Butler. America’s college basketball sweetheart. Whatever. It’s game to advance to the second weekend. No jumping ahead. Fill in the cliche. One game at a time. One half at a time. One 4 minute section of the game at a time.
Not much to say other wise. As is every game at this time of the year. It’s a big one. The biggest until the next one.
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I’d rather have Wannamaker get some penetration and kick to Gibbs if he can- everything doesn’t work out like you plan. O well.
Dream on. I know he played at Pitt and all, but Arizona is an elite program, Pitt is not. Miller agonized over leaving Xavier and said he would not have left for anything less than a school that had won a national championship before, had great tradition, etc. He has Arizona returning to the big time faster than anyone could have expected. Do you really think he’s going to leave one of top 10 or so jobs in the country? Arizona has it all – facilities (mind you, he donated a quarter million of his own money to help build them) beautiful weather, a long-term deal that pays him handsomely, established recruiting connections on the east and the west, and most of all, the ability to say “Arizona” and immediately grab the attention of big-time recruits. Sorry, but he’s not coming back to Pitt. Not for a long time, at least.
Comment by Tom 03.20.11 @ 4:33 am
Call me wrong but I don’t think Tuscon, Arizona is the cat’s meow. We’re not talking Scottsdale here or even Phoenix, we’re talking Tuscon, which is getting pretty much like some Mexican city. A very high crime rate, lots of murders and 50% (conservative estimate) mexicans and illegals. I can’t remember, did Tuscon EVER get rated by any magazine as a good place to live. And correct me if I’m wrong but Pittsburgh constantly ranks high in being a livable city, in fact Forbes had it # 1 in America.(as well as other mags) Tuscon not so much. Pitt and Pittsburgh has it all over the 2nd city in Arizona and given the right circumstance ($$$$) Sean Miller would come back to Pitt. IMHO
I suggest you visit the lovely Tuscon someday and enjoy the 120 degree summer temps as well. Hope you don’t sweat much.
1. We are one of the best rebounding teams in the country. You would think we should try to turn that into some points.
2. We have no inside scoring for our bigs and so opposing inside defenders often get to stay in theh lane and help.
3. Our guards struggle to get off their own shot. Not many if any of our guards can create on their own.
All of these would make me think you would try to find a way to get some easy baskets. In my perspective , we play the game as if we are constant underdogs. Just trying to slow the game down and be in it at the end. Great tactics for a 16 vs a 1, but not when your a heavy favorite. How many blowout wins did we have?
Perhaps what is needed is an older coach as an assistant who has actually coached longer than Dixon and who is not afraid to basically challenge the ways some things are done by Dixon. I don’t really know if former asst. Tom Herrion (now head coach at Marshall) provided this, as he did have more coaching experience than Dixon, even though he was younger than Dixon
and Herrion had been a successful Head Coach as well.
Now would have Herrion nudged Dixon with 12 seconds to go on the shot clock, on their last true possession and said call a timout, I don’t know. But we need someone on the bench not afraid to do something like that, as clearly the game got away from Dixon. And someone (Dixon or asst) should have screamed over to Nas or during the referee review, emphasizing to him that if Brownie misses the 2nd FT after tying, do not foul on the rebound. Again if we had an older asst. who wasn’t a ‘Yes’ man perhaps he would have suggested to Dixon, to perhaps get the Pitt players off the FT lane on Brownie’s 2nd FT attempt. Maybe it’s time he brings in an asst. coach with some new ideas and strategies. Can his ego handle it(he seems like he has his ego under control btw), is he sure enough of himself to bring in someone like that. Food for thought.
Comment by Tom 03.20.11 @ 9:15 pm
Well that explains a lot. lol
Q. It was such a well-played game and such a good game. Is it disappointing that the officials had such a significant impact on the outcome?
Gary McGhee: I wouldn’t say that. I would just say that it came down to just made plays at the end of the game and we didn’t make the plays. Butler came out and made the plays at the end of the game. We just had some lapses down the stretch and it just cost us the game.
Could Jamie have done somethings better? Sure. But the players play, not him. Maddening loss yes, but let’s not read too much to his coaching ability or anything else.
McGhee: Love the kid, hard worker, turned himself into more than any of us dreamed of four years ago, but truthfully, a dreadful offensive players, no hands, limited skill.
