St. John’s could be problem for Pitt
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh plays one of the Big East Conference’s worst teams tonight. If the Panthers’ recent past is any indicator, that could mean big problems against St. John’s. The No. 18 Panthers have beaten No. 8 Syracuse and No. 19 Connecticut, but have stumbled in unexpected losses to second-division Big East opponents St. John’s (8-11, 2-7 Big East) and West Virginia (13-7, 3-6). St. John’s only other Big East victory was against Rutgers, which has only one conference victory.
That’s not the worst of it. After losing only once at home in its first two seasons in the Petersen Events Center, the Panthers (15-4, 5-3) have lost twice there – to Bucknell, which is being beaten up regularly by its Patriot league opponents, and Georgetown (15-6, 7-3).
It’s a turnaround from the last two seasons, when the Panthers were 35-1 at home and cleaned up on lower-tier teams. Their only losses last season were to national champion Syracuse, defending national champion Connecticut (twice), NCAA Final Four team Oklahoma State and NCAA tournament qualifier Seton Hall.
It’s all added up to a puzzling 2004-05 season for coach Jamie Dixon, who has watched in frustration at times as his team has lost one time fewer than it did while going 31-5 last season.
Point guard Carl Krauser, the one Pitt player who has played consistently well of late, thinks he knows what the problem is.
“Guys take it for granted they’re going to blow a team out, then they (the opponent) play an awesome game and start to hit open shots,” Krauser said. “We do give a lot of effort and play hard, but sometimes guys relax and there’s no time to relax in the Big East.”
Especially not for Pitt, which has won or shared the last three Big East regular-season titles but is only fifth halfway through the conference schedule – with games remaining against conference leader Boston College, Syracuse, UConn and Notre Dame (twice). The four remaining road games at Syracuse, Villanova, Boston College and Notre Dame could prove difficult.
What concerns Dixon is the lack of consistency from his defense and from 6-foot-10 sophomore center Chris Taft, who was expected to be more dominating in his second Big East season but has played sporadically.
Taft averages 14.2 points and seven rebounds, and had 25 points and 15 rebounds against Providence and its undersized front line Jan. 31.
But he had only two rebounds in 30 minutes during an 83-78 overtime loss at West Virginia on Saturday that saw Pitt squander an 11-point lead.
Taft was pulled several times following apparent lapses, as Dixon has done increasingly in recent games by giving 7-footer Aaron Gray more playing time.
“I know people are going to say that when we play UConn and Syracuse, we go out there with a lot of energy and when we play West Virginia and St. John’s we lack that,” Taft said. “But it’s not like that – teams in the Big East are very good.”
Pitt needs to make a move this week, when it meets St. John’s and Notre Dame at home.
After that, four of its remaining six conference games are on the road.
No doubt Dixon wants his team to tighten up its traditional strength, its aggressive defense.
Pitt was No. 2 nationally in scoring defense last season, allowing 59.1 points.
The Panthers are only fourth in the Big East this season with a 61.7 average.
In league play, Pitt has only the fifth-best defense.