Jermaine Dixon Update

It's been widely assumed that Pitt will not miss a beat next year with the departure of Jermaine Dixon, likely its best defensive player.  That's yet to be determined, but is there an NBA career in his future? The chances are probably against him and he likely won't be drafted. But he's at least getting into pre-draft workouts - starting with one for the Milwaukee Bucks:

Babbitt was in Milwaukee on Thursday to work out along with Pittsburgh's Jermaine Dixon, Hawaii's Roderick Flemings, Milwaukee's Ricky Franklin, St. John's Anthony Mason Jr., and Michigan State's Raymar Morgan.

He might not get selected, but I could see him getting into someone's camp after the draft. My guess is that he'll be overseas or possibly sneak onto an NBDL team.  Dixon said he needs to work on his long-range shots and passing the most and also commented on his workout for the Bucks' website afterwards:

It was good. It was something like I expected. You have to be in shape when you go into these workouts, but it went well. This was my first one, getting my feet up under me and getting ready for the next ones that I have.”

The Rookie Wall caught up with Dixon lately.  Among other things, he discusses working on his point guard skills, already switching agents, and planning on working out for Denver and some other teams.  I was a bit shocked to find him discussing how the system negatively hurt his numbers:

TRW: Do you think that playing in the Pitt system hurt your ability to score more points and shine individually as a player, or did it not really affect you?

JD: Yea, you know, Coach Dixon’s system is a grind it out defense and slow it down on the offensive end, and that’s not the way I play. So, I wasn’t able to do a lot of the things that I’m capable of and I guess you could say my numbers weren’t great. Coach Dixon is about winning and even though I wasn’t able to do the things that I know I was capable of doing, I just wanted to win. It kind of took away from it, but my ultimate goal was winning.

While I think he has a point to a degree, he still had more than his fair share of opportunities.  Despite not being a player known for his offensive abilities, he still averaged more than ten shots per game - the only Pitt player to do that besides Ashton Gibbs.  He also didn't make the most of those shots, shooting under 39% from the field and just over 20% from three-point land. 

The system may have hurt him slightly, but Pitt also focuses on taking good shots and being patient on offense.  So that should, in theory, lead to better shots.  I would also argue that he transferred to Pitt, already knowing their style of play.  But to his credit, he said it was all about winning and he certainly helped Pitt do that.

His defensive ability should give him a look this summer in someone's camp.

Lots of Losses

So with kind of some down time, I got to thinking, there's a lot of talent leaving the Big East basketball scene...I mean, A LOT.

Last year, it was the likes of Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Hasheem Thabeet, Johnnie Flynn, Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, and DaJuan Summers.

This year it seems like it could be even more. Maybe not the quality of first-rounders as last year, but from top to bottom, you can easily argue that the conference is losing more.

Wes Johnson and Devin Ebanks were the latest to declare. NBADraft.net has both as top 20 picks (Johnson in the top five).

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

- The site also projects Greg Monroe, Stanley Robinson, and Dominique Jones as first-rounders.

- Then mix in Lance Stephenson, Lazar Haywood, Da'Sean Butler, Herb Pope, and Luke Harangody as projected second round picks.

- Oh wait, don't forget one of the conference's best players in Scottie Reynolds.

- And then there's guys like Sharaud Curry, Andy Rautins, Arinze Onuaku, Deonta Vaughn, Jerome Dyson, and Will Walker who were big time players as well.

Wow.

And that's not even considering other guys who may leave early. Get the point?

All in all, 13 of the top 15 teams in the Big East (sans Pitt) are losing at least one of their top two scorers. Seriously. Seton Hall is losing Pope, who was easily their best rebounder and the other, St. John's, well, doesn't really matter.

Pitt, of course, lost a somewhat key player in Jermaine Dixon. However, they've got plenty coming back, even if you're like me and believe that this team is devoid of a true 'go to' player. But if you go strictly by the casualties other teams have faced, Pitt looks like a frontrunner for the Big East's best team next year.

So Much For Kansas State

Pitt may have been hard pressed to beat Kansas State, but I would have liked to see them try. I actually thought they could have had a decent chance against them, but so much for that.

