I have tried to avoid this sort of thing in the past. A little too common and a bit trite. Still, at this point it seems that something has to be said in summary of 2007 for Pitt.

Basketball in December:

Austin Wallace,  left patella;

Mike Cook, Torn ACL; and

Levance Fields, fracture in his foot.

Heck you can go back to last February when Aaron Gray sprained his ankle near the end of the Washington game. He never had a chance to fully recover.

Football, well I think we’ve been over this before so I’ll just rattle off the names:

Derek Kinder, Bill Stull, Chris Jacobson, Gus Mustakas, Mick Williams, Jason Pinkston, Dan Matha, Kevan Smith, and LaRod Stephens-Howling all missed the season or time with injuries.

A brutal year, physically for Pitt players.

Not sure what the point of a recap is other than to record the misery. So, here are the local stories.

Then there’s the Dayton stories. Foul trouble for Blair. Brian Roberts was so hot, they didn’t even miss Chris Wright. Roberts had a night to shine.

Pittsburgh’s Sam Young spoke for everyone — the sell-out UD Arena crowd, the national TV audience, the NBA scouts sitting courtside, the players and coaches on both teams — when he sought Brian Roberts out after Saturday night’s game.

The Panthers’ junior forward reached down and hugged the Dayton Flyers guard in the hand-shake line afterward and whispered: “You’re one helluva player.”

He sure was Saturday night.

The loss of Fields was the bigger story not just for Pitt fans.

Metatarsal injuries occur frequently with soccer players, perhaps most famously when England forward Wayne Rooney broke his fourth metatarsal playing for Manchester United not long before the 2006 World Cup. Rooney was able to make a quick recovery and played in a Cup game just six weeks after his foot was broken.

On the other hand, the NBAʼs Pau Gasol fractured his fifth metatarsal playing for Spain in the semifinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championships. He did not play his first game of the 2006-07 season for the Memphis Grizzlies until three months later.

Pitt’s goals and hopes for this season, have obviously been downsized.

“We’ll be OK,” Dixon said. “We’ve got guys to replace them.”

That may be true, but now Pittsburgh goes from a team that could compete for the Big East championship to a team that more realistically can hope to finish above the .500 mark in conference play.

Before the extent of the Fields injury was known Pitt was still in flux, Mike DeCourcy noted the way Pitt was going to have to change with Brown in place of Cook.

The Panthers can’t help but be a radically different team, though, because the two players have such disparate skills. Cook was a fifth-year senior who brought a point guard’s creativity to the small forward spot. His lack of athleticism kept him from being a great defender, but he understood how to make himself a nuisance.

Brown demonstrated how much different a player he is with a flying tip-slam of a missed turnaround jumper by Young — one of the few Panthers highlights. But Brown managed to take seven other shots in the game without providing any hint of what sort of shots he might make. He now is hitting 41 percent from the field, 26 percent from 3-point range.

Dixon said Brown should prove to be a fine replacement, despite his uncertain play Saturday. The coach admitted there might be some different plays called in the short term but insisted major changes would not be necessary because “the other nine guys are still the same.”

With Brown in the lineup, Pitt goes from a team lacking quickness at the point guard, shooting guard and small forward spots to one that is exceptionally dynamic at small forward (Brown), power forward (Young) and center (Blair). That eventually should improve the Panthers’ defense. But until the offense regains its equilibrium, they’ll be an imperfect team.

Not good news on Levance Fields.

Pittsburgh guard Levance Fields suffered a broken left foot in Saturday’s loss to Dayton and will be out 8-12 weeks, which could end his regular season.

Pittsburgh spokesperson Greg Hotchkiss said Fields will have surgery Monday and will have a pin inserted in his left foot.

That drops the scholarship player number to 9.

Get well soon, Levance.

Brutal 2007 season for football and basketball injuries.

This isn’t sounding particularly promising.

Junior point guard Levance Fields left the game with a left foot injury with 15:45 remaining and did not return. He had to be helped off the floor and left the arena with a walking boot on his foot.

No official information was available after the game, but one source said Fields could have a fracture and his season might be over. Dixon said more information on Fields’ foot would be known today after doctors can examine him.

The Trib. says he could be out for at least a month.

In the abstract, it can be argued that Pitt has been exceedingly lucky over this decade with regards to major injuries. This season may turn out to be some sort of horrible, hideous payback.

No, I don’t buy it either.

That’s exactly what this game was. Sure, Pitt had a horrible night (both by their own doing and some back luck) but Dayton — especially Roberts — played very well. Exceptionally well, maybe even reaching “unreal”. He finished with 31 points with 15 of those coming from three pointers, some of which were taken from very deep. It seemed like he couldn’t miss all game, but neither could any other UD players. They shot 52% from the field compared to Pitt’s 29%. Marcus Johnson (15) and Kurt Huelsman (12) also hit double figures. Add in the fact that they hit 22 of 28 free throws and out-rebounded us 41-34, even though coming into the game we were at +11 rebounds per game against our opponents.

