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.

Durand Johnson To Pitt

Pitt reeled in its third commit for next year's basketball class in SF Durand Johnson.  He was recruited by Brandin Knight.  As mentioned on ZagsBlog a few weeks back, Johnson was down to six schools.

With the departures of Brad Wanamaker, Gary McGhee, and Gilbert Brown, Pitt is expected to only have three openings, so this might be it for the 2011 recruiting class. If it is, Pitt will not have landed a frontcourt player among its three commits - Durand, G-John Johnson, and SF-Jaylen Bond. That would be the second season in which Pitt did not pick up a PF or center. It also could mean that Dante Taylor remains at center if he sticks around next season unless J.J. Richardson can take hold of that position.

As for Johnson, he's a three-star recruit as rated by both Rivals and Scout. Rivals lists him in their top 150 prospects, but ESPN.com does not, instead grading him at 91 (must be an Insider to view).

Johnson cited a familiar reason as to why he selected Pitt:

“It was just a family to me,” Johnson said. “They showed me a lot of love. It’s a great fit all around for me.”

It's interesting that you not only hear this so much during the recruting, but also when the guys actually get to the team. You always hear the players talk about family and I think the recruits pick up on that during visits, from the players, and in reading up quotes in the media by other recruits.

Johnson reportedly had more than twenty offers from schools including Georgetown, Xavier, Louisville, and Maryland, among others.

Back to the point about Pitt potentially finished with recruiting. I'm okay with it. While Pitt could have used frontcourt help, they weren't desperate for it. They still have Taylor, Richardson, Talib Zanna, and Nasir Robinson for 2011-12. If Taylor happens to bolt this season, that would open up another scholarship. Maybe Pitt felt it didn't have a strong enough shot with any of the top big men left in this class. I don't mind them going after the sure thing in Johnson.

The other option is that Pitt goes over the limit again as they did last season and someone transfers. I've heard Dixon doesn't like doing this, so for him to do it two seasons in a row might be a stretch.

Pitt Faces Mild Test In Fourth Win In Ireland

Pitt faced its stiffest competition on Wednesday vs. the Dart Killester Club Team. The Panthers won the game 88-62, but only led by nine points heading into both the third and fourth quarters.  At one point, Pitt was only up 47-41.  Pitt also trailed early, 14-9 - its largest deficit of the trip.

Dante Taylor had his best game of the trip with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Gilbert Brown also added 14.  Balance was again the story as nine players ended up with at least six points.

The big difference in these games have been rebounding.  For the second straight game, Pitt doubled up its opponent on the boards, 50-25.  Unless a team is shooting lights out from the field, it's virtually impossible to stay competitive when getting killed on the glass like that.

Pitt's next game will be against the Melbourne (yes, Melbourne of Australia) on Friday.

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.

Greentree Basketball Summer League Wraps Up

With the Greentree Basketball Summer League wrapping up this past week, I thought it was a good time to take a look back.  During the mid-point of the season, I took a look at some statistics that were out there courtesy of Rivals and Scout.  Before I provide some year-end stats, I'll again throw out the same disclaimer.  These numbers were gathered by both sites.  I've used Rivals' numbers and filled in blanks with Scout's.  However, be aware that the two sites even differed on stats for the same games.  So everything isn't completely accurate.  That said, I've filled these in the best I could and this is what I came up with:

Gil Brown - 23.6 ppg

J.J. Richardson - 10.8 ppg / 8.6 rpg

Ashton Gibbs - 22.5 ppg

J.J. Moore - 17 ppg / 5.4 rpg

Travon Woodall - 16.1 ppg / 5.0 apg

Cameron Wright - 10.9 ppg

Brad Wanamaker - 15.6 ppg / 5.7 rpg

Nasir Robinson - 11.9 ppg / 4.9 rpg (these may be incomplete)

Gary McGhee - 17.4 ppg / 10.9 rpg

Dante Taylor - 16.7 ppg / 10.9 rpg

Lamar Patterson - 15.1 ppg

Talib Zanna - 13.5 ppg / 10.8 rpg

Ashton Gibbs took home league MVP honors and he joined McGhee, Brown, and Richardson on the first team. Patterson, Moore, and Zanna landed on the second team.

You may be thinking the same thing I am - how in the heck did Taylor not land on the first or second team?  Beats me.  I'm sure they want to try to spread out the school and maybe even position representation around a bit, but I'm surprised they couldn't find a spot for him over even Zanna or Patterson.  But as I said, these numbers are almost assuredly not completely accurate, so who knows.

I'm really excited to see what Jamie Dixon does with J.J. Moore this year.  Pitt is a veteran team this season and has lots of guys that could see minutes.  But based on his summer league performance, it looks like it may be difficult to redshirt him...especially because he's a scorer - and Pitt sorely needs some of those at various points in the season.

Baskeball Notes 7/13

The Panthers are excited and gearing up for their trip to Ireland.  J.J. Richardson sees big things for Pitt and credits the Summer League and this trip as reasons for his optimism:

 “Not many teams get the chance to have an organized practice during the summertime,” he said. “This is helping us get closer. Last year, we were all still getting used to each other because we were young. This year, with us in the summer league and going over to Ireland, we’re going to be real good.”

