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Bulls Still Have Plenty Of Work Ahead Of Them

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

TAMPA - The University of South Florida had hung around, hung around, and hung around most of the night Wednesday against 20th-ranked Pitt. And with a little less than eight minutes to play, it was possible - sort of - to see the Bulls walking out of the Sun Dome with a win that could have been a springboard to better days.

But if you've watched much USF basketball over the years you have a pretty good idea what's coming next.

Down by just seven points, the Bulls watched Pitt shoot - and miss.

And rebound, shoot, miss.

And rebound, shoot, miss.

And rebound, shoot, good - with a foul. The Panthers converted the free throw, of course.

Yes, folks, a lot of things could have happened right then. The Bulls could have gotten an important defensive stop. They might have gone down and scored. Who knows, maybe even knocked down a 3-pointer that would have cut the lead to four and given a bigger jolt to a crowd that totaled just 6,027 but sounded at times twice as large.

Instead, Pitt played volleyball on the boards until the Panthers finally scored. The deficit was 10 and the game was essentially lost. The life got sucked out of the Sun Dome and people started heading for the exits with five minutes left, not sticking around for Pitt's 79-66 win to become official.

"That sequence kind of summed up the game," Bulls coach Stan Heath said. "We just didn't have an answer on the rebounding end."

Indeed, Pitt's inside play was the difference in the game, despite the best efforts of USF's Kentrell Gransberry. His 26 points and 11 rebounds helped keep the Bulls in the game as long as he could, but, well, let's put it this way: the answers to help USF become competitive in the Big East aren't necessarily on the roster just yet.

"Obviously, a lot of the damage was getting done inside," Heath said. "We've just got to be a lot better."

Not Tough Enough

USF has a few nights like this every basketball season. The Bulls win a few games, make people start to think maybe this time it will be different, maybe even draw a little larger crowd than normal. But then, we usually wind up talking about how they aren't quite ready for the big stage.

So it is again.

This would have been a sweet one for the Bulls to get.

Pitt was vulnerable - down two starters and a key reserve, and coming off a loss at Villanova. Instead, the Bulls were reminded yet again the price of playing in the Big East. It's a grimy, tough-guy league, where defense makes the difference. This is USF's third season in the league but the lesson doesn't seem to have sunk in just yet.

Pitt had too many open shots, too many second-chances. Even though the stat sheet says the Bulls were out-rebounded by only four, Heath knew better.

"Between getting pushed under, or them pinning us and going over the top, or us just not fighting the way we need to fight, one of those things seemed to happen consistently and it's just not good enough," Heath said.

Defense and rebounding often come down to sheer will. Some nights the shots won't fall but defense and toughness should always be there. And too often in this game, USF let Pitt get off easy shots or control the ball off the boards. If that continues, this season, which has shown some promise, could wind up like the last two in this monster conference. As good as Gransberry is, he obviously can't do it alone on the inside.

"We need some more guys," Heath said. "We need some help on the interior."

Back To Work

The Bulls have done some nice work this season. The win against Florida State in December made the kind of statement that can help turn a program around. Routing Rutgers last week in the conference opener was certainly a positive development. Even losing at Syracuse last Saturday had some positive elements to it.

But this one wasn't so positive.

At some point USF needs to start winning games like this, if only to show potential recruits that it really can be done here. Heath came to USF last spring billed as someone who can coax good players onto Fowler Avenue. But if the talent gap between USF and Pitt is any indication, Heath has a lot of work to do.

Fun fact of the night: the Bulls' bench shot 1-for-11.

"We need something," Heath said. "Those guys are fighting, trying hard, I know they are. But we've got to find somebody to give us a little bit more. I don't know who that is."

That's how a possible celebration turns into another night of frustration. At least that's what happened on this night. We'll never know what would have happened if the Bulls had gotten that rebound but we know for certain what happened when they didn't.

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