Great 2 point take down, Dan Gable would be proud

Ever.

Clean play. Just glad Thabeet didn’t get hurt more seriously. Won’t be surprised if Blair has a shiner for the next game. He looked like a boxer with his eye swollen shut during the post-game interview with Bilas.

Dana White was impressed, I’m sure. If not the NBA, maybe the UFC for Blair??

Brutally awesome. I’m glad Thabeet was able to shake it off though. He could have been seriously hurt.

I also liked when Blair caught his own blocked shot and got a basket anyway.

these comments are half of why i love pitt so much. two out of five saying that they’re glad that our rival’s star didn’t get seriously hurt. we aren’t the assholes at duke who cheer while a player is writhing in pain on the court.

great win for pitt. lets keep goin all the way through march. hail to pitt!

That looked like a text book Judo throw. Great game, Pitt should be able to take these next three games. It would be nice to have only two losses going into the Marquette and UConn games. If Pitt wins 4 out of 5 that should almost secure a #1 seed for the tournament. Great win.

BTW – Great article in the Times focusing on Shane Battier and how some basketball executives are following the “Moneyball” paradigm from baseball. Also shows how intangibles and intelligence can often supersede talent. I thought it could be applied appropriately to what Dixon has done with this program. Would also like to see the Pirates follow a similar path, relying on sense instead of cents:

link to nytimes.com

Check the headlines on CNNSI and ESPN…CNNSI has “THE BIGGER THEY ARE” while ESPN has “HARDER THEY FALL”. Are these guys working with each other now.

It is what it is! It was a mauling of UCONN and that little video gives the world a glimpse of the strength of this PITT team and its Big Guy. If Thabeet had been hurt it would have cast a pall on this game. But I have to keep telling myself it was Thabeet committing the foul over that big back that got him in trouble. It was nice to see Fella go over to show his concern as Thabeet left the floor. With Thabeet coming right back in, I sure felt better and it then set the tone – PITT simply manhandled UCONN and UCONN had no answer. Calhoun was complimentary of PITT in the comments I saw. He knew UCONN was simply outplayed tonight.
This game proves you don’t have to score 100 points to be a truly great team. PITT is it in my mind for this week. It was an awesome display of NCAA Div 1 at its finest. Imagine the RPI impact… You had to know JD would have them sky high for this game! Hail to PITT!!

Wonder what the top 5 will look like now.

Bring on Oklahoma and UNC! Pitt showed it can match up well with the two teams above them in the rankings.

I have just watched that video 12 consecutive times.

What a game and what a win tonight. Levance Fields wins the Lloyd Christmas “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!” award.

And also, the good news keeps coming in. On the Subway Nightly Sports call, Pomp said that he had sources who indicated that Wanny is getting cold feet over hiring Mazzone.

Hmmm……….. Wonder how he would look in Black & Gold muscling across the center as a tight end……………. !?!?

pittjd – I don’t see how anyone–even the UNC lovers, could not put Pitt back in the #1 slot. That was a GREAT win last night.

Case in point…Pitt could’ve flopped when UConn went ahead with just a few minutes remaining. People would’ve said, “they played a tough game, but the Huskies were too strong, too deep, and Pitt’s offense let them down–again.” But the Panthers showed them…three 3’s by Pitt’s guards, to go ahead for good.

Pitt could ride #1 all the way into the BE tourney–if they want.

This is from the Courant reporter who has gotten into trouble w/Calhoun in the past. He is grinding salt into the wound:

link to courant.com

It was an awkward play. If taken out of context, people could get the impression that Blair was in some way malicious. I hope not. He went up to Thabeet afterward to check if he was alright. There are plenty of Blair highlights from the game that I hope make it into circulation more than this play…Anywho, I’m walking on sunshine this morning. Zipadee dooda, zipadee ay…

what will PITT be ranked if we win saturday?????

