Talib Zanna To Get Starring Role?

No one can deny that on the surface, Talib Zanna looks like he's ready to contribute this season.

First, Zanna nearly led all Pitt players in rebounding in the Greentree Summer League, averaging almost 11. He also added in about 13.5 points per game.

Then came the trip to Ireland where Zanna was again a major factor, averaging eight points and seven rebounds per game.

But it wasn't just in game action where Zanna has impressed. Jamie Dixon says the way he's practiced will likely lead to playing time this year:

In practices prior to the visit to Ireland and in the five games the Panthers played – all victories – Dixon closely monitored the performance of 6-9 redshirt freshman power forward Talib Zanna and became convinced he’ll help Pitt this season.

“I think he’s going to play minutes. I think he’s going to be good,” Dixon said. “I think Zanna is going to give us a different look with his length and his size at the 4. It gives us another option.”

Zanna might not replace Nasir Robinson this year as the starter at the 4, but if he has a good season, he might leapfrog him next year. But even if Dixon's history of playing upperclassmen shines through and Robinson continues to start, at the very least, Zanna should see his fair share of minutes. I'd like to see him play more than Robinson if he can rebound as well as he appears to be more of a scorer.

Pitt Basketball Finishes 6-0 On Trip To Ireland

Pitt wrapped up the playing portion of its trip to Ireland with two final wins for a perfect 6-0.

Throughout the games, Jamie Dixon used a variety of different lineups. One can only think it was mostly done to feel out the chemistry between players - especially among the new guys. It was good to see Pitt face some adversity in the fifth game where they trailed at halftime. They responded well and came back for a 16-point victory.

So how did the players do at least stats-wise?

Gilbert Brown - 12.8 ppg

Ashton Gibbs - 12.0 ppg / 4 apg

Gary McGhee - 5.0 ppg / 5.3 rpg

J.J. Moore - 10.4 ppg

Aron Nwankwo - 0 ppg

Lamar Patterson - 4.7 ppg / 4.0 rpg

J.J. Richardson - 6.3 ppg / 4.3 rpg

Nick Rivers - .8 ppg

Nasir Robinson - 8.9 ppg / 4 rpg

Dante Taylor - 6.3 ppg / 7.2 rpg

Brad Wanamaker - 9.0 ppg / 5.8 apg / 3.0 rpg

Travon Woodall - 8.5 ppg / 3.8 apg

Cameron Wright - 3.4 ppg / 1 apg

Talib Zanna - 8.0 ppg / 7.0 rpg

Not much can be taken from these numbers but here are a few things I noticed:

- After monster performances in the Greentree Summer League, I was a litle surprised to not see McGhee dominate a bit more...especially considering some teams had smaller rosters (the South Regional All-Stars' tallest player was 6'6"). It will be interesting to see how he responds once the season gets started.  I'd guess somewhere in between these performances and his GSL performances.

- Looks like it will be hard to keep Talib Zanna and J.J. Moore off the court. By all indications, they've now played very well in both the GSL and in these games. Nasir Robinson's numbers haven't been great and I wonder if we'll see a little less of him and more of them. There are also Jermaine Dixon's minutes to account for, so I think they will each see some time this season.

- Despite being highly regarded, I can't help but think how far back Isaiah Epps might be. Unable to play in the GSL and these games will put him behind Moore and maybe even Cameron Wright. I expect Wright to possibly take a redshirt and I'm wondering if Epps will do the same.

- Gilbert Brown shot exactly 50% from the field and really only had one bad game, a 1/6 shooting performance. Here's to hoping his ups and downs will be solved, but I won't be sold until I see it. To be honest, I think anyone that had the kind of swings Gil did last season will still be susceptible to poor games once in a while. But as long as those types of games are limited, Pitt might be okay.

Pitt Basketball Wins Third Game In Ireland

Pitt won its third game on its Ireland trip, beating the Irish National Team for the second straight time today, 110-61.

