Sad Day

Wow. What a tough loss. I really can't say much more than that. I think this is the most heart-breaking loss I've ever experienced for one of my teams. I actually feel depressed and sad right now.

But I wanted to make sure to come on here and say Congratulations to the Panthers on a spectacular season, a season that goes down as the best in school history in my book.

To Sam, Levance and Tyrell: Thanks for the memories of the last 4 seasons. It has been an amazing run, and I feel extra special attachment to you three because you were my classmates, entering school here at the same time as me and leaving at the same time. You guys will always hold a special place with me.

Also, congrats to Villanova, the victors tonight. It's hard for me to be objective but I think that was one of the best college b-ball games I have ever seen. I wish you guys good luck in the Final Four and I will be pulling for you to represent the Big East well.

I don't think I'll be even able to watch or read anything sports for the next couple days, let alone write about it. With that in mind, i think TRS will be on hiatus for 48 hours so that I can digest everything that just happened.

Go Panthers!

Villanova Links and Game Prediction

Some 'Nova blog links as well as the ESPN preview
Let's Go Nova put together a good preview of the game
VU Hoops. They have different statistics worth considering for this game.
The Villanovan Sports Blog also has a good preview of the game and characterizes the strengths and weaknesses of Pitt pretty well.
ESPN's preview of the game

And now the moment that I know you have all been waiting for...

The Official TRS Breakdown of this game:
In case you haven't heard, it seems like DeJuan Blair is going to be an important factor in this game. Back when these two squads played in Philly during the regular season, Blair's trouble with fouls was arguably the biggest factor in the entire game. Since the NCAA tournament started last week, we have been treated (I guess that's the word) to a new-look DeJuan. I wouldn't say this DeJuan is better, just... different. And you actually know he's going to be in the game in crunch time. That's not what concerns me, though. If DeJuan does the passive thing yet again in the first half to try and stay out of foul trouble, I really think that Villanova will just bury us. It would take another dominant first half from Sam I Am or Levance "Captain Clutch" Fields playing the entire game like it's the final two minutes of a tie ball game. Against 'Nova, I really don't see either one of those happening.

I'm not saying we need DeJuan to turn back into the reckless freight train he too often was during the regular season, but we do need him to let loose a little more, at least in the offensive zone. If he wants to cool his heels defensively and let Biggs do most of the banging inside when 'Nova's got the ball, I'm absolutely fine with that. But there's no reason for him to be unwilling to get after it on offense. Especially when it gets to late in the first and he has either 0 or 1 fouls as has been the case the past 3 games. Worst case there is he gets called for a charge or some BS call and has to sit out the last few minutes of the first half. I'd pay that price if it meant the Grizzly Blair of old crashing the net.

Anyway, I suppose I should do some 'Nova-related analysis. Obviously, this is an excellent team, and Jay Wright continues to cement his rep as one of the money coaches in the month of March. Wright continues to run the athletic, guard-heavy style that has made him so successful for so many years there, and this is a system that can definitely give the Panthers fits. But despite the similar system, this isn't the same Nova teams we've often seen in years past from them that spread out 4 guards around the perimeter and had a Curtis Sumpter or something inside. Despite being undersized both height and weight-wise, they are a very physical squad and won't back down if Pitt starts to beat on them with their strength.

Only star forward Dante Cunningham, starter Dwayne Anderson and reserve Antonio Pena consistently bang inside with the big boys, but they have several tall 2/3-types who play well as swing men and can use their athleticism and height to get to the basket and not only grab some rebounds but also create plays. Corey Stokes, Reggie Redding and Shane Clark all fit this mold pretty much to a T and all are between 6'5 and 6'7 and average between 3 and 5 rebounds a game.

There won't be many surprises between the two floor generals, Levance Fields and Scottie Reynolds. They are both wily vets who have seen each other numerous times over the last three seasons. There is a definite contrast in styles between the two. Reynolds is as much a 2 guard as he is a point, and his game is predicated a bit more on scoring than it is on dishing it out, and while his 15.2 ppg is excellent and he is a solid shooter, his 1.3 Assist/ Turnover ratio leaves a bit to be desired. Fields, despite his late-game heroics in filling the basket, is the more traditional point guard type, more than happy to let the big-time scorers like Blair and Young do the work while he sets things up. Each is a tremendous fit for their squad, though, and they are the straws that stir their respective drinks.

What will really interest me about Villanova's scheme is how they choose to handle Sam Young when Pitt has the ball. Seemingly half their team is the type of player that we typically see matched up against Young. And honestly if it weren't for Blair we could probably throw Dante Cunningham out there as being a matchup for Sam when he inevitably plays some minutes at the 4 spot. Still, Dwayne Anderson figures to be the best matchup for Sam on an athleticism basis and I imagine the smart senior will get first crack. But it seems almost no one ever sticks with the same guy on Sam all game long. I think the task is just too exhausting and Sam brings too many different looks to his game for the same person to play on him the whole time. Reggie Redding is one of the Wildcats' defensive stoppers and despite being a little light for the job with a 6'5 205 pound frame, I think he'll get some minutes on Sam, especially if Pitt's 23 starts feeling it from the perimeter. Now that I think about it, Redding reminds me a bit of Gil Brown, actually. If he's in the game I'd say those two definitely lock horns.

For Pitt on defense, this screams to me as a game where Pitt will almost be forced to go small. Otherwise Nova will have some ridiculous speed and quickness mismatches. So that probably spells reduced minutes yet again for Tyrell Biggs. That may not be a bad thing though either, as I kind of like it when Biggs can be recklessly physical in limited minutes. That way DeJuan doesn't have to be. In Biggs' place I imagine Sam moves over to the 4 spot alongside DeJuan and that Gil Brown plays 20+ minutes at the small forward spot while Jermaine Dixon, Brad Wanamaker and Ashton Gibbs swap in and out depending on who is being most effective. Personally, I think the Panthers will be much better off if they can get the streaky Gibbs going from 3-point land early on. When this guy gets hot he is a lethal bomber and could give Pitt a legit 4th scoring option outside the Big 3. That would be a nice change of pace.

All in all, I expect this to be a spectacular game. I love watching Villanova play, but never like playing them. Their athleticism and style of play can drive you nuts because of the way they just seem to send waves and waves of the same types of athletic swingmen at you. But at the same time, they certainly aren't afraid to bang around inside with a physical team like Pitt. Anderson and Cunningham can brawl with the best of them, even a behemoth like Blair. Combine that with the fact that Villanova has been just crushing people the last 2 1/2 games while Pitt has squeaked out of three in a row, and suddenly you realize maybe the 1 seed is the underdog here.

The Bottom Line: Despite Villanova's hot streak and Pitt's sloppiness, I think this is the game we finally see the Pitt of old. The Pitt that pushed around UConn not once, but twice. The Pitt that spent 3 weeks as the number 1 team in the country. Despite DeJuan Blair's refusal to risk getting in foul trouble by playing aggressively in the first half thus far, I think he finally turns things on for the whole game, especially offensively, and stays out of foul trouble to lead Pitt past Big East rival Villanova and because of him they get to cut down the nets.

Prediction: Pitt 74-71

Also, I'm now sitting at a solid 45-11 in my NCAA Tournament game predictions after an 8-0 performance in the sweet 16. So, to keep things going here are my other Elite 8 picks:
North Carolina over Oklahoma
UConn over Missouri
Louisville over Michigan State

What can I say? I'm boring.

Go Panthers!

UNBELIEVABLE

Jesus. I don't even know where to begin. I'm still quite a bit on the tipsy side after a superb night in Oakland, but I'm extremely determined to get a post up tonight about Pitt. I'll probably read this tomorrow and shake my head at the lunacy of it, but that's why Blogger has an "EDIT" button for each post.

Let's Get To It....

First Half
For the most part, this was just a truly hideous ball game. The shooting was atrocious, there were all sorts of fluky/ goofy plays, the refs were subpar, and the coaching left quite a bit to be desired out of two of the more highly touted up-and-coming coaches in college hoops.

The first half really couldn't have been more aggravating. DeJuan didn't show up early on for the second consecutive game. I don't get what's happening with him. He just seems so obsessed with staying out of foul trouble that he's willing to coast through the first half to make sure it happens. Defensively, I guess I don't hate that, but in the offensive zone I don't understand it. He can still be very effective offensively while staying out of foul trouble. If that happens against Nova, Pitt is going to be down 15 at halftime and they won't be able to rely on a second-half collapse to get back in the game, as Nova will just milk the hell out of the clock and we'll be screwed.

Sam was solid in the first half and was once again the biggest reason we were able to stay in a game we shouldn't have been in early on. He wasn't as dominant, but the shots were still dropping for him early. The role guys left quite a bit to be desired too. Ty Biggs got 2 fouls in the first 3 or 4 minutes and was dunzo for the half and really didn't do much all game. Not what we wanted to see at all. Gil Brown was a bright spot and continued to be a damn effective player at the swing spot continuing his recent string of excellence. I'd argue he's our fourth best player right now and I'm really not sure you can even debate that with a straight face. Bright things for this kid are on the way, I'm telling you. As for the others, let's run through them in a hurry: Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker were mistake-filled trainwrecks all game long, and Gary and Jermaine Dixon did exactly what they always do, no more no less. That's enough talk about them.

