The basketball summer league in Pittsburgh is over. If you actually care about the outcomes, the team that included Gary McGhee won. Yet, despite finishing with 20 points (including 11-14 on FTs) and 8 rebounds, McGhee knows reality.
“It was something fun to do for the summer time,” McGhee said. “Everyone came out, and had some fun. Sometimes there’s not a whole lot of defense, but it was a good experience.”
What’s good is that Pitt’s primary 3 — Fields, Young and Blair — were listed on the first team squad and more importantly 2 of the newcomers — Gibbs and Miller — made the all-rookie group. The Pitt players were taking it serious enough to go hard and compete. They thankfully didn’t get hurt, this sort of thing can only help team chemistry.
Overall, for basketball in Pittsburgh area, this has been big. Robert Morris is trying to build to mid-major consistency.
“We’ve realized that every step, starting with this summer league, will pay off,†Green said. “This summer league, going against (players from) the Big East and … Atlantic 10, it will help.â€
This isn’t fundamental basketball. There are few set plays and little format. Referees’ whistles are rarely heard, and defense “isn’t what I or (Pitt coach) Jamie Dixon or (Duquesne coach) Ron Everhart would like it to be,†Rice said. But it’s a huge step toward improvement. The Robert Morris players will continue their education on toughness and teamwork, and get a first-hand look at how larger programs operate.
“It’s great they’re playing in this league,†Rice said. “They’ll find some bad habits, like shot selection, but when they play at Pitt or Duquesne or West Virginia, those guys won’t take us for granted.â€
Duquesne also benefited from playing in the summer league. Even WVU found it valuable to encourage their players to drive up twice a week to compete.
Alex Ruoff has the fading remnants of a sizeable shiner under his left eye. The cause?
“Those guys in Pittsburgh,” West Virginia’s senior guard said, “think they’re pretty tough.”
Well, aren’t you the guy with the black eye? Still, that only adds to the rivalry and makes the competition in the summer league better.
The fact that there has been coverage of the summer league by multiple news outlets, beyond a cursory article explaining how it is underway. Add in that the sportsplex was always packed for these games shows just how much interest and a surge in popularity college basketball is having in the region.
It started with Pitt becoming a quality basketball program and has helped raise the other programs in the area. Mountaineer and Dukes fans probably don’t want to admit this, but the best things for their programs is Pitt to continue to have success. It raises the profile of the sport in the region, and encourages the other schools to try and keep up.
I don’t doubt your experience, but the only game i made it to was the championship. i would have to say everybody was attentive. You could tell though, if the interest continues to grow, that gym will not be feasible to hold these games.
Can anybody explain what happened that the 2 teams playing for the championship only had Gary McGhee playing from Pitt? (McGhee’s team had other Pitt players who didn’t show up and the other team had no Pitt players in its roster) I’m curious how the night before played out and if it was due to no-shows by Pitt players or something else. and by the way, Mike Cook, Wannamaker and Gilbert Brown were at the game, so you could assume they were interested in the results.
Next year, try drinking before the games. A few Dogfish Head 120-minute IPAs will put you in the right mood.
There were no Pitt players in the last game, because on Monday, Fields didn’t show up, and Blair couldn’t do it on his own for his team. Also, the team that played Sam Young’s team concentrated on shutting him down – the first time anyone played any D, and the first time i saw double teams. He also wasn’t able to carry his team.
After those two teams lost, i didn’t go the next day to see a bunch of WVU kids play, can’t tell you what happened on tuesday.
