Pitt Memories. Best and Worst moments

[Monroevillefan]

Again this is my recollection of Pitt Memories of over 50 years. Again forgive my memory and spelling and there are no right or wrong answers.

Best moments.

1. Jerome Lane bringing down the backboard. How many times have we seen this replay. It really didn't hurt Bill Raffery's career with " Throw it down Jerome." Pitts immaculate reception moment.

2. Dejuan Blairs throw down of Thabeet of UConn.. It basically took UConn out of the game.

3. Levance's last second shot to down Duke in the Garden. Really a great game.

4 Ronald Ramon's last second shot to beat WVU. Just a great atmosphere and a dagger to the Mountaineers. Sweet.

Worst Moments

1 Tie. The kid from Vanderbilt 's last second shot to defeat Pitt in the NCAA's. The decision to foul or not to foul was debated for a long time. That defeat seemed to linger for a long time.

1a. Scotty Reynolds from Villanovas full court drive to stop Pitt's run to the final four in Boston. Don't know whether I will see a better shot for Pitt to get to the final four.

3 Nasir Robinson foul late in the game to lose in the tournament. It came out of nowhere.

Craziest moment. Pitt was playing in the EasternEight tournament at WVU. Tom Richards was backpedal ling at the half court and playfully patted Bob Huggins on the ass and the referee called his fifth foul.
Never saw anything like it. WVU hospitality.

 

[mo cheeks]

the 3 worst moments are painful just to read.
Clancy going off against Duke, at Duke was a memorable best moment for me.

 

[magadog]

the 3 worst moments are painful just to read.
Clancy going off against Duke, at Duke was a memorable best moment for me.

Barry Goheen
Scotty Reynolds
Khalid El-Amin - Pitt wasn't very good, but almost pulled one of the biggest upsets in team history. When UConn won & El-Amin jumped on the scorer's table, it was pretty hard to take.

 

[CentPaPittFan]

Agree with many of the above...............my own off the wall moments.

1980 regular season vs Iona at the Field House..... Jim Valvano was their coach, Jeff Ruland big center, athletic 6'4" guards, NBA caliber power forward in Alex Middleton.....they ended up like 26-3 that year with a win over Louisville who was Nat. Champs.... Pitt won in a hard fought game....that was as good a game atmosphere as any.

The 1980 and 1981 Eastern Eight Tournaments at Civic Arena were great events and lots of good talent. Rutgers with James Bailey....Villanova with John Pinone.......WVU - Dale Blaney who would have believed he'd become a race car driver.........could go on and on.

Sam Clancy got me hooked on Pitt basketball way back..............so his final game of his senior year vs eventual NCAA runner North Carolina was special.....he battled his heart out vs James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Al Wood....Pitt lost by 15 or so but it was a memorable moment to me.

 

[DT_PITT]

Again this is my recollection of Pitt Memories of over 50 years. Again forgive my memory and spelling and there are no right or wrong answers.

Best moments.

1. Jerome Lane bringing down the backboard. How many times have we seen this replay. It really didn't hurt Bill Raffery's career with " Throw it down Jerome." Pitts immaculate reception moment.

2. Dejuan Blairs throw down of Thabeet of UConn.. It basically took UConn out of the game.

3. Levance's last second shot to down Duke in the Garden. Really a great game.

4 Ronald Ramon's last second shot to beat WVU. Just a great atmosphere and a dagger to the Mountaineers. Sweet.

Worst Moments

1 Tie. The kid from Vanderbilt 's last second shot to defeat Pitt in the NCAA's. The decision to foul or not to foul was debated for a long time. That defeat seemed to linger for a long time.

1a. Scotty Reynolds from Villanovas full court drive to stop Pitt's run to the final four in Boston. Don't know whether I will see a better shot for Pitt to get to the final four.

3 Nasir Robinson foul late in the game to lose in the tournament. It came out of nowhere.

Craziest moment. Pitt was playing in the EasternEight tournament at WVU. Tom Richards was backpedal ling at the half court and playfully patted Bob Huggins on the ass and the referee called his fifth foul.
Never saw anything like it. WVU hospitality.

Love these threads, and I don't want to disagree with any of yours. They should be at the top of anyone's lists. Before proceeding, I HAVE to correct you however. Bill Raftery did NOT say, "THROW IT DOWN, JEROME." Those immortal words of Pitt Hoops are "SEND IT IN JEROME!!"

