High expectations end in extreme disappointment

It’s deja vu all over again — another NCAA Tournament, and another Sweet 16 loss for Pitt…. It’s deja vu all over again — another NCAA Tournament, and another Sweet 16 loss for Pitt.

Leading up to the Panthers’ game against Oklahoma State, there was a feeling that things would be different this year. They had a new coach and a new point guard. The location was closer to home, and Pitt was somewhat the underdog. If you really want to get down to it, the Panthers were even wearing their blue jerseys instead of their white ones.

In the end, that feeling was right, and things were different, just not in a good way. Pitt was handed its worst defeat of the season — for a team that lost only four prior games by only 10 total points, having a team beat you by 12 is a blowout. Pitt’s previous two round-of-16 losses were by a combined eight points.

With expectations through the roof heading into the month of March, where did this team go wrong? The players even said it themselves, that they felt this was the best chance they had at making the Final Four.

Instead, Pitt spent the final four weeks of the season looking like a team being led by a first-year coach and an inexperienced point guard.

Everyone’s got to be a first-time head coach at some point, and not many of them can say they won more than 30 games like Pitt’s Jamie Dixon can. Hopefully, the next time Pitt makes it to the Sweet 16, he will know what coaching maneuvers need to be made in order to advance.

Krauser is in a similar situation. It’s tough for Krauser to have to replace Brandin Knight, who had been the heart and soul of the team for two years. At times, Krauser also tried to take on too much. A good example of that came in the first five minutes of last Thursday’s game.

With Pitt trailing 7-4, Krauser grabbed a defensive rebound and brought Pitt down the court. Instead of setting up the offense and getting a good shot, Krauser pulled up for a quick three, and Oklahoma State got the ball back.

But at least Krauser had the gonads to take the team on his back in tough situations when no one else would. He did it successfully against Miami, twice against Boston College and not so successfully against Connecticut in the Big East final.

Good thing he was around for those games. Remember the closing seconds of Pitt’s overtime loss to Syracuse, in which Krauser fouled out?

Without their point guard in the game, the Panthers passed the ball around the perimeter like a hot potato until someone was forced to put up a shot. In fact, the only other player with the stones to take the ball at the end of the game was freshman Antonio Graves.

Ultimately what hurt Pitt was that it peaked at the wrong time.

This team surprised everyone by starting the season 18-0 and rising up the rankings almost every week until mid-February. By that time, the Panthers were on top of the Big East — not to mention the world — and looked like a lock to win the conference tournament and grab a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But then something happened. Who knows what caused it — fatigue, bad luck, tighter rims — but the Panthers forgot how to get the ball in the basket.

Over its final 10 games, Pitt shot just 41 percent, including five of their worst shooting performances of the season — all of which were worse than 37 percent. As much as Dixon may not have wanted to admit it, scoring is a huge part of winning games.

It’s hard to find fault with a team that sets a school record for wins in a season and comes within three victories of the school’s longest winning streak. But by now, making the Big East Tournament final and the Sweet 16 are old news.

The team’s veteran players voiced that themselves — the season isn’t a success without improving on last year’s achievements. Hearing something like that has to give you good feelings about the future of the program.

I mean, could you imagine anyone involved with the football program saying something like that? Funny, neither can I.

Joe Marchilena is the sports editor for The Pitt News, and he’s just thankful that no one took off his shoes this year.