![]() ![]() ![]() 213 in adjusted offensive efficiency, per ), or a terribly good defensive team (No. The Panthers are not a good offensive team (No. To look at Pitt basketball now is to see a team flailing in search of itself. Pitt basketball did not merely have success or tradition it had an identity. Maybe they didn’t quite shatter backboards a la Jerome Lane, but DeJuan Blair, Brandin Knight, Levance Fields, Carl Krauser and company played with the same attitude. First Ben Howland and then his successor, Jamie Dixon, mined the New York playgrounds and the Northeast corridor for players who brought the same attitude to the basketball court. Yinz don’t care much for style points just get the job done. That lunch-pail mentality seeped into the pores of Pittsburgh’s soul. Pittsburgh is a place built on the backs of its steelworkers, the folks who clocked in each morning and chased the hard work with a shot, a beer, Myron Cope and the Steelers. It’s always tough to be a college program in a pro town, but people here, they loved Pitt basketball.’’ “It throbbed, there was so much energy in there. The best,’’ says longtime Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook. The locals loved Pitt, too, embracing a basketball team to which they could relate. But it wasn’t just the students who filled the place. From 2001 through 2014, the Panthers averaged 26 wins to just eight losses, their postseason appearances a practical lock and dotted with Sweet 16 trips and an Elite Eight appearance. They came because the product in front of them was worth watching. Gifted some of the best seats in the building, the students returned the favor by regularly turning the house into a rager. The Oakland Zoo denizens sat not just behind the basketball stanchions, but along the sideline across from the benches. ![]() Once the Pete counted as one of the better home-court advantages in college basketball, its raucous atmosphere built around its student section. Any win these days - no matter the skill of the opponent or the chaos to the finish - will do, and as the fans ambled out into the frigid night, they seemed more like survivors than winners. ![]() It was as cathartic as it was celebratory. Bickerstaff on a layup with 13 seconds remaining, allowing BC to cut a four-point deficit to one - the crowd shared a collective groan.Īs time expired, Boston College’s Makai Ashton-Langford missed an off-balance layup, and a cheer went up from the crowd. The Panthers hadn’t won a game in four tries, and when they threatened to give this one away - John Hugley fouling T.J. No doubt the numbers were thinned by winter break and a surge in COVID-19 cases, but the biggest turnstile repellant was the losing. Yet inside the Pete, an announced crowd of just 7,876 (capacity: 12,508) greeted the Panthers, and the student section was nearly vacant. This was a game against a bottom-tier ACC team that, at the time, hadn’t won a road game in 23 months. Let’s hope that continues to be the case, but regardless, the lessons Tomlin is teaching will remain applicable for years to come.The sentiment was hardly surprising. It’s when they leave Pittsburgh where some flaws start to come out, but while guys are playing for the Steelers, there usually haven’t been issues. Despite the speech being tailored to Pitt basketball, surely those same lessons have been imparted to the Steelers and their young players for years.īeing physically and mentally tough is extremely important in the NFL, and under Tomlin, players have been able to show that strength. When it’s late in the fourth quarter and someone is able to step up and make a key play to keep his team in the game are the moments that really can show growth, especially in young players.įrom Tomlin’s end, the topic of the speech is a great one for a college basketball team, especially to a Pitt team that has struggled the past few years and has dealt with a lot of attitude issues in the Jeff Capel era. Those moments where a guy pushes past his perceived limit and is able to continue to keep contributing for his team are the ones where you can see that growth and development. Instead of going to the bench, pushing through the pain and finishing off a drive or a possession shows that sort of discomfort Tomlin is talking about. In sports, the example of being uncomfortable applies to when someone might be close to or at their physical limit. The phrase “leave it all on the field” is one that might be overused, but it is certainly applicable to athletes who are playing at the D1 or professional level. That’s usually how things work when it comes to playing sports at a high level. Sometimes, you have to be uncomfortable in order to get the best results. While his speech here was tailored towards basketball, a lot of the same aspects apply in football. “If you’re really chasing rare air, you have to commit to being uncomfortable.”īig thanks to Coach Tomlin for speaking with the team today! /DckfIOTfk4 ![]()
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