0
0
Western Pennsylvania is a sports haven with all of the sports action a fan could ask for. You have NFL football and the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NHL and an equal history of championships and hall of fame players in the Pittsburgh Penguins, MLB baseball with the Five-Time World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, professional soccer with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, three major universities in Pitt, Duquesne, and Robert Morris, and WPIAL high school sports that have produced many legendary players. Mike Drakulich (@PghSportsNation) of NGSCSports brings you a weekly commentary focusing on the hot topics of the Pittsburgh sports landscape, and analysis of this week’s events. Jack Handy may have brought you deep thoughts… he just tells it like it is.
Welcome to the debut edition of This Week in Pittsburgh Sports!
During the football season, I do my best to bring you the best Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers GameDay Previews found anywhere, in addition to my Against All Odds column where I go up vs my dad in picking NCAA and NFL games against the Vegas odds.
Now I’m adding a weekly commentary where I give my thoughts and analysis on what is happening in the world of Pittsburgh sports, and maybe even more than that from time to time. If you know me well, you know I’m not shy in giving my opinion on any topic at hand. I embrace debate… I do not run from it. Critical when deserved, praise given when earned, this is This Week in Pittsburgh Sports!
Pitt basketball is coming off a dominant 79-64 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday. It was a good bounce back game and response after getting pummeled by Wake Forest the game before. The good news is, the Panthers have now won eight of their last ten games, and after watching the Demon Deacons take down Duke yesterday, that loss doesn’t look as bad in perspective.
Pitt has four games left before the ACC Tournament, including a big one Tuesday night at Clemson, a team that has been a major thorn in the side of the Panthers the past few years. After that, Pitt plays at Boston College before returning home to face Florida State and NC State to end the regular season.
Going undefeated would put the Panthers at 13-7 in the ACC and could vault Pitt as high as 3rd in the standings. Not bad after starting off 2-6 in conference play.
Finishing 4-0 with at least one win in the ACC Tournament should all but guarantee the Panthers a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but who knows with the appalling disrespect the ACC is getting from the national media and bracketologists.
If Pitt goes 3-1 to end the year, it would likely mean they’d have to win two, if not three games down in Charlotte to get to the Big Dance.
*
The future of Pitt basketball does look pretty good, even with leading scorer Blake Hinson graduating this year and heading to the NBA with his electric shooting from beyond the arc.
In 2024-25, Pitt will have a solid core of players such as Bub Carrington, Ishmael Leggett, Jaland Lowe, Zack Austin, Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham, and Federiko Federiko. Transfer Portal notwithstanding. In these days, you just never know.
Incoming so far are Amdy Ndiaye and local phenom Brandin Cummings, who is the younger brother of Nelly Cummings, who lead Pitt to the Dance last year.
Do yourself a big favor and head to the Petersen Events Center this Thursday night at 9:00 PM and watch Cummings and Lincoln Park take on Hampton for the WPIAL Class 4A Championship. I’ll be there to bring live coverage of the game.
You’ll get to see the future of Pitt basketball on hand, which could include Cumming’s teammate, Meleek Thomas, who is rated as one of the best juniors in the country. Thomas has Pitt listed as among his destinations, and word is he may reclassify at the end of this year and declare for college soon thereafter. It would be pretty awesome to see these two great players continue their careers as teammates and possibly bring Pitt to a Final Four. They are both that good.
*
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a big game today vs the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Penguins, who will still be without star Jake Guentzel till at least March 10th, are currently 25-21-8, good for 58 points. The final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference is held by Tampa Bay with 67 points. The Flyers also have 67 points, which has them at 3rd in the Metro Division.
So, the Penguins have to make a move, and soon, trailing both teams by nine points in the standings. The good news is that Pittsburgh has played five games less than Tampa has, and have four games in hand on the Flyers.
Today is a game the Penguins have to win in regulation. That would put the Penguins within striking distance of Philly, trailing by seven points, and still having four games to make up.
These next 12 days will be the litmus test to whatever changes GM Kyle Dubas will make via the trade deadline on March 8th.