That was the tip of the iceberg during a flat our horrible game for Pitt. Pitt settled for some of the worst shots I’ve ever seen a basketball team take. Tyrell Biggs is not a three point shooter, but that’s not what he seems to think. Sam Young is a forward too, but he threw up two treys. Ronald Ramon, who’s job is to hit a damn three, went 0-6. As a team, we were 3-25 from deep. Ouch.

Moving to DeJuan Blair, who came back down to Earth after a great game against Duke where I think a lot of people forgot he’s just a freshman. He picked up two fouls early, sat most of the first half, and had to play most of the second half with four fouls. This was the first really hostile environment he’s faced and he made plenty of “freshman mistakes”.

Back to Ronald Ramon though. Oh geez, Ronald Ramon. Ramon is basically worthless if he’s not going to hit threes, especially some of the wide open looks he got tonight. He’s a liability on defense and has no real speed or quickness. At 6-1 (6-4 with the hair) and 180 pounds, he definitely has no size and when Fields went out he looked lost while running the offense at PG. He misses hitting wide open players with passes because he lacks court vision and always seems like he’s a step behind everything else. Problem is, with Gil Brown and Keith Benjamin filling in for Mike Cook and Brad Wanamaker only a true freshman who needs some work, our options are limited and Ramon will continue to see the minutes.

As TMG says in the comments:

Ramon didn’t play tonight, but some walk on was using his jersey.

No, my 7 year-old brother isn’t even a walk-on yet. [/Ramon rant]

Of course, Ramon only played the point because of Field’s injury. Obviously it looked like a foot or ankle type of thing but it seems like no one has any real information. The AP report said nothing of value and the radio guys didn’t seem to know much either except it’s some type of sprain. The severity is the big question. Losing Cook for the season was bad, but losing Levance for an extended time (which hopefully isn’t the case) is just horrible. I know this debate has been going on for a while — Fields is one of the best point guards in the nation. He’s the man on this team.

None of the views ESPN had showed the actual injury but he backed into where the cheerleaders were sitting so a good guess would be he stepped on one of their feet or something. A bit surprising that ESPN only had three camera angles, since usually they have a camera to focus on every single player. I guess the other five hoops games plus three bowl games used up every resource the network has.

Lastly, with the way college basketball games are broadcast today, trying to fit them into a two hour time slot and hoping they don’t spill into the next game’s air time is not working anymore. Commercial breaks at every chance they can get (media time outs every four minutes) make the games run longer and longer. Add in the general rule of thumb that every minute of game time ends up translating into about two minutes of real time and a smaller number of games are going to fit into the time slot. Although it’ll never happen (having less teams play means fewer markets are interested), networks like ESPN should show fewer games but give them each a 2.5 hour window. [/ESPN rant. Two of those in one post — I need to cut back a little.]

To end this great night, Penn State won the Alamo Bowl. Still, the sky is not falling. We’re 10-1 and it’s just one non-con loss against a good team.

It’s roughly a half-hour until game time. Looks like the Oklahoma-WVU game will go right up against if not over the 8pm time.

I’ve spent the past 8 hours watching basketball and occasional look-ins for the bowl games. I’ve seen LSU blow another game where it was up big. Wisconsin is just a tough team. Winthrop knocked Miami from the unbeaten. St. John’s can’t even beat VT in the Garden. Louisville showed Iona and its former assistant Kevin Willard little pity. Barry Rohrssen and Manhattan made Rutgers sweat at times, but couldn’t close the deal. ‘Nova is killing LaSalle so far.

I love Saturdays.

Back when the gametime gets closer.

Here’s the Dayton schedule page where you can launch the CSTV.com Gametracker.

8:56: It’s halftime and Pitt is down 45-32. Brian Roberts didn’t just step-up, but mauled Pitt with 19 points including a deeeeeep 3 as time expired. He shot 7-10 and it’s not like the rest of the Flyers are slacking with 6-12 shooting and plenty of FT shots 17-18.

DeJuan Blair got in foul trouble (2 fouls) and sat extensively to fuel a Dayton run in the game. Gilbert Brown already has 3 fouls.

Struggling on 3s — again.

Mike Cook being out is looking painful. Pitt may have had more than a week off since he went down, but much of that was lost because of the Christmas break. His experience on defense (and extra fouls) are needed.

Dayton is so up for this game, as well.

Still plenty of time. Have to assume Dayton will cool down and Pitt will make some adjustments. Still going to be tough to comeback a second straight time.

