What? You really want to watch the culmination of the past week or so of Heisman hype?
It should be a little rusty from the team to start, but ultimately the Retrievers will be put down without a lot of drama.
Halftime: Pitt up 42-25. Fields drained a 3 at the buzzer. As expected a sluggish start. Pitt missed its first 5 shots. Then they woke up to drain 7 of their next 8 and shot 16-32 for the half.
UMBC came out with a solid strategy against Pitt. They packed it inside to make it hard to get it down low or to drive to the basket. Instead, making Pitt play on the perimeter and daring them to take outside shots. Obviously it worked for a couple minutes, but then Pitt found range and they hit those open shots. Pitt shot 6-11 on 3s.
Pitt is outrebounding the Retrievers 20-12. Young already has 11 points. Blair has 6 rebounds.
FINAL: 91-56 Pitt blows out UMBC. The big news, Tim Frye hit a 3.
Pitt shot 20-33 in the second half, and 8-16 on 3s. Technically, UMBC shot decently, but they didn’t have many attempts and only were able to get 3 offensive rebounds in the second half.
Good confidence builder game for a lot of back-ups. Gary McGhee had 6 points, 8 rebounds and a block. Ashton Gibbs shot fantastic with 13 points on 5-6 (3-4 on 3s) shooting. Nasir Robinson only got 9 minutes, and didn’t shoot much. Instead it was on defense with 2 steals.
The starters only played for a little bit in the second half. Young played the most minutes at 25 minutes. Blair would have had another double double, but for only playing 24 minutes. He had 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Pitt did what they were supposed to do. They beat the crap out of a lesser opponent, got the starters out early and really gave the bench some work.
R Ftiipaldo reported that when D Cheek picked ‘Nova, Pitt offere DeAndra Kane (former Bliar teammate at Schenley) If he acepts then someone on scholarship will be shown the door — my guess is McGhee.
My comment about McGhee being the one to go was based on the fact that two 6’9 recruits (Patterson and Zanna) are signed plus a 6’8 current freshmen (D Miller) is being redshirted
There schedule, when the BE starts is one of the toughest in the country. Let’s enjoy these final easy days up to Fla state…
Dec 13, 2008 10:45 PM
MCKILLOP NAMED AN ALL-AMERICAN
Posted by mvuk
University of Pittsburgh senior linebacker Scott McKillop has been named to the 25-player All-America Team selected by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), it was announced today on ABC Television.
McKillop, a native of Export, Pa., and graduate of Kiski Area, is the second Pitt linebacker in the past three seasons to be selected to the prestigious FWAA All-America Team. H.B. Blades, now with the Washington Redskins, was honored following his senior season in 2006.
Congrats to Scott McKillop, truly well deserved
I hope we don’t lose anyone because I love this team but Kane looks like a steal right now. I do not like scholarships being taken away but then again I have never been a coach. Is there another way we can get Kane without looking like a firing squad?
My guess is that it would be McGhee but possibly Dwight Miller who is currently redshirting … but it nothing but a guess (no inside knowedge.)
NOTES — Pitt target Dominic Cheek, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from St. Anthony High School in New Jersey, announced yesterday that he will attend Villanova. Pitt reacted quickly to that and had local standout Deandre Kane in for an official visit. Kane, a shooting guard who played at Schenley High School with Panthers center DeJuan Blair, is spending this season at The Patterson School, a prep school in Lenoir, N.C. Pitt has offered Kane a scholarship. If he accepts, one of the current players or an incoming freshman who signed a letter of intent would have to leave because the Panthers would be over the scholarship limit.
Just seems like the players we bring in should be able to rest assured that as long as they keep their grades up, stay out of trouble, and play hard, they will continue to play on this team.
On the other hand, I truly doubt it would be one of the incoming players unless one of them failed to qualify academically. To pull a ship of an incoming player who hasn’t even been on campus taking classes and who has a signed LOI just isn’t going to happen, IMO. If Pitt tried that they would lose too much good will for future recruiting as players would not be able to count on the Coach’s word when offered. Further, once there is a signed LOI, it is a guaranteed contract for the first year providing the player qualifies academically and doesn’t misbehave. So, you cannot take it away unless the player and his family would voluntarily agree to go elsewhere. IMO, only an academic ineligiblity, like what happened with Darnell Dodson, would see one of the four 2009 commits not enroll. Finally, don’t forget, there is no guarantee that Kane will ultimately qualify academically. There is a reason he is in prep school. The most likely scenario, if and when Kane qualifies, and “push comes to shove” is that one of the guys already on the playing roster elects, or is encouraged and assisted, to transfer for more PT elsewhere. That bridge doesn’t even need to be crossed until next fall, and might not be until then.
Lastly, from what has been discussed in various places, Richardson does not appear to be some high risk project; but, possibly closer to Chevy Troutman revisted. If so, he is not someone you would want to “run-off” in any case.