Here's some others, not in any order.

1981 -- as a freshman in high school, it was my first year of dedicated fanaticism to Pitt Hoops. And I may have been the only person in my high school going crazy seeing Dwayne Wallace hitting a leaner to beat Idaho in OT of the NCAA tournament.

2009 -- Pitt against UConn at the Pete with the Huskies being #1. Brad and Levance lead the break then Sam joins the run and Levance spots him for the ally-oop -- "THERE YOU GO!"

2003 - There wasn't one particular moment in this game like the ones you have described, but the last minute of the Big East Tourney Championship against UConn was so incredible, being in the Garden watching the Panthers win their first tourney ever. I guess the best memory was watching Donatas Zavackas running down the court during that time, swinging his arms in the air, asking the Pitt fans to stand and join in the celebration.

One more in 2009, in the Boston Garden, seeing Levance take the incredibly tough three to take the lead against Xavier. Then seeing him break free with the steal a few seconds later.

As far as tough moments, those are the three most classic.

Let's add Tyler Ennis' 40 footer to beat Pitt in 2013.

Crazy moments ...

How about the time Ralph Willard called for Chris Seabrooks to come in the game, and as he went to the scorer's table, under his warm up sweatpants, he realized he wasn't wearing his game shorts, and had to run back into the locker room to put them on.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Best Moments:

1) Last minute or so of Xavier game in Sweet 16. Levance hits a step back three for the lead, and then a steal and layup to put the game away.

2) Uconn game, senior day for Fields/Biggs/Young...plus Dejuan's last home game. Beating #1 at home, a #1 seed on the line. As good a home game and environment as I have seen, or probably will ever see.

3) beating Wisconsin in Milwaukee in the 2nd rd, in what was a travesty of a job by the NCAA committee

4) (tie) buzzer beaters by Fields and Ramon to beat Duke and wvu

5) big east tournament run in 2000-2001 that really started this run


Worst moments...

1) Barry goheen

2) Khalid el-Amin

3) Scotty Reynolds

4) Nasir Robinson

5) end of regulation sequence vs kent st. In sweet 16. Brandin passes the ball up when he should've taken the shot, page air balls a 3, and then bK fouls out in OT. Really, this was our best chance to perhaps win the entire thing. As much as I love the 2008 team, I don't know if we can beat UNC. In 2002, Maryland beats Indiana for the title, and we could've hung with both those teams.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Love these threads, and I don't want to disagree with any of yours. They should be at the top of anyone's lists. Before proceeding, I HAVE to correct you however. Bill Raftery did NOT say, "THROW IT DOWN, JEROME." Those immortal words of Pitt Hoops are "SEND IT IN JEROME!!"

Here's some others, not in any order.

1981 -- as a freshman in high school, it was my first year of dedicated fanaticism to Pitt Hoops. And I may have been the only person in my high school going crazy seeing Dwayne Wallace hitting a learner to beat Idaho in OT of the NCAA tournament.

2009 -- Pitt against UConn at the Pete with the Huskies being #1. Brad and Levance lead the break then Sam joins the run and Levance spots him for the ally-oop -- "THERE YOU GO!"

2003 - There wasn't one particular moment in this game like the ones you have described, but the last minute of the Big East Tourney Championship against UConn was so incredible, being in the Garden watching the Panthers win their first tourney ever. I guess the best memory was watching Donatas Zavackas running down the court during that time, swinging his arms in the air, asking the Pitt fans to stand and join in the celebration.

One more in 2009, in the Boston Garden, seeing Levance take the incredibly tough three to take the lead against Xavier. Then seeing him break free with the steal a few seconds later.

As far as tough moments, those are the three most classic.

Let's add Tyler Ennis' 40 footer to beat Pitt in 2013.

Crazy moments ...

How about the time Ralph Willard called for Chris Seabrooks to come in the game, and as he went to the scorer's table, under his warm up sweatpants, he realized he wasn't wearing his game shorts, and had to run back into the locker room to put them on.

Crazy moments:

1) I'll list the entire Willard era. Some highlights: turning into a game @nova only to find out Fred primus has been arrested, the Andre Howard-mark Blount biting incident, playing Rutgers in the BET with literally only 6 players.