Pitt again let another team that is probably slightly inferior to them, get the best of them. I think Pitt is a little better than Xavier, but they sure didn't look the part today. Got to give Xavier credit. Or more to the point, Jordan Crawford credit.. He didn't single-handedly beat Pitt, but he scored about 40% of his team's points. Ouch.

Our Panthers have had their shares of problems with teams that have a star guard. As much of a defensive stopper as Jermaine Dixon appears to be, not only didn't he stop Crawford, he couldn't even slow him down a little. Add in the fact that he was only 1-9 from the field and, well, he didn't do a very good job today. I like him as a player and think he shows a lot of heart, but in reality, what he is is just a fine player. He does okay and can occasionally have a very good game. But that's it.

I'm not going to blame it all on him, though. Gary McGhee did absolutely nothing (0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers) in nearly 20 minutes of action. Not to rehash an old argument, but if this is the Most Improved Player of the Year, than I might as well be.

Considering that Dixon and little-played reserve Chase Adams are the only players leaving, and Pitt should be a top 15 team coming into next year. Pitt will be a veteran team with five upperclassmen playing significant minutes. Unfortunately for Pitt, I don't know if any of those guys will be the much-needed 'go to' scorer they need. But that's discussion for another time.

Now the question - was this a disappointing year for Pitt? Well, I'll expound on this later, but yes, I think it was.

Previewing Xavier

Looking ahead to Xavier, I've got to be honest. If you look purely at their record and their schedule from this year, it's easy to come away unimpressed. Their best win is arguably at Florida, which barely made the tournament themselves. A closer look, though, reveals tight losses to good teams such as Baylor (5), at Wake Forest (4), at Temple (5), and Richmond (4). Tight losses isn't exactly what teams strive for, but they were able to hang around some decent teams. Playing against a top team in Kansas State they were soundly defeated by 15 on the road.

But you should have at least some fear in this game.

First, there's always the chance Pitt doesn't play its best. We've seen that numerous times this year - sometimes Pitt can come away with a win and others it cannot. Xavier averages about 10 more points than Pitt offensively, but also gives up about 7 more on defense.

Then there's the revenge factor. Most of the team was around for last year's loss to Pitt in the Sweet 16. But even the ones who didn't play were stung pretty hard:

A year ago, Jordan Crawford watched Xavier play Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament from his dorm room in Cincinnati. Come Sunday, the Musketeers' junior will be the focal point in a second-round rematch between the two schools.

"It was just me, Mark [Lyons, who was red-shirting], and Dee Dee Jernigan from the women's team watching on TV," recalls Crawford. "That Pitt game hurt me when we lost."

Xavier also relies heavily on rebounding. They average a whopping 40 rebounds per game (three more per game than Pitt). And while we're on the subject, THIS scares me just a little bit:

But the Musketeers' offensive rebounds- they outscored the Gophers 20-8 on second-chance points - helped them survive 21 percent shooting (9-for-42) in the first half, which ended with a 26-26 deadlock.

Wait. Giving up offensive rebounds and second chance points? So stop me if you've heard this one...

I'd like to call these teams mirror images of each other, except that they're really not. While they have some similarities, Xavier scores more. A lot more. They average about 80 ppg, good for 9th in the country.

And oh yeah, you've got the star guard factor, which seems to do Pitt in quite a bit. Xavier's star player is Jordan Crawford - a sharpshooting sophomore who went from a solid contributor as a freshman to the team's best player and a decent three-point shooter. Sound familiar? Truth be told, he's better than Ashton Gibbs and has been more consistent this year. He also has the ability to take on more of a scoring load than Gibbs and has really only been held in check twice all season (at Marquette and at Fordham). By the way, yes, it's THAT Jordan Crawford who dunked on LeBron at his camp last year.

Crawford had some kind of first game against Minnesota to help Xavier advance to the next round.

So what does Pitt have in its favor? Well, this isn't exactly the same team as last year. None of the players contributed significantly last year with the exception of center Jason Love - and he was a role player to a degree averaging about 7/6 per game. Gone are starters Derrick Brown (NBA 2nd Round Draft Pick), B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson, who contributed more than 50% of the team's total offense. But like Pitt, they've had success even with these losses. Love, Jamel McLean, and Terrell Holloway aren't stars, but they've all significantly increased their minutes and each has virtually doubled his scoring average over last year. Heck, they even lost their coach and didn't miss much of a beat, record-wise.

