The NCAA Tournament has been over for a couple weeks. As noted, within days of that, college basketball writers start to make their ridiculously early and way too soon predictions for next fall’s pre-season top-25 teams.

The process is fairly simple. So let’s break it down.

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I know it is beating a dead horse about the poor coverage from two dailies, but it is frustrating. For Scout and Rivals, it is tremendous. Providing more reasons why people should subscribe. For the record, I hold no involvement or paid subscription to either site, primarily to avoid any conflict or accusations that I am scraping their premium content.

While the Post-Gazette appears to be moving (probably smartly from a business standpoint) to putting more of its sports coverage into the “Plus” paywall, they are setting it up for disappointment with regards to Pitt. What enticement is it for Pitt fans to pay when clearly they are not putting much effort into covering spring practices? They made the strategic decision to put Pitt football beat writer, Paul Zeise, onto the NCAA Tournament, and has generally skipped having anyone else do much with the spring practice.

As for the Trib. I don’t know what to say. They don’t have that excuse but new guy Pat Mitsch hasn’t filed much. Not sure if Grupp is b-ball only now. Gorman was a good beat writer, but almost as important, he was ambitious. That produced more material. He provided great infodumps in his blog.

So, even though there is a week of practice left, very little has been learned without having a paid subscription to PantherLair or PantherDigest.

Well, I’ve vented. On to what there is.

PantherLair’s Chris Peak tosses some free content out there. Tristan Roberts is healthy and definitely improves depths and could be a help on passing downs.

Roberts missed all of 2009 with a shoulder injury.

“I missed all of last season, so I felt like I was kind of little out of it,” Roberts said after practice Thursday. “Then when I first came back, I was definitely a little out of it. I had to get back into making all my reads and hitting people and getting used to my shoulder.”

Roberts began spring camp working as a backup on the weak side, but the combination of Williams dealing with a minor injury and Roberts improving his own play has led to first-team work.

“Greg Williams is limping a little, so I’ve been getting some of the reps; we’re kind of going back and forth to see who’s more consistent, I guess,” Roberts said. “After the scrimmage they said I was doing good and they wanted to see what I could do with the first team because it’s always different playing behind a different d-line.”

Several years ago, Roberts was the subject of much hype, both from the coaches and from camp observers. But the promise and potential he showed never materialized to the extent that he could win a starting job, and the shoulder injury further side-tracked his career.

I admit, I had almost forgotten about Roberts, yet here he is a redshirt junior and still with time.

Other guys, while not likely to be starting barring injuries, are looking to make sure they get rotated in at the defensive end spots are Shayne Hale and Brandon Lindsey.

“When Jabaal’s not in there and we’re limiting Romeus, we need Brandon Lindsey and Shayne Hale to come on,” Wannstedt said. “We really do.”

Both Lindsey and Hale were linebackers in high school, Lindsey at Aliquippa and Hale at Gateway, and both were moved to defensive end after starting their Pitt careers at linebacker. Now that Pitt is holding Sheard out of contact drills, the two are using the extra work to try to stand out.

“I know I got a real good opportunity in front of me,” Lindsey said. “But I just got to try to get better every day and not let there be too much of a drop-off from when Jabaal’s in the game.”

Jabaal Sheard has a cracked bone in his hand, so he is limited to non-contact drills only.

New cornerback Saheed Imoru started out strong in spring practices, but is now struggling a little.

“The positive is that everything that we saw him do on tape at the junior college, he’s done here,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said during the first week of spring practice.

Lately though, Imoru has cooled off a bit, and now he hopes to battle through his slump and elevate his game.

“The first couple of days I was doing real good, and then this last week has probably been my worst week here. And I need to pick it up a lot,” Imoru said.

Adjusting to defensive coordinator Phil Bennett’s system and playing with more emotion are two of the necessary improvements that Imoru noted.

Having to go at it with Jonathan Baldwin most days — while great practice — has to take a toll on the confidence and how good you look.

Over on the offensive side, Mike Shanahan is considered the possession receiver in the offense. This despite his size, speed and athleticism. In part because that is how almost every white WR gets labeled. The other and just as important reason is that compared to Baldwin, that is what he is.

Shanahan’s role in the offense might be labeled as a “possession” receiver because, as Wannstedt notes, Shanahan has the ability to hurt teams that underestimate his athleticism.

“He’s a big guy who, because of his basketball skills, can position you,” Wannstedt said. “If they’re going to double-team Baldwin and leave Shanahan one-on-one, the guy covering him is going to have to go up and be able to make a play on the ball, or [Shanahan] is going to beat you.”

Even though he excelled in the role of short-yardage receiver last season, Shanahan does not like being labeled a possession receiver. He said offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has a plan to use all of his skilled receivers.

“It turned out last year that I was making third-down conversions. The big plays were going to Jon,” Shanahan said. “I think that’s just how it worked out. Coach Cignetti knows our strengths and weaknesses. He will utilize us the best he can. If it works out like that again, it will. If not, I’ll be making big plays, too.”

Praise continues for Greg Cross and his conversion to WR. Still a big question mark as to whether he will ever get on the field.

Bad news from the same article is that Aundre Wright, who converted to cornerback from WR because of depth issues hurt his knee and will have surgery.