I think he's got a point.  Not only does the Greentree Summer League allow them to practice with some teammates, they're also going against other D-1 players.  Now, with the opportunity to go overseas and play others will give them some good game experience. 

Speaking of that Summer League, Ashton Gibbs led the way during Monday's games with 30 points / 7 rebounds / 6 assists.  Dante Taylor continued his strong play going for 19/13 and J.J. Moore keeps scoring (22).  Taylor's consistency has been pretty good.  He's got to be close to a 20/10 average during these games.  As of my last analysis in the beginning of July, he was at 15.5 and 8.5.

A few more quick hitters:

The NCAA Tournament format including the four newly added teams has been released.

Chris Dokish has a little more on New Zealand recruit Steven Adams.

And Chas over at Pitt Blather has some stuff on DeJuan Blair.

Inside The Numbers

If you've been anywhere online over the past couple of weeks, you know that stat totals for some players have been out there and readily available through Scout and Rivals.  Both sites have done an amazing job providing quality, and more importantly, free, recaps for each game.  What I hadn't seen (at least without paying a subscription fee) is averages for players through all the games.  With that said, I spent a little bit of time compiling the numbers and figuring out averages for the Pitt players from the information out there (Nerd chants begin in 3...2...).

At any rate, what I quickly found out is that the numbers between the two sites differ.  Even in points.  For example, Rivals lists Gary McGhee with 25 points in his most recent game this past Wednesday, while Scout has him at 24.  So for the sake of argument, I've simply used Scout's numbers while filling in any missing holes with Rivals'.  Take these numbers with an unusually large grain of salt.

Here's what I came up with:

J.J. Richardson - 12.5 ppg / 7.3 rpg

Ashton Gibbs - 20.8 ppg

Dante Taylor - 15.5 ppg / 8.5 rpg

Travon Woodall - 15.3 ppg

Gilbert Brown - 23.8 ppg

Talib Zanna - 12.8 ppg / 9.8 rpg

Cameron Wright - 10.5 ppg

J.J. Moore - 14.0 ppg

Nasir Robinson - 14.8 ppg / 5.8 rpg

Gary McGhee - 19.8 ppg / 8.5 rpg

Lamar Patterson - 15.5

Brad Wanamaker - INCOMPLETE (Could not find stats from all games)

The first thing you notice is that everyone seemingly has been doing well.  Keep in mind that I don't have shooting percentages.  The other thing to remember is that the players were split up among four teams and in some cases, even some of our bench players were the best players on their respective teams.  Thus, they got more shots - far more than some might get in the regular season.

So with that said, let's look at some of the more intriguing stats:

1. Gary McGhee has been an absolute monster.  As I pointed out, though, in an earlier post about Dante Taylor, the frontcourt competition is considerably lesser than that the team will face in Big East play.  Like most, I don't see any way McGhee puts up these numbers in the regular season.  Still, his play has been encouraging.

2. Talib Zanna leads the team in rebounds with nearly ten per game.  To me, one of the underlying story lines will be to see who will step in and get quality minutes out of Zanna and Lamar Patterson.  Both were fairly good recruits and I think it's a lock that at least one of them will come in and contribute this year.

3. Along those same lines, will Nasir Robinson see fewer minutes in the regular season?  Someone's got to lose minutes in the frontcourt if Dante Taylor is to play more and if Zanna/Patterson are to contribute.  I wonder if it might be Nasir since his offense is not all that great.  If Zanna or Patterson can rebound as well, they may get the nod if they can score a little more.  Nasir may still start, but he might lose some minutes.

4. Gil leads the team in scoring.  True, this is due in large part due to a huge 37 point effort he had in the last game.  But even taking out that game and he still averaged about 19.0 points per game.  His shooting hasn't always been great (including a 6-24 effort), but it's encouraging to see his lowest point total so far has been 16.

5. Both rookies appear to be fitting right in.  J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright have stepped right in and been able to score some points.  Again, since we don't have numbers for turnovers, shooting percentage, rebounds, assists, etc. on all the games, you can't make a good determination on how well they've actually played.  But they've at least been able to score against D-1 players and both have had at least one great game in terms of scoring, reaching 20 points.

Lots of interesting stuff and still some more games to play. 

Insert Plug Here

Shameless plug for the SB Nation Pittsburgh regional website - I've got a small feature up on Dante Taylor.  We'll be rotating the features for the most part and mine is now up there.  Check it out as well as some of the other Pittsburgh stuff.

Dante Taylor Strong Again

I'm not going to comment too much on the results from the second round of Greentree summer basketball league games.  You can check out recaps of the games here and also see the top performers of the night.

But I did want to briefly mention that Dante Taylor had another strong game going for 21 and 7.  It's important to note that his 21 points came on 9-12 shooting - and one of those shots was a desperation attempt at the end of the game.  As mentioned before, the competition may not be Big East quality, but these are games against legitimate college (and in some cases, professional players).  Good to see him off to a great start so far.

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.

Recruiting Thoughts

A writer from Scouts, Inc. for ESPN.com ranks the Big East basketball classes and Pitt is sixth.

