** I had a great plan for today.
** I ran around early and did all of my Saturday errands. Then I picked up a couple of six packs of a nearly perfect variety of craft brews.
** This evening I planned to celebrate the Panthers clinching an NCAA berth.
** But more than that, I was looking forward to knowing that a Panther win tonight would have proven that they had taken a small but clear step forward from the team last year who wilted at the end.
** I can't say I was confident that we’d win today. Confidence in this year’s team is a luxury we fans cannot afford. But I confess that I did have a pretty good feeling.
** After the first half, that good feeling continued. It wasn’t a great first half, but at least a good one. The effort was there. The defense was there. The focus was there.
** And even though most of the second half was mostly a dogfight, I still believed we just might win.
** That belief ended at 6:12 when Adam Smith’s three pointer put Georgia Tech in front. From that moment on, I just knew my plan for the day was ruined.
** Like many Pitt fans, many, many emotions are running through my head. But I always end up with one word. Disappointing.
** Very disappointing.
** Adversity. In College Hoops, if not all sports (and even life for that matter), the difference between decent and better than that is what you do with adversity. And after two challenging years, our Panthers still cannot deal with adversity.
** When things are going well, our Panther players can play pretty well. Really well, in fact. But when we go down, our attention to detail on defense ends, and our offensive confidence goes for not.
** Let’s be honest. What I just said above applies to most College Basketball teams. It’s really the nature of the sport. But it’s not the nature of really good teams. And we aren’t one of those.
** We are exactly what we appear to be. That is, a bubble team, but not a single bit better than that.
** Like all Pitt fans, I want to see us win. More than that really, I want to see us win big and compete at the highest levels. The success we’ve had over the last 15 years makes this something it is fair to expect.
** Beyond this, and somehow inside of it too, mostly what I’ve always wanted to see is every Panther team be the best than it can be, and to find ways over the course a the season to always get better.
** At this moment of this disappointing 2015-2016 season, it’s clear we haven’t accomplished either of these two things.
** I’ll refrain from the business of picking at this player or that player, and the cause and effect from each that contributed to today’s loss.
** The real answer to that is that they all were a part of today's loss. And none of them were good enough physically and mentally to get the job done.
** I wish I could tell you I had any real hopes left for this season. Perhaps we’ll win on Wednesday, and that might be enough to get us into the NCAA Tournament. I know I’ll be rooting for this outcome, as I believe that’s still a noteworthy accomplishment. But I’m no longer thinking that there is even enough of a chance these guys will “get it” enough to do much more.
** As for Coach Dixon, let’s get to the point. No, it’s not time for him to go. It just is not.
** Nonetheless, all of the responsibility for the team’s inability to rise above their challenges belongs with him. It comes with the job.
** But through most of his career, he has proven that he can do what it takes to get all of his team to buy into what it he needs them to do it win at a high level.
** And there’s no doubt he hasn’t been able to accomplish this deed with this group.
** Perhaps no coach could have done anymore with this group than Dixon has done. But that matters not, as this is the group he has assembled. That’s half of his job. Regardless of how you look at the equation, it all adds up to 100% of his responsibility.
** And with that, I’d rather resist the critiques saying his biggest error of this game or that game was playing this guy too much or that guy too much, or subbing at the right or wrong moment.
** To me, these aren’t really the point. Instead, the point is that he has a group who are either unable or unwilling to execute at the level where Dixon was able to have players perform previously.
** It’s troubling for me to watch West Virginia currently, and not because I have any particular disdain for WVU Hoops. Instead, a couple of summers ago, I watched so many of those players currently enjoying some high level success for their club right next to so many of the current Panthers. I can say without a doubt that the WVU guys are not more physically talented than our guys.
** But they are clearly different.
** I don’t know what Jamie Dixon’s plan is after today. From what I know of the man, he’ll never stop trying with this group, whether this season ends in about 10 days, or a few days after that.
