Until we find an answer, I’ll be holed up in the attic with a metal colander on my head to stave off further Sampson infection.

Nice work today by Dixon and crew. It was worth the halt of productive activity during the afternoon.

HTscriptP

A few observations about the tournament so far:

1. John Thompson Jr, or the 3rd, or whomever he is, is an awful coach. Just like his old man, but without the thugs his old man used to recruit. I remember fondly the days when Patrick Ewing sucker punched Matt Micklasevich, at least half a foot smaller than him, at the field house – he was ejected, and Pitt won the game. I was there. I still cannot stand seeing Thompson’s fat ass sitting in the stands watching his son.

2. While Pitt today won, and did about as well as any of the top seeds so far, giving up 28 points to Benson was disturbing, to say the least. Oakland, despite its record, is an awful basketball team. With no outside game, I really question why no double team on that guy. I guess Oakland is the standard for mediocrity. If this game was any indication, I can only wish I could have spent the last 26 years performing my job the way Greg Kampe has performed his. Is it me, or is Gary McGhee regressing over the last several games?

3. Jermaine Dixon is about 50% of what he was last year. A shame, but clearly he has never recovered from the injury. A class kid, and a really tough competitor, who deserved much better.

4. Even though his form is terrible, if Gilbert Brown can hit one outside shot a game, he can dominate. He is unstoppable when he starts a drive off of the fake.

The calls today were awful, as well, particularly against Pitt early.

Also, another terrible coaching performance in the Utah State game. That game was sitting there for Utah to win. It seemed like every shot they took from 3 minutes on was a desperation heave.

Being from Richmond, I get more A-10 coverage than most, and it’s interesting that Temple and Richmond both got beat pretty bad. Xavier, Richmond and Temple all took turns beating each other up during the year( Xavier /Richmond was especially closely matched) and I thought all 3 would win at least 1-2 games. Maybe all 3 are just mediocre.

You don’t know shit about John Thompson, Patrick Ewing, and those Georgetown teams. The “Georgetown as thugs” racist rant went out with the 80’s there Grand Dragon.

Hey now, I don’t see any racist overtones here. thugs to me was pretty accurate. They were the bullies on the block. How many times was their style of play described as foul so many times that refs can’t call them all. Not necessarily dirty except in a couple instances… Good strategy for very deep, very athletic teams.

Do you not remember the 1987 brawls? Curious that the 2000-2003 Panthers were often compard to them in style…

Anyway, great game after a slow start. Xavier will be tough – more athletic, bigger and a very similar philosphy and attitude to Pitt.

Kevin Gorman suggests in today’s Trib that McGhee played a great game against Oakland. He held his own against Benson. Gorman points out that Benson only scored 12 points while McGhee was in the game and got the other 16 when he was on the bench. I thought McGhee did ok, in fact, if not for the turnovers it was one of his better games of the year…

It is you, PO’d Panthe

McGhee had a good game versus Oakland. Benson scored 16 of his points against McGhee’s backups.

See — Gorman: McGhee key to Pitt’s NCAA run
link to pittsburghlive.com

Speaking of poor coaching, only half of the Big East teams get through. Now I have to hear over rated from my ACC friends. I am dumbfounded by the poor performance of those teams. And while I am at it, how can Luke Harangody be considered for any awards, sure he scores a lot and looks good but as far as winning important games he is a loser. If all these teams really have better players than Pitt, Coach Dixon is a miracle worker. Then again, maybe the Big East is not as good as we think.

For all the praise, Oakland looked very weak, no three point shots. The real test for Pitt starts tomorrow.

I too hated the way Georgetown used to get away with a lot of hacks while stripping the ball. However, Thompson was a great recruiter, a great coach and a class act. His son has brought G-Town back. Hard to figure how they got crushed last night.

How many Big East teams get through to the sweet sixteen?

Let’s Go Pitt!

Pitt opened in Vegas as a pick em. Not a good sign for us.

I am no John Thompson fan but I have been to his coaching clinics and seen his teams play many times. He is a very good coach and tactician who in my opinion, recruited very physical players and took advantage of the ability to play “savage” basketball under the guise of his official buddies (who were terrified to make a call against him). That physical play cost him dearly in a great many BIG games …see Nova in the Ncaa’s and the aforementioned Pitt game.

Witht the talent that he had, he should have one at least 4 NCAA titles.

there is opinion and there is documented fact: Georgetown had a team of thugs through much of the 80s. However, they did reach the NCAA ttitle game in 82 with a team pretty much void of thuggery led by All-american Sleepy Floyd.

Also fact is JTII was a pretty darn good coach. And yet another fact … JTIII turned in the worst head coaching job in memory the other day (I’m still shaking my head.)

Last fact: Xavier has a tall physical front line which may be a bad match-up for Pitt tomorrow.

