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Q: Jamie Dixon called timeouts after Pitt scored and just before the under eight-minute media timeout in the last two homes games. Against Providence it seemed to be a bit of a momentum killer and it really didn't matter against Rutgers. Our group of three at the games believes it is to add additional rest at this part of the game. He took one of the timeouts with approximately three seconds left before the media timeout. Have you ever talked about this with the coaches and do they have a reason for doing this? I believe he has done this in other games throughout the year.

Mike Donovan, Penn Hills

FITTIPALDO: You are the second person to send in a question about this subject, Mike. I have noticed it the past two games as well. And you are right, it was a big momentum killer in the Providence game. Pitt had a 44-37 lead when Dixon called timeout. Providence then scored the next seven points to tie the score. From there, it was a nip and tuck game the rest of the way. I have not asked Dixon about this, but I will the next time I get a chance. When he did it during the Providence game I immediately thought he did not like something with the team's defense and called a timeout to address it. If you remember, Pitt had a hard time guarding the Friars' ball screens all game. They were constantly getting mismatches and taking advantage. It had not entered my mind that Dixon wanted to get more rest for his players. Dixon is playing with an eight-man rotation, so I don't think that is the case, but I won't dismiss it entirely until I have a chance to ask Dixon about it. For anyone at the games or watching on television, we all know those media timeouts are about two minutes long. In my mind, that's plenty of time for the players to get enough rest.

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