One more thing about that first half: The refs were just brutal yet again. I still don't think that I've seen a game that was officiated well this entire postseason. There were times during the first half where Blair would go up with the ball and get his shot "blocked" by 3 different Musketeers. The only problem was that this "blocking" consisted of one X-man barreling into DeJuan's chest while another bumped into the shooting arm and then the third guy was the one who actually got the ball and blocked it. And then there were other times, and this went both ways, where they'd call a foul and you figure it was away-from-the-ball or something and turns out it was because the defender breathed the wrongway on the offensive player. Bad job by them.

In summing up the first half, I'd say these were the 5 major themes: 1) Pitt looked like a team guilty of reading their mid-season preseason press clippings. 2) Xavier outplayed us all over the court but they weren't shooting well enough to capitalize on it. 3)For the second, and maybe even third, game in a row Pitt got outrebounded on the offensive glass early. Nothing has been more shocking to me than this development. 4)Sam was doing well enough, but Fields and Blair weren't at their usual level. 5) Watching Jamie and Sean Miller coach against each other was painful. I've got to be honest. I love Jamie but if I see one more freaking hedge play in the defensive zone I'm going to go on a 3 state shooting spree. I'm fine with trying that early on, but when the opposition clearly knows how to take advantage of it (a quick pass to the big man who is left briefly uncovered) you need to stop running that damn thing IMMEDIATELY.

On to the second half...
Pitt came out firing on all cylinders for the first couple minutes of the second. They jumped right back in from 8 down to bring the game to just about even in quite a hurry. This was when things got ugly. And I don't mean physical. Or mean and nasty. I mean god-awful, embarassing to basketball, hideous, ugly. Both teams went absolutely ice cold out of nowhere. Well, actually the X-men had been cold since the half started, but Pitt lost all their momentum out of nowhere after charging back into the game. Couldn't really figure that one out and I still haven't.

Thankfully someone put the smelling salts under DeJuan Blair's nose at halftime and he came out much better in the second half. He was finally going for boards and outworking the goofy white guy from Xavier and was actually willing to take some chances in both zones (sometimes they were dumb chances, though). Pitt rallied around Blair's energy resurgence and Xavier's inside game basically disappeared once the big fella started playing in mid-season form again.

Still, the shooting was agonizing and it mirrored a lot of the stuff that happened to Xavier in the first half. DeJuan, despite playing with a ton more energy and heart, was doing the Aaron Gray Special, repeatedly missing inside shots and padding his rebound totals by snatching up his own crappy shots. He wasn't as bad as the infamous Gray, who sometimes looked like he was volleying the basketball off the rim, but it was still frustrating as hell. We were clearly outplaying them all over the court and should have been outscoring them left and right, but now our shots weren't falling. So I guess it sorta made sense that the game was more or less tied for almost the entire second half.

Pitt just refused to pull away no matter how much better we looked. And so it came down to the final two minutes and you knew who was going to step up and take the money shots for Pitt. Two words: Levance. Fields. The guy may have been quite mediocre for the first 38 minutes of the game, and he continues to not play as well as he did for most of the regular season, but in the last 2 minutes he was a freaking beast. I will now forever spell the word "clutch" F-I-E-L-D-S. Freakin' amazing. That three from a mile away was a damn dagger. And then the lay-in after Blair tipped it away was the cherry on top. The guy is money. I don't know that I've ever seen a college player capable of elevating his game more in the final two minutes and being so reliably clutch. I think Bill Raftery put it best when he yelped "ONIONS!" Either way, he's the freaking man and I will forever have a tender spot in my heart for him.

So we finally advance on past the Sweet 16. I wouldn't have thought I'd be so euphoric and fired up after that unfathomably frustrating first half and after we went ice cold in the second half, but a win like that changes it all. It's great to know that the much-publicized ceiling has been removed at the Sweet 16 level. It's as much a relief as anything to be honest, especially considering it's hard to imagine having a much better team than this squad in the near future. And so the basketball season marches on and we get to see just how far this Pitt team advances. Say what you will about the way they've been playing (and I've said plenty obviously) but there's little doubt in my mind that the next game will yet again keep you interested until the final seconds. That's just the way this team plays, and I am officially okay with that.

These Panthers Don't Like To Let Things Get Dull

Whew!

There are a lot of things you can say about this Pitt squad right now. Some of them very positive, some of them not as much so. But one thing that I think all of us can agree on is this: They sure aren't boring.

Unlike the preceding Xavier-Wisconsin game that nearly destroyed the credibility of the entire sport of basketball, this game really couldn't have been any more entertaining.

The first half of this sucker resembled a 3-point shootout contest, as OK State shot 98% from the field on 49/50 treys (All statistics approximate) and the Panthers countered with a surprisingly potent long-range game of their own led mostly by the man of the hour, Sam I Am Young.

Thankfully for the score-keepers, the second-half was much more similar to a normal Pitt game. The Cowpokes predictably cooled off early on and Pitt pulled out in front by as much as 9 at one point. DeJuan was finally getting back into a rhythm after causing nearly every Pitt fan the world over to stop breathing for a solid minute after Byron Eaton tripped and dove into his knee Kimo-Von-Oelhoffen-style. And Levance was doing Levance things. And Sam was still filling the basket.

But just when it looked like the Panthers were going to pull away and coast, OK State responded in very impressive fashion, stealing all the momentum in the building from out of nowhere and overwhelming a sloppy Pitt team for multiple turnovers and bearing down offensively on some lackadaisical defensive efforts by the P-i-t-t. We had ourselves a ball game again, especially when OK State briefly seized the lead.

But just then, Levance Fields finally decided to show up for this game, dressed in his Captain Clutch cape. While Fields struggled for much of the game with some lingering injury issues, he got himself going by drilling a weird 3 from the corner immediately after he had just inbounded it to Sammy. Fieldsy quickly followed that up by making a big layup and drilling a stone-cold clutch 3 with less than 2 minutes to go to take the game from a tie to a 5 point lead. Boom goes the dynamite.
After that, Blair and Young would finish off the Cowpokes for an 84-76 W.

You really can't understate how big Sam was today. Sure the 32 points give you a pretty good idea, as does the fact that he had nearly half our points in the ridiculously up-tempo first half. But it was more than just the fact that he was our leading scorer. It was that he answered the bell early on, and was really the only one who did. If he hadn't been feeling it, this would have been like the Providence game all over again.

Eaton, Anderson and company came out gunning for us early, and boy were they gunning. I haven't seen a long-range performance in a half like that since Kevin Pittsnogle was at WVU making incest look cool like we were in 17th century Europe. If we had come out and clanked our response shots and let OSU get up on us and get all the momentum on their side, this game has a whole different outcome. They probably run away with it like the Friars did and embarass the bejeezus out of us.

But not today. Sam wasn't gonna let that happen. Even with DeJuan being shockingly frustrated and Fieldsy struggling for the first 37 minutes or so and the rest of the rotation only being so-so, Sam put this team on his shoulders. This was a performance for the ages here. I'd put it right up there with DeJuan's UConn game or some of the other legendary days in recent Pitt hoops history. Hell, I'd probably put it ahead of any of those now that I think about it because Sam had to carry that team in the first, and OK State knew it. And yet he was still downright beastly.

So for that, Sam I Am, I will be raising a toast to you tonight. Obviously, there is still a lot of work to be done, and you guys now get to look at a very beatable Xavier team for the right to (finally) move on to the Elite 8. But this will go down as your signature game at Pitt, and considering all the big days you have had, that is really saying something.

The Weekend Recap

It has been a wild run the past couple days in Pittsburgh, lots and lots of little yet exciting things worth talking about

-As I mentioned, I attended my final game in the Oakland Zoo Saturday afternoon against the UConn Huskies. I already talked at length about that game, but it bears repeating: This was one of the best games I've ever been to. The only others I can think of that were even in the same stratosphere were last year's WVU thriller and the 2006 game against Notre Dame when Chris Quinn exploded all over a porous Pitt D for 37 points before the Panthers won it in double OT. Those two games were thrilling because they went down to the wire and had incredibly exciting endings (multiple endings in the ND game's case). This one was thrilling more because of the raucous crowd (the loudest I have ever heard it for an entire game) and the incredibly high level of play.

-I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is as good of a squad as Pitt can ever really hope to have. Sure, the incoming recruit talent level keeps going up, but this squad is perfectly constructed for a big run this month. A spectacular point guard, a dangerous scorer from the wing and a bullish inside man capable of taking over a game at any time lead the charge. They are supported by a defense-first, rebounding grinder who can guard anyone, a slashing 2 guard who is an absolute lockdown defender, two athletic bench guys who can step up at any time and take over starter's minutes and a sharshooting backup guard who can drill it from long range. If this team doesn't break that Sweet 16 barrier (and for the record I think that they easily will) then what Pitt squad will?

