The 1st round was technically, last night. I don’t know anyone that actually calls it that. If the NCAA is so eager to avoid any stigma with “play-in” games, maybe just call it “The Opening Round” and still make Thursday/Friday “1st Round.” I think people might actually be accepting of that if you make just a small concession that the Tuesday/Wednesday games are not the same as the true start of the tourney. More like an introduction.
The point, which was quickly lost, was that Pitt will play UNC-Ashville on Thursday.
“We’re real excited, everybody’s ready to go,” Dixon said.
UNC Asheville (20-13) won the Big South Conference championship. The team’s first impression of the Bulldogs came from watching a first-round game live rather than film that had been edited and dissected.
“It changes a lot because you get a better feel for what the team is capable of doing,” senior Brad Wanamaker said.
When watching film, “It shows a lot of their strengths,” Wanamaker said. “It really doesn’t show their weaknesses. When you watch a game live you see little weaknesses in a team, and for us to watch it as a team [Tuesday night], it’s going to be great.”
UNC-Ashville will probably make Pitt (fans) a little nervous during the game. Simply because of a kid named Dickey, who showed he can bomb away from outside. UNC-Ashville can also play inside a bit, so Pitt will get challenged for rebounds.
Not only did President Obama put Pitt in the Final Four in his brackets. He picked Kansas to win it all. Politically speaking, wouldn’t the smart play would have been to pick Ohio State since it will be such a battleground state in 2012 with more Electoral Votes?
To repeat, the game will be aired on truTV.
The following cable companies in Western Pennsylvania carry truTV: Armstrong (armstrongwire.com), Comcast (comcast.com), Verizon/FIOS (Channel 183), Directv (Channel 246) and Dish Network (Channel 204).
Nice surprise I discovered last night on DirecTV. They will offer truTV in HD for the games on channel 246-1 if you have it.
While Ashton Gibbs isn’t one of the senior leaders, he is one of the primary faces of the team and he’s decided to assert himself off the court.
That’s when Gibbs stepped out of his comfort zone after Pitt’s disheartening loss to Connecticut in the Big East Conference quarterfinals last week and said:
“I think we’re going to make this run in the NCAA tournament and bring it back to the city of Pittsburgh. We’re going to get to the Final Four this year. It’s motivation to get that Final Four. It’s something we’re going to do. I’m just telling you, that’s what we’re going to do this year. We’re going to get to the Final Four.”
Gibbs’ teammates have taken notice and been emboldened by his words.
“That’s honestly not in his character to come out and say stuff like that,” said sophomore guard Travon Woodall. “When someone comes out and says that, you just have to follow behind him.
“I’m backing him up 100 percent. We’re all going to go out there and play hard and have the same mindset that he has.”
The other players are with him.
So Gibbs channeled his inner Levance, in a sense. He was angry, he reasoned. He was upset at another postseason failure. And even though the outburst wasn’t premeditated, the timing was tremendous.
“I liked what he said,” said senior Gary McGhee. “That’s how the whole team feels.”
But it wasn’t something anyone else had the audacity to say in public.
“Levance taught me you have to be vocal in certain situations,” Gibbs said. “I thought we were going to win the (Big East) tournament. So, it was the right time, for motivation. I want to be national champions. If we’re not, I’m going to be disappointed.”
Pitt players were also upset after they re-watched the UConn game.
“It was tough to watch,” he said.
It was a two-point loss to a top team, a game that took a buzzer-beating shot by one of the nation’s best players to decide. Yet, all Wanamaker saw was a lack of defensive rebounds and a lack of good decisions.
But more than that, he could pinpoint what Connecticut had that the Panthers’ didn’t.
“You could see the passion they had,” Wanamaker said. “We wished we would have had that passion.
“We need to heed that lesson. It’s something we got to (have).”
I’m just hoping the players aren’t dwelling on that game — the way the fans have — learn the lessons and move on and get ready.
