Isaiah Epps On Campus

While incoming freshman point guard Isaiah Epps isn't the key to Pitt's 2010-11 basketball season, it's still a mild relief to know that he has qualified academically.  And even though Epps didn't participate in the famed Greentree Summer League games or in the scrimmages in Ireland, he doesn't feel like he missed all that much:

"I don't feel like I missed out on that much," Epps said. "The coaches will be able to see me play at practice."

Epps might not see it as a big deal, and it really isn't. But I'd beg to differ on his stance that says he didn't miss that much. While Epps was working on his academic situation, fellow incoming freshmen J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright were suiting up against other college and professional players. Both participated in about a dozen games and several practices - probably somewhere around the equivalent of about 1/2 of a full season's worth of games (minus practice time). To say that's not missing much is a little off point.

Will it matter in the long run? Not likely. But the fact that he's been out of the loop for so long could lead to a redshirt, something that was in the article and something I mentioned before as a possibility.  When he first committed, he was so highly touted, that a redshirt would have seemed unlikely.  But the fact is that Pitt can very easily go in that direction. They can either start Gibbs at PG and use Wright as a backup or start Woodall and use Gibbs as a backup. I think the latter is probably more likely. Based on the reports in the scrimmages, it seemed Wright had a good deal of work to do.

Epps could still surprise and do enough to get in the rotation, but it will take a lot of catching up.

Pitt Basketball Finishes 6-0 On Trip To Ireland

Pitt wrapped up the playing portion of its trip to Ireland with two final wins for a perfect 6-0.

Throughout the games, Jamie Dixon used a variety of different lineups. One can only think it was mostly done to feel out the chemistry between players - especially among the new guys. It was good to see Pitt face some adversity in the fifth game where they trailed at halftime. They responded well and came back for a 16-point victory.

So how did the players do at least stats-wise?

Gilbert Brown - 12.8 ppg

Ashton Gibbs - 12.0 ppg / 4 apg

Gary McGhee - 5.0 ppg / 5.3 rpg

J.J. Moore - 10.4 ppg

Aron Nwankwo - 0 ppg

Lamar Patterson - 4.7 ppg / 4.0 rpg

J.J. Richardson - 6.3 ppg / 4.3 rpg

Nick Rivers - .8 ppg

Nasir Robinson - 8.9 ppg / 4 rpg

Dante Taylor - 6.3 ppg / 7.2 rpg

Brad Wanamaker - 9.0 ppg / 5.8 apg / 3.0 rpg

Travon Woodall - 8.5 ppg / 3.8 apg

Cameron Wright - 3.4 ppg / 1 apg

Talib Zanna - 8.0 ppg / 7.0 rpg

Not much can be taken from these numbers but here are a few things I noticed:

- After monster performances in the Greentree Summer League, I was a litle surprised to not see McGhee dominate a bit more...especially considering some teams had smaller rosters (the South Regional All-Stars' tallest player was 6'6"). It will be interesting to see how he responds once the season gets started.  I'd guess somewhere in between these performances and his GSL performances.

- Looks like it will be hard to keep Talib Zanna and J.J. Moore off the court. By all indications, they've now played very well in both the GSL and in these games. Nasir Robinson's numbers haven't been great and I wonder if we'll see a little less of him and more of them. There are also Jermaine Dixon's minutes to account for, so I think they will each see some time this season.

- Despite being highly regarded, I can't help but think how far back Isaiah Epps might be. Unable to play in the GSL and these games will put him behind Moore and maybe even Cameron Wright. I expect Wright to possibly take a redshirt and I'm wondering if Epps will do the same.

- Gilbert Brown shot exactly 50% from the field and really only had one bad game, a 1/6 shooting performance. Here's to hoping his ups and downs will be solved, but I won't be sold until I see it. To be honest, I think anyone that had the kind of swings Gil did last season will still be susceptible to poor games once in a while. But as long as those types of games are limited, Pitt might be okay.

Pitt Basketball Wins Third Game In Ireland

Pitt won its third game on its Ireland trip, beating the Irish National Team for the second straight time today, 110-61.

The team was again led by freshman J.J. Moore who was 6-12 from the field, scoring 14 points. Moore, J.J. Richardson, Ashton Gibbs, Gilbert Brown, and Nasir Robinson were all in double figures in scoring. Pitt continues to rebound well - so well in fact that their 22 offensive rebounds were more than the Irish National Team's overall rebound total of 20.

Jamie Dixon again used a different starting lineup and he's apparently testing out chemistry issues.

Pitt shot 54% from the field and is averaging more than 50% through their three games thus far. The team's Big East style of play, however, landed them in a bit of foul trouble as Ireland got to the line 31 times.

Next up will be the Dart Killester Club Team on Wednesday.

Let The Beatdowns Begin

Pitt basketball began its Ireland trip with a 99-54 drubbing of the Irish national team.

Not sure how big the building was, but only 1,650 attended.  Judging by photos on the website, it looks to be a pretty small gym.  Tickets were fairly cheap at around $9 (7 Euro) for adults.  Gil Brown led Pitt with 22 points including 4-6 from three-point range.  Ashton Gibbs contributed 15 and Brad Wanamaker had 12 points and 10 assists.

At first glance, it would appear that he big men, Gary McGhee and Dante Taylor (combining for 13 points and 12 rebounds) had quiet games.  But one important thing to note is that all 11 players received equal playing time.  Talib Zanna and J.J. Richardson likely saw minutes that McGhee and Taylor would have, so no need to worry about those numbers.

Here's the full box score.

It was mostly good for Pitt, who shot 56% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and forced 22 turnovers.  But the team did turn the ball over 16 times.  Though, in a scrimmage game, in an unfamiliar environment and with lots of travel and hoopla surrounding the trip, that's kind of to be expected.

The freshman, J.J. Moore, Cameron Wright, and Aron Nwankwo, were not eligible to play due to NCAA rules, but should suit up for today's (Sunday's) game. 

I'm mildly confused as the schedule listed on Pitt's website says the game with the National Team was to take place today with the team playing the Southern Regional All-Stars Saturday night.  Maybe the games have been flip-flopped.