Agreed. And I think Dixon and the program have too much class to pull a stunt like that. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
These kids live in a world of deal-making from their early adolescence on up. School transfers, scummy AAU culture, shoe camps and gear, jobs offered to coaches and relatives…….and on and on and on. Then they hit college, where everything’s just as shady but it’s dressed up to be about higher education, scholarships and graduation rates.
These kids ARE property. They’re cogs in a big business wheel that’s all about revenue, boosters, prestige and luxury boxes.
Maybe at some places, certainly AAU, but I don’t share your sentiment that all programs are run by slime-balls who take opportunities (scholarships) away from good kids and treat them as pieces of meat. Everything I have seen from Dixon would lead me to believe that he’ll handle the situation as it should be handled.
It’s not about Dixon or any other coach being a slime ball; it’s just the system they work in.
Anybody who thinks these kids are student-athletes is unbelievably naive.
Dixon will handle the situation like the head of any other business which is profit-driven and focused on beating the competition — he’ll do what the system allows.
I don’t believe TJ was making any point to the kids being student-athletes. And I am sure he would agree as most would that many D1 athletes don’t fill the student role as they once did. Some do though, the kid at FSU who won the Rhodes is an example. But that wasn’t the point and has nothing to do with this. His point is that there are people out there who are good guys. I believe its totally unrealistic if you decline to acknowledge that some people do things the right way and do have a moral spine. Yes, these kids may not be hitting the books in the classroom like a typical sutdent, but that has nothing to do with the fact that a coach who cares about his kids will treat them as people and not property. No doubt there is shady business in college hoops. But that doesn’t mean everyone is shady. It’s the same as any business, there are scumbag’s who do whatever it takes to get ahead, cheat, bend rules, break rules, and so on. There are others who simply decide to do it the right way. Now I believe Dixon has more of a spine than to rip scholarships from kids who are contributing and kids who haven’t stepped on campus. I think the fact that Pitt hasn’t gotten these big time recruits may have something to do with the fact that Dixon does things the right way and isn’t a slimeball. But, I guess the situation will shake itself out and we all will see. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right, but no matter which, there are people who do it right.
If only it were so simple as good guys and bad guys…..guys that do it right and scumballs. Those clear black and white distinctions, if there ever were any in college sports, vanished years ago. Now they all (Dixon included) play in a gray game of deals and solutions to problems.
I doubt there’s such a thing as a squeaky-clean winning program these days because the game they’re playing doesn’t permit it. How can you build some clean building on the foundation of what these kids have been through from the age of 12 on up?
They’ll find a scholarship if that’s what they need and you’ll never how they got it.
Secondly, this has absolutely nothing to do with money or the bottom line or success at all costs. It has everything to do with integrity, character and a coach’s relationship with his players. Ya, the college game is a business. But much like any business in the real world, it is entirely possible to be successful without bending rules or forgetting you character along the way.
Finally, I believe Dixon does run a “clean” program and that integrity is important to him, the administration and the University of Pittsburgh. Not to mention there are plenty of deterrents and negative consequences for this kind of behavior.
We’ll see what happens, but I’m willing to give Coach Dixon the benefit of the doubt on this one. I’m sure we’ll all hear what the real story is in a few months anyway.
Don’t misunderstand me, though. I’m not talking about doing anything dirty re: the scholarship. They’ll find a way around the issue without any bad publicity, if that’s what they need to do.
And yes, it’s absolutely possible to be successful in many businesses without bending the rules or forgetting your character.
But college sports isn’t like most businesses. It’s built on a foundation that isn’t truthful or solid (these kids are there to make money and prestige for the university and conveniently nobody ever mentions that) and that infects everything that happens around these sports.
Regarding actually breaking the rules:
Plenty of deterrents? Negative consequences? Are you kidding me? The NCAA has a vested interest in the lack of deterrents and lack of consequences. They write a longer and longer book of regulations, but they don’t want to actually bust anybody, unless you just get stupid and flagrantly flaunt violations like Kelvin Sampson…..
I’m a fan of college sports (and Pitt especially), but I’m realistic enough to think of it like any other professional, money-making entertainment sport.
As far as the NCAA goes, yes they are a complete joke. They are focused on a lot of the wrong things and I sometimes questions whether or not they have the student-athlete’s best interest in hand (i.e. the whole Mike Cook situation). But there are other consequences and repercussions that are real; for example the perception of the coach and the program, that I believe are legitimate deterrents to what I would consider to be inappropriate behavior by a coaching staff. And I think those deterrents can be more effective than any potential punishment that the NCAA could hand out.
I’d like to think Pitt has done things with dignity and class, but I’ve also heard plenty of rumors about certain former assistants with supposedly shady duties.
Who knows? In big-time college athletics you rarely get the real story. Rumors are always swirling and some are BS and others have some truth behind them.
I’d also like to think that the reason Pitt hasn’t gotten the big recruits is because they wouldn’t sell out for them (I think you mentioned this earlier and I agree). I don’t mind missing Final 4s if it means the kids stay for 4 yrs and develop. That makes it seem a lot more like college basketball to me……