Meanwhile Todd Thomas has officially been cleared academically to go to college. He will be enrolling for the summer session in May. The Cat Basket wants him immediately converted to safety.

Hey, you knew it was coming. Really silly top-25 predictions for next year. Even before the dust settles on early entries to the NBA draft and a few more key recruits decide.

Pitt seems to be a consensus top-10 pick in the way too early stuff.

Luke Winn at SI.com:

7. PITTSBURGH: The Panthers were Big East contenders a year ahead of schedule, tying for second in the league. Junior guard Ashton Gibbs is one of the nation’s most underrated scorers — he shot 44.4 percent on threes during Big East play in ‘09-10 — and on the verge of becoming a national name.

Marc Millar from Beyond the Arc:

5. Pitt
Panthers finished 25-9 and were a Big East surprise. By returning four starters and three top bench players, they’re good enough to win league.

From FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman:

8. PITTSBURGH
Record: 25-9 (second round of the NCAA tournament)
Lose: Jermaine Dixon Possible Early Entry Departures: None
Key Returnees: Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall, Dante Taylor
Newcomers: J.J. Moore, Cameron Wright, Isaiah Epps

The Panthers weren’t expected to do much this past season after losing four starters, but Jamie Dixon performed some magic to the tune of 25 wins. Pittsburgh’s lone loss is that of Jermaine Dixon, but guards Gibbs and Wanamaker have another year under their belt and McGhee made dramatic improvement in the past year. The key could be the progress of Taylor up front.

Gary Parrish at CBSSports.com puts Pitt at #6.

Over at SBN:

8) Pitt: Jamie Dixon has proven himself to be among the elite coaches in the country, and he should have one of his better teams in 2010/2011. The Panthers exceeded most expectations with their performance this season, and they return their top three scorers. Ashton Gibbs should be one of the elite guys in the Big East next season, and look for Isaiah Epps to step in and make an immediate impact next year.

Mike DeCourcy also chimes in from the Sporting News:

9. Pitt
The Panthers need to become more versatile on offense, but don’t be surprised if talented big man Dante Taylor makes a significant leap as a sophomore.

And finally from Andy Katz at ESPN.com:

5. Pitt: The Panthers were the surprise of the Big East last season by landing a 2-seed in the Big East tournament and a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. No one should be shocked by Pitt returning this season as the Big East favorite. The whole team returns. Ashton Gibbs is the leader of this group and makes money shots for the Panthers.

So, at this point the lowest ranking is 9th. Highest 5th.

Expect Pitt to have a tough and backloaded Big East schedule for next year.

— I don’t know about you, but seeing Da’Sean Butler go down in an agonized heap against Duke brought back painful memories of seeing Mike Cook go down against Duke a few years back. Right down to the screams and a head coach cradling and trying to comfort and console his player.

I was not rooting for WVU, but I hated seeing Butler go down with an injury. He was a hell of a player that always scared the crap out of me. Anyone who cheered that is scum. Regardless of what name was on the front of his jersey.

— It sure will be easy to root for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. To the point where I kind of wish Billy Packer was still the analyst. Just to have him bag on Butler so it would be that much easier to root against Duke.

The other reason to root for Butler. Coach Dixon coached Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack on the US U-19 gold medal team.

“Someone asked me, ‘What did you learn from the experience with the U19 team,'” Dixon said in a phone interview. “I learned not to play Butler.”

Mack, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Lexington, KY, was named a team captain.

Hayward, a 6’9″ sophomore from Brownsburg, IN, was selected to the tournament’s All-Star team along with Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor, who played for newly minted Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley at St. Anthony in Jersey City.

“Gordon was our best player by far and Mack was probably or second-best player,” Dixon said. “That gives you an idea how good they were.

“This team’s not Cinderella,” Dixon added of Butler. “The two players I know are as good as anybody in the country.”

— The Pitt Blather bracket challenge is now down to

Renato Miguel and Ontario Lets Go Pitt. Very simple. If Butler wins, RM wins. If Duke wins OLGP takes it by a point.

— Apparently former Pitt assistant and Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen is still considering the offer for more money to be an assistant at St. John’s. By all reports, though, he’s got a strong recruiting class and an excellent chance to win the MAAC. Considering he remains in demand to be an assistant (rejected an offer from Calipari to join him in Kentucky), I don’t see the point in leaving his present job. Even if he fails and gets fired, the well-paid assistant/recruiting jobs will be out there. If he succeeds, he gets a chance to move up the coaching ladder.

— I don’t know how many of you had a chance to watch the debut on your PBS station for “The Street Stops Here.” The documentary on St. Anthony’s and hall of fame basketball coach Bob Hurley, that focuses on the 2007-08 season and players — including Pitt’s Travon Woodall.

The reviews have been glowing. For some reason, PBS in Cleveland didn’t air it this past Wednesday. They waited until Saturday night — during the Final Four — to ensure that anyone who likes basketball and would be interested totally missed it. I have it on the DVR and it is on my watch list right after tonight.

Just so you know, I’ll be running the liveblog over on Fanhouse this evening to discuss the bubble, seeding and Selection Sunday. The fun will be starting around 5:30 and will probably go 90 minutes or so. Stop on by.

