Here’s the Cardiac Hill link:
link to cardiachill.com

Correction: Dixon has a regional final and like Buzz Ridle, it was a loss.

Playing Penn State is “scheduling up”? They may have some fight in them this year, but they’ve been terrible for the past ten!

TonyinHouston, No, Pitt-Penn State was never a BB rivalry. Not even close. You must be thinking of Duquesne & WVU from the eastern 8. Or maybe Villanova. There is no interest in Pitt-Penn State BB in PA. Please give me Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana, etc. when we play the ACC/BIG games.

Wow, saw where Ped State’s coach was implicitly complaining about officiating.

“You said it, I didn’t. But I would agree with that. I got guys with three and four fouls and they don’t want to foul. They’re backing off and that can hurt.”

Pitt had 19 fouls whistled. PSU had 26 whistled. I believe that there were six fouls called on PSU in the last minute and a half trying to lengthen the game. Granted Pitt committed a couple of silly ones during that stretch, but he really chose to complain about a discrepancy of a few fouls? He should have been teed twice during the game. One time he ran onto the court and yelled at each referee during a timeout. Another time he clearly berated a ref for about thirty seconds under the basket while the game was going on.

I thought PSU did a lot of hand checking and steering of Pitt perimeter players in the first half. Most of that went uncalled. It reminded me a lot of how Pitino teams liked to play on the perimeter.

Wonder if Bonasorte has trademarked
“Hit the Showers” yet, for some blue and gold
t-shirts for 2016???

@Tony, I don’t remember that, vaguely I guess. Certainly not in the 90’s and 2000’s.

I remember the tri-rivalry of Pitt-Duq-WVU when they were hanging BB Flenory in effigy down in Morgantown.

I’m sure they had some tough games, just not remembering as a rivalry like the football.

With that being said, anything Penn State in the building gets the blood boiling, and it was evident last night, the crowd and the student section were absolutely rocking.

It also being a tight game had a lot to do with it I’m sure.

As for advocates of Duquesne and Robert Morris.

Robert Morris is like your little buddy. Hell, I cheer emphatically for them when they make the tourney, or if they’re on the tube in their tourney championship game. Against Kentucky last year, great game, was cheering out of my gord for them.

Duquesne, Duquesne, Duquesne. Yes, it USED to be a fantastic rivalry. Like the Browns no longer being a real rival of the Steelers, one of the teams has to win every once in awhile to keep the rivalry going. It’s just not there and hasn’t been in a long while.

It’s only my opinion certainly, and a humble one at that. I had more fun at the Pitt-Penn State game last night than I have had at any Pitt-RMU/Duquesne game in the last 15 years.

By the way, this is not a “we’re good, you stink, you’re not a rival anymore” thing.

It’s just the way it is.

Hell, for the last 20 years, I’ve watched the
Reds, Phillies, Mets and Cardinals not consider the Pirates a rival any longer. We’ve all been on the other end if you are a baseball fan.

Now look, Pirates win a bit, suddenly you have one of the wildest games in Pirates history at PNC, and coming down the stretch, the Pirates/Reds/Cardinals games were all fantastic.

And nothing I’ve seen, and nothing any Duquesne buddies or family has seen, that Duquesne is doing anything to make a big effort to regain national prominence in hoops.

They hire someone for a few years, fire them or they quit, hire someone for a few years and on and on.

Actually, that has a familiar ring to it, where have I seen that before??? LOL

Young, Artis, Newkirk … all first year players who show much promise, but, as most first year players, are very inconsistent. Nonetheless, I have no doubt all will be major contributors in the near future.

We probably lose this game last year because Patterson remained in the background and Adams did not have the skill or wherewithall to take over like Zanna did last night in 2nd half.

(But like Adams, he did steal the ball, drive 3/4 of the court and make the layup with a defender on his hip)

Tonyinhouston, I was at the PSU-Pitt game in ’74 at old Rec Hall (what a dump) when Ron Brown hit a buzzer beater to snap Pitt’s 22 game winning streak.

Back then, PSU games were just staged as a recruting tool for JoePA to meet all the FB recruits. Don’t recall when PSU ever had a good BB team in that era.

They did reach the Sweet 16 about 10 years ago and won the NIT about 4 years ago … but didn’t sustain any success.

Tony, the Pete is sold out for every game and has been for years. I was at the game and the Pete wasn’t even close to fully packed last night. But yeah PSU draws so well because it is such a rivalry. It is complete joke that you are suggesting that Dixon is now ducking PSU because they played a close game. PSU will probably stink next year without Frazier. But yeah scheduling PSU is a must. If you are going to do a home and home it would be better to do it against a team like Georgetown that actually provides exposure instead of PSU who is routinely bad. Also, you act like no other schools schedule these games. Everyone does it. Also if Dixon wants to pad his resume so much then why has Pitt been playing in these preseason tournaments which could expose you to a good team? And why is Pitt playing in the Maui next year, which usually has one of the best fields out there?

Pitt needs to schedule teams from DC or the City. Recruiting exposure. So play the Hoyas and Red Storm each year. Why we schedule a school located in the middle of a smelly cow pasture is beyond me.

Finally got to watch the game on tape as I was traveling last night.

A few thoughts….

* Zanna was nothing short of spectacular in the second half but needs a lot of footwork improvement on defense.

* I thought he would be a liability but it was our backcourt with Robinson that got dismantled in the first half, especially with Frazier dribble drives. Cannot give up that first step Mr. Robinson!

