The storyline everyone wants. From sportswriters, to the fans. Pitt-UCLA.
The Bruins had a 13 point lead with a little more than 5 minutes left, but nearly blew it. From 46-33 to 49-49 under a minute left. Still UCLA was able to get a score and force Indiana to make the big turnovers on inbound plays. UCLA won 54-49
We’re VERY familiar with Howland’s style, I think it works to our benefit.
Dixon knows all that Howland taught him, and has added a little bit of his own stuff too since then.
I seriously think that this will work well for us.
(CBS Script) Did you know that Kendall is also a very good piano player? Kendall has been a great player on the Canadian National team this past summer. Not only that but he was found by Jamie Dixon while Dixon was recruiting another player?
Please tell them to get some NEW material on Kendall
I guess if you know nothing about the Pitt team you find this info insightful. I however find that these guys really know very little about either team other then what is written down right in front of them. I will be turning off the sound on Thursday and listening to the radio while watching the game. I hope they have a different script.
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If pitt makes there game plan get the ball to gray and let him do his thing they will put up the points.. Two teams that mirror each other. UCLA has the better guard play, and really they, like every other team that plays pitt, will have to focus on what to do with Gray. If we can play good D and rely on ramon and fields to knock down the tre every once in a while we are in. Gray just has to touch the ball. WHy not let him touch it every time down. he collapes the d, and he has shown he will score or kick it out for an open look.
I just pray that we can beat old benny.. I love him for turning the team around, but it would be so sweet to send him home to California AGAIN!
Hail to Pitt…
This is the biggest game i can remember in all of pitt bball history!
“Pitt is tremendously awful, it’s like they’re a parody of a Big Ten school, complete with a godawful “star” player in Aaron Gre/ay, who might lose to Yao Ming in a footrace.
Congrats on advancing to the Elite 8.
BenBall minus athleticism= Pitt
groan”
Scoocher, I won’t be on the court but I’m sure I couldn’t beat your team all by myself.
— If we lost the VCU game that would/should have been the end of Dixon. We were so much more talented than that team it’s insane. I don’t know where people get the idea that Pitt isn’t talented because this team is stacked. They had 2 players that could crack our rotation and we were so much bigger, stronger, and more skilled than them is was insane.
–Adam is 100% right about getting the ball to Gray. Is Gray that out of shape he can only play 28 minutes? He crushed them when he was in the game is by far our biggest advantage over anyonve and everyone. He’s going to need to play 35 min against UCLA for us to win.
— alcor805: Why are you “dedicating the game” to anyone? I appreciate your wishing of good will, but that’s just silly if you have nothing to do with the game.
Don’t get me wrong, I want this team to go further, but their succsess is a great story as currently written.
As for Howland, I have no animosity at all. He left for his dream job. After he turned the Pitt basketball program around. Dixon has done just as well as Howland did, who cares that Howland left. Howland’s level of success at UCLA is because he’s getting better players, and that’s because it is UCLA not because of Howland.
Finally, who cares what they say about Pitt on a fan blog?
I looked for the article and it streuck me when 90 articles written in 2006 contained some mention of Howland. You would think he took us to the final four the way he is mentioned all the time. Hopefully, a beating in San Jose will allow Dixon to escape his shadow a little bit.
Both teams have looked pretty crappy lately. I thiink Pitt is the better team, but that UCLA is better coached (as much as i hate to say it)
But kevin… dont knock Gray. Yeah, he can be frustrating to watch some days… but we would not be in the sweet 16 without him…
From TV it sounded like a large contingent of Pitt fans were present. I suspect a number of fans, like myself, passed up Buffalo in favor of a possible trip to San Jose or Atlanta. for those of you that were in Buffalo, what was the Pitt support like?
link to scores.espn.go.com
Gray can dominate UCLA IF – and that’s a big, bold IF – we can get him the ball.
Chas-put the moderation up and block this loser like Sam Young.
the games will not be staggered, 4 games Thursday and 4 Friday. First games start between 7 and 7:30 pm EST. In the past the west coast games started around 4:30pm PST. I doubt the 3pm time you saw is correct, even if it was meant to be PST, making it a 6pm EST time start.
We should know later today as CBS will post the exact times on its site.
Aside from the general absence of our ladie Panthers — have our cheerleaders improved any, I wonder? — at least one Syracuse coed caught my eye in the meager sample showcasing the BEast.
I’m not knocking Gray. I doubt Pitt wins 20 games this year without Gray. I just think people expect too much from a guy who’s slow and a bit awkward with the ball under the basket. He’s light years better than when he came to Pitt and no doubt can get even better. But if Pitt plays a team with some bigger players who are quicker Gray will have problems. I think that has been pretty well documented. Kendall is the guy who is pretty much an underachiever. He’s played well but I think he was easily capable of averaging 10-14 pts a game. He’s capable of more on offense, but I’ve given up on him providing more.
I’m no expert but I would say UCLA has the better players and Pitt is better coached, opposite of what you think. UCLA is definitely capable of playing a crappy game. Let’s hope Pitt continues to shoot well and they’ve got a chance.
I heard dixon say it out of his own mouth in a post-game interview within the last 2-3 weeks on 94.5. He said Howland didn’t think we could do any better and Dixon said he thought Howland was wrong, and that we could do better, and that’s why he stayed here. The context was a question about not taking a head coaching job he was offered somewhere else back when he was an assistant here, when he was getting advice to take any head coaching position ever offered, no matter where. Instead he stuck it out. I believe he’s in for the long run – and I would love nothing more than in 15-20 years to have had several final fours, a national championship or two, and rename the court Dixon court. I like to see people committed to this university, not use it as a stepping stone.
I’m sure he’s also been quoted in print saying the same thing. If i can find a transcript of the interview (not likely) i’ll post it.
You are correct that you are no expert. I would suggest becoming familiar with UCLA’s roster. Pitt has better talent than these guys. I’d be surprised if we win though.
I get really agitated when people start bagging on Gray just because he doesn’t look cool. It’s such a stupid way of viewing the game. Gray is one of the 10 best players in all of college basketball and should destroy UCLA if we get him the ball. Of course, that’s a big “if”.
I am very worried, however, about Howland eating Dixon alive by exposing all of the problems anyone who has watched Pitt play more than 3 times can cleary see. I can promise you he will not let Gray sit under the hoop on offense and is going to pressure the shit out of our gaurds.
It’s intersting since Howland always says he left for his “dream job”, which i guess can still be correct. But I was not aware that he believed he had reached a ceiling at Pitt. I hope we kick his a** so that we can raise that ceiling!
I, too, hope we can hand them their asses. The line on the game is ucla -2 or -2.5…seems people think it’ll be a pretty close game. I haven’t seen anybody trap our picks the way UCLA does, I wonder if we’re going to work on that this week (I hope so). And I’m glad UCLA doesn’t normally employ a full-court press, although we should be ready for it at any random time (see: Indiana’s collapse at end).
Regarding Howland leaving, why are the Pitt fans so upset about it? Was it that he felt Pitt has reached it’s ceiling or the way he left or simplt that he left a program he had built? From an outsider’s view I don’t see much wrong with it as he did wonders for the Pitt program and that is something Pitt fans should be grateful for. Then, he left for the job he coveted since the day he got into coaching, which also happens to be one of the marquee jobs in all the nation. The way I see it, Howland took the Pitt program from nothing more than an after thought, to a national power and helped get a new arena built in the process. Sounds like he did plenty for your program and you should be happy for him coming home to his dream job. Then again, that is an outsider’s view who doesn’t know a lot on the situation so I may be way off here and have my facts wrong so feel free to correct me.