I’ll be posting later on what happens with Pitt and seeding and match-up.

There will be a Pitt Blather Tournament Pool. Complete with a top prize. I am looking for a volunteer to be the bracket manager — and by that I mean choosing which automated major sports site tournament pool, setting up the private group and doing summaries of the leaderboard to post. If you feel like you want to do that shoot me an e-mail at pittblather-at-gmail-dot-com

That’s a credit to Pitt’s Associate AD for Media Relations, E.J. Borghetti and his staff making them happy.

The Football Writers Association of America polled themselves to find out which sports information departments really stood out.

The Football Writers Association of America has announced its first “Super 11” field of sports information departments, which were deemed the best in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision during the 2009 season.

In alphabetical order those 11 schools are: Buffalo, Clemson, East Carolina, Georgia, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, San Jose State, Southern California (USC), Texas and Utah.

“There are clearly many outstanding sports information departments across the country,” said Tim Griffin, 2010 FWAA President and chairman of the Super 11 Committee. “But our group felt there was a smattering of schools that merited commendation because of their exemplary work above and beyond the call of duty. This is our first collection in what will be an ongoing process.”

I can attest that E.J. Borghetti does a fantastic job at dealing with people. He knows how to engage them and makes them feel like he is on their side/helping them. All the while he is putting Pitt, the team, the players and the coaches in the best light possible.

I’m not sure if the map is exactly right, but if you don’t live in Philly or Pittsburgh, you might want to check your local CBS Station’s program guide if you don’t want a nasty surprise on Sunday at noon.

I have the DirecTV sports package, and thankfully they air the alternative feed on channel 729 and 729-1 for HD.

Good luck.

UPDATE (4:50): Hat tip to SilverPanther in NYC for fining a better, more detailed coverage map.

This flat out blows.

Pittsburgh vs. SetonHall BIG EAST Network broadcast has been cancelled due to inclement weather.

Now, the way I am reading all of this. The game itself is on. There just won’t be any broadcast of the game. Not on FoxSports Pittsburgh. Not on MASN, SNY or Altitude. Not on ESPN360.com.

Just cancel the whole game if they can’t even get a TV crew there. That means it is too unsafe for anyone to make the trek.

UPDATE 1:49 pm: Here’s the official weasel statement from the Big East.

ESPN Regional Television (ERT) has had to cancel this evening’s “Big East Network” production of the Seton Hall at Pittsburgh game scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET) tonight.  Although the game is still scheduled to be played, the weather and road conditions throughout the area prohibit ERT from assembling production facilities and personnel in a timely fashion to originate a telecast.  We regret the inconvenience, but the safety of our staff and employees is always a primary concern.

Safety of fans in the area. Not so much. If you want to see the game you paid for, gut it out.

Just wondering. Since the Pitt Athletic Department is encouraging anyone who can’t walk to the game to stay home, any chance they are going to offer refunds? Any chance? Any?

/crickets chirping

UPDATE 3:00: Just for fun, here are some other locations that got hit by the storm, yet managed not to have their telecasts canceled:

State College (Minn-PSU), Big 10 Network

Charlottesville, VA (WF-UVa), Raycom

Richmond, VA (Temple-Richmond), ESPNU; and (ODU-VCU) Comcast

Blacksburg, VA (Clemson-VT), Raycom

UPDATE 3:33: Here’s how ESPN Regional works. They are based in Charlotte, but have production facilities in various areas that are dispatched. One of them is located in Huntington, WV. They pull in people — usually w/in driving distance from the region to do the job. For example, John Sanders (“bending, bending…) who regularly calls games for the Big East also shows up on Big 11 Network broadcasts and MAC because he lives in the Cleveland area and can drive to a lot of the games (or catch quick flights).

ERT didn’t plan or adjust. They just hoped that it would work out.

I still blame the Big East for deciding to push the game through. ERT knows they can’t safely have their people come in for the game. Pitt is saying that if you can’t walk to the Pete, don’t come.

Yet the Big East is saying that the game has to take place. That’s on the conference for screwing fans in Pittsburgh and outside.

UPDATE 4:50: I suppose it’s better than nothing, but apparently there will be a free video feed at Pitt’s web site. Here’s the direct link.

Also, all Pitt students get in free with a valid student ID. Lots of seats available.

I’ve decided to be bemused with the insane rumors from the weekend through today.

The funny thing to me is how this spread from some bad message board material and specious, unsourced internet writings. Kept getting picked up and enough people were hearing something to wonder if there was something to it.

Now it gets doused in a bath of logic and reason. Yet if you want to play the game, no one is actually on record of saying anything one way or another — which allows it to fester and keep going.

The biggest refutation on the Big 11 side came from the Chicago Tribune‘s Teddy Greenstein.

Bottom line, a source at the conference reiterated to the Tribune on Monday that the Big Ten will adhere to the timetable it laid out in December: a 12-to-18 month period of analysis. The league will then determine whether it wants to expand and, if so, how many schools it will invite to the party.

Unnamed source, but still no formal statement. But that refutation spread as truth (and for the record I believe it but not because of an unnamed source at the Big 11).

