I keep forgetting to mention that the Pitt 2004-05 Media Guide is available for free downloading (PDF).
Lots in the papers. Starting in the Tribune-Review with a puff piece on Carl Krauser taking over full leadership of the team. The piece also defends Krauser against the common complaint that he was a ball-hog.
The weakness in Krauser’s game last year was his shooting percentage. He shot 38.7 percent in Big East play, 33.3 percent in the Big East Tournament and 31.8 percent in the NCAA Tournament.
Of course, he also won the NCAA tournament road game at Wisconsin with a fearless drive to the basket.
Krauser’s low shooting percentage can be misleading. Late in season, Pitt’s offense often broke down, leaving Krauser to freelance as the shot clock ticked toward zero.
Some viewed that as selfishness, when, in reality, Pitt was lucky it had a player who could make something happen when the natural progressions of their offense failed to produce open shots.
If all goes right this season, Krauser will shoot less and feed more. The team’s outside shooting is expected to be improved with additions such as dead-eye freshman Ronald Ramon.
“It’ll be a lot easier for me when I penetrate,” Krauser said. “I want to help my teammates grow, give them confidence, get them in position for good shots. You’ll see a lot of me penetrating, drawing people to me and kicking it out.”
Put me in the pro-Krauser camp. It’s very true that after the Syracuse game last February, teams were really collapsing down to force Pitt to take outside shots. That is why someone with consistency on the outside will get lots of playing time. It doesn’t even have to be a 3-point assassin, so much as someone who can shoot the 15-18 foot jumper.
Another story focuses on Pitt’s front court. Not just Troutman and Taft, but McCarroll, Gray and Kendall. Here’s actually a pretty nifty shot of all 5. It even has some interesting comments from former Pitt great, Charles Smith,
“It comes down to hard work,” said Smith, a New Jersey-based businessman and former NBA player who is Pitt’s all-time leading scorer. “I worked my butt off. And Jerome worked his butt off. We wanted it. We had guys back then like Keith Armstrong, who moved people around like Gray can do now. I will say that I think Jamie Dixon is a much better coach than Paul Evans ever could have been. I would have liked to have played for Jamie’s staff because it’s apparent they get the best out of these kids.”
Smith then sent a message to the Panther Nation.
“They have a chance to see some really great basketball in this era — and they had better enjoy it,” Smith said. “Because you don’t get this a lot in college basketball — kids with size and versatility.”
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a former player from the Paul Evans era speak well of him.
Another article focuses on the team’s expectations being higher once more. Good. The Big East is already going to be tough. That is no excuse for not thinking this team can’t get past the Sweet 16.
For those of you living in Pittsburgh, probably a good idea to pick up the Post-Gazette today for their special College Basketball Preview for the region.
Or maybe not. The depth of the Pitt articles are lacking, to be kind. There is a feature cover story about “Where Have All the Shooters Gone.” There are also companion pieces focusing on former Pitt star Jason Matthews opinions of what happened — he sees a big reason is the lack of practicing the shot and more emphasis on just playing. He doesn’t say the word, but it is obvious he is talking about fundamentals.
The P-G Pitt basketball beat reporter, Ray Fittipaldo, picks Pitt 4th in the Big East this year. He puts ND ahead of Pitt.
Taft is called the key player to get Pitt beyond the Sweet 16. There is a list of the “5 key games” for the regular season. No big surprise which games. Well, kind of. The South Carolina game will be important as one of the few non-cons that Pitt could lose, but I think only the Memphis game is really the only big non-con. The Richmond game seems more dangerous than South Carolina because I can see Pitt not taking it serious and getting burned.
Finally, Fittipaldo’s 3 keys to the season:
- Outside shooting
- Defense, defense, defense
- Don’t peak early
He elaborates on each one. As for the final point, why am I the only one wondering about a) how Coach Dixon will work his bench more and use the depth that has never been there for this Pitt team; and b) why no one seems to consider the possibility that part of the reason Pitt shot so poorly in March was that the starters had logged so many minutes that they were just running out of gas?
November 20, the season starts, but the first game on ESPN (and that I’ll get to see) will be December 7 against Memphis. Whoo-hoo!
