Now is the winter of our discontent. The Steelers “defense” of the Super Bowl championship ended the second the final gun sounded against the Raiders. Souped up with the arrival of Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins looked like world beaters for a couple weeks. However, injuries, a tougher schedule and younger players crashing back down to earth have spawned a rash of games that look far too much like last year’s debacle. Pitt football is desperately fighting make it to the Birmingham Bowl
Yet, fortunately, all sports hope is not lost right now as four months of freezing rain and grey skies descend upon our little burgh. The #4 ranked Pitt Panthers basketball team opens their home schedule tonight against Delaware State. With eight of ten players back from last year’s squad that went 25-8 and made the NCAA tournament, the Panthers figure to challenge for a final four appearance.
Since Pitt burst back onto the national basketball scene in 2001-02, they’ve been both a revelation and a paradox. For a multitude of reasons, Pittsburgh is far from a basketball town. Certainly there are a decent number of passionate and educated enthusiasts in the area, yet the average burgh sports fans don’t have the interest or knowledge to look at hoops in the same way they look at football. While the Petersen Events Center is often sold out for every home game, the majority of the tickets go to students, alumni and corporate donors. This isn’t all bad, as the Pete is considered among the biggest home court advantages in the Big East conference. Yet, the lack of tickets makes it difficult for new fans to attend, and to fall in love with the game and the team.
This upcoming season may be one of the most important in Panthers basketball history. The above-mentioned struggles of other local teams have Pittsburgh fans itching to support a winner. With the overwhelming support for the Steelers, and the impending emergence of the Penguins, there won’t be too many other years where Pitt hoops has the ability to dominate the headlines. As fickle as it may sound, I’m also concerned with how many chances casual fans will give Pitt after they fall short of expectations. In their five tournament appearances during the Howland/Dixon era, the Panthers have lost to a lower-seeded team four times and never made it past the sweet sixteen.
As national and conference powers Syracuse and UConn can attest, this is more or less the nature of March Madness. Following their emergence, both schools took easily more than a decade to make their first Final Four appearance. But Syracuse, NY and Bristol, CT are a lot different than Pittsburgh. Those schools are both the only shows in town, and fans there have little choice but to retain interest in the program. With a multitude of national games on TV, a team of talented character guys, and a down year for traditional Big East powers, Pitt has the opportunity to put its program on the map to stay both locally and nationally.
Since the sweet sixteen has been the Panthers’ Achilles heel, I’ll avoid the number and give 15 reasons some for casual fans, some for season ticket holders, to be excited about the upcoming season:
1) Aaron Gray: The Big East pre-season Player of the Year, a 7-0 monster in the middle and the personification of what Pitt’s program is all about. Gray was an unheralded recruit from Emmaus, PA who saw limited minutes in his first two seasons, backing up the highly touted Chris Taft. Finally given the opportunity to start last year, Gray shed 30 lbs. from his freshman frame and averaged 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, earning him first-team all-conference honors. This summer, Gray eschewed a likely spot in the first round of the NBA draft to return to Pitt for the chance to win a national championship.
2) One for Maggie: Last March, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and his younger sister Maggie were quite the story. The same month Jamie led the Pitt to the NCAA men’s tournament, 28 year-old Maggie led Army to the women’s NCAA tournament, the first time siblings had ever accomplished such a feat. Three weeks later, Maggie passed away suddenly from a heart arrhythmia; an event her brother admits still never fully leaves his mind. What a testament to her memory a Final Four appearance would be.
3) The Schedule: Every year Pitt gets seeded lower than expected in the NCAA tournament, and the committee’s justification is always the same: weak out of conference schedule. This year, Pitt finally took heed. In addition to the Western Michigan’s and Delaware State’s of the world, Pitt is also playing at top-ten ranked Wisconsin and up-and-coming Oklahoma State. In February, the Panthers will also play host to Pac-10 power Washington in the rare out of conference game after the new year.
4) College Game-Day: The new-to-basketball ESPN institution makes its first stop at the Petersen Events Center for the January 13, 2007 contest against Georgetown. Now that’s big-time, baby.