Greentree Basketball Summer League Wraps Up

With the Greentree Basketball Summer League wrapping up this past week, I thought it was a good time to take a look back.  During the mid-point of the season, I took a look at some statistics that were out there courtesy of Rivals and Scout.  Before I provide some year-end stats, I'll again throw out the same disclaimer.  These numbers were gathered by both sites.  I've used Rivals' numbers and filled in blanks with Scout's.  However, be aware that the two sites even differed on stats for the same games.  So everything isn't completely accurate.  That said, I've filled these in the best I could and this is what I came up with:

Gil Brown - 23.6 ppg

J.J. Richardson - 10.8 ppg / 8.6 rpg

Ashton Gibbs - 22.5 ppg

J.J. Moore - 17 ppg / 5.4 rpg

Travon Woodall - 16.1 ppg / 5.0 apg

Cameron Wright - 10.9 ppg

Brad Wanamaker - 15.6 ppg / 5.7 rpg

Nasir Robinson - 11.9 ppg / 4.9 rpg (these may be incomplete)

Gary McGhee - 17.4 ppg / 10.9 rpg

Dante Taylor - 16.7 ppg / 10.9 rpg

Lamar Patterson - 15.1 ppg

Talib Zanna - 13.5 ppg / 10.8 rpg

Ashton Gibbs took home league MVP honors and he joined McGhee, Brown, and Richardson on the first team. Patterson, Moore, and Zanna landed on the second team.

You may be thinking the same thing I am - how in the heck did Taylor not land on the first or second team?  Beats me.  I'm sure they want to try to spread out the school and maybe even position representation around a bit, but I'm surprised they couldn't find a spot for him over even Zanna or Patterson.  But as I said, these numbers are almost assuredly not completely accurate, so who knows.

I'm really excited to see what Jamie Dixon does with J.J. Moore this year.  Pitt is a veteran team this season and has lots of guys that could see minutes.  But based on his summer league performance, it looks like it may be difficult to redshirt him...especially because he's a scorer - and Pitt sorely needs some of those at various points in the season.

Baskeball Notes 7/13

The Panthers are excited and gearing up for their trip to Ireland.  J.J. Richardson sees big things for Pitt and credits the Summer League and this trip as reasons for his optimism:

 “Not many teams get the chance to have an organized practice during the summertime,” he said. “This is helping us get closer. Last year, we were all still getting used to each other because we were young. This year, with us in the summer league and going over to Ireland, we’re going to be real good.”

I think he's got a point.  Not only does the Greentree Summer League allow them to practice with some teammates, they're also going against other D-1 players.  Now, with the opportunity to go overseas and play others will give them some good game experience. 

Speaking of that Summer League, Ashton Gibbs led the way during Monday's games with 30 points / 7 rebounds / 6 assists.  Dante Taylor continued his strong play going for 19/13 and J.J. Moore keeps scoring (22).  Taylor's consistency has been pretty good.  He's got to be close to a 20/10 average during these games.  As of my last analysis in the beginning of July, he was at 15.5 and 8.5.

A few more quick hitters:

The NCAA Tournament format including the four newly added teams has been released.

Chris Dokish has a little more on New Zealand recruit Steven Adams.

And Chas over at Pitt Blather has some stuff on DeJuan Blair.

Another Preseason Basketball Ranking

A few days in between posts. Nice weather, two days of seemingly continuous grilling, gardening, and life will cause that. Just now getting around to some of these pre-season basketball rankings.

Gary Parrish over at Sportsline.com brings Pitt in at #6 for the 2010-11 season in his top 25:

6. Pittsburgh: The top three scorers -- and seven of the top eight -- return from a 25-win team, including Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wannamaker and Gilbert Brown. The roster still doesn't seem imposing from an individual-talent perspective. But it's basically the same roster Jamie Dixon used to tear through the Big East last season. There's no reason to believe he won't do similar things next season.

I don't know, I think I've mentioned this before - I'm skeptical when it comes to seeing Pitt as significantly better than last season. Everyone will be a year better and that's huge. However, Pitt will still be without the go to player they desperately need, unless someone like Ashton Gibbs, Gil Brown, or Dante Taylor can step up and turn into that player. The good news for Pitt is that they will have depth. Quality depth. The team could easily go ten deep in its regular rotation.

Pitt will be very good, but I don't know if I'd put them in the Final Four discussion just yet.

Easier Than Expected

Been MIA for the past few days. Just an incredibly busy week with filling out brackets. Mix in a busy week at work and a Fantasy Baseball draft to get ready for and, well, you get the idea.

I thought Pitt was going to have a harder time in this game than they ultimately did, winning by 23. But that's what happens when Pitt actually plays up to its ability. I thought Pitt would end up with around a 12 point win and was surprised to see Oakland virtually fold up after Pitt made a run late in the first half after they got off to a very sluggish start.

Keith Benson was a one-man wrecking crew for Oakland. 28 points on 9 of 19 shooting, 9 boards, 3 steals, and a block. Not sure if he'll be a first-round NBA Draft pick, but at 6'11", he's got the size and it might just be a matter of putting on some more weight. I was really impressed with his game.

Oakland also received nothing from its second leading scorer (12.4 ppg), Derick Nelson after potentially a key play in the game:

There was some drama in the physical game though.

Oakland forward Derick Nelson took an accidental elbow to the head going for a rebound and was on the court for several minutes before leaving to receive six stitches with blood still on the court. He returned in the second half but finished with only one point on 0-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes of play.

His absence took away any momentum Oakland had gained.

Oakland was up 14-10 at the point of Nelson's injury and Pitt really took over after that. While I don't think it would have changed the end result, losing a senior leader like that may have played into Oakland fading so quickly like they did. Nelson did come back in the second half, but you've got to wonder if the injury played into it at all.

At least one Oakland player said his loss hurt a bit:

"It changed a lot," guard Larry Wright said. "He's our rock on this team. He can rebound, defend, score. He does everything for us. We didn't pick up the slack when he got hurt. That really hurt us. We didn't back him up."

In the end, Pitt just played too well and with six players in double figures, it's easy to see that pretty much everyone came out to play. They shot 53% from the field, had a +7 rebounding edge, and did just about everything right other than giving up a lot of fouls.