“It’s the last go around (for me). Of course, you want to make it as special as possible,” McGhee said. “The last Final Four for Pitt was 1941. We want to makes this (tournament) one to remember.”
Pittsburgh (27-5) will be heavily favored in its first game. A No. 1 seed has ever lost to a No. 16 seed in NCAA tournament history.
A possible second-round game with last year’s NCAA runner-up, the Butler Bulldogs, could await the Panthers. With it comes the chance of a mini-Olympic Athletic Conference reunion between McGhee of Highland and Butler’s Matt Howard, who played his prep basketball at Connersville.
While the prospect of that matchup would be intriguing for fans, McGhee isn’t counting on anything.
Let’s not look far ahead, though.
Some other notes. A Q&A with Gil Brown in the Harrisburg paper.
Luke Winn still likes Pitt in the Southeast. Thanks.
One more tournament column. Really long, but really good and not just for this part:
A lot of people are going to jump off the Pittsburgh bandwagon for three late season losses, but I think it really speaks to the depth of the Big East more than the problems with Pittsburgh. Their last three losses were by one point to St. John’s, in OT to Louisville, and by two points to Connecticut on a Kemba Walker jumper in the Big East tournament. These are all elite opponents, and all the games were close.
Watching Kansas win by one point against Oklahoma St. in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, one of the announcers made this comment. “Oklahoma St. does not have Kemba Walker.” Pittsburgh has faced a ton of elite teams in the Big East this year, and it is no surprise that occasionally a Kemba Walker buzzer-beater caused them to lose.
Other people are going to jump off the Pittsburgh bandwagon because Jamie Dixon has never been to the Final Four. I am not quite sure whether that is a reasonable basis or not. On the one hand, some coaches (See Tom Izzo, John Beilein), have consistently outperformed their seeding in the NCAA tournament. So perhaps past tournament performance is indicative of something. But, I really believe Pittsburgh is ready for a deep tournament run.
Finally, Bob Smizik has to say something stupid at least once a week, right?
In his eighth season as Pitt basketball coach, Jamie Dixon is about to begin play in his eighth NCAA tournament. In some places, that would make him king. And it once was that way at Pitt.
Not anymore. Not in the Internet/talk-radio age. Not when just winning isn’t enough.
This is not to suggest Dixon’s job is in jeopardy based on how well Pitt does in the weeks ahead. That’s not close to the truth because sanity prevails at Pitt.
But not in the blogosphere. Not where Internet bullies hold sway and where just winning isn’t nearly good enough.
What? Could you please point to a blog post — especially a Pitt or even Pittsburgh one — that is going with this lunacy? I have been told by enough people that there is plenty of stupid going on in Pittsburgh Sports Talk Radio — led by the pied piper of Mark Madden — but blog-wise? That is unless Smizik is saying that the comments count. In which case, Smizik’s own blog is part of the problem.
If Pitt loses this game I’d still give Dixon a 20-year contract and a big raise. He’s that good of a coach, and he’s that important to the program. Cram it with walnuts, Smizik.
Seriously though, there are like 12 people in Kansas, half of which are members of the Westboro Baptist Church. I doubt they’re voting for you, Barrack. Of course, picking Duke might have got him impeached.
Now he’s trying to post under some regular commentor’s names — and deciding to racist as well.
I will be forwarding the information to UHC.
Would like for Woodall to come in for Robinson after the 16 minute mark. Move Brown up to the four, Brad to the three and Gibbs to two.
Then next, bring Robinson back and bring in Taylor for McGhee. Bring Brown to the bench.
Next bring Patterson in for Wanamaker. Then bring Brad back in for Gibbs. Then work the starters back in. Patterson should be limited to playing the three and his minutes could decrease.
This way Pitt can shorten the bench (something most teams do in the tourney), keep their starters fresh, and make sure there is enough scoring and rebounding on the court.
Pitt should take advantage of the fact that many of their guys can play two positions WELL.
I am concerned about rebounding when Taylor comes in. Would like to make sure Nas is out there with him, at least until Zanna comes back.
