Fields Dream Is Nightmare For X

Tell me Levance Fields was awake when he hit that big 3 for Pitt. If I'm Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and I see Fields jacking that long 3 with 52 seconds left, I'm throwing up. But Dixon wasn't throwing up, because he had seen it before. His trusty senior point guard once again comes up with an improbable play to steal a win from another stunned opponent. Fields connected to give Pitt the lead, and the Panthers took it to the wire, winning 60-55. Fields was 1-4 from 3-point range before the fateful shot and had struggled with most aspects of his game. But every player was struggling in this one. And Fields has made big plays for Pitt time after time, and this time was in the final minute of a close game against Xavier. He made another big play 20 seconds later with a steal and a layup.

Sean Miller will be lying awake all night after this one. If the Musketeers had not booted several bunnies, they would be heading to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. Xavier played a terrific first half, but not scoring the first 6-plus minutes of the second half caught up to X. Give Pitt credit. The Panthers smartly got big DeJuan Blair involved in the offensive game plan early in the second half. Blair seemed to spring to life, finishing with 17 rebounds, 8 on the offensive end. But Xavier has to feel like this one got away.


Note to acknowledge the betting public- The line on this game was Pitt-6, or -7. Pitt won by 5. Pitt bettors have to be steamed that Xavier scored one of its buckets after the shot clock expired. Oops.

You should have seen him then.

Xavier players have been reminded plenty of times this week about the collegiate career of their head coach, Sean Miller. Miller has an outstanding career playing for Thursday night's opponent, the Pitt Panthers. He left the school as the Panther's all-time assists leader and scored over 12-hundred points. It's something he doesn't take about a lot with his players, unless he needs to prove a point to the players running the point. C.J. Anderson talked about that earlier in the week.



Here's a link about Sean in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_617476.html

Sean Miller (1987-92) 6-1, Guard, Beaver Falls, PA

Named the 1987-88 Big East Freshman of the Year Named Big East Rookie of the Week four times in 1987-88 Ranks tied for 16th on Pitt's all-time career scoring list (1,282 points) Selected to the Big East All-Rookie Team in 1987-88 Ranks 10th all-time among NCAA Division I career free throw percentage leaders (.885) Led the Big East two times in season free throw percentage (1990-91 and 1991-92) Earned a Gold Medal on the United States' 1991 World University Games team in 1991 Currently serves as head basketball coach at Xavier University

Year GP FG FGA Pct FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Ast Blk Stl Pts Avg 87-88 31 86 186 .462 58 133 .436 57 67 .851 180 0 31 287 9.3 88-89 30 80 199 .402 56 143 .392 74 81 .914 181 1 27 290 9.7 90-91 33 100 225 .444 68 156 .436 76 84 .905 159 2 17 344 10.4 91-92 34 97 235 .413 57 142 .401 110 126 .873 224 4 27 361 10.6 TOTAL 128 363 845 .430 239 574 .416 317 358 .885 744 7 102 1282 10.0

Courtesy:University of Pittsburgh/PittsburghPanthers.cstv.com

The Old Cliche: Guard Play is Big in March

You know the drill, a lot cliches become cliches because they are true. In the first two games of the tournament Xavier's guards have done a good job running the show from the point. Dante Jackson and Terrell Holloway combined for an assist to turnover ratio of just under 2 to 1,, which is better than their regular season average. Factor in their pressure defense and so far, so good for Dante and Terrell.


Fields has been off the charts for Pitt this season. His assist to turnover ratio is a little under four. Anything above 2 to 1 is considered good, 3 to 1 is superb, so you get the picture as far as Pitt's senior point man is concerned.

Dante says Pitt is tough, but so is X.

You know the story. The Big East has big players, strong players, bruising players, and yes, tough players. After all, it was the Big East that turned basketball into basketbrawl. Muscle became more standard equipment than jump shots. The Georgetown Hoyas with Michael Graham ready to bash his bald head into anything that got in the way of a victory. Jerome Lane ripping rims from backboards. They put the Big in the Big East. Certainly Pitt's DeJuan Blair does that now. But any long time observer (at my age I qualify) has noticed the transformation of the Xavier program. Muscle is in at Xavier these days, just check out B.J. Raymond. He's huge, almost to the point of needing tethered like a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Jason Love has muscled up in his days at X, and C.J. Anderson is rough and ready near the bucket. Dante Jackson is ready for a war in Boston against Pitt, and I think he's right.

A physical struggle indeed. Look at the match ups in the Sweet 16. There are some good ones. But there is not one match on the board that will involve more ice bags, ace bandages, and perhaps stitches than the Xavier-Pittsburgh match up. Have fun fellas. Glad I'm watching this scrum.

Does Pitt play like Xavier? Or....

...does Xavier play like Pitt? In an earlier post I pointed out how similar I felt the styles of the two teams seem to be. I feel both of these team are defensive stoppers, but if they have to create points in a hurry and go on the run, they will. That's a huge difference between Wisconsin and Pitt. I had a chance to ask Sean Miller at his Monday news conference if he felt the teams were similar. I think he would have told me I was crazy if I happened to be way off base. For once, I must not have been way off.

It's interesting Sean would concede that the stats could be skewed a little because of the differences in competition, and I'm sure he's dead-on right. The Big East was ridiculous this year. But Pitt's plus 9 rebounding margin in Big East play was identical to the Panthers' plus 9 overall. Like Xavier, Pitt played a fair non-conference schedule with games against Siena, Washington State, Florida State, Texas Tech, and the Miami Redhawks. Pitt's only losses came in Big East play against Louisville, Villanova, Providence, and then West Virginia in the Big East tournament.