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December 6, 2006

Committed

Filed under: Basketball,Players,Puff Pieces,Uncategorized — Chas @ 2:34 pm

A good piece about Aaron Gray from Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News.

If Gray had really wanted to be in the draft, the body he wore to those workouts would have looked like — well, like the one he’s wearing now for the promising Panthers. Most players show up for pro tryouts having trained so hard they look like a combination of Lance Armstrong and The Rock. Gray looked like he had stopped for a cheeseburger at the Hard Rock Cafe.

“I wasn’t committed to going in the draft. I wasn’t committed to coming back to school,” says Gray, a 7-footer who is an old-fashioned, low-post big man. “Me, once I’m committed to doing something, I put 100 percent effort into it.”

Now, NBA scouts who were indifferent about Gray last June are raving about his conditioning, his understanding of the game and his impact on the Panthers.

“I came back for this team,” Gray says. “I didn’t come back to improve my draft status or show people I can do what they think I can’t.”

Now, Gray’s body language is telling you Pitt might be a Final Four team.

The article then breaks down some different parts of Gray’s game and conditioning that have improved. Needless to say, this is the kind of article you enjoy reading in full.





Thanks for the heads up Chas. Good stuff.
DeCourcy didn’t talk about Gray’s improved conditioning keeping him out of foul trouble, though. I think that will be one of the biggest improvements we’ll see from Gray this year.
When you’re tired or out of position you tend to foul. We can’t afford to have him on the bench because of that. For all the talk about depth on this team, I don’t think we have anybody who can match Gray’s ability to score inside (maybe Biggs… but he seems to be gravitating towards a face-up game).
On a related note, DeCourcy seems to be writing quite a few columns about Pitt while other media outlets are looking the other way. I wonder why.
I’m beginning to lose respect for ESPN. Almost all the stories they run are tied to the game they are broadcasting that night. Makes you wonder if they’re a news outlet or marketing firm.
About the only good NCAAB info coming out of Bristol is when Bilas talks during the half-time show. Speaking of which, is it me or does the lady on the panel (not sure of her name) have more quality information to share than Digger Phelps and Reece Davis combined.

Comment by Dave in Orlando 12.06.06 @ 2:59 pm

With Biggs’ vast improvement over ’05, confident guard play and a host of unexpected weapons (e.g., Graves and Cook), I no longer get nervous when A.G. gets in foul trouble.

Comment by steve 12.06.06 @ 3:44 pm

Not sure if anyone else saw this yet, but ’76 Pitt is included in ESPN.com’s bracket to decide the best college football team of all time.

Unfortunately, it’s vote based, and in the first round, we drew ’04 USC. You know, the team with that Reggie Bush guy. He was supposedly pretty good or something. Then again, we had Dorsett, but methinks the kids won’t really know about him as much as Bush. Especially since Bush had 4 TDs last weekend.

Well, bracket/voting here: link to sports.espn.go.com

Comment by Aaron 12.06.06 @ 3:44 pm

Trivia question:

The first televised basketball game was played in Madison Square Garden in February, 1940.

1) Which teams played?

2) Which team won?

Comment by steve 12.06.06 @ 5:18 pm

to be fair, the games ESPN is broadcasting are usually the most important games of the week, and the ones worth writing/reading about. (leaving out the Pac-10 of course)

but Andy Katz has been all over Pitt the last two years, he thinks we are one of the top contenders for the Final Four and has written plenty about us the last few years. You KNOW that there will be something about Pitt when we play Wisconsin and Oklahoma St on ESPN in two weeks (even Vitale is doing the Wiscy game)

Comment by Jamie H 12.06.06 @ 6:25 pm

Answer:

Fordham University played the University of Pittsburgh in the first game of a double header as Pitt won 50-37. W2XBS showed the game in New York City.

By the way, only one camera was used in the first televised game in the history of basketball.

Comment by steve 12.06.06 @ 6:28 pm

Open thread?

Comment by Dave in Orlando 12.06.06 @ 9:10 pm

Well, we won by less than 20 points. Clearly we suck and will limp into the tournament, only to in the first round.

Comment by Shawn 12.07.06 @ 12:55 am

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