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:

	When the ball goes inside to either Ontario Lett (50) or Chevon Troutman, it usually ends up going through the basket.

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.

Games of the Week

Duke at Maryland Saturday Every time these teams have played in recent years, it's a been classic. This is the Blue Devils' first trip to the Comcast Center. Syracuse at Pittsburgh Saturday The Orangemen have the talent to beat Pittsburgh. But do they have the savvy? Connecticut at North Carolina Saturday The Huskies abused North Carolina last season. The Tar Heels would love to get revenge ... but won't. Xavier at Massachusetts Saturday The Minutemen are unpredictable, losing to Lafayette but beating N.C. State. The latter game was at home, so Xavier, beware an ambush.

Spinning A Defensive Web
Even without its best player, Reggie Brown, Richmond is a formidable opponent in large part because the Spiders are sadistic.

With all due respect.

The Spiders are making do without Brown -- their leading scorer last season at 14.4 points, and a preseason All-Atlantic 10 candidate -- while he recovers from a back strain. They are doing it with a defense that had Temple coach John Chaney talking about getting fired and Xavier coach Thad Matta in disbelief over his team's offensive ineptitude.

Temple scored 12 points in the first half of a 61-42 loss to Richmond. Afterward, Owls coach John Chaney said, "What might be a good thing is for Temple to fire me."

Spiders coach Jerry Wainwright doesn't know about that. But he does know the secret to Richmond basketball, whether it was last season under John Beilein or this season under himself, is its defense.

"We've learned some tough lessons this year," Wainwright said, referring to shoddy perimeter defense in losses to Hampton, Virginia Commonwealth, Pepperdine and Providence, who shot a combined 44 percent on 3-pointers. "You can't worry about your offense. You must play your defense."

As for the sadism, well, get this. When Richmond played Xavier last week, the Musketeers were without their point guard, Lionel Chalmers. The Spiders, as sympathetic as you might imagine, pressed and ran Xavier right out of its own gym, finishing the game on a 15-3 run that sent Xavier to a 67-59 loss -- ending its 17-game home winning streak.

"We knew it was our only chance," Wainwright said, almost sounding contrite.

The Spiders visit Dayton on Wednesday in a game with postseason implications. At least four A-10 teams have a decent shot at the NCAA Tournament: Xavier, Saint Joseph's, Dayton and Richmond. Winning games within that foursome will be critical.

Time for more defense, Spiders. And maybe a smidgen of sadism.

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