9:15: DeJuan Blair is playing like a freshman tonight. Geez, some dumb fouls. Pitt down 49-35.

9:21: How in a game called this tight, was that not a foul when Sam Young got knocked down going up for an alley-oop?

Then Blair called for a foul trying to block a shot from behind. His 4th and 16:04 left. Pitt down 51-40.

9:23: Now Levance Fields is on the floor holding his left ankle in pain. No weight on it when he is helped off the floor.

Oh, man this is not a good night.

9:27: Ugh. 57-40. I know Blair is out with fouls, but where exactly is Young tonight on the glass?

9:38: Pitt is down 60-44. Just over 10 minutes left. There isn’t much to say. Pitt is lost in the backcourt without Fields. Young is struggling without any help.

Blair returns. Bad call where the refs say it went out on Blair and Dixon gets a technical going down the floor to argue. Defending his players.

Hate to say this, but this is a lost game at this point.

9:44: Biggs. Look, I don’t think you are that bad as a role player. No matter what, though, you are not a ball handler to try and take a guy off the baseline.

9:47: I realize they haven’t seen much playing time. The game is out of reach, however, and it seems like Diggs and McGhee time.

9:53: Pitt can’t sink a 3 and Dayton can’t miss.

10:05: 80-55 Dayton won. Congrats to the Flyers.  They took it to Pitt and played a fantastic game. They won it.

Horrible night for Pitt.

DeJuan Blair got in foul trouble as he got used by the Dayton game plan to go right inside.

Sam Young may have been the leading scorer and rebounder for Pitt with 15 and 7, but it came on 5-17 shooting along with 4 turnovers. He just played a bad game. He really needs Blair there to take pressure off him and prevent defenses from collapsing on him.

Ronald Ramon has had maybe one good game this season. This was among his worst. 0-8 overall and 0-6 on 3s. Add in his shaky attempts to run the point without Fields, and, this was a distilled game of bad play for him

Keith Benjamin’s numbers weren’t too off, except for the fact that he essentially doubled the number of minutes he usually plays. Kind of diminishes it.

Gilbert Brown has to start, but he wasn’t ready tonight.

Bradley Wanamaker demonstrated why he hasn’t seen a lot of action as the competition increased. The true freshman needs work.

Here’s hoping Levance Fields only has a mild ankle sprain and he is back soon.

Starting with the National stuff and narrowing.

Gary Parrish at CBSSports.com in his Friday column gives some love to Dayton, but doesn’t exactly sound convinced of the upset potential.

Some non-BCS love: I’ve had Dayton ranked for a couple of weeks now and am not sure why AP voters aren’t following suit. The Flyers are 10-1 with their only loss coming at George Mason, and they’ve got some better-than-you-think wins against Holy Cross and Miami-Ohio to go with a hard-to-ignore victory at Louisville. Simply put, I like this team. But if Brian Gregory wants the rest of the nation to pay attention, he’ll have to beat sixth-ranked Pittsburgh on national television Saturday.

…

A crazy prediction (but it might happen anyway): How about Dayton over Pittsburgh? I mean, if I’m going to have the Flyers ranked higher than every other entity in the business of ranking teams, then I should be willing to back them with an upset pick, right?

Reggie Rankin at ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. had a chat on Friday (Insider subs).

Shaun (Dayton, OH): How do you like UDs chances tomorrow night at home versus a fast PITT team?

Reggie Rankin: I think the Flyers have a chance. They will play tough team defense and if they can get Brian Roberts some help scoring from Chris Wright and charles Little the Flyer Faithful will pull them over the finish line.

…

Ronnie ((MD)): Does PITT have a chance to win it all ?

Reggie Rankin: I think Pitt could win it all because they are a great defensive team and with the experience in the backcourt and Blair cleaning the glass with the right seed they could get on a roll.

So Pitt could lose but win. I think I’d take that trade.

Want to learn more about basketball plays and the way things are coached and executed (or at least fake it better), then this site is worth reviewing regularly. Here, is a breakdown of one of Dayton’s inbounds play in the face of tough man-to-man defense.

Dayton has a sellout, and a lot of media attending this game.

UD planned to put up extra tables to accommodate all the media coming to the game, but sports information director Doug Hauschild also has had to reserve a row in the stands to make sure they all have seats.

“I’ve never had to do that before,” said Hauschild, the SID since 1983.

Dayton plays tough defense that has Coach Dixon’s attention.

“I think that stands out — how physical they are,” Dixon said. “When you watch them, they play with a purpose. They bang cutters, they’re physical on their drives and they really defend.”

UD is second in the 14-team A-10 in scoring defense, giving up 60.5 points per game, while Pitt is third among 16 schools in the Big East with a 59.1 average.