Nas: grinder, but not a starter on most BE teams.
Brown: frustrating, hot and cold, just as likely to turn the ball over as he is to amaze you with an incredible play.
Wannamaker: Much like McGhee, turned himself into a much better player than I expected, but not a top talent by any means.
Gibbs: Great shooter, but too small and too slow, unable to get open on his own or create his own shot.
Taylor: very disappointing, chances are he will not put it together
Woodall: Another disappointment, was supposed to be the next PG, but just plays to out of control, always on the verge of a TO.
The talent wasn’t here, Dixon did a great job with this group, but he needs to recruit better players to make the next step. It’s that simple.
Good soldiers (and McGhee is a good trooper) don’t criticize their officers and in this case their coach.
That should be no reason at all that alumni and fans shouldn’t criticize poor coaching. And btw repeated poor coaching at the end of games and the lack of wanting to try anything different. Pitt had better and more highly recruited players than Butler, so the talk of not having an NBA caliber type player or players is not valid in this game. Pitt out rebounded(31 to 21) and out shot(57% to 46% Butler), yet lost cause they couldn’t make adjustments to cover the 3 and couldn’t call timeouts at the most critical times.
That was twice in the last 3 games and in all of Pitt’s losses in the last month. Pitt out shot and out rebounded an opponent, see UConn (Pitt shot 55%(73% from 3) to Uconn’s 45%) Pitt also out shot L’ville (42% to 34%) and out rebounded them and lost. And just for good measure Pitt out shot St. John’s 46% to 43% and outrebounded them as well and lost. (Although we did get jobbed by the refs in that one) Perhaps the refs don’t respect Dixon, as we don’t seem to get the same respect as other #1 seeds from the refs as say UNC (that was ridiculous today against Washington) or Duke But there is a theme that is running thru all these losses. Pitt out shot and in most of these losses, substantially out shot their opponent and out rebounded their opponent and they LOST EVERY TIME.
The one constant through this is the coaching or lack there of. Something is obviously amiss. I’m not calling for Dixon’s head, I’m suggesting he bring in some wiser older head(s) to give him a different, fresher perspective and add to our and Dixon’s obvious strengths. So don’t take this the wrong way.
Comment by Tom 03.20.11 @ 9:15 pm
Well that explains a lot. lol
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Ever been to Tucson? I’m actually from the east coast, by the way. I wasn’t born and raised in Tucson and I by no means think it’s the greatest city in the country – not even close. But I also know that every city has its nice areas (for Tucson it’s the foothills up north and the campus) and its crappy areas (the “Mexico-like” part. But, what I do know is this:
a) Wearing shorts and a t-shirt year round is awesome, so don’t underestimate its appeal. The cold sucks. It’s why I left.
b) Arizona is a better basketball program than Pitt. Miller left Xavier, a program that has accomplished as much or more than Pitt, to go to Arizona. Why? Well, the factors I listed above.
The reason I’m even here in the first place is because the game yesterday was to say the least fascinating and I was looking to see some opinions on it from the die-hards (minus all the morons on the ESPN boards). But, of course, Pitt fans are talking about wanting Dixon out (no idea why, seeing as Pitt is a great team almost every year) and replacing him with the coach of my team. For some reason it seems to be in many Pitt fan’s minds that Sean Miller is good as gone whenever the Pitt job opens up. Maybe, maybe not. Arizona fans often say the same thing about Josh Pastner (UA alum) at Memphis. But give me one good reason (aside from his alumnus status) why he would leave Arizona for Pitt?
I’m sure most of you are half my age and because of that, you weren’t drinking in Oakland bars with Tony Dorsett or Danny Marino…or you’ve never experienced the “manic craziness” that winning the ’76 football championship (against Penn State, no less!!!)brought to this town. So, in one sense, you’re lucky…Pitt athletes more often than not, disappoint u. And so my anger, frustration, disappointments should rank at the top of the so-called Richter Scale…I’ve lived through the glory, being able to feel the nation’s respect & admiration for out team (football…basketball was a non-entity for us). 30-some years of this idiocy is more than humans are designed to take!