2) have to say the time pitt beat Miami because Miami didn't come out from the timeout on time. I still have no clue how that happened. I haven't seen it before or since. The ref just hands the ball to pitt and we make a layup

3) tom Herrion getting hit by a penny

4) brandin hitting a 50 footer but a millisecond after time expires in Syracuse. I think we would've been #1 with a win

5) Darrell porter sending 6 Duquesne players in the game with 5 seconds left. We are down 1, Duquesne gets a tech, but page misses the FT

 

[wbrpanther]

Again this is my recollection of Pitt Memories of over 50 years. Again forgive my memory and spelling and there are no right or wrong answers.

Best moments.

1. Jerome Lane bringing down the backboard. How many times have we seen this replay. It really didn't hurt Bill Raffery's career with " Throw it down Jerome." Pitts immaculate reception moment.

2. Dejuan Blairs throw down of Thabeet of UConn.. It basically took UConn out of the game.

3. Levance's last second shot to down Duke in the Garden. Really a great game.

4 Ronald Ramon's last second shot to beat WVU. Just a great atmosphere and a dagger to the Mountaineers. Sweet.

Worst Moments

1 Tie. The kid from Vanderbilt 's last second shot to defeat Pitt in the NCAA's. The decision to foul or not to foul was debated for a long time. That defeat seemed to linger for a long time.

1a. Scotty Reynolds from Villanovas full court drive to stop Pitt's run to the final four in Boston. Don't know whether I will see a better shot for Pitt to get to the final four.

3 Nasir Robinson foul late in the game to lose in the tournament. It came out of nowhere.

Craziest moment. Pitt was playing in the EasternEight tournament at WVU. Tom Richards was backpedal ling at the half court and playfully patted Bob Huggins on the ass and the referee called his fifth foul.
Never saw anything like it. WVU hospitality.

Most painful- Scotty "f**kin" Reynolds. Not even close.

Runner-up- Barry Goheen

Memorable- LeVance against Duke.

"send it in, Jerome"

Page's thunder slam over Ruben Boumjte Boumjte to announce the new era of Pitt hoops

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

In 2002, Maryland beats Indiana for the title, and we could've hung with both those teams.

We'd have beaten that Indiana team in the regional final. If only we could have beaten Kent Freakin' State.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

5) Darrell porter sending 6 Duquesne players in the game with 5 seconds left. We are down 1, Duquesne gets a tech, but page misses the FT

The refs in that game so desperately did not want to call that technical. They got together and talked and talked about it, trying to figure out a way to not make the call. And then it ended up not mattering.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Love these threads, and I don't want to disagree with any of yours. They should be at the top of anyone's lists. Before proceeding, I HAVE to correct you however. Bill Raftery did NOT say, "THROW IT DOWN, JEROME." Those immortal words of Pitt Hoops are "SEND IT IN JEROME!!"

Here's some others, not in any order.

1981 -- as a freshman in high school, it was my first year of dedicated fanaticism to Pitt Hoops. And I may have been the only person in my high school going crazy seeing Dwayne Wallace hitting a leaner to beat Idaho in OT of the NCAA tournament.

.

I love these threads too. DT, I remember after we beat Idaho, how we got North Carolina with Worthy and Perkins, Matt Doherty and Jimmy Black. The next year they recruited some kid named Jordan. They still beat us.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Okay, the Reynolds shot was the most memorable as far as pain, and the end of the Butler game also was as painful, no, it was worse. We were #1 seeds.

But we all know it is about matchups and how things open up. These 3 come to mind

1) The Goheen debacle was bad ( I think a lot of Pitt fans have revisionist history though, it is not like Vandy was some mid major, they had friggin Will Perdue among others) but... We were the 2 seed in the Midwest Region. Purdue was the 1 seed and lost in the 2nd rd. NC State was the 3 seed and lost in the first rd. Kansas was the 6 seed and came out of our region and won it all. We get past Vandy, it is not inconceivable that we win it all. Well.....I guess it is, because Paul Evans was coach.

2) 2002 losing to Kent State. Bad loss. Add to this that Indiana upset #1 Duke in our region, all we had to do is beat Indiana to get to the Final Four.

3) The next year, same team. Same exact team only a year older and wiser. 2 seed in our region, I feel we were as good as any team in the nation. We lost to Marquette as Ben was negotiating his UCLA job.

 

[Swervin27]

Some good ones in here.. I remember going into the Marquette game very confidently and just watching some guy tear us up.. Never heard of him before that night, ended up being ok in the NBA..