One theme being played is that Dayton wants to avenge last year’s embarrassing loss.

Roberts is one of two seniors in the starting lineup. Gregory also starts two sophomores and a freshman. The freshman, 6-foot-8 small forward Chris Wright, is second on the team in scoring behind Roberts. He is averaging 12.5 points per game but is questionable for the game tonight because of a sprained ankle.

Wright, who was first-team all-Ohio last season as a senior at Trotwood-Madison High School, has a 39¹/₂-inch vertical leap and was rated as one of the top high school prospects in the country last season by several major scouting services.

“He brings more athleticism and size than what they had there last year,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s athletic and goes to the boards. Those are the two things that really stick out. He can put it on the floor and get to the basket. We recruited him out of high school, so we know all about him.”

Gregory said Wright has added a different dimension to his team.

“His athletic ability has helped us out a lot,” Gregory said. “The thing that impresses me is that he received a lot of publicity in high school and coming here, but he has fit in perfectly. He is an extremely hard worker. He’s the only freshman in our lineup and he’s done a great job of impacting us without disrupting us. A lot of times, when you have someone with his ability come into a situation, it can be a disruption, but he’s a nice fit for us.”

Beside Wright, the other big difference between the game last year and the one tonight will be that it is at University of Dayton Arena, where the Flyers are 22-2 since the beginning of last season, including 7-0 this season.

It should be a great atmosphere. The game might mean a higher ranking for Pitt, but it would be a huge boost for Dayton.

3. If Pittsburgh wins tonight . . .

The Panthers deserve to rise a little higher than their No. 6 ranking in both major polls. Winning at Dayton when Dayton has a strong team is a feat, and the Flyers are 10-1. For their part, the Flyers get a chance to break into the national rankings by showing that their win at Louisville on Dec. 8 wasn’t just the result of the Cardinals’ being in disarray.

Live blog later tonight.

There are currently eight undefeated teams left: North Carolina, Miami (FL), Kansas, Memphis, Washington State, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, and our Pitt Panthers. Looking to keep the streak alive tonight in Dayton. Both teams have been off since before Christmas — Dayton beat Loyola (MD) a week ago while Pitt last played two Thursdays ago and beat Duke.

It’s been mentioned that there will be plenty of support for the Flyers tonight, and they haven’t hosted such a big name opponent in a long time. The fans and players and everyone else wants to knock us off — the target on our backs comes with the territory I guess. They are 10-1 with their only loss coming very early in the season against George Mason. Since then they’ve rolled off nine straight including a win over then-#11 Louisville. In that game, Brian Roberts had 28 points and carried the team — watch out for him tonight.

The big theme from the national media has been putting Pitt on “upset alert”.

ESPN:

Pitt and Dayton are both terrific defensive teams, holding opponents to fewer than 60 points per game. The Flyers could pull off the upset if the defense holds and if last season’s A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, forward Charles Little, steps up his game.

Rivals/Yahoo:

Why you should watch: The Flyers have played surprisingly well and look as if they’ll be a contender in the Atlantic 10. A victory over Pitt, though, and Dayton becomes a team that could stay in the top 25 all season.
The buzz: Pitt has used its usual modus operandi – tough defense and dominating play in the paint – to get off to a fast start. Big men DeJuan Blair and Sam Young are an effective duo, and point guard Levance Fields has been excellent. Dayton also is playing good defense, but the Panthers will be the best team the Flyers have seen this season. Freshman F Chris Wright must hold his own in the low block and also stay out of foul trouble for Dayton to have a chance.
Spotlight player: Dayton senior guard Brian Roberts is underrated nationally and is playing at an extremely high level this season. He’s the Flyers’ only real long-range threat. Pitt’s perimeter defense has been outstanding.

Fox Sports:

The Panthers are coming off a huge win against Duke, but this atmosphere will be even tougher. The Flyers are one of the nation’s hottest programs.

(h/t: Raise the Jolly Roger for the links)

Just writing this post has made me a bit more nervous that I was 20 minutes ago. It will certainly be a tough game, but this isn’t the kind of team to get a big head and walk into UD expecting to easily win. Just keep Roberts in check and I think we’re in good shape. Tipoff is at 8:00 on ESPN2. Go Pitt.

The verbal of Lamar Patterson is a good start for the 2009 recruiting class.

The 6’5” wing, who can play both small forward and shooting guard at the college level, is an excellent outside shooter that can score from all over the floor, and he is very athletic. Others who offered included Penn State, Minnesota, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami and Michigan.

Right now, Patterson is a 3-star prospect according to the two primary recruiting sites. I expect that he will increase in “stars” as he gets more exposure.

