Chas, being the owner of a blog empire, you too should watch out for yourself. May I suggest a hoodie and chinos instead of your usual 3-piece with the imported Italian shoes.

wwb, When you’re really cool you can dress any way you like……….and it becomes sort of your trademark. Like the late Steve Jobs in jeans and his black turtleneck.

JPM CEO is Jamie Dimon, not Dixon.

Info for you Adams is ranked as the fourth best player in the 2012 class and Robinson is number 58 in rivals top 150.

In recruiting over all PITT has the fifth best class for 2012 number 5 in top 20 very good coach.

You beat me to it, JLA. Nevertheless, even though he brings in the big bucks, the Occupy folks should still lay off Coach Dixon. 😀

I know we have talent and I’m pretty sure the Pitt Panthers will have a good season. I’m just curious how everything meshes together in the front court. I immagine we’ll have Dante Taylor at center with some sort of rotation of Khem Birch, Nesir Robinson and Talib Zannaat the power forward spot. Point play should be fine with Travon Woodall and that should allow Ashton Gibbs more time, to do what he does best, playing the shooting guard. So the big questions marks are the small forward or 3 guard and the rotation at power forward. It should be fun to see how things develop.

A must read west bound and down what the big east should have done . bye sean keeley type in big east expansion it should pop up.

I ment big east expansion oct 12 2012 than it should pop up

screwed up agein it should read big east expansion oct 12 2011 sorry hit wrong key we dont want to lose a whole year

If Pitt keeps some youngins from declaring early over the next 2-3 years we’re setting ourselves up heavy entering ACC play

Justinian, R Fittipaldo of PG wrote the other day that Taylor and Birch will play center, Nasir and Talib will be power forward, and Jonathan (JJ) Moore and Lamar Patterson will compete for small forward.

Travon appears to be starter at PG but Gibbs will probably be moved over during the game, but didn’t go into details about the backups.

Not sure if this was his speculation or he got it 1st hand from coaches.

In my opinion I see the success of this team based on Dante Taylor. If he performs as he has in in his first two years as another big men overrated out of high school. They receive no or damaging coaching in high school (no basketball fundamentals) and succeed because of their size and do not work on developing their game for the next level. To me this is Taylor’s team if he’s for real (consistent double/doubles) Pitt is a contender.

This is hoops related and I wanted to get it off of my chest.

I grew up in Western PA so I obviously have a lot of old friends that are Penn State alumni or fans.

Fine.

But in the past decade they’ve all begun cheering for Pitt hoops, and claim that Penn State is their team in football and Pitt is their team in basketball. This actually seems to be a common sentiment amongst western PA college sports fans these days.

Unforgivable!

Listen! We don’t give a shit about your stupid football program, so leave our basketball team alone nitters and cheer for your own below average hoops program!!

Biggest Question mark = Dante Taylor.
Will he do what other PITT players in the past have done. Make that huge leap from little contribution as a sophomore, to significant contribution as a junior.

One thing I don’t like is now we’re going to have 2 guys who really are Power Forwards, playing Center.
Those being Taylor & Birch. I was hoping this 6’11” guy could come in and play Center and we could use Taylor to spell him and play some PF along with Birch at PF. It would make us a lot bigger up front and I really don’t think Taylor of Birch are really centers.

DRW, I agree about Taylor.

Hoping he takes a big step forward in his junior year like predecessors, Gray and McGhee. Don’t expect McGhee’s toughness but can provide a low post presence that we haven’t seen since Gray.

The 6’11” guy is Malcolm Gilbert. Supposed to be a real presence at 240lbs already and can block shots.
This is the type of guy you want playing center if we’re going to continue with half court sets on offense. I can’t see Taylor, chasing someone outside on those high pick screens. In fact I wish Dixon would come up with a different way to defend those, than have a Center, 40 feet away from the hoop.

Jimbo Covert’s My Dad, I have several friends, Penn Staters, who other than their choice of schools, seem to be sensible people, who have become Pitt basketball fans. I’m perfectly ok with it. When I tease one friend about being a Penn State guy, he reminds me that he’s a Pitt basketball fan. You don’t exclude people who follow and root for your program. That would be like a church turning away converts. Pitt’s popularity among the kids has increased and as a school Pitt has become much more selctive. Hey, if they’re rooting for the Panthers, at least they’re showing good judgement. Besides, their kids might end up going to Pitt anyway

I’m as surprised as EMel about Birch at center. But looking at the roster and long term, it makes some sense.

Nas is entrenched as the starter. Been there for three years and it’s Jamie’s MO to reward the guys who’ve put in the most time with the starting job even if they get more limited minutes. Zanna has a huge upside with his athleticism. He just needs experience and practice on the fundamentals.

Taylor has been groomed to take over the 5 from day one. McGhee’s hard work and surprising development on D just kept him from taking it sooner. I don’t see that changing and expect big things from him. Grooming Birch there puts another athletic up-tempo guy on the court with Nas or Talib which could be pretty awesome at times. It also helps makes Birch stronger and able to play with his back to the basket. Imagine him as a 4 in 2013 and hopefully 2014 who can play effectively outside and inside. Wow!

Finally, it gives Gilbert time to develop more slowly. From what I’ve read, he’s raw and a work in progress. Add Adams to that mix and Pitt should be pretty awesome inside for the next several years.

