Durand Johnson To Pitt

Pitt reeled in its third commit for next year's basketball class in SF Durand Johnson.  He was recruited by Brandin Knight.  As mentioned on ZagsBlog a few weeks back, Johnson was down to six schools.

With the departures of Brad Wanamaker, Gary McGhee, and Gilbert Brown, Pitt is expected to only have three openings, so this might be it for the 2011 recruiting class. If it is, Pitt will not have landed a frontcourt player among its three commits - Durand, G-John Johnson, and SF-Jaylen Bond. That would be the second season in which Pitt did not pick up a PF or center. It also could mean that Dante Taylor remains at center if he sticks around next season unless J.J. Richardson can take hold of that position.

As for Johnson, he's a three-star recruit as rated by both Rivals and Scout. Rivals lists him in their top 150 prospects, but ESPN.com does not, instead grading him at 91 (must be an Insider to view).

Johnson cited a familiar reason as to why he selected Pitt:

“It was just a family to me,” Johnson said. “They showed me a lot of love. It’s a great fit all around for me.”

It's interesting that you not only hear this so much during the recruting, but also when the guys actually get to the team. You always hear the players talk about family and I think the recruits pick up on that during visits, from the players, and in reading up quotes in the media by other recruits.

Johnson reportedly had more than twenty offers from schools including Georgetown, Xavier, Louisville, and Maryland, among others.

Back to the point about Pitt potentially finished with recruiting. I'm okay with it. While Pitt could have used frontcourt help, they weren't desperate for it. They still have Taylor, Richardson, Talib Zanna, and Nasir Robinson for 2011-12. If Taylor happens to bolt this season, that would open up another scholarship. Maybe Pitt felt it didn't have a strong enough shot with any of the top big men left in this class. I don't mind them going after the sure thing in Johnson.

The other option is that Pitt goes over the limit again as they did last season and someone transfers. I've heard Dixon doesn't like doing this, so for him to do it two seasons in a row might be a stretch.

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 Faces Mild Test In Fourth Win In Ireland

Pitt faced its stiffest competition on Wednesday vs. the Dart Killester Club Team. The Panthers won the game 88-62, but only led by nine points heading into both the third and fourth quarters.  At one point, Pitt was only up 47-41.  Pitt also trailed early, 14-9 - its largest deficit of the trip.

Dante Taylor had his best game of the trip with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Gilbert Brown also added 14.  Balance was again the story as nine players ended up with at least six points.

The big difference in these games have been rebounding.  For the second straight game, Pitt doubled up its opponent on the boards, 50-25.  Unless a team is shooting lights out from the field, it's virtually impossible to stay competitive when getting killed on the glass like that.

Pitt's next game will be against the Melbourne (yes, Melbourne of Australia) on Friday.

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.

Jabaal Sheard Does His Best Gilbert Brown Imitation

The only thing that may potentially derail Pitt's chances of having a great season is Pitt itself. Pitt does a fairly good job of staying out of trouble, but like any other school, problems do surface.

One such issue surfaced over the weekend when Jabaal Sheard was arrested and consequently suspended from team activities.

Of course the issue apparently happened after midnight. Say it with me - nothing good can come out of being in bars past midnight. There won't be a preliminary hearing until July 28th, so there likely won't be any kind of immediate decision (at least a good news type decision) anytime soon.

The good news, obviously, is that the season has not yet begun. But with camp coming up soon, it would be nice for him to get back to the team as quickly as possible. Facing Utah, Pitt doesn't exactly have a walkover opponent in its opener.

Clearing Basketball Links

We all know the expectations placed on the Pitt basketball team for next season. Gil Brown thinks that the attention Pitt received last year will help the team to deal with some of those expectations this season:

“All the exposure and media attention, it really helped us get a feel (for) what it’s going to be when this season starts,” said swingman Gilbert Brown. “If they expect you to win, you have to exceed expectations. If they expect you to lose, you have to prove that you’re worthy.

“The expectation to win is (like) what we’ve had when we were No. 1 in the country.”

Before the season kicks off, however, Pitt has that much-discussed trip to Ireland first.  The freshman have been preparing by jumping right into things with summer practices, not backing down from the veterans:

According to some of the team's veterans, Wright and Moore didn't take long to get acclimated to the environment of Pitt's practices.

"From the first day, you could see that both freshmen were pretty physical themselves," senior guard Brad Wanamaker said. "Especially Cameron: he's a very physical two-guard. He's always tough on me."