Every now and then when I see these stories, it really gets me to thinking. To be honest, I don't know what amazes me more. Pitt's inability to consistently land higher-rated recruits or their ability to get the most out of the ones they do get.

One argument I'm sick of is the one that says Pitt won't get these types of players until they get to a Final Four. Please. Rutgers landed All-American Mike Rosario didn't they? Through Huggy Bear, Kansas State lured Michael Beasley. Marquette is 2nd on this list and even Providence (yes, THAT Providence) managed to land two ESPNU Top 100 players and ranks ahead of Pitt.

Now it's not as if Pitt has gotten chopped liver. Over the past four years, ESPN has ranked them in the top 25 three times. But they've had no top 15 classes and only one McDonald's All-American in the past ten years.

How much do these rankings mean? In reality, not all that much. DeJuan Blair was ranked somewhere around 50th, but was one of the best players in college basketball as a sophomore. Devin Ebanks of West Virginia was rated below Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones, but is the only one leaving early for the NBA. But for Pitt to not be able to land more top ranked players is kind of a head scratcher to me. Look at the factors:

1. They've put together nearly a solid decade of winning basketball with several Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite 8. Not among the best of the best, but certainly in that next tier. Record-wise, Pitt has been one of the nation's best.

2. Pitt has great facilities and plays in a new building.

3. The Oakland Zoo provides one of the best atmospheres in all of college basketball.

4. Pitt regularly plays on national TV.

5. It's also a very solid academic school.

When I see teams that have not even had a sniff of Pitt's recent success recruiting higher ranked players, I've got to admit I just don't get it. And I'm not so sure the argument of Pitt not allowing star players to 'showcase' themselves applies. To the contrary, I think Pitt would be a school a top recruit could look to and see himself leading an already good team to a championship.

Part of it is due to location - I get that. Great players staying close to home. But what this should really tell you how much of a factor relationships can play into recruiting.

All Pitt can really do is keep plugging away and the more they develop a reputation for sending players the NBA, the better things should get. Pitt has sent four players to the NBA in the past five seasons (DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Aaron Gray, and Chris Taft) and Brandin Knight had a sniff appearing in one game in 2004-05 with the Rockets. If Gil Brown ever gets this consistency thing down, perhaps he'll get a look and you've got to think Dante Taylor can get there.

Pitt has had a lot of success, which is why their lack of top recruits is all the more puzzling.

Going Out In Style

Pitt finished its regular season with dominance not seen in a while in a 29-point win over Rutgers. I've got to say I expected a little bit more of a contest, but it was never close other than the first few minutes of the game.

Rutgers coach Fred Hill seemed to think Rutgers was walking into a trap...and he was right:

"I had a feeling that a game like today was going to happen," Rutgers head coach Fred Hill said. "A lot of our guys had been playing upwards of 38 minutes a game and I think we tired a little today. We had a short turn around and we got outplayed today. My worst nightmare came true. We were a little worn down and we need to just throw this game out and move on. I give Pitt credit, they came out on senior night and jumped out to a quick start. They got the crowd into it and controlled their emotions."

And Rutgers was visibly frustrated during the game:

"I said it at halftime, faces started changing," said senior center Hamady N'diaye. "You could tell that the team was falling apart. I said it; all I ask for was to give out the effort. During this entire year, I've thought everybody had the same mentality and that wasn't the case today."

I like to pull out negatives from each game and offer reasons why Pitt could have played better. But it's hard to complain even a little about the performance today.

Shoot well? Check (48% from the field, 41% from three-point range)

Rebound? Check (+20: 39-19)

Take care of the ball? Check (Only 7 turnovers)

Get everyone involved offensively? Check (five players in double figures)

Play defense? Check (Held Rutgers to 54 points on 40% shooting)

Like I said, Pitt played well all around and it was utter domination.

I've got no answer for the whole Gilbert Brown thing. He's been feast or famine on and off for 12 straight now. Literally. He's been in double figures every other game. Like I mentioned before, I'd take him him averaging a steady 12-13 a game rather than 20 one game and 0 the next.

Dante Taylor really had somewhat of a breakout game. He's been playing better lately and acknowledged some frustration early on and pointed out the possible turning point:

“It felt good. I did what I do every game and I went in there and played as hard as I could. Tonight was a confidence boost for me. My confidence was down in the beginning of the season when I wasn’t contributing, but it started to come back for me at Marquette when I had three dunks.”

Today was the best maybe I've seen him all season. He had a good game against Syrcause, but even in games he's put up decent numbers, he's looked awkward at times. He took his game to another level today and looked really aggressive on the boards and getting to the basket. There were plenty of glimpses today of what the future should hold - and it looks bright.

And then of course, there was the whole Senior Day story. I've criticized Jermaine Dixon at times for not being consistent enough, at least offensively, this year. He definitely has had his share of bad games this year, but he's incredibly valuable defensively and Pitt will miss that. And about that injury, Dixon doesn't think it's that bad:

The only downside to Pitt's victory was guard Jermaine Dixon being lifted with a sore right ankle early in the second half, after he scored 10 points in 12 minutes. Dixon missed the first eight games of the season after twice breaking his right foot, but he insisted this injury is minor. "I could have played, but we had the game," said Dixon, who was coming off a 24-point game against Providence. "I'm good. I'll be ready [for Thursday]."

