Where to start, where to start, where to start.

How about with Coach Dixon.

“We knew when we scheduled Long Beach State that they were very good and we wanted to play an experienced team.  We knew how good they were.  I anticipated us being a much better team at this time and obviously we are not where I would like us to be.  I want to give them credit for how well they played because they played very well.  They played like seniors and like an experienced team.  They played hard, they played aggressive and they moved the ball very well.  On our part, we have a lot of work to do.  I think we knew that, we have been talking about that, and we have to get better.  This was disappointing, but we recognized going in that we have to be a better team and we’ve got to get better defensively.  We usually get better as the year goes on (defensively) and we have to do that here and now moving forward.“

[Emphasis added.]

Obvious disappointment and a bit of frustration from Coach Dixon. As much as the outside expectations are high on Pitt, the expectations from within aren’t being met as well. The team has five days before their next game against LaSalle. LaSalle, by the way, took Villanova to OT before losing this past week.

(more…)

Ohzz nos. Pitt lost to Long Beach State. A non-con loss at home for the first time in years. Losing to a team whose very name screams low mid-major.

The bigs are lost on the floor. The defense is shoddy. The team is overrated. There is no way the players, the chemistry will improve. The season is already lost.

Yeah, do me a favor. Go back a couple years after Pitt lost in MSG to a less than good Indiana squad. Take a look at the comments after that game. That was a bad loss. To a team that ended the season 10-21. Before that Pitt needed double-OT to beat Duquesne. Struggled to score against New Hampshire. All of that had followed a game effort against Texas (who looked awesome at that point, but imploded by mid-January), but still saw Pitt end up losing to the Longhorns by 16.

Last night’s loss was to a very good mid-major team. A team with 4 senior starters and a really dangerous player in Casper Ware. They got after Pitt, and many of the players were simply unprepared to respond.

I’m not trying to minimize the loss. It sucked. It royally sucked. Right now, Pitt has a lot of problems and definitely isn’t deserving of it’s top-10 ranking. I will get into the problems and the game review in a later post. And, yes, the problems look legion.

But to declare the team has no heart. To announce that players are a complete bust 3 games into a season where they are starting for the first time. Basically, to go Chicken Little is ridiculous. You don’t have to be a blind Pollyanna and pretend that all will be well. You do, however, have to have a little more patience and sanity.