Producer: You may enter questions now. Questions won't be visible unless Ray answers them during the live chat, which begins at 12:30 p.m.

Ray Fittipaldo: Hello all. Welcome to the Pitt basketball chat. Fire away...

Send It In, Jerome!: Is it just me, or does Jamie Dixon look to be aging -- quickly graying, losing his hair -- this year? He must be beyond frustrated behind closed doors, especially after last year. Do you detect frustrations in his pressers? Is he being asked the tough Qs?

Greg: Do you think West Virginia coach Bob Huggins could've been included in Bobby Knight's latest remarks about crooked coaches that ruin university programs?

Ray Fittipaldo: I do not sense any growing frustration. I am sure it was difficult to get over the loss to Villanova in the Elite Eight game, but in the business of coaching if you can't get over tough losses you're not in the business very long. I am sure Jamie and his staff knew this year would be a challenge once they found out that DeJuan Blair would be turning pro. Then it became really hard when Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown missed the first half of the season with an injury and suspension. Tonight will be the first time all season Dixon has had his complement of players.

Ray Fittipaldo: I do not pretend to know what went on at Cincinnati. I do know that he had some very low graduation rates, but I would not group him in with other coaches who had programs put on probation and had NCAA Final Four berths erased from the record books. If you're asking me if Bobby Knight would hire Huggins to coach his team I would say no.

Send It In, Jerome!: Did anyone else notice that Indiana resembled Pitt in the Ben Howland days? Arms waiving, trapping, brutal in-your-face low-scoring defense. Is it time to go back to Howland-ball, urgently? Right now, it appears we don't have the talent to compete any other way, especially in shoot-out games. Better to win ugly than lose ugly.

Ray Fittipaldo: I think Dixon realizes he has to win low-scoring games this season. Last week he opened up all starting positions and told his players that the five best defenders were going to start the next game. This is not a talented offensive team, but with Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown back in the fold it can be one of the better defensive teams in the Big East in time. I want to stress in time. It's going to take a while for both of those guys to get back into the swing of things.

Evan: What do you think about tonight vs. Ohio? Ohio is a team with 5 guys in double figures and a 6th averaging 9.9 pts. They also like to play up-tempo and shoot the 3 ... Does the home winning streak come to an end tonight?

Ray Fittipaldo: I doubt it. I looked at Ohio's schedule and Pitt is the first major-college team the Bobcats are playing this season. They piled up some victories against some bad competition. They also lost three games. I'm not saying it will be a cake-walk, but the Panthers should not have much trouble taking a 10-2 record into Big East play next week.

Gary McGhees freethrows: Who will win the Big East? Will Pitt make the NCAA or NIT tournament field?

Ray Fittipaldo: At this point I would say West Virginia or Syracuse, although I was surprised to see the Mountaineers almost lose at Cleveland State. It reminded me of Pitt's game at Buffalo a few years back. Why do Big East teams agree to playing MAC teams on the road? That game is their Super Bowl for the season...If Pitt makes the NCAA tournament Jamie Dixon should be Big East coach of the year. I would say NIT at this point, but maybe Dixon will prove me wrong and extract every last bit of talent from this bunch.

Send It In, Jerome!: Do you foresee a point in the near future that Pitt's guards become so frustrated at teammates' endless turnovers and frequent bricks that they lose confidence, assume the worst, quit passing (or quit trying to penetrate), and just start gunning off the dribble, like an NBA team?

Ray Fittipaldo: I am sure the guards are frustrated by the collective hands of Pitt's post players. There have way too many turnovers by the likes of Gary McGhee and Nasir Robinson. You'll never see Pitt's guard gunning like an NBA team, but I think you're already seeing the way this offense is evolving. Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker carry the offensive load almost every game. Sooner or later, the big men are going ton have to step up and offer some scoring balance if this team is going to have any success in Big East play.

Send It In, Jerome!: It's no secret that the Big East MUST expand its football roster sooner rather than later. If not, (I think) they'll be picked off one by one by buzzards like the Big-10(11) and eventually die as a football. That said, they may need to boot coupla hoops-only teams to invite football+hoops schools. Any talk about which hoops-only schools might be asked to look elsewhere?

Ray Fittipaldo: There has been speculation for quite some time that the Big East would split and the basketball-only schools would form their own conference and the football schools would remain. But I have not heard anything in regards to that for quite some time. Every time I am in the company of Big East officials they're talking about the success of the 16-team basketball league. Jamie Dixon calls it the best conference in the history of college basketball. Quite truthfully, I have not heard a loud drumbeat for change from a basketball standpoint. I understand football might change things, but this basketball conference is flourishing at the moment.

Pitt fan: Why does Pitt always have such trouble at the charity stripe? It seems that poor shooting (free throws and otherwise) are as much of a Pitt hallmark as tough defense. What's your take, Ray?