Even though there have been struggles offensively, Dixon has been a stabilizing force for Pitt this year and it's safe to say that he was a big part in getting the team to gel together early on.

There was another bright spot today, Pitt wrapped up the #2 seed in the Big East tournament with WVU's win over Villanova. Not that any path in the tournament will be easy, but it's really pretty unbelievable that Pitt was able to finish that high in the conference.

Quality Win

Pitt went on the road tonight and thanks in part to a hot shooting night, was able to beat Marquette 58-51. Hard to believe that this was Jamie Dixon's and Pitt's first win at the Bradley Center since Marquette joined the Big East.

Most games you can't point to one thing and say why a team won or lost. This game was pretty simple - boiled down to good ol' fashioned shooting. Pitt shot about 20% higher (54.8% to Marquette's 35%) and that was really the difference in the game. Rebounding was a wash (Pitt +2), 3 point shooting was a wash (Pitt +2.3%), and the turnovers were pretty even (Pitt -4).

But back to that shooting for a minute. Seems as if everyone had a good night putting the ball in the basket, right? Well, everyone except Ashton Gibbs, who went 0-6 from the field with only two points - easily his lowest output of the season and the first time he failed to make a field goal. With Gibbs out of the picture, Pitt had perhaps their most balanced effort of the year with four guys getting exactly ten points. Gary McGhee had a solid game with ten points, five rebounds, and six blocks, but that was somewhat expected against a team whose tallest player that gets any significant minutes is 6'6".

Gibbs wasn't the only leading scorer to strggle as Pitt held Lazar Haywood to only 11 points on 4-17 shooting:

"He's one of the best players in the league, and one of the toughest players," Jamie Dixon said. "We were fortunate. But we did make him take tough shots, I think that was key."

Hayward came into the game averaging 19.4 points and 10.4 rebounds during the Golden Eagles' five-game winning streak, including three double-doubles.

Hayward said he needed to do a better job of getting his teammates involved on a night when the Golden Eagles got away from their winning formula.

"We weren't playing together, we weren't creating for each other and we weren't playing team defense," Hayward said.

Enough with guys struggling - one guy that had not exactly been tearing it up played a key role during a crucial run during the game:

It was a sure sign that No. 19 Pittsburgh was about to take control: Dante Taylor throwing down his third uncontested dunk in the space of a little more than two minutes.

A freshman who has played sparingly in recent weeks, Taylor's brief scoring burst played a pivotal role in a 14-5 run that helped the Panthers take the lead early in the second half, then hold on for a 58-51 victory over Marquette on Thursday night.

"I think it was good for our guys," Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. "They know how hard Dante is working. When guys make big plays and don't play as much as the other guys, it really, I think, brings energy to a team."

Travon Woodall was also rewarded with 17 minutes after his monster game against WVU. He played well: 2-3 for five points, a steal, and an assist. Not a great game by any stretch, but as long as he can play some key minutes without torching a can of gasoline, he allows the starters to get a breather.

Tonight's oddball stat was that Marquette actually had nearly 1/3 more shots than Pitt (60-42). Part of that was due to allowing so many offensive rebounds (11 to Pitt's 4) for the second straight game. This was bad against WVU, but with Marquette's size, tonight's effort keeping them off the offensive boards was downright embarrassing.

Tonight's win gives Pitt its ninth straight 20-win season. Man, that never gets old.

When you factor in everything (conference game against a solid team, road game, game against a bugbble team desperate for a win), this was really a great looking win. It also keeps Pitt in the top four of the conference and still in the running for one of those coveted double bye seeds in the Big East tournament.

Putting Dante Taylor Issue To Rest

So as much as I've tried to do this, I just can't. Just when it seems like I'm ready to move on, bombshell quotes like these from his high school coach come out:

"I can tell you for sure he's not a center, by any stretch of the imagination," said Trevor Brown, the coach at National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md. "He was the biggest kid on my team, but if a center was checking him it was a mismatch. He can shoot 3s and his first step is quick enough he can go by people. I was led to believe he'd be playing the four, but they're playing small ball. The things he used to do at National Christian Academy, he's not doing any of that there."

Now this quote might not sound all that bad - he's kind of taking the high road and trying to politely suggest he doesn't agree with the current stance. But how about this?

"The way it's going right now, it would be really hard for me to send a McDonald's All-America up there again," Brown said. "People call me and say, 'Why isn't he playing? Why is he playing the center spot?'

Let me start with the first quote. People may laugh when they see quotes talking about an athletic PF out there, dropping 3s, and quick enough to go around defenders - that's simply not the Taylor we've seen. Heck, I don't even think we've seen glimpses of that kind of player. But that's what a comfort level can do when you play someone completely out of position. Don't forget that this kid won a skills competition - contests usually won by guards. Imagine taking Vince Carter and trying to force him to play the point. Imagine Jason Kidd trying to make the switch to the 2. Kind of laughable, isn't it? Now take that situation and extrapolate it because of Taylor being only a freshman and you get the mess that you have now.

