Isaiah Epps On Campus

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

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

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

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

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

Speculating, Speculating...

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

Of course it is.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Dwight Miller Out

Ray Fittipaldo of the PG+ section (Note: If you are not a subscriber to this section, you have a limited number of page views to the content before you must subscribe) says that it is looking as if JJ Moore has qualified academically, meaning that Dwight Miller is looking to transfer.

With JJ Richardson playing well in spurts last year and Travon Woodall getting much better as the year went on, Dwight Miller's fate was looking worse and worse.

As Fittipaldo mentions, this has not been confirmed by Pitt yet. But assuming his information is true about Moore, I'd expect Miller would be the one to go.

He put in a lot of work with Rockets great Hakeem Olajuwon and I'm sure Jamie Dixon doesn't like the way this looks. But Miller would likely have been hard pressed to get minutes anyway, so this is probably best for him.

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.

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.

What They're Saying

Loads of media recaps from the big game last night - I've already posted some, but here are a few more.

As was mentioned, Pitt was killed on the boards in regulation. But that all changed in the overtime sessions and that was key:

The Mountaineers outrebounded Pitt, 21-12, in the first half. But WVU switched to a 1-3-1 zone and Pitt took advantage by outrebounding the Mountaineers 12-4 in the overtimes.

"That changed the game," Wanamaker said. "Late in the game, we started rebounding, boxing out. Early on, they were in control of the game. Once we started rebounding, we started getting back in control of the game."

WVU coach Bob Huggins knew they would give up some rebounding by going to the 1-3-1, but in his mind, it was a necessary evil:

"They competed, and Jamie's teams do that. (But) they couldn't have won the game without a lot of help from us. (And) we couldn't stop their penetration, so we went to the 1-3-1 (zone). And it's hard to rebound out of the 1-3-1."

Ashton Gibbs had some more struggles at the free throw line, but came through in the very end:

Gibbs scored 24 points including four-for-six from the free throw line. He missed the second of two free throws with seven seconds left in the first overtime. Had he hit the second free throw, Pitt would have probably sealed the win but his miss allowed Bryant to hit a three with seven seconds left to tie the game and send it into a second overtime.

He redeemed himself when he stepped to the line in the third overtime with ten seconds left and hit both free throws to give Pitt a three-point lead.

"I have enough confidence in myself to treat every shot the same," Gibbs said. "I put every miss behind me."

Gibbs has actually struggled a bit recently from the line. He's shooting 90% on the season, but in the past four games, he's missed seven of them and has shot only 75%.

And it sounds as if this game was a confidence builder of sorts:

“We needed a win like this to make us believe we could do this again,” said Pitt’s Gilbert Brown, talking about a recently snapped stretch in which the Panthers lost four of five games.

Pitt had of course won the past two games, but the competition was a bit suspect. This is Pitt's second big win of the season over a top five ranked team. That hasn't happened since...well, last season, when Pitt beat #1 ranked UCONN twice.

One thing I'll say is that I think Huggy Bear was a bit critical of his team's defense on Gibbs' three-pointer in regulation:

After Travon Woodall nailed a jumper to close the deficit to 68-65 with 31 seconds left, Nasir Robinson stole the ball from West Virginia’s Darryl Bryant off the inbound and relayed it to an open Ashton Gibbs, who knocked down the game-tying shot.

“Everybody in the gym knew who they wanted to shoot it,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “And we let him shoot it.”

That play was so crazy, it's hard to fault WVU for not finding Gibbs. They expected to have the ball out of bounds and Wannamaker found Gibbs pretty quickly. It's not like Pitt had been in a half-court offense for 30 seconds and WVU just managed to let Gibbs spring free.

Meanwhile, a West Virginia columnist complains about...traffic? Um, okay. You're exiting a major city after a sporting event AFTER said city recently had two feet of snow dumped on it and you didn't expect traffic?

Anyway.

Lost in all the talk by our beloved Mountaineer fans is that despite their complete breakdown at the end of regulation they had not one, not two, but THREE chances to win in each of the three overtimes. I won't dispute the fact that Pitt really had no business winning this game based on the way they played in regulation. But in overtime, the games start completely even. Even if you blow a lead and are forced to play overtime, you've got an equal chance to win. You can talk all you want about momentum and such, but the fact is that Pitt, by the third overtime, was missing Jermaine Dixon, Brad Wanamaker, and Travon Woodall. The Panthers could have easily folded without some of its best players and still found a way to win. WVU should not only be disgusted about how they allowed Pitt to tie the game in regulation, but also about how they went into the fetal position in the overtimes despite Pitt missing several key pieces.

