Hope Robinson makes it. Would be a great experience all around for the kid. Plus, there are some damn good coaches to learn a few things from. Good luck James!

IF Robinson is playing 20+ mins a game by end of season AND Woodall is healthy, that will be a very good sign for Pitt. In fact I would bet on a double bye in the BE championship.

Not to “shit on” Woodall, but last season Pitt had to rely on him too much to carry the team. When he played well, Pitt won. When he didn’t or didn’t play due to injury, Pitt struggled. I don’t question his leadership or toughness, I do question his consistency.

Pitt would really benefit from having another option at point who will take care of the ball, create for others and play tough defense. Those are the qualities that Robinson is reputed to have. Jamie will only play him extended minutes if he demonstrates them.

I agree with the assessment of Robinson but I am afraid his progress will be delayed by Dixon’s phobia about playing freshman (let’s pray this does not also influence Adams). The argument that coaches, including Dixon, always play the best player is patently false. They usally play the best player but in Dixon’s case favortism (as someone who has coached I can understand this) or more typically the player who the coaches believe
will hurt them least.

This philosophy has hurt several young players at Pitt as their confidence is deterred when they are pulled if they make a mistake. Good players do not become better sitting on the bench.

This is the point looking at Adams /no one on Pitt’s roster should start before him. No one on any roster including Kentucky should start before him. As for Robinson (a freshman who by every indication is a solid D1 guard) v. Woodall I agree with this assessment I read concerning theses two players. I also agree with the assessment on Dixon, although he is an excellent coach but every coach has weaknesses and Dixon has yet to demonstrate he has identified his.

“Point guard Tray Woodall had a brief spurt of excellence in the middle of the season then regressed so much Dixon might have to look at incoming freshman James Robinson as his starter next season — although Dixon’s track record of playing upperclassmen makes that unlikely.

But Woodall’s play down the stretch should make him at least consider Robinson. In Pitt’s final 11 games, Woodall had 48 assists and 44 turnovers. A good assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.5 or better. Woodall’s was barely more than 1 in the final 11 games. That’s beyond unacceptable
Woodall has not shown he is a major D1 pg but maybe his injury had more to do with it this year. Although some of the turnovers he had looks like it has nothing to do with an injury
jamie is great at developing players but he’s not a good recruiter and he’s a BAD in-game coach. in the butler game last year they didn’t even get a shot off when they had the ball up one i believe with like 20 seconds left cause of a shot clock violation. how does that happen??? IMO that falls on the coach.
In-game coaching – I agree that Dixon is lacking somewhat here. Firstly, he uses his timeouts too early and seldom has more than one left when crunch time comes around. Also, the style of play is too structured and allows the defense to set up and predict passes. This led to A LOT of turnovers this season. Structure is good but there needs to be some creativity and variety to keep the defense off balance and allow the players to develop their own abilities”

Oh boy, here goes the Dixon “fear of playing freshman” conspiracy theory again…

It would be great to get Robinson summer coaching by Donnovan and especially Few. If he’s as coachable as advertised, this should be a great learning experience.

U18 gives more structured competitive environment than Greentree, which is probably as much social as it is hardcourt. Even AAU with its wealth of talent can be a mixed bag for structure.

Adams will only be here 1 year so if he does not play him why have him of course he has to play him or be the dumbest coach alive he will play .
to think that he wont is dumb why have a 7 foot center who can play and not play him when he will be here just 1 year why even think such a thing
and he will be great and so will the team.

playing the guy who will hurt you least is very often the best philosphy, DRW. It’s a little absurd to say that any freshman that people claim Dixon under-utilized took nothing away. With pretty much every team but last year we had good enough players in the rotation that it would be foolish to play someone like a young Sam Young when he pressed wayyy to much to try to make a name and threw the offense out of whack. Same with JJ Moore last year and early this year. Not sure there is any – ANY – example where Dixon didnt consistently failed to give time to the people who deserved it most. He has a short leash on some guys, but his system works and its often about keeping it in place at the expense of playing someone who may have more potential but in the present could take too much off the table.

Nearly every year in Dixon’s tenure, a Freshman is starting or playing at least half the game. Sophomores or red shirt Freshman, those who spent at least a year in the program, are in the starting lineup nearly every year or playing nearly half the game.

2003-2004: Chris Taft started most games as a Freshman. Krauser started nearly all games as a Sophomore.
2004-2005: Taft started as a Sophomore. Antonio Graves started most games as Sophomore. Ronald Ramon played 25 minutes per game as a Freshman. Keith Benjamin played 10 minutes per game as a Freshman.
2005-2006: Ramon started nearly every game as Sophomore. Levance Fields averaged 21 minutes per game as a Freshman. Sam Young averaged 20 minutes per game as a Freshman.
2006-2007: Fields started every game as a Sophomore. Young played 17 minutes per game as a Sophomore.
2007-2008: Dejuan Blair started as a Freshman. Gilbert Brown started half the games as a redshirt Freshman and played 22 minutes per game. Wanamaker played 10 minutes per game as a Freshman.
2008-2009: Blair started as a Sophomore. Sophomores Wanamaker and Brown played 19 minutes per game.
2009-2010: Ashton Gibbs started as a Sophomore. Nasir Robinson started as a Sophomore. Redshirt Freshman Woodall played 20 minutes per game. Freshman Dante Taylor played 15 minutes per game.
2010-2011: Sophomore Taylor played 15 minutes per game. Redshirt Freshman Lamar Patterson played 12 per game.
2011-2012: Khem Birch started as a Freshman…before he quit. Patterson started. Sophomore JJ Moore played 18 minutes per game.

