Isaiah Epps On Campus

While incoming freshman point guard Isaiah Epps isn't the key to Pitt's 2010-11 basketball season, it's still a mild relief to know that he has qualified academically.  And even though Epps didn't participate in the famed Greentree Summer League games or in the scrimmages in Ireland, he doesn't feel like he missed all that much:

"I don't feel like I missed out on that much," Epps said. "The coaches will be able to see me play at practice."

Epps might not see it as a big deal, and it really isn't. But I'd beg to differ on his stance that says he didn't miss that much. While Epps was working on his academic situation, fellow incoming freshmen J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright were suiting up against other college and professional players. Both participated in about a dozen games and several practices - probably somewhere around the equivalent of about 1/2 of a full season's worth of games (minus practice time). To say that's not missing much is a little off point.

Will it matter in the long run? Not likely. But the fact that he's been out of the loop for so long could lead to a redshirt, something that was in the article and something I mentioned before as a possibility.  When he first committed, he was so highly touted, that a redshirt would have seemed unlikely.  But the fact is that Pitt can very easily go in that direction. They can either start Gibbs at PG and use Wright as a backup or start Woodall and use Gibbs as a backup. I think the latter is probably more likely. Based on the reports in the scrimmages, it seemed Wright had a good deal of work to do.

Epps could still surprise and do enough to get in the rotation, but it will take a lot of catching up.

Speculating, Speculating...

Is it too early to start speculating on who might be leaving the program with the commitment of center Malcolm Gilbert? 

Of course it is.

For one thing, Gilbert, like the other recruits have only made verbal commitments and will need to sign letters of intent before anything becomes official.  For another, there's no telling if all four recruits would even qualify academically.  And for yet another, someone may really want to leave the program voluntarily, opening up another spot.

And I still haven't mentioned perhaps the most likely scenario out of all those things - what if Dante Taylor leaves early for the NBA?

But say all of the aforementioned happens and Taylor sticks around.  Then what?

Well, the two players I see in the most trouble are:

J.J. Richardson - He's probably going to see less time this season with the emergence of Talib Zanna and since Gilbert is a big man, it makes it even more likely that he could go. Mix in 2012 recruit Steven Adams and the frontcourt gets really crowded. Richardson's advantage may be that if he can beat out Gilbert as a Junior next year, he'd likely be the backup center behind Taylor (assuming Taylor stays at center...I know, that's an entirely different debate).

Cameron Wright - I know, I get it.  He hasn't even played a minute for the team yet.  But this is all about speculation and besides, who else do you see that could go instead of him?  Travon Woodall?  Please.  He played really well down the stretch last season and despite not being the best shooter, is probably the team's best true point guard. Plus, with Isaiah Epps and Woodall (who really got better as the season went on last year), ahead of him, he might be struggling to get minutes. And don't forget about incoming 2011 freshman John Johnson who will be at the point or SG.

It's crazy early, but that's how I see it. I can't pick between those two because it largely will depend on how others in their positions fare over the next season. If everyone qualifies, it will be interesting to see how Dixon deals with this situation for a second straight year. From everything I hear, Dixon hates doing this sort of thing. I'm a little puzzled that he'd do it again for a three-star, somewhat-prospect center if he didn't have a good reason for it.  Maybe he thinks Taylor is gone after this season.  Maybe he knows something we don't.  In any event, he's opened the door for a world of speculation over the next year.

Let The Beatdowns Begin

Pitt basketball began its Ireland trip with a 99-54 drubbing of the Irish national team.

Not sure how big the building was, but only 1,650 attended.  Judging by photos on the website, it looks to be a pretty small gym.  Tickets were fairly cheap at around $9 (7 Euro) for adults.  Gil Brown led Pitt with 22 points including 4-6 from three-point range.  Ashton Gibbs contributed 15 and Brad Wanamaker had 12 points and 10 assists.

At first glance, it would appear that he big men, Gary McGhee and Dante Taylor (combining for 13 points and 12 rebounds) had quiet games.  But one important thing to note is that all 11 players received equal playing time.  Talib Zanna and J.J. Richardson likely saw minutes that McGhee and Taylor would have, so no need to worry about those numbers.

Here's the full box score.

It was mostly good for Pitt, who shot 56% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and forced 22 turnovers.  But the team did turn the ball over 16 times.  Though, in a scrimmage game, in an unfamiliar environment and with lots of travel and hoopla surrounding the trip, that's kind of to be expected.

The freshman, J.J. Moore, Cameron Wright, and Aron Nwankwo, were not eligible to play due to NCAA rules, but should suit up for today's (Sunday's) game. 

I'm mildly confused as the schedule listed on Pitt's website says the game with the National Team was to take place today with the team playing the Southern Regional All-Stars Saturday night.  Maybe the games have been flip-flopped.