One such practice, this Friday morning, was open to the media.  Not surprisingly, it was a little bit different than the closed-door sessions:

While Pitt practices are legendary for their intensity, this one was toned down as far as bodies -- and language -- flying.

"It wasn't as physical as we usually practice," senior guard Brad Wanamaker said, "when there's no one around."

Part of the reason the media was allowed in (I'm guessing) was because of Pitt's announced partnership with 93.7 FM The Fan that day.  The station broadcasted some shows directly from the facility and the hosts commented about the practice as it occurred.

Finally onto the pro ranks, DeJuan Blair will apparently get more time at power forward this season (video) for the Spurs.

Inside The Numbers

If you've been anywhere online over the past couple of weeks, you know that stat totals for some players have been out there and readily available through Scout and Rivals.  Both sites have done an amazing job providing quality, and more importantly, free, recaps for each game.  What I hadn't seen (at least without paying a subscription fee) is averages for players through all the games.  With that said, I spent a little bit of time compiling the numbers and figuring out averages for the Pitt players from the information out there (Nerd chants begin in 3...2...).

At any rate, what I quickly found out is that the numbers between the two sites differ.  Even in points.  For example, Rivals lists Gary McGhee with 25 points in his most recent game this past Wednesday, while Scout has him at 24.  So for the sake of argument, I've simply used Scout's numbers while filling in any missing holes with Rivals'.  Take these numbers with an unusually large grain of salt.

Here's what I came up with:

J.J. Richardson - 12.5 ppg / 7.3 rpg

Ashton Gibbs - 20.8 ppg

Dante Taylor - 15.5 ppg / 8.5 rpg

Travon Woodall - 15.3 ppg

Gilbert Brown - 23.8 ppg

Talib Zanna - 12.8 ppg / 9.8 rpg

Cameron Wright - 10.5 ppg

J.J. Moore - 14.0 ppg

Nasir Robinson - 14.8 ppg / 5.8 rpg

Gary McGhee - 19.8 ppg / 8.5 rpg

Lamar Patterson - 15.5

Brad Wanamaker - INCOMPLETE (Could not find stats from all games)

The first thing you notice is that everyone seemingly has been doing well.  Keep in mind that I don't have shooting percentages.  The other thing to remember is that the players were split up among four teams and in some cases, even some of our bench players were the best players on their respective teams.  Thus, they got more shots - far more than some might get in the regular season.

So with that said, let's look at some of the more intriguing stats:

1. Gary McGhee has been an absolute monster.  As I pointed out, though, in an earlier post about Dante Taylor, the frontcourt competition is considerably lesser than that the team will face in Big East play.  Like most, I don't see any way McGhee puts up these numbers in the regular season.  Still, his play has been encouraging.

2. Talib Zanna leads the team in rebounds with nearly ten per game.  To me, one of the underlying story lines will be to see who will step in and get quality minutes out of Zanna and Lamar Patterson.  Both were fairly good recruits and I think it's a lock that at least one of them will come in and contribute this year.

3. Along those same lines, will Nasir Robinson see fewer minutes in the regular season?  Someone's got to lose minutes in the frontcourt if Dante Taylor is to play more and if Zanna/Patterson are to contribute.  I wonder if it might be Nasir since his offense is not all that great.  If Zanna or Patterson can rebound as well, they may get the nod if they can score a little more.  Nasir may still start, but he might lose some minutes.

4. Gil leads the team in scoring.  True, this is due in large part due to a huge 37 point effort he had in the last game.  But even taking out that game and he still averaged about 19.0 points per game.  His shooting hasn't always been great (including a 6-24 effort), but it's encouraging to see his lowest point total so far has been 16.

5. Both rookies appear to be fitting right in.  J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright have stepped right in and been able to score some points.  Again, since we don't have numbers for turnovers, shooting percentage, rebounds, assists, etc. on all the games, you can't make a good determination on how well they've actually played.  But they've at least been able to score against D-1 players and both have had at least one great game in terms of scoring, reaching 20 points.

Lots of interesting stuff and still some more games to play. 

Greentree Summer League Up And Running

The annual summer basketball league has begun and Pitt players saw action last night.  Each team had two Pitt players and here's a rundown of how each player did.

You can't look to these types of games as an indication of what each player is capable of.  The games are in a fairly informal atmosphere and don't include high pressure situations.  Further, besides each other, the level of competition isn't always the greatest.

That said.

