There are a few things you can do in basketball no matter how much bigger, stronger, faster and more talented your opponent.  One of them is blocking out to secure defensive rebounds.  When you're playing defense and someone puts a shot up, you just find a person wearing the other uniform and put all of your might into making sure that in order to get to the basketball, they must go over or through you.  I understand that it's more difficult to block out when you're playing zone, and I also understand that most teams have had a lot of difficulty in keeping Pitt off the offensive glass, especially DeJuan Blair, who is a joy to watch.  That's still no excuse for what the Panthers did this afternoon, nor is this new found penchant for lazy entry passes to the wings, one of the worst possible turnovers you can commit.  It almost always results in a fast break opportunity for the opponent, and its preventable if the passer doesn't stare down his target and the intended recipient just comes to the ball. 

There are a lot of bad habits that have developed for the Irish, and I don't know if there are enough games left in the season to correct them and make the big dance.  There were a few positives today, with Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland playing well off the bench and Luke Harangody continuing to defend his Big East Player of the Year award with valor, but it's the fifth straight loss and things are certainly looking dour in Breytopia. 

I think my major thought after this game, after imagining how fun it would be to attend a NIT Final Four, was that it's a shame the Irish only take on Pittsburgh once, because I'd love to see Blair and Harangody go at it again.  Blair must have pro scouts salivating, as he's able to put up insane stats with a limited amount of offensive polish and lack of proficiency at the foul line.  Pair him with a Euro-style big man (maybe Toronto takes him to replace Bosh and puts him next to Il Mago) and you'd be very, very happy.

The next game is Wednesday night in Cincinnati.  While the Irish may lose, at least you won't have to worry about compromising half of your dual-tuner Tivo for it, therefore missing the chance to record the Big Monday line-up of How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, House or Chuck (in 3D!) at 8:00.  Sadly, the Connecticut/Louisville game will probably be epic and you'll want to check that out, so thank your lucky stars for streaming video.  The other thing you can be sure about in regards to Monday is that Notre Dame will no longer be ranked, and may no longer be in Joe Lunardi's projections.

To fully cover this game, I'm going to post excerpts from Matt and I's GChat throughout the course of it.  I'm not going to bother with formatting, and apologize for the lack of context and editing by shoving it after the jump.

 

Matthew: finally, someone is on to watch the game with me

12:04 PM CW: i got your back

 Matthew: smoothness from zeller there

 CW: what's the record for offensive rebounds in a game

 Matthew: whatever Pitt gets tonight

  today*

 CW: high five

12:05 PM Matthew: luke is the best

Matthew: gody needs to get closer to the basic

  bucket

  not basic

12:18 PM that doesn't even mean anything

  you watch real world yet?

12:20 PM CW: yes

 Matthew: i almost called you last night

  it woulda been 230ish your time

12:21 PM when devyn was about to sing

  i was so excited

 CW: you should have

 Matthew: i wanted her to be so bad

 CW: i would have gladly woken up

 CW: haha

  if we stay close on the boards

  we can wi nthis

  so far we're battling, save for dejuan

  he's a freak

 Matthew: a monstar

 CW: did you know he collects something like 40 percent of available offensive boards?

 Matthew: ugh

12:24 PM AYERS!

  or

  AIRES!

12:25 PM and

  LUKACZ!

  i don't think we even practice fast breaks

12:26 PM like 2-1 or 3-1 situations

  he never know what to do

12:27 PM i feel like I would enjoy "Life on Mars"

  if only because I like Michael Imperioli and i bet the music is solid

12:28 PM CW: A) we don't practice fast breaks

  B) Mackrell is retarded

  C) It does look pretty solid, plus Harvey Keitel

 Matthew: and it's network so he can't show his dick

 CW: D) If we lose a game where Luke Zeller has 20 points and Peoples hits a turnaround 3-pointer, it's not meant to be

12:29 PM Matthew: i'll agree

  zeller has to be set

  completely set

 CW: luke zeller, the new big z?

 Matthew: no, z can board

Matthew: i like our new defense on blair

  leave him completely alone

  that was ridiculous

12:31 PM ryan is...baaaaaack?

 CW: maybe so

 Matthew: maybe not

 CW: if we get this going up and down, that's probably better for us

 Matthew: yeah

 CW: tory is playing horrendously

 Matthew: we're better shooters than they are.....ish

12:32 PM CW: how many passes to the wings has he had stolen during the losing streak?