Further, the line "I was led to believe he'd be playing the four" is, well, not good. Who led him to believe that? To me, seemingly, it means coach Jamie Dixon. If he was led to believe that and that isn't the case, then you've got to think there may be trust issues moving forward.

Going back to what I said earlier. Mess. That's an ugly word. I don't call it a mess because Taylor has failed to significantly produce. Lots of All-Americans come in and don't produce right away. I call it a mess because of the second quote. The last thing Pitt needs is to have coaches of blue chip prospects questioning whether they can trust Jamie Dixon's handling of players. You can look at this situation and say, 'well, it's only one coach - what's the big deal?' Well, Brown has also had his hand in other top players' development including NBA Star Kevin Durant and former Georgetown star, Jessie Sapp, so others are likely to follow. But, really, the big deal is that OTHER high school coaches of elite athletes will likely see what's going on in this situation and could have the same kinds of doubts.

And while other schools that regularly land these types of players such as Duke or UNC have track records of grooming such athletes, Pitt is in relatively new territory. Taylor is the school's first McDonald's All-American in over 20 years. While they can point to success stories such as DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, they can't provide examples of grooming those upper tier athletes. You might look at that and say it doesn't matter 'Look what he's done with the athletes he's gotten. He's proven he can develop talent.' That may be true. But you have to remember you're dealing with 18-year old kids. Many don't necessarily care that you've proven you can handle turning Aaron Gray from a project into an NBA player. They want to know what you're doing with the likes of a Carmelo Anthony, an O.J. Mayo, a Michael Beasley.

So far, in recent memory, Pitt is 0-1 in these types of situations. Do I think it will get better? Yes. I think Dixon will eventually relent and move Taylor to PF. But maybe not until next year. Or later. I think Taylor will eventually show the kind of game that's been talked about once he bulks up a bit and gains some more experience. But while we're waiting, this looks like something of a black eye for Pitt.

Back To Business

Pitt got back to the business of taking Big East teams to the woodshed at home with a 25-point beatdown of Seton Hall on Saturday. The handy-dandy game flow chart shows a close game initially with Pitt pulling away for a big win. This was one that Pitt had to have and they responded as such.

Pretty much everything went the Panthers' way and they played about as well as possible. Shooting over 50% from the field, 45% from 3s, and 71% from the line. They outrebounded Seton Hall by nine, had 20 assists, and only turned the ball over nine times.

As I said - pretty perfect game.

Perhaps the biggest plus was the balance of scoring - 23 for Gilbert Brown, 15 for Jermaine Dixon, 13 for Brad Wanamaker, 12 for Gary McGhee, and 11 for Ashton Gibbs. Pitt will be at their best when they can get a bunch of guys into double figures and don't have to rely on 1-2 players. J.J. Richardson, who's been seeing increased minutes lately, had the same output as Dante Taylor (2 points/2 rebounds/1 block) in 2/3 less minutes.

Back to Gibbs - He took the second fewest shots of this season (7) and the 'share the load' mentality seemed to work. Pitt cannot rely on him to go out and score 20 points. He may do that once in a while, but as we've seen recently, Pitt needs other guys to step up if they're going to win games.

And going hand in hand with that is going to be Pitt's ability to get him a breather. Dixon followed the strategy that I laid out after the WVU game of playing Gibbs a bit less and Travon Woodall a bit more to allow Gibbs a breather from PG responsibilities. Gibbs played 31 minutes (his fewest of the Big East season) and Woodall played 19 minutes (his most of the Big East season). Woodall has been playing better of late and has been keeping the turnovers and wild play to a minimum. If Pitt can rely a bit more on Woodall, then Gibbs will be better for it. Woodall has not been getting a ton of assists or points, but in the past six games, has only six turnovers - not bad at all.

Former Pitt recruit Herb Pope had a mild 9/6, shooting 3-13 from the field and fouling out. Pitt also held scoring machine Jeremy Hazell to only two points, keeping him at 11 total in both meetings. Raise your hand if you thought THAT was possible. If your hand is up, please, just, go away. Anyway, Hazell was benched for the start of this game, picking up where he left off with head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who benched him at the end of their loss to Villanova for poor shot selection.

I expected Pitt to get tested a little more and really am surprised that nearly 7,000 people still made it out despite the snowstorm. Even if a lot of them were students, that's still pretty amazing. I was expecting a few thousand to get there and wondered what kind of home-court advantage that would really give Pitt. Not sure how much it helped that Pitt gave free tickets to students - I'm kind of under the mindset that whoever wanted to go already had tickets. But I'm sure it helped at least a little and was a good idea on the part of the university.

Pitt will certainly not play this well all the time, but it's nice to see them get back on track - hopefully this will instill some more confidence after the whooping they took from WVU.

And on a brief side note, I love Curtis Aiken but he was a train wreck tonight. Pitt went up by ten on an Ashton Gibbs 3-pointer with FIFTEEN minutes left in the 2nd half and he called it the final dagger or something, signifying the end of the game. He then followed that gem up by saying that Herb Pope at around the 11:00 mark had only 1 FG in the game (when he in fact had three). He was also completely in the dark on the technical foul rule, unsure of who had possession after the FT. Normally, this is stuff I can overlook. But it all literally happened within like five minutes. Come on, my man.

