** Focus Panther Fans! On this wonderful Pitt Hoops day, I ask for our collective focus on the game and the team we watched today.
** For the moment, let’s move past our collective Lunardi induced haze to grasp and appreciate these 40 minutes in the Nation’s Capital, filled with fullest multitudes of toughness.
** Last night, my Kid home from spring break asked me to go through the history of Pitt Basketball during their lifetime and offer my memories of some of the greatest games during that time.
** Today, we all watched a game that could live among them in the lore of Panther fan memories for decades to come.
** Beyond that, we watched a performance by Mr. Ish that could also live among those legendary performances to speak of decades from now.
** We all remember Sam’s 31 against #1 UConn, or DeJuan’s Thabeet-tossing 22 and 23 in Storrs. Maybe you are fond, as am I, of Brandin’s 20 point, 14 assist outing in the Big East Tournament in Miami in 2002. A look back a little further takes us to Jerome’s 29 and 15 in the Dome at the last regular season game of 1988.
** Ish’s outing today should be right up there with any of them.
** In many ways, one could even put Ish in a class above all of them. This was an individual performance on both ends of the court grounded in a level of toughness above skill among the best I’ve ever seen. It was the performance of Ish’s lifetime on a day when it was needed most by his team.
** How many times did you watch Ish find a way to finish among bigger and stronger men at the basket? How many times did we watch Ish battle for a ball at the glass or to gather a steal on defense? It was nothing short of amazing to watch.
** Still, to look upon only Ish as the only reason for this extraordinarily tough win misses the bigger picture. This was a tremendous team win at the time when contributions were needed from many.
** From the opening tip, we can certainly say our Panthers brought a perfect collective focus, moving and scrapping on defense and on the glass the best we have seen this entire season.
** Against Wake, the Panthers timed their defensive double teams in the post often to perfection, while following the pass back out to the perimeter with expert rotations against the next three passes. It was textbook at times.
** So this leads us to a look at who should be seen as the Panthers unsung hero this day … Bub Carrington.
** I’m not sure we watched Bub beaten once on defense, while rotating and helping in the paint.
** And while we already know about Ish’s 5 steals, this game gave a better look at Jaland’s improvement on the defensive end.
** I’m not sure I’d call him an unsung hero, but a shout to Guillermo’s toughness in the paint is also in order. We’ve seen him overwhelmed by stronger post men this season, and this wasn’t the case at all today. He was a big time battler in fact.
** Still, allow me to use to GDiaz to frame my second favorite moment of the game which most clearly showed the fine spacing of Coach Capels’ offense when it’s working well. A pass out to GDG left him guarded at the three point line. But 8 feet to GDG’s left was a wide open Blake leaving the defender to make a choice. GDG’s defender went to Blake instead and the G-man drained the wide open three to push the Panther 1st half lead to 12.
** But my favorite moment I watched today was a defensive play from our leading scorer which may have been the biggest play of the game. As Wake was mounting their run, they were posed to make a layup to cut the lead to 6. Instead, Blake came over and helped to block the shot which led to a layup to push the lead back to 10.
** This was the biggest defensive play of Blake’s Pitt career.
** We’ve all seen the impact to the Panther’s collective psyche when Blake cans his first three. But he was equally the leader on the other end too.
** So throwing out metrics, and Kenpom, and Jerry Palm, and Joe Lunardi, we can all feel confident knowing that at the moment, the eye test says this is certainly a NCAA Tournament caliber team.
** In fact, this team who is now 12-3 in their last 15, is clearly to me currently among the top 30 teams in the country. Going 5-10 spots higher than that wouldn’t be exaggeration.
** And whether or not we ultimately end up in the Big Dance, how this team turned around their season has been extremely special to watch and experience.
** So now, I can’t wait to watch tomorrow night. The team we watched play today has a legit chance to take the Tar Heels. And allow me to recommend our focus on that outcome instead of projections of the bracketologists and tournament committee members.