The team was again led by freshman J.J. Moore who was 6-12 from the field, scoring 14 points. Moore, J.J. Richardson, Ashton Gibbs, Gilbert Brown, and Nasir Robinson were all in double figures in scoring. Pitt continues to rebound well - so well in fact that their 22 offensive rebounds were more than the Irish National Team's overall rebound total of 20.

Jamie Dixon again used a different starting lineup and he's apparently testing out chemistry issues.

Pitt shot 54% from the field and is averaging more than 50% through their three games thus far. The team's Big East style of play, however, landed them in a bit of foul trouble as Ireland got to the line 31 times.

Next up will be the Dart Killester Club Team on Wednesday.

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. 

Good Win

Good win - It was one they needed to have and one they should have had. As I mentioned in my Q&A with Pico over at East Coast Bias, Pitt has had struggles in the Garden against St. John's (1-2 in their past three games leading up to this one).

To start, our handy game flow chart shows a steady Pitt lead for most of the game. Pitt never got out to a huge lead and they never let St. John's get any closer than five in the second half. The box score shows why Pitt was unable to win by a huge margin. For the second time this year, St. John's outrebounded them. SJU also took care of the ball (only five turnovers to Pitt's eleven) and got to the free throw line more often (+7). So what was the difference? Shooting. Pitt converted over 50% of their shots while St. John's made less than 37%.

And it wasn't just shooting, it was getting EASY shots. 15 of Pitt's 24 made field goals (63%) were layups or dunks while St. John's had 52% of that variety.

I don't really know what to make of the rebounding issues Pitt has against St. John's. Nasir Robinson (8), Gary McGhee (8), and Ashton Gibbs (6) did the job, but no one else had more than two rebounds. And in losing the rebounding battle each time this year, Pitt ends the season at -15 in rebounding against St. John's. Keep in mind that this second game, a -5 effort, was after an emphasis was placed on rebounding and the supposed boot camp that players endured after the beating laid on them by Notre Dame earlier this week. That stuff is all fine and good, but for the most part, I subscribe to theory that when the game starts, most of that stuff is forgotten.

Nasir Robinson is a beast and really poses somewhat of a dilemna for Pitt. His rebounding and toughness is at times (like today), very much needed while the clamoring for Gilbert Brown to start is still there. What's the answer? Do you put Nasir at SF and move Brad Wanamaker or Jermaine Dixon to the bench? I don't really know. At this point in the season, it's probably not worth worrying about and the rotation should just stay as is. Despite my previous pleas to move Dante Taylor to the 4, it's too late in the season to move people around and that type of stuff should just go on hold until next year.

Travon Woodall was also forced into action in a big way due to foul trouble by Dixon and Ashton Gibbs. His 27 minutes were by far the most he'd seen in a Big East game this year, other than that triple-OT win against WVU. He did have three turnovers, but also six points and four assists for a mild game.

Next up is Providence at home on Thursday.

More Respect

Pitt got some much deserved respect when the polls came out this afternoon as they were moved up to #9 in the AP Poll and #11 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. They're in a spot that no one could have really predicted after the Wofford game and Indiana loss. And how on earth does North Carolina or UCONN with six losses stay in the top 25? Please.

More rankings as Gary Parrish over at CBSSportsline.com bumps Pitt up to eighth. Gary also had time to mention Nasir Robinson's career day.

The players, of course, are doing their best to not buy into the hype.

Joe Lunardi also did right by Pitt as he moved the team up to a rising #2 seed. As much as North Carolina and UCONN have underachieved, I'd still hate to face either as a #6 seed in the first round.

And just as it's a surprise to many to see the team ranked so high, it's also been surprising to see Ashton Gibbs develop the way he has - at least so quickly. Obviously with the depature of a huge chunk of the offense there are more opportunities, but I didn't expect this kind of leap in production. I figured as a three-point shooter with more shots, he could get up to maybe around 10 per game. But he's exceeded those expectations - and then some. For Gibbs, its all about confidence.