As much as I don't like Pitt facing star guards, Pitt is fortunate in that respect to a degree as their best defender is a guard. Here's hoping a healthy Jermaine Dixon can keep him in check, at least somewhat.

And while that offense is scary in that they score so much AND spread the wealth a bit, I don't see Pitt giving up that many points. Pitt will force them into their tempo and I would assume, control the score a bit more. Plus, A-10 defense is not, by any stretch of the imagination, Big East defense. Minnesota, a solid defensive team and 62nd in the country in scoring defense, held them to 65 points, 15 below their average. Pitt (32nd in the country) is even better defensively than Minnesota.

So what do I expect? I'm not too sure. I have a hard time getting by the fact that Xavier could not beat teams like Marquette (neutral court) or Wake Forest (on the road). Those aren't bad teams, but Pitt beat Marquette on the road and I'd fully expect them to beat Wake Forest. Plus, the fact that they have not even one signature win despite several chances makes me question if they'll be able to beat Pitt. Pitt has beaten the likes of Syracuse, Villanova, and West Virginia. I've got to think that if they play a good game, they should win. I'll go with Pitt by eight.

Going Out In Style

Pitt finished its regular season with dominance not seen in a while in a 29-point win over Rutgers. I've got to say I expected a little bit more of a contest, but it was never close other than the first few minutes of the game.

Rutgers coach Fred Hill seemed to think Rutgers was walking into a trap...and he was right:

"I had a feeling that a game like today was going to happen," Rutgers head coach Fred Hill said. "A lot of our guys had been playing upwards of 38 minutes a game and I think we tired a little today. We had a short turn around and we got outplayed today. My worst nightmare came true. We were a little worn down and we need to just throw this game out and move on. I give Pitt credit, they came out on senior night and jumped out to a quick start. They got the crowd into it and controlled their emotions."

And Rutgers was visibly frustrated during the game:

"I said it at halftime, faces started changing," said senior center Hamady N'diaye. "You could tell that the team was falling apart. I said it; all I ask for was to give out the effort. During this entire year, I've thought everybody had the same mentality and that wasn't the case today."

I like to pull out negatives from each game and offer reasons why Pitt could have played better. But it's hard to complain even a little about the performance today.

Shoot well? Check (48% from the field, 41% from three-point range)

Rebound? Check (+20: 39-19)

Take care of the ball? Check (Only 7 turnovers)

Get everyone involved offensively? Check (five players in double figures)

Play defense? Check (Held Rutgers to 54 points on 40% shooting)

Like I said, Pitt played well all around and it was utter domination.

I've got no answer for the whole Gilbert Brown thing. He's been feast or famine on and off for 12 straight now. Literally. He's been in double figures every other game. Like I mentioned before, I'd take him him averaging a steady 12-13 a game rather than 20 one game and 0 the next.

Dante Taylor really had somewhat of a breakout game. He's been playing better lately and acknowledged some frustration early on and pointed out the possible turning point:

“It felt good. I did what I do every game and I went in there and played as hard as I could. Tonight was a confidence boost for me. My confidence was down in the beginning of the season when I wasn’t contributing, but it started to come back for me at Marquette when I had three dunks.”

Today was the best maybe I've seen him all season. He had a good game against Syrcause, but even in games he's put up decent numbers, he's looked awkward at times. He took his game to another level today and looked really aggressive on the boards and getting to the basket. There were plenty of glimpses today of what the future should hold - and it looks bright.

And then of course, there was the whole Senior Day story. I've criticized Jermaine Dixon at times for not being consistent enough, at least offensively, this year. He definitely has had his share of bad games this year, but he's incredibly valuable defensively and Pitt will miss that. And about that injury, Dixon doesn't think it's that bad:

The only downside to Pitt's victory was guard Jermaine Dixon being lifted with a sore right ankle early in the second half, after he scored 10 points in 12 minutes. Dixon missed the first eight games of the season after twice breaking his right foot, but he insisted this injury is minor. "I could have played, but we had the game," said Dixon, who was coming off a 24-point game against Providence. "I'm good. I'll be ready [for Thursday]."