-The Big East tournament gets fired up this week, and I really couldn't be any more excited about it. I'll even go so far as to watch the opening round games on the Internet on Tuesday. Should be a grand old time.

-I know I wrote a column and updated it yesterday and everything with this information, but how in the hell does Levance Fields only make it to the third team on the All Big East squads? That is an absolute joke and shows how stupid the Big East coaches really are. Even worse, TWO point guards made it ahead of him. A.J. Price and Jonny Flynn both got outplayed up and down the court by Fields when their teams met. They couldn't carry Levance's jockstrap. That is just downright stupidity and I feel like Calhoun and Boeheim are somehow the root of this conspiracy, though that might just be because of my blinding hatred of both. What a joke.

-While we are on the subject, how dumb is it that the teams are chosen with no regard whatsoever for the positions on the floor? That's insanity. The All Big East first team has a center, 2 power forwards, 2 small forwards and a shooting guard. You know what would happen if that team sat down one of those guys (there are 6 on the first team) and played Pitt or UConn or Louisville in some sort of video game simulation? The All Big East team would get crushed because THEY HAVE NO POINT GUARD!!!! They would have to move McNeal to the point, play Terrance Williams at the 2 and would probably sit down Luke Harangoy (no I didn't misspell his name, I spelled it that way because there is no D in that guy). The second and third team are structured the same way with 2 point guards a shooting guard a small forward and a power forward who really isn't a power forward. Why not structure the All Conference squads at least sort of like a real time with a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward, and 2 power forwards/ centers. Why did I structure it as two power forward/ centers? Because there really is only like 4 centers in the whole league, the other teams just start power forwards at the center position. So considering that, here's what I think the teams should look like:

First Team
1 Levance Fields
2 Jerel McNeal
3 Terrance Williams
4 DeJuan Blair
5 Hasheem Thabeet

Second Team
1 Jonny Flynn
2 Wesley Matthews
3 Sam Young
4 Dante Cunningham
5 Luke Harangody

Third Team
1 A.J. Price
2 Earl Clark
3 Da'Sean Butler
4 Jeff Adrien
5 Greg Monroe

Now don't you feel much better about these teams than the other, mismatched squads? I know I do.

-Things are ho-humming along down in Bradenton. One of the stories I read in the paper the other day talked about the Pirates ideally looking to put Nyjer Morgan in the leadoff spot in the lineup. The lineup would likely look a little something like this:
LF Morgan
2B Sanchez
CF McLouth
C Doumit
1B LaRoche
RF Moss
3B LaRoche
SS Wilson
P Maholm

Ugh. I don't even want Morgan to start, let alone get to the plate more often than anyone else on the roster. I was going to go ahead and write something about this, and if they do end up putting Morgan in the leadoff spot, I probably will anyway, but Bucs Dugout beat me to it and said everything and more that I wanted to say. I'm not going to repeat him (at least not yet) so check his stuff out if you want to see what I mean.

-Pitt football released their schedule for the 2009 season, and it seems like a solid slate. There are not 1 not 2 but 3 Friday games, but thankfully they are all away. Personally, I loathe the Friday games and think they diminish what the Big East has tried to accomplish the past few years, but whatever. 1 of the Friday games is the day after Thanksgiving against WVU and I have no problem with that, as that is kind of a cool day for a game. There are 7 home games on the schedule in all, and for once, half the home slate isn't in August and September. They get the token creampuff Youngstown State on September 5 to open the season and then get Navy on September 19. They then get a few weeks away from Heinz Field and play UConn October 10, South October 24, Syracuse November 7, Notre Dame (!) November 14 and Cincinnati December 5. The non-conference schedule also includes road trips to Buffalo (uhm what?) and North Carolina State (solid).

-The Steelers lost Bryant McFadden yesterday to the Arizona Cardinals. Can't say I am surprised, as B-Mc is a solid corner in a market that loves to overpay for corners. However, I was surprised by the contract. McFadden got just a 2 year 10 million dollar contract. I really am surprised that is the best he could do on the open market. I was beginning to get a bit optimistic that maybe he might return, as many teams have already spent a bundle this offseason and somehow McFadden had been passed over and that the Steelers might get him back at a reasonable price. While I don't think 5 million a year is reasonable, I find myself wondering what the Steelers' best offer for McFadden was. I mean what would he have rather signed for: 2 years 10 million with 5 guaranteed or say, 4 years 16 million with 8 mil guaranteed? I don't know what he would have chosen, but the total package in the second option certainly has its upside.

-Speaking of Steelers off-season stuff, here's an interview to check out over at Whatcha Talkin Bout with massive Steelers tackle Max Starks. Definitely worth a listen. There are actually quite a few audio clips over there worth checking out.

-There was an incredibly exciting game of puck yesterday afternoon between the Pens and one of their biggest archrivals, the Washington Capitals. It was a tremendous game, and it was especially vindicating to watch Sidney Crosby steal the show and be the star of the day after the issues last game between Sid and Ovechkin. AO was his usual overly aggressive and pompous self on the ice, and at times I think that hurts the Caps more than it helps. It was also good to see the Pens storm into Washington and get the W and for Sid to be the one to rub it in their faces after the Caps fans tried their best to taunt him. I just love it when fairweather fans like those Caps losers try to act like they are all hardcore. Please. I've been to games in D.C. and seen countless others on TV and this is probably one of the very rare times I've ever seen the Caps fan outnumber Pens fans. And it goes well beyond the ice rink. Remember the absolute no-show by the Skins fans when the Steelers turned their gigantic stadium into Heinz Field south last November? That was tremendous, and spoke volumes about the "support" Washington fans give their teams.

-I've turned into a scoreboard-watching, standing-checking addict the past week or so, and expect that to continue. Coming into this week, here's how things look right now with just 15 games to go for the Pens this season. Here's how things are shaping up right now.
Obviously the Pens have played 1 more game than any of the 3 teams ahead of them, but they also have played the same amount of games as the team 1 point behind them and they are 3 points ahead of Buffalo who has played 1 less game. So they are unquestionably sitting in 8th place right now. That's pretty solid considering where things were a few weeks back.

-We'll finish things up with a bit of a personal anecdote: I'm on spring break this week, and because I have no money and need to interview for some jobs, I'm not in Florida or Mexico or anything. Instead I'm in a weird flex situation between Oakland and my parents' house. It is definitely a pretty strange existence. Oakland is downright deserted, and to tell you the truth I really enjoy it this way. I was at the bar Saturday night and it was maybe 50% of what it typically is and I figure I might be the only person in the house when I head to Hemingway's or Peter's tonight.

So instead of getting hammered every night and running around South Beach with a bunch of similarly aged people on Spring Break, I am laying low in Oakland until I have to head to Philly Wednesday for an interview. I have nothing else to do, so I've started doing some reading. I am now working on Slaughterhouse-Five. I've wanted to read this for some time and am enjoying it so far, though it is definitely a bit strange. Anyone out there have any thoughts on it? Let me know if you do.

TRS All Big East Team

UPDATE: I guess the Big East now just names the top 6 players to the All-league squad. Not sure what changed, as that used to be 11 (it was last season). I don't like the much, much smaller team, and can't figure out how the hell they can claim there are 11 players better than Levance. Maybe they are naming a coaches team or something too. Not sure what's up. If I were to just name 6 to the first team, they'd be: Blair, Young, Thabeet, McNeal, Williams and Harangody. I'd find room for Fields on the second team.

I'm really not sure what day the All Big East squads get announced, but I'd have to assume it is sometime in the next couple days prior to the BET. Unfortunately, I can't trust those coaches to do the right thing, especially when guys like Jerry Wainwright and Fred Hill have the same amount of say as coaching icons like Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun and up-and-coming coaching stars like Jamie Dixon and Jay Wright. I'm not even sure Wainwright is familiar with what good basketball looks like. If he is going off his team as a model I think he might vote Gary McGhee as the Player of the Year.

Anyway, because I can't trust these results because of the idiocy of some coaches and the politicking of others, I figured I needed to pump out my own All Big East teams, complete with the same numbers of players as the coaches team will have on the teams (11 on the first and 10 on the second as well as 6 honorable mentions). I'm really not sure what kind of All-Anything basketball team can have 11 players, and can be chosen with no regard to position, but that's how the Big East rolls.