Though part of it was due to foul trouble, Oakland did what it set out to do, and that was to stop Ashton Gibbs who struggled. Unfortunately, they forgot about the rest of Pitt's team. This was the first time he's been held to single-digits in scoring for two straight games, so I've got to think he'll play better on Sunday against Xavier.

And speaking of Sunday's game, I can only assume that after 17 points today, Gil will be good for a solid four points and one rebound in that one. Sorry, had to say it.

Lastly, this little nugget upset me a bit:

Oakland's fans didn't head to the door, though; even as some Pitt fans thinned out their section, the Oakland faithful remained in their seats, getting their full 40 minutes' worth of NCAA tournament enjoyment. A few rogue fans even kept making noise -- weird whoops and hollers and yodels -- when Pittsburgh shot free throws. You have to admire the dedication.

Hard to believe you'd travel all the way to Wisconsin and then leave early during a win, no matter the score.

Most Improved....Again

Pitt had a player take home the Big East Most Improved Player of the Year Award once again. This time it was Ashton Gibbs. That gives Pitt six winners in the past eleven years.

Can't say it was completely unexpected. My vote would have probably gone to Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis, who averaged only 1.7 ppg as a freshman two years ago and did not play last year. This year, he's averaging an incredible 17.2 ppg. Not sure if he was eligible as he didn't play last year, but if he was, he would have been my pick. I've got no problem with Gibbs winning it, though, and he was well deserving.

As I mentioned before, this is kind of a hard award to judge because many times, a player's numbers will go up dramatically due to increased playing time - not necessarily due to any great increase in skill set.

There's been no mention of this by Bob Smizik of the PG, who made the incredulous statement that Gary McGhee was not only the Most Improved Player of this year, but perhaps in the history of the conference. Previously, I detailed why this was likely not true and despite improving this year, I wasn't so sure he was a worthy winner of this award.

Again, I really like Bob, but I don't think he could be more wrong about this. Hard to rip him too badly, though. Blogging is far from an exact science - it's more about random thoughts of how you're feeling at a particular moment. Plus, it's not like I've never said anything stupid on here.

Back to Gibbs - He really had a heck of a year. He went from being a role player as a freshman to a leader of a top ranked basketball team. It's easy to forget he's only a sophomore and had he not been forced to play the point so much this year, I think his numbers could have been even better.

Sooner or Later...

Well Pitt has had their share of games they shouldn't have won this year and you can add another one. At some point, you almost have to think Pitt will be on the losing end of one of these. I'm just hoping it's not in the tournament.

Get ready for the cries of 'lucky shot' tomorrow by national media who haven't watched Gibbs play this year. But anyone who's followed him even passively obviously knows if he takes that shot ten times, he'd have a good chance to make four or five (or more) of them. Yes it was an NBA range three-pointer and he didn't have a chance to set himself completely, but he has the range to make that shot. Simply put, clutch basket by a guy who can shoot unbelievably well when he's on.

All in all, other than shooting well (53%, 42% from three-point land), Pitt didn't have a great night. They narrowly won the overall rebounding battle 35-34, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Simply put, that's too many...especially against a team that can score. This is sadly starting to become a trend and it's the type of thing that could do Pitt in against a mediocre team in the tournament. Pitt also lost the battles at the free throw line (-10) and in turnovers (-9), so you can see, it was far from a perfect game.

Obviously, Pitt will take a win any way they can get it. And I'm sure the postgame talk will reflect that. But the defensive effort wasn't there tonight. I realize that Providence is actually a pretty good offensive team, but Pitt simply has to do better. It seemed like they played in spurts...they'd go on runs and get up by 7, 8, 9 points, but then would allow Providence to get close again. And it almost cost them tonight. It SHOULD have cost Pitt tonight.

On the plus side, Jermaine Dixon played completely out of his mind. Career high 24 points on 11-18 shooting and 12 rebounds. Quite simply, Pitt doesn't win without him. He was really agressive going to the basket and shot well from the perimeter. I was a little surprised that he didn't get the final look near the end of regulation. Maybe the play wasn't drawn up for Wanamaker, but it sure looked like it was. Dixon was relentless tonight and was really on his game. I would have maybe went with Dixon there, but I can't fault the choice of Wanamaker. This was actually one of the most intriguing things to come out of the game - the decision of who is the 'go to' guy at the end of games. I don't think it's one guy. I'm guessing it will be a situation where Jamie Dixon tries to exploit a certain matchup or goes with the hot hand.

And this just in, Jamine Peterson is a monster. He didn't play last year after having a mediocre freshman season, so technically, not sure if he can win the Most Improved Player award. But he's averaging 19 and 10 as a 6'6" SOPHOMORE - that's sick. 24 and 16 tonight. Like I said - sick.

So the double bye is secured, but Pitt clearly has work to do. Bottom line, they did just enough to win. Teams will have hiccups along the road and everyone struggles against teams they shouldn't, so I have a hard time making too big of a deal out of this. But Pitt is now entering tune-up mode for the NCAA tournament. They only have one more regular season game before a likely tough matchup in their first Big East game. Time to step it up.

Good Win

Good win - It was one they needed to have and one they should have had. As I mentioned in my Q&A with Pico over at East Coast Bias, Pitt has had struggles in the Garden against St. John's (1-2 in their past three games leading up to this one).

To start, our handy game flow chart shows a steady Pitt lead for most of the game. Pitt never got out to a huge lead and they never let St. John's get any closer than five in the second half. The box score shows why Pitt was unable to win by a huge margin. For the second time this year, St. John's outrebounded them. SJU also took care of the ball (only five turnovers to Pitt's eleven) and got to the free throw line more often (+7). So what was the difference? Shooting. Pitt converted over 50% of their shots while St. John's made less than 37%.

And it wasn't just shooting, it was getting EASY shots. 15 of Pitt's 24 made field goals (63%) were layups or dunks while St. John's had 52% of that variety.

I don't really know what to make of the rebounding issues Pitt has against St. John's. Nasir Robinson (8), Gary McGhee (8), and Ashton Gibbs (6) did the job, but no one else had more than two rebounds. And in losing the rebounding battle each time this year, Pitt ends the season at -15 in rebounding against St. John's. Keep in mind that this second game, a -5 effort, was after an emphasis was placed on rebounding and the supposed boot camp that players endured after the beating laid on them by Notre Dame earlier this week. That stuff is all fine and good, but for the most part, I subscribe to theory that when the game starts, most of that stuff is forgotten.

