** Perhaps there are two ways to look at this end of the regular season loss to Miami. That is, the smaller game view and the larger season view. So let’s start small, and work our way up.
** Our Panthers gave the Canes a good fight, and along those lines, it was a pretty fun game to watch. My nephew came all the way up from DC to watch the game with us, and there were a number of times when we yelled “OH!” when the Panthers would hit a big shot.
** And I’ll never hate watching a game against a top opponent when it comes down to the final shot for the win.
** Despite the battle to the buzzer, ultimately what sunk the Panthers in this game was what happened on the glass for the prior 39 minutes and 56 seconds. There aren’t many games your team is going to win when you lose the rebounding battle 42-20.
** It’s also tough to win when you give up as many shots at the rim as we did tonight.
** Yet we almost did win. We almost won because Blake continues to hit amazing shots. We almost won because Nike had another strong offensive game. We almost one because Jorge hit some really big shots in his minutes too. It’s always a pleasure for me to see either of the Twins perform beyond my expectations.
** We didn’t win because the aforementioned Nike actually led the Panthers in rebounding with five. There’s a handful of guys who will need to take a look at that number and then take a hard look at themselves wonder why they couldn’t have beat it.
** The Panthers also didn’t win because a guy named Wooga hit six threes while in his previous 63 college games he had never hit more than two.
** So between the rebounds and Wooga, we almost pulled it out but didn’t it.
** But the closeness of this game really makes me realize that there’s no shame in this loss in the least. All it does instead is amplify the loss that shouldn’t have happened on Wednesday.
** This game tonight should have been gravy instead of a must have main course.
** I sure wish this game would have been gravy, because it sure would have provided us with a greater appreciation of the larger season view. And that larger season view is that we came within about 8 inches of an ACC regular season title.
** I can understand why any Pitt fan would feel great disappointment that we let an ACC regular season championship slip away from us in the final two contests. But I also hope any Pitt fan can also take a small step back and recognize how far we have come from one year ago, or even 100 days ago.
** I don’t need to remind the Panther faithful that we were projected to finish 14th in this league this year. Instead, we won 14 games in the league this year.
** It’s been a year that’s provided far more joy for Pitt fans that the previous six. While it hasn’t been a season of dreams, it’s been a season we can and should be proud of.
** And the final story for the season has not been written.
** First things first. Let’s win on Wednesday and get ourselves in the NCAA tournament. As I just mentioned, this alone is something we can and should be proud of.
** The next step is getting a few things fixed and seeing if we can win a couple games in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
** We’ve got to get some things fixed on defense. The Panthers have surrounded an average of 79 points in our last five games. The main culprit has been how we have handled screens.
** We’ve also got to get Greg back on track. We need his three ball and the lack of it has been noticeable and problematic.
** What’s also a problem for me now is that I’m going to need to figure out my work schedule so that I can watch our ACC tournament game on Wednesday at 2:30. But last year, I didn’t even take off work to watch our first round loss to Boston College. So all in all, this is hardly a problem, or at least a good problem.
** And looking at the season as a whole, a two point loss on the road in what was essentially the regular season conference championship game isn’t a problem either. In the bigger picture, it’s kind of a pleasure actually.
** But obviously it will be a much greater pleasure if our Panthers can recapture a little more of their previous magic in the next two-three weeks.
** Our Panthers gave the Canes a good fight, and along those lines, it was a pretty fun game to watch. My nephew came all the way up from DC to watch the game with us, and there were a number of times when we yelled “OH!” when the Panthers would hit a big shot.
** And I’ll never hate watching a game against a top opponent when it comes down to the final shot for the win.
** Despite the battle to the buzzer, ultimately what sunk the Panthers in this game was what happened on the glass for the prior 39 minutes and 56 seconds. There aren’t many games your team is going to win when you lose the rebounding battle 42-20.
** It’s also tough to win when you give up as many shots at the rim as we did tonight.
** Yet we almost did win. We almost won because Blake continues to hit amazing shots. We almost won because Nike had another strong offensive game. We almost one because Jorge hit some really big shots in his minutes too. It’s always a pleasure for me to see either of the Twins perform beyond my expectations.
** We didn’t win because the aforementioned Nike actually led the Panthers in rebounding with five. There’s a handful of guys who will need to take a look at that number and then take a hard look at themselves wonder why they couldn’t have beat it.
** The Panthers also didn’t win because a guy named Wooga hit six threes while in his previous 63 college games he had never hit more than two.
** So between the rebounds and Wooga, we almost pulled it out but didn’t it.
** But the closeness of this game really makes me realize that there’s no shame in this loss in the least. All it does instead is amplify the loss that shouldn’t have happened on Wednesday.
** This game tonight should have been gravy instead of a must have main course.
** I sure wish this game would have been gravy, because it sure would have provided us with a greater appreciation of the larger season view. And that larger season view is that we came within about 8 inches of an ACC regular season title.
** I can understand why any Pitt fan would feel great disappointment that we let an ACC regular season championship slip away from us in the final two contests. But I also hope any Pitt fan can also take a small step back and recognize how far we have come from one year ago, or even 100 days ago.
** I don’t need to remind the Panther faithful that we were projected to finish 14th in this league this year. Instead, we won 14 games in the league this year.
** It’s been a year that’s provided far more joy for Pitt fans that the previous six. While it hasn’t been a season of dreams, it’s been a season we can and should be proud of.
** And the final story for the season has not been written.
** First things first. Let’s win on Wednesday and get ourselves in the NCAA tournament. As I just mentioned, this alone is something we can and should be proud of.
** The next step is getting a few things fixed and seeing if we can win a couple games in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
** We’ve got to get some things fixed on defense. The Panthers have surrounded an average of 79 points in our last five games. The main culprit has been how we have handled screens.
** We’ve also got to get Greg back on track. We need his three ball and the lack of it has been noticeable and problematic.
** What’s also a problem for me now is that I’m going to need to figure out my work schedule so that I can watch our ACC tournament game on Wednesday at 2:30. But last year, I didn’t even take off work to watch our first round loss to Boston College. So all in all, this is hardly a problem, or at least a good problem.
** And looking at the season as a whole, a two point loss on the road in what was essentially the regular season conference championship game isn’t a problem either. In the bigger picture, it’s kind of a pleasure actually.
** But obviously it will be a much greater pleasure if our Panthers can recapture a little more of their previous magic in the next two-three weeks.