Still, calling for Jamie’s dismissal is beyond rational thinking. This man has taken our B-Ball-program from obscurity to national recognition…every year he has coached! You speak of this one badly-coached play or that one badly coached play…for each of those, maybe, just maybe there maybe, what?, thousands of great plays over an 8 year span. Ditch Dixon? Really?
1 more issue: why is EVERYBODY blaming our loss on the last 8 seconds of this damn game? Last time I checked, there were 40 minutes slotted for play. Down 10 points in the 1st half to Butler?? What were they playing..hopscotch! 1st half f***ed-up playing is our mantra..you’d almost think it’s our go-to game plan!! PITT lost this game in the first half, people. If they played to half of their proven skill sets in the first half, 8 seconds, or 2.2 seconds, or 2 whistling-crazy refs would be a footnote soon-to-be forgotten. Why has 1st-half inexcusable poor performance been tolerated by not only Jamie, but the entire Pgh. Sports Media, as well? The old “Don’t worry, PITT always tears it up second half” bullshit reigns supreme. What? Didn’t realize full athletic scholarships are awarded to players for 20-minute performances! Jesus. Don’t tell me about the last 8 seconds of
incredulous, messed up playing or black & white striped whistle-blowers doing or not doing their job….This game was decided at the end of the first half. Still, some of you need to either breathe deeply (many, many times), or truly “get-a-life”! After all, it is just “gaming”, eh??
And who here, hasn’t enjoyed this ride? Come-on…you know you have!
“Hope Springs Eternal”..so, “LET’S GO PITT” “HAIL TO PITT” & “BLUE AND GOLD FOREVER”. AMEN!
Don’t agree with that assessment, it doesn’t wash against a team like Butler. Here’s why, Butler ONLY had two legit players and two that actually scored in double figures (Mack with 30 and Howard with 16. They had two guys with 7 points and one with 6 points. It was clearly a two man team and those two accounted for 31 of their 52 total shots or 60% of their total team shots and their 46 points accounted for 65% of Butler’s 71 points.
THAT’S RIGHT 65% OF BUTLER’S 71 POINTS CAME FROM TWO PLAYERS !!!
Why not have a different defense ready, say, oh I don’t know, the Triangle and Two defense, ready in case you faced a team like this. Maybe a Box & One to stop Mack from killing you. At least try something different, you can always go back to your man to man if it doesn’t work.
If you took Mack & Howard off the court Pitt wins in a blowout. To stick to one thing and one thing only, belies of inept coaching and either stubbornness or not knowing any other kind of defense to teach. And I’m not even going to go into the timeout thing and the FT thing. Nor the lack of developing anyone off the bench other than 3rd year player Woodall(and he really didn’t improve that much) during the season to help in crunch time. (Can you say Moore, Zanna, Patterson, Taylor) Pitt got a grand total of 5 points off the bench yesterday. I remember how so many proclaimed this team was soooooooo deep in December. Yeah, we were real deep come March. Woodall played 17 minutes of the 34 minutes the bench played yesterday and he scored all the bench points (5). And I don’t want to hear about Zanna’s (3.7 ppg)injury, his minutes had pretty much dwindled to token appearances for most of the season after Nas came back. (other than the one aberration of 11 points against USF when Nas got into 1rst half foul trouble, Zanna scored 0 points in the 14 BigEast games he played in, so he was a in fact a non-factor)
Your argument might have some merit if we lost to say someone like UNC or Duke, teams loaded with Parade All-Americans. Not Butler, with 2-3 star recruits or less.
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Alcofan, none of the other #1 seeds were particularly challenged, neither this year, nor most of the others. They still go on to win.
@Z-boy, in hindsight, perhaps Pitt was blessed by an easier Big East schedule this year. True, we looked good playing Connecticut (at home), and we dominated Syracuse (also at home), and went to Georgetown and beat them–we looked good, but we only played those teams once. We also only played Notre Dame, and Louisville once (two losses). We played USF twice, and we now know that both WVU and Nova–whose two wins looked impressive in most years–really weren’t that impressive now. So we racked up a decent record in a conference that again in hindsight, was maybe not as impressive as everyone thought. [Even as I now write, Notre Dame had a horrible first half against Florida State. If they don’t make significant halftime adjustments, they won’t advance.]
