Personally for me, I would consider anything less than a disappointment.

This team is built to win it all – they have a star big man, 3 point shooting, solid defense, and an extremely deep team. Basically, they’re the Pitt teams of the early 2000’s, but with much more scoring punch.

When I think about the Elite 8, is that really an accomplishment? I think if you lose in the Elite 8 and go out that same weekend, it’s not much of a difference than the Sweet 16. At least when you get to the Final Four, you have another week of people talking about your team and bringing the school that much more publicity. The Elite 8 would be okay (and we eventually need to get there), but with the talent on the team this year, I think it’d be disappointing not to get to the final weekend.

I am happy right now. We have a team that has a shot at winning it all in the “Big Dance”. There is a lot of luck that comes into play to win it all. Many 1 or 2 seeds go home early. It happens every year. Coach Dixon has put this team in a position to get a very good seed close to home. You can ask for much more.

I only wish I could say the same thing for the football team. I had no problems with going to minor bowl games and winning. I have a big problem with not making any bowl game.

I think a Big East regular season or tournament championship and the sweet 16 is a success. If we get to the sweet 16 anything can happen and I think we have a very good change at advancing. Anything less that the sweet 16 would be a disappointment to me.

It all depends on the seeding, matchups and yes luck.

We have improved our out of conference schedule and the selection staff can no longer stick that up our ass.

Let’s face it, with a little luck we would have beat Marq and OSU.

This is a true team that has potential with both inside and outside shooting.

I like our chances to advance beyond the sweet 16, after that who knows, anything can happen.

Again, I don’t think seeding will really help/hurt us. Frankly, likely as one of the higher seeds in the tournament we SHOULD get to the sweet 16, no matter who we play. and then from there, we’re either playing a perennially good team or a streaking cinderella story, so the fact of the matter is, we need to peak at the right time, hit our shots, not play dumb basketball, and grind out those d first victories that we’ve been getting all season long. THEn, who knows?

I’d just be happy with beer in PA supermarkets…that enough for me

Wow, this conversation is almost exactly like the ones we had 4 months ago regarding what is considered an “elite” football program and what realistic expectations are. But, and its a big difference, the PITT BB fans have a real basis for expectations of post-regular season play and seeing some real competitive games then.

Since I’m not wound up about the BB team, I’ll agree with Tony above and say that I’ve been completely entertained by the BB games I’ve watched so far this season, think they are a good team and that with some luck and decent seeding have an outside chance to go deeper than in the past.

First round loss would disappoint, and everything after that would be fun to follow.

Totally agree with the elite 8. That’s all we talk about. Anything less would be very disapointing.

We have to make the elite eight this year….We still can’t recruit with the Uconns, Carolinas, and UCLAs of the world and until we show up deep into March we won’t get top guys. I was at Pitt during the 3 sweet sixteen years and this is our best team. Gray is not as athletic as Taft but he is much more developed…also our guard play is much better…anyone who remembers Julius Page’s shooting his senior year can say how bad it was….

I think Big East Regular Season and tournament championship plus an elite eight run would be a great year and solid for out future recruiting.

I am NOT one of those fans who thinks anything less than the Final Four is a disappointment. I do not believe this team has the skill to beat teams with one or more dominant athletes.

I love this Pitt Panther squad. I love how absolutely NOBODY blows them out – they are always in the game (only 3 losses of 10 or more points since 2001). I love how they play tough defense and make teams earn every point. I love how they pass the ball to find the best shot.

Having followed this team since the 80s, and having suffered through the Willard era, I will never again express disappointment if this team finishes the season in the tournament and ranked, no matter what seed or in what round they lose, so long as no players behave poorly, end up in rehab or get arrested for stealing from another player’s mother.

However, I believe this Panther squad is impeccably coached, and has overachieved every year since they lost in the BET finals against BC in 2001. The team’s success is an indicator of how well Howland and Dixon have prepared these overmatched young men to line up against UConn, Syracuse and other basketball powers in the toughest hoops conference in the country (except this year) and SUCCEED with regularity. The recruiting is slowly catching up with the sterling winning percentage.

This team is NOT being built for a one year run. It is not filled with selfish players biding their time until they are eligible for the NBA draft. It is built for continuity and transition. It should be some time (barring disastrous injuries) before we see a Pitt team that is not a player in the national rankings. Last year was supposed to be a down year, and yet they surprised everyone by maintaining this level of excellence through the transition from Taft/Troutman to Gray/Kendall.

I feel it is just a matter of time before this team kicks the door in to the promised land of the college hoops uber-elite. However, if this team were to continue to be ranked high, go to the tournament and play exciting basketball, I’m not going to whine about it.

I think it depends on how they play. If they put things together and play a great game, and someone just goes D-Wade on their ass in the first round and they come up short, I’d be dissappointed, but not as dissappointed as I’d be if they make it to the elite 8 or final 4 and then lose because of turnovers and sloppy play.

not on topic but did anyone hear the broadcasters talking about taft in the game against nova? Apparently already out of the nba, is was there ever a better example of needing another year (probably two) of school before jumping ship.