Was at the Kent St game. Funny, I was so worried about Duke in the next game then when Indiana upset them, I was jumping up and down thinking we were so much more athletic than that hoosier team that we were easily going to the final 4 (yeah, overlooked kent state)

being 9 years old, taking trolley down to Civic arena to meet my older brother who was in college for the Pitt / Cuse game.. Watched us beat a great team while the whole arena chanted "KIDNAPPED" and "WE GOT YOUR UNCLE" to Rony. I joined in, having no clue what it meant. then got in trolley by myself for the ride home. WHat kind of parents let their 9 year old do that?

Loved that Ok game at the Pete, we beat Mookie, think we dropped 100 plus on them..

How bout Jason Maille dropping 40 at the field house, UConn maybe??

I was at a pitt / gtown game where a fight broke out, at the Civic arena, Thompson took his team off the court, what a jackasss..

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Three best memories.

1) The First Big East title. Especially because it was against UConn. No fluke, not some team putting together 3 games and getting hot, this was UConn. Especially after losing to them the year before. I think as a Pitt basketball fan, there was no finer nor prouder moment.

2) 2009 NCAA Basketball Tourney #1 seed. Really, how many teams, how many programs are rewarded a #1 seed??

3) Obscure moment. Beating BC in early 2002. Unranked, almost never ranked, we knocked off #11 ranked BC at their place....and got our first top 25 ranking since the Smith/Lane days. That was the real start of our success and the first signal to the college BB world that Pitt has arrived.

And one very special, very personal moment. As many of you know, I lived in Morgantown. January 14, 2003. Not that WVU that year was very special, but we were. We came into that game a top 5 team. The Hoopies were jazzed. Earlier that week I think it was the Post Gazette published an article concerning Julius Page's tough upbringing. Well I was at the Coliseum and the cretins (students) were in rare form chanting "WHO'S YOUR DADDY" to Page every time he touched the ball. Finally....Brandin found Page for about a 40 foot Alley Oop thunderous dunk. Page then stated the students down....about 2-3 minutes later, Brandin again found Julius open for an Alley Oop dunk. Page then stood, didn't move, and stared down the WVU students who shut up. Pitt went on to an 80-61 rout.

That was fantastic.

 

[whirlybird optio]

The refs in that game so desperately did not want to call that technical. They got together and talked and talked about it, trying to figure out a way to not make the call. And then it ended up not mattering.

I remember leaving that game really beginning to wonder what Howland was doing. Greer was a better FT shooter than Page, and yet he had the Freshman Page shoot the free throws. The next game is @VCU, we lose, and before that game Seabrooks is announced as being dismissed from program. Then later in the year, we are in a one possession game with WVU late, and again we went to page not Greer, and we lost.

Then the BET run happened and the rest is history.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Three best memories.

1) The First Big East title. Especially because it was against UConn. No fluke, not some team putting together 3 games and getting hot, this was UConn. Especially after losing to them the year before. I think as a Pitt basketball fan, there was no finer nor prouder moment.

2) 2009 NCAA Basketball Tourney #1 seed. Really, how many teams, how many programs are rewarded a #1 seed??

3) Obscure moment. Beating BC in early 2002. Unranked, almost never ranked, we knocked off #11 ranked BC at their place....and got our first top 25 ranking since the Smith/Lane days. That was the real start of our success and the first signal to the college BB world that Pitt has arrived.

And one very special, very personal moment. As many of you know, I lived in Morgantown. January 14, 2003. Not that WVU that year was very special, but we were. We came into that game a top 5 team. The Hoopies were jazzed. Earlier that week I think it was the Post Gazette published an article concerning Julius Page's tough upbringing. Well I was at the Coliseum and the cretins (students) were in rare form chanting "WHO'S YOUR DADDY" to Page every time he touched the ball. Finally....Brandin found Page for about a 40 foot Alley Oop thunderous dunk. Page then stated the students down....about 2-3 minutes later, Brandin again found Julius open for an Alley Oop dunk. Page then stood, didn't move, and stared down the WVU students who shut up. Pitt went on to an 80-61 rout.

That was fantastic.

I distinctly remember that BC game. They had just crushed us the year before in the BET finals. I was at a game a few weeks before at Ohio St, and Pitt won pretty easily. But, I still wasn't sure how good we were (our only loss was at the RMU gym to Seth Greenberg and USF)

And we just smoked BC. The game was never in doubt. That was the first time I was like, wow, we are really good.

