The NYC media finds its two themes for the game tomorrow.
There is the previously discussed: Blair and Kennedy are close friends and played together at Schenley.
Then there is the Pitt has battled injuries, but keeps winning.
After losing two more players who play minor roles, and the Panthers’ roster reads like a sign-up sheet in the emergency room. Yet Pittsburgh has pushed ahead behind Dixon’s optimism and his mantra of no excuses, even though the extenuating circumstances are plentiful.
“Even when guys went down, he believed,†Ramon said of Dixon. “He believed in guys who hadn’t done this before. He kept teaching and put his trust out there and believed in us even more. He didn’t say we’d just do the best we can.â€
There have been adjustments, which only add to the tale.
The team’s practices have become more finesse than physical, with the fear of losing another player being far too real. Dixon even had to bring aboard a Division II transfer, Ryan Tiesi, who scored 4.2 points a game for Bellarmine University last season, just to have enough bodies to practice effectively.
Dixon said that other coaches, friends of his, told him that he might as well forget about the rest of the season. “But I had seen our guys in practice and knew we had answers,†Dixon said. “You have to go with your heart. I felt we had the players to make it work.â€
Pitt does need a road win. Beating USF hardly counts, and no one wants to lose two in a row.
Pitt, stinging from a 62-59 loss at Cincinnati, is 1-2 on the road in Big East games. The Panthers will need a victory at St. John’s to avoid losing two games in a row for only the sixth time under Dixon, spanning 153 games.
“This is a great time to show people that we can win on the road,” said Benjamin, averaging 16.0 points per game since moving into the starting lineup for injured Levance Fields. “You have to win games on the road and this is a good time to win one.”
Also, schedule and record-wise, this and the Rutgers games are must wins. Pitt is heading for a brutal second half — ‘Nova, @UConn, WVU, Providence, @Marquette, @ND, L-ville, Cinci, @Syr and @WVU. Even at full strength it wouldn’t have been outrageous for Pitt to lose 3 or 4 of those games.