The Big East beat some great out-of-conference teams this year: Texas, Duke, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Butler. According to Sagarin, and other statistical measures, we somehow came out on top of the other conferences. We learned though that March doesn’t care about team statistics, season record, or its seeding.
Because Pittsburgh is his hometown and all his relatives are here. And Pittsburghers always want to come back to Pittsburgh. Miller is just visiting Arizona, he’ll be back. BTW, I believe Jaime Dixon was rumored for Arizona, he said ‘No’.
Dixon (who is a California guy himself) and his family love Pittsburgh, just like former Pitt Head Football Coach and west coast native Walt Harris, came back to Pittsburgh to live even though he’s from California, was HC at Stanford and could have lived anywhere he wanted. And even though Pitt pretty much fired him he picked Pittsburgh to live. There’s a phrase that only native Pittsburghers know, it’s:
Pittsburgh Someplace Special.
Nothing against Tuscon or Arizona, if you haven’t lived in Pittsburgh or were born there it’s hard to explain, but there is truly no place on earth like Pittsburgh. Peace out Tom, enjoy yourself out there. Hope U of A gets to the Final 4.
And I don’t want to hear about Zanna’s (3.7 ppg)injury, his minutes had pretty much dwindled to token appearances for most of the season after Nas came back. (other than the one aberration of 11 points against USF when Nas got into 1rst half foul trouble, Zanna scored 0 points in 9 of the 14 BigEast games he played in, so he was a in fact a non-factor)
Your argument might have some merit if we lost to say someone like UNC or Duke, teams loaded with Parade All-Americans. Not Butler, with 2 and 3 *** recruits or less.
Comment by melvinbennett 03.20.11 @ 10:48 pm
In every loss, Pitt had at least 3 more turnovers than the opponent. In all but one of those losses the opponent shot at least 12% better at the line. The exception was UConn, where Pitt was 1% better, but UConn made 9 more FT than Pitt. Considering how close those losses were, there’s your difference.
As many in this thread have said, the Butler game was lost throughout, not just in the final seconds. A coach can only do so much coaching. Players have to execute. Butler’s did. Pitt’s didn’t.
Two examples from the final seconds: On Pitt’s last possession, Butler jumped Wanny and cut him off, yes. However, Wanny made a pass to Nas down low. All Nas had to do was get a shot up on the glass and Gary was in position to either tap it in or grab the rebound. Either way, Pitt wins. Instead, Nas passes it back out to Gibbs too late. Shot clock violation.
Next play. Butler spreads the floor knowing Pitt will be trying to defend the 3, and has Vanzant drive to the hoop with the intention of dishing to Howard. (That was what Stevens said he drew up, not the layup dish to Smith.) Gil defends it perfectly, but Gary comes over to help instead of boxing out Smith. Vanzant adjusts and gets the ball to Smith instead for the layup.
A coach can only do so much coaching. Players have to execute. Butler’s did. Pitt’s didn’t.
I believe that part of the Pitt problem in tight games is that for whatever reason Coach Dixon gets very uptight and his “aura” (I hate that word) transfers over to the players. No, I don’t expect Dixon to be so laid back in a tense game that he could be compared to a dude sitting on a beach drinking coolies. I, however, have often noted that he seems so intense and uptight that his veins are popping out of his neck.
The Pitt situation has been well stated in over 225 posts….we have so, so talent that has been coached up to a point that the players overachieve. But, the pressure of having to perform at such a high level in an ULTRA COMPETITIVE conference like the BE wears and tears down the players. By the end of the season when the games shift to Madison Square Garden and then on to the NCAA’s, Pitt seems frazzled. Our team starts losing the tight games and the coach is bouncing off the walls.
This cycle has been repeating itself (for the most part)over the last 3 years.
Jamie Dixon runs an excellent program, however, if Pitt is going to compete in a pressure cooker league all year and have enough gas to finish in high gear at the end of the season Dixon will have to find a way to lighten up a bit……..and recruit players who have the type of talent that wins tournaments. We need more than one guy who can consistantly shoot from the outside. Pitt obviously needs to add a coach (assistant) who can teach foul shooting technique (Yep, look at Butler’s % vs. Pitt). In addition, we need some tall trees who can shoot from within 10 feet of the basket. Dante Taylor does not look like he will ever make it in the Big East. The jury is still out on Zanna…..way, way out.
