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October 27, 2010

Nas Out for Non-Con

Filed under: Basketball,Injury — Chas @ 2:26 pm

Well, it looks like a good chance that Nasir Robinson will miss most of it. At Monday’s practice, Robinson tore the meniscus in his right knee. He had surgery to repair it today — he is apparently doing fine.

Robinson will be out three to six weeks. At the short end, he misses the first few games of the season. At the full six weeks, he wouldn’t return until maybe Maryland — Eastern Shore.

Robinson may be challenged offensively at times, with a shot that had many last year screaming, NO!” That said, he was one of Pitt’s most aggressive defenders and would get after things. Being undersized at power forward did not diminish his overall effectiveness in Pitt’s game.

The other side of this, is it opens the door for Talib Zanna, who seems to have made huge strides from his redshirt season.

The brow-raising performance came from redshirt freshman power forward Talib Zanna, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Blue team beat the Gold team, 66-52, at the Petersen Events Center.

Zanna, 6 feet 9 and 225 pounds, was 7 for 10 from the field and showed a nice touch around the basket.

“Talib is tough,” said Gibbs, who scored a game-high 22 points for the Blue team. “I think he’s one of our best rebounders. In practice last year he was doing some major things to our starters, so it’s not a surprise to us.”

His stand-out performance at the Blue-Gold scrimmage was echoed in the comments as well as the play of J.J. Richardson. So, there are expectations that Pitt won’t lose too much — other than experience — while Nas is out.

It’s just one more thing to watch closely during the first few weeks of the season as Pitt sorts out the rotation.

Other stories of note. This Basketball Prospectus write-up from Pitt at Big East media day: Coach Dixon trying to tamp down the hype, while the players embracing things.

Weekend feature on Coach Dixon and Pitt’s program that got totally obscured by the whole car accident stuff. Players coming back to finish their degree and spend time hanging out around the program.





Nasir is a good role player and i wish him a speedy recovery, but believe the team may be better with the other forwards getting more minutes. Nasir would be better off the bench, but am sure Dixon was going to start him….he usually does not take a player out of the lineup, and will always start his seniors (ie degroat). and i know Nas is not a senior, but this goes to Dixons substitution patterns and lineups. So Nas get healthy, but some inexperienced will get valuable minutes which will be important come march.

Comment by DRGAGS 10.27.10 @ 2:55 pm

That’s a tough break for Nasir. While he’s not overly talented, he gives you 110% all the time and periodically he blows up, like the game he had against L’ville. He’s also a decent rebounder for an undersized PF. Hope he recovers quickly and completely. On the flip side as Chas noted, this provides an opportunity for Talib Zanna & JJ Richardson, and according to what we’ve read, Zanna could be ready to majorly contribute. While I doubt this will happen, perhaps Dante Taylor could get….a look see….at Power Forward which I still believe is the guys natural position and if he gets to the NBA where he’d play. Anyway, good to talk a little hoops where there isn’t any coach bashing going on……..Yet.

Comment by VirgilSollozzo 10.27.10 @ 2:57 pm

Get well soon Nasir. This shouldn’t be much of an issue. Pitt could play bigger with JJ Richardson or Talib Zanna at the 4. Or they could go small and slide Gilbert Brown or JJ Moore down to the 4 and put Woodall at the 1, Gibbs at the 2, and Wanny at the 3. Or they could let JJ Moore start right away at the 3 or 4. Depth isn’t an issue for this team.

This will probably hurt a bit on the defensive end, but the additional offense should make up for it. Plus Gilbert played the 4 almost exclusively last year, therefore he should be accustomed to defending the position.

Finally, this is early in the year. Nasir should be back in time for the Big East and March madness.

Comment by Omar 10.27.10 @ 2:58 pm

Nas brings toughness and an agressive style, which I think rubs off on the other players. I’m sure Jamie likes that, and it’s probably one of the reasons he starts Nas.

I agree that it will give others a chance to step up, and Jamie may find an unexpected star among the bunch.

Speedy recovery, Nas. Pitt will need your toughness in BE play for sure.

Comment by TampaT 10.27.10 @ 3:27 pm

I love the way Nas plays the game. He gives you 100% every night and is not affraid to do the little things to help the team win. I wish him a speedy recovery. With that said, I think this team has tons of depth and Dixon is great at making adjustments. Looking forward to the season!

Comment by JAM 05 Pitt 10.27.10 @ 3:49 pm

My understanding is that JJ Moore is an explosive wing player, so I’m not sure, even with smaller line ups, we would see him playing power forward. Gilbert obviously plays out of position when he plays the 4, but he’s experienced and versatile. Anyway though, I’m excited to see what Zanna can do. Nasir is a very saavy player and I love his unselfishness and interior passing ability- as well as aforementioned toughness. We trade that for more rebounds and scoring with Zanna. On Richardson, to be frank, I’m very interested in what his eventual role in the program will be. There are two highly regarded frontline prospects coming into the program and we will be over the scholarship limit next year. He’s not from the NY/Philly/Balt/DC corridor and by all accounts, is being passed over by Zanna as a starter. I liked what I saw out of him last year though. Above it all, I just hope we don’t have to endure the “Taylor at the 4” discussions for another year around here…I’m kind of excited to see what Lamar Patterson can contribute. He sounds sort of like a Wannamaker part deux in terms of toughness, versatility, etc. Comes out of a great h.s. program and geez, he committed to Pitt as a junior in h.s. so he wants to be here bad.

