I simply do not understand how GT is being competitive in conference play, even at home, with two huge injuries and no ACC caliber backcourt.

We started slow last week as well. Seems to be a trend w/ this team. Saw a score on yahoo a min ago. We had a nice comeback to take control of the game.

Less than four minutes to play and it's a nine point game

Pitt wins by 6 or 7 ... it was as close as 4 with a minute left. How in the world was it that close at the end?

Good effort GT. Toughest game in the ACC so far for Pitt but the game was never really in doubt throughout the second half. Bring on Syracuse!

Syracuse & Pittsburgh at 4 o'clock this Saturday! Looking forward to it!!

I guess GT kept it close because these bunny foo foo schools are our overlords in basketball.

I've been to one Pitt game in my life. I'll give $5 to anybody that knows which game that was (minus the cost of the envelope and stamp). One entry per contestant.

I don't know why anyone is surprised by any of this? I think most of the country realized that the Big East was pretty clearly better than the ACC for the past several years and Pitt and Syracuse have been two of the best programs in the Big East for some time now. So where's the surprise here?

Spoiler alert: Louisville is going to be very good right from the jump too.

That said, after watching some of the teams play over the past few weeks, we're a little better than most of the rest of the ACC but we're probably not as good as Syracuse and they'll likely smoke us on Saturday. We usually handle that 2-3 match up zone pretty well but I'm not sure we have the horses this time around. The key will be our ability to exploit the short corner and knock down mid-range shots. Cameron Wright's play will be enormous from Pitt's perspective. Also, this team passes the ball very well and that can give that zone trouble if we can get the ball to the foul line.

I think Pitt is solid but nothing more. We're going to end in the top four of this league this year but that's basically because it's not very good again this year. Believe me when I tell you that I understand that we're going nowhere in the NCAA's. Losing Durand Johnson, our best - and really only - outside shooter is a killer for a team with such a weak post presence and that will bite us in the arse in the end. And truthfully, we weren't all that good with Johnson in the lineup.

I'll tell you on Saturday night if Syracuse is anything special.

(01-16-2014 09:52 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  I don't know why anyone is surprised by any of this? I think most of the country realized that the Big East was pretty clearly better than the ACC for the past several years and Pitt and Syracuse have been two of the best programs in the Big East for some time now. So where's the surprise here?

Spoiler alert: Louisville is going to be very good right from the jump too.

That said, after watching some of the teams play over the past few weeks, we're a little better than most of the rest of the ACC but we're probably not as good as Syracuse and they'll likely smoke us on Saturday. We usually handle that 2-3 match up zone pretty well but I'm not sure we have the horses this time around. The key will be our ability to exploit the short corner and knock down mid-range shots. Cameron Wright's play will be enormous from Pitt's perspective. Also, this team passes the ball very well and that can give that zone trouble if we can get the ball to the foul line.

I think Pitt is solid but nothing more. We're going to end in the top four of this league this year but that's basically because it's not very good again this year. Believe me when I tell you that I understand that we're going nowhere in the NCAA's. Losing Durand Johnson, our best - and really only - outside shooter is a killer for a team with such a weak post presence and that will bite us in the arse in the end. And truthfully, we weren't all that good with Johnson in the lineup.

I'll tell you on Saturday night if Syracuse is anything special.

I think you are way off about how good we were with DJ in the lineup. We were very, very good; certainly better than last year and I believe based on how teams were playing, no worse than #2 in this league, and we had more weapons that can hurt a team on offense than any other in the past decade, with maybe the exception of maybe 2009, but that team was built very differently. This team had the scoring ability to make a deep tourney run. However, how good we'll be going forward is yet to be seen. I think we're really going to miss that lights-out shooting ability that also didn't give up any athleticism.

Yeah I lean more toward Paco on this one. This was a very good offensive team, one of the best at Pitt under Dixon. It lost a little with Johnson but I was actually encouraged with the offensive performance against GT. I would put the team at 20th right now after losing Johnson with the opportunity to skyrocket if they perform well against Syracuse.

(01-16-2014 09:52 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  I don't know why anyone is surprised by any of this? I think most of the country realized that the Big East was pretty clearly better than the ACC for the past several years and Pitt and Syracuse have been two of the best programs in the Big East for some time now. So where's the surprise here?

Spoiler alert: Louisville is going to be very good right from the jump too.

That said, after watching some of the teams play over the past few weeks, we're a little better than most of the rest of the ACC but we're probably not as good as Syracuse and they'll likely smoke us on Saturday. We usually handle that 2-3 match up zone pretty well but I'm not sure we have the horses this time around. The key will be our ability to exploit the short corner and knock down mid-range shots. Cameron Wright's play will be enormous from Pitt's perspective. Also, this team passes the ball very well and that can give that zone trouble if we can get the ball to the foul line.