One key thing we should be talking about (other than the traffic, of course) is that Pitt has now won two games they really had no business winning. Pitt should have been beaten in regulation by both WVU and Louisville and could easily be 17-8 and only 6-6 in the conference. That would be enough to put Pitt squarely on the bubble and really could have forced them to win most of these remaining games left. As it is, Pitt really has little chance of missing the tournament and may even be in line for a fairly high seed.

It's a fine line, folks.

Digesting the Classic

So Pitt hung on in a triple-overtime thriller against WVU. This is, of course, the second time lightning has struck for Pitt. In the end, WVU, wasn't overly gracious:

Da'Sean Butler had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Darryl Bryant scored 20 and Devin Ebanks had 17 points and 10 rebounds, yet they couldn't prevent the Mountaineers (19-5, 8-4) from losing their second in a row after they led by double digits in each half.

"This is definitely one of the toughest losses I've had," Bryant said. "This game probably put Pitt in the NCAAs."

Well, it certainly didn't hurt, but I hope he wasn't referring to Pitt as a bubble team. That simply wasn't the case and with a good RPI and some solid wins, Pitt would have really had to collapse over their last few games to not make the tournament. Then of course, Huggy Bear weighed in:

"I've done this for 30 years, man," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, asked if he could remember a game with so many swings. "There isn't much I haven't seen. They didn't fold, they continue to compete, but they couldn't have won without a lot of help from us."

That may be true and I'm actually inclined to agree with him. WVU had a major collapse in the final minute. But after it getting past regulation, Pitt blew TWO chances to put game out of hand. Even if you ARE right, show a little class. Note to coaches: You refusing to simply credit the winning team and leaving it at that doesn't make you sound intelligent. It makes you sound like a buffoon.

As the road team found out, it's incredibly difficult to beat Pitt at home. A lot of talk has gone on all season about the identity of this Pitt team and just how good they are. I have to admit we still might not know. But I really feel like this team grew up a lot in this game. A lot of guys played key roles and it was good to see a guy like Travon Woodall have an outstanding game.

About the whole atmosphere thing, I quietly chuckled to myself about WVU bracing themselves for the worst in Oakland. Pitt may have creative chants, but I don't ever recall any physical items being thrown from the Zoo at coaches or players. That's not to say it can't happen. A few knuckleheads can ruin it for everyone. But there's no history (to my knowledge) of that happening.

And as I mentioned earlier, both sides did their best to lose the game at times.

There's so much to point out in this game other than the game-changing play, Ashton Gibbs' three-pointer, which I mentioned in the previous post. Here are a few of my usual notes:

- Pitt just got killed by offensive rebounding. Had they lost this game in regulation, that would have been the main culprit. The final rebounding numbers didn't look that lopsided as WVU had 16 offensive boards. Problem was, in regulation, they had 14. FOURTEEN. In the words of Martin, "Damn, Gina." Part of it was due to the size, but much of it had to do with good ol' fashioned effort. And Pitt just wasn't trying hard enough.

- With so much height on WVU's team, I really wish Jamie Dixon had considered playing two bigs at the same time - especially when it was becoming evident that Pitt was getting killed on the boards. I'm not going to bring up the whole Dante Taylor/PF issue again, but a mix of McGhee and JJ Richardson in the frontcourt might have been intriguing. Richardson really played well again in the limited minutes he had.

- Back to Woodall - he really played incredible. To anyone who might have disagreed with my sentiment a few games back that Woodall needed more PT, how did this line taste? In 31 minutes - 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and...wait for it...0 turnovers. This isn't to say that he's 'back' or that he should be starting or anything absurd like that. I'll probably be criticizing him at some point in the near to immediate future. I'm merely stating that his play has gotten better lately and that he's earned more time in my opinion. He played well within the flow of the game today and he had two huge FTs with about :25 left in the third OT which he nailed.

- Not sure if anyone else noticed, but Coach Dixon broke an unwritten rule that he really hates doing by playing Gilbert Brown in the 1st half with two fouls. I'm guessing that he felt, like I did, that without he or Jermaine Dixon in there, that the game could have gotten a little out of hand.

- In my opinion, Brad Wanamaker has reached another plateau in his career. He's now gone from being a dependable player to turning into a leader. He had several moments where he took charge, driving to the basket and not waiting for someone else to make a play. I'm not saying I'm ready to declare him the guy who has to take the final shot in a game, but I wouldn't be terribly uncomfortable with it. He still has the inexplicable turnovers at times, but his game has really improved.

