing to stay up all night watching UConn-Cuse in the Big East Tournament, but to watch CS Fullerton? Yikes!

Comment by Bryan 11.17.09 @ 12:59 pm

Comparing RichRod and Howland…Really!!! Didn’t Pederson leave Pitt for his hometown as well? Guess ok for him to go but not Howland?

Comment by Milo Bloom 11.17.09 @ 1:19 pm

Have to disagree with you HbgFrank. While kudos must go to Pederson for the vision and cajones to take down Pitt Stadium and build the Pete, Howland did not bring in any highly rated recruiting classes. His success revolved around building tough defenses and team oriented offense. Let’s also not forget his mentoring of an outstanding young coach…what was his name..oh yeah Dixon. I say thanks to Ben for what he did… again if wasn’t UCLA he would have stayed… his daughter did.

Comment by The Turk 11.17.09 @ 1:24 pm

Yeah, staying up through the wee hours to watch CSFU-UCLA in November does not bode well for my schedule come February or March. I do love college hoops, though…

Assuming I can get out of the office in time, I’m planning on heading up to the Pete for the 5:30 tip. This team should not be nearly as good as Wofford, so I’m not sure what we will learn. That being said, I’m hoping to see more patience/effort at getting the ball into the post. It didn’t really come out in the paper, but Taylor was really working hard the last game, but the guards really seemed uncomfortable with their entry passes. The post guys were also to blame, as they were not always in great position, but a large part of Pitt’s offense is predicated on getting the ball into the post (either high or low). The good news is that the few times they were able to do this, they did exhibit some decent interior passing, and Taylor did kick the ball out a couple times for open shots (they didn’t go down, but they were good shots). Too often against Wofford, the guards simply passed the ball along the perimeter for 30 seconds before forcing a shot.

Comment by Pantherman13 11.17.09 @ 1:27 pm

Pantherman, agree with your comments about needing to get it into the post more often. In the Wofford game, they didnt make a FT attempt until Taylor at 2:13 left in the first half! Plus working the inside-outside game may help the guards shooting percentage as well.

Comment by UPDave 11.17.09 @ 1:50 pm

Hbg, I agree with the other two that you ccomparison of Howland and RichRod is way off base. True, Howland didn’t handle his departure with total class but, unlike RR, he left the team on a high note and didn’t nearly burn the bridges that RR did.

Lastly, Howland returned home but RR left his home state and alma mater a year after they gave him a big pay raise … NO comparison whatsoever.

Comment by wbb 11.17.09 @ 3:49 pm

Umm…RichRod and Howland are nearly identical in HOW they did what they did. First let me say that nobody cares when a coach takes a job that they feel is a better fit for them and moves on…What makes RichRod and Howland so sleazy is that both did the following: Signed a long term contract less than one year before they left…Looked staight into the TV camera and said that they were not going anywhere within weeks (perhaps days) of leaving…Did not man up and tell their employers (who I’ll say again gave them the platform for their success) that they were looking into a new job…Went from beloved to hated overnight. Ben Howland did not burn bridges? You are kidding me right? That must be why Pitt packed his personal crap from his office in boxes, put it out in the hall, and had the lock changed! Nothing says “We love you Ben, good luck in your new job” more than that! I will agree with the comment on Dixon. The comparison of Pederson to Howland and how they left the school is what is way off base here. Pederson was 100% above board. No one at Pitt was caught off guard. If Ben Howland had went to the administration and told them he was going to take the UCLA job, and told his players, and the media that,then I would have respected his decison to “go home”. But he did not, he sucker punched the University, his players, and you fans who continue to fall at his feet.

Comment by HbgFrank 11.17.09 @ 8:54 pm

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