Pitt's reeling basketball team is at Providence tonight and the talk is of the impact this game will have on the Big East Conference regular-season championship and seedings for the NCAA tournament.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Carl Krauser and Pitt have had problems making outside shots. Click photo for larger image.

A week from today, as the Panthers prepare for the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden, the talk will be of the importance of that event and how it will affect the seeding process.

The talk is wrong.

The Pitt basketball season is not about what happens tonight at Providence nor next week in New York. The Pitt basketball season is all about the NCAA tournament, which begins March 18.

For a nationally elite team such as Pitt, the Big East regular season and tournament are relatively minor preludes to the NCAA tournament. Although coach Jamie Dixon would strenuously argue otherwise, it makes no difference if Pitt finishes first, second or third in the Big East. It makes no difference if it is eliminated early or late in the Big East tournament. It makes no difference if it is seeded first, second or third in the NCAA tournament.

It's what the Panthers do in college basketball premier event that will determine the success of this season.

Pitt won the Big East West regular-season title and the conference tournament championship last year. I would bet they would have exchanged all of that for just one more win in the NCAA tournament. Such a victory would have moved them to the regional final -- one win from a Final Four appearance.

This does not mean the game tonight at Providence isn't important. It is. But not because of the Big East standings and NCAA seeding.

This game is important because the Panthers must regain their footing. They've been slipping and sliding lately, barely looking like the team that once was a contender to advance to the Final Four.

It started Feb. 9 with a loss at Seton Hall. It wasn't the loss -- Seton Hall is a quality team, particularly on its home court -- it was the style of play. Point guard Carl Krauser scored 23 points, but he also had three assists and eight turnovers. The poor shooting season of Julius Page continued. He made one of six shots.

A home win against Connecticut put the Seton Hall loss out of mind, but the next three games brought it back.

Pitt had trouble with West Virginia Feb 21, allowing a 14-point lead with 13 minutes remaining become a three-point lead with 2:14 remaining. Doesn't sound like much, but West Virginia is a bottom-tier Big East team, one that Pitt normally doesn't allow back in a game.

The trend continued at Georgetown, where the Panthers trailed by 13 with five minutes remaining in the first half and eight with 12 minutes to go. When the Panthers rallied for a victory, some viewed the game as a positive. If Georgetown had been a good team that might be the case. But Georgetown is a poor team. Its Big East record is 4-10. A game some treated with jubilation was more a warning sign.

All this culminated against Syracuse, when Pitt shot 31 percent and made 3 of 16 from 3-point range. Krauser had four assists and five turnovers. Page made 3 of 10 shots.

In these past five games, Pitt's guards -- starters Krauser and Page and top reserve Yuri Demetris -- are shooting 34 percent, an unacceptable number. Over that same span, Krauser's assist-to-turnover ratio is 21/24, which is equally unacceptable.

There's no accounting for Page's slump. He's 12 for 39 (31 percent) in the past five games. It's not like he's pouting over Krauser's ascendancy. A freshman substitute last year, Krauser has taken the mantle of leadership and go-to tag from Page, who is a four-year starter. Page's defensive play on Syracuse's Gerry McNamara Sunday was masterful and ample testimony that he's working hard.

His confidence, though, appears to be nearly ruined and it will be difficult, but not impossible, to regain it at this point in the season. Krauser's turnaround is a more plausible scenario.

There are other problems. The bench once lauded as deep is down to seven men and Demetris is not offering a lot. He has less confidence in his shot than Page. Since he rarely even thinks of shooting, defenses don't have to contend with him, allowing them to exert more pressure on Pitt's four other players.

Exactly what has happened to freshman guard Antonio Graves, who started and played well in four games when Krauser was hurt early in the season, is hard to figure. He looks to be a better shooting and ballhandling option than Demetris. But he has been all but exiled, having played only seven minutes in the past five games and one minute in the past three.

Graves isn't the only player to play sparingly. One-time starting center Toree Morris is averaging less than five minutes of playing time in the past five games.

There are problems, to be sure. But they can be overcome. Pitt is capable of regaining its stride and possibly advancing to the Final Four. But it must begin playing better, and preferably tonight.