Another popular source was ZagsBlog actually getting a “Pitt spokesman” on the record — something local beat writers couldn’t do.

Internet reports that Pittsburgh is moving to the Big 10 from the Big East are “100 percent’ false, according to multiple sources within the Pittsburgh athletic department.

“There is no announcement to make because there is nothing happening,” said Pitt spokesman Mike Gladysz.

Well, that’s neat except that Mr. Gladysz is not an employee of Pitt’s athletic department. Oh, he works in the area. He is employed by ISP Sports Network as an editor of the Pitt monthly “Panther Eyes.” At least that is what his profile says.

Oh, and that KC Star blog post  that wrote:

Speculation is heating up all over the Internet that Pitt has accepted an offer to join the Big Ten Conference.

Here is what popped up on Bleacherreport.com, normally a pretty reliable outlet, just a few hours ago…

[Emphasis added]

Well, that bit has been scrubbed and now he, uh, updated it to say he was just posting the speculation on the internet. Nothing else. No. Of course not.

And the fun keeps coming.

[UPDATE, 5:30: Adam Zagoria has changed his post to delete the attribution to Mr. Gladysz, without indicating he ever wrote it that way. Good to see that responsible journalism hard at work.

UPDATE, 2/2/10, 9:00 AM: Interesting. Now it is back. to the original way written.]

This blog post from Bob Smizik about the former B-94 now going sports talk.

As word about the new sports-talk station in town — SportsRadio 93.7 The Fan — continues to dribble out, one thing is clear: These guys mean business.

From all indications, the CBS Radio Group has made a serious long-term commitment to the station, which will use the call letters to KDKA-FM.

Most notable about that commitment is The Fan will carry at least 16 hours of locally originated programming. That’s twice as many hours as 1250 ESPN produces.

One way to fill some of those hours will be with broadcast of games. That is where Pitt could benefit.

Another area where I expect the new station to be a major player is in bidding for the broadcasting rights of the local franchises — Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt football and basketball and Duquesne basketball. All of those rights, except Duquesne’s, are currently held by Clear Channel, which operates five stations in the Pittsburgh market and has the Steelers on one, the Penguins on another and Pitt on a third.

The Penguins recently extended their deal with Clear Channel and will be heard on WXDX (105.9) for the foreseeable future. It’s hard to imagine the Steelers leaving Clear Channel, when their contact expires. Because they are the No. 1 franchise in town, the Steelers are heard on WDVE (102.5), the crown jewel of the Clear Channel stations and No. 1 in the market.

But KDKA-AM has made strong bids for the Steelers rights in the past so there’s reason to believe the new station will come just as hard or harder.

Pitt is where The Fan has the best chance to win broadcasting rights. Pitt’s contract with Clear Channel is due to expire in the near future (not sure of the exact date) and I would expect The Fan to be a player in the bidding. Pitt has no reason to be unhappy at Clear Channel, where it’s heard on WWSW (94.5), and it gets plenty of the cross-promotion on the five stations that Clear Channel does so well. But it’s still No. 4 on Clear Channel. It could be No. 1 at The Fan.

Obviously another bidder is helpful. If the new station is really serious about doing local programming that heavy, it would be nice to see some kind of attempt to focusing on Pitt and/or regional college teams as part of the programming. I’m sure there will be no skimping on further over-saturating the region with the Steelers and Penguins coverage, plus rants on how bad the Pirates are doing.

I’d like to think they would consider trying to take some shot at doing a college show. It seems an area that remains relatively untouched. Especially if they do score rights to Pitt football and/or basketball.

Kids sick, life sucks.

Lots of tabs accumulated and things to touch upon. One thing that has continued, the fact that Pitt is a team, much stronger as a unit than if you looked at the individual players. And they are coming out from the shadows of last year’s accomplishments.

How are they achieving improbability after impossibility? Tenacity, toughness, great defense and rebounding. Pitt outrebounded Louisville by 14 Saturday, three days after beating Connecticut by nine on the boards. And while Louisville shot well Saturday, they were only 2 of 5 down the final 4:30 stretch of regulation, and 2 of 5 with two turnovers in overtime.

“I’ve told these guys,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, “that it’s up to us to decide how good we’re going to be.”

But finding an identity, despite the early success, hasn’t been easy. DeJuan Blair and Sam Young and Levance Fields still haunt these halls. In past years, the Brandin Knights, Juliuis Pages, Carl Krausers and Aaron Grays would leave, some would wonder if the Panthers could rebound and by December, no one remembered their names.

But last year’s No. 1 ranking, a No. 1 seed and Elite Eight appearance added up to an impossible act to follow, particularly with a little-known cast of mostly underclass reserves who couldn’t get a slice of last year’s senior-dominated playing time.

How about the fact that Rick Pitino effectively helped Pitt with poor work on game management? Pitt was out of timeouts with 4 minutes left in the game. Pitt trying to stage the comeback still trailed by 5 with 20 seconds or so left — and Pitino called the timeout to let Pitt set up their inbound play.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said late Saturday he was hoping Louisville coach Rick Pitino would call a timeout in the final 20 seconds so he could set up a shot for Brad Wanamaker. Pitino did call the timeout and Wanamaker was open in the corner off the inbounds for the 3-pointer that essentially sent the game into overtime.

