Part of me wants to put this loss on some karmic payback for Nova douchebaggary and the whole stupidity over Pitt alumni in Philly having a pregame event and watching the game in a “Villanova bar.”
That, however, is unfair to the Pitt players and the effort they put forth to knock off the Wildcats 57-54. And thus endeth a distorted winning streak at one of two spots where Villanova plays home games
It wasn’t always there, but Pitt was the better team. More complete. More confident. More composed. Definitely more mature. It was one of those games where all those frustrating, hard to define, unquantifiable intangibles
And no one had more of it tonight than Nasir Robinson.
Last year, half the fanbase wanted him to transfer. The other half seemed to just see him as overmatched, with talent (or size) that didn’t match the demands or needs of the team. Now, he’s a glue, energy guy. Not the best player out there. Not the most versatile. But a lynchpin.
In the last two games, he has been huge. Tonight against Villanova, coming back home. When family and friends were right there, he also played so smart.
When Nas is out there. He can get a wild look. Almost crazy eyes, but he showed that his passion and energy is not unfocused. When Armwood took that cheap shot punch at him, he didn’t retaliate. He didn’t flip out. He made sure the refs knew. He then continued to make Villanova pay in the game. Outplaying, outworking and being on the team that came away with the win.
“He reached over [Villanova center Mouphtaou] Yarou and punched me. He reached directly over Yarou. It was a cheap shot.”
But the Panthers remained low-drama and just took care of business, the Chester-bred Robinson said:
“Something like that happens everyday in practice. They stop practice, ’cause of busted noses and eyes and everything.
“I kept my head, kept away from techs, and let the refs handle it.”
That turned things for Pitt. The entire teams seemed to find its focus. Not trying to start a brawl. Not trying to do more than they needed. Just to simply beat the Wildcats.
Woodall bounced back from a dismal first half, to play a fantastic second half. Handling the attempts to pressure the ball. Making the passes, playing defense.
Gil Brown — late game miscues with the ball and offensive struggles aside — played fantastic, frustrating defense on Corey Fisher. Getting him out of his game and making stupid mistakes and fouls.
Wanamaker thought Brown frustrated Fisher:
“Gil’s very athletic and long and he’s got a couple inches on him. He was trying to make it tough on him early on. You could tell it affected Fiisher a little. He tried to force things.
Then there was Brad Wanamaker. He started hot, and then did everything he could in the second half to help Pitt get the win.
Wanamaker, from Philadelphia Roman Catholic, had 21 points. Robinson, from nearby Chester, had 15.
“This game means a lot to me,” said Wanamaker, a senior who was playing in front of friends and family. “Anytime you can come and play well and win it’s special. I was a Villanova fan growing up.”
And Coach Dixon loved what he got from Robinson and Wanamaker.
“Our Philly guys played like Philly guys,” Dixon said afterward. “That’s why I’ll be staying in Philly and recruiting [Sunday].”
While Pitt didn’t get the usual domination in rebounding (actually beaten on the glass) and there weren’t a lot of assists credited to Pitt, they did all hard work on defense to give them the game.
It was the kind of gut-it-out-win that makes columnists dream of Houston. Not to mention take the home crowd out of it, to the bitter frustration of the Nova partisans.
Same old Big East hating. It gets old.
Had to check out that vile-nova blog. Calls the game a “suckfest,” bemoans lack of fan support and slinks away to Kelly’s to cry into his Yuenglings:
Pitt also won despite the absence of scoring from AShton and Gilbert.
While we may despise Gottlieb’s comments, there has been a long time concept that the reason Pitt does well in the BE but not necessarily in the NCAA is that they are built for competing in the BE
But as Bilas continues to harp on, Pitt is a program structured for long term success … and I really like being a Pitt fan
On Texas’ loss to Pitt, the FIRST time I’ve heard it mentioned was on sports center after the game. Why is that not talked about?
Great win, but why would we expect anything else?
Don’t care about rankings in February. In fact, I’d rather fly under the radar and have us play with a chip on our shoulder the rest of the way. This is an elite team that can win any type of game in any venue. Shootout or brawl. At the Pete or on the road. That is how you win in March. Nothing is a guarantee, but I’m very excited about our prospects moving forward.
Am I wrong? In trying to block the heartbreak if many of these games from my memory, have I forgotten that part of it too?
They were 18-50 in FG’s, 15-20 in FT’s and had 12 TO’s.
After the Big East’s performance in the tourney last year, I understand Gottlieb’s comments. However, I think this team is far from one dimensional and more than a couple of guys can step up when needed. Gil Brown was horrid offensively, but he contributed mightily to Novas 18 for 50 performance. We missed way to many open shots and free throws, otherwise this game would not have been close
This was a great win. Keeps us ahead with tough road games at St. Johns and Louisville ahead.
Pitt has gotten plenty of love from ESPN analysts the last few years. When Bob Knight calls a game its almost a little embarrassing how much he drools over Dixon and the team. I think that Gottleib is usually a pretty good analyst and I respect most of what he says. I disagree with how quick he is to dismiss Pitt, but the reality is we have to get the job done to shut him up.
Great win. Who honestly thought we’d come out of the week with 2 big wins with Gibbs out of the lineup.
Now the dilemma .. yesterday, I watched most of the 2nd half of the OSU-Wisc game and what I saw was multiple players on both teams consistently making open shots …. very Gilbet Brown – unlike!! Yes, Ashton is much more reliable but the only one on the team who is. And when he may be struggling, then it is time to feed the low post … or is it??
I love the teamwork of this Pitt team and think, especially with its quality depth, that it can make a run in the NCAAs, but it only takes one game when they struggle offensively and/or run into a great performance.
As to the rankings – i really don’t care since they’re merely rough approximations of where teams are in the pecking order. But for the sake of argument, my main problem is they’re all about how a team looks during one given week. If the rankings mattered, it cheapens the actual games played. To me, how could the rankings not be based on actual records? — ex. the major conference teams with the best records would be OSU or Kansas at #1 or #2; Pitt and Duke at #3 or #4. They played the games and got their wins and deserve to be ranked in this order despite how they “look” today or this week. Sure, SOS and RPI and eye tests may help indicate what could happen in the future, but the rankings should be based on what has happened.
Again, the rankings are just rough estimates, and what matters is what happens here on out. History has no bearing on how we perform, so while nothing’s certain, the notion that Pitt’s past failures to get to the final four somehow should affect where they’re ranked or what they may do in March is senseless. Everything that’s happened happened for a first time at some point — at one time Duke had never won a nat’l title, UNC had to win their first at one time, and so on — there’s no reason to believe that something that’s never happened won’t happen. So we will see.
(… i must be in a contemplative mood, channeling my inner tony robbins…)
However, this is what I like to call a ‘First World Problem’ basketball style.
Great coaching by Dixon last night. Putting Gil on Fisher was genius. Having Woodall covering a big man on a few possessions really confused ‘Nova. And recognizing that the Nasir-McGhee combo was the only bigs tandem getting anything done, and playing them big minutes, was key. Nasir deserves all the accolades he gets — every team in America would like to have him on their side. Notice next game how many loose balls under the hoop he comes up with.
Great win under difficult circumstances. Not many teams in similar situations would have grinded that one out.
It seems logical that the BE will be represented in the final 4. Could be Pitt, ND, L’ville, G’town, Syracuse; who knows? I love where we are. Smart, tough, meshing and deep.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic game to watch, especially for a game with a pretty low score.