Pitt is starting to bring some superstars to the school. How’s it look for others having guys like Adams, Robinson, Shell, and potentially Foster, Johnson, Boyd, and others. That’ll be quite an assemnlance of athletes. Things are lookin’ up for our dear ole University of Pittsburgh.

Robinson was the starting 2 guard at DeMatha fromm his freshman to his junior year. Accordingly he has the ability to hurt you from the 3 point area and is effective, because of his ball skills and body control penetrating to the basket and finishing because he is adepth using both his left and right hand when attacking the basket. Also he is a fundamental player who has mastered the lost art of drive his man to the basket stopping and pulling up for the 15 ft. jumper.

Donovan made his selection based on his ability to play 1 or 2 guard rather than other players limited to one or the other position.

Considering his skill set to our present point guard there Woodall does not possess many of these skills. Also the experience argument may be mute since Woodall, except against non-conference patsies has not shown the ability to be an average D1 guard. In contrast Robinson started for four years in the highest level of high school basketball comeptition and received something unusual for a high school player excellent fundamental coaching. That is why his teammate who is going to Syracuse will start as a freshman. Let’s hope that Dixon learns how to trust talented freshman (Robinson/Adams). Let both of them play most of the minutes in the non-conference games to get their confidence and refine their game.

We know what Woodall can do and Taylor, playing out of position, can do. It is time to play the best players early in the season and not worry about records (2011 record 11 and 1). Lose 2 to 3 games in November and December and be ready to play in January.

DRW- we all get it by now. You really like Robinson and you don’t like Woodall.

I’m sure Robinson played great in HS. But let’s get it straight. He isn’t an amazing talent like Kyrie Irving or John Wall. To expect the kid to come into a D1 program, take the starting spot from an experienced and solid Woodall and play 30 minutes a game is asking a bit much.

I have little doubt that Robinson will see significant playing time as a freshman. IMO, Robinson will probably see similar to what Levance Fields got, effectively making him the 3rd guard.

[Note: The “urban legend” that drw apparently ascribes to that Dixon doesn’t play freshmen just because they are freshmen and that this retards their development is totally bogus. Every freshman talented enough to start or play significant minutes has done so and this fact is well documented.]

Contrary to drw’s assertion, I have not heard anyone else tout Robinson as a great 3 point shooter. I expect he is at least decent from long range but probably not as good as Woodall (a this point in time, at least) at shooting the 3-ball.

Since Ziegler is a known poor 3-ball shooter, I doubt we see a Robinson + Ziegler back court too often. I think Robinson will get most of his minutes subbing for Zeigler when Ziegler needs a breather and late in close games when Zeigler’s 49% FT shooting is a liability; and, perhaps, in situations when Zeigler is playing some at forward.

In any event, that’s how I see things unless we are surprised and Robinson turns out to be able to shoot the 3-ball as well as Ashton Gibbs did for most of his Pitt career.

Do we keep forgetting that Woodall was effectively the starting point guard at what one of the few programs that’s actually better than DeMatha?

I know he came off the bench one year but he had starter minutes.

Sure Woodall was not as highly rated as Robinson coming out of school, but we should ease up on the “he was great in highschool so obviously he should start at top tier D1 programs” argument. Its not that simple.

Not to throw cold water on the whole thing but keep in mind Nasir Robinson was higher ranked coming out of highschool than James Robinson (depending on what service you look at). Both get a lot of points for their B-ball IQ making up for what they lacked in physical tools.

Also, I’m not saying this is the bible, but just to maybe temper expectations for Robinson, the following were ranked higher (in Scouts) than he was coming out of highschool:
– Nasir Robinson,
– Brad Wannamaker;
– Talib Zanna;
– Levance Fields;
– etc (i stopped looking, this is not an exhaustive list)

In my mind, its going to turn out that Levance is a pretty close comparison to Robinson. And I might even say Robins has the skill set, physical tools and basketball IQ to be slightly better. That’s very good.

Lets just not expect him to light the gym on fire and displace too much of an experienced Senior PG’s minutes.

No one’s deluding themsevles into thinking Woodall is Derrick Rose and does not have a TO problem. But its definitely fair to say he will be better than last year simply because PGs thrive when they have better players around them and the system is actually working. Last year that was not the case, and his bad stats were probably exaggerated. He still has a TO problem, but I just can not believe it’ll be so bad this year that he loses his minutes to a a freshman who’s not a 5 star recruit.

Woodall/Robinson minutes will likely split about 25/15. That makes sense and is probably whats best for the team this year.

Durand Johnson LOOKS LIKE a 6’6″ Ashton Gibbs. He has a sweet stroke and gets it off quickly. Whether he can be as productive as Gibbs is still TBD. He was really skinny last year and could not play defense well enough to see any court time (sounds like Gibbs).

I could see Gilbert, Patterson, D. Johnson, Zeigler and Robinson being an effective unit after the second TV timeout.

The good news is Dixon will have plenty of options and the competition for playing time should make everyone better.

Power forward is the trouble spot. With a 7 footer at center and Zeigler at the two, Jamie can go with two small forwards and no power forward for short stretches. Patterson, Moore and Zeigler are all really good rebounders. Especially now, college hoops is increasingly perimeter oriented.

Well said, PantherP. Woodall has his fair share of careless mistakes with the basketball but he is a tough kid who shoots the ball well from both 3 and the line and showed some serious guts playing with a rough injury last year. Also, last year’s team (which I think was an anomaly) didn’t have many playmakers so at times Woodall had to do more than he/Coach Dixon/Woodall himself would probably have lied to create something (anything) with the offense we put on the floor.