Anyway, reverting back to Saturday one final time, Jermaine Dixon has a theory on why Pitt didn't see the press as much as it typically does from Louisville:

"I can see why (Pitino) didn't press and decided to stay in the matchup zone. But I was surprised they didn't press us because they had a lot of success with it last year. I think they felt they could press Levance because they wanted to wear him down because we ran a lot of our sets through him."

I don't know how much sense that makes. I would think there are more sets for Gibbs to get open as he's a more potent scorer than Levance was. But for whatever reason, there was certainly less pressing going on than normal.

Meanwhile, Ron Cook of the PG is probably correct in this assertion about Gary McGhee:

McGhee is hardly a star, but Pitt would not be 15-2 and knocking on the door of the top 10 without him. He had the difficult challenge this season of taking over in the post for All-American DeJuan Blair, who, you might have heard, is showing off his game quite nicely in the NBA. He hasn't backed down from it, giving Pitt a big body and a better-than-expected physical presence inside as a defender and rebounder.

Also, Jermaine Dixon is also still working out his game after the injury.

In other news, Pitt missed out on Andy Katz's team of the week and lost to...Virginia? Virginia beats Georgia Tech and Miami at home while Pitt beats UCONN on the road and Louisville at home. He also dissed Pitt a bit by not even declaring Pitt/Georgetown as a 'place to be', instead opting for games the same day such as Temple/Xavier and *gag* Utep/Memphis. Seriously? I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Georgetown up next.

Recapping Louisville

Pitt's overtime win yesterday was yet another step towards gaining respect in the Big East. It's probably time that this team be recognized as one of the best in the Big East, if not the country.

Both teams have dealt with significant personnel losses, but only Pitt has been able to really adjust.

This was a game Louisville likely had won if not for something that has typically haunted Pitt in the past:

But as Pitino pointed out afterward, Pitt's comeback could not have happened without a series of critical errors by his team late in the contest:

• Jared Swopshire missed the front end of a one-and-one with 40 seconds on the clock.

• Edgar Sosa missed two free throws with 25 seconds left.

• Then Sosa missed another with 11 seconds left.

Sosa's two misses with 25 seconds left turned out to be the turning point. Out of a timeout, Wanamaker, who was left wide open, made a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 68-67 with 16 seconds remaining.

Things looked bleak with Pitt down by five with about 30 seconds to play, but Jermaine Dixon kept believing:

Jermaine Dixon knows exactly how much can happen in the final minute of a basketball game.

His older brother, pro guard Juan Dixon, played for Maryland in an '01 classic when Duke erased a 10-point deficit in the final 54 seconds and won in overtime.

"Personally," Jermaine Dixon said, "I knew the game wasn't over."

It wasn't quite the "Miracle Minute," but it will be remembered as one of the most amazing comebacks in Pitt history.

Going back to that three-pointer, I was surprised Wanamaker was able to get so wide open:

Louisville’s lead could’ve been more than four, but Edgar Sosa missed two free throws late in the game. On the ensuing Pitt possession, Jermaine Dixon drove to the hoop, but had his shot swatted into the first row by Louisville’s Samardo Samuels. On the inbounds pass from Dixon, Wanamaker stood all alone in the left corner and knocked down a 3-pointer, his only attempt from beyond the arc all game.
“Ashton and me crossed, and with Ashton being the shooter they followed him and left me open,” Wanamaker said.

Rick Pitino seemed to take this one hard. Real hard:

"Outside of Duke and Christian Laettner, this was the worst loss I ever had to experience," Pitino said after Pitt's 82-77 overtime victory.

As I mentioned yesterday, Nasir Robinson was a big part of the victory, but without Brad Wanamaker's three-pointer and free throws in the last 30 seconds of the game, Pitt gets dealt a harsh loss. He's grown up quite a bit from the freshman who played so sloppily that many (including myself) wondered if he'd ever make key contributions to Pitt. There's no doubt now, though, that he can step up in big games.

Joe Starkey at the Trib says it's the little things Pitt did that helped win the game.

The shot chart on the game showed that unlike the UCONN contest, Pitt managed to force Louisville to make outside shots.

