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January 9, 2008

Basketball Notes, 01/08

Filed under: Basketball,Media,Players,Tactics — Chas @ 1:17 am

Late to just get through some things.

Shockingly, Doug Gottlieb might be reconsidering a slightly hyperbolic statement (Insider subs.).

I may have overreacted on ESPN News when declaring Pitt an NIT team due to injuries. Pitt played its tail off in its loss to Nova on Sunday. Jamie Dixon had great depth early on, and his style of preaching mental toughness helps the Panthers battle through this incredibly tough time.

From a basketball tournament in Houston last week, one of Pitt’s late recruits, Dwight Miller was playing. He made Van Coleman’s list of players that stood out.

This active rebounder and low block scorer had some moments in Houston, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the game we watched. If he ups his intensity he will be a force.

Seth Davis at SI.com, unsurprisingly puts Pitt in his “sell” category in his annual “Stock report” on NCAA Tournament Teams. I think the reasons are well known at this point.

You’ll want to keep an eye on this one because there’s still some talent here, but even though the Panthers put up a good fight at Villanova on Sunday before losing, the reality is they have lost two starters to injury, including the one guy they could least afford to lose in point guard Levance Fields. Not only is Ronald Ramon not a point guard, but if Ramon is running the offense, that means he isn’t catching the ball on the wing. They’re saying Fields might come back from his foot injury at the end of the season, but I doubt that will leave him enough time to take the Panthers deep into the NCAA tournament.

There’s a good chance Pitt will use a little more zone, as they did late against ‘Nova. Just don’t expect too much.

Ramon is going to have a hard time getting shots running the point. That was already rather obvious. Not sure he should try too hard to force it.

Ron Cook felt Pitt at least had a mental victory in Philly. Coach Dixon, though, doesn’t buy that stuff.

“Our guys feel they should have won this game — no matter how many players we have,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, the deafening roar from the home crowd after Villanova’s 64-63 win still ringing in his aching ears.

“We still have the guys to get it done.”

Dixon seemed more disappointed, more frustrated, maybe even angrier after this game than he has been after other losses, although the truth is he has been so successful that there really hasn’t been much of a sampling to gauge. Maybe it was because he knows Pitt wasted a big chance to get a precious conference road win mostly because of 22 turnovers, some of which could be attributed to being without Fields — the team’s best player — and others to fatigue from having to play with such a short bench. More likely, though, it was because he knows this game quite likely provided a damning glimpse of how this Big East season will play out.

Contrast this approach with the poor mouthing and moaning by the coach of Pitt’s opponent on Saturday.

But Gonzalez, whose team is in Milwaukee to face No. 15 Marquette tonight in its second Big East game of the season, would argue that the loss of guard Paul Gause is more devastating to Seton Hall than Pittsburgh’s losses are to the Panthers.

“Pittsburgh loses Mike Cook and Levance Fields and they put in Terrell Biggs and Keith Benjamin — now, we would kill for those guys,” Gonzalez said after the Pirates’ victory over Morgan State on Saturday. “When Seton Hall loses Paul Gause, we can’t absorb that loss, like some of the rich people in the conference. We don’t have enough players, enough talent. So, it’s a fight. For us to win any game from here on out without Paul is going to be tough. Because it’s tough to win a league game on the road with him, it’s going to be really tough without him.”

Whether that is some sort of blunt assessment or a motivating tool to send a message to his players in the media, I don’t think much of it. It’s one thing to pull a Lou Holtz and puff an opponent. It’s another to essentially tell your team, they don’t have the talent to compete.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Pirates lost tonight to Marquette. It was a good effort by Seton Hall, and they were definitely helped by the fact that the refs swallowed their whistles on a lot of inside stuff — we can only hope for similar officiating when Pitt faces Marquette.





Aaron Gray in a loss to the Knicks: 12 points in 10 min, 5-6 shooting, 2-3 FT, 4 boards, 2 TO, and 3 PF.