He has good shooting range and scored 40 points in a game earlier this season. Hoopscoop.com ranks him as the 78th-best player in the Class of 2009, and 23rd among small forwards.

He was selected to participate in the Philly Rbk U camp this summer and made an impression at the U-16 tournaments. Lamar is also the younger brother of former Syracuse QB Perry Patterson.

It’s been a while since a team with as high a national ranking as Pitt’s has traveled to Dayton.

UD hasn’t had a visit from a team ranked sixth or higher since a memorable 72-71 victory over No. 3 DePaul on Feb. 18, 1984.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for us,” UD Athletic Director Ted Kissell said. “With nonconference scheduling being what it is, you’re just not going to get many of these (games) anymore. I think it’s going to be a very, very special environment.”

Dayton has fans. They did rank 26th nationally in attendance last year, but this will be their first full house of the season (the Xavier game in February is also sold out).

For Dayton to have a chance against Pitt, their talented freshman forward, Chris Wright will probably need to have a good game. At the very least, they will need him to play. He’s been hobbled by an ankle sprain that he didn’t tell the coaching staff about, and has lingered. At this point, he hasn’t played or practiced in over a week and will be a game time decision. I’d assume he will play and be effective, but that will keep Dayton fans a bit nervous.

Pitt, of course, has it’s own issues with injuries. Mike Cook will be replaced in the starting line-up by Gilbert Brown.

“I have to be more aggressive and be ready from the start instead of just playing fill-in minutes and giving energy to the team. I have to be more consistent with what I do.”

Brown is one of three players who will see increased playing time due to Cook’s injury. Senior Keith Benjamin, the backup shooting guard, will play more minutes at small forward. And freshman Bradley Wanamaker, who has not played since the Duquesne game Dec. 4, will see more minutes at small forward and shooting guard.

“We lose about 25 minutes a game, so there are 25 minutes available for other guys now,” Dixon said. “Obviously, Keith, Gilbert and Bradley will get those minutes. We interchange those guys a lot. We put a lot of different packages out there. We have a lot of flexibility. I know those guys are looking forward to the opportunity.”

It’s something of a minor upset that Brown gets the starting nod over Senior Guard Keith Benjamin. Dixon’s loyalty to starting seniors has been very noticeable in the past (John DeGroat being the most glaring example). Still, it’s hard to ignore Brown’s higher potential and size. Not to mention sticking with a forward rather than starting a three guard line-up.

Bradley Wanamaker is also likely to return to the rotation and Benjamin is saying the right things.

The injury also lands Benjamin with his biggest role since arriving at Pitt four years ago. Benjamin hasn’t played more than 21 minutes in any game since his sophomore season. Cook’s injury leaves Benjamin and Ramon as the only seniors who play.

“My voice has to be heard a little bit more now,” Benjamin said. “I have to do more things better.”

Wanamaker, who hasn’t played since the Dec. 5 Duquesne game, will switch to shooting guard, where he can show some of the skills that made him a standout Philly high school player, and some small forward.

“It’s not going to be too much of an adjustment for him,” Dixon said.

Shame Darnell Dodson couldn’t qualify academically. He definitely would have gotten some of the freed-up minutes.

Interesting note from Fittipaldo’s Q&A today about Dixon and former AD Jeff Long.

… Let me say this: Dixon is very comfortable now that Steve Pederson is the athletic director again. Pederson and Dixon have a very good relationship. Dixon’s relationship with Jeff Long was strained to the point that they almost never spoke. When Dixon was entertaining offers from Arizona State and Missouri a few years ago, he phoned Pederson, who was the athletic director at Nebraska at the time, for advice. Pederson reminded Dixon that he was in a very good situation at Pitt, and Dixon opted to stay and a sign a long-term extension.

That doesn’t mean Pitt fans don’t have to worry about Dixon leaving now that Pederson is back. The more Pitt wins the more other programs looking for a coach will put the full-court press on for Dixon. It comes with the territory of having a perennial top 25 program.

Here are the Pitt Game Notes (PDF). Dayton hasn’t put theirs out at this time.

Ray from the excellent Flyers Fieldhouse Blog contacted me about doing a little Q&A after the Pitt-Duke game — he apparently couldn’t sleep. I fired off the first questions.

1. Brian Roberts seems to have picked up where he left up last year, but with a couple more assists per game. Freshman Chris Wright appears to be as good as his recruiting ranking. So, who else should Pitt fans be wary/get to know on this Dayton squad?