You were right Thabeets ];

SilverPanther – Thank you. I don’t know where this nonsense comes from.

I know some want to see a Zeigler/Robinson back-court based on their recruiting rankings and their view that Woodall is a turnover machine.

However, IMO, unless Robinson is a better outside shooter than his reputation suggests, we would rarely see him on the floor at PG when Zeigler is in the game at 2G. Zeigler’s known weakness as an outside shooter, IMO, will pretty much dictate that he be paired with Woodall.

So, I would expect most of Robinson’s minutes to come when Zeigler is getting a breather and late in tight games when we are in a FT shooting contest when Zeigler becomes a liability as a 49% FT shooter. We might also see Robinson get in when (or if ) Zeigler is getting a few minutes at a forward spot.

Bottom line is, I suspect, the only time we might see a backcourt of Robinson/Zeigler would be when Dixon goes small at PF putting two 3-ball threats in the game at forward.

I think this still allows for Robinson to see a good amount of time per game.

Nicely done SilverPanther…That should end it!

Should end it but won’t. I admire your dedication in proving your point silver panther. My sentiments exactly.

Thanks, silver, for pointing out that Dixon has only started Taft, Blair and Birch as freshmen.

Obviously Robinson would have to play for the nat’l team, but I think Pitt would benefit more from him playing in green tree and getting comfortable with his teammates……..both from a social and hoops standpoint.

Dixon is perfectly willing to play freshmen, if he has to. It’s not his preference, but he’ll do it if he doesn’t have an alternative and he’s got a potential NBA player on the bench.

I just hope Robinson gets a real chance to play, because Woodall hasn’t done anything to show he’s a starting PG at this level.

Simple question Hugh,

What other freshmen do you truly think should have started other than those three?

By changing the issue from playing freshmen to starting freshmen you are moving the goalposts.

Dixon is willing to play freshmen — not “if he has to” as you put it — but, if they perform in practice. We have seen that time and again, but it seems even Pitt fans want to perpetuate the myth.

Heres a piece on Gil Brown, btw.

link to post-gazette.com

[…] big shock, but James Robinson made the cut and will be a member of the USA Basketball U18 squad. As I mentioned before, Robinson was the only guard after the cutdown last week that was considered a true point guard. […]

As always there are the attack dogs out when one makes an opinion based on their observation of a present player and assessment of an incoming player. I love terms like “absurd,””I know your his agent,” etc. Perhaps it is absurd to expect Robinson to fulfill his potential but it is not absurb to make an abjective assessment of a pressent players perfmance. In conference play Woodall shot 31% from the field, aside from the Providence and W.Va. game he averaged less than double figures. His turnover to assist ratio is 1. As for defense I doubt anyone will claim Woodall is a shutdown defender.

This facts are not opinions. Granted he was hurt but most players have to play with injuries throughout the year.

I am not the only one who questions Woodall’s skill at this level, after all his senior year in high school he was not a starter.
“Point guard Tray Woodall had a brief spurt of excellence in the middle of the season then regressed so much Dixon might have to look at incoming freshman James Robinson as his starter next season — although Dixon’s track record of playing upperclassmen makes that unlikely.

But Woodall’s play down the stretch should make him at least consider Robinson. In Pitt’s final 11 games, Woodall had 48 assists and 44 turnovers. A good assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.5 or better. Woodall’s was barely more than 1 in the final 11 games. That’s beyond unacceptable
Woodall has not shown he is a major D1 pg but maybe his injury had more to do with it this year. Although some of the turnovers he had looks like it has nothing to do with an injury. He shooting percentage during that period was 31%.”

I have no personal problem with Woodall but too often I saw him pressed and rather than look for an outlet pass or at least maintain his dribble in the center of the court but instead allows his defender to manuevuer him to the sideline to be trapped by the line and another defender and the consequent turnover. In the UConn game this happened 5 times, 10 uncontested points for UConn, and 5 offensive opportunities for Pitt lost. Dixon and the other coaches share part of the blame for Pitt’s yearly inability to break the press.

drw, he had a sports hernia that required surgery. He shouldn’t have played at all – it was not a typical “everybody plays hurt” situation. Had Gibbs or Epps stepped up while he was out, Woodall probably wouldn’t have played again during the season. You cannot look at his stats last year as an apple to apples comparison. Pre-injury, he was Pitt’s best player. Post-injury, he was pretty damn close – only the improvement of Patterson/Moore offsets his contributions…and they didn’t get better until Woodall was back at the point.

Recruiting rankings suggest potential but largely go out the window post enrollment. Best players = the ones who perform best in practice and provide the best chance for the team to win.

The coaches determine playing time and rotation and not Rivals. the underclassmen who’ve contributed under Dixon have had to demonstrate that they understood the system and could perform at the expected level of play. No one’s holding underclassmen back — they need to compete and execute regardless of pedigree. With the exceptions of a few outliers, the top recruits are also generally the best players and get playing time accordingly.

The question is whether Jamie can adjust to bringing in multiple players who deserve to play right away.

My guess is, Robinson really won’t have a chance to win a starting position, whether or not he “performs in practice”. And that would be very reasonable if Pitt had an established floor leader coming back. You guys all know my feelings on Woodall — I think he’d make a nice backup PG and could contribute nicely in a 15 min a game role, when his defense and inconsistent shooting and turnovers can be limited. He does occasionally provide an offensive spark and maybe he could make that a pattern in a targeted, backup role.

I fully realize we haven’t seen Robinson play yet, but if he’s as good as advertised (strong body, better defender and penetrator than Woodall), then he should be given a straight-up shot to play as a frosh.

But that won’t happen. I believe that’s mostly because Dixon wouldn’t feel comfortable starting two freshmen.