 

[DT_PITT]

I love these threads too. DT, I remember after we beat Idaho, how we got North Carolina with Worthy and Perkins, Matt Doherty and Jimmy Black. The next year they recruited some kid named Jordan. They still beat us.

Their best player and leading scorer that year was actually Al Wood. We played them pretty tough for a while until UNC pulled away down the stretch. A bunch of UNC fans stood and applauded Sam Clancy when he fouled out in the final minutes.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Some good ones in here.. I remember going into the Marquette game very confidently and just watching some guy tear us up.. Never heard of him before that night, ended up being ok in the NBA..

Was at the Kent St game. Funny, I was so worried about Duke in the next game then when Indiana upset them, I was jumping up and down thinking we were so much more athletic than that hoosier team that we were easily going to the final 4 (yeah, overlooked kent state)

being 9 years old, taking trolley down to Civic arena to meet my older brother who was in college for the Pitt / Cuse game.. Watched us beat a great team while the whole arena chanted "KIDNAPPED" and "WE GOT YOUR UNCLE" to Rony. I joined in, having no clue what it meant. then got in trolley by myself for the ride home. WHat kind of parents let their 9 year old do that?

Loved that Ok game at the Pete, we beat Mookie, think we dropped 100 plus on them..

How bout Jason Maille dropping 40 at the field house, UConn maybe??

I was at a pitt / gtown game where a fight broke out, at the Civic arena, Thompson took his team off the court, what a jackasss..

I'm pretty sure the maile 40 point game was against nova. I think there was a blizzard outside, because I didn't go to that game b/c of weather.

The Duke-Indiana game at Rupp is still maybe the best game I've ever been to. The Indiana fans at the game were easily, and mean easily, the loudest fans I've ever heard at a neutral site event.

After we lost, an IU fan literally followed us for 10 miles or so back to our hotel to buy the tickets for the elite 8.

 

[Swervin27]

I'm pretty sure the maile 40 point game was against nova. I think there was a blizzard outside, because I didn't go to that game b/c of weather.

The Duke-Indiana game at Rupp is still maybe the best game I've ever been to. The Indiana fans at the game were easily, and mean easily, the loudest fans I've ever heard at a neutral site event.

After we lost, an IU fan literally followed us for 10 miles or so back to our hotel to buy the tickets for the elite 8.

that venue was about 75 percent Indiana fans, the rest were made up of pitt, duke and ksu fans.. they travelled well. The Indiana players all came up in the crowd after the game and were hugging the fans, was pretty cool. Cant believe I slept on kent state, literally didn't even consider the idea that they could beat us...

 

[DT_PITT]

I distinctly remember that BC game. They had just crushed us the year before in the BET finals. I was at a game a few weeks before at Ohio St, and Pitt won pretty easily. But, I still wasn't sure how good we were (our only loss was at the RMU gym to Seth Greenberg and USF)

And we just smoked BC. The game was never in doubt. That was the first time I was like, wow, we are really good.

I remember that BC game a little differently. We played well, but had to really hit some big shots to hold the lead and we ended up winning by three I believe. Still, it was an impressive road win.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Their best player and leading scorer that year was actually Al Wood. We played them pretty tough for a while until UNC pulled away down the stretch. A bunch of UNC fans stood and applauded Sam Clancy when he fouled out in the final minutes.

That's it. Al Wood. Wow.........talk about obscure reference.

 

[whirlybird optio]

that venue was about 75 percent Indiana fans, the rest were made up of pitt, duke and ksu fans.. they travelled well. The Indiana players all came up in the crowd after the game and were hugging the fans, was pretty cool. Cant believe I slept on kent state, literally didn't even consider the idea that they could beat us...

And of those 4 teams, Duke had by far the smallest section. pitt and kent were close. Duke had maybe 1000 fans there tops.

I remember not being that mad after the KSU loss only because I was so thrilled to have been in the Sweet 16. In terms of being just purely angry after an NCAA game, nothing will ever top Butler.

 

[DT_PITT]

I'm pretty sure the maile 40 point game was against nova. I think there was a blizzard outside, because I didn't go to that game b/c of weather.

The Duke-Indiana game at Rupp is still maybe the best game I've ever been to. The Indiana fans at the game were easily, and mean easily, the loudest fans I've ever heard at a neutral site event.

