No, I’m not dead.
I had to take a little time away. That was one of the most devastating losses. Ever. If Pitt had lost on the put-back with 2.2 seconds left. It may have been a bit better. But, well, you know. That pushed me close to the edge.
Writing and putting so much of what I think online, has taught me to be more cautious about being online when my emotions are so overwhelming. I suppose having seen so many others do incredibly stupid things over the years when they reacted blindly has taught me something.
There’s also the fact that I hate self-pity. And anything I wrote in the aftermath would have been the, “Woe unto me and all Pitt fans. We suffer so. We’re cursed. Pitt will never win it all. Why do we/I put ourselves through this?” That whole vein of utter bullshit. I just needed to back away.
Still rather messed up by this. Just numb at this point. Trying to get some focus back to function somewhat normally.
As some of you know, I shut down the liveblog very quickly after the end of the game. I had no choice. I was in no state to moderate. To say anything. To read anything. I shut down the computer. Turned away from the coverage. Instead, plowed through some stuff on the DVR. Not even the energy to try and drink the pain away.
Finally exhausted enough to collapse. That lasted only a couple hours. Woke up during the night and never got back to sleep. Couldn’t stop thinking about the game. Seeing the last minutes replaying in my head over and over. Rendering me a zombie for Sunday.
I tried not to think about my own selfish interests beyond seeing Pitt win: I had a corporate sponsored, all-expense paid trip to Houston lined up this past week if Pitt made the Final Four. Down the tubes.
I couldn’t even watch the games on Sunday. I didn’t want to be reminded of what had happened. I didn’t want to see replays on the TV at halftime. I didn’t want to read about it.
The subsequent upsets and near upsets I saw on final scores did little to improve my mood last night. So what about the other upsets? So what if this is not the first and won’t be the last time in the NCAA Tournament? The big picture means nothing when it happened to Pitt. This year. This team. The way it happened. There was no way to put any perspective on it when the mind is in an irrational state.
There is blame everywhere. And yes, a lot falls on Coach Dixon. Why did he not have his team just huddle together while the refs checked the time after Mack’s foul, rather than let Gil Brown stand on the line and have Shelvin Mack woof at him? Why even keep anyone near the basket on the second free throw attempt?
Why couldn’t Gil have made that second free throw?
And of course, WTF Nasir Robinson? A guy who has been invaluable for Pitt. So smart all season. I love the guy. But. But. But. Why? Why even go near Howard when he corralled the rebound? A moment of pure boneheaded-ness. I can’t even imagine how he must feel. If there’s one thing that actually makes me think about someone else’s pain, it is what he will be working through for a while.
I still haven’t read anything. I will after I finish this. Slowly I’ll crawl back to writing, thinking and probably some measure of optimism about the future.
Howard is a tool — all the people on this board and elsewhere who dog Pitt for not having “NBA talent” — I don’t see how Howard even enters the discussion. I’ll still take Gibbs over Mack, even if he got outplayed in one game and showed some defensive weakness (more noticeable post mcl injury mind you).
1988 — Pitt squad had not one, but 2 1st round draft picks (including lottery selection Charles Smith) on a 2 seeded team that failed to survive the 2nd round.
Thank God the sun came up Sun and I can look at the events of Sun as clear headed as I ever will. HTP!
Last,last but not least. I have been T’d up late in a game early in my coaching days and cost my team the game. Never did it again.But,
if I was Jamie Dixon and the ref made that call against me, I would have gone after that official until they had to put handcuffs on me. To alter the outcome of a game with what amounts to a judgement call when it could be settled in OT on the floor still is a disgrace. Jamie seemed stunned the entire last 4 minutes of the game.
I respect Dixon for setting a good example for his players and representing Pitt with class. I wouldn’t say the same about Stevens or Butler.
The call on Nas WAS DEFINATELY a make-up, which is ANOTHER reason no one should have been in the blocks on the second shot. By and large, you may try to get a tap. But this was a special circumstance.
Jamie has kept the program at a high-level, and he is to be commended. The only time you fire someone for poor NCAA tourney performanec is when the school has established itself as a big-time tourney team and they don’t deliver (Steve Lavin at UCLA for example, who’s firing is a big reason why Jamie is head coach here). Just make some sound decisions at crunch time, something Jamie has repeatedly failed to do.
