Don’t steam over Pitt’s season

Bob Knight mania had officially infected the entire Pitt campus.

The legendary coach and… Bob Knight mania had officially infected the entire Pitt campus.

The legendary coach and current ESPN analyst’s sentiments echoed through the University’s libraries, classrooms and dormitories: The Panthers were going to win the national championship.

Away messages proclaimed Knight as a “genius,” a “stud” and a “hero.”

Knight raved about the team’s heart and the focus of its floor general, Levance Fields, since returning from a broken foot several weeks ago. And we started to believe.

Then Pitt roared through the first round of the NCAA Tournament, embarrassing an overwhelmed Oral Roberts squad and seemingly burying shots at will. And we continued to believe.

And then, as quickly as our blatantly absurd aspirations had been built, a team just as inconsistent as our own Panthers crushed those desires.

We watched as shot after shot clanked off the iron and fell into the hands of the Spartans. We watched as the combination of a savvy senior guard and a fearless freshman guard carved apart our own stingy defense. And we witnessed the normally boisterous and jubilant DeJuan Blair dejectedly work his way through the post-game handshakes before sullenly plodding off the court.

So what do we make of all of this?

Well, once the disappointment dissipates, it will be time for some serious reflection and appreciation for what this team has accomplished this year.

At the beginning of the season, many fans and analysts considered Pitt a bottom feeder of the Big East, a likely NIT squad, a position the Panthers haven’t experienced in nearly a decade.

But, they defied expectations with a torrid start that culminated in the raucous win over Duke at Madison Square Garden.

That victory, however, came at a cost as senior forward Mike Cook suffered an injury that would sideline him for the remainder of the year.

Then, Pitt suffered a letdown in the following game against Dayton. Levance Fields broke his foot during the loss, and he, too, was to be sidelined for an extensive period of time. All of a sudden, the University’s expectations were lowered, and once again the Panthers looked like they might not get an NCAA Tournament bid.

A nationally televised win against Georgetown, however, reinvigorated fans with optimism. The Panthers continued to play inconsistent basketball for the remainder of the conference season. With a 10-8 Big East record, however, the team was essentially assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament prior to the Big East tournament.

Rather than settle for just having a slot reserved in the Big Dance, Pitt stormed through the conference tournament, upsetting Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown along the way, en route to its second Big East championship ever.

Fields appeared completely recovered, the offense was firing on all cylinders, and the defense, as it has tended to do in the past, tightened up tremendously and wreaked havoc against larger opponents like the Hoyas’ Hibbert.

Then Knight dropped a bomb that convinced Pitt fans, ESPN analysts and most of the free world that the Panthers were, in fact, serious contenders heading into the NCAA tournament.

Against our own good judgment, we bought into the hype because we wanted to.

So now that the dream is over, let’s remember and be grateful for what these men did.

Overcoming low expectations, injuries and inconsistency, this team gave us our first Big East championship since Brandin Knight, the team’s current co-director of Basketball Operations, was running the offense.

We had many opportunities to celebrate this season and should consider ourselves lucky to have ever realistically believed that perhaps this team could attain the sport’s ultimate prize.