After we lost, an IU fan literally followed us for 10 miles or so back to our hotel to buy the tickets for the elite 8.

Naa ... no blizzard. I know, because I was in grad school at the time and had class that night, and got in my car to hear the score and heard what was going on so I jogged up the hill to catch the end of the game. I only saw like the last three minutes though.

 

[whirlybird optio]

I remember that BC game a little differently. We played well, but had to really hit some big shots to hold the lead and we ended up winning by three I believe. Still, it was an impressive road win.

As usual you are right. I don't know why I remember it that way, maybe we had a big second half lead. I don't remember the game being in doubt, but we only won by 3 so it must have been.

 

[chadpapp]

My best memory (I'm 25) was the Fields to Young alley oop against uconn on senior day when they were 1 and and were 3. I've never heard the Pete that loud before. I can still see it in my mind.

 

[Fredact]

Another fun one was Pitt's first #1 ranking. I went to the game against Georgetown, which they won. I then drove to visit some relatives in New York, and got the North Carolina game somehow on the radio. Heard them lose to Harvard (I think) and knew that would make us #1.

 

[BFo8]

I'm sure many of you will take this the wrong way, but the Scottie Reynolds game wasn't nearly as bad for me as Barry Goheen. For one it was a game I had internally already given up as lost. Also there was a small part of me that being a diehard Pitt fan for so long was just so proud that the program had come so far that we were in a dogfight to go to the Final Four.

The Vandy game was totally different. After he hit the shot I remember feeling a stunned almost unable to move type sensation. Then when the game went to OT there was some kind of cable trouble (at least in my area), and when they came back Smith had fouled out (hanging on the rim tech?) and then the game ended shortly thereafter. I never even bothered to go back to see what happened, mostly because I didn't want to know. I remember getting in my car afterwards just to get out of the house and pretty much just aimlessly driving around.

I will mention a good and bad game that most people probably don't remember. Pitt went to Loretto to play St Francis and future NBAer Mike Iuzzolino and fell behind by almost 20 points before storming back to win. The game wasn't on tv and I remember listening on the radio thinking the season was going to hell because we were about to lose to St freaking Francis. Great comeback, great game.

I will add beating Oklahoma with Harvey Grant and Mookie Blaylock as a great memory. The arena wins over Syracuse and Georgetown with the Gore/Lane vs Perry McDonald brawl very memorable as well.

 

[magadog]

Okay, the Reynolds shot was the most memorable as far as pain, and the end of the Butler game also was as painful, no, it was worse. We were #1 seeds.

But we all know it is about matchups and how things open up. These 3 come to mind

1) The Goheen debacle was bad ( I think a lot of Pitt fans have revisionist history though, it is not like Vandy was some mid major, they had friggin Will Perdue among others) but... We were the 2 seed in the Midwest Region. Purdue was the 1 seed and lost in the 2nd rd. NC State was the 3 seed and lost in the first rd. Kansas was the 6 seed and came out of our region and won it all. We get past Vandy, it is not inconceivable that we win it all. Well.....I guess it is, because Paul Evans was coach.

2) 2002 losing to Kent State. Bad loss. Add to this that Indiana upset #1 Duke in our region, all we had to do is beat Indiana to get to the Final Four.

3) The next year, same team. Same exact team only a year older and wiser. 2 seed in our region, I feel we were as good as any team in the nation. We lost to Marquette as Ben was negotiating his UCLA job.

Vanderbilt had a good team, but Pitt had two 1st round picks on the team & solid senior wing in Gore. Unfortunately, the other key players were all freshmen (Miller, Matthews, Porter & Martin).

The first strike against the team was Shorter being a prop 48. The second strike was Brookin ineligible for the second semester. The third strike was Goheen hitting the three to send the game to overtime.

The only team that Larry Brown didn't think that Kansas couldn't match up against was Pitt. I believe that this was his quote from The Season on the Brink or Edge, but the book is great reading for a look at multiple teams going through a basketball season culminating with the championship game.

 

[meadvillecoach]

I'm sure many of you will take this the wrong way, but the Scottie Reynolds game wasn't nearly as bad for me as Barry Goheen. For one it was a game I had internally already given up as lost. Also there was a small part of me that being a diehard Pitt fan for so long was just so proud that the program had come so far that we were in a dogfight to go to the Final Four.

