Kovacevic: Dixon's Panthers are better than we think

"We should have won that game."

Jamie Dixon snapped off each syllable. But apparently in the event that I didn't get the gist the first time, he snapped that much harder with the sequel.

"I'm telling you, we should have won that game."

He wasn't bemoaning the City Game, of course. That followed the same catatonically dull script of the past decade and a half Friday night, with Pitt smoking Duquesne, 96-75, before 13,906 at Consol Energy Center. All but two of the Panthers' 15 victories in the streak have come by 20 or more points, and this one might as well have been by 30 or 40.

So no, Dixon wasn't describing this latest debacle when he and I spoke well after his postgame press conference. Rather, he was still expressing regret over Purdue.

And man, did that sound good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AworTy8htis



For those who don't fully tune in to college hoops until conference play, Pitt had set the stage Tuesday for an uplifting upset of No. 11 Purdue. The Panthers soared all the way back from a 17-point deficit to lead in the second half, the bench was bouncing, the Pete was hopping and .... yeah, that was it. Some abysmal shooting down the stretch -- 3 of their final 12 attempts from the field, 4 of 19 overall beyond the arc -- allowed the Boilermakers to pull away, 72-59.

It wouldn't have any impact in the ACC standings, but Dixon acknowledged fuming well after that final buzzer. And the same evidently went for his players.

Thursday afternoon, taking advantage of the Penguins being way out in California, Dixon had his team practice at Consol, "something we normally don't get to do," per the coach, "and I think that was good for us."

But not just because of establishing a shooting background in the bigger building.

"We were mad, all of us," Dixon said. "And I think the players, who took that upon themselves, practiced mad and kind of took everything into this game."

Meaning Duquesne. Poor Duquesne.

Even Jim Ferry, the Dukes' coach, had a grasp on that: "I know what kind of coach Jamie is, and I can imagine how things went for them right after that game the other night."

He was right.

And so was Dixon, actually, to be mad. Because here's what's known about these 2015-16 Panthers to date: They look like they can play with anyone.

Now, of course I'm not basing that on beating Detroit and Cornell and all the other Morehead States they've still got left on the out-of-conference schedule.

I'm not basing it, at least not much, on having led No. 9 Gonzaga at halftime in Japan before that season-opening game was wiped out by a wet floor.

I'm not basing it on Purdue, either. Fact is, a good team bounces all the way back when it bounces that far back.

No, I'm basing it on the growing feel that this Pitt team could be this ...



That's just one play, it made the score 25-6, and it came against an opponent that looked like it had "no legs defensively," to borrow Ferry's own term for his Dukes. So I'm not making more of it than what it was.

But it was nonetheless so very Pitt in the best sense: Jamel Artis, a legit inside-outside threat, drew attention before dishing to James Robinson at the point. Sheldon Jeter, another in Artis' mold, sprung to the outside to provide an extra target, then pushed the ball right back to Robinson. The next dish went to Sterling Smith at the other guard position, who then bounced underneath to Michael Young, who then kicked back out to Robinson.

The only thing prettier than the swish that followed was Smith's raised right arm the moment the ball departed from Robinson's fingertips.

Go take another look at the gif just for that. It's worth it.

Dixon praised Robinson's 18 points and four 3-pointers, Young's 20 points and 11 boards, the team's 22 total assists, a bunch of other stuff, then afterward assigned two lesser lights, Smith and Rafael Maia, to the postgame press table. In a break from the norm, Dixon stood in the room during their interview session, smiling with arms folded.

"Neat to see those guys up there, huh?" he'd say later.

But he saved his strongest praise for Young's four assists, since three were kick-outs.

"When we're on our game offensively, we're a threat underneath and outside, too. And one thing about our big men, they're all good passers."

I'll say it again: That's a Pitt offense.