I’ve been overwhelmed by the transformation of Charles Little over the past year. Charles was the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year last year, and still comes off the bench. He’s currently averaging about 7 points and 5 boards per night, but that doesn’t even begin to do justice to the player he’s become. At 6-6 and 230, the guy is built like a prototypical tight end, and moves like one, too. The problem used to be he’d get in foul trouble for being too physical, rather than relying on everything he’d been taught. This year he’s moving without the ball better, posting up better, and taking his man off the dribble better as well. He’s a matchup problem for nearly anyone he sees.

He still can’t shoot free throws to save his life. I think he’s gotten bored and is actually trying to fire them through the backboard.

2. Dayton’s tempo is not that of a run-and-gun team. Is it based primarily on a hard, tough defense or from a deliberate, half-court, set offense? How has Dayton been able to control the pace of games against opponents?

While they don’t prefer to run and gun, they can get it up there if need be. But you’re right; we’d rather slow it down and make teams beat us from the perimeter if at all possible. Someone the number of passes on the offensive end have made me feel like we’re watching Hoosiers. And it’s very effective; they won’t settle for bad shots. They’re perfectly content to keep on lobbing it around until they get the shot that they (and Brian Gregory) want.

On defense, we haven’t played much zone. The athletes on the floor almost demand you play an up front, physical man-to-man. This makes it hard to get off shots that are both quick and high-percentage. I’ve always been a proponent of the effectiveness of a good 2-3 zone in the college game, but I can’t argue with results. The Flyers have held teams to a very low percentage from the floor.

3. I’ve heard and read rumblings of dissatisfaction with the overall performance by Coach Brian Gregory. Can you explain the reason(s)? Is it his personality, style of play and/or not meeting expectations? Is this a make or break year for him with the talent on the team? What kind of impact do you think adding Anthony Solomon to the coaching staff is/will have on the team from a coaching/preparation/recruiting standpoint?

I’ll admit that I’ve always been the first to question Brian Gregory. The problem in my eyes had been the development of athletes into players. We’re finally beginning to see the type of real players that Brian Gregory saw when he recruited these kids. They’re smart and disciplined, and that’s the first sign to me that Brian Gregory is finally getting through. I think the recruits that Brian has brought in, coupled with his enthusiasm and dedication to the program, have bought him several more years. But, in the end, we need to keep seeing the results in the W column.

I think Anthony has been great for this staff. He was in a virtual no-win situation at St. Bonaventure. The fact that he managed to help keep that program alive after Weldergate is a credit to his worth as a coach. He has east coast ties, which is great for recruiting. Also, it never hurts to have a former A-10 head coach in your ear when you’re preparing for the conference slate. Excellent hire, in my opinion.

4. The A-10 has had well-deserved attention so far this season with Dayton, Rhode Island, Xavier and UMass all scoring some quality wins. That said, with 14 teams it seems that the A-10 is nearly as unwieldly as the Big East. Peering into your Crystal Ball, how do you see the A-10 looking in 5 years?

To be honest, I hope to cut back down to 12 teams. I liked the addition of Charlotte and Saint Louis, but as you said, the conference is just too saturated right now. It’s really hard for teams to rise above the middle of the pack in such a large conference, as the conference slate is almost big to avoid notching four or five losses. This is fine in a conference with the repute of the Big East, but the A-10 is not of that caliber from top to bottom. If you don’t separate from the pack, getting the attention of the selection committee is a tall task.

That said, booting any teams from the conference is something that is bound to end up in court. Say we take two perennially in the cellar, like St. Bonaventure and La Salle. It’s not like they have a conference they could jump to that will match the revenues they’re sharing now in the A-10. Unfortunately, I think the room is bound to remain crowded for the foreseeable future

Look for his questions and my answers later today.

Pitt moved up to #8 in SI.com’s Luke Winn’s Power Rankings, with the focus on the P-G puffer on Levance Fields and the same bit I liked (do I need to revise my view?).

ESPN.com’s Power Poll puts Pitt at #6.

Pitt’s big rally — and the big Fields 3 against Duke showed skill and fortitude. Losing Mike Cook is a downer. Resolution: Get to the free-throw line more. Also, take smiling lessons from DeJuan Blair.

In a less related note, Aaron Gray has moved up in attention among NBA rookies.

This 10th spot seems to be reserved for the one-week wonders. This week it’s the Bulls’ big man out of Pitt. Given three straight games of at least 20 minutes, Gray responded by averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. Of course, he came back to earth on Saturday (and Big Ben returned to the lineup), so if the pattern holds up, Gray’s stay in the rankings might be short-lived.

After Kevin Durant, the rookie pool has been a little low on impact so far. That has meant the “role player” rookies are actually doing more.

Among players who weren’t lottery picks but have started to carve out a niche in the league are Miami’s Daequan Cook, New Jersey’s Williams, Detroit’s Arron Afflalo, Boston’s Glen Davis, Utah’s Kyrylo Fesenko and Chicago’s Gray, who looks like the best bargain value of the 2007 crop.