To say Dixon is playing at 50% of last year is a big reach. When he is on the floor he is a force. No player on our team is a better defender, and no player on our team (except maybe Robinson) finishes a play under the basket as well as Dixon does. I do think he is a little banged up, but so are many players by this time in the season.

Frank, I love Nas, but of all things I love him for, “finishing” isn’t one of them!
We’ll need everyone to step up tomorrow–go Pitt!

last year, Jermaine was the 4th or 5th option on offense. He was for the most part the defensive specialist.

This year he has been a key in many games, particularly Providence, with his slashes. Yes, he is very inconsistent perimeter shooter but we was that last year ..to say that he regressed from last year is plain silly.

@tsquare

I hear you. Temple and Richmond were both genuinely good this year and Temple got a bum seed. I had both going deeper and they’re about the only sore spots on my bracket.

Seems to be a minority opinion on the PB Mayhem bracket — about 15 people leapfrogged me after the Cornell win went final. 1st win ever for the Ivy, and Temple was a tough 5 draw who just didn’t get it done.

why is it a bad sign if the game on sunday is a pick them in vegas? that’s a weird thing to say.

I’ve always been a little surprised at the criticism/displeasure leveled at Jermaine Dixon on this message board and on other websites. For starters, he’s our best defensive player — and it isn’t even close. For a team that prides itself on defense, Pitt doesn’t have a strong collection of defenders. This makes Dixon’s ability to lock down the other team’s best scorer all the more valuable. Remember, this is a guy that broke his foot twice, sprained an ankle, sprained some fingers and is still out there handling the toughest assignment on the court every game. Even if that was the only thing Dixon could do, he’d be extremely valuable to this team, and yet all he accomplished on the offensive end against Oakland was score 17 pts, grab 5 rebounds and get 5 steals. Really, a nice night and yet he barely gets a mention from some. Does Dixon have his shortcomings? Absolutely. We all know he takes too many jumpers and he occasionally makes a bad decision or two, but IMHO his positives far outweigh the negatives. To me, this guy is pure PITT — he’s a warrior, he prides himself on defense and he has also overachieved since coming to this program as a juco transfer (John Degroat, anyone?). Without Dixon, I don’t think this team makes the tournament (see Syracuse or Providence game for starters). I guess I’m just a little surprised this guy doesn’t get more love, especially since all he has done has helped this program be successful from the moment he has stepped on the court. Anyone agree or disagree?

Saying Pitt would have missed the tournament without Dixon is hyperbole at its worst. IMO, he’s our third most valuable player behind Gibbs and Wanny, so I do appreciate his contribution, but he makes a bevy of mistakes offensively and shoots jumpers way too often. There’s no way he should ever attempt 15 FGs in a game (as he did against Notre Dame).

People love Dixon ’cause he gets the most out of his talent and hustles like crazy — I understand that, and admire him for that too. But the team is more important than one guy’s virtues…many people say he plays great D and gets to the rim like nobody’s business — great, keep it up. But for a guy who clearly is not a good shooter, he has proven to be pretty stubborn by still shooting alot…and missing badly. To me, he’s a situational guy who is no more valuable than Brown or Robinson or Woodall in this tournament, but no less either (nobody blow an o-ring out there). Let’s not turn him into a mascot…he’s just another important guy of many on the team…and glad we have him.

To bring up the “Georgetown as thugs” line – anyone remember that they were so physical in the late 80’s that Thompson lobbied successfully for the Big East to adopt 6 fouls a conference game for a player before they were disqualified? That then bit them in the butt in the NCAA tourney.

I would put Dixon/McGhee/Robinson/Woodall as the best players yesterday, in that order. If Woodall stays in control it will be a huge asset.

Nobody, but nobody, should dismiss Nasir’s contributions to this team.

He is the incarnation of Jaron.

Matt N. makes an excellent point that IMHO actually applies to the entire 7-8 man rotation. No one guy in the rotation is more important to this team than any other guy. Each has unique strengths and each has obvious weaknesses. However, each has also had an equally important role in this year’s success. Many have a favorite and least favorite player. I like them all equally. That’s why when someone starts bashing one in particular, I have a hard time not defending that guy.

When each one plays within his role, they play some awesome TEAM basketball. When one steps too far out of his role, things can, and usually do, get ugly. For the most part, Jamie has done an excellent job of keeping each guy playing within his role. He’s about the only person that this team cannot win without.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

KEYS TO TODAY & ADVANCING TO THE SWEET 16 ARE: GIBBS SHOOTING & SCORING (NO SHUTDOWN GUARD ON XAVIER), MCGHEE PLAYING STRONG D AGAINST JASON LOVE (A 10/10 FOR GARY WOULD BE NICE), AND GIL BROWN LOSING COUNT ON WHAT GAME THIS.CRAWFORD WILL GET HIS PTS, BUT PITT WINS A CLOSE ONE TO ADVANCE.