You know, I appreciate the candor from Levance Fields, but he’s not here next year and you can bet next year this sort of thing will be taped up in the St. John’s locker room when Pitt plays them.
“Even when it was a close game,” Pitt point guard Levance Fields said, “you could tell they really didn’t think they had a chance.”
Playing for the first time since its newly minted No. 1 national ranking, the Panthers overcame a slow start to bully St. John’s, 90-67, in front of a sold-out Petersen Events Center.
…
St. John’s failed to respond to Pitt’s second-half run and couldn’t repeat its upset victory over then-No. 7 Notre Dame last week.
“Their heads were down,” Fields said. “Once the lead got to double-digits and the crowd was into it, I think that was pretty much the end of the game.”
I’m not saying he wasn’t correct, but no team likes to have it announced that they knew they had no chance and then gave up.
D.J. Kennedy definitely disagreed with Fields’ views.
“Everybody in our locker room, from the players to the coaches, thought we could win,” Kennedy said. “As you can see, in the first half, we came out and went blow-for-blow with them.”
St. John’s starting five, composed of four sophomores and one freshman, hung with Pittsburgh’s senior-laden lineup in the first half. There were seven ties and 10 lead changes. The Panthers led 41-36 at halftime.
The first half was when St. John’s put the scare into Pitt fans about the game. Whether the team was a little tight about coming out there as the #1 team or just rusty from over a week off. St. John’s hung with Pitt and led for a significant chunk in the first half. The second half was a combination of Pitt just playing a lot better and St. John’s not able to match Pitt in strength or depth.
With the return of his very close friend facing him, DeJuan Blair just asserted himself.
Where Blair recorded game-highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds, along with six steals, to lead Pitt to a 90-67 victory Sunday, Kennedy gave the Panthers all they could handle in his homecoming. The 6-foot-6 sophomore from the Hill District finished with a team-high 18 points, making 5-of-8 shots from the field and 8-of-11 free throws, with seven rebounds in 40 minutes.
“We both played good,” Blair said. “It was a fun game, but at the end …”
Blair didn’t have to finish his sentence. He got the last word, but give Kennedy credit for his effort. He was chirping at Blair every time he went to the free-throw line, but Blair made 9 of 11.
“I was trying to shut him up by making it,” Blair said.
This is part of what makes Blair a special player. He gets up for the big games. Whether it was the G-town game and going against a heralded freshman in the paint or squaring off against his old HS teammate. He wants to come out ahead.
It’s cliche, but the Big East is such a tough conference and if you have any bit of bad luck or injuries you get buried. St. John’s has some good young talent, but their depth has been killed by injuries the past couple of years. Anthony Mason, Jr. — who torched Pitt last year is out for the season. Promising young point guard Malik Boothe has been out for several games with a hand injury. Their starting big man, Justin Burrell, has to wear a mask with three broken bones in his face. Plus he has a back injury that was re-aggravated which made him completely ineffective against Blair. You wonder about the possibilities if they ever have a healthy season.
Of course, the other problem for St. John’s has been the lack of continuity. On top of the massive rebuilding from the devastation to the program from Mike Jarvis, there has also been a steady stream transfers that have sapped the depth. Pitt has such depth and continuity.
“It’s disappointing for us, but it’s also freshman and sophomores. That’s what we’ve got. They’ve got juniors and seniors. They have veteran guys,†said St. John’s coach Norm Roberts. “It’s part of the Big East. You play this game, and you put this game away, and you get ready to play the No. 5 team in America.â€
DeJuan Blair had 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Panthers. Jermaine Dixon added 17 and Levance Fields had 13.
“Our seniors have exceeded my expectations on them. I think how they’ve handled things, prepared themselves for games, they’ve become leaders,†said coach Jamie Dixon.
And as the second half wore-on the Red Storm wore-down.
