Pitt's not listening to its detractors
Posted: Monday, January 14, 2008 7:25 PM
Filed Under:
March Madness, Big East
Guess Pitt missed the memo about writing off this season.
For the last few weeks, the Panthers have heard about how tough their season will be without starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields. But a 69-60 win against No. 5 Georgetown should silence any remaining doubters and reestablish Pitt as a Final Four contender.
It’s amazing what a few weeks, a good coach and lots of talent will do.
The background? The Panthers had one of the season’s marquee wins in December, a 65-64 overtime win against Duke (still the Devils’ only loss). But the Panthers lost Cook, a three-year starter, for the season after he tore his ACL in OT vs. Duke.
Losing a guy like Cook – the team’s fourth-leading scorer, a good defender and a team leader – always hurts, especially when it comes to intangibles. I’m a big believer that when losing players like Cook, it’s much harder for a team to replace all the little things they do. Finding a scoring replacement is far easier.
So when the Panthers lost Fields, their point guard and go-to guy in the clutch, until the end of February, the bandwagon emptied real quick.
On the surface, writing off Pitt as a national title contender made some sense. Few teams can handle losing two double-digit scorers, let alone the guy who runs the offense. But some called the Panthers an NIT as a result (an extreme view that was later thought better of). That kind of reaction is always tempting to make, but is a prime example of why immediate reaction can come back to hurt pundits. (Consider it a job peril. And enough to make me think twice about writing this.)
After a close loss to Big East rival Villanova, Pitt changed its mental approach. Close losses do that. The Panthers may have lost their QB, but remained one of the nation’s toughest and better rebounding teams, which boded well for their conference schedule.
Good thing, too. The Big East isn’t the bruising league it used to be (that’s now the Big Ten/ Pac-10), but it still has its fair share of physical, defensive-oriented teams. So Pitt turned to capable senior guard Keith Benjamin (averaging more than 16 points as a starter) and expected more out of regular starters Sam Young, Ronald Ramon and fab freshman DeJuan Blair.
A road win against South Florida (where Benjamin talked about people writing them off) and holding court against Seton Hall only helped to prepare the Panthers for the Hoyas, who had won four of the last five games against their Big East rival.
Yet, even today, there was more talk about Pitt possibly “still aiming for an NCAA bid.”
Which, bluntly put, was crazy talk. Even before beating Georgetown.
According to kenpom.com, Pitt had a 47 percent chance of beating the Hoyas (a 65-64 loss was predicted), along with a projected record of 23-8 (11-7 in the Big East). Joe Lunardi had the Panthers as a No. 5 seed, to say nothing of their No. 15 ranking in the AP poll or their offensive rebounding prowess.
Pitt’s a deep, talented, physical team. Even without Fields and Cook, they’re a Sweet 16 team (just like last year), perhaps even worthy of the Final Four. Just ask the Hoyas.