Brown and Wanny are projected to be second round draft picks this year. Gibbs and Mack are both projected to be second round picks next year. You know who isn’t projected to be drafted? Howard. I bet the least talented regular Pitt player has more talent than the number 3 guy on Butler. Talent had NOTHING to do with the loss.
When asked whether he was confident he’d make his first of two free throws, Howard joked, “I was trying to bargain for three, just in case.”
He thought he could sell that heave as a legitimate shot. In a single motion while grabbing the defensive rebound he was positioning himself for 92 foot shot with his back to the basket. I’m glad justice was served and all, but I wish Nas smacked him harder and more in the face area.
Chas, excellent job all season!! Allthough my blood pressure has returned to normal, I find myself more ticked today about losing to Butler in the second round. I still find that hard to believe, that we actually lost to Butler in the second round. I had parties set up for Thursday and Saturday!!!!! Good effin’ grief!!!!!!
Comment by DeVanzo 03.21.11 @ 12:15 p
This is THE most important point, by failing to call a timeout on Pitt’s final full possession and setup a play. They lost NOT ONLY the opportunity to score and put points on the board.
They ALSO lost the opportunity to rebound a missed shot and either run the remaining seconds off the clock or they get fouled by Butler and go to the FT line to add points to our 1 point lead.
The worst possible and most unlikely scenario unfolded, unbelievably. Pitt took neither a shot(which might have went in), there was no rebound to contest from a missed shot with the clock still running AND 3RD, THE SHOT CLOCK VIOLATION STOPPED THE CLOCK FROM RUNNING PERIOD. Just an unbelievable coaching gaffe.
It still boggles my mind.
Making no adjustments during a half, and only at halftime suggests the latter is the case.
Pitt usually comes out of halftime a Tiger, overcoming 1rst half deficits or expanding leads.
Then the other team adjusts and we don’t. We’ve seen this time and time and time again over the years. So given the time that halftime provides, adjustments are made that work, but none seem to be made while ‘on the fly’. Our Coach has many strengths, adjusting or making decisions ‘on the fly’ does not appear to be one of them. I am not suggesting we get rid of Dixon, but I would like to see him hire someone, like an older sage coach who can suggest to him during the game or remind him of strategies, etc., that one can forget,(sometimes just momentarily) in the heat of battle. Someone to slightly nudge him with an elbow and say, ‘we might want to do this, we might want to that”. We do not have that type of assistant on the bench now, I believe Tom Herrion is/was that type of an assistant. Well hopefully you all know he left to become Head Coach at Marshall, where he led them to over 20 wins in his 1rst season. All of Jamie’s assistants appear to be ‘Yes’ men. I suggest he hire another Tom Herrion type if available.
I think Dixon did a tremendous job of adjusting at the half and even throughout the second half. Watching the game, Pitt far outplayed Butler the entire second half. I don’t think it was close. A freak ending kept them from losing in spite of the horrendous officiating that kept them from opening a large lead. That was one of their best played halves of the year.
The post about Boeheim and tournament success was great. The same could be said for many successful coaches. People need to relax on Dixon. The guy is a terrific coach.
Like a Triangle and Two would have been perfect against Butler, since Mack & Howard scored 65% of Butler’s 71 points. But you have to have someone who knows how to teach that defense BEFORE you can use it. You can’t just say in the huddle, we’re going to play a Triangle and Two or a Box and One as I’ve read some posts that think you can, you actually have to practice it. You saw on Sat. how Butler took Gibbs totally out of the game. They obviously practiced that defense before to stop a team with only one 3 point shooter. Thankfully for us Brownie decided to play like it was his last game for Pitt and played like we all knew he was capable of. Funny enough (well not really) Nas also had one of his best offensive games (16 points) of the season as well. Quite ironic that despite that they were involved in two plays that will forever be the memory of this game. I feel really bad for those two guys, they will have to live with that.
Something to note, the Top 4 seeds of the Southeast Region all made it to New Orleans, except for us.
Which is why Louisville gets them their toughest game every year, yet they pretty much use the same style of press every year.