Next up is Robert Morris on Monday night.

Another Game, Another Loss

I won't be covering Pitt's loss to WVU in-depth as frankly, I don't have the energy. WVU fans were classy as always, forcing their coach to tell them to stop throwing things onto the court. Way to go there, morons - how did 2007 taste?

Anyway, back to civilization where people eat with utensils and don't drag the roadkill straight to the dinner table.

I'll say it again - it's certainly not time to jump off of that bandwagon just yet. Pitt wasn't really expected to win this game so it's not too big of a deal. What IS kind of a big deal is the way they lost.

Pitt rarely loses by 19 points to anyone, and when they do coupled with the way they've been playing of late, there should be at least some cause for concern. They've been getting outplayed offensively and defensively, and worse, outhustled. Plus, when Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown combine for as many points as I had, then you're not going to beat anybody. Pitt has shot under 38% over the past four games and that's something for which the players, not the coach, are generally more responsible.

So I preface these next few 'suggestions' with the disclaimer that Jamie Dixon is an unbelievable coach and don't think he could have done much more over these past few games. These are not 'sky is falling, somebody do something - fast' suggestions - just things to chew on.

With that said -

The stuff that Dixon does sometimes makes no sense at all. It's easy to look past the nonsensical stuff like starting John DeGroat (even though DeGroat was barely suitable for the bench) when Pitt is winning. Heck, it's even kind of amusing. But now that the team is struggling miserably, as has been the case for a while, it's time for a few legitimate questions to be asked. The questions that have been whispered all season and discounted as fans merely looking to stir the pot, should now be at least considered. It was easy, even fashionable, to lay low off the criticism because this team had been overachieving so much. But it's time to throw out the things everyone, except Dixon, seems to know:

- Ashton Gibbs has been downright bad as of late and Dixon keeps trotting him out there for his 35+ minutes per game. This one's tough because shooters need to be given the benefit of the doubt and most of the time, need to keep on shooting. But the defense has keyed on him more as of late and if Pitt can't spring him open, there's no sense in keeping him out there so much. Travon Woodall and Chase Adams have struggled, but it might be time to give them a little more playing time. I'm not saying to split the minutes or anything foolish like that - maybe just throw another five their way to give Gibbs more of a breather. Woodall has actually been better of late with only four turnovers in the past five games. And who knows - with even a few more minutes, Woodall might be able to provide a very small spark at times when Gibbs can't find his shot.

- Bob Smizik pointed out recently that Gilbert Brown should be starting. Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with him coming off the bench and I have a hard time saying he NEEDS to start. Nasir Robinson is a better rebounder and I like the offense Gil brings off the bench. But in effect, he may be your best 'go to' scoring option and he probably should be starting - especially with the Panthers needing more offense of late. I can live without this one, but Dixon should at least be thinking about it.

- Pleeeease get Dante Taylor at his natural spot at PF. He wants to play there and he's struggled miserably at center. Taylor has not been great and many times, he's not even been good, but it's time to see what he can do at the position he's used to. The defense has been fading a bit and Pitt really needed more size and rebounding tonight. Taylor may be able to provide that playing alongside McGhee. JJ Richardson can play backup center and you can still play Taylor there at times when needed. I know of Dixon's desire to keep him at one position this year, but having played a half season at center already, he should be able to serve as a third center if necessary. Taylor will need to develop some low post moves if he ever is going to play in the NBA (should he make it that far), but he can do that as a PF as well - not just at center.

I really hate throwing stuff like this out there because it makes it seem like I'm causing concern for panic when that's not the case at all. A large part of the team struggling is due to poor shooting, and that's something Dixon can't do much about. I think Pitt still makes it to the tournament and don't think there should be real concern unless they lose to Seton Hall at home. That will make getting to 10 conference wins a bit tougher. But it's clear that changes should at the very least, be considered.

Back On Track

Pitt rebounded from a rare two-loss streak for a 63-53 home win against St. John's. No, they didn't play great. Heck, they didn't even play very well. But all in all, it's too hard to be upset with a ten-point conference win. Still, plenty to dislike in this game.

St. John's was looking for its first win on the road over a top 25 team under head coach Norm Roberts. This would have been a good win to improve that abysmal 6-40 Big East road record, but it was again a case of not being able to finish for the Red Storm.

This was really a story about one team playing not so great and the other playing slightly worse. Very ugly game to watch with a lot of easy close-range shots being missed. The Panthers really looked...well...awful in the first half. They started 0-5 from the field and shot under 30% for the half. They played better in the second half, but still only ended up shooting 40% for the game. Still, that was better than St. John's, who mustered only around 33%. They also only had 26 points (total) from their starters.

Pitt was also outhustled at times, lost the rebounding battle by ten and again shot horribly from three-point range (2-12).

The team also had some bad news with the loss of Jermaine Dixon to - you guessed it - another foot injury. I hope it's not serious, but one of the lone bright spots of tonight was the play of his replacement - Travon Woodall. I've been killing Woodall lately...and with good reason. But tonight, he played pretty well in 18 minutes (the most minutes he's seen since the Syracuse game nearly a month ago). He was far from spectacular according to the box score, but he didn't turn the ball over once and looked much more comfortable out there.