JLA – very well said. I think Sweet 16 is a requirement. Beyond that, it all depends on the matchup. Do we get a Marquette type team we have big problems with, or do we get a Georgetown type that we can beat? It all depends on the matchup that night, and I hope people can realize that. Like last year, Patrick OBryant was a bad matchup for Gray and we paid the price. Or see Dwayne Wade. etc.

I think Taft hurt his back pretty bad. He may have made the right move as he was able to CA$H the check with the bad back and still finish school if he wants to. He may not have been able to be drafted at all with the bad back if it would have happened at Pitt.

Kevin – Yeah, those games have been very painful to watch. Seeing one player’s lone demolition of the vaunted Panther defense is maddening. I have to admit it really chaps my behind.

I also agree with BB. To lose because of the exceptional performance of an opponent is much easier to swallow than losing because Pitt played poorly.

I think anything less than Elite 8 would be disappointing and anything beyond that would be gravy. I still have fears that our FT shooting and lack of athleticism will doom us in the 2nd or 3rd round. I hope I am wrong.

“I’d just be happy with beer in PA supermarkets…that enough for me”

whoa, whoa, WHOA!!! Stop talkin’ crazy there, Kyle!

I’m 36 and I don’t see this happening until AT LEAST my 50th birthday; if ever…

You dream big, kid!

On a different note… here’s an article that brings back bad football memories. The new Special Teams coach for the Steelers had a hand is some of the most embarrassing and pitiful play from the Panther’s Harris years.

link to centredaily.com

Note that Paul Rhodes has a mention also.

Well, seems like our Special Teams have improved since then, we might even see them as a strength this season with the new punter, returning solid FG kicker and Porter returning KO’s. Whoever replaces Revis on punt returns will at least match up as Revis didn’t do great back there IMO (with one wonderful exception).

I think we need to win the BE tourney this year, considering Uconn and Syracuse are down – they are usually our biggest nemesis. I actually think Marquette will be our toughest win. They always play us close. They seem to be that one team that has our number and they always seem to have one player that has the game of his life against us.

As far as the ncaa, its time for this team to make that elusive “turning of the corner” and make the final four . Just when you think the football team is going to make the turn they take 2 steps backwards. I hope the bball team can step up and get it done. The talent and coaching is there its just a matter of executing and playing smart.

Kyle and Shawn – check this out…

link to post-gazette.com

I agree with the posters who say luck has a lot to do with it…..you need to get the right seed in order to do well in the tourney….what happens if the tourney selection committee screws us and gives us a 3 seed again, and we are stuck facing a tough 2 seed in the 2nd round (pitt-ok st a few yrs back)…theres nothing the team can do about that except play their best to win…and if they come up short, it happens…….

for once, just once, id like to see pitt make the elite 8, final 4, and play a #1 seed….if they lose that game, ill be ok with it…i just want to see how we match up with the florida’s, unc’s, ucla’s of the ncaa……..a win vs one of them would mean wonders to our program……

I’d be disappointed with anything less than the elite 8, regardless of seed, matchups, etc. I truly believe this team is final 4 material.

Regardless of O’Bryant’s performance against Gray last year, had Pitt played a stronger overall game – something they were fully capable of doing – they would have won. That’s the one thing that makes me nervous about the tournament: Pitt’s penchant for a terrible first 20 minutes. Somehow, someway, Dixon has got to get this team to play smart, intense basketball for 40 minutes from the very first game of the tourney.

As for the BET, I actually don’t care if they win. I just want them to get through it without any injuries or Gray working so hard through 3 or 4 games in as many days that he comes into March Madness a little tired. He was clearly worn out last year and while he’s in better condition this year, it still worries me. That and FTs. Those damn FTs!

Reed – How did they find a guy named “Dull” to oppose that? The only thing better is if they’d found a guy named Miller Lite.

Beer in the supermarket…huh…sounds good to me…I would also vote for Captain Morgan in every supermarket…!

I don’t think this is a final four team. I would like to think the pieces are there, but 20 opening minutes of lame, lethargic, ugly basketball aren’t going to get you there in the post-season. I’m not even sure it gets you to the BE finals this year, which would be an enourmous disappointment. So to me, thats really my expectation. If they loose in the finals, I’ll be upset, but I can live with it. Beyond that, my thoughts are as follows:

I almost feel that there is a lack of discipline that permeates Dixon’s teams at times – it gets written off for various reasons, but I have yet to figure out any other reason why the team can’t seem to start strong, shoot free throws, or put a team away. Its a consitency thing – after all the success I still watch games and wonder how Pitt will manage to pooch it if they’re not up by 20+.