Even though there have been struggles offensively, Dixon has been a stabilizing force for Pitt this year and it's safe to say that he was a big part in getting the team to gel together early on.

There was another bright spot today, Pitt wrapped up the #2 seed in the Big East tournament with WVU's win over Villanova. Not that any path in the tournament will be easy, but it's really pretty unbelievable that Pitt was able to finish that high in the conference.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dominque Jones 1, Pitt 0

Real quick recap today, not much to point out. Pitt really didn't look good. I thought that Pitt could be in trouble if Jermaine Dixon didn't play, but really didn't expect them to allow one player to beat them. That's precisely what happened. That's not to say USF has only one good player - just saying that if Pitt can hold Jones to a reasonable game - even his average of around 20 ppg - they likely win. You can't give up 37 points to any one player and really expect to do that. I think we saw how valuable Jermaine Dixon really is on the defensive end for Pitt. On top of allowing him to run roughshod over them, they reverted back to their old selves on the free throw line shooting around 50%.

What was frustrating was the way they closed out the game. They really were getting USF on the ropes a bit and were unable to capitalize. In the last six minutes, they missed two layups, a dunk, five free throws, and had three turnovers, including a key one when Gary McGhee lost the ball after a stop when Pitt could have cut the lead to 2 or 3. You've simply got to take care of the ball and while Pitt had three TOs in the last six minutes, USF had three in the entire 2nd half.

This latest loss is enough to make you wonder where they'll end up. These are games that Pitt really need to, and should, win. Yet, they've looked bad lately and have struggled a bit. They're likely not a top ten team as they were in the polls recently, but I don't think they're a non-tournament team either. With several difficult games left, Pitt will really need to buckle down. Hopefully this gives them a reality check.

Congrats to USF for a statement win - I said before that they're really starting to make strides and this is turning out to be a good year for them.

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.

So....Now What?

After a somewhat disappointing loss against Seton Hall, many Pitt fans (myself included) are asking a collective, 'Now what?' After a short fall in the rankings, Pitt also found itself sliding in Joe Lunardi's meaningless, but fun, Bracketology, to a four seed.

To start, many also are asking how Pitt could lose on Sunday. The answer is two-fold:

1. Seton Hall is not nearly as bad as some thought.

2. Turnovers:

"We had 20 turnovers, 14 in the first half," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "That usually will lead to a loss. Most amazingly, [the turnovers] all came in the half-court, which is hard to comprehend. We're making bad decisions and not executing well enough offensively and defensively."

The question on a lot of minds is likely if it's panic alert time since Pitt could have easily lost three in a row. Ray Fittipaldo doesn't think so and I agree with that. I think Pitt really needs to regroup and win both of these next two, though, or some serious questions will start being asked. Games at home against St. John's and on the road at South Florida are games you MUST win if you're expected to be a top contender in the best conference on the planet.

What's the cause for the recent lapses? Jermaine Dixon has some thoughts:

"We need to mentally get back to where we were," Dixon said. "I'm not going to say it's the rankings -- and I don't know how people are taking it -- but ever since our rankings got higher, I think our defense got worse."

Can't just be the rankings - it's GOT to be something else - oh yeah, there's that shooting problem:

Opposing teams are playing more attention to Pitt sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs, who is 11 for 43 from the field (6 for 19 from 3-point range) in the past three games.

Seton Hall's Keon Lawrence and Jordan Theodore were the latest guards to take turns chasing Pitt's leading scorer.

"It's definitely more difficult," Gibbs said. "Teams are definitely keying a lot more on me. I've got to keep working on it, and it will fall sooner or later."

Poor defense, turnovers, sloppy play, poor shooting - Pitt can handle one, even two of those. But when three or four happen, it's difficult for any team to win. And that's what we've seen in the past couple of games. I can't state how important these next two games are for Pitt. If they can't manage to win both, there should (and will) be serious questions about just how good they are. Personally, I think they'll be fine. I don't see any possible scenario that they don't get to 20+ regular season wins and I think once in the tournament, anything can happen.

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.

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.

