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March 22, 2009

One of those days. The laptop abruptly has decided it might want to die on me. Now my satellite is in reset mode.

Clearly my mistake is that I haven’t been drinking enough.

It’s a good thing I don’t believe in omens or anything.

So we’ll see if I can get everthing up and running in time.

UPDATE:

Okay. Things are looking up. The laptop fired back up, shortly after halftime of the Syracuse-ASU game. Satellite is fine. All is well. At least as long as nothing goes wrong with the Mega March Madness feed.

Let’s do a liveblog. The fun will start around 2:45 pm.

You can find the link by Clicking Here.





Liveblog vs. internet game feed = iffy proposition.

Pitt is -9.5 points.

I vote for Gibbs starting instead of Biggs. Simple name inversion and a better matchup.

Comment by steve 03.22.09 @ 1:30 pm

Good D, few turnovers, watch the fouls, and attack the boards…..that’s been the recipe all year…just need to turn it on today…from out here in Portland…LET’S GO PITT!

Hail to PITT!
-al-

Comment by Oregon_Panther 03.22.09 @ 1:49 pm

“We had em all the way!@ See yunz in Boston

Comment by Dan 72 03.22.09 @ 4:02 pm

I laughed, I cried, I crapped my pants and considered taking up heroin addiction as a hobby.

It was real guys! Four more….

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 03.22.09 @ 4:04 pm

Withstood an unreal 1st-half shooting performance, Sam showed NBA-level talent…bring on Sean Miller!

Comment by jason 03.22.09 @ 4:12 pm

Unbelievable, what a tough game for the second round as a 1 seed. OSU has clearly been one of the best teams in the nation over the past month. Could have been a 2 or 3 seed if they hadn’t had the atrocious start. Great win. Hopefully the next game will be the easy one that should have been this game. I doubt it, nothing seems to come easy for this team. Keep it going guys.

Comment by Scott 03.22.09 @ 4:13 pm

So we won round 1 by 10, round 2 by 8….beat X by 6, Duke by 4, Carolina by 2, and tie Louisville in the NC game, leaving a single OT period to decide the title, right?

Comment by maz. 03.22.09 @ 4:17 pm

Pitt seems to be playing with confidence, but it would’ve been nice to have a nice, comfortable blowout by 20+ points! Where’s Stephen F. Austin when PITT needs ’em?

Survive and move on…

Comment by Colt Convert 03.22.09 @ 4:24 pm

Calling OSU a potential 2 or 3 seed is beyond generous, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was a very nice win. We took their best shot in the first half and just kept coming. I was impressed by the contributions of different role players at different times as well. I could nitpick, but I’m just gonna enjoy it for the time being.

Comment by Chris S 03.22.09 @ 4:38 pm

Good Win….

Comment by flpole 03.22.09 @ 4:38 pm

WHEW!!!! huge win……cant wait til thursday….

Comment by schoey 03.22.09 @ 4:39 pm

Fields looked healthy, that was important.

That was a BRUTAL first half where the ‘pokes nailed everything from 3 point land and had everything going their way, but we still wound up tied with them at the half. That was a good sign.

We actually rebounded this game, the turnovers weren’t quite as bad, although there were a few.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 03.22.09 @ 4:43 pm

Everyone played superb today…looked like a completely different team than Friday…great D in the second half, and Blair came up huge then, after Sam shouldered the load in the first half…and a shout out to Gary McGhee who played a few hustling minutes and didn’t give up any ground underneath…all in all, a great PITT Team victory!

Hail to PITT!
-al-

Comment by Oregon_Panther 03.22.09 @ 4:46 pm

Somebody please get the memo to Jamie Dixon before Thursday to seek out some advice on how to attack a press with the personel he has. I realize we dont have a guard that can just attack it by themselves, but the walk into it and stand around approach is killing them. Everytime Jermaine Dixon walked and dribbled across the timeline right into the trap my blood pressure soared. I cant believe these fundamental concepts arent being dealt with. Any good and sound fundamental coach, please make your way down to the Pete this week and give some advice. Someone please address this weak point and we can actually win this thing.

Comment by Z-boy 03.22.09 @ 5:06 pm

2 or 3 seed only a bit generous …. OSU was definitely a better team in the last month. Note that only 2 losses before today was to Oklahoma by 4 and Missouri in Big 12 final, and both appear to be headed ro Sweet 16.

OSU had to be frustrated though when they hit 60% including 10 for 16 from 3 pt line in 1st half ans was tied; only negative was that we couldn’t put them away until last minute.

Comment by w bill 03.22.09 @ 5:11 pm

ZBoy – this team will never “attack” a press. Best we can hope for is that they set up a decent press break and throw over it!

Comment by Dan 72 03.22.09 @ 5:34 pm

I really don’t care about them attacking the press, however, I want to see the guys without the ball come to the ball for an easier pass. When pressed, Pitt just doesn’t seem to play good help OFFENSE.

