Not a lot happening. Puff piece, and a couple pieces to bemuse on the misery of others.
John DeGroat gets a puff piece on his strong, improved play from last year. He also expresses a rare thought from a college player — that Pitt had redshirted him last season.
“John DeGroat is a completely different player than he was last year,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “He is a much better player, especially on the defensive end.”
Those words came on the heels of a 37-point victory against Penn State Saturday, perhaps DeGroat’s best game with the Panthers. A native of Monticello, N.Y., DeGroat tied his career-high with 11 points, but more importantly started out the game defending Penn State’s leading scorer, Geary Claxton, who finished 4 for 12 from the field and only scored 11 points, well below his season average.
For anyone who watched DeGroat struggle through his first season at Pitt, his early season play can be described only as a surprise. Dixon used DeGroat so sparingly last season that there was doubt about how much he figured into the team’s plans this season. Dixon did not bother to play DeGroat in six games last season and used him less than four minutes per game in Big East play. He didn’t get to play at all in Pitt’s NCAA tournament game against Pacific.
I think DeGroat came in to last season just expecting that his own ability and skill would be enough. To be fair, most people thought he would be a contributor last year. DeGroat, though, struggled on the defensive end and in Pitt’s system, that won’t get you on the court.
Based on last year, there wasn’t the expectations with DeGroat, and it has been a positive surprise. If DeGroat continues to play the way he has as the competition improves, he will be a big reason Pitt makes the NCAA.
Can you imagine losing by 37 and having to wait a week and a half to play? I would imagine that would really eat at a team, coach and players. That’s what Auburn has had to endure. They haven’t played since Pitt put the beat-down on them.
“They just physically manhandled our young kids,” Lebo said. “I thought we played so tentative and scared in that game. We may be young and inexperienced, but I never want us to play soft like we did against Pitt.”
Lebo said he has used Auburn’s 10-day break, which was brought on by final exams, to send a message.
“When they have quotes in the paper from the other teams’ big guys saying, `When we see two freshmen in the middle, our eyes light up.’ That is going to be the game plan for the whole year against our young kids, and they have to understand that. They are going to be thrown to the wolves. Every team is going to go right at your young kids inside and see how they are going to respond.”
Adding to their fun, the back-up point guard is transferring.
As for that other team that was on the receiving end of a 37-point whipping, well the questions are about whether Coach Ed DeChellis is actually the right man for the Penn State job (a better question might be whether anyone can do the job)? Heck, there’s a question as to where PSU is ranked in the local basketball community.
There have also been unexpected developments, like the emergence of nearby Bucknell. Given all the Bison have done of late, it is now apparent that Penn State isn’t even the best Division I team in its part of the state.
DeChellis said Bucknell’s rise ”hasn’t had an effect on us in any way.” Not recruiting-wise, attendance-wise, anything.
But this is a matter of perceptions.
Once again, Penn State has seen its stature diminished. Once again, DeChellis must find a way to prop his program up, to raise its profile.
Not easily done. Not at all.
Let’s see: Villanova, Pitt, St. Joseph’s, Temple and Bucknell all look to be clearly superior. That would leave them competing with Penn, Drexel and LaSalle.