Oh, and your site is broke again for internet explorer…

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 4:36 am

Gottlieb also said in his chat that he doesn’t think Dixon will remain with the Pitt for his entire career. His rationale is a lack of local talent.

Comment by Omar 01.09.08 @ 9:38 am

FYI – ESPN Classic is showing a Pitt v UConn matchup from 2002 at 2pm today.

Comment by DJ 01.09.08 @ 10:36 am

Does that Bobby Gonzalez quote imply that Biggs plays point? Because there are few things I can think of more terrifying than letting Benjamin bring the ball up every single time. In one way or another, every possession would be over after four seconds.

Comment by Maz 01.09.08 @ 10:55 am

Omar, Interesting view by Gottlieb and I understand western PA basketball is not BB talent rich. I guess I’m wondering just how many top programs play with significant numbers of “local” talent. I’m sure someone has analyzed this issue and it would be interesting to see what the percentage of “local” starters are at the top programs. My gut tells me most of the top programs recruit nationally and local talent doesn’t make a big difference. Am I wrong about that? If local talent is so important I guess Dixon will be going to St John’s. That’s a talent rich area!

Comment by TMGPanther 01.09.08 @ 12:11 pm

Gottlieb is a complete idiot. I honestly don’t understand why ESPN continues to keep him on the payroll. He stinks.

Comment by Omar 01.09.08 @ 1:30 pm

As Pitt fans, we should all probably be prepared for the loss of Jamie Dixon. While everyone thought that the Pitt program would endure a downswing after the loss of Ben Howland, Dixon has kept the basketball program as one of the top programs in the country. I imagine that he has proved his worth on the national level, and now it is just a matter of time before a big-time school will need a new coach. I think Dixon will likely be courted on a yearly basis and one offer will prove to be too good to refuse.

But with Pitt’s success over the past 7 years, let’s hope that if Dixon does leave, we can upgrade the coaching. WVU is 100 times better off with Huggins than they were with Belein. Hopefully if Pitt ever does lose Dixon, we will be able to replace him with a Calipari/Pitino type. (Not saying that they would come here, but that “level” of coach)

Comment by Jake 01.09.08 @ 1:44 pm

I would think Sean Miller would be interested.

Comment by Noel 01.09.08 @ 2:25 pm

A bit early to be talking about Dixon departing, I think. He seems like the kind of guy who wants to make this his program, like coach K at Duke. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think it would have to be a true dream job at the exact right time for him to leave.

Need to have a strong performance tonight. Would like to see Dixon mix in some more zone, give Ramon some chances off the ball, and get Diggs or McGhee some time (Diggs, I guess), because at some point they are going to be needed in some big games and they need some more PT.

Comment by Carmen 01.09.08 @ 2:58 pm

Like I said in an earlier thread, the only job I see Dixon leaving for is Arizona. That job is going to be open sooner rather than later. If they come looking, then I expect Dixon to listen hard.

Comment by Omar 01.09.08 @ 3:40 pm

Hopefully Dixon makes Pitt his UConn, Duke, or Memphis. Maybe he leaves someday – or maybe he decides that decides/realizes his continued winning and Pitt’s commitment to winning in bball (see: top notch facilities) makes this an ideal situation. I said a year ago that i hope someday i’m looking down on Dixon Court at the Petersen Events Center. There is no reason this can’t happen.

Comment by Stuart 01.09.08 @ 3:44 pm

I expect Dixon to be here for as long as Pitt wants him. You can’t minimze the impact the loss of his sister had on him. he sees the world differently because of it and won’t move to a “better” program for more money and prestige if he and his family continues to be happy in Pittsburgh and Pitt continues to recognize his contribution and provides upper level BE compensation. He greatly values the relationships he has built in the community and at Pitt. You are all misreading him if you think he will bolt for the AZ job. I spent time with his family in NYC before the Maggie Dixon classic and I don’t see that happening. There is a pretty tight bond with Pitt among that family and I would be shocked to see him jump ship like Howland did.

Comment by PantherFan 01.09.08 @ 5:06 pm

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