Good evening all.
My name is Mike, and I’m happy to announce that I’ll be joining Chas as a writer here at Pitt Blather. I’ve spent many years here, first as a casual reader and in more recent years as an active poster. You guys are a vital part of this great community, and I look forward to continuing the standard of excellence that the Blather has come to know.
As always, I will remain active in the comments section. Ultimately, the backbone of this site is the tremendous dialogue, and I wouldn’t give that part up for anything. If you like what I have to say, that’s great; if you don’t like what I have to say, that’s great, too.
Now, with introductions out of the way…
Maryland’s home court, The Comcast Center, is generally considered one of the toughest places for away opponents to visit. And with good reason: Terp fans are considered some of the nation’s most diehard, and their home game antics are ordinarily pretty devastating towards their opposition. They’re loud, relentless, and often, downright insensitive. With that said, there’s something’s different about this year’s brand of Terp fan.
A large part of the Maryland contingent seems to have already thrown in the white flag:
“Terps vs team without one of its best players. Definitely taking Pitt by 15.”
“82-69 Pitt [i]n a very similar game to the one that was in Pittsburgh—except being at home holds off the Pittsburgh run until midway through the second half.”
“Given previous experience against top rated teams and obvious coaching deficiency I think it will look more like 90-55 PITT. Just can’t see us getting over 30% from the floor and with the defense we offer it looks like Pitt will get to the rack at will. A change is gonna come.”
Others are somewhat more hopeful, playing up the idea that with Duke lurking in the distance, Pitt will regret looking past Maryland:
“They have Duke 2 days after us. Given they annihilated us last game out it could well be a trap game for them.”
Still, there are Maryland fans that seem very much alike ourselves when we’ve been faced with similarly depressing athletic circumstances:
“I’m just going to get drunk tomorrow and just pray to god that when I sober up on Sunday my TV is still in one piece. I’ll consider that a win.”
Pitt hasn’t played the Terps at their place since January 12, 1980 in a seven point loss. Selfishly, one might hope that the feistiest of Maryland fans come out for the game. It would be a shame not to experience that type of away environment, especially for our younger players, and especially with the Terps headed to the B1G. At the time of writing, the spread sits at Pitt favored by 3.5. So, perhaps there’s reason to think that the Comcast Center has got a few more punches to throw before it exits the conference.
Besides that, Pitt has their number, I expect a blowout. But Pitt has to make sure the crowd realizes this early on. Take the crowd out of the game and we have this in the bag.
I know from some of their alumni, especially athletes that many are not happy with the move. A lot of tradition being flushed down the toilet, for a money grab.
Most of us will miss Big East Basketball, but all are on board with the ACC, because of football.
Maryland could have been a great rival.
I hope I am wrong, but I am in fear of a trap game. Having just put on our best performance of the year, having already beaten Maryland rather handily, and looking forward to Duke on Monday sets up the perfect trap.
Hopefully our senior leadership and the fact that this will be a homecoming for a number of players, will work out in our favor.
That link to Temple was devastating. It must be pretty dire to do that in the middle of a school year.
Grab the turtle firmly by the tail, stabilize the shell by stepping on the juncture between the shell and the neck with your full body weight, then with a definitive yang, utilizing the total force of the large muscles of your shoulder, literally rip the frickin spine out of that defenseless Terapin!
Good riddence, hope you enjoy the B1G. Don’t let the door hit you in the a$$ on the way out of the ACC and just be greatful that the Panthers only had to school you twice this season on how the old Big East used to play basketball.
Hopefully your fortunes will be better playing the likes of ped state N@.
@Dr. Tom: Thank you, sir.
@Bowling Green Panther: Thank you, too, sir. Though I must say, ‘Bowling Green’ still gives me the shivers. My first EVER Pitt football game was in 2008-2009, game one, with LeSean McCoy as a preseason heisman candidate, in the blazing sun, watching my precious Panthers collapse against BGSU. God, what a day that was.
I’m predicting our team struggles shooting tomorrow coming off that red hot shooting performance in the second half of the Clemson beatdown. I really like the +3.5, but I hope im wrong.
This years team is definitely on track to exceed expectations and has been impressive. Still a lot of games left though.
I like the way Jamie Dixon has been more flexible this year. Switching to the zone more, extending the defense to generate more steals/up tempo and even rotating defensive assignments to slow down the hot hand. Im going to give him an “A” grade for his performance up to this point. If Dixon keeps it up through march that turns into an +A. That 10-year extension is looking really great right now.
James Robinson and Patterson have been awesome for a long stretch of the season. I posted during one of the out of conference games that Newkirk was better than JR and ready to take on more minutes. I was definitely wrong on that one. Im excited to see both develop into the future. Keep forgetting JR is only a sophomore.
Impressed with Cam Wright’s game and Zanna assertiveness. Zanna has been physical and taking it strong more often recently.
How the rest of the season goes will be determined by our bench and freshman. Im predicting a 13-5 ACC finish, ACC Conference tourney runner up, a four seed and sweet sixteen to end the year. Should be a fun ride.
I hope Pitt wipes up the floor with Maryland. I went to a Pitt-Maryland FB game in 1990. there were Eat $..t Pitt buttons everywhere. True class.
I look at this game a little differently, almost like the Cincy game. Many of our guys are from the Baltimore Maryland area. As such, they could get caught up in individual performance with their respective families at the game. When they get outside their normal mindset, they will struggle as do most teams.
That said, I think they perform really well defensively and have a great effort. The struggle will be on offense potentially because each will want to impress their families. I see a low scoring, ugly squeaker. As with any road game, the start will be critical. Just my thoughts! Carpe’ Terps!
