Finally, Pitt will play a real opponent. Not too many of these on Pitt’s pathetic non-con schedule. Have I mentioned how much I hate the non-con?
Part of it is purely selfish. I don’t live in the Pittsburgh media market. I have to rely on national games, and Pitt has scheduled itself any real national attention until the first week in December.
The other part is playing a pathetic non-con (only ND has a worse non-con in the Big East) , is that Pitt will get itself screwed come the NCAA Tourney in seeding. They were punished last year, and publicly called out by the committee, for all intents, to schedule a better non-con. Instead it is just as soft.
Okay, I’m done venting. Looks like the local media and Pitt players are eager for a challenge, as well:
“I feel it’s a disadvantage for them,” Pitt point guard Carl Krauser said. “They’ve already had their pie. We didn’t have any of that pie yet, and we’re real hungry. We want a slice of pie. We want the whole pie, as a matter of fact.”
Somewhere in that food metaphor Krauser is saying the Panthers crave a tough opponent.
Memphis, coached by Pittsburgh native John Calipari, provides that first litmus test of the season for the Panthers. Pitt and Memphis square off in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York. Syracuse and Oklahoma State play in the second game. Both games will be televised by ESPN.
“We’re all hungry for a good game, a good team,” Pitt sophomore center Chris Taft said. “No disrespect to Duquesne or these other teams we’ve been playing. We want to play against all the real good teams out there, and Memphis is one of them. It’s going to be a real good game.”
Yes, the John Calipari is from the Pittsburgh area (Moon Township) connection will be played up prominently in the Pittsburgh papers. That also means that his questionable moments leading to the NCAA watching him a little closer than some won’t get mentioned by them.
While Memphis is no longer in the top-25, they are a good team and the first one Pitt faces. Of course, while the game is technically a “neutral” site, with Pitt’s NYC pipeline and the Big East Tournament played there, it is a familiar place for Pitt.
Memphis has some good inside players in Banks and Carney, plus a freshman point guard, Darius Finch, who prefers to shoot and play offense then concentrate on defense. From what I saw, he seemed to be showing his speed on the defense against Purdue last week, so it seems he is coming around. Should be interesting to see how he handles Pitt’s defense.
This will also be Pitt’s first foe that can bang a bit inside with them. I expect that will have them offbalance for at least part of the first half. Perhaps even some foul trouble for Taft or Troutman.