Mack had a greater 1st half than either Ignns or Brown, and in the 2nd half, he came thru with the two shots when Butler needed them the most
Not sure about the McDonald’s analogy, plenty of crap restaurants close because nobody eats at them. Nobody plays a triangle and two because it is garbage, that is why nobody plays it. It doesn’t make much sense.
Comment by OntarioLett’sGoPitt 03.21.11 @ 7:22 pm
More people eat at McDonalds does that make it a good place to eat? OntarioLett
Comment by melvinbennett 03.21.11 @ 7:30 pm
I’ll explain the analogy. you were suggesting that because a lot of people (teams) don’t play a Triangle & Two, that was the reason it wasn’t any good. That reasoning would suggest on the flip side that because a lot of people eat at McDonald’s it suggest McDonald’s is a good restaurant. (which of course it isn’t)
Further, because a lot of people shop at Walmart does that make it a good place to buy clothes. And more, because a lot of people smoke cigarettes, it is wise to do so. The fact that a lot of people do something, whether it’s not using a Triangle & Two or eating at McDonald’s, or smoking cigs does not make it a good or correct decision.
Now back to the Triangle & Two, this is a specialty defense, you do not exclusively use it.
You use it on occasion and only when the situation dictates it. It’s meant to limit teams that have two dominant players which Butler does, Mack & Howard both averaged around 16 ppg this year, no one else was in double digits ppg. And on this particular occasion against Pitt, they were taking over 60% of the shots and scoring over 65% of Butler’s points. Object should have been to limit their touches, as Butler did with Gibbs. If you had practiced a Triangle & Two, this would have been a situation where you could have used it. At the very least, you give them a different look, it can interrupt their rhythm, which is what you’re trying to do, to take them off their game. You force Butler’s other players to beat you. You have no clue if their other players would have started hitting three’s or not. Certainly their other 3 players being guarded by the Triangle would have included their 6’11 Center who hasn’t attempted a 3 all year and their 6’7″ F who attempted two 3’s the whole year.
So scratch those two off of who else is going to be “hitting threes”. The other 6’0″ guard who played 28 minutes on Sat., Nored only averaged taking one 3 pg and made less than 33% of them. So I take my chances with him beating me.
Again the object is take them out of their game, give them a different look, confuse them for a few possessions. In a close game, as we saw, it only takes a few outcomes of a few possessions to change the outcome of the game.
You can overcome bad decisions or play in the 1rst half (as Pitt did). You can’t overcome bad decisions at the END of GAMES, nycpanther.
We can always make excuses of, oh well it was Dwayne Wade after all or Antonio Gates and he must have been great because he was all-pro in the NFL. (funny though he wasn’t even drafted by the NBA)
Or it was a great play by Scottie Reynolds, Kemba Walker, Patrick O’Bryant, Drew Neitzel (yes Drew Neitzel !!), Shelvin Mack or whoever soon to be forgotten michael jordan for a day who happened to beat us that day. Bottom line this team folds when push comes to shove. The Pitt players change, the opponents in the NCAA’s change as well, there is only one constant in all these program defining losses. And we all know what that constant is.
As far as Fields, yeah, little guy, big onions. However, he also had two guys on his team who currently start for their NBA teams. He knew that if he missed a shot, Blair was usually there to grab and put back the miss. He knew that he had a guy in Young who could hit from the outside or take it to the hoop and posterize people. Can you honestly say we had guys as good as them on this year’s team?
Now, NBA level talent doesn’t guarantee anything either. Just ask Self or Calipari. But I do think Jamie has gotten the program into a position to attract those guys, and Skerry seems to be a good enough salesman to help land a few. Given what Jamie’s done with the talent he’s had, I can keep the faith that better days are ahead.
levance fields isn’t as talented brown, wannamaker, or gibbs and neither is travon woodall. however, fields and woodall do have a fearless attitude. sometimes you need that. saturday was one of those times.
Second, thanks to Brad, Gilbert and Gary for your hard work and 111 wins. I will cherish memories of your play.
Third, thanks to Coach Dixon for the best 8 years in Pitt basketball history. I waited 20 years see the Panthers win the Big East tourney and you did it again right away. I waited nearly 30 years to win a 3rd game in the NCAA and you brought that home. Keep working hard – most fans truly appreciate what you have meant to this team.