So let's get to it:
First Team
F Sam Young Pitt
F DeJuan Blair Pitt
G Levance Fields Pitt
F Luke Harangody Notre Dame
C Hasheem Thabeet Connecticut
F Terrance Williams Louisville
G Jerel McNeal Marquette
G Jonny Flynn Syracuse
F Earl Clark Louisville
F Dante Cunningham Villanova
G A.J. Price Connecticut

Second Team
F Jeff Adrien Connecticut
G Deonta Vaughn Cincinnati
G Wesley Matthews Marquette
F Lazar Hayward Marquette
G Jeremy Hazell Seton Hall
G Dominique Jones South Florida
G Eric Devendorf Syracuse
F Paul Harris Syracuse
G Scottie Reynolds Villanova
F Da'Sean Butler West Virginia

Honorable Mention
G Weyinmi Efejuku Providence
G Alex Ruoff West Virginia
G Kyle McAlarney Notre Dame
G Dominic James Marquette
C Greg Monroe Georgetown
F Dar Tucker DePaul

Seriously, can you imagine if the Big East went to the traditional 5 or 6 man teams? That'd be insanity. I had a hard enough time paring down the First Team to 11 and the Second Team to 10. It was splitting hairs between Clark, Cunningham, Price, Adrien and Matthews for the first team, and the same thing goes for leaving off Efejuku and Ruoff from the second team and including Butler. I will be very interested to see how this plays out. I also couldn't decide what to do with Dominic James. He would have probably been a borderline first teamer had he stayed healthy, but I'm not sure what will happen now. Honorable mention seemed good enough, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him make his way onto the second team out of respect for what he has done.

Sam's The Man

The hype was all about Thabeet vs. Blair. It turns out that angle was vastly overblown. This game was all about Sam Young against...well the entire UConn team it turns out.

UConn could've thrown their entire team at Sam I Am (and they did at times) and I don't think it would have mattered today. Young was a man possessed in his final game at the Petersen Events Center. He posted a ridiculous 31 points and 10 rebounds on the Huskies, more than half of UConn's point total, en route to a spectacular 70-60 finale at the Pete.

Besides Young's career day, it was also a day for celebrating two other important seniors, Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs. Both performed exactly how you'd expect them to in this type of big game. Despite a tailbone bruise, Fields posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists, continuing the amazing senior campaign he's posted. His shot may not have been falling as often as it usually does, but his spectacular quarterbacking more than made up for it. Tyrell Biggs, meanwhile, continued fulfilling the yeoman's role as well as anyone. He didn't get on the scoreboard, but he did have 6 rebounds and a block and played very well when matched up against Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet. Biggs has been the ultimate team player/ unsung hero type that Pitt has built their program around for the last decade or so.

Also, in what some have said could be DeJuan Blair's final game, the big fella had a quieter game than usual. He managed to sort of stay out of foul trouble, especially in the second half. But he seemed content to just neutralize Thabeet defensively and let Sam carry the load at the other end. And there was nothing wrong with that, as it was the best gameplan for the Panthers in the long run, especially after Thabeet had a very good first half.

One of the running subplots in recent weeks in Big East play has been who the Big East Player of the Year was going to be. For the most part I thought it was down to DeJuan Blair or Hasheem Thabeet, with Luke Harangody having a shot if the voters suddenly became mentally impaired. Well, I think Sam Young might have thrown his name back in that ring today. He has been surprisingly overshadowed for much of the season by Blair's excellence, but he was by far the best player on that court today. I also think Levance Fields should get some recognition for his great work this year. It's really hard for me to even pinpoint exactly which one of these three I would call my team MVP. At gunpoint, it has to be Blair, but the difference is quite negligible between our Big Three.

I also wanted to mention that it was my last game as a member of the Oakland Zoo. I really couldn't have asked for a better finish, either. This might have been the best game I've seen from the vantage point of the Zoo. I also don't know that I've been a part of a more amped-up and generally excited bunch than was there today. I just went through the replay on my DVR and couldn't get over how loud and fired up the crowd was toward the end of the game, as well as how venomous things got when the refs made a few highly questionable calls midway through the first half. All in all, it has been a great run in the Zoo, and knocking off number 1 is a hell of a way to go out.

Pitt-UConn II

Much like the other great rematches of our time, Ali-Frazier III, Balboa-Creed II, Gatti-Ward III, I figured the Pitt-UConn game deserved the little roman numeral addition at the end. And if they meet again next weekend, we'll be sure to tack on another slash to make it III.

Anyway, tomorrow figures to be similar to those other rematches in that it will be an absolute slugfest, and there's a good chance someone like Hasheem Thabeet could end up unconscious by game's end.

It will be the final home game for Pitt legends Sam Young and Levance Fields, as well as excellent role player Tyrell Biggs. There is also a chance (though I don't think so) that DeJuan Blair could be suiting up in the Pete for the final time. The crowd figures to be amped up for one of the best senior classes Pitt has ever seen, and that will only be taken to another level by the fact that the number 1 UConn Huskies come strolling into town. It's hard to imagine a scenario that could get the always rowdy Zoo even more fired up. Except of course, if most of the student body weren't on spring break already. But that's a complaint for another time.

So here are some keys to the game if the Panthers are going to pull off another victory over the number 1 team in the nation.
1. DeJuan Needs to Continue Pwning Hasheem Thabeet
The much-ballyhooed matchup from Round 1 really couldn't have been any more one-sided. Blair basically beat the hell out of Thabeet the entire night and also got poor Thabeet into foul trouble all while nearly ending the guy's career by practically tearing his arm out of his socket. It was quite possibly the most dominant game I have ever from a Pitt player. However, DeJuan has had some issues with fouls, and after Jim Calhoun bitched and moaned like a little girl after last game, I think the refs will keep a very close eye on the Blair/Thabeet matchup early on. DeJuan needs to be very smart and not try to impose his physical will on him too much. Thabeet was badly exposed last game, and I really don't think DeJuan even needs to be that physical with Thabeet to knock him off his game. But, if he does manage to bait Thabeet into foul issues again early on, the game is just about over for the Huskies.

2. Levance Needs to Play and Play Well
It was incredibly terrifying to read today in the Post-Gazette that there is a chance Fieldy might not play against UConn. Personally I can't imagine a scenario where Fields doesn't play. The question probably is how well Levance will play and how many minutes he'll be able to play. Thankfully Levance typically doesn't have to play a very athletic style of point guard, and a back injury shouldn't cause him to be off his usual A game as a caretaker. The one aspect of his game that could be off though is his ability to push the ball in the transition game. As much as I expect Levance to play and take care of the ball as well as he always does, I think we might also see a heavier dose of Ashton Gibbs than usual. And the way he has been playing since Big East play started, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that.

3. Knock Adrien and Price Off Their Games Offensively
I think Blair will be able to at least neutralize Thabeet on the offensive end, as the Huskies' Big Fella is still very raw on that end of the floor. With that in mind, the Huskies are going to have to get either Jeff Adrien or A.J. Price in a rhythm. Both are very good players, but have shown serious inconsistencies when it comes to filling the hoop. Price was a monster last week against Marquette with 36 points, and has gone over 20 points four times in Big East play. But he often is contained and is more than the third option for the Huskies in other games. The same basically goes for Adrien. The 6'7 Adrien averages a double-double, but has laid a few stinkers this season as well, including a recent 2 point 4 rebound dud against Marquette. It figures that if Thabeet is kept at least in check that either Adrien or Price will start scoring, but Pitt needs to prevent either from taking over the game.

4. Control The Glass
Mostly because of Thabeet and Adrien, the Huskies pull in the second most total rebounds per game in the nation. Our Panthers sit at 10th. That doesn't necessarily mean that UConn is a better rebounding team than Pitt, but it does assert that they are definitely a better boarding team than they showed in the first matchup when Pitt outrebounded the Huskies 43-30, and it probably shouldn't even have been that close. I am going to say here and now that if either team is able to win the rebounding battle by more than 5, that will be the winner. If it's close either team can win, but both these teams scheme off of getting second chances and preventing second chances for the other team. Whoever has more success in imposing their will should come out on top.

So that's it for my keys to Pitt/ UConn II. I tried to come up with a fifth, but any of my ideas paled in comparison to the first four, which I think are all immensely important.

As for a prediction for the game? Well I'll say Pitt 80 UConn 69. Young and Blair both go for over 20. I think Fields plays but has limited minutes (say 25 or so) and Ashton Gibbs buries a couple treys in his place.

Pitt Hoops: They're Kind of A Big Deal

Hey college basketball fans, Don't act like your not impressed.

Aaaaaaand that's enough Anchorman for one post.

Anyway, how about those Panthers, ehh? The performances by DeJuan Blair and Sam Young really can't be understated. Sam I Am was filling the basket like he was playing Northeastern Missouri Southern College in early December or something. He was superb.

And DeJuan Blair was absolutely dominant. I know I've said it before, but the guy is the MVP of this squad. He's more important than Sammy or Levance Fields. He, along with the stupendous coaching job by Jamie Dixon and company, absolutely shut down Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet was badly exposed as being an all-D no-O player and I'd say his now infamous 20-20 the other day goes down under the fluky category. Against a physical player like the Grizzly Blair, Thabeet just gets run over. He's like a latter day Manute Bol or something. I think this guy is going to just get destroyed in the NBA by the big boys down low.

