"Hoyas Hamper Hometown Heroes Hallelujah"

Ramesh C. Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

New York City - Whatever could go wrong for the Pittsburgh Panthers basketball team went wrong for them against the Georgetown Hoyas during the Big East Championship night of March 10, 07 at Madison Square Garden. While the Hoyas were making baskets up and down the court, the Panthers struggled to even let a basket fall during the 25^th anniversary of the championship game losing to the Hoyas, 65-42 in the most lopsided loss in recent  championship game history.

All night long the Panthers had to deal with a net that would not cooperate with them!
Photo by Ramesh C. Reddy of Pittsburgh Standard 

The net did not cooperate with the Panthers as if it had a life of its own. Even easy lay ups by big man Aaron Gray would not fall through. Gray seemed to have the worst night of his life at the Garden against the Hoyas after having a minimal game against the Louisville Cardinals when he was hampered by foul trouble.

Amazingly, with Gray playing a minimal amount of time, the rest of the Panthers picked it up against the Cardinals to win the semifinals and earn them a right to represent the University of Pittsburgh, the 6^th time in the Big East Championship game in the past seven years.

The same players that helped boost the Panthers to a 64-59 victory with Gray as their moral support most of the way against the Cardinals could not muster the skills to makeup for Gray’s bad night against the Hoyas. Even their shots were not going through the hoops and their rebounding was horrendous.  This was so evident when the Panthers trailed the Hoyas by 21 points halfway through the second half.

It is not all gloom for the Panthers though because who can say that they have been to the championship game, six times in seven years. Going and not winning is better than not even having the opportunity to represent the University of Pittsburgh in the championship round.

It is better to lose in the conference tournament than in the NCAA tournament. If this loss can make them a better team and help them make a run into the NCAA championship game, it is worth it.

When the Panthers lost twice against the Marquette Golden Eagles in thriller games, once against the Louisville Cardinals, and once against Georgetown Hoyas, they almost made up those losses by beating the Golden Eagles and the Cardinals in the tournament.

Now they need to use the bad after taste of the loss against the Hoyas to boost their efforts and skills to get ready for the NCAA tournament. Any time can lose any night no matter how good they are if they have a bad shooting night and a struggling defense. It does not make them a bad team nor from being a top contender in the NCAA Tournament.

Take the likes of UCLA Bruins who are coached by former Panthers coach Ben Howland. They did not even survive the first round of their PAC-10 tournament. At least the Panthers went to the championship game. Some top seeded teams lost in the conference tournaments this year but they could very well get a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA selection committee should not penalize the Panthers for a loss against a tough Georgetown Hoyas team whose only loss in the past 11 games came against the Syracuse Orangemen.

If it is any consolation for the Panther fans, it is good remember that Syracuse Orangemen loss the Big East Championship to the likes of the Connecticut Huskies once but went on to win the NCAA championship.

The Panthers have the players and the coaches to make a deep run into the tournament and even win it as they give their best in the games and leave the results in the Lord’s hands. Even games can have an element of intervention in them.

Games can be won if the Lord allows it and games can be lost if the Lord allows it. No one can always know the reasons why things happen the way they do but all teams need to do their best without giving up including our Panthers.

This blowout loss can have redemptive qualities if it can propel the Panthers to improve against their weaknesses and let their strengths control their end of the game.

No matter how low the Panthers score looked and how lopsided the margin of victory seemed like for the Hoyas, the Oakland Zoo fans never resisted the urge to leave the game before its conclusion. They are the real fans who stick it out through the storms of basketball life too as opposed to fair weather fans unless their leaving the game had nothing to do with the score. Look for the Panthers to come off firing in the NCAA tournament with leadership like Coach Jamie Dixon. 

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