I made an uncomfortable link this morning. In 2007, when Pitt upset Duke in MSG the Panthers also lost Mike Cook for the season. The very next game, Pitt got trounced at Dayton (and lost Levance Fields for a chunk of the season just to make things worse).

This year, Pitt loses Durand Johnson and has to go to Georgia Tech. The one common theme is that the coach is the same. Brian Gregory was the coach at Dayton then and is the coach at Georgia Tech now. Anything that reminds me of that loss — no matter how vague — makes me nervous.

Other concerns.

Georgia Tech (10-6) has been a tough opponent at home. The Yellow Jackets are 8-1 at McCamish, and the enthusiastic crowd impressed Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, who said, “Their fans were great. Their fans gave them probably the confidence to win the basketball game.”

Georgia Tech is 5-0 against Pittsburgh. The teams’ last meeting came in 1989 at The Omni, a 111-92 Georgia Tech win.

That one loss. Brian Gregory’s old team, Dayton.

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Welp, Pitt finally cracks the AP and Coaches Polls. Coming in at #22 and #21 respectively. Huzzah!

Lamar Patterson was named ACC Player of the Week for the second time this season. It oddly feels like his performance is being taken for granted. We acknowledge he is playing really well. That this team would be in big trouble if he hadn’t raised his game — which is really impressive when you think about the steady improvement he has shown in the past three seasons. Each year, getting better. Improving facets of his game and his conditioning. And the improved maturity. And versatility.

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