So, Dan Jennings signed verballed to WVU. Grumble, didn’t want him anyways. Grumble, Pitt got Dante Taylor, so there. Yeah, that means Pitt will be pushing even harder to get Thomas Robinson.
Silly lists? You bet. SI.com does “Fearless predictions” with Luke Winn.
15. Under-appreciated soph most ready to become a household name, Part II: DeJuan Blair, Pitt. Local boy was quietly a beast last year in a league full of quality big men. He might be the best offensive rebounder in the country.
Taking things too seriously? How about complaining about a ridiculously early top-25 poll and maybe a 3 spot difference? A Pitt fan e-mailed Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline about putting Pitt at #8 rather than at least #5.
So we’re essentially arguing over three spots in my Ridiculously Early But Still Kind of Fun Preseason Top 25 (and one) that was published last month, correct? If so, wow. And God bless you! Because it’s folks like you — folks who care about this sport 365 days per year and to a somewhat questionable degree — who keep me going 365 days per year (and provide potential editions of Dear Gary for every single one of them).
Anyway, back to Pitt.
You saw that I have the Panthers eighth, right?
That means we’re pretty close in our assessments, though I fully acknowledge a reasonable person could place the Panthers higher because I agree with you that Pitt is “primed for a huge year.” In fact, I’m starting to wonder when Pitt won’t be “primed for a huge year” considering Jamie Dixon’s track record and the way he’s recruiting.
Dixon is now five years in at Pitt, for those unfamiliar.
He’s made the NCAA tournament every season.
He’s won at least 20 games every season.
And now he has a Top 10 (or perhaps even a top five) team ready to compete for the Big East title, and recruiting is also going well considering Pitt just picked up a commitment from Dante Taylor, a 6-foot-8 McDonald’s All-American candidate who chose the Panthers over Syracuse, Kansas and Connecticut. In other words, Dixon has continued what Ben Howland started and made Pitt one of the more stable programs in America, and it’s comical in hindsight that the school was at least exploring the possibility of hiring anybody other than Dixon when Howland moved to UCLA in 2003.
Let’s, uh, keep the sanity somewhere near the keyboard.
Additionally the crowd at most games is extremely lame. The big games have great crowds. Georgetown this past season and the WVU game Krauser’s last season were outstanding. Unfortunately the fans are terrible most of the time. The majority show up half way through the first half and don’t even watch the game. It’s like a Lakers crowd.
In fact, you can blame the awful turnout for last year’s loss to Rutgers. If the crowd would have gotten involved in that game, then there is no way we lose.
I hope this season is different. Given the high expectations and considerable success off the court, it should be. It is up to the people that decide to come. There is no reason why the crowd can’t be into all the games and not just the marquee matchups. The product has been consistenly excellent and the fans should appreciate it. It wasn’t always like this.
Pitt is ranked 44 among all time most prestigious basketball programs by ESPN. Take that for what you will.
Unfortunately I have to agree with Omar on the current crowd at the Pete.
A few years back, I attended the Steelers playoff game against the Browns, then the next day went to the Pete for the game against Georgetown. The Pete was far louder and more electric. But that was before the reseating. Now, the only adults down low are those that gave a ton of money. There’s only a few of us that aren’t too concerned with our image, that we make noise.