According to Boston’s Doc Rivers, the current draft culture hurt the 7-footer out of Pittsburgh most, because teams started poking holes at his game instead of concentrating on what he could do. What he can do is establish a presence inside, gain position and bang the offensive boards.

A lot of reports have been saying that for a while, that the Pitt commit plays tough gritty defense. That he scraps for balls and will be a perfect fit in the way Pitt plays the game, and the Big East play. What also has become clear is that Pitt found a player who was under the radar a bit and got him before he was fully appreciated by other coaches.

During the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, the attention was on the top names like Greg Monroe and Samardo Samuels. Robinson still got noticed.

On a night where Pittsburgh basketball fans had plenty to be happy about after a big overtime win over Duke, the Panther faithful would have been elated to see Nasir Robinson in action. The future Pitt player scored 26 points (10-12 FG, 6-8 FT) and grabbed 11 rebounds in an 83-69 win over Scott County (Ky.).

Robinson’s trademark is his grit, motor and tough-as-nails attitude on the floor and it was all present on Thursday night.

Robinson actually helped lead his team into the championship game before falling to Samuels’ St. Benedict team, and was named to the all-tournament team. Robinson is expected to come in to Pitt and back-up Sam Young at power forward next season, but it seems that he has been flashing an ability to be out on the wing at small forward well.

Nasir Robinson 6-foot-6 WF Chester (Pa.) – All-Tourney Performer is one tough customer. He showed range to the arc, but is at his best attacking hoop off the dribble. He led Chester to final in Fort Myers including a 26-point and 11-rebound outburst versus Scott County in the quarters. Look for him to add immediate depth at Pittsburgh next fall.

Versatility like that would be tremendous for Pitt, not to mention help him get into the rotation.

Well, at least new/old AD Pederson recognizes that getting fans into Heinz Field is a priority. Frankly, we can bitch about the pricing plans and all the gimmicks, but fans will show when they believe in the team and/or the team is winning. It’s the simple answer. They can offer promotions. Make prices better. Cut the costs for the parking lots. It doesn’t matter if the fans don’t think the team has a chance in the games.

Personally, I find SI.com’s Stewart Mandel’s singling out Pitt as a potential surprise team for next year, a bit of a scary thing.

As for the Kansas comparison … take your pick. The Jayhawks went 7-5 and 6-6 the two seasons prior to this one. Next year’s Kansas could be South Carolina (8-5 and 6-6). Or Oklahoma State (7-6 and 6-6). Or any number of other middle-of-the-pack teams. I think if I had to put money on somebody, however, it would be … Pittsburgh. Obviously, as evidenced against West Virginia, the Panthers were a much better team by the end of the year than their 5-7 record indicated (they also beat top-20 Cincinnati). They finished with the No. 7 defense in the country, they’ve got a heck of a budding star in tailback LeSean McCoy, while Dave Wannstedt has recruited extremely well since he’s been there. His three-year record so far: 16-19. Mangino’s record the three years before this one: 17-18.

Other than those nagging questions at O-line and QB sure.

Yeah, getting Josh Jenkins would be nice on the O-line. I’m not sure the WV psyche could take losing a Parkersburg native and one of the few quality players in-state to Pitt. If they attacked Kicker Pat McAfee’s car and started conspiracy theories about Rodriguez throwing the Pitt game (or at least already mulling an offer), well Jenkins and his family may have to move out of state if he goes to Pitt.

Now, it’s hard for many to root for the Cleveland Browns to make the playoffs, but maybe just a little hope since Darnell Dinkins is still on the team.

Highest draft potential listing I’ve seen for Jeff Otah as the 19th best player in the draft?

Jay Bilas was impressed by what he saw from Pitt on the court and, well, on the court. He gave “1st team honor roll” kudos to both Levance Fields and DeJuan Blair, but also another moment (Insider subs.).

Heartwarming: Watching a young man go down with a season-ending injury is gut wrenching. But there can be heartwarming moments out of tragic situations, and we all witnessed one last Thursday when Pittsburgh’s Mike Cook went down with a catastrophic knee injury in overtime against Duke. With Cook on the floor writhing in pain and knowing that his season was over, Coach Jamie Dixon kneeled over Cook and held his hand through the ordeal. All the while, with the game on the line, Pitt’s assistants kept the team together and focused in the huddle while Dixon attended to his injured player. After the game, Dixon could barely hold back tears while he worried about Cook, his status and how he was feeling. Don’t tell me how it’s all about winning. It’s all about people. Dixon demonstrates that over and over again. It’s just too bad that a young man got hurt. Speedy recovery, Mike Cook. You are and have been an outstanding and courageous player. It has been a pleasure to watch you play and fight on the floor.