That will be seven games before the deadline hits, and if the Penguins have any hope of making the playoffs, they better figure out how to score on the power play, get some additional scoring from the bottom six, and go no worse than 5-2 till then.
*
I’ll be getting into more Steelers conversations as we grow closer to free agency and the Draft.
So far, during the current off-season, the team has already added Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator, and have released center Mason Cole, punter Pressley Harvin, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and tackle Chukwuma Okorafor.
Though there have been rumors that the Steelers were looking at acquiring Bears QB Justin Fields come draft day, it looks more and more likely it will be Kenny Pickett as the guy who will be the starter in 2024.
Mason Rudolph is a free agent and could come back if he wants to. Pittsburgh has also been tied to rumors with signing Ryan Tannehill as a backup to Pickett. Tannehill was the quarterback under Smith when he was OC with the Tennessee Titans, and could be a good mentor to Pickett.
I know many in SteelerNation have soured on Pickett, especially after Rudolph took the reigns and played quite well when he finally got his chance to shine.
The numbers Pickett have put up weren’t very impressive, to say the least, but lets not forget he had a simpleton as an offensive coordinator under Matt Canada, and to boot, his head coach, Mike Tomlin, seemingly implanted a take no chances and make no mistakes game plan into the heads of both Pickett and Trubisky.
When the season was on the line and the team had nothing to lose, it seemed as if those restrictions were taken off of Rudolph, who was told to just go and play your game.
When you are a successful quarterback, or if you wish to be one, you can’t have restrictions put upon your game, or given orders to never make a bad play. The top quarterbacks are the ones who play without fear. You take the good with the bad, and you live with it. But your quarterback has to be confident in his game and his abilities.
The best teams that were left in the NFL playoffs all had many of the same things in common:
A very good defense, a solid running game, a big time tight end, and a quarterback that made plays when the game was on the line.
The Steelers, if Arthur Smith utilizes all of his weapons, have these capabilities. I am confident he will. The Titan’s offense fared quite well under his tenure.
Laugh if you want about Pickett’s stats, but it seems to me as if his game was severely hampered by the actions of his coaches and the ideologies they pounded into his head. This is not to say Pickett has to be better at stepping up into the pocket– he does, no doubt.
I’ll leave this as food for thought.
When the offense was in the two minute drill, especially at the end of games when Pickett had to lead them back on game winning drives, which he has done six times, go and watch how well he threw the ball and where he was throwing the ball.
Those are times when you just go and play. No thinking. No limitations. No chains. Just take the ball and lead your team to a win.
I liked what I saw from the kid, and if you didn’t, you’re just being biased or shortsighted.
Now it’s up to Arthur Smith to unbrainwash Pickett and design an offense that will cater to his abilities, which I watched so often with success during his senior season at Pitt.
More on Smith, the Steelers offense, and Pickett in the next edition.
Author Profile
- Your source for Pittsburgh sports!
-
From Midland, "The Basketball Capital of Pennsylvania", located 35 miles NW of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. This former steel town was home to storied athletes such as Dave Alston, Norm Van Lier, Simmie Hill, and the legendary 1965 Midland High School Basketball Team.
There's nowhere on earth that is more dedicated to its sports teams like Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh. The passion and pride of Pittsburgh's fan base is second to no one. From the NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAA football and basketball, to W.P.I.A.L. high school sports, "The City of Champions" has it all!
As Editor of Pittsburgh SportsNation, Mike Drakulich provides top notch opinions and coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pitt Panthers football & basketball, Robert Morris Colonials basketball, and Duquesne Dukes basketball, as well as all sports teams that represent Western Pennsylvania, including WPIAL High School Football.
For a refreshing view of sports, mixed with humor and uncensored opinions, check out Pittsburgh SportsNation today on Facebook, Twitter @PghSportsNation and videos with over 1,000,000 views on YouTube!
Latest entries
FeaturesMarch 18, 2024The DraX-Files: This Week in Pittsburgh Sports
FeaturesMarch 12, 2024The DraX-Files: This Week in Pittsburgh Sports
FeaturesMarch 3, 2024The DraX-Files: This Week in Pittsburgh Sports
FeaturesFebruary 25, 2024The DraX-Files: This Week in Pittsburgh Sports