With the 17th Pick the Steelers select.....

After a disappointing 8-8 season the Steelers hold the 17th pic in this years draft to be held later today. With so many positions of need it is hard to predict what the Steelers do. The most common names have been Georgia LB Jarvis Jones, Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert, and Texas S Kenny Vaccaro.  Jones seems to be the most common choice from the so called experts. The Steelers could take West Virginia WR Tavon Austin or Utah DT Star Lotulelei if they fall but that is unlikely. So my prediction.... Tyler Eifert. Heath Miller will not be ready to start the season and may not be ready all year. Most NFL teams are going to two TE sets and Eifert can also line up at receiver. It is harder to find a top tier TE than a WR. For the record i would love for Austin to fall to the Steelers.

A Day and a Night as a Penguins fan

The Pittsburgh Penguins have now won 14 hockey games in a row after beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 on Thursday Night. The performance was dominating in every aspect of the game and the score could have easily been 8-0 if not for some outstanding goaltending by the Jet's Al Montoya. The Penguins outshot the Jet's 43-20 and did not even have a power play opportunity. As impressive as the performance was on the ice the performance by the Penguins front office off the ice has been just as solid.

Last night around 12:40 I checked my Twitter timeline and saw that Jarome Iginla had been traded to the Boston Bruins. I will admit I was a little concerned that the Bruins had finally added some firepower that they needed to win the East. This morning as I checked my Twitter timeline I saw a tweet by the Pittsburgh Penguins that everyone was on the ice expept for Letang and Iginla.  I thought well of course he is not on the ice he plays for the Bruins. Then I looked deeper into my timeline and saw that Iginla was indeed a Penguins. My next thought was well who did they have to give up to get him. Then I saw the trade and immediately crowned Ray Shero a Jedi Knight. Shero obtained Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, and Douglas "Crankshaft" Murray for some draft picks one good prospect and two prospects that would never make the Penguins roster. 

The Penguins as currently constructed may be every bit as good as the 92-93 Penguins team, maybe even better. We all know what happened to that team in the playoffs. Hopefully history does not repeat itself this time around. 

PITT Big East Tournament Edition

The Big East Tournament starts today at Madison Square Guarden in New York City. The Pitt Panthers will not play until Thursday at 2:30 pm and will likely face Syracuse in their first game. Pitt received a double bye for finishing in the top four pf the Big East regular season. The other three times the Panthers received the double bye they lost their first game. That is not a huge concern because in the Big East, when playing any of the top eight teams, you are playing an NCAA tournament team.

Pitt has pretty much owned the Orangemen over the past few years and they should be able to beat them on Thursday. If they do advance they will likely play Georgetown on Friday night. The Panthers crushed the Hoyas by 28 earlier this year at Georgetown. Although, the Hoyas have been nearly unbeatable since then. I don't think Pitt will be intimidated by the Hoyas and it is a very good match up for the Panthers.

If the Panthers get to the championship game on Saturday night they will, in all likelihood face Louisville or Marquette. Pitt is 0-3 against those teams this year and either team is a bad match up for the Panthers. Although, all three games Pitt had opportunities to win. 

I think the Panthers win the first two games and lose to Louisville on Saturday night. That would be a great showing by Pitt and likely land them a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. 

Steelers Thoughts

The Steelers parted ways with James Harrison over the weekend and will likely lose Mike Wallace to the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday as the NFL free agency period begins.  The Steelers would love to have both players back but this is about money. Wallace is expected to sign a deal worth $10-$12 million per year. Way too much for the Steelers liking. Harrison was set to count $6 million against the cap this year and close to $9 million next year.

The Steelers must find a wide receiver and linebacker to replace Wallace and Harrison. The linebacker position could be filled with the #17 pick in the draft. There are a number of linebackers that could help the Steelers at that spot. WR will be a bit tougher to find. The Steelers could trade back into the late first round and pick up Tavon Austin the former WVU standout. The could also wait and find a gem like they did with Wallace who was a 3rd round pick.