* Robinson will be among the slowest PG’s in the ACC and when he can’t find his shot, will be a real liability as (just like last year)the other defenders can play off him and double down on D.
PSU did that the entire first half.

* I think everyone is lost in how to interperet the new “driving” rule. Until it’s settled if I was a 1,2 or 3 in JD’s 1-4 offense,I would just put my head down and bull ahead inside with the ball.

* Pitt would have lost this game last year. Foul shooting and the presence of Newkirk who I predict will see huge minutes this year made the difference..and of course Zanna just taking over the game.

* Not only has Zanna worked on his offensive footwork, his shot is much different and he releases the ball at the tallest point…thank you Slice!

There are NO bad wins!!!

Hail to Pitt….Win and move on baby!

@TonyInHOuston. I know I replied, but after reading some retorts to your comment, I was going to jump on and defend you.

I’ve been railing for years Pitt fans deserve at least 1 non-con vs a BCS team for years. Actually we did up until a few years ago, playing Ohio State, Washington and Wisconsin all home and home.

Money, Schmoney, you got $20M a year now from the ACC, and on top of that, I see other schools that don’t seem to think giving up one home game, every other year is a big monetary deal.

Florida and UCONN, just did on Mon. Nite. They seem to think missing their game against Monmouth was worth it.

However, after glancing over your comment, I now see what some of the fella’s are talking about.

I agree, I’d like to play PSU every year, and I think it could become a good rivalry game, if PSU continues to elevate their program.

LOL!!!! I don’t think Pitt pussy-foots from anyone, we’ve played in the best league for years, now we’ve moved to what’s become the best league, we go to enough tourneys, Duke, Texas, Maryland, Stanford over the past couple years.

((you can’t help if who you play in those is having a down year a’la Stanford this year)).

So, Dixon has made his lunch on Syracuse, Villanove, Georgetown, UCONN, WVU, Notre Dame, and now Duke, North Carolina, and the rest of the ACC, and he’s pussy footing by not playing Penn State????????

Hell, I think the average margin the past 10 games Pitt has had with Penn State, have been worse than Robert Morris and Duquesne.

Didn’t we whack em’ by 35 or something last time we played??

C’mon brother, he may not be playing them for a lot of reasons, but losing, ah, I don’t think so.

@Dan 72: Thanks for the observations. I agree that driving pays given the current interpretation. Wish the Panthers did it more yesterday.

Newkirk was in for 25 minutes, but only took three shots. One was a missed three. Any ideas why he didn’t drive more?

At this point, Newkirk only has a learner’s permit. He’s not allowed to drive after sundown.

@Dan 72 Glad to see you give the Zman the kudos he earned ,let me know when I can collect my rupee.

Pitt Dad, lol I was kind of surprised Dad Dixon let him have the keys at all.;

@Tony in Houston 1) comparing the Pitt – Penn St. football rivalry to the basketball programs is ridiculous. The football game was a 100 year competition played at the end of the season that was among the top 10 rivalries in the history of the sport. The basketball game was an interconference game that got a little extra notice off of the football rivalry. 2)I resent your sniping at Dixon’s character concerning the schedule because my guess is you have very little insight into the economic realities that limit his choices. 3) We quit playing them in hoops when their Coach DeChellis decided he was tired of us thumping them by 30 points a year and they withdrew. 4) If we are going to schedule a non con game against a legitimate opponent on a home and away basis I can name 20 teams off the top of my head that would be preferable to the soap swappers from happy valley. 5) I agree with you that Pitt needs to step up the Non con home schedule, but your Dixon bashing and Penn St courting leaves me standing against your ideas.

@SoS22 – I’m sure he had to be accompanied by a licensed driver perhaps TZ.

@PittDad, Do you mean TZ Talib Zanna or parking guru Trey Zeigler?

Is anyone else amazed that we are 8 games into the season and shooting over 75% from the foul line?

@SoS22 – LOL – I was going for Zanna

And I am pleased with the FT shooting although, as my family will tell you, it has taken away my main point of conversation during Pitt games – “gotta make those free throws.”

That was too good, Pitt Dad. It was abundantly clear that there were several times where Newkirk really *wanted* to shoot or drive but did not. That’s discipline. Hopefully in a few more games Dixon will loosen those reigns a little, because as long as Robinson shows that he either can’t or won’t penetrate, I’d like to see Newkirk do so, if nothing else than to keep other teams honest.

Also, in the first half, when the shots weren’t going down, would have loved to see them push the ball more. The Peds did a good job of getting back most often, but there were opportunities to break that were not taken.

Wondering how long Young remains in the starting lineup? If he continues to play this way, Artis should get the nod, IMO.

HoustonTony, the pedders quit scheduling Pitt when DeChellis cried no mas, although rumor has it that he was ordered to end it by poopy-pants.

As I have said previously, Dixon is the best coach Pitt could or would hire. Key emphasis in that sentence is Pitt. None of us would trust A.D. Pederson to hire Dixon’s replacement. And Pederson didn’t hire Dixon anyway.

Hard to see how Dixon prepares his teams for a March run in the tournament with schools like Albany, Howard, Cal Poly on the schedule.

No excuse for Dixon not playing West Virginia and Penn State every season if Penn State wants to renew series.

Not a Dixon groupie and refuse to believe some of the nonsense he tells reporters, especially about scheduling.

I’ve been Pitt basketball fan since 1968. Save the lectures on fan loyalty. It’s bullshit.

I’ve been a Pitt basketball fan for 40 years. We used to play a competitive early season schedule.
Feel free to check the Pitt media guides for reference.