I think Pitt is solid but nothing more. We're going to end in the top four of this league this year but that's basically because it's not very good again this year. Believe me when I tell you that I understand that we're going nowhere in the NCAA's. Losing Durand Johnson, our best - and really only - outside shooter is a killer for a team with such a weak post presence and that will bite us in the arse in the end. And truthfully, we weren't all that good with Johnson in the lineup.

I'll tell you on Saturday night if Syracuse is anything special.

It should be a good game. Its really hard to say how Syracuse will play on Saturday. There have been some shaky spots this season but usually that is on the road. I have not seen Pittsburgh play this season but they are traditionally good and play Syracuse tough. I think Syracuse is better than last year's final four team talent wise but still inconsistent.

We usually play well against Syracuse and so I would expect that to continue tomorrow.

Jimmy B will come closer to evening his record against Dixon as SU spanks the Panthers.

(01-17-2014 12:51 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  Jimmy B will come closer to evening his record against Dixon as SU spanks the Panthers.

Jamie Dixon is 10-4 vs Boeheim and 5-1 in the Carrier Dome.

Pitt is 7-3 vs Syracuse in the last 10 games and 14-6 in the last 20 games. Those six losses were by an average of 5.2 points with only one game (2/27/01) being by more than 8. Pitt has won by an average margin of 8.8 points with six wins having a differential of 10 points or more.

Pitt has the second most wins, 10, in the Carrier Dome of any Syracuse opponent.

Since 2000, both Pitt and Syracuse have each won 4 regular season conference titles and 2 conference tournament titles while both have appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times over that time frame.

This will be the 102nd all-time meeting between the Panthers and Orange with Syracuse leading the series 63-39.

(01-17-2014 02:31 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 12:51 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  Jimmy B will come closer to evening his record against Dixon as SU spanks the Panthers.

Jamie Dixon is 10-4 vs Boeheim and 5-1 in the Carrier Dome.

Pitt is 7-3 vs Syracuse in the last 10 games and 14-6 in the last 20 games. Those six losses were by an average of 5.2 points with only one game (2/27/01) being by more than 8. Pitt has won by an average margin of 8.8 points with six wins having a differential of 10 points or more.

Pitt has the most wins in the Carrier Dome of any Syracuse opponent.

Since 2000, both Pitt and Syracuse have each won 4 regular season conference titles and 2 conference tournament titles while both have appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times over that time frame.

This will be the 102nd all-time meeting between the Panthers and Orange with Syracuse leading the series 63-39.

I was just kidding about the results of the game. I honestly don't know what to expect of this game. But are you sure that Pitt has the most wins in the Dome of any SU opponent? For some reason, I thought that honor goes to Georgetown.

I got that from the press release. It was mis-worded. However, Pitt does have the longest win streak in the Dome at 5 from Jan 24, 2004 to Jan 16, 2012.

Carrier Dome opponent wins.

1. Villanova 13
2. Pitt 10
2. UConn 10
4. Georgetown 8

(01-17-2014 03:08 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  I got that from the press release. It was mis-worded. However, Pitt does have the longest win streak in the Dome at 5 from Jan 24, 2004 to Jan 16, 2012.

Carrier Dome opponent wins.

1. Villanova 13
2. Pitt 10
2. UConn 10
4. Georgetown 8

I forgot about Nova. But those 4 are the ones that I would expect to be in the top 4.

(01-17-2014 05:22 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 03:08 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  I got that from the press release. It was mis-worded. However, Pitt does have the longest win streak in the Dome at 5 from Jan 24, 2004 to Jan 16, 2012.

Carrier Dome opponent wins.

1. Villanova 13
2. Pitt 10
2. UConn 10
4. Georgetown 8

I forgot about Nova. But those 4 are the ones that I would expect to be in the top 4.

Can't we have separate conferences for football and basketball? Seeing those five names together made me nostalgic again. Syracuse, Villanova, Pitt, UConn, and Georgetown should always be playing eachother. Anyway, pumped for this game, should be the biggest game of the year for both teams in the league.

(01-17-2014 05:59 PM)MKPitt Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 05:22 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 03:08 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  I got that from the press release. It was mis-worded. However, Pitt does have the longest win streak in the Dome at 5 from Jan 24, 2004 to Jan 16, 2012.

Carrier Dome opponent wins.

1. Villanova 13
2. Pitt 10
2. UConn 10
4. Georgetown 8

I forgot about Nova. But those 4 are the ones that I would expect to be in the top 4.

Can't we have separate conferences for football and basketball? Seeing those five names together made me nostalgic again. Syracuse, Villanova, Pitt, UConn, and Georgetown should always be playing eachother. Anyway, pumped for this game, should be the biggest game of the year for both teams in the league.

Except for maybe the Cuse's trip to the Pete.

(01-15-2014 12:13 AM)Marge Schott Wrote:  I guess GT kept it close because these bunny foo foo schools are our overlords in basketball.

I've been to one Pitt game in my life. I'll give $5 to anybody that knows which game that was (minus the cost of the envelope and stamp). One entry per contestant.

What are you trying to say? It's not coming across very clearly.