- McGhee ended a pretty decent game (including a very good defensive effort) with an incredible play late in the 3rd OT, handing the ball off to Ashton Gibbs before he could be fouled himself. Smart, smart, play.

- I don't do this much, but focusing on the other team for a minute here. WVU really is going to need to correct the free throw problem if they want to be a serious threat in the postseason. They shot a reasonable 70% tonight, but missed a bunch of key ones and that isn't the first time that's happened. WVU could really be in for a big upset if they're in a close game. If you take WVU's five closest games, they've been decided by a total of nine points and the team is only 2-3. Contrast that with Pitt's five closest games, which have been decided by a total of 17 points, but Pitt is 4-1. Missing free throws in close games will KILL you.

It was nice to see the Pitt fans stay classy until the bitter end, not rushing the court. I've seen too much of that this year and even though it's a big win, Pitt certainly shouldn't be storming the court anymore. Upset? Please. A ranked Pitt team beating ANYONE at home is no upset.

Desperate to see it again? Check out ESPN360.com (if you have the right cable provider).

Winning The Ones You Should

That's what Pitt did tonight in the 77-53 win over Robert Morris. With that win, Pitt moves to 66-0 all-time against NEC opponents.

To start, I was unaware that the series may be discontinued after this season:

This might have been the last game in the series for a while. Robert Morris coach Mike Rice said he won't play the game next season unless it can be scheduled in November or December. Pitt likes having the game in the middle of the Big East schedule.

I can understand why Pitt likes it in the middle of the Big East schedule. They may not say it, but it provides a respite from the tough conference schedule and can allow them to regroup if necessary. Not sure exactly why RMU NEEDS to have it earlier. I know that's the way these things are typically done, but I would think getting to play Pitt would be a big deal for them. They get to play a ranked team (usually) close to home and I'm guessing that's at least a small feather in their hat recruiting-wise.

Back to tonight's game.

Pitt really connected from downtown for the first time in a while, hitting 10 of 22 threes. They haven't made that many since their win over Syracuse back on January 2nd.

RMU played well in the first half but went a stone-cold 7-27 from the field in the 2nd half as Pitt's defense tightened up a bit. After leading scorer Karon Abraham went for 14 in the first half, the Panthers held him two only two in the second. After the half, he only had a limited number of looks and only registered three FG attempts. As RMU, you've got to get more shots for him - he was the main reason they were competitive in the first half.

Without Abraham, RMU started to go downhill:

The Colonials, an NCAA tournament team out of the Northeast Conference last season, took advantage of Abraham's fast start to go ahead 19-13. The 5-foot-9 freshman had 14 points as Pitt led only 30-29 late in the half, but he wasn't a factor offensively the rest of the game.

Once Abraham stopped scoring, the Colonials did, too. Pitt scored seven of the final eight points of the first half to take a 39-33 lead. Gilbert Brown's tip-in with 2:18 remaining _ his first basket of the game _ broke the 32-all tie and preceded Dixon's 3-pointer and Brown's own baseline drive.

RMU did go on a pretty amazing 22-2 run in the 2nd half, but Pitt seemed pretty complacent and once they snapped out of it, took control once again.

The thoughts that RMU could make this game competitive were, well, just silly. RMU is a good team in its own league. And sure, they've had their brushes of near minor upsets (Miami and a down Syracuse team in 2008 and Seton Hall in 2007. But it would really have taken a terrible effort of epic proportions by Pitt to lose this game. Pitt has beaten them by an AVERAGE of about 24 points per game in the past nine contests and even when RMU had an NCAA tournament team last year, Pitt took care of them pretty easily.

The Travon Woodall/Ashton Gibbs story I've been discussing again played out the same way it did in the previous game. Gibbs played 32 minutes and Travon Woodall got 14. Gibbs responded with 20 points (the most he's had in five games) and Woodall responded with unspectacular minutes, but took care of the ball, only turning it over once. There's no reason to kill Gibbs and it looks like he might be better off playing around 30 a night. Jermaine Dixon also showed up with a nice game and 18 points.

Pitt had their second very good game in a row, but as everyone knows, the competition hasn't been the strongest. The game with WVU on Friday will be a good barometer of if Pitt is back after that losing spell.

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.

Class of the Big East?

That's the question I'm asking shortly after Pitt's ten-point win AT UCONN. Pitt's now gone on the road three straight times and come away with three wins for the first time in its Big East history. Factor in the competition in a top 10 team, top 15 team, and a team that was previously ranked, and in the words of Judge Smails the teams they've beated have been 'no slouches.' UCONN, on the other hand, is left with yet another defeat to a ranked opponent.

