Pitt did not have a hard time against IUP last night. Not exactly unexpected. Still, there were some problems and the players themselves were not exactly pleased with all aspects of their performance.
On Thursday, the Panthers faced far stiffer competition, didn’t have a player score more than 13 points, and never led by more than 21.
All of that aside, Pitt did beat the in-state Crimson Hawks 73-56 at the Petersen Events Center. But for the players and coaches, the performance wasn’t exactly convincing.
“Today we got outworked; no one wants to say it, but the other team outworked us today,” senior guard Brad Wanamaker said after the game.
It’s hard to read too much into exhibition games. The talent disparity is huge. The energy level in the building is different. Definitely the approach of both teams are far, far apart.
Some of the good things, though, saw Lamar Patterson make his season debut and for the most part look very promising when he had his turn.
Patterson, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman, was 5 for 8 from the field and 3 for 6 from 3-point range in 20 minutes. He played small forward and power forward and is one of many players on the team with the versatility to play more than one position.
Brown and Patterson missed the first exhibition game Sunday against Northwood with hamstring and ankle injuries. Moore, a freshman small forward, stepped in and scored 17 points in that game. On Thursday night, Moore only played six minutes and had three points and three rebounds.
“It’s just numbers,” Dixon said. “Add them up. Not everyone can play. It’s just where the numbers are right now.”
On the other hand, Patterson also was 0-4 on FTs. Outside of Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker, this is not a good FT shooting team. I’ll say it now. It will be very frustrating, at times, and I will not be surprised if FT shooting costs Pitt a game this year.
Brad Wanamaker had a solid game with 13 points (6-6 on FTs) and got some love while still worrying people about his turnovers.
The former Philadelphia Player of the Year has developed into one of the top passers in the league. He recorded 98 assists in Big East play last season, the second-highest total in the league. The versatile Wanamaker, who started all 34 games last season at small forward, will play more shooting guard this season with 6-6 Gilbert Brown moving to small forward.
Wanamaker needs to do a better job taking care of the ball. He had 92 turnovers last season — by far the most on the team — and seemed to have a couple of head-scratching miscues each game.
In Pitt’s two exhibition games, Wanamaker had 16 assists and four turnovers.
A little misleading play with the stats from last year, though. Last year in conference play Wanamaker had 98 assists and 45 turnovers (2.2 A/TO). Overall he was 160 assists and 92 turnovers (1.7 A/TO). Room for improvement, but the expectation is that he won’t have to do quite so much with ball handling this year.
Especially if Travon Woodall continues to make progress.
…Dixon acknowledged that he has been after point guard Travon Woodall to play at a quicker pace. Dixon wants to score more with his transition offense this season, something he has not stressed very much in his tenure.
“We want him to play faster, push the ball more,” Dixon said. “That’s not normally what we want to do, but we want him to get more transition opportunities for us.”
The change in philosophy stems from the desire to take advantage of Woodall’s strengths. He is a lightning-fast player who can find teammates in a transition offense.
I don’t see it as a change in philosophy. Coach Dixon will pick up the tempo when the personnel dictates it. As much as Dixon has a system that puts the emphasis on defense and rebounding, he has shown flexibility to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of his players — as long as they still do what is expected on defense and getting boards. He still believes in Woodall and appears willing to tweak things to use him in a way that works better.\
Last night Woodall shot very well, but the think to watch will be the consistency this year. His stroke was off for most of last year. He has very much was a streak shooter. One of the things he has said he worked on was his shot over the summer.
Another player looking to improve from last year is Dante Taylor. Limited action as McGhee’s back-up last night, but he knows his role — for now.
Taylor hasn’t been deterred, rather he accepts his role as McGhee’s backup. He’s matured thanks to the humbling he received last season. He maintains his game still isn’t completely rounded, and he seems intent on proving it soon will be.
“I still need to work on playing with my back to the basket,” he said.
That doesn’t mean he will not be Robinson’s replacement. Zanna will likely start there in tonight’s exhibition against Indiana (Pa.), but coach Jamie Dixon would be wise to give Taylor a shot at the position at which he was recruited.
As for the contention that McGhee and Taylor can’t be on the floor at the same time — thus meaning more minutes for the bulky McGhee — Taylor said the two have played together in practice.