More Respect

Pitt got some much deserved respect when the polls came out this afternoon as they were moved up to #9 in the AP Poll and #11 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. They're in a spot that no one could have really predicted after the Wofford game and Indiana loss. And how on earth does North Carolina or UCONN with six losses stay in the top 25? Please.

More rankings as Gary Parrish over at CBSSportsline.com bumps Pitt up to eighth. Gary also had time to mention Nasir Robinson's career day.

The players, of course, are doing their best to not buy into the hype.

Joe Lunardi also did right by Pitt as he moved the team up to a rising #2 seed. As much as North Carolina and UCONN have underachieved, I'd still hate to face either as a #6 seed in the first round.

And just as it's a surprise to many to see the team ranked so high, it's also been surprising to see Ashton Gibbs develop the way he has - at least so quickly. Obviously with the depature of a huge chunk of the offense there are more opportunities, but I didn't expect this kind of leap in production. I figured as a three-point shooter with more shots, he could get up to maybe around 10 per game. But he's exceeded those expectations - and then some. For Gibbs, its all about confidence.

Anyway, reverting back to Saturday one final time, Jermaine Dixon has a theory on why Pitt didn't see the press as much as it typically does from Louisville:

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

I don't know how much sense that makes. I would think there are more sets for Gibbs to get open as he's a more potent scorer than Levance was. But for whatever reason, there was certainly less pressing going on than normal.

Meanwhile, Ron Cook of the PG is probably correct in this assertion about Gary McGhee:

McGhee is hardly a star, but Pitt would not be 15-2 and knocking on the door of the top 10 without him. He had the difficult challenge this season of taking over in the post for All-American DeJuan Blair, who, you might have heard, is showing off his game quite nicely in the NBA. He hasn't backed down from it, giving Pitt a big body and a better-than-expected physical presence inside as a defender and rebounder.

Also, Jermaine Dixon is also still working out his game after the injury.

In other news, Pitt missed out on Andy Katz's team of the week and lost to...Virginia? Virginia beats Georgia Tech and Miami at home while Pitt beats UCONN on the road and Louisville at home. He also dissed Pitt a bit by not even declaring Pitt/Georgetown as a 'place to be', instead opting for games the same day such as Temple/Xavier and *gag* Utep/Memphis. Seriously? I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Georgetown up next.

Recapping Louisville

Pitt's overtime win yesterday was yet another step towards gaining respect in the Big East. It's probably time that this team be recognized as one of the best in the Big East, if not the country.

Both teams have dealt with significant personnel losses, but only Pitt has been able to really adjust.

This was a game Louisville likely had won if not for something that has typically haunted Pitt in the past:

But as Pitino pointed out afterward, Pitt's comeback could not have happened without a series of critical errors by his team late in the contest:

• Jared Swopshire missed the front end of a one-and-one with 40 seconds on the clock.

• Edgar Sosa missed two free throws with 25 seconds left.

• Then Sosa missed another with 11 seconds left.

Sosa's two misses with 25 seconds left turned out to be the turning point. Out of a timeout, Wanamaker, who was left wide open, made a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 68-67 with 16 seconds remaining.

Things looked bleak with Pitt down by five with about 30 seconds to play, but Jermaine Dixon kept believing:

Jermaine Dixon knows exactly how much can happen in the final minute of a basketball game.

His older brother, pro guard Juan Dixon, played for Maryland in an '01 classic when Duke erased a 10-point deficit in the final 54 seconds and won in overtime.

"Personally," Jermaine Dixon said, "I knew the game wasn't over."

It wasn't quite the "Miracle Minute," but it will be remembered as one of the most amazing comebacks in Pitt history.

Going back to that three-pointer, I was surprised Wanamaker was able to get so wide open:

Louisville’s lead could’ve been more than four, but Edgar Sosa missed two free throws late in the game. On the ensuing Pitt possession, Jermaine Dixon drove to the hoop, but had his shot swatted into the first row by Louisville’s Samardo Samuels. On the inbounds pass from Dixon, Wanamaker stood all alone in the left corner and knocked down a 3-pointer, his only attempt from beyond the arc all game.
“Ashton and me crossed, and with Ashton being the shooter they followed him and left me open,” Wanamaker said.