Fourth, I could care less about who the better player was overall or on Saturday. The only thing that matters is the final score. But if you really think Gibbs, Brown and Wanamaker are 2nd round picks, I don’t know what to say. I don’t see any of those 3 getting drafted.
Fifth, I think the coaches and players deserve to be praised for playing far above their expectations these last two years. Some stupid mistakes this weekend killed us.
Sixth, if you’re going to blame Dixon for not making adjustments on the fly, you better give him credit for being the best halftime adjuster in the game based on the 2nd half of this year.
Seventh, I can’t wait until next year. It will be the highest rated recruiting class since Brian Shorter’s and it will be the quickest, most athletic Pitt team (maybe exception of 2009)since Lane, Gore, Smith, Martin and Porter.
Eight, if Pitt is ever stupid enough to fire Dixon, I hope he goes to Penn State or WVU and wins multiple championships at our expense. (I just threw up a little in my mouth typing that, but that’s how stupid we would be.)
Ninth, after a loss like this, I always force myself to go look at the box scores that I copied and saved from the 2001 BE tourney. Pitt made an improbable run to the final before being routed by BC. I will never forget the joyful time I wasted at work checking the scores online during Pitt’s run. It was the first time since joining the BE that Pitt had done so. Now, we take that for granted. Thank you, Ben. Thank you, Jamie. We’ve come a long way.
Hail to Pitt!
I don’t know if this will provide solace to anyone, but I would rate at least three other NCAA losses as more devastating.
Worst by far is the 1988 loss to Vanderbilt. In fact, my biggest complaint about Saturday’s game is that it reminds me that I have never really gotten over 1988. That was a seven-player team, all memorably talented: Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Demetreus Gore, and the four freshmen: Jason Matthews, Bobby Martin, Sean Miller, Darrelle Porter (pre-injury). My recollection is that the four freshmen were already performing at close to their peak levels that year – for instance, I think that Darrelle Porter scored several key baskets against Vanderbilt.
To me the difference between 1988 and 2011 is that the 1988 team dominated opponents on a player-by-player basis. The only obvious problems with the team were connected: (1) Brian Shorter wasn’t eligible; (2) with too many guards and not enough forwards, Demetreus Gore had to play mildly out of position at small forward. Even so, I still can’t fathom the loss to Vanderbilt and I still sometimes lose sleep at night thinking of ways that the game could have ended differently. (What if Charles Smith just threw the ball straight up in the air after catching the inbounds pass with 5 seconds left rather than letting himself be fouled for a one-and-one with a one point lead and 4 seconds left?)
Maybe this year’s team had the potential to advance through the tournament, but they weren’t clearly ahead of the competition in the way that the 1988 team was.
Others have mentioned the 2008 loss to Villanova. What about the 2002 loss to Kent State? In this 10 year NCAA streak, that stands out as a loss to a much-inferior opponent.
Dwyane Wade or not, I also put the 2003 loss to Marquette as more devastating than this year’s loss. It stunned me that Brandin Knight didn’t find a way to will his way to the Final Four.
I retain high hopes for the upcoming teams of Adams, Birch, and others. But for now, I’m up late at night wondering why nothing more came out of the four years of Smith and Gore.
– Butler beat Pitt
– Wannamker. Brown & Gibbs have a much better supporting cast than Mack & Howard
so, just how are Mack & Howard inferior?
Listen, we have watched Wanny, Brown & Gibbs grow and improve thru the years and win a lot of games, so it is only natural that you develop a special feeling for these guys and put them on a pedestal
It just seems Pitt is always snakebitten in basketball … whether its that kid from Vandy hitting thse two treys, Wade coming of age the same time that Zavakas takes off his shoes, on up to Mack hitting 3 or 4 shots from 24 feet
I am a Pitt dad grad. Daughter graduated in 2010. Oldest daughter went to Florida (Gators). So I write this in a chronological order as therapy. I played baseball thru college at (JU) Jacksonville University. JU lost to UCLA 80-69 in NCAA championship game in my freshman year. I was in Cole field house for final 4 at Univ of MD. You can look up the year. I will never forget that game or the 25-16 lead that JU had. Wooden changed his defense and triple teamed Artis Gilmore. I wanted to go down and coach the team as our coach never adjusted. In 2006 I had my demons exorcised when the Florida Gators beat UCLA. Early Saturday the Gators beat UCLA for the 3rd straight tournament win. The last two led to Gator titles. I tell this for a few reasons;
1. I never forgot the loss years ago.
2. Revenge is sweet.
Pitt has lost more excruciating ways in the past 5 years and it has to stop. I re-watched the video of the last two minutes and Dixon had players together at bench but released long before officials returned from setting clock after Gilbert was fouled. Coach should have brought players back to bench.
