SPORTS

SECTION SPORTS TODAY’S BEST NASCAR Goody’s Cool Orange 500 1:30 p.m., WPGH-53, WWCP-8 BASEBALL 2007 Sunday, April 1, 2007 B Buying time Littlefield safe for now, but pressure may build After years of frustration, the Pirates’ GM makes a statement with the Adam LaRoche trade. BY ROB BIERTEMPFEL TRIBUNE-REVIEW STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES Ohio State’s Mike Conley Jr. celebrates during his team’s Final Four win against Georgetown on Saturday night in Atlanta. Buckeyes advance past Hoyas The big men for Ohio State and Georgetown spend much of the game sitting on the bench. OHIO STATE 67, GEORGETOWN 60 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BRADENTON, Fla. — When Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield returned empty-handed from baseball’s winter meetings in December, he was branded a failure. Months of off-and-on trade talks with the Atlanta Braves about slugger Adam LaRoche had yielded nothing. As negotiations heated up during the meetings in Orlando, Fla., Littlefield was willing to give up only coveted lefty closer Mike Gonzalez. Just when it seemed a deal was in place, Braves GM John Schuerholz outmaneuvered Littlefield. The Braves sent Horacio Ramirez, whom they likely would have released otherwise, to Seattle for hard-throwing reliever Rafael Soriano. Back in Pittsburgh, The Trade That Didn’t Happen became a rallying point for Littlefield’s critics — a symbol of the Pirates’ ongoing cycle of failure. “So many people wrote it off that we had failed, Dave had failed, everyone in the organization failed because we didn’t do anything to improve the team,” Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy said. Practically no one would have predicted that, just six weeks later, Littlefield would pull off a coup to land LaRoche. That deal gave the Pirates a badly needed power hitter to anchor the lineup. It also might have bought Littlefield more time from ownership to steer the franchise back toward respectability. “I have a high degree of confidence that we’re getting the pieces together in a stronger way now than we’ve had for years,” principal owner Bob Nutting said. Yet, there is a limit to the chairman of the board’s patience. When Nutting addressed a team meeting at the start of spring training, he voiced a vote of confidence for Littlefield and CEO Kevin McClatchy. But Nutting also spoke of the “heightened responsibility” for those in the front office. SEE LITTLEFIELD • B6 LITTLEFIELD’S BEST AND WORST MOVES Trades that helped AUGUST 2003: Brian Giles to the Padres for Jason Best free-agent signings JANUARY 2003: Jeff Suppan — Won 10-of-21 starts before being traded. JANUARY 2003: Jeff D’Amico — Value-priced starter had nine wins left in his tank. FEBRUARY 2003: Reggie Sanders — Great attitude, steady performer. MARCH 2003: Kenny Lofton — Surprisingly productive. DECEMBER 2005: Roberto Hernandez — Eventually led to Xavier Nady deal. Bay, Oliver Perez, Cory Stewart JULY 2003: Jeff Suppan, Brandon Lyon, Anastacio Martinez to the Red Sox for Freddy Sanchez, Mike Gonzalez DECEMBER 2001: Todd Ritchie, Lee Evans to the White Sox for Kip Wells, Josh Fogg, Sean Lowe Trades that hurt JULY 2003: Aramis Ramirez, Kenny Lofton to the Cubs for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez, Matt Bruback JULY 2001: Jason Schmidt, John Vander Wal to the Giants for Armando Rios, Ryan Vogelsong JULY 2003: Scott Sauerbeck, Mike Gonzalez to the Red Sox for Brandon Lyon, Anastacio Martinez JULY 2001: Mike Williams to the Astros for Tony McKnight DECEMBER 2002: Chris Young, Jon Searles to the Expos for Matt Herges ATLANTA — Take Greg Oden away from Ohio State and the Buckeyes still play for the national championship. Take Roy Hibbert away from Georgetown and … the Buckeyes still play for the national championship. With Hibbert and Oden both hampered by foul trouble, it was Mike Conley Jr. and the rest of the Buckeyes who carried Ohio State to its first national title game since 1962 with a 67-60 victory over Georgetown on Saturday night. Conley finished with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Oden added 13 points — all in the second half — and eight rebounds in 20 minutes. “When he goes down with two fouls, our guys did a tremendous job stepping up,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Michael was tremendous.” Hibbert was tremendous, too. He scored 19, SEE OHIO STATE • B11 Worst free-agent signings FEBRUARY 2004: Randall Simon — Hit sausages better than fastballs. FEBRUARY 2004: Raul Mondesi — Quickly realized he didn’t want to be here. JANUARY 2006: Jeromy Burnitz — Washed up. DECEMBER 2005: Joe