This is another in the series “Mr. Blair Teaches Basketball.” Today’s lesson is rebounding. Get two hands on the ball and pull the ball in. Flip-flop and boom. Class, are there any questions?

Blair’s rebounding didn’t surprise me, but the variety of post moves did. Those are shots he would have missed last year. He was incredible and with every bucket he scored all I could do was think selfishly of how his NBA stock was rising. Before last night, I felt like he’d be around another year, but I’m not so sure anymore. Can only hope that it makes a difference that he’s enjoying playing at home and basking in this town’s adoration (and hanging out with Santonio).

You don’t expect to win a game when the contribution from the supporting cast is so miniscule, but that happened last night. Jermaine Dixon played great D and hit big free throws and a huge trey, but nobody else (Gibbs, Wanamaker, Brown, McGhee, Robinson) could hit anything or keep from turning the ball over.

But the stars were good enough to get it done. We all know what Blair did, Young played a really ballsy game and Fields made a couple plays when it counted. (He also must be seeing Kemba Walker in his sleep — that kid haunted him.)

Love to finish by taking 4 out of the final 5……..

Colt Convet, I agree — with a little over 7 minutes remaining, UConn had its biggest lead, the momemtum, and a screaming crowd to support them. Pitt then outscored them 25 to 12. It was tied with 3 minutes and change when Pitt made 3 3-point shots (I heard on TV that Pitt’s guards were something like 1 for 16 prior) …. while UConn really didn’t get any good shots off until the very end when the game was decided.

Of all the good of what happened last noght, I am proudest of how the team played in crunch time

I was glad to see that our guys made their free throws, and made them hurt. Too often in the past the and-1 plays came up as just “And…” Tonight, especially after the block/drive/foul play between Thabeet and Blair, they made the freebies. Then again at the end of the game they kept hitting their shots in garbage time, keeping any comeback out of reach. Great to see!

H2P!

Dejuan is such an amazing player to watch. His enthusiasm, attitude, and hard work are an absolute pleasure to watch…we should all fully enjoy him while he is here. He makes everyone around him better.

Go Pitt!

Is there any reason why the Post Gazette isnt saying a word about Cavanaugh or a possible replacement? They have been absolutely silent???

Has DW acknowledged anything?

[…] The flip. It was as physical a statement you could hope to see that any fear or intimidation would be held […]

I watched that play a lot of times also – it was a great rebound – but Blair grabbed the UCONN player’s lower arm with his right hand and flipped him over. You can clearly see the ball is in Blair’s left hand only.

I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt him – and he did establish his ‘space’ – but that was by no means a clean play, and Blair should have been called for it.

Come on, your out of your mind Reed. I also noticed that Blair’s right hand was not on the ball…but Thabeet was clearly over his back and he was trying to chuck him off. Clean play in my book and to call a foul on Blair would have been absurd.

If you’re going to break it down in to discrete pieces, then a foul would have to be called on Thabeet first. By the time Blair gains possession of the rebound, Thabeet is stuck with his arm reaching over Blair’s shoulder and Thabeet still has his hand on or close to the ball.

There’s no doubt Blair rips the ball away and uses his right hand to pull Thabeet over — that’s the price Thabeet pays for not getting the board and leaving his (tree) limb extended. You play much ball, you get used to hand-to-hand combat under the hoop and you learn not to stick your arms in places they’re not wanted.

Yes, you do – but when he actually closed his hand around the wrist of the other guy – it’s a foul. Up to that point they can pretty much beat the other guy to pieces.

If all he wanted to do was roll him off he would have two handed the ball, lifted his right elbow to create extension and brought his outside shoulder up and back around to shed the opponent. Classic BB move.

Coming from a Louisville fan: HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR. This was the best thing I’ve seen happen in CBB this year. Dejaun Blair is one of my favorite players, such a beast!

^^^ I meant left elbow above – but you get my point.

The foul was on Thabeet, not Blair. I get your point though, I just don’t think you call that.