Sorry about the quiet again. Just be happy I’m not posting the ultrasound images.

I’m sure you read the local stories on Pitt’s win over Auburn. Interesting that Coach Dixon is now stating that Sam Young’s knee is giving him trouble. As I recall he hurt it over the summer. Is it an excuse? Is it real? Considering that Dixon and Pitt haven’t hidden injuries before — though they have downplayed occasionally (Remember Julius Page’s ankle all of the ’03-’04 season?) — I don’t think it’s an excuse. I think that Pitt was hoping that it would be getting better by now. It hasn’t and it is obvious that there is something wrong.

Now for the Southern takes. Auburn feels like it missed a big chance.

“It was frustrating we didn’t win the game,” Lebo said. “We were gutty. We battled hard and did some good things out there.

“We’ve gotten better. The kids were ready to play. That’s all I can ask of them.”

Auburn was planning for this game and to go inside and use quickness.

A lot of that was because of Korvotney Barber and Josh Dollard, a pair of 6-7 inside players for the Tigers. Barber finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three blocks, while Dollard had had 14 points and 12 boards.

“Coach told us all week that (Gray) is a big body, but he’s slow,” Dollard said. “We tried to use our quickness to get around him and outwork him. That’s what we tried to do.”

It didn’t help that Auburn shot 3s a lot like how Pitt shot 3s against Robert Morris last week.

Coach Dixon was impressed by the improvement from Auburn from last year to this year.

“I’ve seen this team improve from last year to this year,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I think about us eight years ago when we came to Pitt and had to play a lot of young guys and got better each year. Coach (Jeff) Lebo has this thing going. They’re going in that direction.”

The loss left Auburn players feeling frustrated after coming so close to a signature victory.

“It’s frustrating knowing we could have beaten the No. 2 team in the country,” Auburn forward Korvotney Barber said. “We made mistakes here and there and just couldn’t beat them.”

The question with any SEC school that seems to take athletic success as a birthright regardless of the situation is if they will give Jeff Lebo will be given enough time. This is his 3d year of a rebuilding job. Things seem to be improving, but patience is another issue. Especially with Alabama a top-10 team.