**I’ve been writing postgame “dribbles” for over 25 years, but this is a first.
**That is…I’ve never had to dictate postgame thoughts to a willing passenger (willing is a stretch) during our trek home.
**Thankfully, my William & Mary sophomore is up to the task, although they’ve pledged to insert a few of their own words along the way (Yep, in parentheses).
**I should say we’ve had a nice trip. In our drive to White Sulphur Springs we encountered wonderful weather and enjoyed splendid conversation in anticipation of our epic battle with the Badgers.
**Unfortunately the trip home is understandably disappointing. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t very proud of our Panthers.
**In short, on this day Tonje proved to be an unstoppable force within a battle of two pretty darn good teams.
**Throughout our first six wins, I’ve suggested the Panthers are still not quite the team I think they should be, but I think it should be thought of as good news that I still have that same thought tonight.
**The easiest explanation of course is that hopefully we’ll get more than two minutes out of Damian Dunn in future games. In fact it is reasonable to assert that regular minutes from Damian tonight may have been enough to make up the minutes (we needed his defense).
**Offensively, we still know that better days are ahead for Jaland. He’s still forcing it a bit more than he should instead of letting most things come to him. But this will get better.
**We also got to witness a mini coming-out party of Amsal Delalić (and Beebah I think to some degree), and tonight we finally got a better look at that player we hope he can be.
**But offense notwithstanding, what Capel and crew must examine is why we were nearly powerless to stop Wisconsin in the second half. There aren’t many games you’re going to win when your opponent scores 54 points in the latter 20.
**Foul trouble was part of the issue, but I have to wonder if a tinker to the zone a little earlier should have been in order.
**But all of that amounts to typical fan second-guessing. Tonight we were a good team who lost to a team who is just a little better at the moment (and has a future draft pick).
**Additionally, it’s not hard to see how this year’s team is strides ahead of last years at the same stretch. Hopefully we can still improve as they did, though.
**On a completely different note, I’m not sure I’ve ever attended a college basketball game with the announcer calling out the number of seconds remaining on a shot clock. That said, the experience watching the game at the Greenbrier was certainly one that was worth a special trip – despite their issues with technology and lighting.
**I was proud to be there and see a few old friends among the Pitt fans at the event, however, I must give the highest props to the Wisconsin faithful who showed out. They topped us 3 to 1 both in number and volume (not that we didn’t try to be loud, at least I did. I don’t know about my dad).
**I hope the Panthers will hold their heads high through the holiday on their way to Columbus. I can’t say I’d be predicting a win, but I’m confident we will at least enjoy another great contest like tonight.
