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January 27, 2010

A Few Basketball Things

Filed under: Basketball,Recruiting,Transfer — Chas @ 6:48 am

Well, Cameron Wright was elevated into the ESPNU Top-100 recruits.

Also joining the rankings are: No. 77 Allen Crabbe of Price (Los Angeles); No. 85 Stargell Love of Quality Education (Winston-Salem, N.C.); No. 86 Maurice Jones of Arthur Hill (Saginaw, Mich.); No. 90 Geron Johnson of Dunbar (Dayton, Ohio); No. 91 Cameron Wright of Benedictine (Cleveland); and No. 99 Joe Young of Yates (Houston).

Interestingly, one of the players that fell out of their top-100 was Jordan Sibert, an Ohio PG that Ohio State pursued and got — then lost interest in Wright. Sibert got hurt last spring and is still healing. He’s playing and the two actually ended up facing off in Columbus this past weekend.

In turn, Wright committed to Pittsburgh and gave Thad a glimpse of what he may be missing as his team defeated Sibert’s by a score of 55-48.

Sibert’s outside shooting was off Saturday as he shot just 2-7 from 3-point range, but the senior did score 19 points. Although it looked like he is not 100% recovered from a knee injury suffered last spring, Sibert did look strong and Buckeye fans should be excited to have him as part of this class. He did not have as good of a supporting cast as Wright did and despite not playing as well as he liked, he never quit and kept his team in the game.

Wright, on the other hand, must have felt good with his 19 point performance at the venue he once though he would be playing at for the next four years. Unlike Sibert, who likes to make it rain from the outside, Wright is kind of a high-glider who plays really well above the rim and can attack the basket with ease. He is going to be a really good player for Jamie Dixon…

Coach Dixon received a midterm grade of “A” from DeCourcy at the Sporting News.

Useless information that I never knew about college basketballs.

You may not have thought much about this, but there is not a standard ball in NCAA basketball. Each school can decide to use its own brand of basketball (as long as it conforms to specifications), and leagues like the Big East can use up to five or six different basketballs, depending upon the manufacturers each school has deals with. One game, you may be playing with a Nike ball, then a Wilson, then The Rock, then an Adidas ball, then a Molten ball.

Last week, Notre Dame played at Cincinnati and the Fighting Irish players felt that the ball used was smaller than they were used to. Notre Dame, like most teams, has several of every different brand of ball used by teams on its schedule so that the Irish can practice with the same ball they will be playing with next. Basketball is still very much a game of feel, and it is a game of attention to detail.

Weird. I have to believe that the NCAA has an official (read: heavily paid for the rights) basketball for the NCAA Tournament.

Someone tries to get Gary Parrish at CBSSportsline to go negative on Pitt for luck. Parrish won’t bite.

I really don’t see much in concrete info from Ray Fittipaldo’s weekly chats, but I am constantly bemused by certain fixations. (Really, someone still banging the drum for McGhee and Taylor to play at the same time? Have they seen the way Taylor has struggled lately? How well Robinson has been playing?) Still nothing inside information, though, Fittipaldo seems to be acknowledging that transfers could occur and that the most logical ones would be Dwight Miller and Travon Woodall. Of course there are always those that want to treat this as a fantasy/professional league.

NJ-Joe: Recruiting … if Jamie Dixon has some recruits better than some on the bench … he should cut those on the bench loose … ie. Zanna, Miller, Woodall.

Ray Fittipaldo: Jamie does not do that very often. Off the top of my head Ed Turner, Dante Milligan and Cassin Diggs are the only ones to leave the program when Dixon was the head coach. And I think Milligan left for family reasons moreso than how he fit in with Pitt. It could happen again, but you should be aware of Dixon’s track record with these types of things.

Transfers/forcing a kid out is a very uncomfortable thing to me. I understand the reasons, and I’m not naive about it. I just find it distasteful and a bit short-sighted.