It was still encouraging to see Dante Taylor's 19 point / 13 rebound effort in the first game on Monday night.  His play this year will help determine how far Pitt is able to go.  If he doesn't improve much, the frontcourt will again be fairly weak against some bigger teams.  But if he's able to show up to the tune of 20 and 10 some nights, Pitt could really be in position to do something special.  For now, I'm picking the team to do pretty much what they did last year.  But that all changes if Taylor hits his stride and gets more aggressive.

Taylor was pleased with his effort:

“For the first time, I thought I played pretty good — rebounded, ran the floor,” Taylor said. “I just tried to come out and play the game — not do too much. I tried to come in and incorporate the things that I did, the things that I worked on.”

And surprisingly, in Taylor's game, Gilbert Brown managed to throw up 26 shots (only making 6).  Even Kobe's game seven effort of the NBA Finals thinks that's playing out of control.

Freshmen Cameron Wright (16 points/6 rebounds) and JJ Moore (13 points) also played pretty well.  The third member of this year's class, Isaiah Epps, wasn't there and apparently won't be enrolling until August.  It would have been nice to see him gain some experience by playing against other college players - particularly because he's a point guard and will need to get to used to his teammates.

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.

Um, Yeah, So That Didn't Go So Well

It really felt like Pitt was going to pull out a win tonight with Harangody being out. I have to say, I didn't see this coming. I expected a win (perhaps a close one), but certainly didn't expect to get blown out. Pitt doesn't get blown out to anyone - especially middle-of-the-road teams playing without their best player.

We usually laud Pitt for their effort and toughness. But if we do that, it's only fair to call a spade a spade and crush them when they put forth bad efforts.

Usually, if Pitt is behind, they shrink the lead and at least make the game competitive at some point. Not so tonight. If you take a look at the game flow chart, you see that it got much worse after halftime and Pitt never got close.

I have to say, I got a little nervous when I read the PG article today about Notre Dame shooting threes. Little did I know how correct that would be - ND shot 10-18 from 3-point land. They also dropped 50% of their shots. Tough to beat anyone that shoots like that, but if Pitt was able to connect on more threes (only made 4-18) and get to the line a bit more (only seven FTs), it might have at least been closer.

A few guys played fairly well, but Pitt got virtually nothing from its PFs Gil Brown and Nasir Robinson (a combined 3 points and 4 rebounds). Ouch.

Gil continued his famed Mount Everest/Death Valley routine. Over the past nine games, his point totals are 9, 25, 0, 23, 6, 16, 5, 16, 3. That's, honestly, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I'd settle for a solid 12 a game if only for the fact it'd be nice to know what you're going to get from him.

Best thing to remember is that this is only one game. But this proves as a painful reminder of how tournament time can become so cruel if you're off your game and run into a team that's shooting lights out. I understand that Notre Dame was desperate for a big win, but ultimately, you've got to be more competitive.

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.

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.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Pitt's winning streak finally came to an end tonight, as they lost to Georgetown 74-66, breaking their eight-game win streak..

Pitt played alright, but Georgetown simply played better. There were ultimately a few key reasons why the Panthers couldn't win:

- The biggest reason Pitt lost was of course the way they played over the last ten minutes. It felt like the Texas game all over again. Over that span they shot 3-15 (with the exception of two meaningless baskets in the final seconds) from the field and had four turnovers (they only had seven in the entire game).

- Pitt did a fairly good job of keeping tabs on Austin Freeman and Greg Monroe, not allowing either to go crazy. But somehow, they missed the memo on Chris Wright, who went off for 27 points.

- A lot of people wondered what would happen when Pitt played a good team and Ashton Gibbs didn't play well. Well, we were reminded tonight. Gibbs has had off nights before, but most of the time, they've come against inferior teams. The other lone time it did was in the Texas game, and we remember what happened there. This team is pretty good, but will struggle against good teams when it's best player has time scoring. Even though I'm not sure I'd significantly cut his minutes, you have to wonder if Dixon will change his philosophy about keeping him on the floor so much.

- Pitt can get by when one player is struggling, but when three of their best are off, they're going to have bad games. Jermaine Dixon and Brad Wanamaker both combined to shoot 8-23 from the field - under 33%. Not even a career high 20 points by Gilbert Brown could balance out that debacle.

If you've watched Pitt the past couple of weeks, it doesn't seem like a reach to see them winning a few games in the tournament. But tonight was a perfect example of why Pitt could get bounced early. They managed to keep the turnovers to seven, but the shots just weren't falling and really only got good, efficient production from one player in Gilbert Brown...two if you count Gary McGhee...which leads me to my periodic rant about why he is so difficult to watch sometimes...