Rick Pitino seemed to take this one hard. Real hard:

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

As I mentioned yesterday, Nasir Robinson was a big part of the victory, but without Brad Wanamaker's three-pointer and free throws in the last 30 seconds of the game, Pitt gets dealt a harsh loss. He's grown up quite a bit from the freshman who played so sloppily that many (including myself) wondered if he'd ever make key contributions to Pitt. There's no doubt now, though, that he can step up in big games.

Joe Starkey at the Trib says it's the little things Pitt did that helped win the game.

The shot chart on the game showed that unlike the UCONN contest, Pitt managed to force Louisville to make outside shots.

The loss may end up to be a costly one for Louisville, still without a signature win.

I think Jamie Dixon said it best:

"We found a way to win," Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. "They're a good team with good players. It was a well executed game and we battled through. I'm not going to single out any guys. The rebounding numbers speak to how well our guys played, especially against a rebounding team. It was a good win against a good team."

With two solid wins this week, Pitt is due to move up in the polls.

Class of the Big East?

That's the question I'm asking shortly after Pitt's ten-point win AT UCONN. Pitt's now gone on the road three straight times and come away with three wins for the first time in its Big East history. Factor in the competition in a top 10 team, top 15 team, and a team that was previously ranked, and in the words of Judge Smails the teams they've beated have been 'no slouches.' UCONN, on the other hand, is left with yet another defeat to a ranked opponent.

Beating UCONN three straight times feels mighty good. The early reports are in and folks are just now starting to catch on, it seems.

I always find myself rushing to the box score and flow chart immediately after the game looking for something specific. Tonight, I was looking for UCONN's number of layups or points in the paint. Had Pitt lost, that would have been the main reason why.

The verdict? According to ESPN.com, 19 of the 25 field goals were layups or dunks.

No that's not a typo. I knew it was bad, but no idea it was THAT bad. What's even worse was that 12 of their 13 FGs in the second half were layups or dunks.

I've been watching basketball for over 20 years. I honestly can't remember ever seeing a college game where a team got so many easy baskets. They had a lot of transition points and seemed like they were in the paint all night. Pitt's defense wasn't the greatest - ESPECIALLY in transition.

But perhaps that makes the win that much more impressive. To win by ten in a rivalry game on the road when (and this is key) you didn't play your best game gives me a good feeling.

For once, Cryin' Calhoun didn't make any excuses, lauding Pitt in his post-game comments. And even though I talk about all the easy baskets, Jamie Dixon pointed out another key stat:

"We came in at halftime; I told them we got beaten on the boards by four. We had to turn that around."

"We out rebounded them by 13 in second half, and clearly that was the difference."

The silly talk about Pitt perhaps not making the tournament should be over. As I mentioned before, this IS a tournament team. And not only a tournament team, but a team that can challenge for the conference title. Starting 4-0 in the conference and winning your last seven games will make you think like that. Funny thing is, I keep waiting for the team to falter. I'm convinced it will happen, but when? I figured this would be a much harder game, but the fact is that had UCONN not gotten so many easy buckets, it would have been much more lopsided.

Brad Wanamaker had his first good game for Pitt in Big East play, scoring 19 to co-lead the Panthers along with Ashton Gibbs. It was a good thing as Jermaine Dixon didn't have a particularly strong game.

On the flip side, Travon Woodall looks like a mess out there at times. I don't know if it's because he's not getting as many minutes or whatever, but he was completely wreckless with the ball lately taking bad shots or throwing it away. The fact that we never see Chase Adams out there makes me think he must be somehow even worse.

And in the middle, Gary McGhee is painfully mediocre. I almost think he cancels himself out because for every good putback or rebound he gets, he gives up another. And it's clear that Dante Taylor has much less leeway than McGhee does. Taylor was called for a moving screen (which was no worse than some of McGhee's) and he came right out immediately. McGhee allows offensive rebounds or makes a piss-poor effort blocking someone out and he stays on the court. Granted, he played better tonight, but Dixon's intolerance of Taylor's mistakes seems like a pattern.