Nasir Robinson is a beast and really poses somewhat of a dilemna for Pitt. His rebounding and toughness is at times (like today), very much needed while the clamoring for Gilbert Brown to start is still there. What's the answer? Do you put Nasir at SF and move Brad Wanamaker or Jermaine Dixon to the bench? I don't really know. At this point in the season, it's probably not worth worrying about and the rotation should just stay as is. Despite my previous pleas to move Dante Taylor to the 4, it's too late in the season to move people around and that type of stuff should just go on hold until next year.

Travon Woodall was also forced into action in a big way due to foul trouble by Dixon and Ashton Gibbs. His 27 minutes were by far the most he'd seen in a Big East game this year, other than that triple-OT win against WVU. He did have three turnovers, but also six points and four assists for a mild game.

Next up is Providence at home on Thursday.

Lessons Learned

Well, I guess the first lesson (if you can call it that...since it wasn't a lesson for me per se) is to always make sure your DVR is running well past the estimated end time of a game. I know this lesson, I really do. Normally, I'm good for at least an extra hour of recording a game. Two, if I'm feeling particularly nervous. I thought I had done this, but realized I did not and ended up missing the final few minutes.

At least things turned out well.

Lesson #2 - Before I get into the game specifics, let me say how incredibly annoyed I am whenever Pitt beats a higher-ranked team at home and it's called an upset. Please. Jamie Dixon is STILL undefeated (6-0) against top five (not top 25, top five) teams at home. Pitt just doesn't lose at home and even playing the #1 team, the game should at least be a push. Announcers and writers still haven't learned this lesson, somehow.

Onto the game.

To start, it was a record crowd at the Pete. Plus, it probably didn't hurt that Pitt's Junior Day for recruits was today (subscription required).

Pitt pulled out a 70-65 win against fourth-ranked Villanova today - giving them their second straight loss for the first time in almost two years. Let's not get crazy, this game did nothing to wipe out even a little of the pain Pitt had in losing that game last year, but it was a nice win for them THIS year. One of the things that jumped out at me was Pitt's determination to hold off Villanova runs. The latest lead Villanova had was 9-8 with about 14 minutes left in the first half. Several times in the second half they got close, but never got over the hump.

Good games today by Ashton Gibbs, Gary McGhee, and Gil Brown. Otherwise, not many other good performances out there. Jermaine Dixon certainly got a very small bit of redemption in that Pitt won the game, but not personally as he went 3-15 from the field. Wanamaker also only scored four points, while Pitt shot a horrendous 35% from the field. You tell me all that before the game and I would tell you there's no chance they win. Offensive rebounding (+8) was a good reason they were able to pull it out. The other was timely shots. As I mentioned above, Pitt responded every time Nova got close:

- With ten minutes left, Scottie Reynolds hit a three to cut the lead to two. Pitt responded with a 6-0 run.

- When Antonio Pena got Nova to within two with about five minutes left, Pitt scored the next two baskets.

- When Nova then hit a three to cut it to three, Pitt made three free throws.

Pitt just had an answer every time.

Here are the quotes from the post-game press conference, though nothing extremely significant here. Jay Wright continues to be one of my favorite Big East coaches as he's just a classy guy. Not one mention of officiating though, truth be told, I think he had some legitimate gripes in that area.

One thing that's getting to be more than just an annoyance is Gibbs missing free throws late. He had made nine straight during the game, but missed three in the final :45. It's not as if the game was over at that point and Pitt really needs him to be able to make those at the ends of games.

With two games to make up and only four to play, I think a Big East title is incredibly remote, but when you look at what they've accomplished this year, it really is pretty amazing. Pitt needs to focus on getting a top 3-4 seed in my opinion. I'm going to hit on this in a later post.

Quality Win

Pitt went on the road tonight and thanks in part to a hot shooting night, was able to beat Marquette 58-51. Hard to believe that this was Jamie Dixon's and Pitt's first win at the Bradley Center since Marquette joined the Big East.

Most games you can't point to one thing and say why a team won or lost. This game was pretty simple - boiled down to good ol' fashioned shooting. Pitt shot about 20% higher (54.8% to Marquette's 35%) and that was really the difference in the game. Rebounding was a wash (Pitt +2), 3 point shooting was a wash (Pitt +2.3%), and the turnovers were pretty even (Pitt -4).

But back to that shooting for a minute. Seems as if everyone had a good night putting the ball in the basket, right? Well, everyone except Ashton Gibbs, who went 0-6 from the field with only two points - easily his lowest output of the season and the first time he failed to make a field goal. With Gibbs out of the picture, Pitt had perhaps their most balanced effort of the year with four guys getting exactly ten points. Gary McGhee had a solid game with ten points, five rebounds, and six blocks, but that was somewhat expected against a team whose tallest player that gets any significant minutes is 6'6".

Gibbs wasn't the only leading scorer to strggle as Pitt held Lazar Haywood to only 11 points on 4-17 shooting:

"He's one of the best players in the league, and one of the toughest players," Jamie Dixon said. "We were fortunate. But we did make him take tough shots, I think that was key."

Hayward came into the game averaging 19.4 points and 10.4 rebounds during the Golden Eagles' five-game winning streak, including three double-doubles.

Hayward said he needed to do a better job of getting his teammates involved on a night when the Golden Eagles got away from their winning formula.

"We weren't playing together, we weren't creating for each other and we weren't playing team defense," Hayward said.

Enough with guys struggling - one guy that had not exactly been tearing it up played a key role during a crucial run during the game:

It was a sure sign that No. 19 Pittsburgh was about to take control: Dante Taylor throwing down his third uncontested dunk in the space of a little more than two minutes.

A freshman who has played sparingly in recent weeks, Taylor's brief scoring burst played a pivotal role in a 14-5 run that helped the Panthers take the lead early in the second half, then hold on for a 58-51 victory over Marquette on Thursday night.

"I think it was good for our guys," Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. "They know how hard Dante is working. When guys make big plays and don't play as much as the other guys, it really, I think, brings energy to a team."