An interesting observation from a Louisville beat writer before the game.

*I think the key to the game will be if the Cards can stop Ashton Gibbs from penetrating and getting shots in the lane. U of L has been hurt in losses by big play from slashing guards. (Scottie Reynolds, anyone?)

He was right about players slashing to the basket hurting the Cards. Just the wrong guy. It was Wanamaker and even Nasir Robinson from the forward position attacking the basket.

Coach Dixon got very emotional about Nasir Robinson having such a big game (I hesitate to say “breakthrough” because that is only applicable in hindsight — if it keeps going), but also about the team as a whole working so hard to get better.

“I love that kid,” Dixon said. “When we recruited him I remember watching him. … You can find things wrong with him, but he plays so hard that my belief was if you play that hard and you care that much you’ll become a good player. He’s a perfect example of that.

“He brings so much energy. He is so positive and works so hard. He’s finding his role. He’s such a good kid. I’m proud of him. It was good to see.”

…

Jamie Dixon said Robinson personifies this team’s work ethic.

“The strength of this team is they want to get better,” Dixon said. “They’re willing to be coached. They understand they’re not as good as they can be. That’s a talent. That’s a gift. Some guys think they’re good enough and can’t get better.

“Our guys are working on their weaknesses. Nasir is in there working on his free throws over and over again. Then you see him hit four out of six. And they were big free throws. That’s the strength of this team.”

We spent a lot of time early in the season complaining about these kids as far as their talent level. Robinson, Wanamaker, Gibbs, Woodall, McGhee. Their work ethic, willingness to listen to the coaching, and how quickly it seems they have improved is not just a credit to them and the coaching staff. It’s also vindication for the staff that helped recruit them. Making former assistants Orlando Antigua and Mike Rice  look a little better as far as why they wanted these kids.

To those who just peek at the team, it becomes yet another year where Pitt is just plugging in players to a machine.

For Pitt it was a stirring comeback that absolutely (for a couple days) crushed the Cards as brutally as anything they experienced.

“Outside of Duke and Christian Laettner, this was the worst loss I ever had to experience,” Pitino said after Pitt’s 82-77 overtime victory.

Christian Laettner made one of the most famous buzzer-beaters in NCAA tournament history to deny Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats a berth in the Final Four in 1992.

Much less was at stake yesterday, but Pitt’s comeback victory was tough for the Cardinals to swallow. They were up by five points with 54 seconds remaining and committed a series of gaffes that opened the door for the Panthers, who gleefully barged through to claim a most unlikely victory.

Pitt took advantage of the fact that this Louisville team is just not a team that can close.

“We know when we’re at our best how good we can be,” guard Preston Knowles said. “It’s just sometimes we get unfocused and don’t keep the right train of thought for 40 minutes. It can’t be 35. It has to be 40 minutes.”

Coach Rick Pitino said defensive mistakes have been to blame for the late losses. They’ve tried both zones and man-to-man, but it hasn’t made a difference.

In the last five minutes of their six losses, the Cards have allowed teams to shoot 51.2percent from the field (21of41) and 63.6percent from three-point range (7of11). For the season UofL opponents are shooting just 42.2percent from the field and 34.5percent from three-point range.

Cards are 0-3 against ranked teams. What seems stunning is that in those final minutes, the vaunted pressing defense by Louisville is non-existent. Some of it is that it isn’t as good in years past. The other reason is — at least with ranked teams — the teams are able to handle it.

The Panthers, overcoming 10 turnovers and three charging fouls in the first half, negated the Cardinals’ press, largely because most everyone on the floor can handle the ball with care even when Louisville turned up the heat.

“Ashton is a poised point guard, and things don’t get to him too much,” said guard Jermaine Dixon who had nine points and six assists in the second half. “We’re more versatile this year, especially because Gilbert (Brown) and Nasir (Robinson) are able to handle the ball.

“I can see why (Pitino) didn’t press and decided to stay in the matchup zone. But I was surprised they didn’t press us because they had a lot of success with it last year. I think they felt they could press Levance because they wanted to wear him down because we ran a lot of our sets through him.”

Last year, there was no one else Pitt trusted to bring the ball up against the press. Not Jermaine Dixon. Certainly not Young and Blair. Another nice side effect of Pitt being a more guard and smaller team.

One thing that has been glossed over — because Pitt won — was how badly the officials missed the foul on Ashton Gibbs’ attempted 3-pt shot with under 8 seconds left. Missing everything and after a moment of weirdness ruled that Pitt still had the ball because it was a block. If they had made the correct call it would have been Gibbs going to the line to shoot 3 FTs with around 6 seconds left and Pitt down 2.

Instead the refs were bailed out by a bad foul on Wanamaker with 1.9 seconds left and Wanamaker hitting them both to send the game to OT.

In an alternate reality if they had made that call, how scary would those final seconds have been — assuming Gibbs made all 3 or even 2 of 3. With Louisville trying to get down the court to win. Pitt fans would have been having a collective flashback to the Elite Eight ‘Nova game.

The officiating in that game was horrid. The only good thing that can be said about it, is that it was equally horrendous for both teams. So it ended up balancing out by the end. Well, I can say that now, because Pitt won.