In my more than 55 years of following Pitt sports this was without a doubt the worst loss I have seen in any Pitt athletic event….and boy, oh boy have we had some doozies!!
ON TO FOOTBALL………and ////Hail to Pitt!
For some reason it seems to be in many Pitt fan’s minds that Sean Miller is good as gone whenever the Pitt job opens up. Maybe, maybe not. Arizona fans often say the same thing about Josh Pastner (UA alum) at Memphis. But give me one good reason (aside from his alumnus status) why he would leave Arizona for Pitt?
Comment by Tom 03.20.11 @ 10:35 pm
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Dear Tom,
Sean and his wife are both from the same hometown near Pittsburgh. Their families still live there. When you are in Arizona making a million, and when you live in Pittsburgh and make a million, the cost of living is CHEAPER in Pittsburgh. Yes, you have better weather, but their family is here…and I bet they want their kids to see grandma and grandpap more often before they journey on to heaven – not chico and garcia their neighbors and Maria their housekeeper.
Well, all indications are that he loves it here. He donated a quarter million of his own salary to help build facilities. You would think that means something like, “Hey, I’m going to stay here for a while.” I also happen to think he can afford to fly himself, his wife and his kids back any time he wants when he’s making 2 mill per year (plus all of the bonuses he receives each time UA advances in the tourney, which is already adding up as you know). Arizona is a better job than Pitt. He’s already established an incredible recruiting base with connections on the east, the west, and everywhere in between. He has a top 10 class coming in next year to a team that’s won 29 games, a Pac-10 championship and is currently in the Sweet 16. Tradition also means quite a bit to him if you ever hear him speak (i.e. why he left Xavier, a very comparable program to Pitt).
Now, I ask this: Would you take a lesser job in an area you are familiar with and have ties to, or would you take take a top of the line job elsewhere and get paid big money? Perhaps the answer is different for you than it is for me. But, it doesn’t matter because he is not going anywhere, and neither is Jamie Dixon.
BTW, Chico and Garcia? Stay classy.
In January Pitt lookedlike and was the best team in the country but something happened. Maybe they peaked too early, maybe it was the grind of the BE season, maybe because they beat on each other in practice (this is what we hear anyway) from Sept. through March that come tournament time they are just totally spent.
Talent wise, tell me where it is? Gil, in my opinion has NBA talent but was so inconsistent over his 5 years here that we knew what to expect. Wanny had a very good year until the last month. It seemed like he lost his confidence in his shot, short arming 3s, passing up open looks etc. and Gary is Gary, turned into a good rebounder but no offense and we all knew that. As for Nas a 6′ 5″ power forward, do I need to say more and Gibbs a great shooter but most teams haveone of those. Although I think they would have beaten Wis. does anyone think with the way they ended the season they would have gone to the Final 4 unless they were lucky.
Lets look to next year: Woodal and Epps at the point (should be an upgrade over Woodaland Gibbs). Gibbs to 2 along with Wright and Patterson as a 2 or 3 (will be an upgrade from a scoringstandpoint). At the 3 with Moore (he looked like a scorer when he played along with Beech (should be an upgrade). at the 4 with Naz and Zanna (you know what you aregetting with Naz andZanna should improve). at 5 here is the question, does Dante finally become a player(there shold be better point production) and withJJ as back-up(it looks like he has more offense than Gary). This with the other new guys could be interesting. And should have more than1 person that can fill up htehole if needed.
Time to forget about the season. Could you believe that on UConn and Marquette are the last BE teams standing. Says something about peaking in March!
I think the fact that a two man team was able to beat them sums up my point. If this team had the talent level expected of a #1 seed, they wouldn’t have had any trouble with Butler.
One other question. Did anyone else feel like Pitt wasn’t physical enough. My thought is if you’re going to get called close, and the opponent is going to flop, then make those fouls worth it. Not flagrant, just hard.
2 out of 11 in the sweet 16??? WTF????
Please, the old argument of they beat each other up isn’t washing with most anymore. The other teams beat each other up all year too!!
Over-rated is looking clearer and clearer!!!