Randa — Money would’ve been better spent on fireworks. INSIDE I In-depth look at the Pirates’ lineup B4 I Inside the 2007 MLB season B7 I National, American League preview B8-9 Shooting goes ‘way beyond A look ahead basketball’ KEY DATES APRIL 2: The Pirates’ 121st season NATIONAL PREDICTIONS Sports Illustrated: 5th If the Pirates are going to surprise … they’re going to have to get the most out of their quartet of young starters. Baseball Digest: 6th The Pirates … were alarmingly quiet in the offseason. ESPN.com: 6th Don’t expect too big a bounce-back from Zach Duke. The Sporting News* The Pirates have some good, young players, just not enough of them. Fox Sports.com: 6th LaRoche will give some badly needed LH sock, but it’s not enough to make the Bucs a threat, even in this division. CBSSportsline.com: 6th That young pitching will surprise us, but that lineup just doesn’t impress us. *DID NOT COMPILE DIVISIONAL RANKINGS TRIBUNE-REVIEW PREDICTIONS Rob Biertempfel: 5th Still a year or two away from having everything in place. John Harris: 5th Young pitching staff needs another year. Mike Prisuta: 4th St. Louis, Chicago and Houston spend what’s needed to compete. Jim Rodenbush: 5th A supposedly weak division is still too strong for Pirates to contend. Rob Rossi: 4th Best bullpen in division will hold firm; lineup deeper with Adam LaRoche. Joe Rutter: 5th Pitching is still a little too young, and the lineup needs one more bat. Joe Starkey: 5th Offense, defense will improve; pitching won’t. White Sox. JUNE 19-24: Interleague play concludes with road series against the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels. It will be the Pirates’ first visit to Seattle. JULY 9-11: Unlike last year, PNC Park will be quiet during the AllStar festivities, which will be held in San Francisco. JULY 31: Will the Pirates, for once, be buyers rather than sellers at the non-waiver trading deadline? SEPT. 1: Rosters expand to 40 players, giving the Pirates a chance to evaluate their prospects. SEPT. 30: The season closes with a home date against the Cardinals. The basketball world reacts to the shooting of Aliquippa basketball star Herb Pope. BY KEVIN GORMAN TRIBUNE-REVIEW The early Saturday morning shooting of Herb Pope reverberated from Aliquippa to Atlanta. The Aliquippa High School basketball star was shot twice in the lower abdomen, once in the thigh and once in the right arm, wounds that required surgery but aren’t believed to be life-threatening, Aliquippa Police Chief Ralph Pallante said. While Pope, 18, was recovering yesterday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, the basketball world wondered how it would affect his life and career. News of Pope’s plight reached Atlanta, site of the NCAA Final Four, where New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus could only hope his prized recruit “is OK and makes a full recovery .” “This goes way beyond basketball,” Theus said in a statement. “It is way too early to know a lot right now. We just hope that he is OK.” It also touched Duquesne basketball coach Ron Everhart, whose team suffered through the SEE POPE • B16 as a member of the National League opens with a series in Houston. APRIL 9: Talk about a tough draw — the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are the opponent for the home opener. APRIL 13-15: Two weeks into his chase for Hank Aaron’s home run record, Barry Bonds makes perhaps his final visit to the ’Burgh. JUNE 8-10: After not playing the New York Yankees in a meaningful game since 1960, the Pirates make their second visit in three years to the Bronx. JUNE 12-17: Interleague play continues with home series against the Texas Rangers and Chicago PROJECTED LINEUP CF Chris Duffy SS Jack Wilson LF Jason Bay 1B Adam LaRoche RF Xavier Nady C Ronny Paulino 3B Jose Bautista 2B Jose Castillo P Zach Duke MORNING BRIEFING On the road Looking to maintain their playoff position in the Eastern Conference, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins fall to Toronto in overtime. B10 I A comprehensive guide to the first major PGA tournament of the year. B3 I Slippery Rock grad and Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer has battled numerous hardships on her road to the Final Four. B11 I Tire performance on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit undergoes intense scrutiny before race days. B12 I For more than 70 years, cooperative nurseries have been stocking lakes with above-average fish. B14 Index Opinion Spotlight Baseball Hockey Basketball Motor sports B2 B3 B4-9 B10 B11 B12 Sunday JOCKS Briefs Outdoors Scorecard Golf High schools Pro football B13 B13 B14 B15 B16 B16 B16