But despite all the troubles, Pitt was able to pull out a victory in part to, once again, something that's previously haunted them:

Pitt struggled from the floor for most of the game but used a 21-for-24 effort from the foul line to come away victorious.

The free throws thing has really been a pleasant surprise this year. Most Pitt fans would have gladly taken even a mediocre free throw shooting team. In the past five games, they're shooting over 80%. What was previously a major weakness has now turned into, seemingly, a major strength.

And forget about more touches for Taylor - at least it seems like we can. Gary McGhee, who played pretty well tonight (5-7 for 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), seems to have all but assumed the role as the #1 center on the team and Dante Taylor's minutes seem to be coming harder to come by - he only had ten tonight.

We also got the good version of Brad Wanamaker tonight and while Gibbs was okay (5-13 from the field for 14 points), his three-point slump is getting a bit ridiculous. He was 0-4 tonight and is now 3-19 over the past three games.

With the #10, #11, #14, #15, and #16 teams in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll all losing so far this week, if Pitt can win at South Florida on Sunday, then they could move back up in the vicinity of the top ten again. I'm not one of those that think the polls are meaningless. I think perception plays a part in seeding and hovering around the top ten for a good chunk of the season can really help.

Let's Hope It's Not Becoming A Trend

Let me start by saying I did not see Pitt's loss against Seton Hall - only a few plays and some highlights. So my analysis on this game is limited to strictly the box score and post-game interviews.

That said, I don't think this loss is that big of a deal. I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen good Pitt teams get bounced early from the NCAA Tournament and regular season games mean increasingly less to me. The hot start that Pitt has (or, had, depending on how you view it) gotten off to this year really got me excited because I wasn't really expecting that much out of this team. Yes, I predicted 20 wins for them going in, but after the Wofford and Indiana games, my expectations were lessened.

But back to the game.

This loss was to a rising team on the road after they had played an emotional one on Wednesday, so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over it.

Looking over the box score, it looks like Ashton had another tough day (4-15 from the field), despite getting to the line quite a bit and ending up with 23 points. He also had the misses at the end to tie it. He's now had three off shooting nights in a row and is 11-43 from the field over that span (just over 25%). That's not going to cut it if Pitt is to be successful over the good teams. Yes, when others have shown their ability to step up, Pitt has shown they can still find ways to win. But Jermaine Dixon was the only other player in double figures (11) and the team shot an abysmal 35% from the field.

Other than Jeremy Hazell having a foul-plagued game, the other thing that stuck out to me was Dante Taylor only getting 7 minutes.

Pitt managed to outrebound Seton Hall by ten, but also reverted back to their old ways a bit with 20 turnovers - their most in eight games. Local kid and former Pitt recruit, Herb Pope, also appeared to have Gary McGhee and Dante Taylor for breakfast as he had 19/9 compared to McGhee/Taylor's combined 6/5. Ouch.

The Panthers' next two games are two that they should win - home against St. John's and on the road at South Florida. If Pitt loses either game, there should be cause for some concern - even with Pitt's history of playing down to its competition at times. Pitt really needs to come out strong and get two convincing wins this week.

Who's Laughing Now?

True, Pitt's 74-71 win at Cincinnati did absolutely nothing to remove any of the disappointment of the football game. But if Pitt's win over Syracuse didn't properly serve notice to the rest of the Big East that the Panthers are for real, beating a second straight quality opponent on the road must have.

The win was Pitt's sixth in a row and snapped Cincy's four-game win streak. This one was a real battle and a back and forth effort, as evidenced by the game flow chart. No team led by more than seven all game long, and that was an early 11-4 Cincy lead.

Ashton Gibbs, who was named the Conference Player of the Week, was his usual self, scoring 19 even while blanketed for much of the game. His free throw streak came to an end at one of the worst times for Pitt, as his miss allowed them a final near half-court three-point attempt to tie it. But in the end, it didn't matter. Looking back at that final foul, in which Cincinnati fouled Gibbs before the inbound pass: That was either unbelievably poor coaching or just a stupid move by the players. Of all the guys to foul, I couldn't believe they went for Gibbs, who is not only one of Pitt's best free throw shooters, but one of the best in the country.

The biggest thing to come out of this was that Ashton Gibbs showed he can be a factor and still find a way to get his points, even while not getting many open looks. Ten of his points came from the foul line and he was able to rack up 19 points while only making four field goals.

But if you watched the game, you know that Gilbert Brown may have been Pitt's biggest star, as he went 7-13 from the field for 17 points, including one of his highlight-film dunks.

Darnell Wilks' 3-pointer with 11 minutes to play gave Cincinnati a 52-51 lead -- its first advantage since four minutes into the first half -- but Brown answered with a 3-pointer and Pitt's most explosive dunk of the season. With the score tied, 54-54, after a follow-up dunk by Rashad Bishop, the 6-foot-6 Brown took a pass from Woodall along the baseline, drove to the basket and dunked over the 6-8, 255-pound Toyloy while being fouled. Brown's free throw gave Pitt a 57-54 lead.

