I get Epps was a true frosh and behind the curve b/c of the trip to Ireland he couldn’t make but wasn’t he talking a few years ago of being 1-and-done?

I get that Gibbs needs to work on his ball-handling skills and making his own shot. But at the same time, I don’t think Woodall would be good at SG. He’s not tall enough and I’m not sure he has a good enough perimeter shot. I think that when Gibbs and Woodall are both on the floor, Woodall is point while Gibbs moves to SG. When Woodall isn’t playing, Gibbs moves back to point. But who plays that SG spot? According to Pitt’s #1 enemy Doug Gottlieb, it’ll be Cam Wright. He’s supposed to be really skilled, though I haven’t seen any of his Greentree highlights. This true about Wright?

Great post!

Anyone who writes off on John Johnson is making a huge mistake.

He is tough, gritty, competitive and has speed to burn. He also has a ton of basketball skill. He can drive, finish at the rim and shoot, both long/mid range. He showed some ability to be a decent on ball defender (quick and tenacious).

It remains to be seen if he can fit his game into what the Pitt coaches need quickly enough to make an impact this season. But it is POSSIBLE that he’ll play significant minutes coming off the bench this year. And if he does, Pitt will be much better off.

While it may not be this year, his future at Pitt is certainly bright.

One thing missing from the Pitt offense over the past few years was a low post presence .. thus there is no reason for the defense to double-down which may create open shots for the outside shooters. That should change this year; of course, this is contingent that D Taylor, when doubled, can find the open man on the perimeter.

This still requires the point guard to feed the low post at the right time … but at least, for the first time in a while, our offense is based on in-and-out passing and not entirely on dribble penetration (certainly not one of Gibbs’ strengths) or perimeter passing.

Woodall has shown an ability to penetrate but has also has made many bad decisions including throwing up some prayers. It remains to be seen how much Epps and J Johnson will able to contribute.

Long story short .. I can see an offense this year with much more variation than in recent years .. that should get better as the year goes along when the players get more in sync.

From what I’ve seen in Greentree, Wright is an athlete. He’s tall, strong and fast. He uses his size and athleticism to play very good defense. I wouldn’t describe him as “really skilled”. He can dribble a little, he can pass a little, he can shoot a little, but isn’t great at any of those skills. If he is going to contribute this season it will be primarily to defend big guards, small forwards. He certainly will be in the mix to get quality minutes.

People are writing off Travon Woodall, and I have no idea why. He is poised for the giant leap forward that has become the norm for Pitt players during their 3rd/4th year with the program. I think he will get about 25 minutes per game at the point, with Ashton getting 10-15 and JJohnson/Epps getting the scraps. Not that I think Travon is going to go crazy stat-wise, but I see him as a 10pt and 6 asst guy, while taking care of the rock.

Wannamaker was never the PG, but he ran the offense and is getting NBA looks at PG. I think Ashton should be able to demonstrate his abilities as a distributor and ball handler even with Travon in the game.

The way I see it, Ashton demanding a double team means that Pitt is winning big. If a team feels the need to double-team a 6’2″ spot up shooter with “limited athletic ability” then that team is in trouble.

This year will be interesting as far as who gets minutes and where. Always a good problem when you have too many quality players. Can’t wait for the season.

Woodall averaged 22 minutes, 6 points and 2 assists in Big East play last season. Some of those minutes came when Gibbs was hurt. But it is reasonable to think he’ll get 25 minutes this season. Increasing his points and assists by 4 a game in only three more minutes might be a stretch.

I personally don’t expect a giant leap forward. He is somewhat limited from a size, speed, skill perspective. Another year in the program won’t fix those issues. BUT If he can show an incremental (not giant) improvement in his decision making, shooting and on-ball defense then Pitt will be much better off. He is most likely a starter this year, for Pitt to get where they SHOULD, they’ll need him to be better.

My remarks above were not meant to discredit Woodall who I believe, like most Pitt players, will make a big progression with another year’s experience and more PT. I just remarked that at times he made some bad choices with errant passes and poor percentage shots.

On the other hand, yu may recall that Pitt did very well when Gibbs was hurt and Travon started at PG.

Travon also made two very big 3 pointers at crunch time … at Providence and at St John’s.