Yes, scholarships are only one-year with the school/coach’s option to renew. Yet it is an inequitable deal, that in my view violates most implied (if not explicit) verbal promises (as opposed to what the scholarship agreement and NLI say in writing)  from the coaches that recruit them. That said, there are only just a handful of coaches that aggressively turn over their roster with any frequency, and rarely is it more than just one player in a season. It happens, but mainly in a coaching change.

The shortsighted portion comes from a few things. First, the most obvious is  if that player develops somewhere else. Not every player develops at the same rate or as fast as expected (or hoped). The next issue is that a coach is still gambling that the even newer player brought in will not only be able to contribute more overall, but develop faster. If they don’t, then you risk taking a step back or it all catching up to you if you do it too much. You find yourself having turned over too much roster and not enough players ready to contribute at key spot.

UConn serves as a great example, because few teams churn like UConn without major coaching upheaval. The Huskies struggle with their front court. They have Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards  — a senior who is finally contributing — playing the most minutes. They are struggling to get much from Majok and Oriakhi. Meanwhile over the last few years they have forced out Marcus Johnson (USC, 10.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Curtis Kelly (K-State, 11.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg). Both are playing more than 20 minutes a game and either would provide a far more productive option in the frontcourt rotation. Both were forced out because they didn’t contribute to UConn quickly enough





Maybe–just maybe–Jamie oughta try Sleepy at PF. At C he looks like he doesn’t belong and, worse, doesn’t wanna be there. In the last game he took a shot around 10 feet away and looked so much more comfortable with it.

Sleepy, in my mind, is a transfer candidate.

Comment by steve 01.27.10 @ 8:06 am

Steve that is why most of us are glad that you are not behind the decision process of who is a transfer candidate. The guys 19 games into his career, some kids take longer to adjust to college life/athletics. He’ll be fine and has a bright future at Pitt ahead of him.

Comment by PITTapotamus 01.27.10 @ 9:22 am

Dante Taylor will not transfer. That is crazy talk. THE KID DOES NOT HAVE THE SKILL SET TO PLAY POWER FORWARD IN THE BIG EAST. Do you think he can guard Stanley Robinson, Lazar Haywood, Devin Ebanks or Kevin Jones, Reggie Redding, Wesley Johnson, etc. All of these players spend time at the 4 in the Big East, with many of them playing all of their minutes at it. Secondly, do you, or anyone else, really believe that Taylor can put the ball on the floor or shoot the three. A 4 needs to be able to do both of those things in this league. Georgetown gets away with Monroe at the 4 because he can pass and put it on the floor. However, the downside showed up when Pitt put Gilbert Brown at the 4 and he went off for 20 points. Taylor is a 4 in the NBA, not even close to one right now in college. Get over it.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 9:23 am

Omar, I’m not sure it is so much have not having the skill as it is not having the training or experience. When I saw Taylor in the all-star game, I remember him shooting, driving and passing from the perimeter. Of course, there is not a lot of defense in these games .. but he is not void of skills, especially at the 4.

What is crazy talk is the suggestion on some of the boards is by putting Gil at the 4 and let him work unerneath on offense … his scoring comes from the perimeter and the dribble-drive … but using him for a low-post is insane.

Comment by wbb 01.27.10 @ 9:33 am

wbb, i’m not saying he doesn’t have skills. i’m just saying that, at this exact moment, his skill set is not polished enough to play the 4 in the big east. it just isn’t. he has a decent jump-shot, but his elbow sticks out creating a unneccesary side spin. i have never noticed him taking a player off the dribble. he has great height, but he can’t finish in the post up game because he doesn’t have the strength. the kid will be an all-big east player eventually based on the size and athleticism, but he isn’t anywhere close right now. additionally, his hands are just not where they need to be. he reminds me of a less talented kwame brown at this moment. he is a great rebounder on the offensive end and can run the floor and hit an occasional 8-10 foot jumper. i like him as a player, but this nonsense about him at the 4 really needs to stop. it’s as if these fans have never watched a game.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 9:43 am

and i agree, gilbert brown has never effectively shown that he can post up a player. especially another 4. i still think he should start at the 4, but posting him up would be a disaster.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 9:45 am

Omar, you are far wrong, Taylor largely has the skill set to play the 4 and defend those types of players. He is at the 5 because of the lack of depth there and doesn’t play the four because it would be too much on the young man’s plate as a freshman. He is thought to be a natural 4. He would be a 4 this year and possible starting there if Blair was back.