Solidifying things at the guard positions is a bigger concern for me. But it looks like we have some potentially good ones waiting in the wings.

I would make a statement like maybe Birch can move to the 4 during part of the game but usually Jamie doesn’t move his frontcourt players .. (many of us thought Taylor would move to the 4 after his freshmen year but he has always played the 5)

I want to emphasize that Fittipaldi wrote this in a column or blog, and not sure if that is his thoughts or what .. but he usualy has inside info.

whatever happened to one and done Epps? would be nice to see him provide some relief at PG for Travon and leave Gibbs and maybe frosh Johnson at the 2.

Would like to see Gilbert get playing time at the 5 and spell Dante. Gilbert and Birch are true shot blockers—something we haven’t had for a while. JJ is improved and should start at the 3, ahead of Lamar. Zanna and Nas and Birch at the 4 should be a strength.

Thank you Jamie D. for bringing us a top 10 hoops program. And helping relieve the stress from the Tino Diaries.

Good point, wbb. I was just trying to makes some sense about what Fittipaldi wrote. With Adams coming, you’ll have a glut of guys who can play center, which Jamie didn’t have before. So I could see him playing Birch at the 5 this year and uncharacteristically moving him next year, if he stays of course.

It takes some some time for the 1st year players to learn defence and show offensive dicipline. Hopefully JJ Moore will be able to provide some solid play in the 3 spot. He has a lot of talent but his shot selection last year really hurt him.

IMHO, Birch will be in the backup for Dante at Center. Dante has not proven to be durable (or mature with Fouls) enough for the entire season, so it wouldn’t shock me if he starts many games or is inserted after 2 quickies. And knowing that we have an assassin launching 3’s on the perimeter, my guess is Jamie likes the idea of running a low post presence that is heavy on rebounding/put backs to address the 50% of the shots Ashton misses.

For me, the key to this season lies in the SECOND offensive threat from the perimeter. If Ashton is hurt or sidelined or keyed on my bigger/taller guards…. WHO is going to be the outside/slashing threat?

At first blush, I would say that Woodall is that guy. I think he is maturing as a scorer (especially from the field, making some big shots last year), and is quick enough to make plays in transition.

After Woodall, I’m struggling to pencil in a scorer from the backcourt? Epps (Mr. 1 and Done)? Nasir and his new love for jump shooting (easy tiger…)? JJ (Gotta hope he can hit the rim this year)? Cameron Wright?

If Epps or Woodall can provide enough offense to keep people from sagging down on our bigs or doubling on AShton…I see us having another wonderful year.

Forgot to throw Lamar’s hat into that elusive “2nd guy” spot…

Moore has the potential to be a scorer and I believe Dante has good offensive skills (but needs strength.)

Among the newcomers .. from what i read, Durand Johnson may be the best pure shooter on the team (including Gibbs) and I believed Jim Johnson showed good one-on-one skills this summer.

In Greentree Gilbert looked far more ready, physically and mentally, to contribute than Birch did. And certainly way more ready for time at the 5.

Birch is a freak athlete, but he’s skinny as a bird. I think he can be useful to play some 4 and block some shots and run the floor, but I think Dixon will have the luxury to work him in gradually and my guess is most of his minutes will come at the expense of Zanna.

If I may change the subject,and I shall. Just the the political speech of Mark Emmert of the NCAA. What an obvious effort at public relations. Mr. Emmert was merely trying to “sell” his product, which is the NCAA. His venue and hs targets were Pitt, Syracuse, the ACC and the Big East. Talk about transparency! Ha! There was no such thing in his remarks. He should be a leader in college athletics. Instead, he comes off in this corner as a Junior High teacher chastizing his students. The Big East is (except for basketball) a joke. Pitt and Syracuse are respectable universities who have and will continue to do what is best for their institutions. They don’t to be scolded by an organization which itseld needs to scrutinize the meaning of integrity and hypocrisy. Rev. George from Columbus where the letters “NCAA” are not credible.

And John Johnson is light years ahead of where Woodall was as a freshman. If the coaches are fair to him this year, he’ll get time.

Based on Greentree, what’s your rotation look like, hugh green?

And, where’s Boubacar AW in these conversations? He’s usually the other Greentree insider.

Just a heads up that public tickets to the Pitt vs. Oklahoma St. game on December 10th at MSG go on sale this Friday. It is the “Carquest Auto Parts Classic”. The other game is Duke vs. Washington.

Hail to Pitt! Hail to Washington!?!??

Thank God for the hoops post. Can we just move on to 2012 football?

Unless we are planning to play a lot of zone, I’m not too concerned about where the guys end up. With the motion offense we run and switching style of defense we play, being 1 or a 5 is almost irrelevant. Remember McGhee trying to guard Kemba out at the top of the key? Had we had Birch out there at that one moment in time, the outcome could have been very different. Add in the fact that there are very few (if any) dominant big guys out there, I think Dante and/or Khem will be fine at the “5”. I think the most important piece of the puzzle is going to be whether Travon has improved enough to eliminate the need for Ashton to be a distributor. Woodall needs to pick up most of the distribution slack with the departure of our main playmaker, Wanamaker.

Presale to the Carquest thing is today and tomorrow until 11 am. Code is prehoops.

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