We scrimmage Northwood University of Florida Saturday. They are coached by a Big East classic head coach Rollie Massamino- a guy who managed to win a National Championship (without stumbling/driving around drunk, banging waitresses in backrooms, shoplifting, etc.). Tipoff is supposed to be at 2pm. I wonder if they will push that back because of the L’Ville game.?.?. Hopefully we can get some reports of how things go at The Pete.

Comment by SilverPanther in NYC 10.27.10 @ 3:51 pm

Hoops exhibition is Sunday.

Comment by Jason 10.27.10 @ 4:28 pm

At the beginning of last season I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Nasir Robinson was even playing. Then, after watching him in person at the Louisville game (his biggest game of the season)I realized how much energy he plays with. He simply was playing harder than everyone else on the court, and that is how he plays every game. Undersized and not a great offensive threat, but I’ll take a guy like that on my team any day.

Hope the surgery went well and that he has a full and speedy recovery.

Comment by TJ 10.27.10 @ 6:03 pm

start Taylor. See if he can live up to his potential early this year. Get well soon Nas. We need you for Big East

Comment by Tony Cancilla 10.27.10 @ 6:19 pm

Sam Young, who I would also describe as an explosive wing player, was at the 4 his entire junior year. Pitt’s system requires the 4 to play inside and out. JJ Moore will be able to play the 4 at Pitt. In the NBA, JJ Moore will play the 3 or 2. The Big East is not the NBA.

Comment by omar 10.27.10 @ 6:41 pm

Just curious, SilverPanther, were you alluding to Paul E? Oh, and as for Rollie, there was a huge cocaine problem with his team.

Comment by Gas 10.27.10 @ 7:44 pm

One guy from the ’85 ‘Nova team (Gary McClain) admitted to using coke. He sold his story about it to SI. It wasn’t Rollie Massamino looking the other way in his program.

I don’t see JJ Moore playing power forward this year, even with Robinson injured. There are still three players at that position ahead of him. But you never know. Sam Young played PF because the team was small and required rebounding contributions. Biggs was still a 6th man at that time…However, something to think about, an intriguing line up would be if Gilbert slides to 4 and JJ comes in at the 3. And say Gibbs at 2 and Woodall at point. That could be an exciting alley-oop and shooting fest.

Comment by SilverPanther in NYC 10.27.10 @ 10:34 pm

I hope he gets well soon, but I think it’s a blessing for the team. We already knew what Nas brings to the table. This will give other guys some much needed minutes. Taylor, Moore or Zanna should benefit the most.

Comment by Pittastic 10.28.10 @ 6:18 am

Tough break, but from all accounts recoverable. We sometimes forget the fragility of athletics. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and a strong return.

I like Nas as a player because he is the epitome of the typical Pitt/JD player (undervalued, unddersized, underappreciated, overdelivering)…

Spinning this postively, it might be good to see our second tier players step up and develop for the future.

Comment by Pauly P 10.28.10 @ 6:49 am

Nice to have depth. Expecteting breakout yr from Nas.

Comment by alcofan 10.28.10 @ 10:52 am

AP poll is out – Pitt is #5.

link to post-gazette.com

Comment by Pantherman13 10.28.10 @ 4:03 pm

Whats the word of freshman Epps? Wasnt this the kid that when recruited talked about only one or two years of college before off to the nba? I read last week that he is a redshirt candidate. In today’s college game I believe solid point guard play if the most important key to success. I hope Pitt has one.

Comment by Z-Boy 10.29.10 @ 12:35 am

Epps didn’t start the blue gold scrimmage. So presumably, he’s not one of the four best guards.

While it is hard to tell anything from one scrimmage, my first impressions of him were not great. He didn’t appear to be very big, quick or athletic. His shot looked ok, but he missed the couple of shots I saw him take. He didn’t have any great assists.

My first of impressions of Woodall from two years were that he didn’t belong in D1 basketball. I didn’t get that sense from Epps, but I certainly don’t expect him to contribute to a final four run this year. With the depth of this team and the fact that he missed the Ireland trip, I expect him to redshirt. I am sure he’ll develop over the next year and will be a solid player. Could he be the starter in 2012? Absolutely.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 10.29.10 @ 7:46 am

“My first of impressions of Woodall from two years were that he didn’t belong in D1 basketball.”

Boubacar Aw: Am I misreading this or are you including last year’s performance? If so, I’m VERY puzzled by that statement, because I can recall Jamie putting the ball in his hands a few times in critical last-minute situations and Woodall delivering. So one of the nation’s best coaches thinks he belongs in D1 baskeball, but you don’t? Just looking for some clarification or justification of that statement.

Comment by TampaT 10.29.10 @ 8:54 am

Epps isn’t going to redshirt. He is already 20.

Comment by Omar 10.29.10 @ 6:30 pm

I think I forgot to type AGO, I meant to say my first impression from TWO YEARS AGO, when he was a true freshman.

Comment by Boubacar Aw 10.29.10 @ 9:45 pm

Omar, I’ll bet you a beer he redshirts…..

Comment by Boubacar Aw 10.29.10 @ 9:47 pm

Thanks for clarifying, Boubacar Aw. I thought that’s what you meant but it didn’t read that way.

I know you follow these guys in the offseason more closely than most so if you think Epps may redshirt, I’m buying it.

Omar: Regardless of his age, he’ll need to make those off-court adjustments, like class work, to stay on the team. A redshirt year would be valuable there, and this would be the time to do it with the team being so deep. You may end up owing Boubacar Aw a beer.

Comment by TampaT 10.30.10 @ 6:59 am

[…] year, Nas missed several games when he suffered a tear in the meniscus in his right knee. The same knee he has injured this week. […]


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