Comment by PITTapotamus 01.27.10 @ 10:13 am

The reason he looks out of place, lost, lethargic, and unsure of himself I think a lot of people would agree comes from him playing a new position that he is not comfortable, confident, and hasn’t really grasped yet. The kid has skills though, which he flashes at times, he just needs to get comfortable.

Comment by PITTapotamus 01.27.10 @ 10:16 am

And maybe the reason he looks out of place, lost, and lethargic is that he is unhappy playing center and maybe consdering transfering unless he gets some time at another position.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.27.10 @ 10:23 am

I like Brown at the 4, where he’s been playing all season. I think Sam Young proved last year that you don’t necessarily need post up skills to be successful as a PF in the Big East. Whether he’s at the 4 or 5, Taylor is in learning and experience mode and I agree that the combination of lack of depth at 5 and the difficulty of playing the 4 in this offense are strong enough reasons to keep him at 5. As I mentioned last week, I thought a really interesting line up was 1-Gibbs, 2- Dixon, 3- Wanny, 4- Brown, 5- Taylor. These are our, potentially, 5 best players. Also, let’s give the benefit of doubt to the program for being able to develop players and assume that just because he’s playing the 5 now, doesn’t mean that Taylor can not move to power forward down the line.

Comment by SilverPanther in NYC 01.27.10 @ 10:34 am

Young was at the 3.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.27.10 @ 11:13 am

taylor is a natural 4 in the NBA, not in college. clamor all you want, if he was a “natural” 4, then he would be playing the position. the kid isn’t transferring and he isn’t playing the 4 this year and possibly ever at pitt. how many 6’10” players with taylor’s body play the 4 in college? name a couple please. you just don’t see it in the college game anymore. the 4 is a perimeter based position and you need a face up game and an ability to put the ball on the floor. and there is absolutely no way in hell that taylor was playing the 4 in high school so the 5 is not a new position for him. ebanks or jones defended by taylor, lazar haywood defended by taylor! are you kidding? i don’t think WVU or marquette would run any other sets. they would milk that matchup all day long.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 11:36 am

taylor is finally realizing that he can’t get by on athleticism and size in the big east. he needs to get stronger. adding strength would even help use his size and length advantage if he ever does play the 4 at Pitt. that is his problem right now. he can’t finish when he gets bumped and he gets knocked back when players post him up (see the way herb pope manhandled him down low on sunday). do you think he would have been better off defending jeff robinson who was hitting 17-foot jumpers all day against the hall and can fly to the hoop after one dribble. that would have been a poster.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 11:40 am

Young played the 4 as a junior.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 11:42 am

Omar, what fun!

link to youtube.com

Comment by steve 01.27.10 @ 11:50 am

Brown has not played the 4 all year, there has been a handful of time when he and Nasir were both on the floor at the same time … and you who have followed Pitt this past decade should know why Nasir contines to get the minutes he is getting … defense. Brown is a real good defender at the 3 but it depends who he has to defend at the 4 … note that both Gtown and S Hall had two big bodies playing at the same time.

Lastly, Sam is stronger than Gilbert plus Sam two years ago had a much more dominant center to work with.

Comment by wbb 01.27.10 @ 12:03 pm

Until Taylor has the passing skills, off-ball separation move, and jump shot follow-through adjusted (horrible side rotation), he will not see the 4 in Jamie’s system. Could he address those things throughtout the maturation/coaching process? Sure. Not this year.