 Matthew: millions

Matthew: nice work kmac

  that was embarrassing

  holy shit

1:05 PM if you said you'd give me -500 for pitt to win now, i would take it in a second

 CW: oh, absolutely

1:06 PM Matthew: i'd parlay it with tory jackson scoring less than 10 points and take that cash

  "the international" is a good premise

  seriously, the banks have all the money

  they can do whatever they want

1:07 PM the financial sector is out of control

1:08 PM CW: clive owen is going to kill that fucking bank

  and then die at the end, valiantly

CW: i'm getting an ulcer

 Matthew: oof

  you need to get a body on him

  i'd just like to score

  there we go

  that was hideous

1:11 PM CW: BOX HIM OUT BOX HIM OUT BOX HIM OUT

 Matthew: unbelievable

  there goes my streak

  c'est la vie

  i did get it to 3 last night

1:12 PM on the manly shoulders of serena williams

just try it

 Matthew: as soon as we get down, it's over because we can't defend

  or block out

  holy shit

  unbelievable

 CW: how do we only have eight turnovers

1:18 PM they've all been of the "totally mortifying" variety

 Matthew: unbelievable

  22-6 run to start the second for pitt

 CW: oh, larry highlights

 Matthew: yes

 CW: that makes me feel better

 Matthew: oh, that didn't show the best one

  they*

 CW: i know

  lame

1:19 PM Matthew: when he's falling down on his back with two guys on hi

  m

  this is terrible

 CW: haha, dejuan blair is awesome

 Matthew: that was a bullshit call

  we doubled him on that one

1:20 PM CW: a confused luke wonders where the ball went

 Matthew: hahaha

  that was awesome

  luke zeller: "oh, c'mon, man."

  oh tory

  tory, tory, tory

Matthew: down to 8, he we go

  good timeout

  keep their heads on straight

1:23 PM that austin carr stat is ridiculous

  58 straight games with 20 or more

  no 3's

  no shot clock

1:24 PM no more dribbling

  just no more

1:25 PM damn it

  damn it dixon

1:27 PM CW: ulcer

1:28 PM Matthew: how have we not shot a three yet this half

CW: mike brey, wtf kind of timeout is this

  what are you doing

  explain to me how it's crucial we call this time out

  leaving us one

  please do

1:32 PM Matthew: he has a funny youtube clip on his iphone

1:33 PM CW: "Guys, guys, look at this."

 Matthew: dejuan blair is the man

 CW: he really is

  i am really impressed

 Matthew: he's shook up though

  i bet he gets a dunk on this possession

 CW: hahahahahahahahaha

  laughter

 Matthew: welp

  this is not good

1:34 PM at least ayers seems to be back a bit

1:36 PM CW: how many offensive boards do you think pitt has right now

1:37 PM dear dave wannstedt, i love you

  i thought i hated you, but then cam cameron coached the dolphins for a season, and i realized you were oddly competent in comparison

 Matthew: more than 15

 CW: 17

  well played

  2 less than dejuan blair has total

1:38 PM notre dame rebounds: 21 dejuan blair: 19

  i hope he ends up with more

 Matthew: at least gody has 20

 CW: it's not his fault

  he's a freaking warrior

CW: the laughter makes the pain not hurt quite as bad

 Matthew: len elmore just complimented hilleslands ball-handling

1:43 PM i don't get it

  okay, 6-0 run and we're back

  two threes

  please

  nevermind

 CW: haha, luke knocked dejuan down

 Matthew: big three coming up

1:44 PM CW: laughter

 Matthew: did i call it

  DID I CALL IT!

  how predictable is our team

1:45 PM CW: too predictable

  we should just edit our chat and throw that up as a post

1:49 PM Matthew: what

  what was that

  we're so bad at pressing

1:50 PM CW: i want to hug dejuan blair

 Matthew: this game is done

  it makes me sad

  how fucking hard is our schedule

  unbelievable

1:51 PM we scored 28 points so far in this half

1:52 PM they've scored 52

 CW: we're not going to the tournament

 Matthew: no sir

  but we could win the NIT

  and that would be fun too

 CW: it actually would

  let's go for that

 Matthew: and win it again next year

  back-to-back NIT championships

  that'd be awesome

1:53 PM the big east tournament though

  anything could happen

  gody and blair are chatting

  cute

  he is so much better than us

Matthew: no more fouls, gents

  c'est finis

1:59 PM CW: dejuan blair, big east player of the year?