masthead.jpg

switchconcepts.com, U3dpdGNo-a25, DIRECT rubiconproject.com, 14766, RESELLER pubmatic.com, 30666, RESELLER, 5d62403b186f2ace appnexus.com, 1117, RESELLER thetradedesk.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER taboola.com, switchconceptopenrtb, RESELLER bidswitch.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER contextweb.com, 560031, RESELLER amazon-adsystem.com, 3160, RESELLER crimtan.com, switch, RESELLER quantcast.com, switchconcepts , RESELLER rhythmone.com, 1934627955, RESELLER ssphwy.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER emxdgt.com, 59, RESELLER appnexus.com, 1356, RESELLER sovrn.com, 96786, RESELLER, fafdf38b16bf6b2b indexexchange.com, 180008, RESELLER nativeads.com, 52853, RESELLER theagency.com, 1058, RESELLER google.com, pub-3515913239267445, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
December 1, 2011

Some More Basketball Links

Filed under: Basketball,Players — Chas @ 3:48 pm

If you haven’t, by all means read the USA Today article on three St. Anthony players in college. Travon Woodall featured, and I hope finally puts to bed that long-running criticism of Woodall playing at Pitt because he wasn’t even a starter as a senior in high school.

Fontan and Woodall became the only St. Anthony players to be named season captains, because of exemplary leadership and punctuality, Hurley says. They always were on time despite commuting 20 miles, sometimes by train and light rail from Paterson.

“Both those kids brought the whole package,” Hurley says of their work ethic in the classroom and basketball.

Woodall wants to show that leadership at Pitt alongside senior Ashton Gibbs, one of the country’s top shooters. Nationally, Woodall is one of the most improved players since last season when the 5-11 point guard averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 assists while playing 21.6 minutes a game as a reserve.

This season, he is averaging 15 points and 8.5 assists, third in Division I, heading into Wednesday’s game vs. Duquesne. He’s a starter now, but starting never has been important to him. As a senior at St. Anthony he came off the bench because “emotionally he could handle it,” Hurley says. “Travon had less ego than other players.”

What matters most to Wood-all is finishing games, having teammates count on him to help put away an opponent. He can’t recall ever being nervous and says he steeled his nerves in middle school when classmates, including rival gang members, once beat him up after taunting him for weeks.

Woodall will be one of those players in the future we look back on with pride that he went to Pitt.

Dwight Miller did like his time at Pitt. He still is in touch with Pitt players. He just wanted a chance to play.

“I had a conversation with Coach Dixon after the season, basically we talked about playing time, the minutes that would be allocated, and I ended up drawing the short end of the stick on that one,” Miller said. “I wanted to give myself the best opportunity. I didn’t want to be that guy to sit back and just go for the ride. I wanted to play more, and have more of a hands-on approach to games instead of sitting on the bench.

“I decided to take the chance to try to make it work out somewhere else.”

“So far, I think things are working out well,” Miller said. “I still have a lot of things to learn, but I’m happy I made the decision.”

And now, Miller is eager for the opportunity to show Pittsburgh he had more game than he was perhaps given credit for.

Miller is playing less than 10 minutes a game with modest numbers, but by all accounts he is playing well enough. His energy and attitude have never been in question. We will get  a chance to see him in the Tennessee-Pitt game this Saturday.

Maryland powerhouse DeMatha  is a top-ten high school program this year with a loaded class.

1. DeMatha: The Stags are loaded, led by Pitt recruit James Robinson, Syracuse recruit Jerami Grant and one of the nation’s top juniors, BeeJay Anya. DeMatha begins the season ranked No. 10 in USA Today’s national preseason Super 25.

Robinson is also considered one of the best defenders among top national recruits (Insider subs).

He is smart, physical on-ball defender who understands distance to the ballhandler and does a great job off knocking weaker point guards off the ball with his chest without fouling. He will not hesitate to hit the floor and take a charge as well.

The Pitt rotation this year seems deep. Next year will be even tougher. Lots of quality that will be fighting for minutes next year.





Excuse me,but first things first. Condolences to Pitt Degensive Coach, Keyth Patterson in the sudden passing of his father, last night. As for the Pitt hoopsters–a nice win at the Console before a record crowd. The Panthers are a work in progress. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. Rev. George in Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 12.01.11 @ 4:06 pm

Woodall may not play Saturday. This doesn’t sound particularly encouraging.

“…Pitt might be without starting point guard Tray Woodall for its game Saturday at Tennessee. Woodall left the game against Duquesne Wednesday night with a leg injury and did not return.

Head coach Jamie Dixon said today that Woodall had an MRI and an x-ray on his groin and abdomen, and he is awaiting word from team doctors about the severity of the injury.

“He’s in a lot of pain, there’s no question about it,” Dixon said. “We just want to get all of the data and make sure everyone takes a look at it and sees it before we make any decisions or calls on that.”

link to plus.sites.post-gazette.com

Comment by velvil 12.01.11 @ 5:32 pm

Also reported here:

link to postgazette.com

Comment by velvil 12.01.11 @ 5:34 pm

GIBBS IS NOT A PG SO WHO IS NEXT UP

Comment by FRANKCAN 12.01.11 @ 8:37 pm

Yowza, Kentucky is scary. They could have beat St Johns by 50 if the subs hadn’t started coming in at the 10 minute mark. their freshman center has 15 points, 15 boards and 9 blocks (17 total team blocks).

5 of their top 6 scorers are freshman or sophomores. Legit.

Good to see Orlando Antigua.