Travon Woodall was also rewarded with 17 minutes after his monster game against WVU. He played well: 2-3 for five points, a steal, and an assist. Not a great game by any stretch, but as long as he can play some key minutes without torching a can of gasoline, he allows the starters to get a breather.

Tonight's oddball stat was that Marquette actually had nearly 1/3 more shots than Pitt (60-42). Part of that was due to allowing so many offensive rebounds (11 to Pitt's 4) for the second straight game. This was bad against WVU, but with Marquette's size, tonight's effort keeping them off the offensive boards was downright embarrassing.

Tonight's win gives Pitt its ninth straight 20-win season. Man, that never gets old.

When you factor in everything (conference game against a solid team, road game, game against a bugbble team desperate for a win), this was really a great looking win. It also keeps Pitt in the top four of the conference and still in the running for one of those coveted double bye seeds in the Big East tournament.

What They're Saying

Loads of media recaps from the big game last night - I've already posted some, but here are a few more.

As was mentioned, Pitt was killed on the boards in regulation. But that all changed in the overtime sessions and that was key:

The Mountaineers outrebounded Pitt, 21-12, in the first half. But WVU switched to a 1-3-1 zone and Pitt took advantage by outrebounding the Mountaineers 12-4 in the overtimes.

"That changed the game," Wanamaker said. "Late in the game, we started rebounding, boxing out. Early on, they were in control of the game. Once we started rebounding, we started getting back in control of the game."

WVU coach Bob Huggins knew they would give up some rebounding by going to the 1-3-1, but in his mind, it was a necessary evil:

"They competed, and Jamie's teams do that. (But) they couldn't have won the game without a lot of help from us. (And) we couldn't stop their penetration, so we went to the 1-3-1 (zone). And it's hard to rebound out of the 1-3-1."

Ashton Gibbs had some more struggles at the free throw line, but came through in the very end:

Gibbs scored 24 points including four-for-six from the free throw line. He missed the second of two free throws with seven seconds left in the first overtime. Had he hit the second free throw, Pitt would have probably sealed the win but his miss allowed Bryant to hit a three with seven seconds left to tie the game and send it into a second overtime.

He redeemed himself when he stepped to the line in the third overtime with ten seconds left and hit both free throws to give Pitt a three-point lead.

"I have enough confidence in myself to treat every shot the same," Gibbs said. "I put every miss behind me."

Gibbs has actually struggled a bit recently from the line. He's shooting 90% on the season, but in the past four games, he's missed seven of them and has shot only 75%.

And it sounds as if this game was a confidence builder of sorts:

“We needed a win like this to make us believe we could do this again,” said Pitt’s Gilbert Brown, talking about a recently snapped stretch in which the Panthers lost four of five games.

Pitt had of course won the past two games, but the competition was a bit suspect. This is Pitt's second big win of the season over a top five ranked team. That hasn't happened since...well, last season, when Pitt beat #1 ranked UCONN twice.

One thing I'll say is that I think Huggy Bear was a bit critical of his team's defense on Gibbs' three-pointer in regulation:

After Travon Woodall nailed a jumper to close the deficit to 68-65 with 31 seconds left, Nasir Robinson stole the ball from West Virginia’s Darryl Bryant off the inbound and relayed it to an open Ashton Gibbs, who knocked down the game-tying shot.

“Everybody in the gym knew who they wanted to shoot it,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “And we let him shoot it.”

That play was so crazy, it's hard to fault WVU for not finding Gibbs. They expected to have the ball out of bounds and Wannamaker found Gibbs pretty quickly. It's not like Pitt had been in a half-court offense for 30 seconds and WVU just managed to let Gibbs spring free.

Meanwhile, a West Virginia columnist complains about...traffic? Um, okay. You're exiting a major city after a sporting event AFTER said city recently had two feet of snow dumped on it and you didn't expect traffic?

Anyway.

Lost in all the talk by our beloved Mountaineer fans is that despite their complete breakdown at the end of regulation they had not one, not two, but THREE chances to win in each of the three overtimes. I won't dispute the fact that Pitt really had no business winning this game based on the way they played in regulation. But in overtime, the games start completely even. Even if you blow a lead and are forced to play overtime, you've got an equal chance to win. You can talk all you want about momentum and such, but the fact is that Pitt, by the third overtime, was missing Jermaine Dixon, Brad Wanamaker, and Travon Woodall. The Panthers could have easily folded without some of its best players and still found a way to win. WVU should not only be disgusted about how they allowed Pitt to tie the game in regulation, but also about how they went into the fetal position in the overtimes despite Pitt missing several key pieces.

One key thing we should be talking about (other than the traffic, of course) is that Pitt has now won two games they really had no business winning. Pitt should have been beaten in regulation by both WVU and Louisville and could easily be 17-8 and only 6-6 in the conference. That would be enough to put Pitt squarely on the bubble and really could have forced them to win most of these remaining games left. As it is, Pitt really has little chance of missing the tournament and may even be in line for a fairly high seed.

It's a fine line, folks.

Digesting the Classic

So Pitt hung on in a triple-overtime thriller against WVU. This is, of course, the second time lightning has struck for Pitt. In the end, WVU, wasn't overly gracious:

Da'Sean Butler had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Darryl Bryant scored 20 and Devin Ebanks had 17 points and 10 rebounds, yet they couldn't prevent the Mountaineers (19-5, 8-4) from losing their second in a row after they led by double digits in each half.

"This is definitely one of the toughest losses I've had," Bryant said. "This game probably put Pitt in the NCAAs."

Well, it certainly didn't hurt, but I hope he wasn't referring to Pitt as a bubble team. That simply wasn't the case and with a good RPI and some solid wins, Pitt would have really had to collapse over their last few games to not make the tournament. Then of course, Huggy Bear weighed in:

"I've done this for 30 years, man," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, asked if he could remember a game with so many swings. "There isn't much I haven't seen. They didn't fold, they continue to compete, but they couldn't have won without a lot of help from us."

That may be true and I'm actually inclined to agree with him. WVU had a major collapse in the final minute. But after it getting past regulation, Pitt blew TWO chances to put game out of hand. Even if you ARE right, show a little class. Note to coaches: You refusing to simply credit the winning team and leaving it at that doesn't make you sound intelligent. It makes you sound like a buffoon.

