It has to be conceded that the Big East has some of the better coaches for press conferences and interviews. Calhoun, Boeheim, Wainwright and Pitino know how to play the crowd. They are colorful, offer more than simply cliches and with at least Calhoun — you never know when he might start ranting at the media. Pitino just handles and plays the media well.
Rick Pitino was ticking off the strengths of the undefeated Pittsburgh club his Louisville basketball team will play Sunday afternoon in Freedom Hall when he suddenly ended his press conference.
“I’m getting the bleep scared out of me. I’m going upstairs,” Pitino said, rising from his chair and heading for the exit at Cardinal Arena.
Of course, he was just kidding about being frightened, but there’s no doubt that No. 12 Pitt (13-0), one of just three unbeatens left in NCAA Division 1 — the others are Duke and Florida — will present a stern challenge in the 1:04 p.m. Big East Conference game.
Before bolting, here’s how Pitino described the Panthers: “Pittsburgh is as good as it gets. It would not be a surprise to see them go on and have a great NCAA Tournament run. They have all the attributes, all the things you look for in a great basketball team. They’ve got great upperclassmen, talented freshmen that blend in terrific, depth, they can withstand foul trouble. They’re extremely well-coached, they attack inside-out. They’re big on the backboard … they’re just tough.”
Coach Dixon, though, sees plenty of things that need to improve.
“We’re not near where we need to be defensively,” Dixon said. “We need to make significant progress defensively. We have the ability to do that.”
Pitt (13-0, 2-0) will need to play better on defense tomorrow when the Panthers visit No. 10 Louisville (13-2, 1-1) in what figures to be their toughest challenge of the season.
Louisville averages 74.3 points and eight 3-pointers per game. Pitt is last in the league in defending the 3-point shot. The Panthers are allowing opponents to shoot 36.6 percent from behind the arc. No other Big East team allows a higher percentage from 3-point range.
Dixon has two goals for his team before each game: The first is to win the rebounding battle, and the second is to hold the opponent under 40 percent from the field. The Panthers missed that second goal in each of the past four games.
Being outrebounded by DePaul is a legitimate concern. It wasn’t just long rebounds, Pitt was getting beaten inside too much. It showed, in the fact that no one got in any foul trouble for Pitt. There was some lack of aggression.
Krauser and Gray were getting a lot of attention during the DePaul game from ESPN’s broadcast crew. For good reason. They were the team’s leading scorers, rebounder and leader. Early in the season, Krauser seemed to be the only one who could get the ball cleanly inside to Gray. Now, though, Fields and Ramon are doing a much better job of passing inside. Along with penetration and dishing.
Louisville fans are nervous but hopeful. There is hope to make this a statement game for the season and that in the Big East. I was waiting for him to end with, “we must protect this house!”
