PantherChris, thanks for the game report and being reasonable/positive in your assessment. This blogs basketball experts forget 94-99 when we were in the wilderness with Ralph Willard and Cummings was basically on his own 1-on-5! Jamie Dixon is a great Coach. Best record in the BEast & 10 consecutive NCAA invites. Have an off year and ur a bum according to a pack of spoiled fans too good to support their team at the CBI Tourney. Where they beat God’s gift to the world Butler on the way to a championship. Ok clear the bandwagon, get off. When this team with a freshman point guard, Zanna & Patterson get used to being starters and we finally have Moore playing major minutes with the starters we will turn the corner. Had hoped Woodall would compete hard and set an example with smart play. Given his Rutgers post-game comments maybe he’ll step up! GO Panthers! UPone

Thanks, UPone. I do remember the bad days, all too well.

SFPitt said we were possibly going to start 0 and 3 and I thought he was way off. Call me too optimistic but I still think we are going to beat Georgetown.I have to admit at this point that this team has me worried.I thought by this point we would be getting the ball inside consistantly and both Adams and Zanna would be scoring and rebounding in volume. Why this team refuses to get the ball to Adams as a priority is a mystery to me. How anybody on our schedule so far can out rebound us is an afront to good sense. If we are going to play stupid I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when we look dumb. I can live with losses but stupidity offends me. I had to quit watching this team last year for several games because they were so bad it hurt to watch.This year I was sure coach Dixon would fix things,but what happenned at Rutgers looks a lot like what turned my stomach last year.Did anyone at Pitt ever hear of a lob pass. Lord have mercy you a 7′ center with arms that reach halfway to the moon. Give him the ball until they start triple teaming him.Zanna get in low in case he misses and if anyone gets in your way put some of that NBA body on them til they learn to get out of your way.In short quit pretending to be a cute team throwing long distance prayers and playing patsycakes down low and get nasty,agressive and flagrantly mean.I remember when Pitt played such agressive D that you could lose an eye. Where has that attitude gone? I can live with losses and if I wanted to watch girls play the tickets are a lot cheaper.You guys sucked at Rutgers and Coach Dixon you should be ashamed because I have seen you do way better work.You are being way too easy on this underproducing group of hotdog wannabees.This team is getting worse not better as the season progresses,what kind of caoching is that?

Honestly, I don’t get the attitude that because this was once a really bad team that now there should be no complaints about mediocre to bad play. Of course the players are to blame to a certain extent for hoisting up so many 3s, failing to get to the hoop, and getting pushed around on the blocks. But the coach bears some/a lot of responsibility as well.

I am not seeing players develop. There are hints of it here and there. Patterson took a big step forward at the end of last season but has not carried that over, for the most part, to this season. Moore shows flashes and then gets 10 minutes of play the next game. Zanna has developed, but by his third year in the program he should be starting to do these things or shouldn’t be playing Div. 1 hoops. And going back to last year, Nasir Robinson spent 4 years on this team and NEVER learned how to shoot a jump shot! How is that possible?! How can a coach stand by and watch that?

The teams for the last 2-3 years have been largely passive on offense, insufficient on defense, and have lost their toughness. A good bit of that has to come back to the coach. He has got to the right the ship, and quickly.

We need to get our five best players on the court for offensive purposes. Zanna, Lamar, Woodall, Robinson & JJ. Hard work and effort should provide decent defense while JJ & Lamar must cut loose on the rebounding BIG TIME! Lamar needs reps and he does not understand his roll. He needs to be returned to Brad’s old role of dealing the ball like the end of last year. JJ has accepted the role of sixth man, thank you for being the team player. But he is the best offensive player on the team and should be a starter who does not come out of the game accept when in foul trouble. Who is better offensively?? Cam- no way, Zeigler- please! Jamie you cant get blood outta a turnip! With that starting five playing heavy minutes,good offense,decent defense and pretty good rebounding, we can beat anybody in the BEast! UPone Go Pitt

UPone, The only problem with Adam’s offensive game is the only time he gets the ball he is standing at the foul line with his back to the basket.I like his chances of scoring from within 10′ of the basket better than anyones but it never happens because no one gets him the ball.Zanna has a midrange jumpshot and should be easily rebounding Adam’s misses but there aren’t any misses because he never gets the ball. The rest of the teams talent is ok but these two can actually play if not star at the next level.Meanwhile Rutgers outrebounds us by double digits. Dixon needs to get his head out of his butt and make them get the ball inside until other teams force us to throw it out bcause of triple teams.I don’t care if we screw up at first it can’t be any worse than what I saw Saturday.Read my lips “we are not a good 3 point shooting team”