Ray Fittipaldo: Dixon subscribes to a recruiting philosophy in which he puts more emphasis on athleticism and ability to play defense than shooting. A coach such as John Beilein, the former coach at WVU who is now at Michigan, had a different philosophy. He recruited shooters, but his teams were/are forced to play a 1-3-1 zone defense because they are deficient athletically. I know those are two extremes, but for the most part there is always a trade-off for a coach. Memphis lost a national championship a few years back because of its foul line troubles. But the Tigers would not have been there without those terrific athletes who had a great knack for playing defense.

Send It In, Jerome!: Watching our PGs as the shot clock winds down, they seem to quit looking for open teammates starting with about 10 seconds left. Who are the guys on our team who want the ball in their hands with the game on the line?

Ray Fittipaldo: Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. If I had to pick one over the other I would say Gibbs.

NJ-Joe: If Pitt has to make scholarship room for 2010 recruits ... who do you think will leave?

Ray Fittipaldo: I've been consistent on this all season: it's too early to tell. Over the course of the season players can play their way into future roles on the team or they can play their way out. There really is no sense worrying about it now. Dixon and his staff won't address it until after the season unless a player decides to leave on his own over Christmas break and transfer after the semester. I have not heard any rumblings, but this is the time of year that stuff happens.

SeanE: Early on Travon Woodall looked llike the next in the line of outstanding point guards. He played very well against some very good competition. Since then he has fallen off substantially. What happened?

Ray Fittipaldo: I respectfully disagree with your assertion. Over the last two seasons I do not ever remember thinking that Woodall looked like the next Levance FIelds or Carl Krauser or Brandin Knight. I have said all along that Woodall or Gibbs might be keeping the point guard seat warm for Isiah Epps, the highly touted recruit who will be here next fall.

Evan: Heard some speculation about ?? of next years' Big East-SEC Invitational being at the Consol Energy Center ... Can you confirm this? Also, any guess as to the SEC team playing Pitt? (We know the Big East Teams for next year are Rutgers, Seton Hall, Notre Dame and Pitt and Arkansas is the only SEC team to have not played in it yet)

Ray Fittipaldo: I have not heard any speculation about the SEC teams involved. As for the games at the CEC I would love to see Pitt-Duquesne be the first college basketball game there. I wouldn't mind seeing others there, but I think the Dukes and Panthers deserve to be the first game there.

NJ-Joe: Does anybody really care or watch NIT!! They should just get rid of it and expand NCAA to 96 teams if that makes people happy. What are your thoughts.

Ray Fittipaldo: I kind of like the NCAA tournament the way it is. Cal me old-fashioned, but I don't like change when it comes to these things. I guess the NIT serves as an outlet for teams to keep playing if they don't make the NCAA field. But I agree. No one is really watching except for the teams' fan bases.

SeanE: We know Young and Blair are playing in the NBA but what about the other 2 starters Pitt lost. How are Levance and Tyrell progressing with their pro careers?

Ray Fittipaldo: Fields is in Russia and Biggs in Greece. But sorry, I do not have updates on their pro stats.

SeanE: Is there cause for concern that Dante Taylor is not performing as some had hoped. He does not play physical and seems lost at times on defense. Not very good traits if you hope to play for Jamie Dixon.

Ray Fittipaldo: I wrote a story about Taylor's struggles in yesterday's paper. He is not the only McDonald's All-American finding the sledding tough in college. I would venture to say he might be doing better if he was surrounded by better players. But it also might just be that he is developing slowly. But yes, it is something to watch the rest of the season. He definitely needs to show that he is taking strides if he is going to be considered a big piece to this team's future puzzle.

Send It In, Jerome!: Tonite's game will be interesting, after Coach Dixon re-opened the starting lineups to competition. If both Gary McGee and Dante Taylor show monster reborn defensive games, and PF continues to be a black hole, might that finally be enough to spur coaches to get them both on the floor at the same time (I happen to think this continuing mystery is one of the truly bad things about this year's team, especially for future recruiting).

Ray Fittipaldo: Don't count on it. Dixon has been asked several times about Taylor moving to power forward and he has repeatedly said that he does not want him learning two positions at this time. The more likely scenario is for Gilbert Brown to eat up some minutes at power forward.

Black magic: Does Isiah Epps come in and start at point next year? I believe he was originally quoted as saying he was one and done at Pitt following a national championship

Ray Fittipaldo: That might have been a bit overstated on his part. I hear he is very good, but I don't think he is a one-and-done type of player. He is a top 100 recruit, but he is in the bottom 50 of most scouting services I have seen recently. I think the hope is that he is so good that he starts, but it's not something I would be the house on at this point.

Black magic: Do you think Wanamaker will learn to drive under control any time this year?

Ray Fittipaldo: Perhaps. I think you have to take the good with the bad with Brad. He's going to make mistakes, but when he's on he is very good. And he has been very good for the past couple of weeks.

Ray Fittipaldo: Thanks for participating this week. Have a Merry Christmas. We'll do it again next week.