Not good news on Levance Fields.
Pittsburgh guard Levance Fields suffered a broken left foot in Saturday’s loss to Dayton and will be out 8-12 weeks, which could end his regular season.
Pittsburgh spokesperson Greg Hotchkiss said Fields will have surgery Monday and will have a pin inserted in his left foot.
That drops the scholarship player number to 9.
Get well soon, Levance.
Brutal 2007 season for football and basketball injuries.
Then we have to find a way to win at least two of these games: seton hall, wvu, providence, at ND, at SU.
Anything on top of that will be a miracle. If we could just get one good upset of at nova, nova, at uconn, at marquette, louisville, or at wvu, that may be the game that gets us in.
If we get by Lafayette, this could put us at 21 wins, with an 11-1 OOC, pretty good OOC and overal SOS.
Think about next year – we’re going to have 4 starters that all have major starting time, and our backups will all have major minutes under their belts too. Our 3 best players will be back in fields, blair and young. Brown will have a season of starting already, Wannamaker is going to have logged major minutes, even Diggs will have time, maybe he’ll become serviceable, and Biggs is back too. We’re only losing Ramon’s inconsistent shooting and Benjamins backup minutes. Maybe one of the freshman can come in and actually make some spot up 3s. But for once we won’t have to rely on freshman minutes to do shit. So, much like football, next year is “the year.”
I just wish fields and cook could have gotten injured just a couple games earlier. Imagine getting them both back for an extra year…
I just hope that Brown and Wannamaker continue to improve with the increased playing time. If that happens, the 21-win prediction should be good.
Does Brandin Knight have any eligibility remaining? 🙂
With their current line-up this team could easily struggle to get 7-8 more wins. They’re a mediocre to poor (or very poor) team without Fields and Cook (and with Ramon playing so poorly and potentially injured).
Basically…this is worst case scenario time. As Owen Wilson says in ‘Armegeddon’, “Worst environment imaginable. That’s all you had to say: Worst environment imaginable.”
Like i said, we need to find a way to win the games we should, and pull out 2 tough ones, and get one amazing upset and keep our NCAA tourney streak alive. And get some real experience for a run next year.
What the fuck could we have done different? It was another D Wade game. That kid was taking tough shot, after tough shot and they were all falling. Those were the shots you wanted them to take. I just finished re-watching what part of the first half was shown, and 90% of their offense was that kid pulling up with a hand in his face taking deep 3’s or 2’s. He made one real tough shot over sam young off the glass. I think i saw video of ONE shot where he was actually open. What can you do against that? Double him every time? Trap off the screens, and instead of recovering, make him give up the ball? 100% deny him from even having a chance of receiving the ball?
In all, they had THREE guys take more than 3 shots. That one kid just destroyed us. Couple that with piss poor shooting from three (of all the threes in the first half i saw, ONE was guarded, a pull up by fields) and it was the perfect storm. Are we supposed to pass on all those open shots if they’re giving them to us? It didn’t help they got all the calls from the refs either (several were absurd non-calls of our guys getting destroyed while shooting, others were all the shitty calls being called on us – what a fucking joke) – but we should be able to play above that.
And maybe they could put their fucking cheerleaders on the court instead of only 2 feet away.
Watching the second half, more of the same. WIDE OPEN 3s, no one within 10 feet on some, and we shoot airballs at times. They were sagging off our guys by 5 to 7 feet at some points, hoping we’d put up another airball. Roberts putting up TOUGH shots with hands in his face, or amazing acrobat shots.
Our help D needs some work too – when someone was getting beat, we’d have help, but no one would pick up that man, getting us killed over and over again.
But it comes down to we need to finally come up with a plan against a kid who can’t miss a thing. I’m tired of losing that way…
On a bright note I did see some decent vision and passing from Wannamaker (and he can handle the ball well), and it gives me some hope that maybe he can come around on the point – they say if he’s going to make it to the NBA, that will be his position anyways. We know Ramon will never cut it…
they will definitely take a hit but i dont think the #6 team in the nation turns into an NIT team after losing 2 players. yes it hurts. but we will win games and make the ncaas. and then shouldnt levance be back? we could be ok.