As the road team found out, it's incredibly difficult to beat Pitt at home. A lot of talk has gone on all season about the identity of this Pitt team and just how good they are. I have to admit we still might not know. But I really feel like this team grew up a lot in this game. A lot of guys played key roles and it was good to see a guy like Travon Woodall have an outstanding game.

About the whole atmosphere thing, I quietly chuckled to myself about WVU bracing themselves for the worst in Oakland. Pitt may have creative chants, but I don't ever recall any physical items being thrown from the Zoo at coaches or players. That's not to say it can't happen. A few knuckleheads can ruin it for everyone. But there's no history (to my knowledge) of that happening.

And as I mentioned earlier, both sides did their best to lose the game at times.

There's so much to point out in this game other than the game-changing play, Ashton Gibbs' three-pointer, which I mentioned in the previous post. Here are a few of my usual notes:

- Pitt just got killed by offensive rebounding. Had they lost this game in regulation, that would have been the main culprit. The final rebounding numbers didn't look that lopsided as WVU had 16 offensive boards. Problem was, in regulation, they had 14. FOURTEEN. In the words of Martin, "Damn, Gina." Part of it was due to the size, but much of it had to do with good ol' fashioned effort. And Pitt just wasn't trying hard enough.

- With so much height on WVU's team, I really wish Jamie Dixon had considered playing two bigs at the same time - especially when it was becoming evident that Pitt was getting killed on the boards. I'm not going to bring up the whole Dante Taylor/PF issue again, but a mix of McGhee and JJ Richardson in the frontcourt might have been intriguing. Richardson really played well again in the limited minutes he had.

- Back to Woodall - he really played incredible. To anyone who might have disagreed with my sentiment a few games back that Woodall needed more PT, how did this line taste? In 31 minutes - 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and...wait for it...0 turnovers. This isn't to say that he's 'back' or that he should be starting or anything absurd like that. I'll probably be criticizing him at some point in the near to immediate future. I'm merely stating that his play has gotten better lately and that he's earned more time in my opinion. He played well within the flow of the game today and he had two huge FTs with about :25 left in the third OT which he nailed.

- Not sure if anyone else noticed, but Coach Dixon broke an unwritten rule that he really hates doing by playing Gilbert Brown in the 1st half with two fouls. I'm guessing that he felt, like I did, that without he or Jermaine Dixon in there, that the game could have gotten a little out of hand.

- In my opinion, Brad Wanamaker has reached another plateau in his career. He's now gone from being a dependable player to turning into a leader. He had several moments where he took charge, driving to the basket and not waiting for someone else to make a play. I'm not saying I'm ready to declare him the guy who has to take the final shot in a game, but I wouldn't be terribly uncomfortable with it. He still has the inexplicable turnovers at times, but his game has really improved.

- McGhee ended a pretty decent game (including a very good defensive effort) with an incredible play late in the 3rd OT, handing the ball off to Ashton Gibbs before he could be fouled himself. Smart, smart, play.

- I don't do this much, but focusing on the other team for a minute here. WVU really is going to need to correct the free throw problem if they want to be a serious threat in the postseason. They shot a reasonable 70% tonight, but missed a bunch of key ones and that isn't the first time that's happened. WVU could really be in for a big upset if they're in a close game. If you take WVU's five closest games, they've been decided by a total of nine points and the team is only 2-3. Contrast that with Pitt's five closest games, which have been decided by a total of 17 points, but Pitt is 4-1. Missing free throws in close games will KILL you.

It was nice to see the Pitt fans stay classy until the bitter end, not rushing the court. I've seen too much of that this year and even though it's a big win, Pitt certainly shouldn't be storming the court anymore. Upset? Please. A ranked Pitt team beating ANYONE at home is no upset.

Desperate to see it again? Check out ESPN360.com (if you have the right cable provider).

Winning The Ones You Should

That's what Pitt did tonight in the 77-53 win over Robert Morris. With that win, Pitt moves to 66-0 all-time against NEC opponents.

To start, I was unaware that the series may be discontinued after this season:

This might have been the last game in the series for a while. Robert Morris coach Mike Rice said he won't play the game next season unless it can be scheduled in November or December. Pitt likes having the game in the middle of the Big East schedule.

I can understand why Pitt likes it in the middle of the Big East schedule. They may not say it, but it provides a respite from the tough conference schedule and can allow them to regroup if necessary. Not sure exactly why RMU NEEDS to have it earlier. I know that's the way these things are typically done, but I would think getting to play Pitt would be a big deal for them. They get to play a ranked team (usually) close to home and I'm guessing that's at least a small feather in their hat recruiting-wise.

Back to tonight's game.

Pitt really connected from downtown for the first time in a while, hitting 10 of 22 threes. They haven't made that many since their win over Syracuse back on January 2nd.

RMU played well in the first half but went a stone-cold 7-27 from the field in the 2nd half as Pitt's defense tightened up a bit. After leading scorer Karon Abraham went for 14 in the first half, the Panthers held him two only two in the second. After the half, he only had a limited number of looks and only registered three FG attempts. As RMU, you've got to get more shots for him - he was the main reason they were competitive in the first half.

Without Abraham, RMU started to go downhill:

The Colonials, an NCAA tournament team out of the Northeast Conference last season, took advantage of Abraham's fast start to go ahead 19-13. The 5-foot-9 freshman had 14 points as Pitt led only 30-29 late in the half, but he wasn't a factor offensively the rest of the game.

Once Abraham stopped scoring, the Colonials did, too. Pitt scored seven of the final eight points of the first half to take a 39-33 lead. Gilbert Brown's tip-in with 2:18 remaining _ his first basket of the game _ broke the 32-all tie and preceded Dixon's 3-pointer and Brown's own baseline drive.

RMU did go on a pretty amazing 22-2 run in the 2nd half, but Pitt seemed pretty complacent and once they snapped out of it, took control once again.

The thoughts that RMU could make this game competitive were, well, just silly. RMU is a good team in its own league. And sure, they've had their brushes of near minor upsets (Miami and a down Syracuse team in 2008 and Seton Hall in 2007. But it would really have taken a terrible effort of epic proportions by Pitt to lose this game. Pitt has beaten them by an AVERAGE of about 24 points per game in the past nine contests and even when RMU had an NCAA tournament team last year, Pitt took care of them pretty easily.