Beating UCONN three straight times feels mighty good. The early reports are in and folks are just now starting to catch on, it seems.

I always find myself rushing to the box score and flow chart immediately after the game looking for something specific. Tonight, I was looking for UCONN's number of layups or points in the paint. Had Pitt lost, that would have been the main reason why.

The verdict? According to ESPN.com, 19 of the 25 field goals were layups or dunks.

No that's not a typo. I knew it was bad, but no idea it was THAT bad. What's even worse was that 12 of their 13 FGs in the second half were layups or dunks.

I've been watching basketball for over 20 years. I honestly can't remember ever seeing a college game where a team got so many easy baskets. They had a lot of transition points and seemed like they were in the paint all night. Pitt's defense wasn't the greatest - ESPECIALLY in transition.

But perhaps that makes the win that much more impressive. To win by ten in a rivalry game on the road when (and this is key) you didn't play your best game gives me a good feeling.

For once, Cryin' Calhoun didn't make any excuses, lauding Pitt in his post-game comments. And even though I talk about all the easy baskets, Jamie Dixon pointed out another key stat:

"We came in at halftime; I told them we got beaten on the boards by four. We had to turn that around."

"We out rebounded them by 13 in second half, and clearly that was the difference."

The silly talk about Pitt perhaps not making the tournament should be over. As I mentioned before, this IS a tournament team. And not only a tournament team, but a team that can challenge for the conference title. Starting 4-0 in the conference and winning your last seven games will make you think like that. Funny thing is, I keep waiting for the team to falter. I'm convinced it will happen, but when? I figured this would be a much harder game, but the fact is that had UCONN not gotten so many easy buckets, it would have been much more lopsided.

Brad Wanamaker had his first good game for Pitt in Big East play, scoring 19 to co-lead the Panthers along with Ashton Gibbs. It was a good thing as Jermaine Dixon didn't have a particularly strong game.

On the flip side, Travon Woodall looks like a mess out there at times. I don't know if it's because he's not getting as many minutes or whatever, but he was completely wreckless with the ball lately taking bad shots or throwing it away. The fact that we never see Chase Adams out there makes me think he must be somehow even worse.

And in the middle, Gary McGhee is painfully mediocre. I almost think he cancels himself out because for every good putback or rebound he gets, he gives up another. And it's clear that Dante Taylor has much less leeway than McGhee does. Taylor was called for a moving screen (which was no worse than some of McGhee's) and he came right out immediately. McGhee allows offensive rebounds or makes a piss-poor effort blocking someone out and he stays on the court. Granted, he played better tonight, but Dixon's intolerance of Taylor's mistakes seems like a pattern.

UCONN, like Pitt, on the other hand doesn't have the same look as in previous years. But even with strong performances by players at times (i.e. Stanley Robinson tonight) are really without a key leader according to folks in the area. I don't know. Pitt really doesn't have a leader if you think about it. Ashton Gibbs? Can a sophomore really lead a team even if he's their best player? Gilbert Brown? Fresh off a suspension and he doesn't even start yet. Jermaine Dixon may be the closest to the team leader and he's certainly not a definitive one and has only been in the program as long as Gibbs has. I don't know how much that plays into it. The Fab Five went to the National Championship game with a starting lineup composed of freshmen.

Anyway.

For once it's nice to get the edge on free throw shooting - Pitt shot 85% to UCONN's 46%.

As absurd as it sounds, if Pitt can beat Louisville at home (which could be a daunting task because of their press), Pitt will have a look at getting to...*gasp*...25 games.

Yeah, I said it.

Taking That Next Step

I was a little surprised at the beginning of the season to not see Dante Taylor starting. While it's true that it is difficult for most freshmen to step in and contribute, All-Americans are expected to make that transition better than others. After the first few games, it became evident why exactly he wasn't starting - he wasn't ready.

But a small nugget buried in a story about guys playing out of position seemed to hint that at some point this season, Taylor will probably assume the starting center spot:

Taylor has outplayed starting center Gary McGhee the past two games, and Dixon hinted there could be some lineup changes. "I don't anticipate us having the same lineup the entire season," Dixon said. "There could be some changes. Gary was playing well. He didn't play as well last game. Dante played better the last game. That was evident. I think between the two of them we've gotten good production."

McGhee has shown vast improvement over last year, but I think he may be maxing himself out.