The loss may end up to be a costly one for Louisville, still without a signature win.

I think Jamie Dixon said it best:

"We found a way to win," Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. "They're a good team with good players. It was a well executed game and we battled through. I'm not going to single out any guys. The rebounding numbers speak to how well our guys played, especially against a rebounding team. It was a good win against a good team."

With two solid wins this week, Pitt is due to move up in the polls.

What A Game

I've got to admit to doing two things I normally don't -

First, down 5 with about 30 seconds left, I started to write the 'eulogy' about how Pitt lost a close game and had simply been outplayed just a bit. Not so much because the lead was insurmountable at that point. It just 'felt' like it wasn't Pitt's day. Normally, I have a pretty good radar for this type of stuff.

But not today.

Second, I visited two live game threads/message boards - one Pitt, one Louisville. It was amazing to me how both sides were so adamant the refs were out to get them. Personally, it felt like an evenly-called game to me up until the last bit of regulation and OT. It seemed like Louisville really got the benefit of the doubt on several calls: The Samardo Samuels non-charge call (especially since the refs had been so quick to call Pitt for charges early on), Edgar Sosa getting bailed out on the layup as replays clearly showed he traveled before being fouled, Samuels grabbing the arm of Wanamaker in OT and not getting called for it, and perhaps the most egregious, the non-call near the end of regulation on the Ashton Gibbs three-point attempt. Does anyone seriously think that someone as accurate as Gibbs would short a shot THAT much?

Anyway, I'm not even so much blaming the refs on those. I think they were determined to 'let them play' and swallow their whistles. I just think Louisville was more physical on those plays and, thus, got the benefit of the calls.

Moving on.

It's amazing how much sports can pump you up. Not that I wasn't interested in this game, but I thought Pitt had a good chance to lose this one and perhaps, braced for the worst. I watched the game, but wasn't overly emotional when Pitt got behind (and was behind for most of it). But the feeling after tying it in regulation then coming out strong in OT was unbelievable.

Okay, so, the game.

Well, it was a good one. For starters, if you missed it, Pitt won 82-77 in OT. All you have to do is look at the vaunted game flow chart and you can see it was a close game all the way through. No team had a lead larger than six points and while Louisville led for much of the game, it never really felt like Pitt was really out of it.

The thing about this Pitt team is that different guys continue to step up. Ashton Gibbs had a crappy day shooting the ball today (4-12 / 15 points). Gil Brown for some reason was a non-factor and ended up with zero points. But someone else stepped up. Big time.

Enter Nasir Robinson - the type of player that really embodies Pitt when you think about it. Not the most talented guy, but showed he can play well when needed. 26 of the most efficient points you'll ever see (11-14 from the field 4-6 FTs) and 11 rebounds (more than double of any other Pitt player).

Brad Wanamaker's been doing it for most of the year, but started off kind of slow in the Big East. He'll get kind of lost in the Nasir Robinson talk, but Wanamaker was just as important. He added 20 big points today and without his late three-pointer and two clutch free throws at the end of regulation, we're sitting here talking about a loss.

Free throws - without a doubt, the biggest game-changer today. Usually, when that's said, it's a bad thing for Pitt. But the Panthers are getting increasingly better at free throws and are starting to shake off that terrible reputation for missing them. Wanamaker 11-12, Gibbs 4-4, Taylor 3-4, Robinson 4-6 - they really shot well from the line today. Pitt shot 24-30 from the line to Louisville's 10-17.

The press turned out to not be a big factor. Louisville did use it, but only at times, and for the most part, Pitt had no trouble with it.

On the flipside, Samardo Samuels was no joke - 25/5. Preston Knowles also played well for Louisville. I was surprised to see him not get the last look near the end of OT for the three, but maybe Pitt's defense had him covered.