1. How could he allow Gilbert to stand at 3 point line with an a-hole in his face. Did Dixon not see that? No coach saw that?
2. After first shot went in I was screaming at TV to remove our players from key. What was coach thinking? Or not thinking?
3. By the way anyone think that Gilbert Brown was fouled trying to shoot a 3? 3 foul shots?
Memories like this last forever. Check out JU loss to Western Kentucky 104-103 year after JU lost to UCLA. A JU player was tying his shoe when a lob pass was scored for the loss at the buzzer.
We need to get some closure. We need to get some crazy good 3 point scorers. The NCAA should move the 3 point line out to NBA distance. The line is too close!! I miss the inside game. Pitt needs to adjust. Kemba is Big East only hope to go deep. Look at how most of these teams run like rabbits and shoot 3’s. Change or we will never see the final four. The goal is to win a title not reach the final four.
I could not watch much after the loss but next year is another year. Have a good Summer.
Sad….
I am finally ready to look at the bright side. So look at this possibly awesome scenario for next year:
-Khem Birch comes in and is a freshman phenom.
-Dante Taylor makes “the leap” that a lot of Dixon coached guys do in their Junior year
-Nas remains a great defender and continues to progress on the offensive end (notice his offensive improved immensely between his soph and jr years)
-Travon progresses and becomes a true starting point guard, something Ashton really isn’t.
-Ashton switches over to the 2, and knocks down shot after shot.
-Zanna and others are healthy and have another year of experience under their belts, so we retain depth.
So, we have depth, a much better inside presence so that teams can’t just shut down Ashton, and we have the senior Gibbs nailing shots from the outside.
Plus, in Birch we may have the top flight NBA prospect that’s been missing for the past decade.
Honestly, if Birch is good, and Dante makes the leap, this is what WILL HAPPEN next season.
Well, if I didn’t make any of you feel better, I at least made myself feel better.
Woodall a starter, that isn’t going to cut it. He’s way too inconsistent and he’s never started, even in high school. Also he’s a poor shooter, 22% from 3 and 36% overall. I like the kid off the bench but another factor to weigh he & Gibbs in the backcourt make for an small guard tandem.
Neither one can penetrate either.
Epps better be the real deal, because there will be no Wannamaker to act as a Point Guard. We all know Gibbs is no PG either. Unless Epps is for real, this position is going to be a real problem. Woodall can also be a turnover machine as we’ve seen in the past as well.
Also the big question mark will be if Sleepy, comes out of his walking coma next year. If he doesn’t we’re going to have to rely on a true freshmen named Khem Birch to be the real deal.
Dixon better exclusively play Birch for 30 minutes a game in the non-con next year and not worry about a loss here and there if Birch is going to be ready for the BigEast conference roughhouse style. I don’t remember any true freshmen in the Howland/Dixon era other than Blair that contributed in a major way. And it was because Blair had a non-stop motor and was built like a beast. Birch is a beanpole.
All of the above is totally dependent on one Jamie Dixon breaking his mold and playing freshmen or redshirt freshmen over more experienced albeit less talented returning players. Good luck with that.
We are losing like 45% of the scoring and an even larger % in rebounding. So rebounding is going to fall to Sleepy, Birch, Zanna & Nas.
Gibbs benefited a lot from Wanny & Brown being able to dribble penetrate and kick the ball out to him. Both of those guys and their ability to penetrate and feed Gibbs are gone. At this point I don’t have a clue who is going to take their place. Whomever it is, it will be somebody who didn’t do it this year. Moore, Patterson, ????
Really didn’t see enough of them to know if they’re capable or not. If not them who??, incoming true freshmen? More bigtime question marks on the wings.
We are going to see how good a coach Dixon is next year and we’re going to see in the non-con season if he’s willing to break any of his conservative molds.