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He has to bring in big men. Blair fell in his lap, partly because he grew up 200 yds from the Pete and partly because other programs were sketchy on a 6’6″ big man (boy, we were lucky and I’m psyched we got him). His other big man recruits are Wallace and Hudson and Diggs, Biggs and McGhee……all I can say about them is OUCH.
You forgot to list Aaron Gray. And i don’t know too many programs that are have an embarassement of riches at the center position. Most teams have 1 good one, if that.
The truly disappointing thing for me is Ramon’s absolutely horrid play. From that perspective, we’ve lost 2.5 starters, because his contribution over the last several games has been almost nothing. His defense even seems to have gotten worse.
For this team to salvage the season, shooting and defense have to improve. Part of the shooting problem has to be to stop taking so many 3s. A 15-foot jumper doesn’t even exist any more in most of these players’ minds, Young being the exception. Heaven fucking forbid Ramon or Brown or Benjamin pump once with a guy running at them to disrupt a three attempt and either step in for a shorter shot or, gasp, penetrate to the hole. Ramon, even though he is slow, has shown that he can do it, usually about once a game. Benjamin and Brown both have the speed and athletic ability to do so as well.
The half court offense has not looked good the last few games, including against Duke. Even with Ramon running the point, that’s something they have got to rediscover, and quickly.
Gray was a Howland recruit, I think, as was Kendall. By the way, big men doesn’t have to imply center-position/5-spot. I’m just talking front line in general.
There can be no hiccups as in past years (@ St. John’s, against Seton Hall at home, etc.), meaning they must get these 7 wins (@ USF, vs/@ Cincy, vs Seton Hall, @ St. John’s, vs Rutgers, vs DePaul), then get 2 more out of: Providence, Syracuse, Notre Dame, WVU (2), Villanova (2), UConn, GTWN, Louisville, Marquette. That seems to be do-able.
So a win vs Lafayette, 9 conference wins, hope Levance is back for Big East Tourney to get 1 win, and there is a 22-11 season heading into the NCAA tourney, most likely a 8/9 seed or lower.
I’m not packing it in for this year just yet. Let’s see how Dixon can lead a less-than-their-best team.
Keep talking shit on Fields even though he killed a guy you said was better (Paulus). Why diss a kid who worked his ass off and got hurt two nights ago? You are a complete moron and should never talk about basketball again the rest of your life. You know nothing about the game.
Kurt go to hell. I hope you choke on Huggins cock. Pitt was the sixth ranked team because they played a tough schedule and were unbeaten. Huggins had teams that were way more talented than any Dixon had and he made it to one final four. Yes, he is the country’s best coach. Let’s give Dixon a chance. I’m sure there will be some short-term pain, but I have complete confidence in his ability to rally the troops.
I never mentioned Paulus in any post.
Hey -Kurt– thanks for the realism. You don’t know how many guys have been checking in with me with similar opinions.
That team Huggins has this year just doesn’t match his personality. It will be interesting watching him struggle to coach a differently skilled team.
The Howland/Dixon offense (whatever it is) has always been ugly. It got them by when they had those big men that could pass, but it’s been getting progressively uglier the last few years. The strangest was last year when they ran some sets that brought Gray out far from the basket…..I’m still trying to figure out what JD was after then. This year there has been a ton of standing around and waiting for one-one-one from Fields or Young as the shot clock winds down.
I’m not looking for the Princeton offense, but it would be nice to see some easy buckets resulting from well-timed cuts or screeners rolling to the hoop (like the layups Singler got against Pitt at MSG.)
I also hope they survive these unfortunate injuries and salvage a decent season. My point was that everybody should temper their nutty optimism (there were the same posters crowing about Pitt belonging in the Top 5 last year)and realize that this team was seriously flawed before Cook and Fields went down. To wit:
They beat a bad Washington team (barely), a bad OSU team (at home) and won a rugby scrum against an unproven Duke team on a neutral court. Big effin deal.
*They only have one rebounder, who’s a 6’6″ freshman who’s going to spend many games on the bench in foul trouble. Even when he’s in there, he gets abused by average 6’11’ whiteys because they have half a foot on him.