The 4 is the most difficult position in JD’s system because it requires the threat of mid-range jumper or a on-ball offensive move, tremendous passing skills, and tremendous athleticism to play defense against NBA-caliber players. Taylor is poor at passing, has no on-ball offensive move, or even the remote threat of a mid-range jumper. Not saying he won’t over time, but not now.

Taylor should be thanking JD everyday that he is putting him in, arguably, the easiest position on the court to contribute while he matures–the 5. At the five, you focus on ball screens, hedging on D, rebounding, and garbage points (layups, putbacks, FTs). He just needs to continue to focus on this role and let his game come to him.

My big concern with DT moving forward is not transferring (please, are you f’in kidding me?) is that horrible hitch in his shot. It’s pretty hard to un-learn that at his age. You can get away with an ugly hitch or odd mechanics if the trajectory is faced up and the rotation is clean… Someone has to work on that for him.

Comment by Pauly P 01.27.10 @ 12:11 pm

PITTapotamus, players are involved in transfer decisons, no?

I’m telling you, Sleepy looks like he doesn’t belong. But he’s shown enough flashes of brilliance that he belongs somewhere.

Jamie’s great but not perfect. Couldn’t we have used a Herb Pope last Sunday?

Comment by steve 01.27.10 @ 12:15 pm

Robinson starts at the 4 and usually at the 6 or 8 minute mark into the half, Brown comes in for him at that position and Taylor comes in for McGee at center. So far, most of the time Brown and Robinson will not overlap in playing time, but Brown will play 3 when they do. Wannamaker plays at the 3 most of the time (like 30+ minutes) but occassionally, Dixon will swing over to 3 when Woodall runs the point and Gibbs swings over to 2. Although, I guess you just call this a 3-guard offense really.

Comment by SilverPanther in NYC 01.27.10 @ 12:22 pm

Taylor is not even close to being strong enough to defend the 5. But I will hold my opinion of his skills for the 4 until I actually see him laying the position.

Comment by wbb 01.27.10 @ 12:37 pm

We’re still waiting for Woodall to run the point and Taylor to play center but it just isn’t happening. Maybe it is time to try something else?

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.27.10 @ 12:42 pm

Omar and wbb beat me to it…I think the main thing holding Taylor back is his lack of physical development. Just because he is 6’10” and 240 lbs does not make him physically ready to play in the Big East. I have seen glimpes of what he will become, and the future looks very bright. Next fall I expect to see a stronger, more physical post player in Taylor that dominates under the basket.

Comment by HbgFrank 01.27.10 @ 12:56 pm

So does anyone think Taylor is going to improve at center this year? Otherwise, are we are going to continue to piss away his freshman year?

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.27.10 @ 1:31 pm

taylor has had ups and downs. he has played well in a few games and terrible in others. he is a regular freshman. everybody is spoiled by how great dejuan blair was his freshman year. that doesn’t happen often and is why blair was one of the best players in the country. he was the freshman of the year in the conference and is in the nba as a 20-year old. not too many players are that good. give taylor some time and i am certain that he will be an all-big east player.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 1:38 pm

Taylor ups and downs? It’s mostly downs. He’s only had 3 of 19 decent games. Arguably his best game was the Syracuse game, 5 games ago. Even his “up” games have only been average. And in no game yet would anybody mistake him for a McDonalds All-American. His minutes are declining. I don’t mean to criticize, although it seems that way, a young man full of potential, but to suggest that he might be doing better at another position. Even though the center position is theoretically easier to learn he is clearly and totally mismatched to this position.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.27.10 @ 2:28 pm

shady:

he has been disappointing. there is no other way to say it. levance was much more of an impact freshman at a more difficult position. it just shows you that the mcdonald’s all american label isn’t everything it is made out to be. i would argue that ronald ramon had a better freshman year than taylor. what can you do? the year isn’t over and i wouldn’t write him off from making an impact. i am positive that he will be an excellent player for Pitt eventually.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 3:14 pm

Omar, you missed the point totally, I’m not calling for him to play the four now, nor do I think he will this year. I just think you were far off in assuming his skills are the reason he is not playing 4. The 4 is his natural position, and that does NOT mean that he should or will be playing it now. It is do to team need, period. We need a body at 5, so he plays 5. Also, they aren’t going to throw two positions at the kid as a freshman. Dixon is known for running 100’s of sets and learning one position as a frosh is daunting enough. So yes he shouldn’t be playing 4 right now, but it isn’t due to lack of skills.