The Travon Woodall/Ashton Gibbs story I've been discussing again played out the same way it did in the previous game. Gibbs played 32 minutes and Travon Woodall got 14. Gibbs responded with 20 points (the most he's had in five games) and Woodall responded with unspectacular minutes, but took care of the ball, only turning it over once. There's no reason to kill Gibbs and it looks like he might be better off playing around 30 a night. Jermaine Dixon also showed up with a nice game and 18 points.

Pitt had their second very good game in a row, but as everyone knows, the competition hasn't been the strongest. The game with WVU on Friday will be a good barometer of if Pitt is back after that losing spell.

Back To Business

Pitt got back to the business of taking Big East teams to the woodshed at home with a 25-point beatdown of Seton Hall on Saturday. The handy-dandy game flow chart shows a close game initially with Pitt pulling away for a big win. This was one that Pitt had to have and they responded as such.

Pretty much everything went the Panthers' way and they played about as well as possible. Shooting over 50% from the field, 45% from 3s, and 71% from the line. They outrebounded Seton Hall by nine, had 20 assists, and only turned the ball over nine times.

As I said - pretty perfect game.

Perhaps the biggest plus was the balance of scoring - 23 for Gilbert Brown, 15 for Jermaine Dixon, 13 for Brad Wanamaker, 12 for Gary McGhee, and 11 for Ashton Gibbs. Pitt will be at their best when they can get a bunch of guys into double figures and don't have to rely on 1-2 players. J.J. Richardson, who's been seeing increased minutes lately, had the same output as Dante Taylor (2 points/2 rebounds/1 block) in 2/3 less minutes.

Back to Gibbs - He took the second fewest shots of this season (7) and the 'share the load' mentality seemed to work. Pitt cannot rely on him to go out and score 20 points. He may do that once in a while, but as we've seen recently, Pitt needs other guys to step up if they're going to win games.

And going hand in hand with that is going to be Pitt's ability to get him a breather. Dixon followed the strategy that I laid out after the WVU game of playing Gibbs a bit less and Travon Woodall a bit more to allow Gibbs a breather from PG responsibilities. Gibbs played 31 minutes (his fewest of the Big East season) and Woodall played 19 minutes (his most of the Big East season). Woodall has been playing better of late and has been keeping the turnovers and wild play to a minimum. If Pitt can rely a bit more on Woodall, then Gibbs will be better for it. Woodall has not been getting a ton of assists or points, but in the past six games, has only six turnovers - not bad at all.

Former Pitt recruit Herb Pope had a mild 9/6, shooting 3-13 from the field and fouling out. Pitt also held scoring machine Jeremy Hazell to only two points, keeping him at 11 total in both meetings. Raise your hand if you thought THAT was possible. If your hand is up, please, just, go away. Anyway, Hazell was benched for the start of this game, picking up where he left off with head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who benched him at the end of their loss to Villanova for poor shot selection.

I expected Pitt to get tested a little more and really am surprised that nearly 7,000 people still made it out despite the snowstorm. Even if a lot of them were students, that's still pretty amazing. I was expecting a few thousand to get there and wondered what kind of home-court advantage that would really give Pitt. Not sure how much it helped that Pitt gave free tickets to students - I'm kind of under the mindset that whoever wanted to go already had tickets. But I'm sure it helped at least a little and was a good idea on the part of the university.

Pitt will certainly not play this well all the time, but it's nice to see them get back on track - hopefully this will instill some more confidence after the whooping they took from WVU.

And on a brief side note, I love Curtis Aiken but he was a train wreck tonight. Pitt went up by ten on an Ashton Gibbs 3-pointer with FIFTEEN minutes left in the 2nd half and he called it the final dagger or something, signifying the end of the game. He then followed that gem up by saying that Herb Pope at around the 11:00 mark had only 1 FG in the game (when he in fact had three). He was also completely in the dark on the technical foul rule, unsure of who had possession after the FT. Normally, this is stuff I can overlook. But it all literally happened within like five minutes. Come on, my man.

Next up is Robert Morris on Monday night.

Another Game, Another Loss

I won't be covering Pitt's loss to WVU in-depth as frankly, I don't have the energy. WVU fans were classy as always, forcing their coach to tell them to stop throwing things onto the court. Way to go there, morons - how did 2007 taste?

Anyway, back to civilization where people eat with utensils and don't drag the roadkill straight to the dinner table.

I'll say it again - it's certainly not time to jump off of that bandwagon just yet. Pitt wasn't really expected to win this game so it's not too big of a deal. What IS kind of a big deal is the way they lost.

Pitt rarely loses by 19 points to anyone, and when they do coupled with the way they've been playing of late, there should be at least some cause for concern. They've been getting outplayed offensively and defensively, and worse, outhustled. Plus, when Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown combine for as many points as I had, then you're not going to beat anybody. Pitt has shot under 38% over the past four games and that's something for which the players, not the coach, are generally more responsible.

So I preface these next few 'suggestions' with the disclaimer that Jamie Dixon is an unbelievable coach and don't think he could have done much more over these past few games. These are not 'sky is falling, somebody do something - fast' suggestions - just things to chew on.

With that said -

The stuff that Dixon does sometimes makes no sense at all. It's easy to look past the nonsensical stuff like starting John DeGroat (even though DeGroat was barely suitable for the bench) when Pitt is winning. Heck, it's even kind of amusing. But now that the team is struggling miserably, as has been the case for a while, it's time for a few legitimate questions to be asked. The questions that have been whispered all season and discounted as fans merely looking to stir the pot, should now be at least considered. It was easy, even fashionable, to lay low off the criticism because this team had been overachieving so much. But it's time to throw out the things everyone, except Dixon, seems to know:

- Ashton Gibbs has been downright bad as of late and Dixon keeps trotting him out there for his 35+ minutes per game. This one's tough because shooters need to be given the benefit of the doubt and most of the time, need to keep on shooting. But the defense has keyed on him more as of late and if Pitt can't spring him open, there's no sense in keeping him out there so much. Travon Woodall and Chase Adams have struggled, but it might be time to give them a little more playing time. I'm not saying to split the minutes or anything foolish like that - maybe just throw another five their way to give Gibbs more of a breather. Woodall has actually been better of late with only four turnovers in the past five games. And who knows - with even a few more minutes, Woodall might be able to provide a very small spark at times when Gibbs can't find his shot.