Okay, not much left.

You don’t eff with a streak. Pitt hasn’t lost since Gilbert Brown came back — and came off the bench. No reason to mess with that.

Plus Gilbert Brown doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. Instead giving love to Nasir Robinson as a gritty/glue guy.

“Nas brings all the intangibles,” Brown said. “He’ll scrap every minute of the game that he’s in there. He boxes out. He rebounds. He makes tough plays. When he checked into the game we said, ‘Make something happen.’ And he went out there and made a play. He makes that play every day in practice. He’s great around the basket, and he made a big-time play for us.”

In addition to the earlier mentioned “out-toughing” UConn, both sides acknowledged that Pitt wanted it more.

Pitt outscored Connecticut, 19-8, in the final 5:48 of the game.

“We wanted it more down the stretch,” Pitt junior guard Brad Wanamaker said.

Pitt has beaten Connecticut (11-5, 2-3) three in a row and four out of five meetings, including last season’s sweep of the then-No. 1 Huskies. It is Pitt’s first three-game winning streak against Connecticut since 1996-97.

“They wanted to win,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “They didn’t talk about it. They showed it with great effort.”

UConn is trying to figure out why they are so inconsistent. Speculation is growing that because Calhoun has no faith in his bench, the starters are wearing down in the game.

In the second half Wednesday night, Calhoun used one bench player, Ater Majok, for six minutes. All other minutes went to Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Kemba Walker, Alex Oriakhi and Gavin Edwards, as has been the case most of the season. Before Wednesday’s game, they had played 81.3 percent of all the team’s minutes. They played between 32 and 39 minutes Wednesday, numbers that will keep Robinson, Dyson and Walker among the Big East’s top 10 players in minutes played.

I worry about Dixon and Gibbs — especially Gibbs — playing too many minutes each game, but compared to UConn, Pitt is in good shape.

Continuing the media recapping from Pitt’s 67-57 win over UConn.

Even Bob Smizik acknowledges that he was so wrong about this team.

Neither graduation, nor eligibility expiration nor NBA defection has managed to stop this bunch, which might be longer on determination than ability but which has far more ability than most of us believed.

…

When the Panthers were outscored, 14-3, midway through the second half and lost what had been a 10-point lead, I was positive they were done. It was a nice run, but there would be no stopping this Connecticut onslaught.

I had forgotten the enormous heart that these Pitt teams have. This is trite, I know, but Jamie Dixon teams do not walk away. When adversity is at its greatest is when they seem to most step it up the most.

He lavishes some much-earned and deserved praise on how well McGhee played. Something with which I agree. McGhee played an outstanding game where he handled their big guys without help. Some of that comes from the passivity with which the UConn big men played. Gavin Edwards is UConn’s own “serviceable” center and McGhee handled him. The other UConn bigs did little other than follow their training to stay straight-up for blocks but offer little else on offense or defense.

This is not to diminish the work by McGhee. He helped keep them one-dimensional and clogged the inside to make it hard for Dyson and Walker to do much in the way of penetration. He would not let himself be bodied or pushed out of position — which he has often shown a propensity to allow.

Ray Mernagh compliments himself for offering a safe hedge in the preseason.

So I looked for something I had written back in September and sure enough, found the following thoughts from my Around the Big East post on 9/1/09: One national columnist — the excellent Jeff Goodman at Fox — recently opined that this was a rebuilding year for Pitt no matter what…Maybe. I know Jamie Dixon hasn’t experienced a rebuilding year yet (read NIT berth). Check back in mid-January. Before then is way too soon to count out Dixon and the kids he targets to play for him. It would not shock me to see Pitt in the hunt once again come the third or fourth week of the conference season. It’s what they do.

So there you go. Let the record show that I had some initial faith in this Pitt group — especially Jamie Dixon…

Not exactly Kreskin, but better than a lot of others I suppose.

If you can get past the cliched, trite, and downright crappy “this Pitt team is a reflection of the hard-working, blue-collar, tough, gritty city in which the university resides” opening from Dana O’Neil– tough, I know — but it’s a good piece on the game and how Pitt is blowing expectations out of the water.

The Pittsburgh Panthers aren’t just tough. They are the classic underdogs, annually counted out to comical proportions.

Jamie Dixon’s band of misfit toys all were very good players in high school, but none were quite the great ones.

Jermaine Dixon? He needed to go to junior college.

Gilbert Brown? He was in the mix for McDonald’s All-American status, but didn’t quite make the cut.

Ashton Gibbs? He was an all-stater, not an All-American.

And yet here they are again.

Gene Collier acknowledges the need to revise expectations of this team.

These Panthers, following in the fresh footprints of Dixon’s best team ever, a 31-5 unit that came within a whisper of the Final Four, either want to be awfully good or are at least willing to throw themselves on the floor trying to be.

That was both the literal and metaphoric reason they were only the fourth team to win at Connecticut in the past 44 games.

“I think it was just an example of what coach Dixon always emphasizes, which is being tough,” said Gilbert Brown in 26 minutes of Pitt’s seventh consecutive win. “You see how Ashton [Gibbs] almost turned the ball over and then gave up his body? I think this game tonight is where all that toughness really came out.”