Clearing Basketball Links

We all know the expectations placed on the Pitt basketball team for next season. Gil Brown thinks that the attention Pitt received last year will help the team to deal with some of those expectations this season:

“All the exposure and media attention, it really helped us get a feel (for) what it’s going to be when this season starts,” said swingman Gilbert Brown. “If they expect you to win, you have to exceed expectations. If they expect you to lose, you have to prove that you’re worthy.

“The expectation to win is (like) what we’ve had when we were No. 1 in the country.”

Before the season kicks off, however, Pitt has that much-discussed trip to Ireland first.  The freshman have been preparing by jumping right into things with summer practices, not backing down from the veterans:

According to some of the team's veterans, Wright and Moore didn't take long to get acclimated to the environment of Pitt's practices.

"From the first day, you could see that both freshmen were pretty physical themselves," senior guard Brad Wanamaker said. "Especially Cameron: he's a very physical two-guard. He's always tough on me."

One such practice, this Friday morning, was open to the media.  Not surprisingly, it was a little bit different than the closed-door sessions:

While Pitt practices are legendary for their intensity, this one was toned down as far as bodies -- and language -- flying.

"It wasn't as physical as we usually practice," senior guard Brad Wanamaker said, "when there's no one around."

Part of the reason the media was allowed in (I'm guessing) was because of Pitt's announced partnership with 93.7 FM The Fan that day.  The station broadcasted some shows directly from the facility and the hosts commented about the practice as it occurred.

Finally onto the pro ranks, DeJuan Blair will apparently get more time at power forward this season (video) for the Spurs.

Basketball Recruiting Stuff

Chris Dokish has what many of us have been waiting for - more information on recent commit, Steven Adams out of New Zealand.  For starters, his coach thinks he's still growing:

“He’s about 6′10″, 6′11″, and about 225 or 230 pounds,” says Kenny McFadden, Adams’ coach in Wellington, as well as the Development Officer of basketball in the country. But I think he’s going to eventually be over 7′0″ feet. He’s only sixteen.”

You might ask how Jamie Dixon found him all the way in New Zealand.  Here's your answer - he played professionally with Adams' coach:

“We played professionally in New Zealand together many years ago,” says McFadden, who played for George Raveling at Washington State. “And we have been friends ever since. When Jamie was down here for the World Championships, we sat down and I told him about my players. He was interested in Rob Loe (6′11″ center) at the time, but he went to play at St. Louis. And I told him about Steve, and I told him that he was even better. He is bigger and more skilled than Rob was.”

His coach also thinks his NBA aspirations can be reached:

As for the future for Adams, McFadden doesn’t mince words. “His aspirations are to play in the NBA and I think he can. We’ve had a few others from here play in the league, like Sean Marks (9-year veteran who played at California), and he is going to be better than all of them.”

I've seen Marks play and trust me, he's no Shaq.  Still, NBA players are the best in the world and if you get there, you're quite a player.  Here's hoping he remains a relative secret, though that will be tough as he's scheduled to make his first visit to the U.S., playing in Las Vegas soon.  He's only 16, so it's a long way before his commitment to Pitt will be finalized.

Courtesy of Ray Mernagh over at the NBE Basketball Report, 2011 recruit John Johnson talks more about his commitment to Pitt:

“When I went on my visit there it was like a family,” Johnson said, “the coaches can be like father figures to me and that’s important because I don’t want to go to college just for basketball…I want to become a good man too.”

Be sure to check out the article because Mernagh's got some first-hand experience watching him play recently and gives a good report on him.

And a quick mention on Pitt's recruits this year - albeit from Wednesday of last week.  J.J. Moore scored 23 points in the most recent Greentree Summer League games.  Cameron Wright contributed ten points in his game.

Pitt Headed To Ireland

The Pitt basketball team is traveling to Ireland this Summer to participate in several games against national teams. They'll also be meeting up with Ireland ambassador Dan Rooney in the process. Perhaps the most important aspect for Pitt fans to look at is that the team will play six games over eight days. It's really going to be a grind and it will be interesting to see how they fare. This should be a great tuneup for the season. Here's the full itinerary and it's loaded.

Apparently incoming freshmen J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright will be able to participate as long as they pass three credit hours over the Summer term. Since that's only the equivalent of one standard class, I'm assuming it won't be a problem.

Greentree Summer League Up And Running

The annual summer basketball league has begun and Pitt players saw action last night.  Each team had two Pitt players and here's a rundown of how each player did.

You can't look to these types of games as an indication of what each player is capable of.  The games are in a fairly informal atmosphere and don't include high pressure situations.  Further, besides each other, the level of competition isn't always the greatest.

That said.

It was still encouraging to see Dante Taylor's 19 point / 13 rebound effort in the first game on Monday night.  His play this year will help determine how far Pitt is able to go.  If he doesn't improve much, the frontcourt will again be fairly weak against some bigger teams.  But if he's able to show up to the tune of 20 and 10 some nights, Pitt could really be in position to do something special.  For now, I'm picking the team to do pretty much what they did last year.  But that all changes if Taylor hits his stride and gets more aggressive.