I was playing and watching basketball games before he was a twinkle in his father’s eye. Just because someone is on ESPN or television does not equate that they know anything more than any other avid perceptive basketball viewer. Same thing with these clowns they have on these political shows on the various networks. All it means is they have an “in” with somebody to get that job. Cause it surely isn’t based on their personal knowledge or qualifications. That is clear. My father always told me it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
First of all, let me make it clear that I am an ardent supporter of Mr. Dixon and all Pitt hoop fans should love this guy. He has continued to build a phenomenal program (on the shoulders of Ben Howland-the architect for Pitt’s b-ball renaissance) that all Pitt fans should be very proud of. From what I can see, Dixon recruits good kids that buy into his program, go to class, do the academic work (for the most part), don’t run afoul of the law, and represent the University well. Mr. Dixon gets an A+ for program administration. But everyone has an Achilles heel, and for Mr. Dixon, it’s apparently the X’s and O’s of the game. Simply put, he is not the greatest bench coach, but you would never know that listening to game announcers and writers lavish praise on Mr. Dixon. I, for one, am not drinking the cool-aid.
Exhibit A is the mid-season loss to Notre Dame. ND (on the road) comes into Pitt and can barely field a starting five (plus one) while Pitt supposedly has the deepest bench in the Big East, at least that’s what ESPN’s team of announcers would have us believe. Yet Pitt (on their home floor and ranked #2) allows ND to dictate the slow pace of play? ND runs the same pick and roll play for the final 5-6 minutes of the game, putting Mr. Hansbrough (ND’s best shooting guard) against Mr. McGhee (Pitt’s big and lumbering center) at the top of the circle-25 feet from the basket? No adjustments? McGee was put in a position to fail, which he promptly proceeded to do, allowing Mr. Hansbrough to score at will during the final minutes of a close game.
Exhibit B is the last minute defense against St. John’s (again the same high pick and roll for Mr. Hardy). Do you notice a pattern developing here?
Exhibit C is the last second defense against UConn in the BE Tournament (again a high pick and roll for Mr. Walker). Was there anyone east of the Mississippi that didn’t think Kemba was going to take that shot? And how did Pitt defend him? With McGhee 20 feet from the basket? Again, Mr. McGhee was put into a situation to fail. And this time he failed spectacularly, having his ankles broken (falling to the floor) in the full glare of the media spotlight. Worst of all, he will have to watch that replay for the rest of his life as it will surely be replayed every time the Big East Tournament rolls around. Mr. Dixon (not Mr. McGhee) is the one who should be embarrassed.
Exhibit D is the nearly ridiculous end of game strategy against Butler. Pitt’s last two possessions showed they had no idea where to attacked that vaunted Butler defense (ranked 42nd in the nation), unable to get a good shot off on the penultimate possession and incurring a 35 second shot clock violation on the last possession? That’s hard to do. And even worse, Pitt had no idea of how they wanted to defend Butler’s last possession (Butler got a layup in less than 6 seconds). I won’t even address the foul line situation.
In each of these cases, Mr. Dixon did not display the ability to look out on the floor and
1. recognize favorable match-ups and take advantage of them to get a good shot
2. recognize or anticipate unfavorable defensive match-ups and mitigate their consequences
This is the essence of good coaching and I’m afraid to say that I have not seen anything to date that would indicate that Mr. Dixon has the right stuff. At the very minimum, he has to get someone from somewhere on the BENCH who can recognize what is going on during a game and provide good sound advice to a coach who too often looks like a deer in the headlights during end of game situations.
What if HE’S reached the conclusion that 1) no matter what he does, neither he, nor ANYBODY, will ever be able to consistently attract the necessary talent for Pitt to take the proverbial “next step,” or 2) the program is just flat-out jinxed.
Maybe HE’S sick of the stench of bitter defeat (and Northeast winters), and is quietly laying plans to get the heck outta there.
I don’t think I’d blame him. He’s been here almost a decade and sometimes a fundamental change is what’s needed and you simply can’t keep banging your head against the same wall.
I’m just sayin’. While a very few have floated the ridiculous notion that Dixon should be run out of town, he may already have the car warming up in the driveway.
He made it to the Elite Eight with two go-to guys on the team. They almost made it to the FF. The moral of that story is you need both luck and better supporting players.
