Not a lot of time this morning, so this might be more quick hits and less insightful, witty commentary than usual.
File under, “time to let go,” this preview has to dredge up the stripper/sexcapade episode of nearly 2-years ago. It’s really not that relevant any longer. Mike Jarvis is gone from St. John’s. The players involved were all dismissed, and the incident took place in Pittsburgh not NYC. Today’s game is not in Pittsburgh. It really is over. The focus and headline should have been about the match-up.
Guard Daryll Hill, who has missed six games with injuries, leads St. John’s in scoring (12.6 points per game), while 6-foot-11 Lamont Hamilton is the other Red Storm player in double figures (11.7 ppg.).
“Hamilton is a big-time player,” Dixon said. “He had big numbers last year and has good numbers this year.”
Hamilton also is averaging 7.6 points and has 19 blocked shots.
“He’s one of he top big guys in the league, as far as production,” Dixon said. “They’ve got players who everybody recruited, and they’re coming off a big win, so I’m sure they’re going to be anxious to play.”
Add in Freshman starter, Anthony Mason, Jr., who really does seem to be a chip off the block, and this is not a team lacking in talent in potential. What they do lack, though is depth.
Looks like someone was cribbing my notes again, as it is noted that Pitt has lost five straight to the Red Storm in NYC.
I’m already concerned about the Pitt players pressing too much because so many will be playing before friends and family. This doesn’t help.
Two games under the big lights produced two losses. One came against Big East bottom feeder St. John’s. The other came against Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament.
The Panthers (15-0, 4-0) get the chance to redeem themselves today against St. John’s (9-6, 2-2) in a noon tipoff at Madison Square Garden. More than half of Pitt’s roster (six of 11 scholarship players) is from New York.
“That’s where we’re all from,” said sophomore swingman Keith Benjamin, who hails from Mount Vernon, N.Y. “We’re trying to get some wins at the Garden this year. We’re definitely looking to re-establish that home-court advantage.”
No, what you should be looking to do is establish that you can focus on the actual game, play and win. Not get the crowd on your side. It’s not like the St. John’s team imported its players from California.
St. John’s won’t be lacking for confidence against Pitt. The Red Storm beat the Panthers last season, 65-62. Junior guard Daryll Hill scored 26 points in that game and the Red Storm front line held Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft to a total of 20 points.
St. John’s center Lamont Hamilton had his way with Taft, scoring 18 points. He is averaging 11.7 and 7.6 rebounds per game this season.
“Hamilton is a big-time player who put up big numbers last year,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s had some injuries, but he can get it going at any time. He is very good around the basket. He can also step out and shoot it. I thought he was an all-league type player last year. And he’s improved this year.”
If Pitt is going to be successful against the Red Storm junior center Aaron Gray and forwards Levon Troutman and Sam Young are going to have to be more effective than Troutman and Taft were last season.
The key for Gray will be staying out of foul trouble. He has picked up early fouls the past two games and spent 12 minutes on the bench in the first half against Rutgers.
Why are people having trouble remembering Levon Kendall’s last name? Calling him Troutman there, Dave Sims during the Rutgers game kept referring to him as Kirkland. Same thing here, as Pitt again gets the “yes, but” treatment.
Of the final three undefeated teams, Pittsburgh is clearly the mystery meat of the bunch, certainly the least celebrated. A lot of that is with good reason, what with the miserable excuse of a non-conference schedule the Panthers played, but we’re ready to start giving them their due, at least for now. The wins at Louisville and Rutgers were solid, though we’ll stop short of using the term great because the Cardinals are young and struggling right now and need a healthy Taquan Dean, while the Scarlet Knights simply didn’t play well. What the wins did underscore was that this is a team that is more than Carl Krauser. It is also winning the close games and perhaps deserved more credit for its battle-testedness over the past few years, when it has been a regular in the rankings. Against South Carolina, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and now Louisville, the Panthers were behind or involved in down-to-the-wire finishes in all and made the plays late, displaying the confidence of a team that has been there before. Trailing for much of the game and playing rather average ball until the final 10 minutes, Pittsburgh simply out-executed Louisville down the stretch. Moreover, it was guards Ronald Ramon and LeVance Fields hitting big threes in the second half to get the Panthers in position to take control late. Krauser only scored eight points in the game, but Pitt’s underrated shooters still ate up the Cardinals’ zone, which was certainly weakened by a gimpy Dean. Up front, the Panthers have a group that might be called overachievers, but we prefer to call such players “good.” Seven-footer Aaron Gray is one of the most improved players in the country. And against Rutgers, it was Levon Kirkland who provided clutch shots. Pittsburgh’s poise and control in the second half of games and its ability to find someone to step up cannot be underestimated. One still wonders, though, how far the Panthers can take this. At this point, they look a lot like Boston College last year. Right now they’re are on a regular season roll and with a just friendly enough schedule to make it possible to keep winning those 50/50 games, but it’s also a team that could easily get torpedoed early in the NCAA Tournament.