- Tonight he went 3-3 from the field for seven points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. Not terrible for what Pitt needs from him. But as I said before, it seems for every good play he makes, he makes an equally bad one. He was painful to watch over the last four minutes of the game. He had a bad foul on a dunk, threw the ball away after a steal, and refused to box out. The lack of boxing out/giving up offensive rebounds is what really bothers me because it seems to happen quite a bit. His defense is actually pretty good if you ask me, but many times, the rebounding needs to be a little better.

- Three-pointers also didn't help the Panthers as Georgetown shot 70% to Pitt's 22%. I don't mind so much that they only made 4...it's taking 18 that wasn't the best idea.

Also, the inbounds layup with one second to go on the shot clock wasn't a reason they lost. But that can't happen. It seemed to sum up the game - Pitt seemed a step behind much of the night, even though score-wise, it was a very back and forth game.

I'm definitely not going to preach doom and gloom after one loss. Pitt can't beat every good team they play. They're a very good team, but even good teams lose some games. The good news for Pitt, as I've stated over and over, is that they still have several very winnable games left on their schedule. They will win their share of games and should easily get over 20, but they'll lose some more along the way.

Ironically, would the game have turned out different if Ashton Gibbs and Chris Wright switched places?:

Even with his close ties to Knight, Gibbs wasn't a sure thing to come to Pitt. Ironically, he also was considering the school the Panthers host tonight, Georgetown. But when Chris Wright, a five-star guard from Washington D.C., picked the Hoyas over Pitt, Gibbs looked elsewhere.

"(Wright) going there was his choice and I just had to make another move," Gibbs said. "I could have ended up there, but it's something that didn't happen and I'm just happy to be here."

Eh, I'd still rather have Ashton. Call me a homer.

And by the way, the next game is no cupcake as Pitt gets Seton Hall on the road this Sunday. The Hall is only 10-6, but five of their losses have come against ranked teams. How Pitt bounces back could be a good barometer of what kind of team Pitt will be the rest of the way.

Who's Laughing Now?

True, Pitt's 74-71 win at Cincinnati did absolutely nothing to remove any of the disappointment of the football game. But if Pitt's win over Syracuse didn't properly serve notice to the rest of the Big East that the Panthers are for real, beating a second straight quality opponent on the road must have.

The win was Pitt's sixth in a row and snapped Cincy's four-game win streak. This one was a real battle and a back and forth effort, as evidenced by the game flow chart. No team led by more than seven all game long, and that was an early 11-4 Cincy lead.

Ashton Gibbs, who was named the Conference Player of the Week, was his usual self, scoring 19 even while blanketed for much of the game. His free throw streak came to an end at one of the worst times for Pitt, as his miss allowed them a final near half-court three-point attempt to tie it. But in the end, it didn't matter. Looking back at that final foul, in which Cincinnati fouled Gibbs before the inbound pass: That was either unbelievably poor coaching or just a stupid move by the players. Of all the guys to foul, I couldn't believe they went for Gibbs, who is not only one of Pitt's best free throw shooters, but one of the best in the country.

The biggest thing to come out of this was that Ashton Gibbs showed he can be a factor and still find a way to get his points, even while not getting many open looks. Ten of his points came from the foul line and he was able to rack up 19 points while only making four field goals.

But if you watched the game, you know that Gilbert Brown may have been Pitt's biggest star, as he went 7-13 from the field for 17 points, including one of his highlight-film dunks.

Darnell Wilks' 3-pointer with 11 minutes to play gave Cincinnati a 52-51 lead -- its first advantage since four minutes into the first half -- but Brown answered with a 3-pointer and Pitt's most explosive dunk of the season. With the score tied, 54-54, after a follow-up dunk by Rashad Bishop, the 6-foot-6 Brown took a pass from Woodall along the baseline, drove to the basket and dunked over the 6-8, 255-pound Toyloy while being fouled. Brown's free throw gave Pitt a 57-54 lead.

"Travon made a great pass," Brown said. "I made a natural basketball play. I just went up and finished."

But it wasn't that he scored 17, it was WHEN he got them:

Gilbert Brown scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half Monday night, showing the Panthers what they've been missing for most of the season, and Ashton Gibbs made three free throws in the final 7.4 seconds to close out a 74-71 victory over Cincinnati.

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin knew the value of his second-half play:

"They're not a very easy team to defend," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "Brown had five second-half baskets that I thought really broke our back. You can't really judge Pitt (except) since they have their full team back."