As Ray Fittipaldo noted in a Q&A, Dixon has growing national respect in the game, and things like that are also why the players are always with him.

Levance Fields took home Big East Player of the Week honors while DeJuan Blair was Rookie of the Week. It’s the second straight week that Blair took Rookie honors (oddly enough Donte Green of Syracuse had the first 2 weeks, then Dominique Jones of USF the next 2 before Blair) and the second Pitt player to get POW honors (Young in Week 1).

SIOnCampus.com has Levance Fields leading off their Dean’s List this week.

Levance Fields has got a huge pair of cajones. That’s what you’ve got to have when your team is down by two points to Duke with 4.7 seconds left in overtime and you decide to jack up a three-pointer. Then you’ve to have the skills to actually make the shot. The Pittsburgh guard has those, too. Thanks to his awesome performance in Pitt’s 65-64 win over Duke at the Garden on Thursday, Fields is this week’s Dean’s List Player of the Week. He dropped 21 points on the Blue Devils, but none as exciting as the last three. And what’s more impressive is that he did it minutes after his best friend and teammate, Mike Cook, basically snapped his left knee. Okay, to recap, Levance Fields has cajones, skills and composure.

Levance Fields gets the puff piece over the holiday as the guy trying to do much off the court. The best part to me, though, was having a sense of humor about the fan abuse on the road.

Chants of “taser” and “stun gun” were constants throughout the games against the Dukes and Huskies. Athletes often say they can’t hear what the crowd is saying, but Fields heard them loud and clear.

“It’s funny, but I try to hold it in,” said Fields, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior. “I don’t want to let them know I’m laughing about it. You never want to be in that situation. You’d rather just be booed. But it is what it is. I can’t change anything. I can’t do anything about it. I know crowds are going to do that, so I’m prepared for it. It doesn’t bother me. I just try to get the win. If we do that, at the end of the day, they can chant whatever they want.”

The Pitt win over Duke is one that may actually shift perceptions of Pitt more than thought.

This was so unlike Pitt basketball, taking the daring three when a two could extend the game. Pitt displayed a new-found balance throughout the game, which will carry over through the season. This edition of the Panthers has more talent than any other of the Jamie Dixon/Ben Howland era, and as a result they will be the type of team that can truly contend.

Levance Fields also took the lead honors in the ESPN.com Weekly Watch as Player of the Week. Not surprisingly, Pitt is also on the upset alert list with the Saturday Night game on ESPN2 with Dayton. The Flyers are a better team than last year, and a coach that needs to get his team into the NCAA or face job questions. This is his best team, but the Flyers have fallen short and the fans have never warmed to Gregory.

The Pitt-Dayton game also made the weekly 5 to watch from Rivals.com. Even before the loss of Mike Cook, this would be an upset watch.

The loss of Cook, means more attention on Gilbert Brown. The redshirt freshman was expected to come along as the back-up to Cook, but is now under the microscope.

Player to watch this week: Redshirt freshman Gilbert Brown is the likely successor to Pitt small forward Mike Cook, who was lost for the year with a knee injury in the Panthers’ big comeback win against Duke. Brown is an extraordinary athlete who can give his team a new dimension, though he can’t be expected to have the same level of creative ability as Cook. Brown will face his first full test in an 8 p.m. Saturday road game at Dayton.

Believe me, everyone has this game on Saturday on the potential upset list. Dayton is actually a pretty good team, and with a very talented freshman of their own by the name of Chris Wright.

Meanwhile Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com can’t stop gushing over DeJuan Blair.

3. DeJuan Blair is my favorite player in the country

There, I said it. It started this past April at an AAU tournament in Pittsburgh. His team was playing the Gauchos, a tough group out of New York. The two teams got into an altercation in which haymakers could have been thrown, but Blair, with a smile on his face, assumed the role of peacemaker and broke up the potential brawl all by himself. This is a kid who has overcome a pair of torn ACLs (the summer of his freshman year and again as a sophomore) and is probably no taller than 6-foot-7. However, Blair plays with as much passion and smiles more than anyone in the country, and he’s a load in the paint.

Goodman also takes note of how Pitt has done under Dixon, and how well the hiring of Herrion could play out.

…but it’s still hard to ignore a 106-30 career mark. Dixon could also benefit from the addition of veteran assistant Tom Herrion to his staff. Herrion could be the Larry Shyatt of the Panthers. Shyatt was instrumental in the Gators’ success after Billy Donovan brought the former Clemson coach on board. Herrion averaged 20 wins per season at Charleston, but was fired after a rift with the AD.

That may be a bit optimistic, but I wouldn’t be complaining.