Today's joke of the day was when Reginald Delk fouled out and was headed to the bench. He received the obligatory 'left-right' chant as he headed back to the bench and faked sitting down as the Zoo said 'sit down'. By the way, if you've never heard this/seen this at the Pete, bear with me. He then sat down again and the crowd yelled 'sit down' a second time. He had a smile on his face and was chatting with a few teammates. Funny stuff. I'm always curious as to how much the players pay attention to the fans.

Here's a nice link to some sweet AP game photos.

Strong win for Pitt, but the end of this labyrinth is not yet in sight. Next up - Georgetown.

A Festive Atmosphere

I have to say I got this one wrong...one more fronts than one.

The atmosphere for the game, while not as electric as the small-gym feel at the Palumbo was pretty good - even though the venue was probably only about 60% full. The fans on both sides were into it and it very much had the feel of a big game, which it really wasn't.

Onto game thoughts.

Pitt played horrific in the first half, but shook it off to win 67-58 in two overtimes. Scratch that. Beyond horrific in the first half. In this latest run of the past eight years Pitt has been on, this may be the worst they've played. Sure, the 2004-05 season which ended in a Bradley loss tried my patience. But I can't remember it being this bad. Sloppy turnovers, missed shots, not rebounding, wasn't even the worst of it. It was literally as if players from a Division III school (and not even a good one) inhabited their bodies and showed up in Pitt unis. Not helping out on D, leaving guys open and free to get into the paint seemingly at will, was. Pitt got down by 13 at the half and while I knew Pitt would make a run, I didn't think they would have enough to actually win the game.

The 2nd half was much better, but a few individual performances stuck out to me:

I've got to say I think I got it wrong on Ashton Gibbs. I believed him to be an upgraded Ronald Ramon, capable of not only jump shooting, but able to penetrate for closer-range shots and even drive to the basket on occasion. While he did that early in the year, he's been not much more than a spot shooter over the past few games. And what's worse is he's struggled in that role. Yes, he's only a sophomore. Yes, teams are not allowing him a lot of open looks. But he's got to be better. Period. The big shots in the 2nd overtime are a nice start. But 3-15 shooting won't cut it.

Travon Woodall was abysmal. Somewhere along the line, he thought he could actually hit the short running shot in the lane ala Levance Fields. Someone should tell him he's wrong. Bad shots, poor turnovers, and he never really looked all that comfortable. 33% on free throws for a guard? That's even worse than the poor Pitt free throw shooting we're used to seeing.

Gary McGhee, Brad Wannamaker, and Nasir Robinson are the glue holding this team together in the absence of Jermaine Dixon and Gil Brown. All three play with poise and while they (especially McGhee) still make mistakes, they all came ready to play tonight. Wannamaker didn't shoot well, but 10 rebounds? That's huge.

I continue to be amazed that Dwight Miller is trotted out there for a few minutes each game. I know he's already redshirted, but man does he look uncomfortable when he gets in. If anyone is a candidate to go after this season to make room for another recruit, it's got to be him.

And Chase Adams. I don't even know where to begin. He gets plenty of minutes and doesn't do much with them. Another poor shooting night and a few lazy passes. 3 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds doesn't cut it for 28 minutes of play. His minutes are in all likelihood going to seriously get slashed with the return of Dixon - assuming Travon can simply manage games as a PG and not throw them away with poor decisions.

Free throws, free throws, free throws. That may have been the biggest game-changer. Pitt shot a whopping 42 while Duquesne only got 14. Both teams shot poorly, right around 50%. You can't get that many free throws and miss that many. Here are a few gems - Woodall=2/6, Robinson=1/6, Taylor=4/8. Inexcusable, but then again, what else is new.

Lastly, Duquesne clearly got rattled when Pitt started their comeback. To lose the ball like the Dukes PG did with absolutely no pressure at the end of regulation was unbelievable. It seemed to spiral out of control after that. With no inside presence after Damian Saunders fouled out, they just couldn't get anything going. Bill Clark was a warrior and the only one who seemingly really wanted the ball. He even took one long range shot where you could just feel that he felt no one else was capable of making a shot at that point in the game. And as bad as Pitt's guard play might have been, Duquesne felt the need to outdo them. Their two starting guards, Eric Evans and Jason Duty shot an astounding 4-25. If you're scoring at home, that's under 20%. That included a 1-13 clip from three-point range. If Duquesne gets even a serviceable game from either, they win.