Part of the reason the game was so close was because of the play of Cincy's three stars, Deonta Vaughn, Lance Stephenson, and Yancy Gates who shot 56% from the field and went for 48 points.

I was also surprised to see Gary McGhee get more minutes than Dante Taylor tonight. Just when you think Taylor's surpassed him, Jamie Dixon goes back to McGhee. You can look at the box score and say McGhee wasn't all that bad, but he really didn't play that well. He was slow defensively, was outrebounded on several occasions, and looked downright uncoordinated many times. Taylor is not going to be perfect, but he needs more game experience. I found myself screaming at McGhee for much of the night, and that's not good for anybody. With Dixon's penchant for playing upperclassmen, Taylor might never start ahead of McGhee. But that needs to change.

Oh, and those pesky turnovers? Not an issue tonight as Pitt only had 7 - their second lowest total of the year.

Personally, I figured Pitt would be a little flat in this game coming off a big road win only two days ago. Going on the road again, I conceded there might be a chance for a letdown. Glad I was wrong. With the rest of the week off, Pitt has plenty of time to prepare for UCONN next week. They should also move up in the rankings as well.

What Layoff?

You hate to use the expression, but Pitt looked like a whole different team tonight in the 25-point win over Ohio. Now, I didn't say they were perfect. The turnover issue was as bad as it's ever been (21). But Pitt shot much better from the field (55%), rebounded fairly well (+14), and played pretty good defense, holding Ohio to an abysmal 23.9% from the field with only six assists. They even connected on 75% of their FTs.

Ohio wasn't supposed to be this much of a pushover, coming in with a respectable 7-3 record and with five guys scoring in double figures (and a sixth at 9.9). Their record was good for first-place in the MAC. Pitt was favored coming in, but only 11.

Ashton Gibbs again led the team in scoring, but was hardly the story - that would be the strong play of Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown.

I'd hate to try to attribute all of that to Gilbert Brown coming back, because that would be silly. Right? Truth be told, the offense flowed much better with him back and Dixon finally looked comfortable out there, scoring 14 points, and adding six rebounds and six assists. Gil didn't miss a shot and ended up with 11 points in just 18 minutes. Apparently, the talk about him being in shape wasn't just smoke. Coming into the game after Pitt built up a lead probably helped to ease the transition and he really seemed as if he hadn't missed a beat. Looking solely at this game, I could even see him starting in the Big East opener vs. Depaul.

The questions remain about where Gil will fit in, but at this point, it's pretty clear Pitt just needs to keep him on the court. His versatility is a huge plus and should make it easy for him to get 25-30 minutes a game.

I'm not ready to declare that Pitt is back or even guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament. But if you watched this game, you could see a markedly better team.

Yep, things are looking up.

And in the Bonus Section mold, Ray Fittipaldo of the PG holds his weekly chat and discusses Pitt's postseason outlook, the team's go to shooter at the end of games, and the chances of Isaiah Epps starting next season.

The Retooled Panthers?

There was a bit of a 'rebirth' of the Panthers this week from the local articles that came out leading up to Pitt's 66-48 win today vs. Mount St. Mary's.

Practice seemed to be ratcheted up a notch:

The practices were harder and longer than usual. One player described the past three days as a "boot camp."

Another player said he wished Dixon would have done it sooner.

"The week was tough," junior guard Brad Wanamaker. "I felt as though it was something we needed. It helped us mature. It will help us make better decisions. Every little thing we did coach was on us in practice. Coach was constantly on us to see the fight in us. Maybe it was something he should have done constantly throughout all of the practices. We would be a better team now. But it was good for us."

And the Panthers are still figuring out their starting lineup more than 1/3 of the way into the regular season:

Dixon is in the unique situation of adding two important players in the middle of the season after playing the first six weeks with an inexperienced and undermanned lineup.

Jermaine Dixon, Pitt's only returning starter from last season, played Dec. 8 after missing the first eight games with a foot injury. Dixon played 12 minutes against Indiana and played 14 minutes last week against Kent State. He had his best week of practice this week and his coach was hoping he would have an increased role today against Mount Saint Mary's.

Tomorrow afternoon, Jamie Dixon will add his most experienced player to the mix when redshirt junior forward Gilbert Brown returns to the team after serving an academic suspension for the first semester.

Onto the game today:

Mount St. Mary's tried to make a few runs and got to within 5 and 7 points in the second half, but Pitt eventually pulled away:

Trailing by 12 at the half, the Mount opened the second half with a 10-to-3 run to cut the deficit to 33-28 with 16:44 remaining. Beidler scored four points in the run while Goode capped it with a jumper.

