Jamie Dixon hired an assistant coach to replace Tom Herrion - the rumored Pat Skerry from Providence has accepted an offer.
This is a good get for Pitt. Not an established former head coach (served as the head coach for a couple of years at a small school, Curry College), but someone who's been viewed as a top assistant. Some of the qualifications from his bio:
- Named as one of the top assistants in the country in 2007 by Hoop Scoop
- 2008 FoxSports.com top mid-major assistant in the country
- Helped put together a top 25 recruting class at Rhode Island in 2006
He also has a history with departed assistant Tom Herrion as he served as an assistant with him at the College of Charleston.
Skerry was in on the recruiting efforts for Providence this past season and helped land two ESPN top 100 recruits, including #54 overall Gerard Coleman.
His history on the east coast and ability to recruit well at less successful programs has me encouraged. It's nice to think he might be able to do even more at a school that's had one of the winningest programs in the country over the past decade.
I'm pretty happy with this choice.
Showing posts with label Providence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Providence. Show all posts
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Minor Basketball Notes
Two quick basketball notes:
Pitt recruit J.J. Moore burst into ESPNU's top 100 prospects (must be an Insider to view). He comes in at #77 now in the list that was updated on May 6th. I believe he was previously not ranked in the top 100, but I could be wrong.
Also of note was that PG recruit Isaiah Epps was not in the list. I believe he previously was, but is no more appearing in it.
Recruiting rankings are fickle and can be determined based on a few bad games in high school. Still, I like to keep track of them.
Also of note in the Big East was the dismissal of Jamine Peterson from Providence. Clear reasons weren't given, but it doesn't sound good:
Pitt recruit J.J. Moore burst into ESPNU's top 100 prospects (must be an Insider to view). He comes in at #77 now in the list that was updated on May 6th. I believe he was previously not ranked in the top 100, but I could be wrong.
Also of note was that PG recruit Isaiah Epps was not in the list. I believe he previously was, but is no more appearing in it.
Recruiting rankings are fickle and can be determined based on a few bad games in high school. Still, I like to keep track of them.
Also of note in the Big East was the dismissal of Jamine Peterson from Providence. Clear reasons weren't given, but it doesn't sound good:
The incident involving Peterson, which PC has refused to detail, involved improper activity with a group of teenagers who play basketball for the top AAU program in Boston, the Boston Amateur Basketball Club. The BABC 15-year old team was in Providence playing in an elite tournament at Rhode Island College from April 23-24. An incident unfolded on the PC campus in which Peterson was present, according to BABC officials.This guy was an absolute beast for them last year, averaging about 20 and 10. It will be interesting to see where he ends up. Yet another big name to leave the Big East this year.
“There was an unfortunate incident involving some of the kids on our 15-year-old team in a dorm room” at PC, said BABC founder and Boston Celtics assistant executive director of basketball operations Leo Papile. “We’ve taken measures on our end with our staff so that something like this would never happen again. We also quickly informed the Providence (coaching) staff of what occurred.”
Papile refused to disclose any details of the incident, citing concern for his players and their families. Asked if Peterson was involved, Papile said “Greedy was present, as were kids from a few other AAU programs.”
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sooner or Later...
Well Pitt has had their share of games they shouldn't have won this year and you can add another one. At some point, you almost have to think Pitt will be on the losing end of one of these. I'm just hoping it's not in the tournament.
Get ready for the cries of 'lucky shot' tomorrow by national media who haven't watched Gibbs play this year. But anyone who's followed him even passively obviously knows if he takes that shot ten times, he'd have a good chance to make four or five (or more) of them. Yes it was an NBA range three-pointer and he didn't have a chance to set himself completely, but he has the range to make that shot. Simply put, clutch basket by a guy who can shoot unbelievably well when he's on.
All in all, other than shooting well (53%, 42% from three-point land), Pitt didn't have a great night. They narrowly won the overall rebounding battle 35-34, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Simply put, that's too many...especially against a team that can score. This is sadly starting to become a trend and it's the type of thing that could do Pitt in against a mediocre team in the tournament. Pitt also lost the battles at the free throw line (-10) and in turnovers (-9), so you can see, it was far from a perfect game.