All in all, an exciting game and one definitely worth attending - traffic, mid-week game, and all.

The "Preseason" Continues

Yeah, I know - it's not really the preseason. Still, it kind of feels that way...even if Pitt struggles a bit at times.

Pitt was able to pull out a 71-60 win against Eastern Kentucky. The home team looked good in the first half, opening up a 15 point lead, then seemed to take it easy in the second. They came out really sluggish looking and only scored one basket in the first six minutes while getting outhustled by EKU. Not good, but I guess they'll learn and I wouldn't be surprised if slacking off cost them a game down the road.

While EKU closed the gap late, I never really got the feeling that they could pose a serious threat - mostly because our defense really stepped up when they wanted to and while their shooting was okay (40% from the field), it was by no means lights out. Still, overall, EKU played reasonably well and didn't back down.

Wisely, I think Jamie Dixon is playing down the inexperience factor:

“Most of our guys have been playing the most minutes that they’ve ever played at this level. I don’t think we’re inexperienced. There are teams that think they are and they continue to stress the fact that they are inexperienced. For us, I think we’ll play as experienced as we went to be. It’s just a term and it doesn’t define you unless you allow it to.”

It's an excellent point and while there will be growing pains with this team, by the time the Big East schedule rolls around, they should have a good feel for the college game. Plus (and I keep mentioning this), Jermaine Dixon and Gil Brown will help in a big way with leadership and playing down the stretch in close games.

Oh, and one of the most meaningless statistics in all of sports reared its ugly head:

Pitt tied a school record with 12 blocks in the game. Freshman center Dante Taylor and junior center Gary McGhee each had four blocks apiece.

Plenty of bright spots in the game including:

1. Rebounding - True, EKU's tallest player was 6'7". But a dominating 47-25 edge on the boards is the type of performance Pitt fans are used to.

2. Lamar Patterson looks like he could contend for minutes - 10 points / 4 boards in 19 minutes of action including hitting a few threes.

3. Nasir Robinson looks like the real deal and should be a very solid player for this year and beyond. With 15 points tonight, he's averaging 10+ points and 6 rebounds per game. One thing that worries me a little is that he looks really uncomfortable playing on the perimeter. He's going to eventually need to develop an outside shot as he had several wide open looks tonight and didn't take advantage. I may be dating myself a bit, but he kind of reminds me of a better rebounding version of Cedric Ceballos. Ceballos would get the garbage buckets and even averaged about 20+ ppg a couple of years with the Lakers in the 90s. Nearly all (if not all) of Nasir's buckets came right around the basket. Nothing wrong with that, though. Chevy Troutman had a pretty good Pitt career doing much of the same thing.

4. Ashton Gibbs may be Pitt's best player. He works well around the screens, hits shots, and doesn't play outside of the flow of the game. He doesn't force bad shots and is extremely patient. He had 20 more tonight and is averaging about 17 per game.

5. Travon Woodall shot horribly (1-8), but had six rebounds and seven assists. He was generally all over the court and played pretty well other than the shooting woes. I feel pretty comfortable with him running the team, but it will be interesting to see how he responds to better competition.

Before we get too carried away, there were some lowlights as well:

1. Free throw shooting at 58% - some things never change. One thing that puzzled me a bit was near the end of the game when EKU was trying to make things interesting. Down about 10 with two minutes left, they should have been probably trying to foul Pitt, forcing them to hit free throws. Instead, they let Pitt run the clock down twice and didn't go for the foul until about 40 seconds left.

2. Chase Adams again got about 20 minutes of PT, but only had five points. He doesn't look terrible out there, just not real aggressive offensively. Curtis Aiken had some sort of nonsensical comment along the lines of that anything he provides them offensively is a bonus because he's such a great defender. Well, he averaged nearly 15 points a game last year as a junior, so I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect more offense out of him - especially in these early non-conference games.

