** Since around January of 1981, Pitt Panther Basketball has been far and away my favorite sports team. There is no close second.
** And during that same stretch, there has been no Panther opponent with a greater, richer and more important history with our Panthers than the Syracuse Orange.
** On another day, I may count up the number of times we’ve played the Orange in my days of fandom. But I figure it’s got to be something like at least 80 games or more.
** In 1983, I listened dutifully on radio to hear Matt Miklasevich grab 7 second half defensive glass caroms to help the Panthers secure a huge upset victory in their first campaign in the Big East.
** Five years later, Jerome Lane garnered 29 points and 15 rebounds on the final day of the Big East Season at the Dome to secure a Big East title.
** In 2001, Isaac Hawkins and Brandin Knight led the way to a most unlikely OT win to launch the Panthers to the Big East Tournament Final. In 2002, an equally unlikely Chad Johnson sparked the Panthers to a 12 point win past the Orange in the Dome after trailing by 14 midway through the second half.
** Two years later, the Panthers pulverized the Orange and surrendered to them just a paltry 41 points for a Dome beating they will never forget. In 2011 at the Pete, the Panthers came out and scored the first 19 points against the #3 Orange before settling into a sweet 8 point win.
** My list of glorious memories could go on and on and on. There’s also a long list of interesting memories in the loss column too.
** Still, my memories of this Panther win against the Orange today should rank up there with all of them. And for all that it means to the Panther program at the moment, it just might even sit at the top.
** So let’s start at the end of this game and work our way backwards. In person, I’ve seen every Panther Senior day since 1985, but I’ve never been quite as moved emotionally than I was watching the Panther players swarm Aidan Fisch postgame knowing his slashing runner fell into the basket just before the final buzzer.
** The Panther reaction to Aidan wasn’t unlike what someone might receive after a buzzer beater to win a conference championship. That really should tell us a little something about this team who now is the favorite to indeed with the ACC Championship.
** Still as fans, the other 39 minutes and 59 seconds of this game were nothing less than pure bliss. And the sometimes formidable Syracuse zone never really proved to be any kind of problem for our Panthers. Actually, we killed it in a way that I've never seen in my years of watching Pitt Hoops staring in 1981.
** In fact, the only issue in the first half was that a few too many of the Panther threes failed to hit their mark as they typically do. But in the second half, it wasn’t long before it would become clear that the Panther three point offense was the perfect foil against the 2-3 zone.
** But it isn’t just because we are fearless to let the three fly that we squished the Orange today. It’s mostly because we moved the ball effortlessly into the three point shots we actually want, instead of these being the only shots we can get.
** But 62 second half points by our Panthers? Really? That’s at least as an amazing of a performance as only surrendering 41 points to the Orange as was mentioned before.
** I could, and might, offer a whole second version of "dribbles" going player by player beyond Aidan Fisch talking about how each contributed very importantly to the Panthers 99 point offensive brilliance today. But let’s just instead repeat the stats the matter. We hit 32 shots, and assisted on 27 of them while only suffering 5 turnovers. These are nothing short of amazing numbers and why one might think of this game as one of, if not the greatest, against the Orange in our history.
** Another reason it’s worth placing this Panther win so high in our Orange archive is what it means to the Panther program. Sure, it puts us back at the top of the ACC with the subsequent losses of Miami and Virginia today. But I sat in a Peterson Events Center today that was as wonderful as the Pete we loved so fondly circa 2009.
** For the last two years, I’ve been squatting in Section 107 of Club Seats simply because there’s been no one else in the cushy seats that are offered there. But today, about 8 minutes into the game, I had to retreat to my regulars in Section 110 because the true seat holders finally showed up. This is great thing of course!
** But in those first 8 minutes, I had the pleasure to sit in front of an Oakland Zoo Alumni from the Dixon days and his Pitt law school partner. It was actually kind of glorious to experience the true Zoo energy he and his better half brought with him.
** But no worries, as we all got to experience a wonderful Zoo experience today, along with a wonderful crowd to close this wonderful home season.
** My only beef of the day? For the first time in all my years at the Pete, I realized members of the Oakland Zoo need to climb all the way to concourse to hit the bathrooms at halftime. As I stood in line with them, I couldn’t help but think we should somehow offer better accommodations to our best fans. But we all rejoiced while in line when we learned about Florida State's buzzer beater to beat Miami.
** But I offer my beef only in jest actually. As someone who has been such a fan of Pitt Basketball as long as I have been, I’m extremely grateful for a facility as great as the Pete, a student section as wonderful as the Zoo, and being able to enjoy a game and an atmosphere as special as we got to experience today.
** Perhaps the best part of my day today actually was during pregame beverages at Fuel and Fuddle. It was great to see our usual suspects, but especially to meet Lair friend
@Drew1208 . Your attitude and disposition are inspiring and I hope everyone in the PantherLair nation will join me in offering our best thoughts in your personal battle. Jokingly, we Panther fans remark about how stressful games take years off our lives. For you, I hope this is the kind of game and season that adds a few to yours.
** Otherwise, I hope everyone will join me as an old and grateful Pitt Hoops fan in my joyous proclamation that not only are our Panthers BACK, but instead that we are BEYOND BACK, offering an experience today that was among the finest we’ve ever experienced at the Pete.
** Congratulations to Seniors Jarmarius, Nelly, Nike and Greg. Thank you for helping not only to bring our Panther Basketball Program back, but for giving this season of unlikely success the chance to be among our best ever.
** Onto South Bend and the ACC title! Hail to Pitt!!