I would be satisfied with an Elite 8 appearance. To me, it indicates that the talent and the coaching is improving. Being perenially hung up at the sweet 16 has me thinking that we just don’t have the guns or the coaching to get further. Look, we haven’t beaten a GREAT team this year. Loosing to OK State and Wisconsin doesn’t bother me too much because of the quality of these opponents overall, but the Marquette loss at home disturbed me. Lots of people pontificate over “the matchup”, but guess what? Thats what the post-season is all about, and great teams find a way to coach/work through those things. We can pile up the wins against weaker oponents early, and we can tear through a relatively weak conference, but until we actually beat a great team, I have a hard time classifying the Panthers as a great team.

Elite 8 or bust ! 🙂

Free throws are a function of who is shooting them. It just so happens that Pitt’s worst free throw shooter, Aaron Gray, gets fouled the most. The rest of the team, save Graves, are all good free throw shooters with Kendall, Ramon (85%) and Fields all well over 70%. This is a weak argument and it has nothing to do with coaching.

I have to agree with the gist JLA’s and thestupmer’s posts. I really do not think as the team is now that they will make it to the final let alone the final four itself.

“I almost feel that there is a lack of discipline that permeates Dixon’s teams at times” I feel the same way. There is no excuse for coming out complacent, lackadasical, and/or overconfident in seems to be about every third game they paly. They are halfway through their conference schedule, those bugs should have been worked out for the most part. Either they, the coahes or a combination of both are not addressing it. As was said before, play a first half like that in the NCAAs and most likely you go home.

Success for this team would be making it into the Sweet 16. Improvment as a program would be the Elite eight. Anything beyond that is gravy, anything less is disapointment.

Having said the above, I look at the current Pitt BB program with unbridled enthusiasm and expectations for the future. I look forward for not only better players and NCCAs results but for Dixon to grow into a better or more complete coach.

Go Pitt!!!

I’m not so sure we should be overly critical about the first 20 min. at ‘Nova. I think that we opened up the game with a lot of energy. BUT we could NOT make a shot — I think it was as frustrating for the players as it was for us to watch. (We happened to get damn lucky, as ‘Nova was throwing bricks as well.) To their credit, though, the Wildcats remained pretty dogged in their pursuit of the ball and continued to drive to the basket. Pitt did not show the same determination in the closing minutes of the 1st half, and were reluctanat go inside, opting for the perimiter. (I can’t fault the team stategy for putting up a lot 3’s early in the game, but true… Dixon should have called a T.O. to revise the game plan as Digger Phelp’s suggested they do by “going inside and taking adavantage of their size…” (esp. when our players had become ineffective on the perimeter, visibly dejected and consequently fatigued).

In terms of THE TOURNEY, it’s the seeding that counts, so Pitt has to continue to wrack-up the wins, or… they won’t go any deeper than the Sweet-16, IMO. And due to this, I couldn’t agree more with the comment posted by Schoe…

“…you need to get the right seed in order to do well in the tourney….what happens if the tourney selection committee screws us and gives us a 3 seed again, and we are stuck facing a tough 2 seed in the 2nd round (pitt-ok st a few yrs back)…theres nothing the team can do about that except play their best to win…and if they come up short, it happens…….”

…that about sums it up.

Pitt’s not a good bet to make it past the Sweet 16 because they don’t get enough easy buckets off penetration or penetration and dishes for layups and dunks. The elite teams this year (UNC, Fla, KU, UCLA)that are safer bets in March get a substantial number of buckets each game off easy shots, either by fast-breaking or dunks or lay-ins in the half-court. I think part of this is a speed and athleticism thing, and part of it is a style thing, but it doesn’t matter why……the end result is that those are almost guaranteed points. Pitt gets some lay-ups from Gray (if they choose to get him the ball) and and they run a little bit now, but they settle for outside shots a lot of the time. Because they are a much better shooting team this year than in past years, it hasn’t hurt them yet, but it very well could at tournament time. The really athletic, talented teams just get a ton more easy buckets and are much more reliable offensive entities in March because of it.

I saw that story about the Sheetz in Altoona. Still, ’til I can grab a sixer of Yeunglings here in Mercer County, I’ll be skeptical of whether or not this is something that’ll take hold. I’m skeptical if for no other reason than the fact that beer distributors in this state have a strong lobby. I’m skeptical becuase BOTH sides of the aisle in BOTH houses of the PA legislature are well-supported by said lobby.

I’m thinkin’ beer sales’ll be statewide by ’08. 2108.

An uncontested three-point shot is not difficult for a D-1 player. I bet Ramon shoots 75% plus in practice from three. If Pitt were to play UNC, Fla, KU, or UCLA, then the number of layups and fastbreak points on both sides would go down dramatically. In a close game the better shooting team wins almost every time. Pitt doesn’t settle for outside shots either. They take them when they are open. You can’t say taking an uncontested three after running your offense is settling because it isn’t.