I’m going to have to address these BC comparisons at some point. Right now, quick superficial thoughts: BC over-relied on defense, and saw their scoring drop through the season; Pitt has more depth than BC did; BC’s vulnerability was to teams that weren’t afraid to play them inside while Pitt is at risk to 3-point teams.
The NY papers don’t have much. The stories that are, are more focused on the “Legends” who had numbers retired. This piece reflects a bit on the late Malik Sealy.
Most of this piece is about the “Legends,” but also suggests a transition might finally be taking place.
Banners for all 10 that will hang from the rafters of Carnesecca Arena were presented last night. And at halftime of today’s Big East game between the Red Storm (9-6, 2-2) and No. 9 Pittsburgh (15-0, 4-0) at the Garden, the 10 will be recognized for their contributions to the program. Two college basketball sources said it was possible banners like the ones to hang at Carnesecca Arena also will be hung at the Garden when the Red Storm plays.
“I’m excited to play in front of legends,” St. John’s sophomore Cedric Jackson said.
“We’re going to play hard for them,” junior Daryll Hill said. “We have to play hard and try to keep the tradition going.”
It is a big day for St. John’s and the presence of undefeated Pitt only adds to the mix. The Panthers are one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in Division I, the others being No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Florida. The Storm is riding a two-game conference win streak – its first since March of 2003 – and is coming off a huge upset of No. 17 Louisville on Tuesday.
Hill said he expects “a dogfight” between two teams that pride themselves on their toughness. “This game right here is a really big game for us,” he said.
The Red Storm may finally be taking on some of Roberts’ personality traits, including his determination.
It would be good for the St. John’s program to finally get beyond Carnesecca. That’s the double-edged sword of having a coaching legend still hanging around (just ask any coach at UCLA post-Wooden). The comparisons are inevitable and unfair. There is just no way to win. In that respect, Coach Dixon doesn’t have far or as hard a road to go to get out from under comparisons at Pitt.
The P-G Q&A with Fittipaldo is up. Plenty of people looking for ways to keep DeGroat off the court.
Q: Do you think Levon Kendall will ever begin shooting the outside jump shot? For such a pure shooter he hardly ever shoots. I believe if he takes a few more shots it could really add a dimension to this team.
Fittipaldo: Kendall had been slow to pull the trigger, but he was not hesitating against Rutgers. Kendall scored a career-high 14 points against the Scarlet Knights and many of those points came via mid-range jump shots. Kendall and Carl Krauser noticed a weakness in the Rutgers defense. They were double-teaming Krauser and not accounting for Kendall. Kendall found the open space when the double-team came and he knocked down the shots. If teams continue to double-team Krauser in an attempt to keep him from winning the game, look for players like Kendall and Young and Ramon to benefit.
He has to knock them down. As does Gray when teams dare him to shoot at the open look near the free-throw line.
By the way, since that Doyel article that speculated that Gray might become a potential draft pick, the story is suddenly making rounds. There is a question about it in the Q&A and Gray’s hometown paper decided to run with it.
He has soared from out of nowhere this season and is now being talked about around the nation. Among the talk is speculation that he could be a future NBA draft pick.
“Right now I’m just concerned with being a great college player,” said Gray, who’d be the second Lehigh Valley player to play in the NBA. Parkland grad Brant Weidner played eight games with the San Antonio Spurs in 1983-84.
Gray still has skills to hone and weight to trim. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon believes he might become a dominating center. He is already a leading candidate for Big East most improved player of the year. In his first two seasons, he averaged just 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
It was one article that was trying to speculate about potential players for the NBA draft who weren’t being talked about before the season. It’s interesting to chart the spread of a rumor/speculation. Everyone is derivative.
Finally, in the first quarter of conference play, no surprise that the former C-USA teams are still adjusting.
The new teams from Conference USA are finding rough going in their first Big East season.
Only two of the five – Cincinnati and Marquette – have .500 records, Marquette at 3-2, UC at 2-2. Louisville checks in at 1-3.
DePaul is 1-4, and South Florida is still looking for its first win after four losses.
GRAY DOMINATING: One of the big reasons Pitt remains one of the nation’s three remaining unbeaten teams is the play of 7-foot, 270-pound junior center Aaron Gray.
Gray, who might be the league’s most improved player, leads the conference in rebounding at 10.4 per game and is averaging 13.1 points. Last season he averaged only 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds.
Welcome to the bigs.
