Only one question remains for the Panthers after their 70-60 victory over UConn on Saturday: Great Pitt team? or Greatest Pitt team? In his final game at the Peterson Events Center, Sam Young scored a season high 31 points in a dominating performance to help Pitt defeat a #1 ranked UConn squad for the second time this year. Levance Fields embraced Senior Day as well, commanding the floor as usual to the tune of 12 assists. Pitt (28-3, 15-3) finished the season undefeated at home, going 19-0. This game was a party. Young's ridiculous throw-down dunk with 6:29 to play deflated the Huskies and electrified the record crowd to the point of frenzy. It felt like a celebration. It felt like relief. It felt like maybe, just maybe, this Pitt team is different (and better) than all of the Pitt teams that have disappointed us before. The next few weeks should be a lot of fun.Some random Saturday notes, for your enjoyment:
- My conference tournament predictions are a disaster! I've already lost three of my prediction champions...all of those losses coming WAY before the Championship games. Vermont (somehow) lost to Albany today 56-52 in overtime. I've also had Belmont and Murray State lose VERY early on. I'm not giving up. I have a lot of work to do if I want to nail 15 of 30 Conference Tournament Champions correctly. But I'm definitely going to be playing from behind from here on out.
- Cornell is the first team to officially earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Penn and winning the Ivy League title last night. This is the second year in a row Cornell will be in the Big Dance.
- It's crazy that Louisville could beat West Virginia tonight and win the Big East. Their 5 overall losses probably hurt their chances of earning a #1 seed. However...Pitt is practically a lock for a #1...and if Louisville wins the Big East Tournament, how are they not a #1 seed? The reality of having three Big East teams as one seeds is becoming more and more possible by the moment.
- Creighton won a THRILLER last night when Booker Woodfox hit a 16-foot jumper at the buzzer to hold off Wichita State 63-62. The Missouri Valley Tournament always provides drama and excitement. I was so thankful for this win because I was on the verge of losing another one of my Conference Tournament Champions. Remember how I informed you of Creighton and Booker Woodfox the other day? That's called foreshadowing. You're welcome.
- Two HUGE games in the Horizon League tonight as the semi-finals put Wright State against Butler and Cleveland State against UW Green-Bay. Cleveland State came back from down ten with under 4 minutes left last night against Illinois-Chicago. Lucky bastards! I'm not losing my first official March Madness bet. Butler will move on.
- Iowa battled their hearts out and just forced overtime against Penn State after squandering 9 point lead with under three minutes left. I'm not reporting on the final result (whatever it is) to avoid ridicule or anger from the Nittany Lion faithful.
- I'm especially interested in the Louisville/West Virginia and Wright State/Butler games later today. Also, the first three Conference Tournament Champions will be crowned in the Ohio Valley, Big South, and Atlantic Sun. Tomorrow there's the HUGE Duke vs. North Carolina game, along with Robert Morris' NEC semi-final contest against Quinnipiac. It's a great time of year. Enjoy your Saturday.
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...and not one mention of Syracuse squandering the lead, fighting back to tie it up, and then DOMINATING overtime against Marquette. I'm losing faith in this blog.
ReplyDeleteSam Young for Naismith?
Sam Young just put himself on a VERY short list for the Naismith Award.
ReplyDeleteWould an Eric Devendorf post restore your faith in this blog?
What about a clip of Jimmy Boeheim swearing?
Sam deserves to be a favorite for the Naismith. Unfortunately, he is way too soft spoken to ever get the credit he deserves. Today may have been the second time I have ever heard him talk to the media.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see posts about the Eric Devendorf and Jim Boeheim's hot wife.
Everyone knows I don't like the NBA, so I probably don't have much of a place to talk, but Sam Young has the most NBA-ready moves of any Pitt player I've ever seen. He MUST be a better pro than Aaron Gray, Vonteego Cummings, or the beloved Mark Blount.
ReplyDeleteAJ...welcome to the blog! A post about Jimmy Boeheim's hot wife is intriguing. I'll see what I can do. I'd like to find video footage of that Sam Young interview too.
Actually DH, I will defend you on not mentioning Syracuse and their victory. Marquette will easily be everyon's favorite pick to be upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament, I mean losing James for the season basically ended any chance of them doing something, they are coasting into the tournament, so beating them without James is not really a big deal...in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a post on Jim Boeheim's wife might be interesting, but a post about Devendorf would bring down the quality level of this blog...he is a pretty big scumbag...and I knew that before he starting beating up on females.
1) UPDATE: Cleveland State waltzed into the finals of the Horizon League, while Butler struggled at home (!) to pull it out.
ReplyDelete2) If UConn loses to Pitt for a third time and either Pitt or Louisville wins the big east tournament, then I don't see any reason why UConn shouldn't get a 2 seed and UL and Pitt a 1 seed.
3) Matt: by the above comment, I don't mean to count out Villanova winning the big east tournament. i might even bet on them. i disagree, however that marquette is done without James. they're still a very dangerous team that i would not want to face again. unfortunately for you, it looks like villanova will have to face them.
4) a post on devendorf would be interesting because I thought that scumbag got kicked out of school months ago.
5) CJ: why are you a syracuse fan?
He did get kicked out because he slapped a girl in the face. But then, I think, all that ended up happening was they took his scholarship away. He was off the team for awhile, I really don't know how he got back on. Regardless, he's from the ghetto, went to Oak Hill with Carmello, and has a giant tattoo of a cross with a basketball in the middle of it. A Devendorf post is a must.
ReplyDeletePhil, I actually asked my Mom the other day why I started liking Syracuse, and she said that when I was a youngster I had her buy me a Cuse hat because I liked the colors, thus creating a fan of The Orange.
BUT, don't get me wrong, I'm Pitt all the way.
Desmond,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the valuable insights here. I paid my dues for this years membership. I'm just saying. If you can 100K more you're set.
NGS
Phil, in no way would I ever predict my 'Nova boys to win the Big East. Now that they are seeded where they will most likely have to face Louisville, they might as well focus on the Big Dance. For some reason I can believe that they can beat all 15 other teams in the Big East...except Louisville.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so maybe I was being harsh with Marquette, without looking it up I knew that they had lost every game since losing James, but I looked at their schedule and their losses are to: UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse. So it was not exactly like they were playing Depaul or Holy Cross. Should be interesting to see if they can beat either Georgetown or St Johns. I think that will be interesting to see how they handle a clearly worse off team then them.
Very nice interaction here crew. I feel a lot of things with regard to Marquette, Eric Devendorf, and CJS's Syracuse love were addressed.
ReplyDeletePhil...Cleveland St. HARDLY waltzed into the Horizon League finals. That team is soft and looking to get a beating against Butler on Wednesday.
Nate...I thank you very much for the love and support. Your donation gets me that much closer to 100K.
Matt...don't sell your Villanova squad short. I wouldn't want to see them next week. Although I do wonder what would happen between them and Pitt on a neutral court. VERY nice job of throwing Holy Cross under the bus too. We'll see if "Angry Chaz" notices.
CJS...thanks for editing.