3. Dante Taylor really is going to need to assert himself a little more offensively. He really showed up on the boards (13) and was a huge presencec defensively (4 blocks), but didn't even get his first shot until about 12 minutes left in the game. I know it's going to take him a while to get adjusted, but I'd like to see him be a little more dominant against these lesser foes. Otherwise, the Big East frontcourts might give him a lot of trouble. I think he'll be fine, though.

All in all, it's hard to complain too much. The most encouraging thing for me was seeing the way they rebounded after Jamie Dixon seemed to put an emphasis on that.

Wichita State on Monday will really be their first road test. Even though it's technically a neutral site, it's in their home state and should probably be basically a home game for them. I could easily see Pitt dropping this one, but either way, we'll know much more about the team after that game.

Settling In

Pitt looked much better and mroe relaxed in their 71-46 win today over Binghamton that had most of us rushing home from work in order to watch. Just a matter of getting that first game under their belts, I guess.

I was able to catch the end of the first half and the rest of game and have to say Pitt looked much better than the Wofford game. Of course, the reason is probably that Binghamton is playing with seven scholarship players and is not even a shell of last year's NCAA tournament team. Heck, their leading returning scorer didn't even average 5.0 per game last year. Still, it was encouraging to see something much more resembling the Pitt basketball we're used to. The defense was solid, and while the offense could have converted more shots, I was encouraged by the number of good passes and unselfish play.

Surprisingly, there was one similarity between both teams coming into the game. Binghamton held on for a five-point win against D-II Bloomsburg while Pitt struggled as well in the comeback three-point in vs. Wofford.

Ashton Gibbs played a heck of a game, leading all scorers with 22 (17 in the first half), and made 6 of 10 three-point attempts. Travon Woodall (10 points / 13 assists) and Nasir Robinson (7 points / 10 rebounds) also had pretty good games. Gibbs was actually close to a Pitt record for his first-half performance.

Dante Taylor still looks a little out of sync to me. He finished with six points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Driving home during the first half, on the radio broadcast, Curtis Aiken said that he expected Taylor to be a go to guy within a few games. I'm not sure that's entirely accurate as he doesn't look all that aggressive yet. He should turn out to be a good player, but it's clear he's still in need of polishing.

I'm a bit surprised at Chase Adams' slow start - even though it's only been two games. In 42 minutes, he's only accumulated three points. While he looks like he's just trying to fit into the flow of the game and get a handle on the offense, at some point, he's got to make more plays if he expects to get that many minutes a game.

All in all, a much better performance (though that was to be expected). As I said before, Pitt will get better. With Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown back, they'll have an even deeper team, though I'm curious to see whose minutes will be cut. I'm guessing that other than Lamar Patterson, everyone that is playing now will still see significant minutes - nearly everyone will probably just see a small decline.

Meanwhile, in the 'old news' section, Dixon is still at least a few games from returning. It'd be nice to get him back for the Wichita State game as I expect that to be a tough one...especially because it will practically be a home game for them.

Jamie Dixon gets some love for his coaching of the USA Under-19 basketball team from over the summer.

And it seems like the first PG basketball chat of the year was a bit thin.

A Win is a Win

Well, the men's basketball team was able to at least win their game unlike another Big East school...*cough* Syracuse *cough*. Seriously, though, this isn't the disaster the sports world is making it out to be. As someone in the comments section pointed out, Michigan State had a similar loss to a D-II team and still managed to make the Sweet 16 that year. Oh, and by the way, that was the year MSU managed to pick apart Pitt on their way to the next round.

Back to the Pitt game.

The story of the 11-point win over Slippery Rock was Dante Taylor, who went for 27 and 9, but didn't even start in the game.

Pitt's starting lineup was small with three guards and Nasir Robinson playing PF. Maybe that's why Gary McGhee got the start, but I'd be shocked if Taylor wasn't the starter for the first regular-season game, so a small lineup will probably get even smaller.

