(Treat this as the open thread, as well. I am short on time and on DVR delay the next two nights due to my daughter’s school musical.)

It’s hard to believe that in all the years Kevin Stallings coached at Vandy, the Commodores never made it to Madison Square Garden. Just by virtue of the years and number of events had at MSG, you would think there would have been one game.

Pitt plays a good SMU team tonight. As usual Larry Brown cut corners and ran afoul of the NCAA on recruiting — again. Also, as usual, Larry Brown went Larry Brown over not being “appreciated” (read: more years and money — despite the NCAA sanctions and his suspension) and quit over the summer.

Surprisingly, SMU was somewhat prepared for such an eventuality. When SMU decided to pay to pla — er, let’s choose a different way of phrasing that given the history of SMU athletics. When SMU made the decision to invest more in its basketball program, they didn’t just pay to bring in Larry Brown. They hired Tim Jankovich to be associate head coach. Jankovich was doing well enough at Illinois State over 9 seasons, but left for the money and opportunity. The Mustangs didn’t turn the program over to an assistant who was a Brown flunky or career assistant. They gave it to a guy who has a clue.

SMU brought in some talent in the last few years, and a chunk of it is still there. Three returning starters and Duke transfer Semi Ojeleye. This is a good team that at a minimum is the equal to this Pitt squad. Size-wise, they are similar to Pitt. They also like to take a lot of threes, but they play better defense than Pitt — something Brown and now Jankovich preach.

As for Pitt, they are still in the process of meshing with their new coach.

The predicament facing Stallings is entirely different and more understandable. His downtrodden tone following the decisive win, which stood in stark contrast to his upbeat tenor after the double-overtime win Friday night against Eastern Michigan, wasn’t out of frustration or desperation; he’s simply a first-year coach trying to figure out his team and his players.

As the Panthers prepare for their most difficult stretch of their early schedule — with a game against SMU tonight and either Michigan or Marquette Friday at Madison Square Garden — it’s a learning process that might need to be accelerated.

“I take responsibility for that,” Stallings said after the Gardner-Webb win. “Maybe I sent the wrong message about tempo and offense and things like that because we’re not ready to beat anybody that’s equivalent to us in terms of talent because we don’t sustain our defensive intensity. We have two short days to get that fixed before we go play some high-level teams in New York City.”

Throughout the offseason, there was little, if anything, Stallings saw that concerned him about sluggishness from his team. But for all he witnessed in that time, and for all he bonded with his new players, those experiences came in a vacuum, one in which they worked out and played exclusively against each other. Against other teams in games that actually count, the dynamic changes.

The issue for Pitt right now is the same it was the last couple years. The ability to play defense is there, but the willingness is not there on a consistent basis.

And the excuse of the low-name recognition opponents or fans not showing up on the second game, just don’t wash.

Pitt will then meet a brand-name program in Michigan or Marquette on Friday.

“What you don’t know when you’re young, or what you don’t understand, is that you’re incapable of turning it on and off,” Stalling said. “If you allow it to turn off, you can’t say ‘Oh, OK, I’m going to turn it back on now.’ Maybe the greatest of the great ones can do that. I’ve never known a college player who could do that.

“If you’re only going to get excited to play teams that have a brand name or whatever then ultimately you are only going to beat the teams you’re more talented than because you’re not going to be an every-day program. … You are not going to have the type of season you want to have.”

Stallings wants the switch flipped to “on” Thursday and to be kept there.

…

“Do I anticipate we’ll have a lot more energy and emotion Thursday night? Sure I do,” Stallings said. “But what if it’s not in Madison Square Garden against a Michigan or Marquette? I’m concerned about the entire picture not just the next window in the picture.”

The game is at 7pm on ESPN2.