Steve players do factor in that decision and I never said they didn’t. I doubt Taylor wants to transfer, and I would say that any freshman who is 20 games into their career and would decide to transfer is a quitter that you don’t want in the program. He is a kid, he will develop, he may not be comfortable with his spot now, but I’m sure he knows that he eventually will get comfortable whether it be at 5 or 4. Deciding to transfer as a freshman before giving your career a chance is silly. Look how it worked for Young, who played out of position at the 4 early and struggled for a while in his career. I doubt he regrets it. Dixon knows what he is doing. As far as Pope goes, so what if the kid is doing well and had a good game. That isn’t why Pitt didn’t want him. It is his baggage, he has been shot, has a DUI, and has had trouble almost everywhere he went. I hope he does succeed and has no problems. But I don’t blame Dixon or anyone at Pitt for not wanting to take that chance.

Comment by PITTapotamus 01.27.10 @ 3:53 pm

Pittapotamus:

I understand your point (and have from the beginning) and vehemently disagree. My point is simple: Dante Taylor, at this point in his career, DOES NOT have the skills necessary to play the 4 at Pitt. I don’t know what this means for him long-term at the 4, but presently he can’t play the position.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 4:52 pm

Pittapotamus:

I also strongly agree with you second paragraph.

Comment by Omar 01.27.10 @ 4:53 pm

Re: Sleepy, who knows until you try?

Re: Pope, ditto. It would’ve been nice to see Jamie involved in his development.

Comment by steve 01.27.10 @ 5:32 pm

jeez two losses (one to a pretty damn good team and one to a match-up nightmare on the road, it should be added) and we’re questioning jamie dixon’s decisions? really? remember when this was a rebuilding year? taylor is coming along. perhaps he isn’t coming along as fast as people expected him to, but he wouldn’t be the first mcdonald’s all-american to have that problem (anyone see mike jones at umd a few years ago?). he’s playing the five his freshman year because it’s an easier position than the 4. i’d be more than willing to bet that if we could redshirt him, we would. he will move to the 4 once we have an adequate center and once he has put in practice time at the position. he’s sure as hell not gonna transfer – who would leave a top-notch program to sit out a year and be thrust into an entirely new and possibly worse situation? so lets sit back and remember that this team wasn’t even supposed to make the tournament before we start thinking that a freshman is gonna transfer or that jamie is misusing his players. let’s just see how the rest of this season plays out. my guess is 6 more wins and we’re dancing… so let’s see if the boys can get ’em.

Comment by Jon 01.28.10 @ 1:30 am

from today’s P-G Q&A from R Fittipaldo concerning D Taylor
link to post-gazette.com

Comment by wbb 01.28.10 @ 7:44 am

… he will move to the 4 once we have an adequate center … Well that could just scare him into transfering asap.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.28.10 @ 9:11 am

Fittipaldo is flat-out wrong. Dante Taylor was not a face-up player in high school. He was a big, athletic kid, who ran the floor, rebounded, and dunked the basketball. He very occasionally hit an 8-10 foot jump shot, but it was inconsistent because of the awkward spin created by his form (elbow out specifically). He didn’t put the ball on the floor.

Comment by Omar 01.28.10 @ 9:45 am

Omar, when I saw him in the McDonald’s all-star game, he played face-up (he certainly didn’t post) and he scored a few times on a dribble-drive from the top of the key. I’m not saying he is polished … but he certainly looked more of a 4 in that game than he did a 5.

