Pitt is just not a good team compared with past years teams. Talent is not there like is has been and the Big East is not as strong as in past years. Again at best they are an NIT team. The game they stopped the losing streak verse Providence looked like a game at Heinz Field with empty seats...thought being on Campus meant more butts in seats.
My guess is they finish 3-3 for the rest of the season and they need to win 2-3 games at the Big East in NY to be a buuble team at best to be invited to the big dance. Maybe your bracket will be better...you wont get sucked in to having Pitt let you down

Pitt qualified for the NIT (Not In Tournament) last night.

No team that has started 0-7 in the conference has ever made the NCAA Tournament so despite Vitale claiming that they would still make it, it was still a far-fetched idea.

Nasir should consider trading in a good portion of his heart and grit for more height and better ball-handling skills.

I know he's "listed at" 6'-5 (sheesh, I hate that practice...). But he's shorter than Patterson. So either we have a 6'-7 guy playing at 3 (we don't...) or we have an actual 6'-3ish guy playing at 4. Grit schmit, that will get you mugged whe you play teams with a legit front court -- like USF last night.

For the love of all that is decent and holy, Jamie, PLEASE bring Nasir off the bench for a spark. Unfortunately, I doubt he'd start for any other team in a major conference.

http://assets.sbnation.com/ass...ttLogo.jpg

Pitt's interior D is just horrendous. Zana rarely challenges anyone and Nas plays hard but isn't a power forward. Seeing highlights of that nice dunk USF had in the first half on the break everyone just got out of the way including the last man Zana. There was a time when that dunker would have been fouled and fouled hard and would not try that again. This team has to have it clicking to win.

I predict the still only lose 2 games the rest of the way. The teams they are playing are beatable. Pitt just needs to toughen up. The play D like the modern Tar Heels but play offense like the '66 Tar Heels

Bob, let's mix in the good news with the bad.

Again Breaking News... Bob Bostad staying put at Pitt.

I thought you might run with this considering the confusion your headline caused the last time around.

There's an old country saying. It goes like this. "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear". Jamie Dixon has a sow's ear. He isn't going to the NCAA tournament.

Pitt lost on the road to a team with the best team defense in the Big East & who has only lost once at home all year, a 3pt loss to UConn. Get over yourselves.

Yeah, Pitt also lost to Wagner (yes Wagner) at home, at the Pete. This team is going nowhere. End of story.

Keith Law places the Pirates farm system as the 8th best in MLB and names 5 prospects to his Top 100 (and 1 in the barely missed category), yet silence.

The agenda is deafening.

written by wvkeeper, February 09, 2012 - 10:52 AM
Keith Law places the Pirates farm system as the 8th best in MLB and names 5 prospects to his Top 100 (and 1 in the barely missed category), yet silence.

OK. The Pirates will lose 85-90 games this year and extend the longest losing steak in major sports. How's that for noise?

Pitt lost at home to Bucknell a few years ago & still made the tourney. They missed out on the tourney when they proceeded to lose the next 7 games.

wvkeeper,

Go back to your tavern...you know, the one where you and your Pirate apologists rip Smizik and praise the Pirate FO

Who is Bob Bostad and why should we care?

Gibbs, Big East Preseason player of the year and supposed team leader, is yanked from the game with 2:42 remaining after yelling an obscenity at the bench..What was that about?

Doesnt matter that he might be frustrated after playing poorly or knowing that a loss to S Fla was going to make making the NCAA's even more dificult, he needs to stay composed and show the youngsters how you handle adversity.

Whats more disappointing to me than his poor shooting but his inability to lead and set an example.

Now lets see if Dixon can rally his team - it wouldnt be surprising that with this kind of poor senior leadership if they go into another tailspin when they realize that making the NCAA's is slim and none and slim has one foot out the door....