** Congratulations to our Panthers. You have become such an amazing pleasure to watch!
** For the moment, let’s move past our collective Lunardi induced haze to grasp and appreciate these 40 minutes in the Nation’s Capital, filled with fullest multitudes of toughness.
** Last night, my Kid home from spring break asked me to go through the history of Pitt Basketball during their lifetime and offer my memories of some of the greatest games during that time.
** Today, we all watched a game that could live among them in the lore of Panther fan memories for decades to come.
** Beyond that, we watched a performance by Mr. Ish that could also live among those legendary performances to speak of decades from now.
** We all remember Sam’s 31 against #1 UConn, or DeJuan’s Thabeet-tossing 22 and 23 in Storrs. Maybe you are fond, as am I, of Brandin’s 20 point, 14 assist outing in the Big East Tournament in Miami in 2002. A look back a little further takes us to Jerome’s 29 and 15 in the Dome at the last regular season game of 1988.
** Ish’s outing today should be right up there with any of them.
** In many ways, one could even put Ish in a class above all of them. This was an individual performance on both ends of the court grounded in a level of toughness above skill among the best I’ve ever seen. It was the performance of Ish’s lifetime on a day when it was needed most by his team.
** How many times did you watch Ish find a way to finish among bigger and stronger men at the basket? How many times did we watch Ish battle for a ball at the glass or to gather a steal on defense? It was nothing short of amazing to watch.
** Still, to look upon only Ish as the only reason for this extraordinarily tough win misses the bigger picture. This was a tremendous team win at the time when contributions were needed from many.
** From the opening tip, we can certainly say our Panthers brought a perfect collective focus, moving and scrapping on defense and on the glass the best we have seen this entire season.
** Against Wake, the Panthers timed their defensive double teams in the post often to perfection, while following the pass back out to the perimeter with expert rotations against the next three passes. It was textbook at times.
** So this leads us to a look at who should be seen as the Panthers unsung hero this day … Bub Carrington.
** I’m not sure we watched Bub beaten once on defense, while rotating and helping in the paint.
** And while we already know about Ish’s 5 steals, this game gave a better look at Jaland’s improvement on the defensive end.
** I’m not sure I’d call him an unsung hero, but a shout to Guillermo’s toughness in the paint is also in order. We’ve seen him overwhelmed by stronger post men this season, and this wasn’t the case at all today. He was a big time battler in fact.
** Still, allow me to use to GDiaz to frame my second favorite moment of the game which most clearly showed the fine spacing of Coach Capels’ offense when it’s working well. A pass out to GDG left him guarded at the three point line. But 8 feet to GDG’s left was a wide open Blake leaving the defender to make a choice. GDG’s defender went to Blake instead and the G-man drained the wide open three to push the Panther 1st half lead to 12.
** But my favorite moment I watched today was a defensive play from our leading scorer which may have been the biggest play of the game. As Wake was mounting their run, they were posed to make a layup to cut the lead to 6. Instead, Blake came over and helped to block the shot which led to a layup to push the lead back to 10.
** This was the biggest defensive play of Blake’s Pitt career.
** We’ve all seen the impact to the Panther’s collective psyche when Blake cans his first three. But he was equally the leader on the other end too.
** So throwing out metrics, and Kenpom, and Jerry Palm, and Joe Lunardi, we can all feel confident knowing that at the moment, the eye test says this is certainly a NCAA Tournament caliber team.
** In fact, this team who is now 12-3 in their last 15, is clearly to me currently among the top 30 teams in the country. Going 5-10 spots higher than that wouldn’t be exaggeration.
** And whether or not we ultimately end up in the Big Dance, how this team turned around their season has been extremely special to watch and experience.
** So now, I can’t wait to watch tomorrow night. The team we watched play today has a legit chance to take the Tar Heels. And allow me to recommend our focus on that outcome instead of projections of the bracketologists and tournament committee members.
** Congratulations to our Panthers. You have become such an amazing pleasure to watch!