When I was watching the game I paused and rewound that moment a few times. Maybe it was the opponent. Maybe the montage before the game made it fresher in the mind. Gibbs dive to recover the ball after it was poked free and call the time out. Before any UConn player had a chance to react made me think of Brandin Knight in the BET Championship game against UConn diving for the loose ball and calling TO while Huskies stood around.

John Gasaway at Basketball Prospectus is still trying to figure out how Pitt is doing it. Looking at returning possession minutes for this years team comepared to last year, shows that Pitt simply more than any other BE team that went to the NCAA last year has less experience by a wide margin. He notes that Pitt should be playing more at the level of 2008 Ohio State — NIT. Gasaway tries to figure out why. Primary reasons he finds is that Pitt is playing defense far better than they have the past couple of years, Ashton Gibbs’ emergence and surprisingly that McGhee and Taylor have been more effective than expected in filling DeJuan Blair’s shoes.

Of course, if there is one thing that sets Gasaway to burning it is use of rebound differentical — he sees it as a relatively meaningless stat. Of course, we all know that Coach Jamie Dixon is passionate about having Pitt outrebound opponents.

UConn held a four-rebound edge on the Panthers at the half at the XL Center. Dixon urged his team to outrebound the Huskies by eight in the second half. The Panthers nearly doubled that, outrebounding the Huskies by 13 in the second half.

It was a major factor in Pitt’s 67-57 victory.

“We had to get that changed,” Dixon said of the rebounding advantage UConn held at the half. “We had to get that turned around and we did. Clearly that was the difference. We just battled.”

I happen to agree that rebounding differential is not a big deal. Too many factors can skew it — bad shooting or good shooting being the primaries. That said, UConn’s front court — despite their size advantage — was pathetic.

UConn’s starting frontcourt of Ater Majok, Alex Oriakhi and Stanley Robinson combined for just 12 rebounds. Oriakhi had all nine of his rebounds in the first half while Robinson had a season-low two.

“For Stanley Robinson to get two rebounds in a game is almost bewildering to me,” Calhoun said.

Not to me. Stanley Robinson looked impressive in the first half — as long as you only looked at the offense. He has this talent, but no effort on defense. His big solo slam came because he was loafing on defense.

Pitt had gotten a steal and raced the other way. Kemba Walker made a tremendous interception of a bounce pass and was able to get it right back down to Robinson who was all alone for an easy slam.

Only, when you watched the replays, you saw that when Pitt took off after the turnover, and most of the UConn players were hustling to prevent an easy transition bucket, Robinson barely moved. He slowly turned up-court and lightly jogged after the play. He made no effort to get down there. Only when he saw Walker get the steal did he move. He raced to his basket.

Should it surprise anyone that when the game got tight and plays had to be made in the final 10 minutes, Robinson was non-existent?

Jerome Dyson was the second half impact. He suffers most in UConn’s offense with their inability to play half-court offense. He can run, but he is most dangerous when given a chance to attack the basket on plays. He did that in the second half, but all too often he had to do it without his teammates helping.

Believe it or not, still a couple more stories to work into a media recap. Later.

After the win over Cinci, one of the themes from the losing side was that Cinci was closer than they had been but were still not there as a team putting things together. Unlike Pitt.

That theme repeats itself with UConn.

They are everything UConn isn’t right now. They are tough, physically and mentally. They are patient. They are specific in purpose. They are high energy and low panic. They play as a team. They are learning to finish what they start.

Not quite…

UConn has become an almost team.

Yet again the Huskies showed Wednesday that they’re almost good enough to win a tight game against a ranked team.

They’re almost talented enough to overcome their mistakes.

Almost isn’t good enough. Not in the fiercely competitive Big East Conference.

No. 15 UConn’s shortcomings sent it to a damaging 67-57 loss to No. 16 Pittsburgh at the XL Center. It was the Huskies’ first home defeat this season and third loss in five games overall.

“We aren’t putting the package together right now the way we should,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “Obviously, I have great concerns like any coach would. … Everybody is playing pretty well against us, it seems. We’re responding almost enough.

“Almost enough doesn’t get you anything.”

Seems to be the impact of a team that not only exceeds expectations but exposes what the other team isn’t doing.

“I have a problem with 40 and 35 … 40 full minutes and 35 seconds (of offense),” Calhoun said. “I’m not used to games coming down to an end and seeing the other team grab control the way Georgetown and Pittsburgh has these last two games. Very disappointing.”

Why this continues to be a problem for the Huskies almost halfway into the season not only has Calhoun scratching his head in wonder, but also apparently has him so frustrated that he can’t even explode. Maybe it would have been better if the coach had come into the post-game full of emotion, screaming that you’ll never see that type of lethargy from one of his teams again, and that practice was going to be a living hell.

But he didn’t. It’s almost as if he can’t believe what’s happening himself.

“It all goes back to executing our offense, even versus Harvard and some of those other teams, we didn’t execute our offense and make them play defense,” Calhoun said. “We haven’t done that except for maybe one or two games all season.”

I think the Connecticut media is just as befuddled. Calhoun has been — calm isn’t the right word — subdued after these losses. He is likely frustrated, but not actively sparring with the media, implying that the refs cost UConn.