From the box score, you could make an argument that Gary McGhee was the second most productive player behind Taylor with 9 and 5 in only 15 minutes of action. But that's probably partially due to the fact that Slippery Rock's tallest player that saw any action was 6'7".

Slippery Rock also had an interesting statistic, which won't get into the record books:

If the statistics from Sunday’s game counted, which they do not due to the exhibition nature of the game, The Rock’s 3-point attempts total would have set a Petersen Events Center record. Notre Dame held the mark with 36 set on Jan. 4, 2006.

Interesting, but not all that surprising considering they're a smaller team.

46 three-point attempts? Even Ron Everhart thinks they should dial it in a bit.

I might have this one wrong, but this may be the first time in recent memory that the women's team has started off with a higher ranking than the men. That's some disparity in the polls with the Lady Panthers coming in at #22 and #31.

Couldn't This Have Happened Last Year

After a mini-vacation, I get back only to hear that Gil Brown apparently thought it was a good idea to get suspended. Had this happened last year, it wouldn't have been welcome news, but with a young team in need of veteran players, it's borderline disastrous. The only 'manageable' aspect is that he has a chance to be back by December 20th - before the Big East schedule begins. But while the schedule may not help them move up the RPI quickly, it's not a complete walkover. Games vs. Wichita State and then against Iowa or Texas at neutral sites could prove to be big tasks. Pitt then follows that up with the game against Indiana at MSG.

It seems like this guy is just always a step behind...with injuries, sometimes streaky play, and now this. He was really being counted on this year with such a young team and most assuredly would have been starting.

So who is going to get the start? Heck, the entire starting lineup is up for grabs. It looks like Nasir Robinson could benefit the most out of this. And yeah, it's early, but if I had to guess a starting lineup for the first game of the season? Well....

PG - Chase Adams
SG - Jermaine Dixon
SF - Nasir Robinson
PF - Dante Taylor
PF#2/C - Dwight Miller / Talib Zanna / JJ Richardson...it's anybody's guess

I'd also look for Pitt to go small (as if they're not already small enough) with a three-guard lineup at times.

I think Ashton Gibbs could end up getting more minutes than either Adams or Dixon, but Jamie Dixon's penchant for starting seniors may not get him the starting role. I expect Adams to start because I think the coaches will want to get Gibbs to SG. I also think Wanamaker and Lamar Patterson (at least until Gil gets back) will see plenty of minutes.

The front line is also completely unsolved with so many young players. I don't think Gary McGhee, the only player with ANY experience, will see much time.

And you thought football camp was interesting.

Odd Man Out

I briefly discussed this in the previous post about Chase Adams - a somewhat crowded backcourt becomes even more crowded. But in looking over the roster from last year, I got another thought:

Where does Brad Wanamaker fit?

Wanamaker had a solid sophomore year, but that was with Woodall injured/struggling and without the new guy, Adams. Here's how I see it shaping out:

Jermaine and Ashton split time at SG. Not sure who will get more minutes, but I'd say Jermaine will start. Gibbs will almost certainly get more minutes than he did last year and both are quite capable of handling the SG spot for an entire game.

That leaves PG where Adams will have to play, you figure. It's hard to imagine him coming here for one year without any shot of getting on the court. Assuming he plays well, I think he'll get the bulk of the minutes. Woodall will probably get some time as well. Sure Wanamaker could play here, but that's really not his position. I'm not crazy about his ball handling, so I'd really rather not see him at PG.

You look down to SF and, again, sure he COULD play there. But you've already got Gilbert Brown, who if he can stay healthy (assuredly, a big if), you'd like to see on the court for 25-30 minutes a game. You've also got Nasir Robinson who played well in spurts last year and incoming F Lamar Patterson who is supposed to be pretty good. If Patterson is redshirted, Wanamaker will probably spend some time here.

If Patterson isn't redshirted, I'd say Wanamaker's best bet to play this year will come as part of three-guard rotations. Either way, Pitt is sure to have a deep team with lots of guys getting minutes.