Pitt (9-2) responded with a traditional three-point play from Ashton Gibbs for an eight-point lead. Goode countered with a pair of free throws, but Pitt scored consecutive baskets to stretch the lead to 10.

The Mount (3-7), which has lost five straight games, was trailing 42-35 with 12:41 remaining before the Panthers went on a 13-to-3 spurt for a 55-38 lead. The Mountaineers made a final surge, cutting Pitt's lead to 57-46 with 4:52 left, but could get no closer.

Jermaine Dixon started and did see an increase in minutes today, despite foul trouble. He still struggled to find his way offensively (4 points), but his defense will be needed in the Big East season.

The turnover battle has not been won, but was slightly better today.

And in what is becoming a recurring theme, it was again the Ashton Gibbs / Brad Wanamaker show as they combined for 39 of the 66 points and were Pitt's only two players in double figures. Wanamaker's 20 was a career high.

One of the two have led the Panthers in scoring every game except for one this year. That's not so bad as every team relies on certain players to a degree. But what's mildly disturbing is the growing trend of the team's ability to score outside of those two players, especially of late. In 6 of the past 7 games, Gibbs and Wanamaker have led the team in scoring. There are going to be off nights for both of them during the season especially because they rely to a good degree on outside shooting. Other players have shown flashes of stepping up a little offensively, but none has proved to be a truly steady influence offensively. Brown and Dixon should be able to help, but it take several more games before they're ready to do that.

A Valiant Effort

At least it was for 30 minutes or so.

Casual Pitt fans who didn't stay up to watch the game might look at the 16-point loss and think the game wasn't that close. But those of us who stayed up to watch saw a different picture.

Pitt played well in the first half, despite great defense by Texas, and actually had a slim halftime lead. And just when you thought they might be done, they played another strong 10 minutes, keeping pace with Texas. The thing I noticed, though, was that Texas' players were generally just quicker. Maybe not necessarily better (though that was probably the case, too), but just quicker - offensively AND defensively.

I kind of fall into the camp of Gary McGhee when I say I'm encouraged, but the difference between he and I is that he actually PLAYS for the University. Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this comment, but it seems that he was happy with the effort. I don't think that will play too well in the Dixon camp:

"We can build a lot from that game," said junior center Gary McGhee, who recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. "We learned we can fight, and we learned that we can play with anybody."

Coach Jamie Dixon had a different perspective. His team had a four-point lead with 16:04 remaining in the game. For Dixon, the game was viewed as a lost opportunity.

"We expected to win," Dixon said. "We didn't expect to come in here and be encouraged by a loss. There are some things we can gain from this, but there is no satisfaction in a loss."

Maybe it was because he played a strong game with 11 points and 7 rebounds, but he needs to learn that Pitt isn't happy with 'playing with anybody' - even in down years. This is one of the top programs in the country over the past 10 years and it's hard to take a 16-point loss well.

Meanwhile, it's clear that Dixon is bringing Dante Taylor along slowly as he only played 6 mninutes. With Texas' bigger players, I would have figured he was a cinch to get about 20 minutes, but Dixon apparently felt otherwise. His 15 scoreless minutes (with only one rebound) against Wichita State also probably didn't help his cause. I have to admit, they're bringing him along a lot slower than I anticipated - especially with the lack of height on this team (at least as far as guys getting significant minutes).

Back to the game.

Even going ten deep, Pitt seemed a little worn out in the 2nd half and the halfway point was when things started to turn sour:

With the score tied 51-all with 10:48 to play, Jones converted a three-point play to give Texas a 54-51 lead and start a 14-3 run.

Jamie Dixon was honest about the game:

"It just came down to execution and they executed better in the second half than we did," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. "They got better shots than we did, that's the bottom line. The percentages indicate that. They shoot 65 percent in the second half, we shoot 37 percent."

On Texas' side, they may have won the battle, but lost a war as one of their starting guards is out for the season after a freak pre-game injury. Here's hoping he can fully recover.

It was a decent effort, but to be honest, Pitt flat out wasn't good enough. They're not going to be one of the best teams in college basketball this year, but if they can get into the tournament, a couple of wins may be possible. And like I keep saying - they WILL get better with the return of Jermaine Dixon and Gil Brown. This was a great game for a young team early in the season. If they can get through the rest of the non-conference schedule (which could be tough with games still against Duquesne and Indiana), they will have a good jump on getting into the tournament.