I suppose it’s very frustrating, because I’m sure we can all think of just a couple plays that if Pitt hadn’t made a mistake or the ball went in, Pitt would be the winner. Instead Pitt loses 64-63.

That’s the nature of a tight loss. The “what if” game.

• What if Blair had made any of those bunnies around the basket (5-14), or even one more free throw (2-5)?
• What if Benjamin hadn’t committed that final dumb foul that put him out of the game and gave ‘Nova the and-1?
• What if Ramon hadn’t committed any number of turnovers? Or Ramon hadn’t missed the front end of a 1-and-1?

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

You can bet if Villanova had lost, their fans would be playing the same game considering the way Pitt shut down Cunningham, Reynolds, Fisher and Redding. The Villanova bench bailed out the starters in this game. Grant and Pena scored 34 points. The Wildcat starters came up with 25. I guess that’s what makes the loss frustrating. The primaries were stopped, but other ‘Nova players stepped in.

Overall, this is what has to be expected for most of the Big East schedule. Very up-and-down play. Moments where it looks like Pitt can overcome it all and moments where the team looks totally lost. I expect it will improve later in the season, but to not expect some tremendous inconsistencies over the next 2-3 weeks is not being realistic.

Teams like Villanova, Marquette, Seton Hall and Syracuse. With their strength so obviously in their backcourt will be among the teams that really force Pitt to struggle.

Of greater concern to me is that I don’t think this team is in a position to stick with a 7-man rotation. In both halves, I saw Pitt start to wear down physically as the players just couldn’t get enough of a blow on the bench. All the starters played at least 30 minutes, with Blair leading with 37 minutes. They hit a point with 7 minutes in each half, where they really seemed to lose a step. Villanova went 8 deep (technically 9, but Stokes only played 5 minutes) with at least 15 minutes of playing time. I believe that Coach Dixon knows from practice that Diggs, Frye and McGhee aren’t ready for the primary game situations; but he may not have a choice. I really worry that someone else will go down, because they are so worn out in the game, that they just take a bad step or move.

In some ways, this is what Oklahoma State endured last season. A team that started so strong, just didn’t have enough bodies because of injuries that derailed a promising season.

A couple other thoughts.

Blair needs to work on being better at positioning himself to receive the ball. The competition is better now, and without Fields, the passing not nearly as crisp. That means he needs to help make sure he has position to protect the ball on entry passes. It’s why he isn’t getting the ball as directly and more off of rebounds. Ramon at least recognizes his limitations and isn’t forcing the ball inside. It’s why Young got more balls tossed into him than Blair.

I think we can expect a lot more slower tempo games from Pitt. The good news is that Young seems willing to play in that system. He wants to run, we want him to run. Right now the team can’t, and as a leader and top player he seems to know that is playing within the present constraints.

Even without Fields, Pitt can control and impose the tempo on other teams.

The one position coach that most wanted to see go is offensive line coach Paul Dunn. He was a part of Dave Wannstedt’s original coaching staff as well as being a former Pitt player, but so far his OL unit has failed to put out the needed results. During his three seasons, the best player we saw was Jeff Otah, but other than that the O-line was mostly a disappointment.

Who might replace him? The Post-Gazette offers one name:

A replacement for Dunn has not been hired, but the top candidate is believed to be New York Jets offensive line coach Tony Wise, who is a longtime friend of Wannstedt and has been on the same staff with Wannstedt at a number of places the past 30 years, including stops in the NFL with the Cowboys, Bears and Dolphins. Wise was a graduate assistant at Pitt in the mid-1970s.

Another name that might be mentioned is current Thomas Jefferson HS head coach Bill Cherpack. He played for Pitt from 1985-89 and has had a ton of success at TJ including winning back-to-back state titles.

“His record speaks for itself as to what type of coach he is,” Panther head coach Dave Wannstedt said of Cherpak. “There’s a reason why T.J. has such a good football program.”

Don’t forget, his best player — Lucas Nix — will be playing on the OL in the near future.

Meanwhile, the hoops team is tied up at 30-30 at the half. Villanova ended the half on a very nice run, but with our roster situation I think being tied is good enough for now. More to come.

Bad news, Seth Davis at SI.com picks Pitt in his weekend picks.

DePaul is ranked 234th in the country in defensive efficiency, yet the Blue Demons shot 51.1 percent against Villanova on Thursday night. Even with Pitt suffering from injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, they have too much experience for the young ‘Cats to overcome.
Pittsburgh 72, Villanova 69

The good news, he was 7-0 in games played so far. The downside, is he has to be wrong at some point.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline apparently got a lot of e-mails from Pitt fans about the team after the injuries. He includes today’s game in the weekend watch.

Game worth driving to see in person: The sentiment from Pittsburgh fans is that everything will be fine despite injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, but I have my doubts because it’s difficult to envision too many teams not slipping after losing their second-best and fourth-best scorers. So the question isn’t whether the No. 13 Panthers will slip, but how far? Are they still a legitimate Top 15 team? Top 25? Sunday should provide some answers when Pitt visits 17th-ranked Villanova.

Part of why ‘Nova  lost to DePaul was that they were 6-26 on 3s. That was on the road. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think they’ll shoot that badly at home.

Despite the embarrassing loss by ‘Nova, some seem to think Pitt’s injuries will make it an easier game for the Wildcats.

As of two weeks ago, Sunday’s matchup looked to be a tossup, but with a depleted Pitt roster visiting the Main Line, Villanova could pick up a solid win early in Big East play.

Of course, ‘Nova is lacking one of their best inside players in Casiem Drummond who has a fracture in his foot. The game is being played at ‘Nova’s on-campus site. Pitt hasn’t won there in the last five tries (the Wachovia Center is a different issue). Despite all the questions, naturally the players and coach remain upbeat and positive.

But many national analysts are now writing the Panthers off and don’t believe they can win the conference title.

“I’m pretty sure if I was an analyst somewhere I would do the same thing,” senior Keith Benjamin said. “That’s their job. That’s what they’re supposed to do. When you lose key guys like a Levance Fields, who has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country, and Mike Cook, who is one of the best wingmen in the country, you have to write us off.

“It’s our job to try to prove them wrong. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We keep it very in-house. We know we can play basketball. We’re just going to go show them now.”

Young said he tries not to pay attention to what is being written and said about the Panthers.

“I try not to feed into that stuff,” Young said. “Coach told us he has just as much confidence in us now as he did at the beginning of the season. I still think we have a chance. It’s just a matter of people stepping up.”

The questions will not stop coming for Pitt.

4. How much trouble is Pittsburgh in? A promising season for the Panthers looks like it could get ugly quickly. Within the past two weeks, they have lost starters Levance Fields (broken foot) and Mike Cook (torn ACL), and redshirt freshman Austin Wallace (fractured patella) was lost for the season in early December. That leaves coach Jamie Dixon with nine scholarship players, and not all of them are healthy either. Senior guard Ronald Ramon, who will move over from shooting guard to replace Fields, is dealing with injuries to both of his shoulders. He’s shooting just 19.2 percent over his past four games, so maybe the Panthers will be better off if he’s thinking pass first. Pitt opens Big East play Sunday at No. 17 Villanova.

We’ll see if everyone steps up with increased minutes in a much tougher game.

The game, if you aren’t in the Pittsburgh area is on the ESPN FullCourt package. It just so happens that the week long free promotion kicked off yesterday. So, find where they are stashing those channels and you can still watch the game even if not showing in your area. (It is being shown on MSG, MASN and FoxSports-Pittsburgh.)