AS for this year’s team, how the he** were they supposed to even get to the promised land with no true PG, no consistent inside threat/scoring, one consistent scorer and many other weaknesses?
Jamie has pulled a rabbit out of his hat for eight years. The rabbit was built upon toughness, rebounding and defense. Where were the great athletic, skilled players at. I can think of two Blair and Young.
As far as Gilbert is concerned, yes freakish athleticism but erratic at best and just downright inconsistent.
I knew at the beginning of the season that without an inside presence, no true pg and only one dependable consistent scorer they had a likely chance to get to the 16 but not the Elite 8. Plain common sense told me that.
You all watched this team many times. How many times did they start out slow, fall behind and have to play….many. How many times did they have to pass it around the perimeter due to lack of a inside scoring threat (which by the way negated most attacks of the basket of the dribble)…many.
It is what it is and was what it was. But for me and my house, we support Jamie and the team. We will do this because Pitt is our team win or lose.
Hail to Pitt!!!
Dixon and Nasir Robinson won’t allow it. Jamie will never, ever start a freshman over a senior who has shown the attitude, hustle and productivity that Robinson has shown.
The only reason Blair started as a freshman was that Dixon had no other option. Cassin Diggs was terrible, McGhee was a freshman and Tyrell Biggs was 6’4″.
Had Aaron Gray still been at Pitt, the much more talented Blair would have been on the bench.
I see the same thing happening next year. Birch won’t be heavy enough to play center and Zanna/Robinson while less talented, both are going to be more effective early because of their experience.
Jamie will never put his team at even a small disadvantage in a game in January just to be better prepared for March. He’s never done it and never will.
As far as Epps is concerned, I don’t expect much from him next year. Woodall will be the point guard (see above). If Epps had shown Jamie anything last year, he wouldn’t have redshirted him. The only time I have seen Epps play basketball was the Blue/Gold game. Honestly, he looked like he didn’t belong in D1. Obvioulsy, that is a ridiculously small sample size and I am really hoping that my impression was wrong.
I said the same thing about Woodall 3 years ago. But I think Woodall now is about the ceiling with Epps. Hearing great things about Johnson (speed and athleticism), but again, don’t expect much from him next year.
My take:
*You don’t pull your rebounders. You have to give yourself a chance at a put-back in a tied game. Also, that foul rarely gets called and this one only got called because Howard was smart enough to spin and try to heave the ball.
* The whole thing about pulling Brown back so he doesn’t have to listen to Mack talk smack is ridiculous. He made the first shot, folks. He missed the easy one…….the second one. Having guys talk smack to you on the line is what you want, especially if you’ve been around as long as Brown has.
*The whole point about talent vs balls is kind of meaningless when you consider that neither Pitt nor Butler is an especially talented squad. 2 guys are pretty good on one team, 3 guys are pretty good on the other and who can tell which is which? Neither team has the talent to take this thing…….
*Pitt had zero chance of getting past Fla anyway. I certainly thought they’d beat Butler (and cover the spread), but the Fla/UCLA game opened my eyes. I repeat, zero chance of Final 4.
*It was pretty easy to watch the BE this year and get a sense of how mediocre it was. (Syracuse? Really? With those guards?) (ND — anybody who thought they had a chance against FSU shouldn’t watch any more hoops) (G-town, even with Wright?) (I will admit I thought Nova would have been much better, but even I had to admit they stunk by year-end) (UConn — have to admit, they’re tougher than I expected, but mostly because Lamb is soooooo tough for a freshman. Hard to see that coming…..) The conference overflowed with mediocrity; lots of average to halfway decent teams and when your conf is that big, lots of halfway decent are going to get into the big dance. Not something to be proud of…….
*I have major apprehension about next year, for two main reasons. No PG and no muscle. I don’t care who’s a McDonald’s whatever. You have to have a PG and you have to have some size and beanpole recruits and Taylor don’t count as size. Wanamaker covered up their lack of a PG this year because he handled the ball a lot and passed well. No masking the problem next year. Either Epps or J.Johnson has to step up; Woodall’s not a starter.