- Bob Smizik pointed out recently that Gilbert Brown should be starting. Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with him coming off the bench and I have a hard time saying he NEEDS to start. Nasir Robinson is a better rebounder and I like the offense Gil brings off the bench. But in effect, he may be your best 'go to' scoring option and he probably should be starting - especially with the Panthers needing more offense of late. I can live without this one, but Dixon should at least be thinking about it.

- Pleeeease get Dante Taylor at his natural spot at PF. He wants to play there and he's struggled miserably at center. Taylor has not been great and many times, he's not even been good, but it's time to see what he can do at the position he's used to. The defense has been fading a bit and Pitt really needed more size and rebounding tonight. Taylor may be able to provide that playing alongside McGhee. JJ Richardson can play backup center and you can still play Taylor there at times when needed. I know of Dixon's desire to keep him at one position this year, but having played a half season at center already, he should be able to serve as a third center if necessary. Taylor will need to develop some low post moves if he ever is going to play in the NBA (should he make it that far), but he can do that as a PF as well - not just at center.

I really hate throwing stuff like this out there because it makes it seem like I'm causing concern for panic when that's not the case at all. A large part of the team struggling is due to poor shooting, and that's something Dixon can't do much about. I think Pitt still makes it to the tournament and don't think there should be real concern unless they lose to Seton Hall at home. That will make getting to 10 conference wins a bit tougher. But it's clear that changes should at the very least, be considered.

Back On Track

Pitt rebounded from a rare two-loss streak for a 63-53 home win against St. John's. No, they didn't play great. Heck, they didn't even play very well. But all in all, it's too hard to be upset with a ten-point conference win. Still, plenty to dislike in this game.

St. John's was looking for its first win on the road over a top 25 team under head coach Norm Roberts. This would have been a good win to improve that abysmal 6-40 Big East road record, but it was again a case of not being able to finish for the Red Storm.

This was really a story about one team playing not so great and the other playing slightly worse. Very ugly game to watch with a lot of easy close-range shots being missed. The Panthers really looked...well...awful in the first half. They started 0-5 from the field and shot under 30% for the half. They played better in the second half, but still only ended up shooting 40% for the game. Still, that was better than St. John's, who mustered only around 33%. They also only had 26 points (total) from their starters.

Pitt was also outhustled at times, lost the rebounding battle by ten and again shot horribly from three-point range (2-12).

The team also had some bad news with the loss of Jermaine Dixon to - you guessed it - another foot injury. I hope it's not serious, but one of the lone bright spots of tonight was the play of his replacement - Travon Woodall. I've been killing Woodall lately...and with good reason. But tonight, he played pretty well in 18 minutes (the most minutes he's seen since the Syracuse game nearly a month ago). He was far from spectacular according to the box score, but he didn't turn the ball over once and looked much more comfortable out there.

But despite all the troubles, Pitt was able to pull out a victory in part to, once again, something that's previously haunted them:

Pitt struggled from the floor for most of the game but used a 21-for-24 effort from the foul line to come away victorious.

The free throws thing has really been a pleasant surprise this year. Most Pitt fans would have gladly taken even a mediocre free throw shooting team. In the past five games, they're shooting over 80%. What was previously a major weakness has now turned into, seemingly, a major strength.

And forget about more touches for Taylor - at least it seems like we can. Gary McGhee, who played pretty well tonight (5-7 for 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), seems to have all but assumed the role as the #1 center on the team and Dante Taylor's minutes seem to be coming harder to come by - he only had ten tonight.

We also got the good version of Brad Wanamaker tonight and while Gibbs was okay (5-13 from the field for 14 points), his three-point slump is getting a bit ridiculous. He was 0-4 tonight and is now 3-19 over the past three games.

With the #10, #11, #14, #15, and #16 teams in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll all losing so far this week, if Pitt can win at South Florida on Sunday, then they could move back up in the vicinity of the top ten again. I'm not one of those that think the polls are meaningless. I think perception plays a part in seeding and hovering around the top ten for a good chunk of the season can really help.

Let's Hope It's Not Becoming A Trend

Let me start by saying I did not see Pitt's loss against Seton Hall - only a few plays and some highlights. So my analysis on this game is limited to strictly the box score and post-game interviews.

That said, I don't think this loss is that big of a deal. I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen good Pitt teams get bounced early from the NCAA Tournament and regular season games mean increasingly less to me. The hot start that Pitt has (or, had, depending on how you view it) gotten off to this year really got me excited because I wasn't really expecting that much out of this team. Yes, I predicted 20 wins for them going in, but after the Wofford and Indiana games, my expectations were lessened.

But back to the game.

This loss was to a rising team on the road after they had played an emotional one on Wednesday, so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over it.

Looking over the box score, it looks like Ashton had another tough day (4-15 from the field), despite getting to the line quite a bit and ending up with 23 points. He also had the misses at the end to tie it. He's now had three off shooting nights in a row and is 11-43 from the field over that span (just over 25%). That's not going to cut it if Pitt is to be successful over the good teams. Yes, when others have shown their ability to step up, Pitt has shown they can still find ways to win. But Jermaine Dixon was the only other player in double figures (11) and the team shot an abysmal 35% from the field.

Other than Jeremy Hazell having a foul-plagued game, the other thing that stuck out to me was Dante Taylor only getting 7 minutes.

Pitt managed to outrebound Seton Hall by ten, but also reverted back to their old ways a bit with 20 turnovers - their most in eight games. Local kid and former Pitt recruit, Herb Pope, also appeared to have Gary McGhee and Dante Taylor for breakfast as he had 19/9 compared to McGhee/Taylor's combined 6/5. Ouch.

The Panthers' next two games are two that they should win - home against St. John's and on the road at South Florida. If Pitt loses either game, there should be cause for some concern - even with Pitt's history of playing down to its competition at times. Pitt really needs to come out strong and get two convincing wins this week.