5) Mike Cook: The junior transfer from East Carolina has been fantastic in pre-season play, filling a slight weakness at small forward. Cook is a solid defender and an explosive slasher offensively, with the ability to finish better in transition than any Panther since…since…well, it’s been a while.
6) The National Anthem: If you’re fortunate enough to attend a Pitt game this season, make sure you watch the Panthers during the National Anthem. Rather than stoically resting their hands at their sides, Pitt’s players stand in line and wrap their around each other’s shoulders, essentially creating one giant bear hug. It’s a great exemplification of the type of chemistry that recent Panther teams have been known for.
7) Fashion Statement: Recently promoted top-assistant Orlando Antigua is a former Pitt stand-out from the early 90s. Antigua played three seasons of his career with a bullet lodged in his skull, the after-effects of a high school shooting. Following graduation, Antigua became the first Harlem Globetrotter of Latin descent, earning the nickname “Hurricane.” If that’s not enough, he’s known to wear a bow-tie when he coaches.
8) The Oakland Zoo: Yes, they idiotically called Chris Quinn a pussy last year. Yes, they sometimes get a little too quiet when Pitt plays sluggishly. However, there’s a reason opposing players rank the Petersen Events Center the toughest place to play in the Big East, and the Pitt student section is a big part of that. The fact that six year’s ago Pitt was playing in a dated building with lackluster attendance makes the crowd’s impact that much more spectacular.
9) New Coaches: There was genuine concern among Panthers fans when long-time assistants Joe Lombardi and Barry Rohrssen departed to take head-coaching jobs elsewhere. Rohrssen, a holdover from the Howland days was particularly seen as a big loss, given his recruiting ties to the New York area. Yet the Panthers wisely hired Mike Rice, Jr. and David Cox to fill out the staff. The effects of Rice with his connections to Philadelphia and Cox with his connections to Washington, DC were already felt in the 2007 recruiting class, the Panthers most geographically balanced in a long time.
10) Not Your Older Brother’s Offense: In recent years, Pitt’s offense has been a deliberate half-court set looking to work the shot clock for a high-percentage shot. With quick low post-men and better outside shooters, this Panthers team has the ability to give a multitude of looks offensively, and perhaps even run a high-octane attack if necessary.
11) O Fortuna: Interesting choice in music, but I guess I can roll with it…
12) Sam Young on the Fast Break: Think of him as the Big East’s version of Josh Smith, the Atlanta Hawks guard that some pro basketball writers dub “the best YouTube worthy player in the NBA.” If you saw Young on the street, you’d never believe the athletic gifts he possesses, but listen to the palpable murmur of anticipation in the home crowd sometime as he runs down the wing during a two-on-one break. Simply electrifying.
13) All About the Walk-Ons: With the graduation of crowd favorite Charles Small, the Oakland Zoo will have to find a new bench player to cheer for once the Panther lead gets out of hand. The early line on this favors newcomer Geoff Rizk.
14) Fundamentals: In a college game that’s revolving more and more around dunks and three-point shooting, it’s nice to watch a team that stakes its reputation on defense, rebounding and passing. Or, as Jamie Dixon says “our goal is to out-rebound the opposition by ten and hold them under 40% shooting. If we do that we’re pretty confident we’ll come out on top.”
15) The Quest for #1: The Panthers have never been ranked first in the country in any poll at any point in their history. Twice in 2002-03 they got to #2, but lost one-point games on the road that cost them the top spot. A strong start to the season gives the Panthers a good shot at the mark; and if they don’t make it their during the regular season, they’ll just have to win the national championship in March.
Although Shaun Alexander made a triumphant return from injury on Monday night, his performance was also a not-subtle reminder of the Madden cover curse. You see, Alexander set an NFL record for touchdowns last season, powering his Seattle Seahawks to the NFC Championship. Not surpisingly, Alexander was picked to grace the cover of Madden 07 which considered a greater honor in most frat houses across America than being elected president. However, like so many Madden cover boys before him (see McNabb, Donovan, Lewis, Ray Vick, Michael, Faulk, Marshall, etc., etc., etc.), his season was cut down by injury, the culprit this time being a broken foot in week three.