Taylor was pleased with his effort:

“For the first time, I thought I played pretty good — rebounded, ran the floor,” Taylor said. “I just tried to come out and play the game — not do too much. I tried to come in and incorporate the things that I did, the things that I worked on.”

And surprisingly, in Taylor's game, Gilbert Brown managed to throw up 26 shots (only making 6).  Even Kobe's game seven effort of the NBA Finals thinks that's playing out of control.

Freshmen Cameron Wright (16 points/6 rebounds) and JJ Moore (13 points) also played pretty well.  The third member of this year's class, Isaiah Epps, wasn't there and apparently won't be enrolling until August.  It would have been nice to see him gain some experience by playing against other college players - particularly because he's a point guard and will need to get to used to his teammates.

Dwight Miller Update

Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette says that all three of Pitt's incoming recruits, Isaiah Epps, Cameron Wright, and J.J. Moore) have qualified academically.  That means a move must be made and Dwight Miller is transferring to Midland Junior College (TX).  As he attended high school in Texas, it's not a surprise that he headed to a school near home.

Miller saw action in most of the team's non-conference games, but his minutes shrunk considerably once Big East play began.  He shot only 27% from the field and 14% from three-point range.  With a slight emergence by JJ Richardson, that essentially made him the odd man out.  Hopefully he can get a fresh start somewhere.

The Reshuffling Continues

And just like that, the basketball rotation gets a little clearer. At this rate, Pitt may be forced to forfeit games next season.

Pitt has now lost it's top two returning players (at least in terms of playing time and experience with the team) and its only returning starter from last year with the injury of Jermaine Dixon.

Ray Fitipaldo of the PG talks about the depth Pitt has at guard.

I'm not going to sugar coat this and say it's not that bad. Dixon was probably Pitt's best defender at guard last year and was the only returning senior on the team. And after a horrific start at shooting threes, he went on a tear and was a great shooter for a stretch. BUT, Pitt does fortunately have depth at that position. The good news out of this is that everyone should get a chance to play (by everyone, I mean Chase Adams, Travon Woodall, Ashton Gibbs, and Brad Wanamaker. Adams and Woodall will probably play the point while Gibbs and Wanamaker play SG. This will allow Pitt to see what they have in terms of the guards. Of course I'd rather have Dixon playing, but injuries happen. Barring setbacks, he should be ready for the start of the Big East season.

It's also a little scary to me that he broke the same foot earlier this year. You hope he doesn't have a problem playing all out when he returns.

Meanwhile, some good news is that Pitt landed its first recruit for 2011 - John Johnson, a 6'1" junior guard out of Philadelphia. Johnson had plenty of interest at one point or another from quality schools including UCLA, Villanova, Marquette, and Georgia Tech (offers from Nova and G'Tech).

NBE Basketball compares him to Scottie Reynolds of Villanova.

Johnson is a two-time Class-A All-State player and averaged over 20 ppg and really seemed to like Pitt's up-front recruiting approach and seemed to feel right at home during his visit in August.

He'll look nice with Isaiah Epps and Cameron Wright in the backcourt.

Two More Basketball Players

Looks like Chase Adams is here:

Pitt was about to enter the 2009-10 season without a veteran point guard, but a little known NCAA rule allowed the Panthers to land a senior transfer who will be eligible to play this season.

Chase Adams, a starter at Centenary College the past three seasons, will enroll at Pitt in a couple of weeks and will find himself competing for time at point guard, an area of concern for the Panthers after the graduation of four-year starter Levance Fields.

Later in the article, Adams believes there will definitely be a competition:

"It's definitely a situation where there is going to be competition," Adams said. "I'm going to compete and hopefully show my experience. Wherever I fit in that's what I'm going to do."

At first I was kind of lukewarm about the idea - still am to some degree. I was really hoping Travon Woodall was going to get his shot this year, but I have to admit it will be good to have a veteran in there. The team is going to be so young and Adams and Dixon would give Pitt a veteran backcourt. Pair them with Gilbert Brown at the three, and suddenly, they're not so young anymore.

The biggest thing this does is possibly push Ashton Gibbs out of the starting lineup. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Dixon start because of his defense - as long as they get Gibbs at least 20 minutes a game in varying capacities (SG and PG). The move also, obviously, probably limits Woodall's minutes significantly.

But back to Adams - He was also the Summit Conference defensive player of the year. Hoping he and Dixon will be able to shut down opposing guards and really give Pitt an edge there.

Adams confirmed that the probation was the big factor in deciding to leave:

"When I found out (Centenary) was going on probation, I looked around, and Pitt was the best fit," Adams said.

Bob Smizik weighs in here.

Not to be lost in the madness is another verbal commitment for 2010-11 - Cameron Wright, a guard from Cleveland who had offers from Indiana and Wisconsin, among others. ESPN.com is projecting him as what sounds like a typical Pitt player.