Pittsburgh Pregame and Predictions

St. Johns is struggling to remain relevant in the Big East race. With a record of 2-5 and an RPI of 65 and falling (where #1 would be rising, of course), the Red Storm are going to need some big wins to make moves in the conference. The fans are frustrated, the team is frustrated, and going on the road to meet the #17 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers is not exactly the recipe for a turnaround.

Pittsburgh is looking for a win - and they defend their home very well, winning 92% of their games in the Peterson Events Center. The Panthers may be ahead of some people's schedule, but they can play.

Junior star and Pittsburgh native DJ Kennedy gets to go home and ball in front of friends and family; can he and the Red Storm battle the Pitt crew for a win? Or will St. John's fall farther from contention?

Read More at Calm Before the Storm: Edge of the Pitt

Pregame post includes parts of a q & a I did with 2 Pitt bloggers (Pitt Blather and Eye of a Panther), so check it out.

peter with another hot sig of my man peter rasputin

Strippers: 68
Jarvis' Former Strip Club Goers: 59

Jerome "Send it home" Lane - 63
Lamont Middleton - 54

[Edited b/c I had the wrong nickname for Jerome (thanks boo3).]

Nice job peter

Shannon Crooks 70
Jarrett Lockhart  67

DJ with over 20 points and a double double

Charles Smith-  67

Lamont Hamilton-63

Sam Clancy - 71
Ed Brown - 60

Sam Clancy - 71
Ed Brown - 60

Clancy went to USC no?

Jerome "Send it in" Lane - 63
Lamont Middleton - 54

"Send it Home, Jerome"!

What does everyone think about Peter's Keys to Victory? Agree or disagree?

Billy's Eckstine and Strayhorn - 69
Prez and co.                        - 56

Sean Miller 74
Mitchell Foster 65

I'm predicting(hoping) a 68-64 win in djs homecoming..
 
   I feel we match up pretty good with this team and this could be are turning point this season!..unlike most of you guys I'm not ready to give up o this season..say we win this game then we go in and beat rutgers..that puts us @ 4-5 goin into a home stand with wv then louisville witch I say we get atleat 1..thn go to play @ nd wich imo is a toss up this yr..home vs seton hall is another winable game and @ usf is a winable game as well..
 2 of the last 4 games are home and we should win atleast 2 of those so @ best imo we finish 8-10 in confrence wich would lead to a 19-11 record..
     Say we win one be tourny game that puts us @ 20-12 wich is a bubble team imo and a nit at very least!!...let's goooo people believe!!

St. John's will have single-digit assists.  They will look foolish.  Norm will run silly plays out of timeouts that will result in hoisting up a last second contested three-pointer.

A few hundred east coast kids will choose Pitt as their favorite team during the course of the game and a few of them will go on become top talents, leave NYC, and turn their backs on St. John's.

What does everyone think about Peter's Keys to Victory? Agree or disagree?

A more apt title might have been "Keys to not getting blown out", as the Panthers don't really lose in that building.

No doubt Prez will be pumped for a top effort.

I'm predicting(hoping) a 68-64 win in djs homecoming..
 
   I feel we match up pretty good with this team and this could be are turning point this season!..unlike most of you guys I'm not ready to give up o this season..say we win this game then we go in and beat rutgers..that puts us @ 4-5 goin into a home stand with wv then louisville witch I say we get atleat 1..thn go to play @ nd wich imo is a toss up this yr..home vs seton hall is another winable game and @ usf is a winable game as well..
 2 of the last 4 games are home and we should win atleast 2 of those so @ best imo we finish 8-10 in confrence wich would lead to a 19-11 record..
     Say we win one be tourny game that puts us @ 20-12 wich is a bubble team imo and a nit at very least!!...let's goooo people believe!!

Great best case scenario all around.  I'm with you.

John Calipari - 65
Al LoBalbo - 56

I see a point spread of 10 (in favor of Pitt of course)

Pitt 72
SJU 49

Some other predictions:
Sean Evans will do something stupid. Malik Boothe will do nothing. Hardy will play 20 minutes. Norm will clap his hands 3 times after something bad happens. Expect around 150 claps. No matter what Burrell does there will be a thread about him tomorrow. Whoever is announcing the game will mention that our offense looks stagnate. Two minutes into the 2nd half WASJU will give up switching back and forth and just watch the Knick game.

I see a point spread of 10 (in favor of Pitt of course)

The Wall Street Journal now has a one page sports section and they post victory probability numbers.

They have our chances of winning this game at 32%, sounds about right to me to be honest.

Norm   - 68
Jamie  - 57