Anyway, Blair proved once and for all something that I have been saying for the past year.  The guy can play against anybody.  It doesn't matter how tall they are.  He has the right mixture of incredible bulk, smarts, strength and arms that are so long you expect him to start swinging up the backboard like an orangutan.  The 7'3 wingspan makes him play more like someone who is 6'10, not 6'7 (probably more like 6'6 in all honesty).  Because in all honesty, why is it important how high off the ground your head is?  Doesn't seem to be too relevant to me.  

One thing that surprised me about Blair tonight was his attempt at developing a range.  It made a bit of sense as Thabeet makes it so very difficult to score inside (though Blair made a number of power moves to counter-act Thabeet who I thought was too aggressive at times).  However, it doesn't help anyone to have Blair chucking up 18 footers.  He makes that shot 10% of the time, maybe.  12 footers, fadeaways, and jumpers off screens are more than fine.  But he shouldn't be within a few feet of the 3-point line. 

On the flip side, it was great to see Sammy's long range game really working.  The guy was hitting the 3's early on and forced UConn to try all sorts of different matchups against him, and even better, none of those things worked.  The Huskies had absolutely no one to put up against Young and everyone on the court knew it.

The one thing that concerned me a bit was seeing Levance getting taken by the much quicker Kemba Walker.  Walker is a youthful freshman who is still a long from being a decent point guard, but he has a lot of talent and incredible speed.  And although Walker didn't have a big game on either end, he was easily able to neutralize Fields until the final desperate moments, even though its unclear if he had any idea what he was doing.  We all know that Fields isn't the quickest point guard in the league.  No surprise there.  But I never realized how big of an edge pure speed would give an opposing point opposite Fields.  this was probably his worst game of the season.  5 assists, 4 turnover, very un-Levance-like.  

Still, this is just me nitpicking, and I will stop now.  After all, we just took down the number 1 team in all of the college basketball world and have what is probably the best-equipped team for a title run that we have ever seen at this school.  Being that we were number 4, it follows we should have a pretty good claim for the number 1 spot.  That probably isn't likely though.  I'd guess either 2 or 3 unless both UNC and Oklahoma surprisingly go down.  

Pitt Beats Down The Irish

Notre Dame came out firing against Pitt today and gave us a nerve-wracking start that saw the Irish nailing treys like they had Chris Quinn back in the lineup. Thankfully, the Panthers came out blazing hot and ruggedly tough in the second half and bowled over, around, and through the hated Notre Dame Fighting Irish en route to a 93-80 W. It was one hell of a way to rebound from the disappointing loss earlier this week to Villanova.

The key for Pitt was DeJuan Blair. The guy spent the better part of the afternoon drinking Luke Harangody's milkshake. I walked away from this game very unimpressed with the highly touted Harangody. The Grizzly Blair had a 10/18 shooting day with 23 points and a ridiculous 22 boards including an absolutely unheard off 11 offensive boards. Harangody just couldn't bang with the infinitely more physical Blair. Most of Gody's gaudy 27 points came in garbage time when the Panthers had the game in hand.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the stupendous work of Levance Fields and Ashton Gibbs. On a day when Sam I Am could get anything going offensively or defensively, Fieldsy and Gibbs were absolute money. Gibbs had 13 points in 17 minutes, 11 of them coming in the first half as he was really the biggest reason that Pitt was able to stay close to the Irish early on. Guy was crazy good.Fields did the usual floor general stuff, 7 helpers and 0 turnovers. Ridiculous. He also poured in a very effective and very efficient 17 points and a pair of treys.

I also can't believe I made it through this much of the article without mentioning Jermaine Dixon. The guy is so good on defense I think Dick LeBeau might sign him away this off-season. He also drained all three treys he took en route to 16 points.

Like I said, this game a freaking beatdown in the second half. The Irish's fantastic start was spurred by out-of-this-world shooting, mainly by role player Luke Zeller who was averaging a whopping 6 points per game. Zeller had 18 first half points, all on treys, but predictably disappeared. And when it came time for the real basketball players to take over, it was all P-I-T-T.

The Backyard Blowout

What a W by Pitt over their archrivals, the West Virginia Mountaineers. The game was close for a long time, but as the second half progressed, the Panthers just blew the doors off of West Virginia 79-67, who just couldn't hang with Pitt's depth, strength, size, speed, and skill. It got so bad that Tiesi and Frye were playing at the end. Obviously a pretty one-sided finish. I love whooping up on the Hoopies. They have that annoying little brother, inferiority complex going when it comes to Pitt. They relish any chance they can get to rub even minor victories in Pitt's face and any time someone even mentions Pitt to a WV fan they start flipping out and yelling "Eat Shit Pitt" and other nonsense like that, completely unprovoked. It's crazy how desperate they are to appear better than Pitt, even though everyone knows they aren't.

Anywho, some thoughts from the game:

-You could tell this game was in West Virginia. Multiple commercials pertained to back-woodsy things like mining, trees, agriculture, coal power, insurance for laborers (specifically truckers), and in-breeding. And I only made up 1 of those things. There were also countless WVU commercials that looked as though a high school A/V Club had produced them.

-The lighting in that dump they call an arena makes it look like you're watching a game in a high school gym where half the lights are burnt out. Then again, it is West Virginia, I guess I shouldn'tbe surprised.

-WVU student section is seriously weak. I mean, they went with the obvious "Ta-ser" chant at Levance, and I can't blame them for that, but it sounded like about 20 people were chanting it. Really, that's the best you can do against your arch-rival? I didn't hear one "Eat shit Pitt" cheer and way too many "Let's Gooooooooo Mountaineers" chants. Try mixing things up guys, it makes things more exciting. They also had a few basically inaudible cheers mixed in there aimed at DeJuan Blair, but I couldn't quite pick up what they were saying, probably something dumb. What's the point of a cheer if no one can understand what you're saying? They are no Oakland Zoo. Also, when Pitt charged back in the first half to bring the game about even, you could've heard a pin drop in there. Even the announcers were commenting on it it was so bad. And the game was tied! I'm not even going to discuss how silent they were once Pitt pulled away.

-Speaking of their fans, I can't remember the last time I saw a fan get tossed out of a game by the refs, but it definitely happened in this one. The refs tossed some dumb hoopie student out of the section. Just hilarious.

-Very exciting to see the 13-9 Backyard Brawl of 2007 highlights! I think WVU fans the state over just simultaneously threw things at their 8 inch black-and-white antenna TV's. Don't forget Mountaineer fans to make the switch to digital. It's coming soon.

-It's evident how feared Levance Fields is when he's in the game. The WVU defense backed waaay off when he was in the game because they pretty much knew they weren't going to be able to force him into any turnovers. You don't notice until Gibbs or Wanamaker starts running the point and the pressure amps up how big the difference is.

-Pitt was streaky from the foul line. They made their first 6 free throws, 4 of which were from DeJuan, but then went back to typical Pitt shooting for a while before finishing well at 15/20 on the day. Still, its a bit frustrating at times and still very much an achilles heel for this team.

-A mess of a start for Sam Young turned into a great day. He picked up 2 fouls with just less than 7 minutes to go in the first half, and then, 7 seconds into the second half, gets called again for an absolute nonsense foul. Just total garbage call by the refs. Even the announcers based it. Not good. Sam came back in at the 15:54 mark and really didn't alter his play at all, strangely. He was still active on defense and nearly got called for a charge that ended up being a blocking foul. That would have been disastrous had it been called on Sam. The gamble may have paid off for Pitt, as Sam starts filling the basket and the Panthers got up too big on WVU and the Hoopies just couldn't get back in it after Sam started playing at his peak level with a 22 point night.

-Levance Fields is very comfortable shooting from inside the 3 point arc, something that you couldn't have said in years past. He finished with 13 points on the day and made 4 regulation field goals out of 6. I think that is the biggest reason for his increased scoring touch. The team is better if he's passing more than shooting, but when a guy like Sam goes out with foul issues, Levance can more than pick up the slack, and that is huge for this team. He also looks to have ironed out some of the earlier issues he had with free throw shooting.

-Another sloppy first half for Pitt. I don't get why this keeps happening, but the Panthers are definitely a second half team. Maybe it's their depth or their strength or their physicality or something like that, but Pitt is soooooo much better in the second half it's scary. It's gotten to the point that I'm expecting it nowadays. If Pitt's up or close at half time I am feeling pretty good about our chances (the Louisville game aside, of course). WVU looked absolutely exhausted at the end.

-Nas Robinson giving very high quality minutes right now. His athleticism is superb. I think he might be taking some minutes from Biggs, and is definitely the reason that Gary McGhee's playing time has absolutely vanished. Jamie would rather have Nas at the 4 and Biggsy at the 5 and go a little small than play the worthless McGhee. And frankly, I couldn't agree more with this philosophy. If they want to play a speed game, Robinson could be a superb weapon.

-Tyrell Biggs looked badly hurt late in the first half. Appeared to be an ankle thing. He ended up returning but didn't really do a whole lot after that injury. Let's hope he's okay and that this won't turn into a nagging thing.