** But I do know that the current plan isn’t working.
** Very disappointing.
** I ran around early and did all of my Saturday errands. Then I picked up a couple of six packs of a nearly perfect variety of craft brews.
** This evening I planned to celebrate the Panthers clinching an NCAA berth.
** But more than that, I was looking forward to knowing that a Panther win tonight would have proven that they had taken a small but clear step forward from the team last year who wilted at the end.
** I can't say I was confident that we’d win today. Confidence in this year’s team is a luxury we fans cannot afford. But I confess that I did have a pretty good feeling.
** After the first half, that good feeling continued. It wasn’t a great first half, but at least a good one. The effort was there. The defense was there. The focus was there.
** And even though most of the second half was mostly a dogfight, I still believed we just might win.
** That belief ended at 6:12 when Adam Smith’s three pointer put Georgia Tech in front. From that moment on, I just knew my plan for the day was ruined.
** Like many Pitt fans, many, many emotions are running through my head. But I always end up with one word. Disappointing.
** Very disappointing.
** Adversity. In College Hoops, if not all sports (and even life for that matter), the difference between decent and better than that is what you do with adversity. And after two challenging years, our Panthers still cannot deal with adversity.
** When things are going well, our Panther players can play pretty well. Really well, in fact. But when we go down, our attention to detail on defense ends, and our offensive confidence goes for not.
** Let’s be honest. What I just said above applies to most College Basketball teams. It’s really the nature of the sport. But it’s not the nature of really good teams. And we aren’t one of those.
** We are exactly what we appear to be. That is, a bubble team, but not a single bit better than that.
** Like all Pitt fans, I want to see us win. More than that really, I want to see us win big and compete at the highest levels. The success we’ve had over the last 15 years makes this something it is fair to expect.
** Beyond this, and somehow inside of it too, mostly what I’ve always wanted to see is every Panther team be the best than it can be, and to find ways over the course a the season to always get better.
** At this moment of this disappointing 2015-2016 season, it’s clear we haven’t accomplished either of these two things.
** I’ll refrain from the business of picking at this player or that player, and the cause and effect from each that contributed to today’s loss.
** The real answer to that is that they all were a part of today's loss. And none of them were good enough physically and mentally to get the job done.
** I wish I could tell you I had any real hopes left for this season. Perhaps we’ll win on Wednesday, and that might be enough to get us into the NCAA Tournament. I know I’ll be rooting for this outcome, as I believe that’s still a noteworthy accomplishment. But I’m no longer thinking that there is even enough of a chance these guys will “get it” enough to do much more.
** As for Coach Dixon, let’s get to the point. No, it’s not time for him to go. It just is not.
** Nonetheless, all of the responsibility for the team’s inability to rise above their challenges belongs with him. It comes with the job.
** But through most of his career, he has proven that he can do what it takes to get all of his team to buy into what it he needs them to do it win at a high level.
** And there’s no doubt he hasn’t been able to accomplish this deed with this group.
** Perhaps no coach could have done anymore with this group than Dixon has done. But that matters not, as this is the group he has assembled. That’s half of his job. Regardless of how you look at the equation, it all adds up to 100% of his responsibility.
** And with that, I’d rather resist the critiques saying his biggest error of this game or that game was playing this guy too much or that guy too much, or subbing at the right or wrong moment.
** To me, these aren’t really the point. Instead, the point is that he has a group who are either unable or unwilling to execute at the level where Dixon was able to have players perform previously.
** It’s troubling for me to watch West Virginia currently, and not because I have any particular disdain for WVU Hoops. Instead, a couple of summers ago, I watched so many of those players currently enjoying some high level success for their club right next to so many of the current Panthers. I can say without a doubt that the WVU guys are not more physically talented than our guys.
** But they are clearly different.
** I don’t know what Jamie Dixon’s plan is after today. From what I know of the man, he’ll never stop trying with this group, whether this season ends in about 10 days, or a few days after that.
** But I do know that the current plan isn’t working.
** Very disappointing.