A guard that can penetrate and make an assist inside and can shot with consistentcy to take away collapsing defenses has kept Pitt out of the final four. A team with two legitimate All-Americans, Blair and Young, with a marignially decent guard would have got to the final four. Fields and Anderson together were the worst shooting guard tadium in college. Anderson could at least defend while in my opinion Field was intentionally overrated by the Big East coaches. Pitt normally starts its offense with the center coming out to pick the guards defender. Remember Stockton-Malone/with Blair setting devestating picks Fields would often be free for a jump shot near the foul line that he would realease with both hands no rotation and clang off the rim. It was not unusual for him to go 0 for 8 for the first 35 minutes of a game. He had the lowest shooting percentage among the top eight players. The Big East coaches knew he could not shoot so they told their big men never to leave Blair (pick and roll)and the man watching Fields to not fight through the pick. Fields made his “reputation” from his low turnover-assist ratio. This was a false statistic since he had two of the best scores in the country on the team who could get their own shot (Young and Blair)while astute coaches wanted the ball in Fields hands so he had few turnovers. In my opinion in the press they intentionally inflated Fields ability and Fields bought it. Remember it was Fields with his hurried cross court pass to Anderson that set him up for the double team and the stripped ball against Villanova. Fields only had to beat one man with the dribble to get beyond center court but he allowed his defender to move guide easily manuever him to the sideline where he got trapped.
(Dixon does not play freshman). What if Dixon had played Gibbs his freshman year perhaps losing 4 to 5 more although I do not believe they would have lost any more games and by March Gibbs coming of a pick my Blair at the top of the key would have been double poision – release to stop Gibbs a deadly shooter or allow Blair to roll free to the basket that would be scary. Fields could not defend and certainly he was aliability on offense. In my opinion despite Fields not because of him they were one man away from a national championship.

If I’m not mistaken, Woodall also made a big 3 in the 2nd half against the huggy-bears that got them going on the spurt to put the game away…

DRW:

I think that you might be crazy. Who is Anderson? I think you mean Jermaine Dixon. Jermaine dribbled into that double-team all by himself and then compounded the problem by fouling. Levance Fields did go to the line and connect on 2 free throws to tie the game a few minutes later. Levance was the most clutch player at Pitt in the last 10 years. He had a great ability to penetrate and finish. He was not afraid of taking and making a big shot. He never gave up (two broken feet and surgeries in 10 months) and left everything on the court. He was not a good defender. That is true, but he was an amazing player at Pitt.

Ashton Gibbs did play in the NCAA tournament. He played important minutes against Oklahoma State in the second round. He played in the Villanova game and missed a wide open three. He is not a good defender by any stretch and should not have played more minutes than Levance. Period. Pitt lost against Villanova because of terrible defense as a team and a heroic effort at the free-throw line by the opponent.

I still can’t believe Pitt lost to Butler last season. I just rewatched the game on CBSSports on Sunday. A few terrible defensive possessions in the first half doomed the Panthers. Shelvin Mack was left open for 5 deep threes in the first half. Close out on a couple of those and Pitt wins the game going away. Gilbert Brown was simply awesome in that game. He really came to play. Nasir was having a fantastic game as well.

I hope Coach Dixon extends the perimeter defense. If Pitt can play more aggressive defense on the perimeter, then I believe the team wins a few more games in March.

DRW, I agree in general but what’s an Anderson? Do you mean Jermaine Dixon? Wanamaker?

I don’t think Anderson was overrated. I’ve never heard of him.

Dwayne Anderson played for Villanova in that game.

Cardiac Hill on J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright:

link to cardiachill.com

Our squad this year does not have to be etched in stone early, there seems to be many potential contributors. They can have fun trying out different combos the first 20 or so games. And they can run…run…RUN.

Let’s see. In Levance Fields, we had a PG who in his senior year averaged 10.7 points per game; 7.5 assists per game; and only 2 turnovers per game; was a 71% foul shooter and perhaps our best clutch player, and DRW, you’re ragging on him????? What did he do? Take some money from you while shooting pool? Oy Vey!

And I’ll never, ever forget Fields’ Duke-defeating shot.

[…] Pittsburgh’s difficulty finding a true point guard after the departure of Levance Fields. (Pitt Blather) Share […]

Correction Anderson = Dixon the other guard

Omar check the stats on shooting percentage on Fields and your wrong about Dixon not get the pass from Fields. Yes he made to foul shots at the end and that was remarkable considering his lack of shooting mechanics (have you played or coached basketball). One shot against Duke that was a prayer and actually a bad play the ball should of went to your best scorer Yound who could drive to the basket or hit the outside shot. Were is Fields playing now. You bought on the hype and overlooked the obvious fact that he was never covered on the pick and roll. If he could of hit 40% of those open give me’s many of Pitt’s games, including Villanova would not have been close in the end. Even Dixon a terrible outside shooter who started on because of his defense shot a higher percentage than Fields.

