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Sunday, January 26, 2003

Everybody wanted to talk about Chevon Troutman's 10-of-10 performance from the free-throw line, which, if you know anything about the way Pitt shoots free throws, was nothing short of amazing. Georgetown Coach Craig Esherick thought it was the difference in Pitt's 65-64 victory yesterday. Pitt's Ben Howland didn't argue.

I was more encouraged by the fact Brandin Knight made his final three free throws down the stretch.

In the long run -- one that Pitt hopes will take it to the Final Four in New Orleans -- that could be more significant.

"I had a total belief Brandin was going to make them," Howland said.

He might have been the only person in the Petersen Events Center who felt that way.

Much has been made of Pitt's ineptness with free throws. Esherick fairly laughed at the Panthers after the game, saying he expected them to score, at worst, only one point each time they went to the line for a two-shot foul. Sadly, he would have been right if Troutman hadn't come up so large. The rest of the Panthers shot 14 of 30, excluding the one Julius Page missed intentionally with 0.4 seconds left.

Knight came into the game shooting 41.5 percent from the free-throw line, worst on the team. Pitt might be No. 2 in the polls, the critics say, but it has no shot of winning the national championship if its point guard can't make free throws. Howland's retort? Knight will make 'em when it counts.

Yesterday, it happened.

Pitt led, 59-58, when Knight was fouled with 2:10 left. He got nothing but net with each shot.

"It's natural to get down when you're not shooting well," Knight said. "But I can't let my teammates down. I have to stay positive. I have to make those shots."

Confident as he was in Knight, Howland didn't like what he saw in the seconds before Knight shot those free throws.

"I waved him away from the line. He was too anxious. He was standing there, waiting for the ball from the official. I wanted him to step back.

"I think one reason Brandin misses sometimes is that he's so tired because he plays so hard. If he steps back and takes a breath, he'll be fine."

There's no question Knight sets the tone for the rest of the Pitt team by playing hard, often giving up his body in the process. He finished yesterday clearly limping on a bad right knee, the same knee that was surgically repaired in the summer.

"I stepped kind of funny and felt a sharp pain. It's pretty sore right now, but I think it will be OK."

For Pitt's sake, it had better be OK.

It's pretty tough to come up with an encore season after you're the Big East Conference's co-player of the year and lead your team to the NCAA tournament's round of 16. Knight is doing it. He's a better player than last season, certainly a more valuable player.

That doesn't show up in the numbers. Knight's scoring is down, from 15.6 points per game last season to 10.5. His shooting percentage from the field also is down, from 42.7 percent to 36.1. But it shows up every time Pitt plays. It's his team, make no mistake.

"Brandin equates only one thing to playing well -- leading this team to wins," Howland said. "That's what I love about the kid. He's a playmaker. He can dominate a game even if he scores six points."

Knight did it with defense again yesterday. With Pitt leading, 63-60, he blocked a shot by Drew Hall to force a shot-clock violation. It might have been the biggest stop of the game.

Knight also did it with offense. It wasn't so much his shooting -- he made only 2 of 9 shots -- although he did make two big 3-pointers in the first half when Pitt trailed, 12-8 and 24-17. He did it the way he always does -- by running Pitt's unselfish offense. You don't think Troutman's free throws and five layups happened by accident, do you? Most of his 20 points were set up by Knight's passes.

"He finishes plays. That's all you want your big guys to do," Knight said of Troutman. "I can't say enough about his post presence and what he brings to our offense."

Knight grinned. You would have thought he had gone for 20.

"I get excited when I can set up one of our guys for an easy shot. That keeps them happy. If they're happy, we're all happy."

Who isn't happy at Pitt these days?

The Panthers are 15-1, 5-0 in the Big East

As long as Knight keeps making those big free throws, they should be happy deep into March.

Or even into April.