Comment by wbb 01.28.10 @ 10:25 am

Omar,

Fittipaldo maybe only half wrong. Maybe he wasn’t a face-up player in high school. He has demonstrated that he has no low post skills. If he isn’t a low-post or a face-up player, then Fittipaldo has an interesting if not a good point about what kind of coaching was he getting a the National Christian Academy which has a reputation of being a b-ball player farm. I mean who just tells a kid to run up and down the floor, dunk the ball and rebound for four years.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.28.10 @ 10:49 am

Here is the brief synopsis of D Taylor from Scout.com:

Sturdy power forward with ability to play with skill or athleticism. Has a chance to be a physically gifted player who gets numbers. Runs, rebounds and prefers to play facing the basket. Top 50 player nationally in his class.

Comment by wbb 01.28.10 @ 11:02 am

Believe what you want. You all have seen his game in person 19 times this season. If you really want him at the 4, then be careful what you wish for.

Comment by Omar 01.28.10 @ 11:21 am

shady:

i wouldn’t be surprised if NCA did tell him to simply run up and down the floor, dunk, and rebound.

Comment by Omar 01.28.10 @ 11:23 am

if taylor is some hidden gem at the 4, then jamie dixon is an idiot. how can you not play a kid that is 6’9″ tall and built like a center at his “natural” position? the way you guys are describing his game makes it sound like he is dirk nowitzki. jamie dixon must be a fool for not allowing this great talent to not play the 4. what kind of an idiot makes a can’t miss power forward prospect play the 5!

Comment by Omar 01.28.10 @ 11:27 am

If all you saw of Taylor before this season was that lame-ass McDonald’s All-American Game, then your judgement is clouded. That game was one step up Y-ball, no defense and limited offensive sets. Heck, I think DT made a 3 in that game (believe it or not)…mind you, with noone covering him. I could see how it would give someone the impression that he had a face-up game. He doesn’t, okay.

From what I saw of him before he came to Pitt, he was NOT a face up player– although he played a C/F position that did not require true post moves because it simply was predicated on size/talent advantages. Like Omar said, it was kind of a “loosey/goosey” style that played to the clear height/talent disparity and less to strategy/true position skills. Let’s face it, DT was likely running against inferior talent for the most part of every game….do you think he really needed a MOVE?

Comment by Pauly P 01.28.10 @ 12:18 pm

Omar,

Nobody said Dixon is an idiot, he’s just caught between a rock and a hard place, and we have the advantage of hind sight.

It is not the way we describe him, it is fact that he is having problems catching the ball and missing dunks.

Nobody is saying that he is a hidden gem at the 4. We’re just saying that we’ve see what he can do at the 5, don’t like it, and we would like to see what he can do at the 4 with the advantage of adding some height to the line up. And if as you say, Taylor has no bb position skills just athleticism and the 4 is so hard to learn wouldn’t it be better for both him and Pitt that he spend as much time as possible at the position that gives him the best chance of a future? Just asking, that’s all.

Maybe he’ll surprise us and somehow score 20 points or more as the backup center tonight or the next game or the next. I don’t think so but let’s hope that I’m wrong.

Go Pitt.

Comment by shadyforpresident 01.28.10 @ 12:40 pm

shady:

point taken. however, i believe his inexperience will be exploited more at the 4 than it has at the 5. dante taylor is going to be a great player at pitt. unfortunately, it isn’t going to be this year at the 4 or the 5.

Comment by Omar 01.28.10 @ 1:20 pm

No one, and I mean no one, ever projected Taylor as a 5; he is playing there out of necessity. Remember, whe he was recruited, we were thought to be well set at the 5 .. and Taylor could have greatly benefitted playing with an estbalished center. He is overmatched as a 5 but I refuse to believe he cannot play face-up until he is given a chance.

Comment by wbb 01.28.10 @ 8:09 pm

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