I feel completely behind on the basketball stuff at the moment.
It’s year 2 of the New Big East, but thankfully the final year of the TV pandering schedule.
I hope everyone has been clicking over to Big East Basketball Blog for much of the link goodiness. Among the stuff mentioned is bit more about the JUCO verbal Cassin Diggs. Plenty of links to stories about and after media day. As you would expect for the team picked to win the conference, plenty of talk of Pitt in the various stories.
This is a kind of fun bit, asking questions of the various players at media day and just listing them. Some may not matter much like “If you could invite three people, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?” invite aren’t that interesting (though, Aaron Gray showing a lot of comfort in the media glare put Maria Sharapova on his list).
What’s the toughest place to play in the Big East?
Juan Palacios, Louisville: “Carrier Dome. With that depth perception, you need at least a day or so of just shooting before you’re ready to play a game there.”
Dan Fitzgerald, Marquette: “The RAC at Rutgers. The locker room is real small and the fans are loud and non-stop.”
Aaron Gray, Pitt: “West Virginia. Before my first game there no one told us about their Mountaineer mascot shooting that musket. I’m standing ready to sing the national anthem. And the gun goes off. Shocked? That’s an understatement.”
Terrence Williams, Louisville: “UConn’s Gampel Pavilion. Usually on the road we have some of our fans. But at UConn everybody’s for UConn. When they’re screaming it seems the floor is moving and the rim is shaking.”
Terrence Roberts, Syracuse: “Pittsburgh. The fans, oh my goodness, they’re just on you. At every point in the game, I feel like they’re going to just rush the floor.”
Frank Young, West Virginia: “Villanova. The students are right on top of you and they chant, `Pittsburgh,’ which is our big rival.”
Wesley Matthews, Marquette: “Louisville. It was so hot. When I left the locker room, I was sweating. It was the hottest place I’ve played, indoors or outdoors.”
Anthony Mason Jr., St. John’s: “UConn is crazy. A big arena. It’s loud. The fans are crazy.”
Jeff Green, Georgetown: “Pittsburgh. I’ve never experienced anything like that. The stadium was actually rocking.”
Levon Kendall, Pittsburgh: “Syracuse. It’s half a football field. It’s a strange feel. And the fans are pretty ruthless. Last year a guy heckled us the entire warmup.”
Mike Nardi, Villanova: “Pittsburgh. Their students are all along the side of the court and they are loud. Plus, you have to play Pittsburgh.”
Pitt being at 5th (tied with UCLA) in the Coaches’ preseason poll seems about right. It isn’t just me, right? Despite the professed non-desire to coach against each other, doesn’t it seem that something is going to make a Pitt-UCLA game happen in the next few years?
As for the Fan Fest and Blue-Gold Scrimmage, big thanks to Omar and Yi for the first-hand reports of what they saw. Going into this season I was a little worried about how the team will feed Gray the ball. That still seems to be something of an issue. Considering I jumped on the Mike Cook bandwagon early, I’m very happy to read that he looked good. As they both agreed, there was a lot of intensity in the scrimmage. Not bad blood or being pissed, just both teams trying to take it to the other. I have to make one of these some time.