*No one on this team is a reliable shooter. Ramon might be a reliable shooter alone in a gym, but unfortunately for him that’s not the way the game is played. How the heck is Dixon expecting to beat anybody with Benjamin and Brown throwing up airballs from 3? I don’t understand why they persist, year after year, to ignore outside shooting when they recruit.
*They only have one guy who, when healthy, can dribble the ball well enough to actually penetrate an opposing defense. And it’s lucky that guy has a nice handle, because he’s slow.
*Their bench is weak, which really matters when Blair’s out with fouls and when you already lost the only offensively talented swing player you had on the squad. We all know how bad Biggs is (but he consistently impresses me again and again with just HOW BAD), and Benjamin stinks.
(I’ve tried before to say he’s OK off the bench in spurts, but I give up. When he missed the rim on an another open 16 ft jumper against Dayton, I had to re-assess. He’s simply in the wrong level of college hoops.)
*I have yet to see Brown do anything that would make me think he’s ready to contribute now or anytime. OK, he had an ESPN replay rebound dunk against Dayton. Great. I’d like to see him take somebody off the dribble or shut somebody down on D or hit a mid-range jumper……..any of the things I’d expect from a good swingman. So far, he’s another example (like Biggs) of just how wacked the whole recruiting analyst trade can be. Those two are Top 50 or Top 100? Are you kidding me? I guess none of those recruiting wizards ever wrote in his notes….”Gilbert is a nice athlete, but he holds the ball funny and shoots sideways, so he can’t play more than 10 feet from the basket.”
*Their leading scorer is a head case with a bizarre game. I used to think he was a reliable scorer in the lane, but he hasn’t done any of that recently. Then I thought he was going to amaze us with his healthy knees this year, but I haven’t seen too many athletic plays either. I’ve seen him miss some perimeter shots, though, so it’s good to know he can do that. The only thing I’m sure of is that he’s under-sized and can’t hold his own on the boards at the 4-position. It never mattered before because Pitt had Gray and Kendall owning the lane and the glass. Now it matters. I’m also tired of seeing him pout and the fact that Dixon never gets in his face about it.
I hope JD really inspires them to win as many games as they can with the depleted roster and I’ll be rooting even harder than before to see them salvage this season. These are the kinds of situations that could make Dixon grow as a coach.
But I’m also a bit worried about where the program is heading, mostly because I’m not real impressed with some of Dixon’s recruiting. Don’t misunderstand me, though….I don’t want the Michael Beasley Top 20 type guys that probably aren’t coachable and are leaving early, but I also don’t want Biggs, Benjamin or Gilbert Brown, Doyle Hudson and Austin Wallace. I want the happy medium that put the Pitt program where it is — tough, solid players (Fields is one of those) who can fill roles and learn to play within a system. Howland’s staff was good at getting those guys (Brown, Page, Lett, Zavackas). I’m worried Dixon isn’t getting the same type guys and when you combine that with an unproven Xs and Os game coach approach, it just scares me.
I personally don’t care if Pitt ever ascends to the the level of the elite programs like NC or Kansas……..but I do want to maintain the incredible consistency and winning ways that Howland and Dixon have built. I feel like if Dixon hadn’t of had Blair land in his lap, Pitt would already be taking a step backward this year. Let’s all thank our lucky stars for Blair and hope JD finds a way to win a few games without a PG or a swingman.
Regarding last years team, they were at least a top-8 team according to the selection committee’s decision to give them a #2 seed. They also made the sweet-16 and played very well against the eventual winner of their bracket in a hostile environment in California. It was an excellent season.
This year started out spectacularly well and you still dog these kids. Your opinion is baseless considering Pitt has a top-10 RPI and is doing very well in the Sagarin and Pomeroy ratings. They must have been doing something right. Dixon is an excellent coach and Pitt is lucky to have him. You and Kurt can continue to salivate over the great Bob Huggins, the worlds best coach.
I too thought last year was excellent — just about right for what I thought was a Top 15 team. I’d be happy with that every year; I just haven’t seen the right indications that the success will continue.
There’s no desire here to say “I told you so”. I waste too much mental energy worrying about Pitt hoops to get caught up in that. I honestly hope I’m wrong and Dixon has the right stuff (recruiting and game strategy) to keep this program where it belongs.