The Vandy game was totally different. After he hit the shot I remember feeling a stunned almost unable to move type sensation. Then when the game went to OT there was some kind of cable trouble (at least in my area), and when they came back Smith had fouled out (hanging on the rim tech?) and then the game ended shortly thereafter. I never even bothered to go back to see what happened, mostly because I didn't want to know. I remember getting in my car afterwards just to get out of the house and pretty much just aimlessly driving around.

I will mention a good and bad game that most people probably don't remember. Pitt went to Loretto to play St Francis and future NBAer Mike Iuzzolino and fell behind by almost 20 points before storming back to win. The game wasn't on tv and I remember listening on the radio thinking the season was going to hell because we were about to lose to St freaking Francis. Great comeback, great game.

I will add beating Oklahoma with Harvey Grant and Mookie Blaylock as a great memory. The arena wins over Syracuse and Georgetown with the Gore/Lane vs Perry McDonald brawl very memorable as well.

 

[meadvillecoach]

I was at the st.francis game as a guest of coach Lombardi who was at st.francis at the time.The atmosphere was incredible Iuzzolino was off the charts, future NBA player. Hard to believe Pitt won that game. Everybody should make one trip to st.francis once.

 

[wbrpanther]

I'm sure many of you will take this the wrong way, but the Scottie Reynolds game wasn't nearly as bad for me as Barry Goheen. For one it was a game I had internally already given up as lost. Also there was a small part of me that being a diehard Pitt fan for so long was just so proud that the program had come so far that we were in a dogfight to go to the Final Four.

The Vandy game was totally different. After he hit the shot I remember feeling a stunned almost unable to move type sensation. Then when the game went to OT there was some kind of cable trouble (at least in my area), and when they came back Smith had fouled out (hanging on the rim tech?) and then the game ended shortly thereafter. I never even bothered to go back to see what happened, mostly because I didn't want to know. I remember getting in my car afterwards just to get out of the house and pretty much just aimlessly driving around.

I will mention a good and bad game that most people probably don't remember. Pitt went to Loretto to play St Francis and future NBAer Mike Iuzzolino and fell behind by almost 20 points before storming back to win. The game wasn't on tv and I remember listening on the radio thinking the season was going to hell because we were about to lose to St freaking Francis. Great comeback, great game.

I will add beating Oklahoma with Harvey Grant and Mookie Blaylock as a great memory. The arena wins over Syracuse and Georgetown with the Gore/Lane vs Perry McDonald brawl very memorable as well.

I was at that game at St. Francis and remember it well. Turned out St. Francis was pretty darn good that year and made the NCAA field as a 16 seed. They gave the #1 seed [can't remember who] a great game. Izzy played in the league for a few years.

 

[Harve74]

Again this is my recollection of Pitt Memories of over 50 years. Again forgive my memory and spelling and there are no right or wrong answers.

Best moments.

1. Jerome Lane bringing down the backboard. How many times have we seen this replay. It really didn't hurt Bill Raffery's career with " Throw it down Jerome." Pitts immaculate reception moment.

2. Dejuan Blairs throw down of Thabeet of UConn.. It basically took UConn out of the game.

3. Levance's last second shot to down Duke in the Garden. Really a great game.

4 Ronald Ramon's last second shot to beat WVU. Just a great atmosphere and a dagger to the Mountaineers. Sweet.

Worst Moments

1 Tie. The kid from Vanderbilt 's last second shot to defeat Pitt in the NCAA's. The decision to foul or not to foul was debated for a long time. That defeat seemed to linger for a long time.

1a. Scotty Reynolds from Villanovas full court drive to stop Pitt's run to the final four in Boston. Don't know whether I will see a better shot for Pitt to get to the final four.

3 Nasir Robinson foul late in the game to lose in the tournament. It came out of nowhere.

Craziest moment. Pitt was playing in the EasternEight tournament at WVU. Tom Richards was backpedal ling at the half court and playfully patted Bob Huggins on the ass and the referee called his fifth foul.
Never saw anything like it. WVU hospitality.

A couple best moments, two unbelievable last minute comebacks from 5 or 7 points down, one at Syracuse and the other at home when Brad stole the ball and seemingly levitated to not step on the sideline before passing. I'm thinking all three incidents were the same season, but maybe my memory is wrong?

