Best Big Men In The Country?

(Hasheem Thabeet, Tyler Hansbrough, Blake Griffin, & Nick Calathes?)

I thought I'd write a column sometime soon comparing the centers on the four (probable) #1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament - Pitt, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Oklahoma. Instead of brainstorming the idea first...I searched the internet for an appropriate photo. I came across the picture above and thought I'd hit the jackpot. Three stellar big men from the best teams in the country! And Nick Calethes??? WTF? The assembled picture accompanied an article on ESPN last summer...well before the college basketball season started. Was Pitt not in the national discussion back then? Had Dejuan Blair not put himself on the college hoops map last season? Does Nick Calathes have incriminating photos of someone at ESPN? We may never get to the bottom of this mystery. The sports entertainment leader has come around though, running the following photo with Pat Forde's column about Cinderella Dreamers and conference tournaments. Better late than never I suppose. (By the way...it's blog favorite Stephen Curry!)

(Stephen Curry & Dejuan Blair)

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#4 Pitt vs. #1 UConn - Running Diary

Welcome back loyal readers. This blog needed to start sometime...and it seems very appropriate to kick things off with my favorite writing gimmick: a running diary of Pitt's biggest game of the season to date against #1 ranked UConn. This is the first of two, hopefully three, and possibly four meetings this year between the two Big East powerhouses. It's going to take a little while to find my "blog voice" again, so let's see what happens with this diary...along with the all important game.

7:01 pm - ESPN kicks off it's coverage with the announcing crew of Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, and Bill Raftery. I'm not really a fan of the three-man team, but this threesome gets it done on a regular basis. And, of course, I'm a huge fan of Bill Raftery. So that must be a sign of good things to come for the Panthers.

7:04 pm - Not a white guy on either side's starting lineup. This is going to be a good game.

7:04 pm - Raftery: "Sean McDonough...Jay Bilas...Pittsburgh goes...MANTAMAN!" It's good to be back. Starting to feel like March.

7:08 pm - Sam Young makes a deep two and then a three pointer on back-to-back possessions. If he's making those...it could be a VERY good night for Pitt. (knocking on wood)

7:10 pm - Hasheem Thabeet just went over the top of DeJuan Blair after a rebound, falling to the floor awkwardly and hard. The fans in Hartford haven't been this silent since the Whalers left town.

7:12 pm - The Hartford Whalers were a professional hockey franchise that played in the NHL from 1979 - 1997. They are of note because they: once threw the team a parade after losing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, had awesome uniforms, and sported the best theme song in all of sports: Brass Bonanza. Thank you Wikipedia for filling in the gaps.

7:15 pm - OK...back to college hoops, I swear. Young just hit a sweet turn-around baseline jumper. He's the most NBA ready Pitt player I've ever seen. DeJuan Blair already has 6 rebounds. Pitt 12 - UConn 6.

7:22 pm - Pitt's worst player, back-up back-up center Gary McGhee, just fouled Thabeet three times in less than a minute. It's kind of like the hack-a-Shaq defense, except that Thabeet didn't possess the ball during any of the three fouls. Curious. McGhee is the Panthers only player that gives me anxiety every time he enters the game.

7:28 pm - Gilbert Brown steals the ball away from Thabeet in the low post, gets the ball to Levance Fields, who throws up a 45 foot alley-oop to Young. THAT was pretty! Pitt 21 - UConn 13.

7:44 pm - UConn has staged a mild rally thanks to missed alley-oops, turnovers, and wasted possessions on Pitt's part. Fields is having a difficult time bringing up the ball with Craig Austrie of UConn all over him. Blair is ABUSING Thabeet to this point, already having a double-double (10 pts and 11 rebounds). Young is on the bench with 2 fouls for Pitt.

7:48 pm - Apparently rivalry week on ESPN is brought to us by CISCO. Good to know. Couldn't have college rivalries without corporate sponsorship.

7:52 pm - A.J. Price hits a bullshit step-back three-pointer at the end of the half. But HOLY CRAP...DeJuan Blair just had the half of his LIFE!!! 15 points, 13 rebounds - attacking Thabeet on every single possession. Thabeet has 4 points and 2 rebounds. Blair is winning the fight on all score cards to this point. Not a bad 20 minutes by the Panthers. Still too close, I'm tense, need a smoke break. Pitt 36 - UConn 33 at halftime.

8:09 pm - Never addressed this at the beginning of the game - Jaime Dixon out-dresses Jim Calhoun any day of the week. It's not even close. Not to mention, nobody (and I mean NOBODY), messes with Jamie Dixon's slicked-back hair.

8:10 pm - Jay Bilas praises Sam Young's exaggerated shot fake. I'm not going to argue with him. More importantly, Young's shot fake and drive leads to Thabeet's third foul.

8:19 pm - Choppy four minutes before the first media time out. Pitt still wasting possessions with turnovers, questionable shot selections, and Fields palming the ball. The refs started to take over the game, calling 5 fouls so far. Blair has 17 rebounds. Yikes! Pitt 44 - UConn 39.

8:30 pm - This is too intense for me to be typing. Young and Price trade three point jumpers. Then Thabeet and Blair get in a scrum away from the ball and the ref calls a foul on Thabeet, his fourth, when a foul could have been called either way, or not at all. Jim Calhoun is furious! This is too much. Pitt 49 - UConn 48.

8:34 pm - Blair has 20 rebounds. Thabeet has 4.

8:39 pm - I don't know where to begin. Blair got elbowed in the eye then acted like he was dying. Bodies have been flying all over the place without any fouls called. UConn started shooting 100% from the field including a bank shot. Pitt has only 1 timeout left and Dixon has no intention of using it anytime soon. There was a huge melee for the ball in UConn's half of the court that included 3 consecutive turnovers. Pitt can't make a three point shot, yet is settling for that exact shot way too often. UConn has the momentum, and their largest lead of the game. UConn 56 - Pitt 51.

8:46 pm - Blair with a layup and one! 22 points & 22 rebounds. Tie game! Pitt 56 - UConn 56.

8:48 pm - Jermaine Dixon finally hits a 3 pointer! Pitt takes the lead again! UConn timeout! Pitt 59 - UConn 58.

8:49 pm - McDonough points out that Pitt is 0-13 when facing the number one ranked team in the country. I can't decide if that's a jinx or a counter-jinx.

9:11 pm - PITT WINS! PITT WINS! I spent the last twenty minutes pacing around, occasionally swearing and screaming. DeJuan Blair is the player of the game. 22 points, 23 rebounds, and a black eye as he talks to Jay Bilas after the victory. The last minute of the game dragged on forever. But Pitt made their foul shots and came away with the upset at UConn. The defining moment(s) were Fields' back to back three pointers after not making a single basket all game. The contest went from tied to Pitt being up 6 in the blink of an eye and the Panthers never looked back. I could critique this game, but what's the point? Pitt just defeated the number one ranked team in college basketball and is close to locking up a #1 seed for the Tournament. Good times!

9:15 pm - Final Score: Pittsburgh 76 - Connecticut 68

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