Submit your Pitt basketball question

Q: How far has Pitt ever gone in the NCAA tournament?

Mike, Washington, Pa.

FITTIPALDO: Pitt has never won more than two NCAA tournament games in the same season, Mike. But the Panthers did play in the Final Four in 1941 when the NCAA tournament only had an eight-team field. Pitt won its first game against North Carolina and lost its next game to Wisconsin in what would have been considered a national semifinal game. Pitt won two NCAA games in 1974 when it was a 32-team tournament. Pitt beat Saint Joseph's and Furman before losing to North Carolina State in the Elite Eight. If Pitt beats UCLA tonight, it will mark a milestone for the school since the NCAA went to a 64-team tournament in 1985. Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2002, 2003 and 2004, but lost on each occasion.

Q: If Pitt ever wins a Sweet 16 game will the city of Pittsburgh have a parade for them?

Tommy Johnson, College Park, Md.

FITTIPALDO: I assume you're a Maryland fan, so I appreciate the sarcasm, Tommy. The Terrapins have a national championship under their belts. But for a program like Pitt that has never won more than two NCAA tournament games in the same season, getting to step three would be a big deal. It would show progress. Fans have become tired of reaching the Sweet 16. Did you see the poll in the Post-Gazette a few days ago? Of almost 4,500 respondents, 78 percent believed losing to UCLA would render this season a failure. I don't necessarily think that's fair, but that seems to be the feeling of many fans. They dream of watching their team play in a Final Four.

Allow me to put this into perspective for you, as a Maryland resident: the state of euphoria in Pittsburgh for reaching the Elite Eight would be tantamount to the feelings of Maryland sports fans would have if the Orioles or Capitals ever won a championship series over the Pirates or Penguins. Think about it. It's never happened, so you'd be pretty pumped.

Q: Pitt's lack of athleticism has truly cost the Panthers throughout the years, especially when playing the truly elite in college basketball. With that in mind don't you agree that Dixon needs to start and keep Sam Young on the court throughout the tournament? The starting lineup should be Levance Fields, Antonio Graves, Young, Levon Kendall and Aaron Gray. Mike Cook is a defensive liability and can easily get discouraged if he does not start out well.

Mike Jones, Pitsburgh

FITTIPALDO: Dixon tried to play Young at small forward throughout November and December, but Young could not handle it. The coaches scrapped the idea of Young as a small forward after the Oklahoma State game Dec. 21. Young is playing extremely well at power forward off the bench. I'm not sure Dixon should be changing anything now in terms of his lineup or rotation. Mike Cook might not be the best defensive player on the team, but he has elevated his play in the two tournament games. He was Pitt's best player in my opinion in the first half of the VCU game. The coaches need Cook and Young to keep playing well in their roles. It's worked so far. Why change now?

Q: What was it with those referees in the Pitt-VCU game? I put a stopwatch on several of those in-bounds plays when VCU was making its run. On one play I timed 4.2 seconds from the time they handed the ball to Mike Cook to the time they called five seconds and 8.9 seconds from the time the whistle blew for a VCU possession to the time a VCU player picked up the ball after letting it roll. There were different referees doing each team's inbounds plays, and they clearly have a different sense of time. Do you think the referees were trying to express their displeasure at the Pitt players for slowing things down and never picking up the loose ball to initiate the inbounds play? Or was it just a matter of them paying more attention to the five second rule when one team presses? In any case, I think the NCAA needs to give that team of referees a lesson in timekeeping.

Harold Kyriazi of Pittsburgh

FITTIPALDO: In the case of VCU inbounding the ball and waiting to pick it up, the five-second rule no longer applies because the clock stops as soon as the ball leaves the thrower's hands. VCU could let the ball roll all the down court and if Pitt did not interfere there would be no violation. As for Pitt inbounding the ball, I did not get out the stopwatch to time it, but the referees keep time by a swinging arm motion counting as one second. They do this in full view of the player and coaches, so there should have been ample opportunity for Cook or Dixon to call timeout if they wanted.

Q: Is it just the scheme, players or the coaches for the inability to break the press in so many games this season? The next game with UCLA I shudder to think how embarrassing it will be when they lose by 30 points because they couldn't handle UCLA's pressing defense.

Paul Bado, Rescue, Calif.

FITTIPALDO: UCLA does not pressure the ball the way VCU did. UCLA, like Pitt, likes to clamp down in the half-court defense. Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon come from the same school of coaching and the full-court press was not offered on the course load. Pitt's problems with the press won't be a concern against the Bruins. The big concern tonight will be getting quality shots against the Bruins once they set up in their half-court defense. They're very good at it, and I expect the Panthers to have a hard time getting shots.