I don’t want to get into personal attacks. I did play basketball, I still play basketball, and anybody that did not recognize Levance Fields’ positive contributions does not know basketball.

I don’t care who passed Jermaine Dixon the ball. He unnecessarily dribbled into a double team and then gave up a three point play. On the press, a player is taught to swing the ball from side to side to make the defense move. That is what Levance did. Jermaine did not need to dribble into the double team. He didn’t need to dribble. He should have passed the ball back to Levance, as the team had been doing all game.

I don’t need to check the stats. Levance was a mid-30% three point shooter. So what? He did a lot of other things well, played through injuries, led Pitt (and he was the heart and soul of that team) to it’s deepest finish in the NCAA tournament. He was an awesome player at Pitt.

Don’t forget to mention his “lucky” shot and steal against Xavier either. Levance was the man.

Extending the defense would be great, but you can’t do it with the guards Dixon has been recruiting for the past several years.

They’re either midgets or they can’t play D. Dixon’s the only exception and that seemed like more of a JUCO fluke; he was strong and played serious D.

You could extend a defense with Gibbs and Woodall and the opposing team might not even notice.

At least John Johnson looks like he’s going to play hard on D and Wright has some size and athletic ability, if not much else………….but Dixon historically just hasn’t recruited the type of guards who could put any pressure on anybody.

Gibbs’ defensive effort (or complete lack there of) has always puzzled me. He isn’t big enough or tough enough to be a great defender, I get that. I also understand that they need his shooting and he’s going to have to play 35 minutes a game. But when your coach preaches defense above all else, how do you allow your best player to be sooooo disinterested on the defensive end?

Here’s a thought:
Assume Gibbs, Woodall, Patterson, Robinson and Taylor start (ugh). That would leave J. Johnson, Wright, Moore, Zanna (Birch) and Gilbert (Birch) as the second unit. That second unit is the fastest, most athletic five (six) Pitt has EVER put on the court at the same time and that’s not even debatable.

Why not turn that second team loose? Have them press all over the court and run, run, run. Even if the guys in the backcourt get beat, you have at least two big time erasers (shot blockers) to clean up any messes.

Talk about tough to prepare for…what a change of pace. The first unit plays “pitt ball”. And then at the five minute mark, wholesale substitutions, and all hell breaks loose. That would be brutal on other big east coaches, very tough to prepare for.

It’ll never happen, but it would be fun wouldn’t it?

It’s official! This is the uber-Rosetta Stone of Pitt basketball threads. We’ve covered all the standard tropes: media conspiracy, Levance Fields was overrated, Dixon doesn’t play freshmen, our guards are always too unathletic, and we need to start playing faster and press. Allow me to cap it off: When will we switch back to the fruity script logo?

Wait, you forgot, “we need NBA level talent to get to the next level and or Final Four”.

Give me some credit, SPinNYC – at least I tried to add a new twist to a tired old theme – go with a platoon system and press with the second unit.

Tropes to some………rich, resonant themes to others.

I missed the media conspiracy in the above, but maybe the media removed it in order to suppress dissent. You can’t be too paranoid.

Dont write off woodall he is a point guard and will do ok

I think extending the defense would have worked with Gilbert Brown, Brad Wannamaker, and Gibbs. Why not? Gibbs stinks on defense and that wasn’t going to change if the defense was extended or not.

boubacar, great idea.

Dixon will never reach the final four. He’s too stubborn and/or uncreative to change his offensive system, which turns off 5 star players who want to show off their talent. And he needs those top players to get beyond a round or two at the dance.He insists on playing with a center even if the center can’t shoot and has bad hands. Aside from Gibbs, he has no shooters. Double Gibbs and their dead. Dixon gets his wins early playing teams like the Houston Baptists of the world and name colleges who are in the process of testing out their freshman. That’s why he gets his losses at the end of the year when it counts. Top recruits don’t care if you win the Big East.They care about what you do at the dance. If you’re happy with a lot of wins Dixon is your man. If you’re unhappy with what his Pitt teams have done every single year at the dance, Dixon should go It’s the same old every year he’s been at Pitt. This year will be no different. Bet on it.

Boubacar’s platooming idea is fantastic! …and would be incredibly entertaining to watch.
Pitt basketball usually gets the criticism that we are “blue collar”, this sure would change that. I’m all for it. Hope Jamie reads these blogs.