Obviously, Pitt will take a win any way they can get it. And I'm sure the postgame talk will reflect that. But the defensive effort wasn't there tonight. I realize that Providence is actually a pretty good offensive team, but Pitt simply has to do better. It seemed like they played in spurts...they'd go on runs and get up by 7, 8, 9 points, but then would allow Providence to get close again. And it almost cost them tonight. It SHOULD have cost Pitt tonight.
On the plus side, Jermaine Dixon played completely out of his mind. Career high 24 points on 11-18 shooting and 12 rebounds. Quite simply, Pitt doesn't win without him. He was really agressive going to the basket and shot well from the perimeter. I was a little surprised that he didn't get the final look near the end of regulation. Maybe the play wasn't drawn up for Wanamaker, but it sure looked like it was. Dixon was relentless tonight and was really on his game. I would have maybe went with Dixon there, but I can't fault the choice of Wanamaker. This was actually one of the most intriguing things to come out of the game - the decision of who is the 'go to' guy at the end of games. I don't think it's one guy. I'm guessing it will be a situation where Jamie Dixon tries to exploit a certain matchup or goes with the hot hand.
And this just in, Jamine Peterson is a monster. He didn't play last year after having a mediocre freshman season, so technically, not sure if he can win the Most Improved Player award. But he's averaging 19 and 10 as a 6'6" SOPHOMORE - that's sick. 24 and 16 tonight. Like I said - sick.
So the double bye is secured, but Pitt clearly has work to do. Bottom line, they did just enough to win. Teams will have hiccups along the road and everyone struggles against teams they shouldn't, so I have a hard time making too big of a deal out of this. But Pitt is now entering tune-up mode for the NCAA tournament. They only have one more regular season game before a likely tough matchup in their first Big East game. Time to step it up.
Get ready for the cries of 'lucky shot' tomorrow by national media who haven't watched Gibbs play this year. But anyone who's followed him even passively obviously knows if he takes that shot ten times, he'd have a good chance to make four or five (or more) of them. Yes it was an NBA range three-pointer and he didn't have a chance to set himself completely, but he has the range to make that shot. Simply put, clutch basket by a guy who can shoot unbelievably well when he's on.
All in all, other than shooting well (53%, 42% from three-point land), Pitt didn't have a great night. They narrowly won the overall rebounding battle 35-34, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Simply put, that's too many...especially against a team that can score. This is sadly starting to become a trend and it's the type of thing that could do Pitt in against a mediocre team in the tournament. Pitt also lost the battles at the free throw line (-10) and in turnovers (-9), so you can see, it was far from a perfect game.
Obviously, Pitt will take a win any way they can get it. And I'm sure the postgame talk will reflect that. But the defensive effort wasn't there tonight. I realize that Providence is actually a pretty good offensive team, but Pitt simply has to do better. It seemed like they played in spurts...they'd go on runs and get up by 7, 8, 9 points, but then would allow Providence to get close again. And it almost cost them tonight. It SHOULD have cost Pitt tonight.
On the plus side, Jermaine Dixon played completely out of his mind. Career high 24 points on 11-18 shooting and 12 rebounds. Quite simply, Pitt doesn't win without him. He was really agressive going to the basket and shot well from the perimeter. I was a little surprised that he didn't get the final look near the end of regulation. Maybe the play wasn't drawn up for Wanamaker, but it sure looked like it was. Dixon was relentless tonight and was really on his game. I would have maybe went with Dixon there, but I can't fault the choice of Wanamaker. This was actually one of the most intriguing things to come out of the game - the decision of who is the 'go to' guy at the end of games. I don't think it's one guy. I'm guessing it will be a situation where Jamie Dixon tries to exploit a certain matchup or goes with the hot hand.
And this just in, Jamine Peterson is a monster. He didn't play last year after having a mediocre freshman season, so technically, not sure if he can win the Most Improved Player award. But he's averaging 19 and 10 as a 6'6" SOPHOMORE - that's sick. 24 and 16 tonight. Like I said - sick.
So the double bye is secured, but Pitt clearly has work to do. Bottom line, they did just enough to win. Teams will have hiccups along the road and everyone struggles against teams they shouldn't, so I have a hard time making too big of a deal out of this. But Pitt is now entering tune-up mode for the NCAA tournament. They only have one more regular season game before a likely tough matchup in their first Big East game. Time to step it up.
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