-Jermaine Dixon was very quiet early, and I briefly fretted that maybe this was going to be a Jermaine Dixon of old performance, but he ended up playing very well in the second half, finishing with 11 points and was an excellent 3/5 from 3-point range, a nice thing to see from him.

-DeJuan Blair staying out of foul trouble was quite pleasant to see. He struggled a bit early with his shot, uncharacteristically missing some buniies, but he rebounded nicely as his physicality overwhelmed the Mountaineers eventually and finished with yet another double-double with a 16 and 11.

-That said, the rest of the team made some silly/ useless fouls. That kind of thing can't continue. Luckily, the Eers spent much of the game doing their best impersonation of Pitt from the foul line as they went just...

All in all, that was a nice win for the Panthers, as they have traditionally struggled mightily in the WVU Crapiseum. The Big Three were critical yet again for the Panthers, as they have been all season, and if these three are clicking on all cylinders, the Panthers will be a very tough team to beat no matter who they are playing.

Pitt Rebounds Against Syracuse

The lone blemish on the Pittsburgh sports weekend belonged to the Pitt basketball squad in their Saturday evening loss to Louisville on their home turf. It was a tough loss that was made more difficult by Pitt holding a sizable 10 point lead late in the game and some spotty officiating that drove me to the brink of insanity.

I was more than a little worried about this game tonight, because while Pitt has had a lot of success against the Orange of late, the Cuse are still a very good squad and are one of the few teams that actually have the ability to match up with DeJuan Blair's uhmm... girth... on the inside. And being that the Cuse are at 8, they are obviously a pretty good and pretty frisky squad.

But the Panthers put on an absolute statement game with a 78-60 smackdown of Syracuse. The game was infinitely tighter at the half at 31-28 Pitt, and the Panthers were clanking the free throws early on causing a near-riot in the stands at the Pete. But the second half was a very different story, as Pitt outscored the Orange 47-32 in that stretch and coasted to a big win on the backs of DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, and Levance Fields.Outside of the Big 3, there wasn't much scoring done by this squad, as those three had a whopping 57 points. The other guys on the roster all filled their roles very well, though, especially in that exciting second half.
-Tyrell Biggs put up an 8 point 5 rebound night and was relentless in his physicality inside against Syracuse. The Orange were really shaken up by how insanely physical the Panthers are. Despite Syracuse having two tanks inside in Jackson and Onuaku, the Orange just seemed very uncomfortable to me.
-Jermaine Dixon didn't have the scoring touch he's had in the past few games, but he had another very nice evening, doing a bit of everything. He's excellent guarding the perimeter, had a stunning block on a Syracuse breakaway, made a few steals happen, and continues to be a pretty effective penetrating guard. I think this kid has a much higher ceiling than I would have expected when I first saw him play.
-Gil Brown's athleticism is a force to be reckoned with at times. He's definitely a little on the wild side and still very raw, but when he matches up with opposing swing men types, they just have a ton of trouble playing him the right way even if he's having an off night on just 1/6 shooting.
-Brad Wanamaker is one of the better reserve guards around. He's frisky defensively and is superb handling the ball. I know he projects to start at the 2 or 3 depending on the situation in the future but, aside from Levance, I think he's the best ball handler on the roster. He's also very smart and makes great passes and plays.
-Ashton Gibbs was his usual serviceable self and is at least giving me some confidence when he comes into the games, as opposed to early in the season when he made me fret every time he brought the ball up. I don't mind seeing him get 7-8 minutes a night to spell Levance.
-I was very impressed by the work of Nasir Robinson, and I think, like I said here a few weeks ago, that he HAS to get more minutes as the season progresses. I originally compared him to Gil Brown, and while the size and athleticism are there, he's already more physical than Gil and plays better inside than him even if he struggles at the perimeter and has questionable ball handling ability. I like the work he gaves us at the 4, and I wouldn't mind taking advantage of that athleticism for 5-10 minutes a game against a slower power forward.

I guarantee that Syracuse fans are going to bitch and moan about the refs in this game. In fact, I already have seen that on the message boards (a given for fans to whine there, but this is more than usual given the weirdness of the game), but the officiating seemed equal to me. Blair was getting basically sucker punched half the time he had the ball inside, and Syracuse was leaping around at their offensive zone going consistently over the back and nothing was being called. Pitt was doing the same, no question about it, but it was equal. The technicals, well, I don't know enough about that because it's hard to tell anything about T's when you're at the game, like I was. It's all about context, and while Harris' I have no idea about, Jackson's was a no question about it T. He gave Blair an arms-extended shove after a basket, and Blair fell backwards. You HAVE to call a T there, it was blatant and the refs made it plainly obvious they weren't going to stand for that kind of play.

But maybe all these complaints lead to a larger issue here. Is the Big East becoming too physical? I personally don't think so, but it is becoming clear that the refs are having a very difficult time officiating a lot of these games because you could call a foul every single time down the court on somebody. Hell you could probably call a flagrant just about every other time down the court. I don't really mind the style of play so long as the refs call it the same way all game long, and that was my big complaint about the Louisville game. The refs were blowing their whistles like crazy early in that one, and then as the game wore on, they realized they were on pace to call about 200 fouls and ended up swallowing the whistles when they probably should have been calling at least some fouls.

Live Blog of Panthers- Cardinals

5:58 We are live from... our apartment in Oakland! All set to put together a live blog of the Pitt-Louisville basketball game that is slated to get under way in precisely two minutes. This game boasts the number one team in the nation (god I will never tire of saying that) matching up against the 20th ranked Louisville Cardinals in Louisville's Freedom Hall. The key players for our Panthers are, of course, DeJuan "The Windex Man" Blair, Sam I Am Young, and Levance Fields. For the Cards, its freshman star Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark, and 10th year senior Terrance Williams (just kidding of course, it only SEEMS like he's been there since the 80s.) Should be fun.

6:00 Soooo....yeah the Big Ten matchup of Illinois-Michigan State is going long. Its not enough that the Big Ten has to play awful basketball, they have to play slow awful basketball that forces the rest of us to inadvertantly watch them disgrace the James Naismith's game? Just appalling.

6:05 Evidently the tipoff has been delayed until 6:10 PM. Well okay then. By the way, I've seen youth league YMCA basketball games that were more interesting and better played than this atrocity of a game. There's still 3:56 left in this trainwreck.

6:11 ESPN is so appalled by having to broadcast this Big Eleven disaster with its 0.0 Nielsen rating that it briefly takes us to a split screen of Pitt-Ville where Ty Biggs drains a trey. Then they immediately switch back to Illinois-MSU. What a tease.

6:16 Panthers are up 9-2 right now and we are still suffering through this worthless Big Eleven game. I'm freaking out right now, I've seen more Big Eleven basketball today than I have in my entire life, and I understand why that is so. These teams would get debacled by Pitt.

6:18 Hey Michigan State finally F-Ing wins this game. ESPN can't cut the chord to that one fast enough. Ahhhh.... Big East basketball. Thank God. Of course they are at a media timeout. All 5 Pitt starters have scored we are told.

6:20 Superb! The wonderful Bill Raftery is calling the game alongside Sean McDonough and Fran Frischilla. This is a pretty good crew calling our game. "Send it in Jerome!"

6:21 Jermaine Dixon welcomes us to the game by nailing a 3. He is playing about 1,000 times better in the last couple games.

6:23 What happened to Edgar Sosa? Wasn't this guy supposed to be a really good player when he came here. I just looked up his stats and he has gotten worse statistically every year since he got to Louisville.

6:28 Edgar Sosa gets hacked going to the basket and falls away from the basket out of control and does a weird hug/dance thing with one of the refs. Kinda creepy. I don't think anyone knew what the hell to make out it. The Panthers are driving me crazy right now. Louisville is picking up steals and offensive boards all over the place right now. Despite a nice lead, I'm seeing a lot of the danger signs of sloppy first half play for the third game in a row.

6:36 Jermaine Dixon breathes on Terrence Williams the wrong way and gets called for a foul. This refs are calling a lot, a LOT of fouls right now. If this keeps us, there are going to be a fair amount of players on both teams in trouble.

6:40 Pitt has let the Ville back into this game, it's 23-17 as we head to a media timeout with 7:57 remaining. Too much sloppiness for Pitt after the red-hot start that no one actually saw. Ville is on a 10-3 run right now.

6:44 The refs appear to have wagered heavily, very heavily on Louisville, as Sam Young gets his second foul and is likely done for the half. Then, a Louisville player commits aggravated assault on Levance Fields and nothing gets called.

6:47 DeJuan Blair gets his second foul at the same time the ref's shirt gets untucked to reveal Cardinal Red underneath. What a bunch of B.S. Louisville takes their first lead of the game, but having 8 men on the court (including the refs) will do that.

6:50 After watching Gary McGhee play defense like he's missing a chromosome, I've determined Pitt would be better off playing with 4 men on the floor then with 4 and Mcghee.