Comment by Cnorwood 12.01.11 @ 9:42 pm

watch the The Street Stops Here – great documentary about bob hurley’s program and travon woodall is in it.

as for the next guards.. we got johnson, wright, and epps

Comment by snala the panther 12.01.11 @ 11:30 pm

Hopefully Woodall will be OK soon.

This is a huge opportunity for Johnson, particularly. Of the three freshman guards, he has the most game.

The two big issues coming into this season were:
1) Defense – we’ve talked about that ad nauseam and
2) Experience v. Talent – how quickly will the young guys contribute and to what degree?

For this team to make a sweet 16 (or beyond) run, the young talented guys need to play often and they need to play well.

So far, Birch (talent) got his opportunity and made the most of it. He (at least for now) took the starting spot from Taylor (experience).

JJ Moore (talent) has made some strides and shown some signs that he can play under control, but the jury is still way out him.

Now, J Johnson (talent) gets his opportunity. The kid, by all accounts, is hard working and has a great attitude. He’s crazy talented. It seems like he is getting comfortable with what the coaches are asking him to do. The game is starting to slow down for him. Now he can prove it.

Both Birch and Johnson are capable of providing an UPGRADE over the starters at their positions, both offensively and defensively. If these guys have earned starting spots by March, this team will be better off.

Competition for playing time, starting roles can be a great thing for a team if handled right. So far Dixon seems to be handling it perfectly.

One thing for sure, this won’t be the same old Pitt this year. Much more interesting.

Comment by boubacar aw 12.02.11 @ 8:56 am

If your saying Johnson is capable of being an upgrade over Woodall this season I strongly disagree. Woodall has arguably been one of the best and close to the best player on the team this year. With the exception of Duquesne he has played pretty darn well in every single game. He had some mental lapses vs. LBSU too. But I really think what he brings to the game is something nobody else can, he’s also pretty clutch. I love his game and he will be one of those players like Wannamaker that some love and some hate.

Comment by OntarioLett'sGoPitt 12.02.11 @ 10:04 am

Woodall has definitely been one of, probably the, most productive player on the team. However, he also leads the team in TOs. Even leads team in TO’s on a per minute basis. So its not all bad that he’s out.
But who’s gonna distribute? Woodall has more than twice as many assists per game than anyone. And again, he leads in assists even on a per minute basis.
It may not mean a very good game but it may force the rest of the team to figure out how to create assists. I’d be OK with that. Though I’d really like to get some revenge on Tennesee.

Comment by PantherP 12.02.11 @ 10:32 am

Woodall is a player. I hope he isn’t out for more than a game or two.

Comment by omar 12.02.11 @ 10:53 am

Snala/others — how do I watch The Street Stops Here? Any tips where to find it?

Comment by Joe 12.02.11 @ 11:15 am

I think another thing worth complimenting Tray on is his defense. He has been very good on ball, drawn charges (some in crucial situations), and even blocked shots (one in a very crucial situation).

When he is out the offense stagnates because Ashton is not a real ball handler/PG. We will lose at Tenn if he doesn’t play, I feel.

Comment by Joe 12.02.11 @ 11:18 am

The street stops here – was on netflix streaming…i think its still available.

Comment by Snala The Panther 12.02.11 @ 11:26 am

Thanks Snala I’ll check it out.

Comment by Joe 12.02.11 @ 11:35 am

Gibbs is our leading scorer and star, but Tra is a key starter on this team. We need him in there at the 1. I agree, though, that J Johnson is a budding star and needs to see the floor more. He will apparently get the chance with Tra out. I love his shot and hustle.

Jamie the magician has his hands full.Needs to get Birch, Zanna and Johnson minutes to allow them to improve and be ready for a March run.

Here’s hoping Dante performs at his City Game level with bigger opponents acoming with Tenn and OKla St. His D needs work.

we need to get that magical 20 wins to keep the NCAA streak alive, and the final pre-BE games will be critical. Need 10-11 wins going into conference play.

Comment by Bossdaws 12.02.11 @ 11:55 am

Expectations for point guard play are pretty low if folks are satisfied with Woodall. Sure, he might be the best option right now, but that’s not saying much.

He’s not even the best college PG in in this city, for pete’s sake. I think anybody who’s watched McConnell eat Woodall’s lunch in Greentree would attest to that.

I suppose some of you watched Duke and the Buckeyes the other night. I started telling people about Craft last year. THAT is what you should expect from a PG — the ability to distribute, get the ball to the right guy at the right time, put pressure on the defense by penetrating, play tough, hard-nosed defense on the opponent’s ballhandler and hit an occasional big shot.

Woodall has hit a couple of big shots, but I find him sorely lacking in distribution, penetration and defense. He just puts no pressure on the defense and his own pressure on the opposing PG is non-existent.

Is he the best option right now? Probably. Is that a happy conclusion? NO. Emphatically.

So it will be interesting to see J.Johnson get more minutes. At least the defense will be better……

Comment by hugh green 12.02.11 @ 12:03 pm

Post Gazette is reporting that Woodall is out for a month.

Comment by JB '90 12.02.11 @ 12:07 pm

Hugh I couldn’t disagree more. He has been very good defensively, takes a ton of charges and helps really well, and he has played in control on offense. Craft is garbage, without Sullinger he’d be a no-name. McConnell is a good player but he sure didn’t eat anyone’s lunch in a real game the other day, so I am not sure where that comes from.

Comment by Joe 12.02.11 @ 12:27 pm

Per the PGh papers today, Woodall has a torn abdominal muscle and will be out for a month.

Comment by pitt1972 12.02.11 @ 12:56 pm

Powered by WordPress © PittBlather.com

Site Meter