A small bit of advice … don’t feel the need to staunchly defend your viewpoint every time someone disagrees like your predecessor did in the beginning, but of course that’s up to you.
Also remember that all on this site are Pitt fans (even UPittbaseball I guess) but our viewpoints can be very different …. and like most things, there is rarely a clear solution.
As your distant relative once wrote “the answer my friend is blowing in the wind”
@wbb: Thank you, too. Like I said above, the most important thing about this site is the great dialogue. I’m just as happy to be criticized as I an to be applauded, believe it or not. Also, I’m a fan of all of you guys.
Personally sorry to see the Terps leave the ACC. Geographical rivals are the best for fans and players. Rather
see Pitt play UM than Miami as an end of the season opponent. UM’s leaders should have called WVU on travel
costs and rivalries. WVU must be relieved to leave the BE but
can they really be pleased to be in the B12??
Before we get too critical about the quality of PC’s recruits
remmeber Aaron Donald had 4 offers……Pitt was the only
major school. So much for the questionable ranking of
players and the star system.
Really happy for AD. Classy kid who represents Pitt well while
demonstrating humility. Hoping he is rewarded with a huge
contract!! He will be on the board when the Steelers draft.
Lastly very cool to see the zoo honor DJ last week by wearing
the signature headband. ACC coaches seeing firsthand what
BE coaches always knew……Pete is a competitive advantage for Pitt.
How do you and Chas plan to divide the “job”? Justin seemed to focus more on the football side and Chas on hoops.
H2P
Two years ago, when you watched Patterson and Zanna play, you would not have predicted their output this year. JJ Moore looked to have more athleticism and more upside. Lucky for us Jamie is the coach and recognizes potential. Jamie recruits guys that like to pass and are unselfish. That profile certainly fits this year.
Chryst and his team seem to know what they are looking for in new recruits. Let’s hope they follow the tradition of AD. Humble and Hardworking.
I just got done reading a very well written article In Pitt’s Bleacher Report that touches on almost every point that I made in my reply to Yeti in the first place. This third tier bowl game that Pitt was invited to play in was discounted by many on this blog, who profess to be Pitt fans, and there where a number of comments that stated that even playing in such a game against a MAC team could amount to nothing more than a lose-lose situation for the Panthers.
In contrast, I felt strongly that this game was an opportunity for the Panthers to close out their season on an up note and in fact I professed that the game against such a quality opponent like the BGSU MAC Champs was, in fact,a MUST WIN game for PITT if they were the team that I thought that they were.
This Bleacher Report article details those same thoughts looking at the results of that bowl game in particular. Yes, it was only a win against a MAC team, but we were the underdogs in that contest for crying out loud. No respect given to PITT and in fact that was quite apparent during the entire TV telecast considering the amount of disproportionate attention given to Bowling Green over PITT in sideline coverage, onfield interviews and the like.
So What does PITT go out and do. Playing short handed at many positions due to injuries and/or personal situations, they field a team that is bare bones with one guy, James Conner, even playing the role of an IRONMAN going both ways for some of the game and they just go out and mack Bowling Green square in the mouth with some old traditional PITT hard nosed football. Thento top it off, Chad Voytik makes his first meaningful debut under center and simply wows everyone with a stellar performance off the bench in the second half to bring PITT back from a deficit for an exciting come from behind victory. This was really good stuff when considering the fact that ALL OF THE SCORING FOR PITT was taken care of by FRESHMEN.
So once again I express my feelings on the matter, this squad is going in the right direction. These young guys don’t know what “the same old Pitt” mantra implies because thay haven’t been part of that mindset. They were back in HS winning championships while us old PITT fans were lamenting yet another mediocre season losing bowl games to the likes of SMU.
Gentlemen, those “old ways” are coming to an end. Pauly P has already stated that he’s waiting to call me out next season in October when “the same old Pitt” is stumbling and bumbling to a .500 record prior to the Thursday night VT nationally televised game. What satisfaction he’ll derive from that, I don’t comprehend, if in fact he’s a loyal PITT fan. But I’m more than willing to accept that challenge because I feel strongly as apparently so does the author of the following Bleacher Report article, that PITT is on the move up. Let’s hope that we are both right in our predictions.
Hail to PITT! and Beat the Terps!
Hail to Pitt!
To all others, Donald committed to Pitt in April 2009, well before his senior year. Some boards had him as a 4-star after his senior year but being that he was allegedly firmly committed to his hometown school may be the reason he didn’t receive more offers.
This current staff seems to base much of its strategy in this manner .. find 2 and 3 star underclassmen that shows much potential and hope they blossom. A hit or miss strategy but since it can’t draw in many 4-stars, this will have to do.
But don’t fool yourselves …. anyone in their right mind would gladly take any one of FSU’s, Bama’s or OSU’s recent recruiting classes anyday over Pitt’s.
Maybe. I would take from their recruiting classes only the players who Paul Chryst wants to be part of our team.
H2P
The OSU’s and Alabama’s replace non-performing 4 stars, with more four stars. It’s a different depth issue. Pitt replaces three stars with three stars. If Chryst keeps the competition strong and lets the best players play, we should see terrific development which will lead to more wins… and ultimately higher ranked recruits that WANT to be at Pitt!! Now, if we can only get a strategic leader in the athletic department, we would really be trending high!
One of these days we should do a pitt panther football google search all at the same time so we are “trending” in the national spotlight!!
I’m personally glad that Maryland is leaving, from a BB standpoint as far as recruiting goes. There’s a ton of BB talent from that area as our current roster attests. Any good BB player from that D.C./Maryland area who wants to play in the ACC that they grew up to love would take a long look at Pitt.
As for 2-3 star players, I think Chryst is well suited to making those kinds of players better players who will play inside a system much like Dixon does.