Like previous Big East Conference games at Rutgers and Georgetown, Pitt (15-0, 3-0) dominated the second half. Only one team – NCAA Division II Indiana – has outscored the Panthers during a second half this season.
“Physically, we got worn down,” St. John’s coach Norm Roberts said. “When you get worn down, you get a little frustrated and we did.”
And Pitt killed them quickly for it.
Pomeroy has a new team statistics page which is amazing in its detail:
link to kenpom.com but to me lacks one important thing, team synergy. A possible metric: how animated is the pregame circle.
From ESPN:
“Oklahoma defensive lineman Gerald McCoy said Monday he will return to school instead of entering the NFL draft as an underclassman.
McCoy, 6-foot-4 and 288 pounds, was rated by Scouts, Inc. as one of the top defensive line prospects in the upcoming NFL draft.
“I’ve decided to stay,” McCoy said. “I talked it over with my family and I just don’t feel like right now is the time for me to leave. I feel another year would benefit my speed, strength and overall knowledge of the game.”…”
link to sports.espn.go.com
Then I looked closer and it said “Oklahoma DL”. I went from elated to depressed in 2 seconds haha.
But yeah, Shady’s gone I think. Oh well, life goes on.
I believe the USF game is on ESPNU Weds. I’m like one of 5 people in the country that actually gets that channel.
South Florida is possbily the worst team in the Big East, let’s not stink it up ala that Rutgers home game last year. Come out and put them away early.
Pitt star tailback LeSean McCoy once again delayed his decision on whether to declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft, in a statement released by the university’s athletic department:
“LeSean McCoy spoke to Coach Dave Wannstedt this afternoon and said he is not ready to make a final decision on the NFL Draft,” the statement read. “Coach Wannstedt encouraged LeSean to take the time he needs to make such an important decision.”
Doug Gotlieb stinx. a lot.
Also, anyone else wonder what Sam Young was doing yesterday? off day? not feeling well? fell asleep? too much partying? daydreaming of joining the USA Oylmpic Gymnastic team?? (seriously.. how many times are we going to see that back flip clip?!)
Mark, you old son-of-a-gun. You overheard the conversation among Shady, his mom and pop, and DW last week:
Shady: “Coach, I decided to enter the draft. Having said that, is there anything that I can do to please you?”
DW: “Best of luck on your NFL career, but there is just one thing that would please me to no end. Just wait until the middle of next week to announce your decision. That would make me so happy.”
Hmmm. I thought that I was the only one to have overheard that conversation, but Mark, you must have been hiding out, listening.
If he really wanted to have a reputation as a heel he would go to extremes to aggravate that certain team’s fans. As it is he just sort of holds a petty little grudge which 1) doesn’t matter in the least and 2) doesn’t make him look like a rogue reporter or college basketball’s Don Cherry -it just makes him look stupid.
For perspective, does anyone EVER recall the last time an article appeared on ESPN (or anywhere, for that matter), claiming that the currently-ranked #1 team shouldn’t be there?
Anyone recall last year, “Memphis shouldn’t be #1?” “UConn shouldn’t be #1?” “Duke shouldn’t be #1?” “UCLA shouldn’t be #1?”
In 1995-’96, Gottlieb’s freshman year at Notre Dame, he stole credit cards from a roommate and ran up $900 worth of charges. He was convicted of fraud. He transferred to Oklahoma State.
here’s the link: link to www2.jsonline.com
It basically says what we’ve all suspected. He wants to stay really bad, but his family wants him to go pro really bad, and I guess he’s upset about it. Read on (it’s not all that long):
We definitely don’t know what to believe at this point, but just based on the fact that he keeps delaying the decision it’s obvious that he is very torn. If that’s the case, he’s better off staying. You can’t go into the NFL unsure if you’re ready. Like I said before- it’s like getting married. If you have to question it that much, you shouldn’t do it. Stay one more year, come out on top of next year’s class of RBs and cash in as a top-ten pick.