Sarcastic Sword

This Pitt team has too many players with little, or no heart. It seems that the assistant coaches who recruited the players who left after the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons were gone when the current sophmores and juniors were recruited. The current players don't have the same "stuff" as the players who left last year and the year before that.

I don't know if the two players already committed for next year are enough to carry the players who will be seniors and juniors next year.

We may see two (or more) years of less than great Pitt teams!



Where were your comments about no heart when they were winning four straight? That's a real cheap shot. -- Bob Smizik

Bring back Barry Rohrssen as asst coach and head of recruiting unless he landed somewhere else after getting fired as Manhattan HC last spring.

The painful fact is that even though Pitt has looked like an NCAA tournament team since Woodall's return, in order to recover from that awful start and make the tourney, Pitt had to be even better than that. They essentially had to go from bad to great, which is one tall order. I applaud them for going from bad to good and hope that the momentum will carry into next season.

Unlike years past, Pitt does not have an inside scoring game. They don't get the easy put backs, dunks and layups. As a result, when Ashton Gibbs and Tray Woodall have an off night and can't hit threes, they are going to lose.

Without an inside game, it is easier to double team Gibbs. Both Pitt guards are small and have difficulty getting their shots off against aggressive defense. Also, Pitt doesn't get the passes to open shooters they used to get from a guy like Aaron Gray or even Gary McGhee.

The size of the other team is immaterial. They can lose to any team in the Big East when the threes are not falling. On the other hand, when Gibbs and Woodall are playing at the level they are capable of playing, Pitt can beat any other Big East team, including Syracuse.

This year, we may have to be satisfied with the NIT (unless there is a total collapse). The NCAA is still a possibility, but without an inside scoring game, it is problematic that Pitt can be effective night in and night out.

Next year with Malcolm Gilbert (6' 11") and Steven Adams (6' 11") Pitt should be able to get back to playing their usual game. Also, Dante Taylor, just might develop some post scoring ability due to being a senior and receiving good coaching. The same applies, even more so, to Talib Zanna.

Until next year, we just have to consider this the inevitable down year. Syracuse, UConn, Villanova, Georgetown, North Carolina, etc. have had down years and missed the NCAA tournament. All the good teams have them. Pitt is no different.

Pitt and WVU are having down years. They will survive and when they do they unfortunately will not play each other. Pitt is looking east (PSU) and WVU is looking west.
It is a shame.

Sometimes a simple explanation is best. Pitt played badly. They simply have done a poor job of protecting the ball this year. Embarrassing defensive lapses, too.

A very ugly game all around. These USF games seem like this each year. I'll bet Pitt's record against USF will contradict this statement, but Pitt never seems to play well against this team.

Pitt's chances at making the NCAA tournament are:
1)Going 5-1 (one of those regular seasons wins has to be Louisville away)and win at least 1 game in Big East Tournament
2)Going 6-0 and win 1 game in Big East Tournament
3)Going 4-2 or worse and winning the the Big East Tournament

Bob, appreciate the comments, but why do you never blog about Duquesne basketball?

Dukes had a nice win this past weekend in front of a good crowd.

I notice many on this team are lacking in consistent fundamentals. And I'm talking about stuff you learn in jr. high basketball: Boxing out, following your shot and avoiding flat-footed defense.

Gibbs can frequently be seen heading for the other end before his shot even reaches the rim. And I saw this stuff during the win streak, too. You have to wonder how a player can reach Division 1 and still not understand the importance of consistent fundamentals.

Again, Coach Dixon stubbornly keeps playing his man defense while teams maneuver right around it. When you have terrible and short inside defensive players, zone works a heck of a lot better. How many more times do I have to see Dante or Zanna running up to the point on a switch and getting burned? Ridiculous.

Mr. Pitt
Pitt's only legitimate shot of making the NCAA tourney is to win the Big East tourney & get the automatic bid for doing so. Pitt has far to many bad losses & not nearly enough quality wins, even if they win the rest of their regular season games.