Q: I have been following Pitt basketball for my whole life and cannot remember any other player taking the verbal abuse from fans the way Aaron Gray has the last couple of weeks. I'm not saying he is the be all end all of centers in college basketball, but let's not forget how hard this kid (and that's all he is, a kid) has worked to get where he is and always represents Pitt with the utmost class in victory and defeat. It's unbelievable how the fans turn on him in the letters and chat sessions I stumbled across last week after one bad game against Georgetown. Maybe these fans would rather have someone like Joakim Noah from Florida doing classless dances in the middle of the floor and acting like a [donkey]. Or maybe another Chris Taft who never lived up to his potential because he didn't put in one-tenth of the effort of Gray and others at Pitt. It's disgusting that all of these Pitt fans have turned on Gray and others at Pitt. Here's hoping Gray shuts everyone up in the tournament.

Chris Bruno, Alexandria, Va.

FITTIPALDO: Well, he is 22 years old, which means he is older than Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. And those guys deal with so much more than Aaron does on a daily basis. I understand that there is a difference between being a professional athlete and a college athlete, but when you play in the Big East and you're the preseason player of the year and a third-team All-American, taking some criticism comes with the territory. I've defended Aaron on many occasions this season. I point out how important he is to the team and how the Panthers would not be in the Sweet 16 without him. But let's face the facts: The fans watch the games and see that he is not playing at an extremely high level. He likely has played himself out of the first round of the NBA draft. He had extremely high expectations and has not lived up to them. It's not a crime, but people are allowed to have their opinions.

Q: I hear a lot of complaints about Pitt's recruiting. And although I'd love to see a Kevin Durant in a Pitt uniform, there's another side to the argument. Pitt's recruits are good but not great players who stick around for four years. They're not good enough to make the jump to the NBA after one or two years. What we end up with are veteran teams every year that know how to win. It seems like the formula isn't working too badly.

Matt Mills, Granbury, Texas

FITTIPALDO: I agree. The formula has worked for the past six seasons. Pitt is one of only 12 schools to make the NCAA tournament six years in a row. Of those 12 schools, only Pitt, Gonzaga and Southern Illinois have not advanced past the Sweet 16. That could change tonight. But the point is that maybe you can only get so far with those types of players. Maybe you need a higher-caliber player to get over the hump to an Elite Eight or a Final Four. Look at some of the teams that made an Elite Eight in that period. Saint Joseph's got there basically because of one player, Jameer Nelson, who is now in the NBA. Marquette made a Final Four because of Dwayne Wade. There are a few exceptions like Kent State and George Mason, but Kent State had a pro athlete in Antonio Gates. And George Mason, it appears, caught lightning in a bottle. Maybe I'll be proved wrong tonight and Pitt will do it without a star player. We shall see.

Q: Does anyone remember the days of 4,000 people at Fitzgerald Field House watching Chad Varga, Chris Seabrooks and Fred Primus? I can remember when this program was 16-14 every year and was just happy to get to the NIT. Give me a break people: Big East final six out of seven years, NCAA tournament every year, that is quite an accomplishment. Embrace it because when Dixon leaves and you cry for Sean Miller to be the head coach, watch what happens then.

Scott Shapiro, West Palm Beach, Fla.

FITTIPALDO: I agree with you for the most part, Scott, except the last thought on Sean Miller. If Miller hangs on to win that game against Ohio State, he instantly becomes one of the hottest coaches in the country and would have landed in a major conference this year or next. He still might. If Dixon ever does leave Pitt, Miller would not be a bad person to at least interview. He has done quite well at Xavier with limited resources in a mid-major conference.

Q: Who will be the starters and key reserves next year?

Jim Krystoff, Wellsboro

FITTIPALDO: If I had to guess the starting lineup would be: Levance Fields at point guard, Ronald Ramon at shooting guard, Mike Cook at small forward, Sam Young at power forward and Tyrell Biggs at center. I realize Biggs would be playing out of position as a center, but he could hold his own during the non-conference schedule. I think the hope of the coaches would be that by the time the Big East season came around, one of the incoming freshmen (Cassin Diggs or Stephen McGee) or redshirt Austin Wallace would be ready to contribute some and played some major minutes to match up against the taller centers. I would expect Keith Benjamin to play a similar role to what he does now and I would expect Gilbert Brown to play a lot of minutes as Cook's backup at small forward. And if DaJuan Blair is as good as advertised he might be too good to keep out of the rotation. It will be an intriguing season, for sure. By far, the biggest concern for the coaches will be finding a capable replacement for Gray.