I also like the “small lineup” with Gil at the four, but McGhee has to be the center with them. That would be a really, really tough team to defend. Four shooters and three drivers.
In any case, I worry about Brown at the 4 for extended periods because he just seems to shy away from the physical inside play. That being said, your rotation might be a better option than bringing Richardson in at the 4, particularly since his defense has also been pretty weak. This wouldn’t really be an issue if Zanna were available, but the reality is that we don’t have a really good second option at the 4 right now.
Two days later and not a peep from the newspapers/internet wretches about this big issue — particularly with our recent rebounding struggles. You’d think a top seed would merit better coverage.
If nothing else, I just hope they have worked (and worked, and worked) on that hedge. Fouls on McGhee and Taylor 20+ feet from the hoop simply must be avoided.
I like playing Brown at the 4, especially over J.J. Richardson. J.J. Richardson is a black whole who can’t really do anything. Brown might get pushed around at the 4 but he can at least make the opponent pay on the offensive side. And probably will get to more rebounds than Richardson.
The player I’m most worried about is Gary McGhee…
2011 BE Tournament: 18 minutes 1 point 2 rebounds
2010 NCAA Tournament:
1st game 28 minutes 12 points 6 rebounds BUT
2nd game 19 minutes 0 points 4 rebounds
2010 BE Tournament: 21 minutes 0 points 3 rebounds
So if you take out the game against a clearly worse team, Gary’s post-season stats are as follows 58 minutes, 1 point, 9 rebounds (I won’t count his earlier years since he wasn’t a main contributor). Pretty ugly in my book.
For comparisons sake Dante Taylor:
2011 BE Tournament: 18 minutes 4 points 7 rebounds
2010 NCAA:
1st game 10 minutes 0 points 3 rebounds
2nd game 18 minutes 5 points 3 rebound
2010 BE Tournament: 18 minutes 2 points 2 rebounds
In same 3 games 54 minutes, 11 points, 12 rebounds.
I doubt we will see much zone from Pitt, unless Pitt’s defenders are getting torched by faster guards or the bigs get in serious foul trouble. More zone would probably also mean more rebounding troubles, which they clearly want to avoid.
Gary doesn’t need to score any points for us for him to be effective. As long as he can stay out of foul trouble (much like he has done all season) and defend the other team’s center we will be in fine shape. He does need to rebound, however. If he can’t do that, then we will be trouble. But I’m not too worried about his points.
Even though McGhee’s had some rough outings recently, he’s still light years better guarding the post and on the defensive boards than Taylor is.
McGhee not getting in foul trouble is a huge key for Pitt. Will be tough to beat anyone (after UNC Asheville) if he doesn’t get his regular minutes.
We’ve pretty much seen the top end for everyone else on the team at some point during the year, but we have yet to see it from Dante. I understand he’s had knee problems, but as I’ve stated before, I think the bigger issue is more mental than physical.
He is either still very immature or he’s slightly A.D.D. He seems to mentally wander, especially on the defensive end. If he could just stay focused on each and every play and not let the outside stuff, like a bad call or turnover, distract him, I think we’d see the guy we were all so excited about when he signed with Pitt.
– I believe a ’round’ should include all of the participants, not just 7% of them
– we bloggers should never be taken too serious as long as we are anonymous
Too bad the guy has just *zero* touch around the hoop. Any offensive contribution he could make beyond the occasional put back would be huge.
While his size disadvantage sometimes hurts against bigger teams, his hustle on both ends more than compensates. He may not always show up on the stat sheet, but his contribution to Pitt’s success goes beyond stats.
we all wish he was a couple of inches bigger, but Robinson’s the only interior player Pitt has with a floor game (understanding spacing, when to cut, where everybody else is……).
If we can protect the ball, see you in Texas, if not, sweet 16 is as good as it will get.
Jimbo’s right, though. Rebound and take care of the ball and this team can go very far.