6:55 Please God can Pitt learn to shoot free throws one of these F-ing years? Ashton Gibbs clanks two critical ones and Pitt is down 3 right now, 29-26.

6:58 Louisville is pwning Pitt on their offensive glass. I've never seen Pitt get shoved around like this on the glass. Of course DeJuan and Sammy haven't played in like an hour, so that might have something to do with it. I'd like to think we could at least hang with them though. I guess not.

7:03 And that's a half... Pitt surprisingly is up 32-30. If you had told me Sam and DeJuan would miss huge chunks of the first half with foul trouble I would not have expected to be up on Louisville at the half. So I'll take that, at least. Back for the second half.
SECOND HALF
7:20 We are back and the its good to see Sam and DeJuan back in the ball game. I'm nervous as to how the Cardinals are going to attack the foul-ridden Panthers. Biggs immediately picks up a foul, his 3rd, and this alarming stat is dropped on us: 6 PANTHERS HAD 2 FOULS AT HALFTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey dumbass refs, I think you may be calling a shade too many fouls!

7:24 DeJuan Blair is making his presence felt right now. He picks up an offensive board and dunks it in traffic and then next possession down grabs another offensive board and gets a foul called against the Cards for a reach-in.

7:26 Panthers are on a mini-run, a 7-0 stretch capped by a Sam Young trey. The anouncers celebrate it by making a weird reference implying that they went out drinking with Bill Hillgrove and Dick Groat last night. Sounds like a grand old time.

7:31 Our first Sam Young shot fake of the evening. Man I was way off! I had 6:25 in the poll. Anyway it sets up a Jermaine Dixon trey, his third of the night. If Dixon can keep up the great work on threes he could turn into a real weapon and give them the one thing they are really lacking.

7:32 Crap. DeJuan picks up his 3rd foul on a silly reach-in. He heads to the bench. Gil comes back down the court on the next possession and picks up HIS third foul. Biggs, Blair, and Brown all have three now. Not good folks, not at all good.

7:35 Sam does a double ball/head fake. That's like the unicorn of Sam Young fakes. We just saw a truly special moment. of course he celebrates by turning the ball over almost immediately after.

7:36 Biggs is freaking OWNING the offensive glass. He is a tremendous inside role guy and continues to do his season-long impression of Chevy Troutman. Sam hits a banker after Biggsy gets those 2 offensive boards. 46-39 Panthers. Timeout Ville.

7:38 Okay this can't possibly be right, but ESPN is telling me that Tim Frye played in the first half of the game. Uhmm... What? The same Tim Frye who is the stereotypical short walk-on white guard who plays only in the final minute of blowouts? I mean I know Pitt was in foul trouble, but that can't be right can it? There's no way I could have missed that, right?

7:43 Sam makes a great steal but can't control as he is racing downcourt and tosses one to Dixon who tosses it to Fields who, clearly trying to look elsewhere for a fancy pass or something, lets it slip out of bounds. Bad job by Levance who sometimes will do things like that to drive you crazy. The Cardinals come down and score to make it 46-42.

7:44 Jermaine Dixon is having a spectacular day. he snatches a rebound, outlets to Levance who races upcourt and somehow Jermaine makes it all the way back up court and takes a bounce pass from Fields for a layup. This kid is turning into a legit offensive weapon all of a sudden, and I, for one, am stunned by his exponential upward progress. I guess he just needed to get comfortable or something, but he's been great. 48-42 Panthers

7:47 DeJuan Blair comes back in. I will be watching closely to see how Louisville attacks him and how he responds. Just as I type this, Sam makes an easy steal and puts in an absolute monster dunk on a breakaway. He walks menacingly away from the hoop looking like he's ready to run through a brick wall or something. The boy is fired up.

7:50 I haven't mentioned this yet, but Jamie Dixon is employing Brad Wanamaker in a point guard role to bring the ball up against the Louisville press. I'm not sure why exactly he's doing this, but he is doing a tremendous job at it.

7:51 DeJuan picks up his 4th on a ticky-tack 4th foul. It wasn't much of anything, but Blair took an unnecessary chance and paid the price. The kid still needs to learn.

7:53 All of a sudden Louisville is only down by a point as Pitt spends three straight defensive possessions crapping themselves and taking dumb shots on offense. I don't get how they can fall apart so quick when Blair comes out of the game like that. Grrr.... Pitt had a 10 point lead at one point. I had a feeling the Cards would work their way back into this sucker, but I didn't think that THIS would happen, especially so quickly.

7:55 Bill Raftery gives us what we wanted all day... a little parody for Sam Young's earlier dunk, shouting, "Send it in... Jerome!"

7:58 Blazing hot Jermaine Dixon drills a pair of free throws, Pitt is up by 3. He now has 18 points on the night. I have a done a total 180 on this kid in the past week or two.

8:01 A monster dunke for Louisville and this sucker is tied up. Yikes. We head into the last media timeout 58-58. They just showed the replay of the dunk and Gil Brown had an alarming petrified look on his face. Not what I want to see there Gil.

8:06 Levance Fields gets called for a foul that I think the Louisville fans made from the first row. Especially because the ref clearly signalled double foul at first and then pretended like he didn't. What f-ing garbage. Such a homer call. Cardinals are up because of this homerism.

8:08 Biggs makes a god-awful pass to Blair. Just a terrible idea. 19 turnovers for Pitt today as they are playing crazy sloppy right now.

8:11 Here we go, 1:07 to go in this puppy. It's gonna be a fight. 62-58 Cardinals right now.

8:12 Clark hits a monster shot as the shot clock expired. Not sure if its a 2 or 3, the refs are reviewing. I think its a 2 though. Yup it is. Shit. 64-58 Louisville. Pitt is hanging on by a thread, if that. The worst part is Clark hopping around like an idiot afterward. I hate that.

8:14 For some bizarre reason, after Louisville grabs a rebound after another missed 3 for Pitt, the Panthers take about 10 seconds to foul a Cardinal player. Just sloppy and not wanting it enough.

8:17 Truely bizarre, DeJuan Blair gets fouled as he goes to score and the bucket is good. Pitt down 66-62. Pitt may not have the best odds right now, but at least they still have some odds...

8:19 Louisville hits both free throws to go up 68-63. It's over now. Oh, and then Sam Young makes an awful inbound pass and Blair fouls out trying to get the ball back. Ugh.

8:22 Yup that's a wrap, 69-63 Cardinals. Pitt drops its first game of the season. I don't think I'll be doing another one of these anytime soon. Sorry Panthers for jinxing you guys. Still, it was a very good effort, and kind of a weird game filled with lots of runs and streaks. I'll be interested to see where we rank come Monday morning.

Impressions From Pitt-Georgetown

After countless critics questioned just how good the Pitt men's hoops squad really was for the better part of November and December, Jamie Dixon's crew went out and made a very powerful statement earlier today in whooping up on Georgetown 70-54. Leading the way for our Panthers was DeJuan Blair who, after a dreadful M.I.A effort against Rutgers a few days ago, was an absolute beast out on the court. Blair put up a 20 point, 17 rebound effort, and set the tone for the Panthers early and often. The Panthers dominated the Hoyas on the glass, outrebounding them by an incredible 43-17 margin. Pitt had 18 offensive boards to Georgetown's 4, another incredible margin. Some other impressions:

-The much ballyhooed "next great Georgetown center" Greg Monroe has a long LONG way to go to live up to the hype. Yeah the guy can fill the basket, as he put up 15 points, but defensively he is an absolute liability against savvy offensive players like our marvelous DeJuan Blair.

-Let's hope Gil Brown is okay after going down with a shoulder injury late in the game. Brown was a real difference maker for the Panthers today, using his incredible athleticism to really cause some big time matchup problems for the Hoyas. Brown is further cementing himself as a guy who can do it all, as he played the 2, 3, and 4 for extended periods in the game, and was excellent at each spot. At the 2 he can use his size and at the 4 he uses his speed. I think this guy has a very, very bright future ahead of him as a pro someday. For now, he is a spectacular force coming off of the bench.

-Speaking of great bench play, how about the work of Brad Wanamaker the last two games? Who or what lit a fire under his butt? After pouring in a career-high 15 against Rutgers, Wanamaker may not have filled the stat sheet quite as well (5 points, 4 boards, 2 helpers), but he was excellent out there. I've never been a believer of Brad's in the past, and never could understand the appeal of him to Jamie Dixon, but I am a believer in him now and think he will be a big part of this team's success as the 7th man.

-How about Tyrell Biggs doing his best Chevy Troutman impression? Biggs is a perfect mucker-and-grinder type of role guy, and today he showed a strong knack for taking advantage of the space opponents are forced to give him when Blair is lighting it up as he was today. If Blair keeps playing like a force of nature, Biggs will benefit as much as anyone, and let's hope the efficiency (7/10 shooting today) continues.

