Ray,

Interesting but not necessarily relevant except for what happpened last year. All of those other years were from a completely different era - after the strong teams from the Evans years and prior to the current era of top-level teams (excluding last year of course).

I was very disappointed by what happened against Rutgers. In the first half Rutgers clearly played over their heads. They came back to earth quickly in the second half with a flurry of turnovers and were almost begging Pitt to take the game away from them. It took way too much time for Pitt to cut the lead down to a manageable number from the 14 point half time deficit. There were several empty trips after Rutgers turnovers which made the comeback fail. Pitt could have taken control of the game early in the second half and did not.

The shooting was very bad, as was the shot selection.
I don't know why they can't work on feeding the ball inside as Dixon keeps saying they want to do. Rutgers does not have a significant post presence on defense.

I am very disappointed in Lamar Patterson. I expected a breakout year from him on offense based on how he finished last season and what I saw him demonstrate over the summer. He is not assertive enough on offense - looks too much to pass the ball. He is a very good passer but he needs to score more and get into the lane and draw fouls.

I thought his two missed free throws in the second half that could have cut the deficit to 2 points were a killer.

Rutgers is not a good team. I am wondering if Pitt can turn things around after watching that performance. I thought, and still think, that this team is better than last year's but they really need to do a 360 and do it fast.

Sorry - make that a 180, not a 360.