Comment by w bill 03.22.09 @ 5:44 pm

Thursday at 7:27 pm

Comment by w bill 03.22.09 @ 6:48 pm

Pitt should practice press break all week, They hesitate and walk,turnover or throw it away. You will always have some extra turnovers against the press but you should also have some easy baskets when you break it and run. Pitt doesnt take care of the run part. So it looks worse.

Comment by buzz 03.22.09 @ 6:59 pm

Great win, Ski Roundtop’s season finale: Jameson, Pramnti’s, Lager n long walks with Mary J.
Res Ipsa Loquitur

Comment by the Mayor of Harrisburg 03.22.09 @ 7:33 pm

Very strong performance. Biggest weak points: slowed it up WAY too much when they got the 9-point lead and that let OSU back in the game, and when they had that lead, failing to feed into Blair and pound away. On several possessions long jump shots were taken when Blair was literally wide open in the post.

Otherwise, Sam Young was amazing, Fields, aside from MFing stupid passes, looked much better and continues to hit HUGE clutch shots, and Ashton Gibbs showed he is going to be a huge contributor for the next few years, and that contributions from him may be essential to making a deep run.

Comment by Carmen 03.22.09 @ 7:34 pm

Great Win, Ski Roundtop’s season finale: Jameson, Primanti’s, Lager, n long walks with Mary J.
Res Ipsa Loquitur

Comment by Karl Hungus 03.22.09 @ 7:36 pm

We not blow anyone away till Jermaine Dixon picks it up. He’s been missing for a month.

Comment by alcofan 03.22.09 @ 7:58 pm

Hey tards, how was Sam Young’s body language this game? Oh wait, the same as every game. BEAST

Comment by j-maile's ghost 03.22.09 @ 8:07 pm

Excellent effort by the Panthers. If you are a fan, then you really have nothing negative to say. Pitt survived a 60% effort from three in the first half. In fact, they were tied. Ok. State didn’t give up and took the lead, and then a dagger from Sam Young. You could tell he wasn’t going to let this team lose today. Great win and on to the next round. Man, am I happy to be done with Dayton. I hope Pitt never plays another game there.

Comment by omar 03.22.09 @ 8:11 pm

Late in the game, Young was fouled and got the “and one”. If no one knew he wanted this today, he pumped his fist wildly after that – something I’ve never ever seen him do before. Like DeJuan willed a victory Friday, Sam did today.

Comment by KeyboardKev 03.22.09 @ 8:43 pm

When we were up by 9, we started settling for a lot of stupid 3s that we didn’t make and eventually OSU got back into the game.

And we still turned it over a little more than I would’ve liked.

But, we took their best punch and came out on top.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my dad 03.22.09 @ 9:08 pm

swaaagggg

Comment by Corey 03.22.09 @ 9:12 pm

“Biggest weak points: slowed it up WAY too much when they got the 9-point lead and that let OSU back in the game, and when they had that lead, failing to feed into Blair and pound away.”

You know carmen I was thinking the same thing. Oh by the way FU.

Comment by Kenny 03.22.09 @ 9:28 pm

Today’s win against OSU will hopefully be a momentum builder. We took their best shot and still won despite still not playing our “A” game. We have to attack the press and drive the stake through the heart when we get a team down 11. Today it seems we relaxed and almost let OSU back in the game. Young, Blair and Fields simply willed this win, with Gibbs adding flashes of brilliance. Wanamaker needs to take the shot, three or not when he has it. Overall, a good team effort against a strong, well coached opponent.
Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Rich 03.22.09 @ 10:22 pm

big time performance from sam young. blair and field were clutch as well. wish brown would be more assertive offensively, we need him to score 10-12 a game. gibbs and wannamaker are beyong shaky as ball handlers.

overall, great win. survive and advance baby!

Comment by scott 03.22.09 @ 10:25 pm

Great Win time to beat X & Mr. Miller. Game planning started at 6 PM Sunday night.

Comment by Tony In Harrisburg 03.23.09 @ 5:57 am

As hot as OSU was shooting the 3s, it only finish with 12 total. Pitt made 11 3s. I knew thay couldn’t keep shooting lights out. Great win! Get some rest and prepare for Xavier.

Comment by Pittastic 03.23.09 @ 6:30 am

Will be interesting to see how Dixon changes the game plan against Xavier, a much better rebounding team than OSU. He’s been primarily going with smaller line-ups recently, with Biggs sitting quite a bit, but I hope he re-thinks that against the Musketeers because of how hard they hit the boards.

Xavier also has little interest in taking long perimeter shots; they’d much rather penetrate and get to the line and feed Frease. Fields, Wanamaker and Gibbs will have to keep their men out of the lane….