“It’s a possibility,” said Taylor with a smile. One can tell he is excited about the prospects. “It’s me and Talib and J.J. (Richardson) and we switch off. One day I’ll go (practice) with the guards, then the next I’ll go with the bigs.”
I like that Taylor hasn’t given up on wanting to play power forward. He’s not sulking about playing center. Instead he knows that to get that spot he has to keep improving his game to get there.
Another season preview for Pitt. Ranking them #8.
Finally, Coach Dixon will be part of a coaching competition for free throw shooting.
Sixty-four head coaches are set to participate in Shots from the Heart, a season-long free throw shooting contest complete with an NCAA tournament-style bracket that raises awareness for the fight against heart disease and honors the memory of Skip Prosser, the Wake Forest coach who died of a heart attack in 2007.
Beginning this month, the coaches once a month will shoot 25 foul shots with a staff member at each campus tallying up the results. Bragging rights will be involved, of course, given the 64-coach format.
I don’t really like Coach Dixon’s chances. Tom Izzo shoots tons of free throws and a certain Pitt alum turned Arizona Head coach who finished his career shooting 88.5% is involved
Imagine a shift of Woodall, Patterson, Moore and Taylor with maybe Brown moving to PF. That would be a lightning quick, dunkfest transition team that could score in bunches, and maybe even press a bit. The inexperience in the half court and on D would add some risk but in short bursts it could push leads that the opponent could not overcome against the core five.
Wow! That just psyched me up!
I missed the first half, but from what I saw Zanna and Taylor seem to be almost exact replicas. Really curious to see how their playing time shakes up and I’m hoping that, if one has to take a reduced role, it doesn’t affect his confidence/dedication (seems like it idi to Taylor last year who seemed disoriented and/or disinterested in the game).
Woodall is saying (and doing) the right things according to the article and I love that great Dixon is pushing him to push the ball. He can be lightening quick — a few times last year and against IUP lsat night, he sometimes will bring ball up against court and just moved like he’s on fast-forward and everyone else is in regular time, slinked through the unsuspecting defense to score easy layups. Looking for more of that.
Also Gary apparantly has a semi-reliable hook-shot (but still has stone hands for rebounding). I”m thinkin he’s increasing his ppg by 2-4 pts this year.
Ok, that is all.
As for Monday’s opener, this is going to be a very tough opener against Rhode Island, who went to the NIT semifinals last year. And they return ten (10) players off that team. That’s right ten, and nine lettered. Plus they’re going to come into The Pete with a chip on their shoulder as they and their conf.(A-10) feel slighted that URI and the A-10 haven’t received as many NCAA bids as they think were warranted. URI has won at least 19 games in the last 4 years with only NIT bids to show for it. Throw in 4 senior starters and a 7 footer and Pitt better come out with their ‘A’ game. This IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL CUPCAKE OPENER. FAR FROM IT.
Hope it doesn’t backfire ala Utah.
Hail to Pitt !
Dear Villanova Alumni,
I wanted to update you on some recent happenings at the Big East Conference regarding its FBS football program. As you may recall, the Big East Commissioner paid a visit to Villanova in early September and reported that the members were interested in adding Villanova as a football member of the conference.
Earlier this week at our bi-annual conference meeting, the Big East presidents officially approved a process to evaluate terms and conditions for expansion in order to enhance membership stability and to assure our competitive position for the future. Because of this, there has been increased media interest, and therefore you may once again hear rumors and speculation as to possible plans and expansion strategies for the conference as well as how it impacts Villanova’s decision.
I want to assure you that this announcement in no way affects the Board and my commitment to the process or our in-depth and thorough evaluation of this opportunity. We are continuing on our exploratory path–looking at all possible scenarios and working diligently to compile the necessary information in order to make a thoughtful, informed decision.
In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to you, as it is important that we engage our entire community. This is a major decision for Villanova–with many pros and cons–and throughout the process we are dedicated to being as open and transparent as possible.
As I shared with you in September, a decision will be made only after we conduct a careful and complete analysis and weigh all the options. We expect this assessment to conclude by early spring 2011. Regardless of the timeframe, we will do what’s right for Villanova, and you can be confident that whatever decision we make will fully support our community-wide commitment to the University’s strategic objectives.
Sincerely,
Rev. Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A.
President
Nova and UCF (with the large Orland market) are the obvious choices. However, although this is extremely likely not to happen, SI columnist, Andy Staples, makes a compelling argument for ND joing the BE as a full time member.