-Very little was demonstrated by our deep bench guys that reassured me we can survive if either Levance Fields or Blair is in foul trouble or (knocking on wood) injured. Ashton Gibbs is a nerve-wracking point guard who appears very uncomfortable with the position, and Gary McGhee looks mostly like the same player he was a season ago. I hope one of these guys or a guy like Tra Woodall or Nas Robinson can make a Wanamaker-like improvement, but I'm not holding my breath.

-How did I get this far in without mentioning Sam Young and Levance Fields? Fields, despite what some announcers say, looks as close to 100% as ever, and continues to be nothing short of brilliant as a point guard. He is one of the national leaders in assist/turnover ratio, and certainly did nothing to hurt his status with an 8 Assist 0 Turnover performance. He also got Georgetown sharpshooter DeJuan Summers very, very irritated. Hard to say if this had anything to do with it, but Summers was not nearly as effective after getting T'ed up. Not saying it was a great thing to happen (Fields was T'ed up too) but maybe, just maybe Fieldsy got in his head a little bit.

-As for Sam, it was something of a ho-hum day for him. He put in 14 points and snatched 8 rebounds, but this wasn't a vintage Sam I Am game. Don't get me wrong, he played well defensively, and you could tell G'town was definitely keeping an eye on him at all times when the Panthers were on offense, but we've all seen better from Sam. With that said, it was very encouraging to see the Panthers look so crisp and be so successful without Young having to go for 20+ points and be the go-to option. Be quite sure that we will see many teams make shutting down Young their number 1 priority this season, so if the other guys on the roster can learn what they have to do to win when this happens, the Panthers will be all the better for it.

-I'm still having a lot of trouble forming a real opinion on Jermaine Dixon. Defensively, he seems very good, though I did notice at least two lapses on his part, but it wasn't because of a lack of talent, so it can at least be corrected. Offensively, if his shots aren't falling early, he seems to disappear. I'll stand by my statement that I made a couple weeks ago: Jermaine Dixon may be a starter for the whole season, but Gil Brown will be the finisher. And Brown would have been the finisher today had it not been for the injury. I also might add Brad Wanamaker to the role of a finisher over Dixon right now, too. Dixon was a miserable 1/7 on field goals and 0/5 on treys. Jamie Dixon needs to get Jermaine touches from inside the arc. He seems fine from the 15 foot range, yet is inept on 3-pointers. I would take that 3-point option mostly out of his hands and get him to take more close jumpers. If he starts to hit those and gain some confidence and gain a good feel, THEN allow him more rope to attempt the long bombs.

Blair a Man Amongst Boys; The Zoo Strings Gottlieb Up From the Rafters

Although Pitt-Siena was slightly marred by refs who had apparently never seen a Big East basketball game before judging by their shock at the Panthers' style of play, and by Pitt's difficulty in going for the jugular, it was still a highly entertaining late night at the Pete for any number of reasons. What follows are some of those highlights:

-DeJuan Blair continues to be an absolute monster underneath the boards. Smaller, less physical teams are going to get absolutely obliterated by this guy. He was brilliant as a freshman, but rarely was he good enough to dominate and become the best player on the court. That has already happened several times this season, and it happened for the entirety of the 30 minutes of playing time he logged last night. He put together 21 points and 16 rebounds and was absolutely hosed by the freakin' refs in this one. He was given the Shaq treatment where, if he so much as breathed in the wrong direction the refs whistled him for a foul, yet down on the offensive end, Siena did everything to stop him short of using pitchforks and torches yet nothing was called because the refs continuously choked down their whistles. Ridiculous. The good news is, the Big East regular season typically gives us competent refs, except of course this guy:For those of you unaware, that's the Notorious T-I-M aka Tim Higgins. Anyway, Blair's progression has been eye-opening this season, and while the stats may not really show that much of a difference from last year, one look at this guy on the court and the difference is unbelievably obvious.

-If there have been any unknown government advances in cloning in recent years, I volunteer Levance Fields' cells be the first to be replicated, because the Panthers NEED to find a way to get him out there for 40 minutes a game come Big East time. I'm sorry but Ashton Gibbs had the complete deer-in-the-headlights look going tonight when Siena put the press on him. In case you weren't aware, the Big East coaches, to a man, are probably 16 of the best defensive coaches in basketball and are guaranteed to be licking their chops at the thought of sicking the dogs on him. If he's doing anything other than running the point in blowout home wins during Big East season, the Panthers are going to have some issues. And I'm not sure what happened with Tra Woodall tonight, though I'd guess he's a bit banged up, as he didn't play despite some promising efforts in recent games.

-I know he made 2 treys, but can someone please tell Tyrell Biggs it's not okay to launch threes and long-range jumpers? He does know he's a role player whose sole reason for being on the court is to grab rebounds and hustle back on defense right? The only way he should score is if Sammy or Levance clank one and he shoves the putback in.

-Jermaine Dixon may start every game this season, but mark my words, in close games he'll be popping a squat the same as Gary "The Koopa Troopa" McGhee, Gibbs, Woodall, Nas Robinson, and the white guy scrubs. That's because Gil Brown's energy, athleticism and versatility will make him the ultimate weapon late against their Big East foes and he'll be the guy playing the two spot instead of JD. Now, you may say, "Well why wouldn't Gil start then?" And my response is this: He's the perfect weapon off the bench. Around that first media timeout when Blair and/or Biggs and Dixon come out of the game and the Panthers have to work in a 2 or 3 new guys into the game for the first time that day, Gil is the ultimate spark plug to keep that lineup going and give them a bit of a different look. Then have Gil move down to the 3 (or even 4) spot when Sammy takes a quick breather and put JD back at the 2. I mean let's be honest, despite the fact that this Pitt team has as much talent as any Pitt team that I've ever seen, there is a definite hierarchy to this team. It really comes down to the Big 6 (the starters and Gil), the Small Big 1 (Gary McGhee whose enormous but small in court presence and ability), the Small Small 2 (Tra Woodall and Ashton Gibbs, who combined weigh roughly the same as the Koopa Troopa), and the Other 2 (Nas Robinson and Brad Wanamaker, both of whom have talent but are too similar to Gil to really merit serious crunch minutes). So the more minutes they get out of the Big 6, the better off this team will be.

-Although I knew Doug Gottlieb has snubbed our Panthers and the Big East as a whole in years past (though his idiocy really isn't confined to a single team or conference), I didn't anticipate the venom spewed his way tonight by the Oakland Zoo. As always I was sitting right smack dab in the middle of things, and was shocked, amused, and at times even a little uneasy over the rioting mob mentality that developed toward him. Good, clean, fun chants like "Where's my Visa?" (A reference to Gottlieb being given the boot from Notre Dame many years ago after, I think, stealing credit cards or some kind of credit card scandal) started the night off. From there, things got crazier in a hurry. Much like the Anchorman fight, "That escalated quickly, I mean that really got out of hand fast...Roc killed a guy..." After some of the self-proclaimed "leaders" of the Zoo put some inflammatory quotes on their little dry erase boards claiming that Gottlieb claimed the Zoo wasn't a tough place to play, a recurring "Gottlieb sucks" chant started and continued for much of the second half. This obviously isn't anywhere near as creative or fun as the Visa trade, and led to only more malicious stuff, such as a number of derogatory sexual slurs directed at himself, his mother, and other family members. Good times all around!

-Gary McGhee, if you can't even freakin' dunk the ball, why are we keeping you around? He was matched up against someone named Josh Duell tonight who was easily 40 lbs. overweight for most of his breathtaking 6 minutes of PT, and it's probably safe to say this clash of the titans wasn't quite what James Naismith had in mind. And the highlight (or more accurately, lowlight) came when Duell took McGhee off the dribble around the 3-point line. And by off the dribble, I mean he stared head down at the ball as he slammed it insanely hard into the ground while slowly moving forward. I'm pretty sure that was the quietest the crowd was all night long as all 12,000+ in attendance gawked in horror at what was taking place. The weirdest part of all was Duell draining two treys despite looking like he would lose to Casey Hampton in wind sprints.

-This Siena team may have been a frisky bunch that played with solid fundamentals and had a smart, if somewhat loathsome, head coach, but I can't figure out how in the hell they ever beat Vanderbilt last year if this was their team. Pitt, if this was a meaningful game, would have blown the doors off of Siena early in the second half instead of subbing in the backups, who allowed the Saints to stay within striking distance. Any half-decent squad could've beat them tonight, and I really didn't see much in the way of potential three-point ability for most of the game that so often characterizes those mid-major Cinderellas. They were 6-23 from downtown, and no one on that team, except for maybe the aforementioned fat guy, looked comfortable shooting it, either, so I don't think it was just an off night.

-Our Panthers are now 11-0, and there is no way rest for the weary, as they play an athletic Florida State team Sunday evening in Tallahassee in what figures to be a very interesting game to keep an eye on. The 'Noles may not be a powerhouse ACC program, but they know how to play with the big boys, and add that to the fact that it's outside of the 4-1-2 area code, and it's probably the toughest non-conference game the Panthers will play this season.