I've privately speculated that those two comebacks used up all of our luck and the resulting karma shortage caused Nasir's brainfart foul.

The Butler loss didn't hit me as hard as Scottie freaking Reynolds. For some reason I actually saw it coming. I was completely convinced the day before we were going to lose and even sold my tickets to another Pitt fan and came home early.

Likewise, I had no faith in Paul Evans and was not at all surprised when we lost to Barry Goheen.

A low moment was when Brandin missed the last shot against Marquette. My son had a volleyball match against Central Catholic that night and we couldn't get home to watch the game, but thankfully, Pitt opened the Pete and showed the game on the big screen. The quality of the video was a little fuzzy, but sharing the game with a thousand or so Pitt fans made it special.

That DWade guy who was far from the household name he would become had an amazing game, but BK still had the ball and took what everyone was convinced would be the winning shot, like so many winners he had made.

But, it wasn't. That one hurt me more than several other ones mentioned.

 

[DT_PITT]

A couple best moments, two unbelievable last minute comebacks from 5 or 7 points down, one at Syracuse and the other at home when Brad stole the ball and seemingly levitated to not step on the sideline before passing. I'm thinking all three incidents were the same season, but maybe my memory is wrong?

I've privately speculated that those two comebacks used up all of our luck and the resulting karma shortage caused Nasir's brainfart foul.

The Butler loss didn't hit me as hard as Scottie freaking Reynolds. For some reason I actually saw it coming. I was completely convinced the day before we were going to lose and even sold my tickets to another Pitt fan and came home early.

Likewise, I had no faith in Paul Evans and was not at all surprised when we lost to Barry Goheen.

A low moment was when Brandin missed the last shot against Marquette. My son had a volleyball match against Central Catholic that night and we couldn't get home to watch the game, but thankfully, Pitt opened the Pete and showed the game on the big screen. The quality of the video was a little fuzzy, but sharing the game with a thousand or so Pitt fans made it special.

That DWade guy who was far from the household name he would become had an amazing game, but BK still had the ball and took what everyone was convinced would be the winning shot, like so many winners he had made.

But, it wasn't. That one hurt me more than several other ones mentioned.

It wouldn't have been a winning shot, but a tying shot Brandin would have been able to make. I've watched the last 5 minutes of that game about 50 times. Talk about a glutton!

Also, the two last minute comebacks in that season (2009-2010) were both at home, against Louisville then WVU (this one was the one you are describing with Brad making the steal). We played Cuse only in the Dome that year, but streamrolled them in the second half to win by 10.

 

[DT_PITT]

My best memory (I'm 25) was the Fields to Young alley oop against uconn on senior day when they were 1 and and were 3. I've never heard the Pete that loud before. I can still see it in my mind.

My favorite single moment ever!

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

My favorite single moment ever!

A close second for me was Levance putting on a dribbling exhibition in the final minute, just because he could and the game was out of reach.

 

[Harve74]

It wouldn't have been a winning shot, but a tying shot Brandin would have been able to make. I've watched the last 5 minutes of that game about 50 times. Talk about a glutton!

Also, the two last minute comebacks in that season (2009-2010) were both at home, against Louisville then WVU (this one was the one you are describing with Brad making the steal). We played Cuse only in the Dome that year, but streamrolled them in the second half to win by 10.

The Cuse game on the road was the 2007-2008 season. Cuse had a double digit lead with about 3 minutes to go before a furious Pitt comeback. I was wrong on the year.

The Wanamaker tightrope act was one of what was, I think , 7 Pitt comeback wins that season and the Ville and WVU gamew were pretty spectacular. We definitely depleted a lot of basketball karma that year before Nasir's foul.

 

[Delpanther]

Not a best or worst moment but a moment I will never forget-Pitt playing WVU at the fleldhouse and Huggins was a starting guard for WVU. There was a fight for the ball along the sidelines and a Pitt player slid on his stomach out of bounds. As the ref was getting things under control, Huggins stepped DIRECTLY on the back of the Pitt player on the floor-he got "T'd" up as I recall. He was a scumbag even when he was a player.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

My favorite single moment ever!

Enjoy

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Enjoy this too.....Awesome.

 

[jging676]

The worst moment for me has to be Scottie Reynolds, not just for the way we lost which was brutal, but that we would have played Carolina in the Final Four. That would have been a hell of a game. Nova ended up getting whacked by them. What a shame.