"Travon made a great pass," Brown said. "I made a natural basketball play. I just went up and finished."

But it wasn't that he scored 17, it was WHEN he got them:

Gilbert Brown scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half Monday night, showing the Panthers what they've been missing for most of the season, and Ashton Gibbs made three free throws in the final 7.4 seconds to close out a 74-71 victory over Cincinnati.

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin knew the value of his second-half play:

"They're not a very easy team to defend," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "Brown had five second-half baskets that I thought really broke our back. You can't really judge Pitt (except) since they have their full team back."

Part of the reason the game was so close was because of the play of Cincy's three stars, Deonta Vaughn, Lance Stephenson, and Yancy Gates who shot 56% from the field and went for 48 points.

I was also surprised to see Gary McGhee get more minutes than Dante Taylor tonight. Just when you think Taylor's surpassed him, Jamie Dixon goes back to McGhee. You can look at the box score and say McGhee wasn't all that bad, but he really didn't play that well. He was slow defensively, was outrebounded on several occasions, and looked downright uncoordinated many times. Taylor is not going to be perfect, but he needs more game experience. I found myself screaming at McGhee for much of the night, and that's not good for anybody. With Dixon's penchant for playing upperclassmen, Taylor might never start ahead of McGhee. But that needs to change.

Oh, and those pesky turnovers? Not an issue tonight as Pitt only had 7 - their second lowest total of the year.

Personally, I figured Pitt would be a little flat in this game coming off a big road win only two days ago. Going on the road again, I conceded there might be a chance for a letdown. Glad I was wrong. With the rest of the week off, Pitt has plenty of time to prepare for UCONN next week. They should also move up in the rankings as well.

Orange Crushed

I know - not an original title. But this win felt good. Real good.

For one, Pitt proved that hanging with Texas for 3/4 of the game was no fluke. They not only hung with the Cuse, they defeated them fairly handily, going crazy in the 2nd half with 52 points.

A bunch of things stand out:

- Pitt could have easily folded when down 20-10 early and having not scored for about five minutes. They were having a problem hitting shots, and in a hostile environment, it looked like the rout could be on. But one thing stuck out to me - Pitt was shooting an abysmal 3-15 from the field up to that point and had they made even a few more shots, they'd be right there. Apparently they got the memo as they went on to shoot 20-37 (54%) the rest of the way.

- Ashton Gibbs is a star. Despite what some boneheads might think, he's more than just a jumpshooter. Ronald Ramon, who some want to hold as the 'gold standard' for shooting, was a fine player. He was a deep threat, but little more. Gibbs can shoot mid-range all the way out to NBA three-point range, and even drive to the basket a bit. His defense is reasonable and his free throw shooting is unbelievable. And by the way, he has 15 rebounds in his past two games. This isn't to bring down Ramon, who was as I said, a fine player. But Gibbs brings much more to the table and should be a star for Pitt. Also, congrats to Gibbs who was able to break the school record for consecutive free throws, extending his new record to 37.

- The biggest differences in the game were three-point shooting and free throw shooting. On three-pointers, Pitt was 10-24 while Syracuse was only 1-13. Pitt also bested the Cuse at the line going 26-36 to their 15-23.

- Pitt should have won this game by more than ten points, but their late turnovers and missed free throws didn't help their cause. If you remember games past against Louisville, you know this isn't Pitt's first foray into the land of the press. But Pitt will really need to find guys to step up and handle the ball. The good news is that they seemed to get better at it later in the 2nd half. The bad news is that Pitt will likely have more of that thrown at them and without a great ballhandler, it will only make the turnover situation worse.

- Dante Taylor played maybe as good has he has all year. In only 21 minutes of action, 3-4 from the field, 10 points, 8 rebounds, and only 1 foul. Contrast that with McGhee's 2 point/1 rebound effort in 15 minutes, and I wonder if this may be the tipping point in the season where Taylor starts seeing more minutes. He might not start right away, but I think it will take a lot to give McGhee more playing time at this point. Taylor looked comfortable and composed in a tough road game playing against some pretty good big men.

- Jermaine Dixon had maybe his best game at Pitt with a career-high 21 points. He also filled the stat sheet with 5 steals, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Pitt finally got the third scoring option behind Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. That will be needed if they want to keep winning games.

- I guess I've learned to live with the turnovers and am kind of numb to them now. But it's still incredibly frustrating to see the TYPE of turnovers Pitt is making. So many of them seem to be rushing to make a play or just being downright sloppy, throwing lazy passes. I can live with turnovers. Even more than previous Pitt teams. But the bad turnovers just make you want to pluck your eyeballs out.

I wasn't all that surprised to see Pitt win as I thought they could keep it close. I'm not even all that surprised that they got down early and fought back. But I was a little surprised to see them take it to the Orange in the 2nd half the way they did. They came out and played really well to close the deal. For all the naysayers who were predicting doom and gloom for Pitt, you've got to feel a lot better after this win as they've now shown in two games against top five opponents that they can play with virtually anyone.

Pitt should get a number of votes in the polls on Monday, but still might not be ranked as they only had one combined vote in both polls last week.