UCONN, like Pitt, on the other hand doesn't have the same look as in previous years. But even with strong performances by players at times (i.e. Stanley Robinson tonight) are really without a key leader according to folks in the area. I don't know. Pitt really doesn't have a leader if you think about it. Ashton Gibbs? Can a sophomore really lead a team even if he's their best player? Gilbert Brown? Fresh off a suspension and he doesn't even start yet. Jermaine Dixon may be the closest to the team leader and he's certainly not a definitive one and has only been in the program as long as Gibbs has. I don't know how much that plays into it. The Fab Five went to the National Championship game with a starting lineup composed of freshmen.

Anyway.

For once it's nice to get the edge on free throw shooting - Pitt shot 85% to UCONN's 46%.

As absurd as it sounds, if Pitt can beat Louisville at home (which could be a daunting task because of their press), Pitt will have a look at getting to...*gasp*...25 games.

Yeah, I said it.

Orange Crushed

I know - not an original title. But this win felt good. Real good.

For one, Pitt proved that hanging with Texas for 3/4 of the game was no fluke. They not only hung with the Cuse, they defeated them fairly handily, going crazy in the 2nd half with 52 points.

A bunch of things stand out:

- Pitt could have easily folded when down 20-10 early and having not scored for about five minutes. They were having a problem hitting shots, and in a hostile environment, it looked like the rout could be on. But one thing stuck out to me - Pitt was shooting an abysmal 3-15 from the field up to that point and had they made even a few more shots, they'd be right there. Apparently they got the memo as they went on to shoot 20-37 (54%) the rest of the way.

- Ashton Gibbs is a star. Despite what some boneheads might think, he's more than just a jumpshooter. Ronald Ramon, who some want to hold as the 'gold standard' for shooting, was a fine player. He was a deep threat, but little more. Gibbs can shoot mid-range all the way out to NBA three-point range, and even drive to the basket a bit. His defense is reasonable and his free throw shooting is unbelievable. And by the way, he has 15 rebounds in his past two games. This isn't to bring down Ramon, who was as I said, a fine player. But Gibbs brings much more to the table and should be a star for Pitt. Also, congrats to Gibbs who was able to break the school record for consecutive free throws, extending his new record to 37.

- The biggest differences in the game were three-point shooting and free throw shooting. On three-pointers, Pitt was 10-24 while Syracuse was only 1-13. Pitt also bested the Cuse at the line going 26-36 to their 15-23.

- Pitt should have won this game by more than ten points, but their late turnovers and missed free throws didn't help their cause. If you remember games past against Louisville, you know this isn't Pitt's first foray into the land of the press. But Pitt will really need to find guys to step up and handle the ball. The good news is that they seemed to get better at it later in the 2nd half. The bad news is that Pitt will likely have more of that thrown at them and without a great ballhandler, it will only make the turnover situation worse.

- Dante Taylor played maybe as good has he has all year. In only 21 minutes of action, 3-4 from the field, 10 points, 8 rebounds, and only 1 foul. Contrast that with McGhee's 2 point/1 rebound effort in 15 minutes, and I wonder if this may be the tipping point in the season where Taylor starts seeing more minutes. He might not start right away, but I think it will take a lot to give McGhee more playing time at this point. Taylor looked comfortable and composed in a tough road game playing against some pretty good big men.

- Jermaine Dixon had maybe his best game at Pitt with a career-high 21 points. He also filled the stat sheet with 5 steals, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Pitt finally got the third scoring option behind Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. That will be needed if they want to keep winning games.

- I guess I've learned to live with the turnovers and am kind of numb to them now. But it's still incredibly frustrating to see the TYPE of turnovers Pitt is making. So many of them seem to be rushing to make a play or just being downright sloppy, throwing lazy passes. I can live with turnovers. Even more than previous Pitt teams. But the bad turnovers just make you want to pluck your eyeballs out.

I wasn't all that surprised to see Pitt win as I thought they could keep it close. I'm not even all that surprised that they got down early and fought back. But I was a little surprised to see them take it to the Orange in the 2nd half the way they did. They came out and played really well to close the deal. For all the naysayers who were predicting doom and gloom for Pitt, you've got to feel a lot better after this win as they've now shown in two games against top five opponents that they can play with virtually anyone.

Pitt should get a number of votes in the polls on Monday, but still might not be ranked as they only had one combined vote in both polls last week.

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.