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01-17-2003, 03:32 PM
Lett, Troutman two big reasons Pitt's improved
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By Gregg Doyel
Special to ESPN.com
Pittsburgh had holes. We knew it, you knew it, and you can be darned sure -- maybe even danged sure -- the good teams on the Panthers' schedule knew it. For all its success last year, all its promise entering this season, Pittsburgh had holes.
Big holes.
Two of them.
Together, the holes measured about 13 feet and weighed almost 500 pounds. They were located near the basket on the Panthers' offensive side of the court, and like certain constellations, the Panthers' huge but irrelevant bodies had names, too:
Ontario Lett ... Chevon Troutman.
Last season, they were the problem that Pittsburgh guards Brandin Knight and Julius Page couldn't solve. The Panthers' season ended in disappointment, a Sweet 16 loss to Kent State despite 18 points each from Page and Knight.
This season, Lett and Troutman are the answer.
The question: Why does Pittsburgh have a realistic shot at the national title?
"We like to feed the ball inside, and we'll do it when we can," says Knight, a preseason national player of the year candidate whose numbers are down this season primarily because they can be.
Knight's scoring and assists are down from 15.6 and 7.2 last season to 11.7 points and 6.3 assists this season. Their best player is, statistically, worse -- but the Panthers are better. Why?
All together now:
Ontario Lett ... Chevon Troutman.
Together, Lett and Troutman are averaging 21.5 points and 11.3 rebounds in 40 minutes. Lett is shooting 63.6 percent from the field, and he's the cold one. Troutman is hitting a ridiculous 75 percent of his shots, and with Lett he will give Syracuse's strong frontcourt everything it can handle Saturday.
Together, they are giving Pittsburgh an inside presence to match its formidable perimeter of Knight, Page, Jaron Brown, Carl Krauser and Donatas Zavackas.
Together is the key word here.
"We have a bond under the basket," Troutman says. "That makes us play better."
If they play any better, Pittsburgh will be impossible to defeat. Ask Notre Dame. The Irish have defeated Marquette, Maryland and Texas, but they had no chance against Pittsburgh. The Panthers won that game 72-55 thanks to the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Lett and the 6-7, 236-pound Troutman.
Troutman has 12 points and 12 rebounds. Lett had 20 points, taking nine shots from the floor and hitting eight.
"He is the man," Notre Dame's Matt Carroll says of Lett. "We did all we could to shut him down, but couldn't."
Lett doesn't see what the big deal is.
"They were just lay-ups," he says, as if the game were as simple as that.
This season, for Pittsburgh, maybe it is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Gregg Doyel
Special to ESPN.com
Pittsburgh had holes. We knew it, you knew it, and you can be darned sure -- maybe even danged sure -- the good teams on the Panthers' schedule knew it. For all its success last year, all its promise entering this season, Pittsburgh had holes.
Big holes.
Two of them.
Together, the holes measured about 13 feet and weighed almost 500 pounds. They were located near the basket on the Panthers' offensive side of the court, and like certain constellations, the Panthers' huge but irrelevant bodies had names, too:
Ontario Lett ... Chevon Troutman.
Last season, they were the problem that Pittsburgh guards Brandin Knight and Julius Page couldn't solve. The Panthers' season ended in disappointment, a Sweet 16 loss to Kent State despite 18 points each from Page and Knight.
This season, Lett and Troutman are the answer.
The question: Why does Pittsburgh have a realistic shot at the national title?
"We like to feed the ball inside, and we'll do it when we can," says Knight, a preseason national player of the year candidate whose numbers are down this season primarily because they can be.
Knight's scoring and assists are down from 15.6 and 7.2 last season to 11.7 points and 6.3 assists this season. Their best player is, statistically, worse -- but the Panthers are better. Why?
All together now:
Ontario Lett ... Chevon Troutman.
Together, Lett and Troutman are averaging 21.5 points and 11.3 rebounds in 40 minutes. Lett is shooting 63.6 percent from the field, and he's the cold one. Troutman is hitting a ridiculous 75 percent of his shots, and with Lett he will give Syracuse's strong frontcourt everything it can handle Saturday.
Together, they are giving Pittsburgh an inside presence to match its formidable perimeter of Knight, Page, Jaron Brown, Carl Krauser and Donatas Zavackas.
Together is the key word here.
"We have a bond under the basket," Troutman says. "That makes us play better."
If they play any better, Pittsburgh will be impossible to defeat. Ask Notre Dame. The Irish have defeated Marquette, Maryland and Texas, but they had no chance against Pittsburgh. The Panthers won that game 72-55 thanks to the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Lett and the 6-7, 236-pound Troutman.
Troutman has 12 points and 12 rebounds. Lett had 20 points, taking nine shots from the floor and hitting eight.
"He is the man," Notre Dame's Matt Carroll says of Lett. "We did all we could to shut him down, but couldn't."
Lett doesn't see what the big deal is.
"They were just lay-ups," he says, as if the game were as simple as that.
This season, for Pittsburgh, maybe it is.