Between the February doldrums and the snow that continues to fall, the fact that I am not quietly drinking in a corner while the kid is playing with cleaning supplies is a decent victory for me.
It also means I’m letting a lot languish. So, it is time to just clear out some of the browser tabs.
Spurs.com has a pleasant puff piece on DeJuan Blair and wanting to give back to the Hill District.
The Hill claimed Blair’s best friend and closed his school. It also provided inspiration. Before he arrived at the University of Pittsburgh — just 600 yards away from his home — Blair began lifting his community. As a senior, he led Schenley High to the state championship. He announced his decision to attend Pittsburgh at a recreation center in The Hill. After his first season at Pitt, Blair became larger than life on The Hill.
He visited schools, hung out at the rec center and gave motivational speeches. Recalls Dixon, “His freshman year I said, ‘Hey DeJuan, you are not going to be here for four years. What I want from you is to impact this city, I want you to be a person of stature because of the things you do beyond your playing career.'”
Blair took the charge seriously, so seriously he often showed up at schools without telling officials at Pittsburgh who arrange such events.
“He’d go out and speak to a high school on his own,” says Pittsburgh media relations director Greg Hotchkiss. “He’d go out and do community service on his own.
The ever-continuing question of whether Gilbert Brown should be in the starting line-up and bringing Nasir Robinson off the bench is not likely to end. The last couple of games has seen Brown come in by the first TV Timeout (around 16 minute mark) as opposed to around the 14 to 12 minute mark. He’s also playing more minutes lately. Personally, I don’t think it matters that much. He is seeing plenty of minutes and doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.
I think three other things work in favor of keeping Robinson in the starting line-up. Robinson is not the scorer Brown is, but he is a little more consistent — for good and ill. With Brown, he is up and down from game to game. It is probably good for Robinson’s confidence to still be a starting the game. Plus, keeping Brown on the bench to start may be better in protecting him. The last thing that Pitt needs is Brown in early foul trouble. Being on the bench early gives him a chance to gauge the way the game is called/played. Nothing would suck more than seeing him pick up a foul in the first couple minutes and have to play more tentatively.
J.J. Richardson has been given a chance in recent games and has embraced the opportunity even out of position.
Richardson is not a trained center. He played power forward in high school and expected to play power forward at Pitt. But shortly after he arrived on campus, he was told he would be playing center this season.
For Richardson, the transition has been difficult at times, but he is finally starting to feel comfortable. That was evident in his performance against the Mountaineers.
He likely earned more minutes with his inspired play, but he knows he must continue to produce to warrant more time in the rotation.
“I think I did prove something to [the coaches], but I think I have to prove more to them,” he said. “I did have a good game, but I think I can show them more. I can come out and rebound better and do a few other things better. I think I can do more in that sense.”
Coach Dixon sounded almost Wannstedtian in his explanation as to why Richardson had not seen much action until the WVU debacle.
“That’s something we’ve talked to him about,” Dixon said. “I thought we’d have more situations with foul trouble with our big guys. He’s working hard and showing improvement. He has a better understanding on the defensive end. He’s rebounding well. Those are the things that stood out to me. Guys get better at different rates and he’s improving. Our players have seen him work hard and he deserved the opportunity.”
The whole Dante Taylor matter should have everyone weary and done discussing it now — whether it is the issue of playing power forward or center, his overall minutes, his conditioning, declaring a bust or disappointment, etc. Sure, some people just can’t let it go.
I indicated last week that he is more in line with most other freshmen big men. I never got around to commenting on potentially provocative/threatening column on Taylor that had his high school coach talking. Questioning why Taylor was playing Center, and making an implied threat.
This isn’t to place the blame squarely on Dixon, as Taylor deserves his share for failing to take advantage of his opportunity. Overwhelmed or not, there’s no excuse for lacking intensity or playing soft. But Taylor is Pitt’s first McDonald’s All-American in 22 years and, after watching his struggles, it might be some time before the Panthers land another.
“The way it’s going right now, it would be really hard for me to send a McDonald’s All-America up there again,” Brown said. “People call me and say, ‘Why isn’t he playing? Why is he playing the center spot?’
You know how seriously that implication should be taken? Not at all. He follows that supposedly provocative statement with this.
“I can’t question Jamie Dixon’s coaching because Jamie Dixon is one of the best coaches in the country. All I can do is trust him with what he’s doing. He’s pretty successful. I’m just a high school coach. We played against Sam Young two or three times a year and, coming out of high school, he was nowhere as skilled as Dante Taylor is. We saw how they developed him, and that’s what attracted Dante — and me as a coach — to Pittsburgh.”
Brown called Taylor a “loyal kid” who isn’t complaining or talking about transferring, but emphasizes that his production would increase with more playing time.
Now obviously he is questioning the decision, but he’s also smart enough to hedge. He wants Taylor to succeed because it helps the coach at a private school to be able to recruit more talent by pointing not just to the players who get McD accolades but to how players from his program go to the major programs all over. He’s not about to blacklist Pitt and Jamie Dixon over Taylor playing center instead of power forward in Taylor’s first year. He’s also smart enough to note the history of Coach Dixon in developing players and Taylor needs developing — in skills and conditioning.
He also wants to protect his former player (and himself). That’s why he stresses that Taylor is a PF, and not a C. That’s fine, but Taylor to play PF in the Big East — and really in any of the BCS conferences — needs to be able to play, rebound, pass and bang inside. He has to be able to operate inside. It will happen, just not as fast as anyone wishes.
Damnit. I still ended up spending too much additional pixels on this.
A couple other things. Another article on how Jermaine Dixon wasn’t able to practice during Pitt’s slump.
An article on Gary McGhee not getting the touches early against RMU, but Pitt went to him later in the game.