*I agree with the Jan/Feb overachievement vs March underachievement characterization. What Dixon does, by running his system, in terms of winning Big East games with upperclassmen is amazing and I like being competitive every year in a good league and beating teams with lots of heritage like Syracuse, G-town and Nova. I’m satisfied with that. I’m not sure Dixon is ever going to adjust that approach or is even capable of doing so. So, fine. Let’s be happy with winning the Big East and quit whining about it. Leave March to the big name programs and the snake oil salesmen (sometimes the same thing, like at Kentucky) and enjoy a program that achieves success via consistent performance and getting the most out of its players.
Hail To Pitt!
hugh green: Well put and brutally honest as usual. Don’t always agree with you but certainly respect your knowledge. Same for many of the other regulars here who I try to compliment when possible.
Some of you though, well, all I can say is LOL and GET REAL!
My last opinion on this subject, because we lost. Can’t change that no matter how much it’s discussed.
If there is a fatal flaw in Jamie’s gameplan, it’s that he always plays the percentages:
– that a team comprised of juniors and seniors on average win 60% of their games while a team comprised of freshmen and sophomores win 48%, so you want kids who will stick for 3-4 yrs.
– that on average a team will shoot around 34% from 3-pt range and 47% overall, so you design your defense to give a little on the perimeter in order to stop easier shots and limit the opponent to one possession.
– that a play that you’ve rehearsed hundreds of times and used successfully in 25+ games will work over a play that you draw up on the sideline during a timeout.
– that you’ll need your last timeout to change your defense on the opponent’s final possession rather than burn it to change the play you already called in an if-they-miss/if-they-make discussion during a timeout 30 seconds earlier.
– that a two-year starter knows what 10 seconds feels like in a possession.
– that a 78% free throw shooter was perfect so far and is probably due to miss.
– that a little rebounding pressure will take time off the clock while zero pressure won’t.
– that a two-year starter knows not to foul on a rebound over 90 ft. from the opponent’s rim.
Playing the percentages helps win the majority of your regular season games and at a better rate than anyone else in your league, but percentages often go out the window in a one-and-done tourney. Hopefully, Jamie will learn to adjust his coaching to account for that.
Time, for me at least, to move on to football and next year’s basketball team. Hope Nas moves on too. Good luck at the next level, here or abroad, to Wanny, Gil and Gary. Thanks for your dedication and hard work.
nice thoughts. i also thought ND did not have a snowball’s chance in hell against FSU. however one of your thoughts is kind of hilarious.
*Pitt had zero chance of getting past Fla anyway. I certainly thought they’d beat Butler (and cover the spread), but the Fla/UCLA game opened my eyes. I repeat, zero chance of Final 4.
i love this after the fact. how much do you want to bet that florida doesn’t get to the final 4?
Pitt will be fine next year.
I forgot that Butler is a big name program. Since they are in the sweet 16 for the third time in 5 years and were in the championship game last year, I assumed that they were. Based on your logic that only big name programs win in March.
boubacar aw: Obviously, Birch screwed up Jamie’s plan a bit by coming a year ealier than expected. It will be interesting to see how he manages that. Maybe he will surprise us.
You can’t be afraid to make a play in the NCAA tournament. I think this year’s Pitt team was a little scared at times.
Wanny looked particularly out of sorts, but someone wondered if his wrist was worse than anyone knew. Made me wonder the same because I always thought of him as pretty fearless.
Gilbert was a pleasant surprise. Funny how he always seemed to have his best games in Pitt losses. Xavier last year comes to mind. Truly an enigma.
Wanny’s wrist was definitely bad — his first four or five shots were all way short. It wasn’t until the adrenaline got flowing did he play better.
I love Dixon. Our program is the envy of 95% of college teams out there. I have no problem with him keeping the guys on the lane, or with Pitt’s defense on the Butler hoop. I do have a problem with him NOT calling timeout when it was obvious Pitt was not going to get a good shot with 10 seconds left. That was a killer.
Farewell Brad, Gil and Gary…thanks for a great four years. Don’t sweat it Nas — one of the most likeable, hardest working players Pitt’s ever had. And the future is bright.
i feel differently than you do. i thought gilbert brown played better than mack and howard on saturday. he had a higher shooting percentage, rebounded, and assisted. he also made a free-throw to tie the game with 1 second left. he hit several big shots and was phenomenal. he was also playing with foul trouble.
we can disagree, but that doesn’t mean you are right and i am wrong.