He seems genuinely disappointed with his team, and dare I suggest that he is realizing that he has made some mistakes with the coaching and teaching.

The Huskies inability to adjust to anything other than playing up-tempo, transition game is making a lot of games tougher than they should and costing them against some of the better teams that either play slower or can change tempo.

Lots of problems.

So what’s wrong with the Huskies?

Just about everything.

Their half-court offense is predictable and ineffective.

Their rebounding is an ongoing issue.

Their free throw shooting is shaky (6-for-13 Wednesday).

Their defense is solid but suffers breakdowns at the worst time.

Their desire and toughness came into question against Pittsburgh.

Here’s an interesting quote from senior Stanley Robinson: “They basically out-toughed us and out-played us.”

That’s a bad sign.

And Brad Wanamaker said as much.

“That’s what the Big East is about, out-toughing the other team,” said Wanamaker. “In the second half, I think we did that.”

After being out-rebounded by four in the first half, the Panthers easily won the battle of the boards over the final 20 minutes, 26-13. Pitt (14-2, 4-0 Big East) finished with 19 offensive rebounds – 12 of them in the latter half – as it spoiled some strong UConn defensive stances with second-chance points.

“We’re not playing with a sense of toughness,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. “At times, we stopped them stone, cold dead … and then we’d give them a second chance.”

The near misses has the fans and media wondering if UConn is more than simply a little overrated.

And has nothing to show for it. It all boils down to primarily one thing: horrible half-court offense. The Huskies simply have no idea how to score in the half-court set. It usually devolves into Jerome Dyson or Kemba Walker getting to the basket and then hoping. The same happened again Wednesday night.

It is so unlike Jim Calhoun’s teams that this one is almost unrecognizable. The only conclusion that can be made right now is that the Huskies aren’t that good. They are likely headed toward a major battle to make the NCAA tournament.

Overstatement? Not likely. The eyes don’t lie.

Media recapping will continue in a bit.

“Prime numbers, Virgo and the Calendar Girl… I can say it now… I had my doubts.” — Kevin Kline (2:30 mark) as Det. Nick Starkey in The January Man.

That’s how I’m feeling. Wins at Syracuse, at Cinci and at UConn. Come on. In eleven previous tries Pitt has never won three straight conference road games. Heck only once in the past 5 years has it happened in the Big East, period.

Add in UConn coming off blowing a big lead at Georgetown and knowing they would have to play the half-court. Pitt having won the last two and … and.. just everything.  I admit, I didn’t think Pitt could get this game. It just seemed like the kind of game UConn had to and would get.

Happily, I am dead wrong. A 67-57 win. A win where Pitt only shot 4-12 on 3s. Jermaine Dixon was a horrid 3-14 shooting. Ashton Gibbs missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 in the final minute of a tight game.

Instead, Brad Wanamaker went for 19 points — including 9-10 at the FT line because his driving and penetration had the Huskies beat. Gibbs, despite being well defended all game still hit 3-5 on 3s and scored 19 points as well. Gilbert Brown takes his moments and makes teams pay. Gary McGhee finished his shots and even sank both FTs.

The story, though, was the defense. McGhee, especially, deserves praise. He held his ground so well. He played straight-up on defense. Keeping Edwards, Oriakhi and Majok in check.

Robinson in the first half and Dyson in the second were both looking like they would kill Pitt. Yet, Pitt was able to use their supposed disadvantage in size to their own advantage. Forcing Robinson and the other big men outside to defend Gilbert Brown.

Unlike the first two road games, Pitt came out with some energy and hitting shots. It was UConn that looked sluggish and the fans in Hartford seemed very muted. The Husky fans really didn’t get into the game until roughly midway through the second half. When UConn had finally spent more than a couple minutes playing defense and taken their first lead. I’m not saying UConn fans are frontrunners, but they sure seemed like a spoiled bunch that sat on their hands until the UConn team got their very brief lead.

I loved having John Saunders and Fran Fraschilla do the game. Saunders is a solid play-by-play guy and Fraschilla brings some good knowledge. He is the first analyst to make the point about how the U-19 game worked for Pitt because Kemba Walker backed out — granted he went with the positive aspect with Gibbs learning and getting confident — but this game really drove home to me that Walker cost himself by passing on being able to learn to play half-court.

Two Fraschilla quotes on Pitt: “They don’t just run plays, they execute them.”

“There is a legacy of success built under Jamie Dixon.”

The latter really struck me because there was no qualifier of Howland and Dixon or even “started by Ben Howland.” This is Coach Dixon’s program. He has done more than maintain from Howland. He has exceeded and made this era of Pitt basketball his.

It may seem like a small thing, but it is significant to me. It says that nationally, there is an acknowledgment that Pitt is past rebuilding/resurrection. They are a program under Dixon.

Pitt is now 4-0 in the Big East and 14-2 overall. 15 games (14 BE plus Robert Morris) remaining in the season, with 9 of those games coming at home. Barring a catostrophe and a slew of injuries, the expectations for Pitt is now looking to win at least 21-23 games and go at least 11-7 in the Big East.

From where the expectations were — even at the start of conference play — just is astounding.