The Steelers have never been a big player in free agency and that is unlikely to change this year. There are a number of players the Steelers should at least look at. Here are my Top five:

Steven Jackson RB
Michael Turner RB
Danny Amendola WR
Brent Grimes CB
Shaun Phillips OLB

PITT Football Schedule

Sept. 2 Florida State (Monday)
Sept. 7 Bye Week
Sept. 14 New Mexico
Sept. 21 at Duke
Sept. 28 Virginia
Oct. 5 Bye Week
Oct. 12 at Virginia Tech
Oct. 19 Old Dominion
Oct. 26 at Navy
Nov. 2 at Georgia Tech
Nov. 9 Notre Dame
Nov. 16 North Carolina
Nov. 23 at Syracuse
Nov. 29 Miami (Friday)

The schedule for Pitt's first year in the ACC is a clear upgrade from the Big East Schedule. The home opener against FSU will be the most anticipated home game since Pitt opened with ND in 2005. That game did not turn out well for the Panthers as they were dominated by an average ND team. If Pitt can find a way to beat the Seminoles at Heinz Field they could really build some momentum as there next three games are very winnable. Pitt will be starting a new quarterback, but the Seminoles will be too.

The November stretch run may be the toughest in the country. Five games in five weeks against quality opponents every week. This stretch will define this Pitt team. After two early bye weeks the Panthers play eight straight weeks.

Early prediction is 8-4 and 5-3 in conference play

PITT Basketball the Most Frustrating Team in America

Pitt Basketball has looked like the best team in the county at time, the blowout wins against Georgetown and DePaul and the manhandling of a Syracuse team, and the worst at other time, last night.

The Panthers started the game on a 19-3 run and played perfect defense. the problem is they should have been up closer to 30-3 the way Notre Dame was playing. Pitt would go on to score only 23 more points the rest of the way. They were killed on the boards, the did not defend well, and the offense was pathetic. 

Pitt uses the ultimate team concept in basketball. Playing 10 players significant minutes and spreading around the ball on offense. What Pitt does not have is a consistent scorer. Lamar Patterson could be that guy but he often goes long stretches of the game without shooting, even if he appears to be open. He is and exellent passer but it is time for him to be more selfish with the ball. Steven Adams as showed some flashes of his offensive game lately but he rarely even touches the ball on most possessions. Durand Johnson and JJ Moore are not affraid to shoot but they sometimes do not get enough minute,s and as good as Tray Woodall and James Robinson are with the ball they really struggle to create their own shot. Trey Zeigler looks good at time, but is very inconsistent. That leaves Talib Zanna who started out averaging about 12 points a game but lately Pitt has been lucky to get 6 points out of him. He is often too timid around the basket and settles for jump shots from the corner. he needs to be more of a force inside for Pitt to be successful.

If Pitt does not have someone step up offensively expect a one in done trip in March. 

Pitt Basketball Climbing the Ranks

Pitt Basketball has jumped from #23 last week to # 16 this week in the College Basketball AP Poll. They have won 7 out of 8 Big East games after a 1-3 start to conference play. They are doing in with typical tough Pitt defense and strong rebounding. This Pitt team is different though. They are improving heading into March.

Past Pitt teams have seemed to peak around late January early February and have maintained a consistent level of play. This team, maybe because of their youth, is still improving and is playing better each game. The defense has been tremendous lately, and Freshman Steven Adams has shown some life on the offensive side of the ball. Lamar Patterson seems to be more aggressive driving to the basket and Trey Zeigler has settled into the rotation after a poor start. 

Coach Dixon has really sold this squad on the concept of team and it is paying off. Pitt is a 10 man team with all 10 players getting significant playing time. Every player has bought into the 10 man rotation and each have had their turn helping Pitt to pull out wins. If this team continues to improve, can make free throws more consistently, and Adams continues to help offensively than March should be fun and maybe even April and a final four trip.