Have mixed feelings about the regionals. I love the match-ups for Pitt, but I still don’t feel like this team is playing well. Blair has done a great job of staying in the game and Young is carrying them, but I feel like one average night from either of them and this run is over. I’d feel a lot better if there were a reliable third option on this team — a guy who you knew was going to get you 12-15 most nights, especially when Young isn’t hitting. I would have expected that guy to be Fields coming into the season, but don’t care who it is now. Wanamaker, Gibbs, Brown….whoever……but none of those 4 seem able to give a consistent scoring punch to the lineup.

I’m trying to be optimistic, though. If Pitt can get past Xavier, I love the Nova or Duke matchup to get to Detroit. Pitt would handle Nova this time and Duke just doesn’t have the meat to deal with Blair. Even Biggs would get some hoops inside against the Dukies.

See y’all in Boston!!!!

Comment by hugh green 03.23.09 @ 7:22 am

I agree with Hugh – I think we will see a lot more of Biggs on Thursday. I thought the move to 3 guards in the second half yesterday was another great halftime adjustment, as was the tactical shift to have defenders fight through screens rather than switch. The matchups against Xavier, however, dictate a more traditional approach, and may allow Biggs to have a much bigger role.

Does anyone have a really good scouting report on Xavier? From what I can tell, they are a tough defensive team, and they hit the boards hard – sort of like Pitt, but with less experience and probably less talented on the offensive side. That being said, I haven’t seen them play at all this year, and the stat lines can lie…

Comment by Pantherman13 03.23.09 @ 8:22 am

The thing about the Xmen is they have a negative Assist to TO ratio. This is pimarily due to their PG being a freshman first year starter. Pitt can exploit that.

Overall I am pleased that this team overcame adversity in these 2 games. I think in years past they would be out of the tourney perhaps in either game.

I kind of like the fact that this team found a way to win in both games. I am also impressed with Gibbs making shots but he has too because Dixon and Wanny are not. They both seem a little overwhelmed a bit. Hopefully they calm down in the next game because Xavier will play a slow methodical game.

Comment by Kenny 03.23.09 @ 8:45 am

Anyone else thinks that Pitt’s soft D in the first half might have been purposeful on Coach Dixon’s part. Maybe the “we can live with anything but foul trouble” scenerio had something to do with it.

Comment by Dan 72 03.23.09 @ 8:57 am

Did anyone watch Xavier play Dusquesnse? They suck.
This is the golden road for the Panthers. It may never come to pass again. They have to seize the opportunity.
And … bring in any high school coach in western PA this week to teach them how to break a friggin press.

Comment by Pitt79 03.23.09 @ 9:11 am

Dan,

I hope that’s Dixon’s actual mantra… your comment made me laugh, but it’s probably true.

Comment by Greg in New Orleans 03.23.09 @ 9:13 am

Dan, I absolutely do, at least with Blair. As far as I’m concerned, in the first half, Blair should think “move your feet, but keep your motherf@#$in’ hands to yourself ’til the second 20!”

Comment by Carmen 03.23.09 @ 9:57 am

I’m from Cincinnati, and actually attended the Xavier-UC game in December. Xavier pulled a Pitt a blew a huge lead–they were up something like 17 and let UC get within 3 before they finally closed it out and won by 10. Other than that, I haven’t really watched Xavier, but it would seem that they’re prone to the same kind of scoring droughts that we are. They were not guaranteed the win until there was less than a minute left, and only then because they made their free throws.

Also, Tim Higgins reffed and there were 6 technicals called. That’s not really relevant, but I found it ridiculous enough to mention.

Comment by JS 03.23.09 @ 10:10 am

I think the defensive game plan yesterday went something like this:
– let them shoot 3’s. Don’t foul. Don’t let them get by you. Sag a little to cut off the lanes, but don’t foul and don’t give up the easy 2.

It was frustating as hell when they were hitting the 3’s but seemed to work out OK. The only thing I would have suggested was to quit doubling the ball because someone was always WIDE open.

And did Gilbert really foul the guy on the 4 point play? Didn’t look like it on TV.

Comment by KeyboardKev 03.23.09 @ 10:58 am

Gil didn’t look like he got him. There were a couple ticky tack calls but overall I was pretty pleased with the officiating.

A healthy and somehwat efficient Levance coupled with Dixon getting just a little bit of his stroke back will get us to where we need to be assuming we stay out of foul trouble. HTP

Comment by Final Four 03.23.09 @ 12:09 pm

Dan and w bill: I should have used a different word than “attack” when talking about Pitt breaking a press. I just meant they should go about it differently than they do. I couldnt agree more with your comments about someone flashing to the ball. If you watch them, you never see anyone off the ball moving. How bout flashing Big Fella in the middle and then allowing him to pass to sidelines or down court. Would relieve alot of pressure off the backcourt. Right now all Blair does it wait down on the blocks for the ball. Unfortunately it doesnt get their enough.

Comment by Z-boy 03.23.09 @ 11:28 pm

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