Pitt is going to go through growing pains, but I'd start Taylor at this point. My lineup probably would be:

Gary McGhee - C
Dante Taylor - PF
Nasir Robinson - SF (Gilbert Brown when he gets back)
Ashton Gibbs - SG
Travon Woodall - PG

Dixon seems adamant about keeping Taylor at center for some reason, even in spite of Taylor openly saying he's more comfortable there:

One thing is certain. Dixon said there are no plans to move Taylor to power forward, where undersized sophomore Nasir Robinson is struggling. Dixon said power forward is the most difficult position to learn in Pitt's system and he doesn't want to burden Taylor with learning two spots. Taylor, however, would welcome the switch.

"If he asked me, I would love to go play power forward," Taylor said. "That's where I'm comfortable at. But right now I'm focusing on being the center and rebounding."

I understand people would be up in arms about Jermaine Dixon not starting, but this lineup would have several benefits:

1. Pitt would have some more size with both MGhee and Taylor playing at the same time. Dwight Miller is capable of playing backup center and you could also move Taylor there periodically and go with Robinson, Lamar Patterson, or Miller at PF. I know Dixon has said he doesn't want to have Taylor learning two positions, but this would only be in emergency scenarios (i.e. if both McGhee and Miller are in foul trouble).

2. Taylor, Robinson, and Brown would all be able to play their natural positions.

3. You could keep Gibbs at SG rather than move him to PG, which I think has been discussed when Brown comes back.

Yes, Dixon would have to back up Gibbs at SG, but Gibbs has shown enough in my opinion for him to keep his starting spot. If they move him to PG, his scoring will in all likelihood take a hit.

You might ask where Wanamaker would fit in. I'd see him as a utility player that could be rotated at SG, SF, or even limited time at PG now that he seems much more comfortable with the ball.

Woodall hasn't done enough to really warrant keeping the starting PG job as of late, but Pitt has few options there with Chase Adams struggling as well.

I think you'd see a much more comfortable Pitt team with this lineup.

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.

Easier Than Expected

I have to say I was a little surprised at how well Pitt played. I was expecting maybe a 6-8 point win and wouldn't have been shocked to see a loss. This game had all the makings for an upset - the first 'road' game of the year for a young team against a quality mid-major who was pumped up for the game. Instead, Pitt came out and played well in the first half, and even better in the second, winning by 13. Yes, Pitt let them hang around a bit much for my liking, but when they stepped it up, really put WSU away.

With a younger, smaller team, I expected this team would run more. What I didn't expect was to see them play so under control. The team last year was obviously better, but I have to admit this team is remarkably fun to watch. They get up and down the court quickly, yet are still disciplined and play good defense. The rebounding still needs work as evidenced by the -2 differential, but playing three guards a lot of the time will cause that. And the good news is that most of these guys will probably be staying all four years.

This game was really the Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs show and could be a sign for things to come. They shot over 50% from the field and combined for 37 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Gibbs is an absolute sharpshooter and Woodall (who may have been the beneficiary of extra attention being paid to Gibbs) was aggressive all night, driving to the basket and making plays happen. He should have had even more assists had guys not missed wide open shots. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of role he has next year with Isaiah Epps coming in. Now I don't want to look too far ahead, but Epps had apparently been told he could start. If Woodall keeps playing the way he did tonight, it would be hard to sit him. A lineup of Epps, Woodall, and Gibbs in two years could give teams fits.

And speaking of Gibbs, he's starting to look more and more like a leader. Unlike Wanamaker who can be streaky at times, he looks like the real deal. Wanamaker had played well this year, but reverted back to his freshman days at times tonight. Playing out of control, missing shots, and turning the ball over.

Dante Taylor, meanwhile, wasn't able to do much of anything. The official 'minutes' report isn't out yet, but Gary McGhee seemed to play quite a bit and I don't remember seeing too much of Taylor. He finished with a quiet 0-2 and two rebounds.
McGhee on the other hand went 4-4 from the field for 10 points, 6 rebounds, and was a force offensively getting good position all night long.

Next up, Pitt likely will play Texas assuming they beat Iowa (who lost to Duquesne). Jamie Dixon couldn't have drawn it up any better as this is a perfect game for Pitt. They're playing a more veteran, top five team at a neutral site early in the year. It's an excellent litmus test and while I'm not sure Pitt can win, I'd be surprised if they were embarrassed. Even if they can't pull off a win, it certainly isn't a bad loss. We should know a lot more about Pitt afer tomorrow night's game.

Oh, and enough of the Wichita State crowd crying seemingly after every play. Really. Enough.

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.

The Reshuffling Continues

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

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

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

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

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

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

NBE Basketball compares him to Scottie Reynolds of Villanova.

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

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

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.