Robinson has the tools and intangibles to be good and I expect him to be a nice compliment to the team this year.

“Woodall, except against non-conference patsies has not shown the ability to be an average D1 guard.”

DRW by your statement I guess you must consider WVU and Villanova ‘patsies”, as those are the teams Woodall lit up that week in February when he won National Player of the Week while playing injured….

Woodall was the ONLY player who acted like a leader last year on a team that desperately needed some. Gibbs played like he didn’t want to be there. Taylor struggled with expectations again. Nas was injured and should never have been more that role player anyways. Patterson and Moore weren’t ready yet.

Woodall may have tried to do too much especially coupled with the seriousness of his injury but he played with heart and passion. After the Rutgers debacle, Pitt could have folded but Woodall didn’t let that happen.

To write him off this year would be a grave mistake. Pre-injury, he was the best player on the team. Patterson and Moore both strugged while he was out but showed signs of life afterwards. Funny how they got better after Woodall returned and became Pitt’s two most improved players.

Robinson will be a great addition to Pitt and will get his minutes but make no mistake that this is Woodall’s team next year and barring another injury I expect him to take full advantage of it. Robinson is the future and that future is bright but he’s going to bide his time at the obvious behest of some fans. Not this one though.

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

My guess is, Robinson really won’t have a chance to win a starting position, no matter what he does 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 consistent 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 start from Day 1.

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

Last thought — we’ve all seen seniors who adjusted to and accepted a supporting role when the hot new recruit hit campus. Maybe this is a situation where Woodall could see the writing on the wall…….

Sheesh Hugh Green, can’t we please put this “Dixon won’t start a freshman” complete BS to bed. It simply isn’t true. Robinson will start if he outplays Woodall, and gives Pitt a better chance to win. Oherwise, he won’t. Senior vs Freshman won’t matter. It never has.

Adams, Patterson, Robinson and Zeigler will all play on the same team in Greentree ths summer.

With Woodall and Moore both nursing injuries and not participating, these guys represent 4/5 of the starting line up if the season started today. Coaches do have some input on the rosters in the summer league. Glad to see these guys get a chance to know each other’s game and maybe develop some chemistry.

Also will make my Greentree experience easier only having to plan around one game. More time at Vincent’s!

Nobody gets it. In the two years I have given my opinion, granted I can have strong opinions. What nobody gets is the offensive and peersonal demeaning language used consistently in the blog. If I do not agree with your opinion my opinion is “absurb,” or we get it you love so and so and hate the other or accussing me of something never implied that I compare Robinson with John Wall.

Please stop the negative attacks. State your own opinion based on your observations, statistics (check the stats. I do not have a personal grudge against Woodall it is just my opinion based on his statistics since his return from his injury and his and Gibbs performance from that time. It is superflous to point out 2 games that he did have great games; and ignore the other 14 games.

Rather than absurb or how about I disagree. Rather than here he goes again must be Robinson’s agent, etc. simply make your point by saying although there is merit in DRW argument in my opinion.

Be civil or do not participate. We all want Pitt to do well and it hurts when the team stumbles. Each of us has an opinion as to why the team struggles and each opinion is personnal not based on experience or first hand knowlegde. You demean yourself not the person you attack when your comments are directed to another rather than to your own opinion.

Thanks for the lecture, but aren’t you the board troll, the local pariah, that cuts and pastes the same hackneyed opinions that have been debunked over and over again, into every thread? It’s not just sharing thoughts or partaking in discussion, you literally repeat yourself to the point of absurdity and often slip into totally over the top hyperbole. And you often seem perfectly happy to couch your argument in statistics when it suits your pet theories and other times completely willing to ignore them when they don’t- the proverbial moving of the goal posts. When you are questioned on this, you suddenly disappear on the thread, only to reappear later on another thread changing the subject back to one of your favorite, oft-repeated, tropes. On top of this all, we have to hear over and over how you played high school basketball in 1970 and coached in some league at some point and how this gives you some particularly advanced insight into the psychology of the players and the coaches. We used to talk about X’s & O’s basketball here, but now it’s often Dr. Phil analysis. My advice is rather then come on here and lecture us about how to treat you, go back and consider what the difference is between having strong opinions and positioning oneself as a pariah.

I think it’s great that Robinson made the squad. I can understand the argument about losing out on some team building opportunities by not playing in Greentree, but it seems that having a chance to play for great coaches, with talented teammates, and a high level of competition- especially in far flung venues- is great point guard developing experience.

From what I understand, Robinson will play in Greentree after the U18 tourney in Brazil is over. Certainly having Robinson play on the U18 team is a no brainier.

If you post a strong opinion on this site you should expect it to be misunderstood, misreprented, reacted to strongly and in some instances mocked. I know a few commenters that post specifically to get a reaction. Please keep taking the bait, it makes for some quality entertainment.

I suspect the level of play in the tourney, the exposure to a true D1 accomplished head coach (2 titles) who also happens to have played guard for a Final Four team, the intense competition at practice to secure playing and the international aspect that will let these players compete against the best of their international peers exceeds the utility of playing in a nice, but provincial, Greentree league.

In short, missing Greentree for this tourney is the best thing that could have happened to Robinson.

Congrats young man! No go out there and kick ass!

Greentree Update. Schedules and rosters have been announced.

Schedule:
link to pittsburghbasketballclub.com

Rosters:
link to pittsburgh.rivals.com

First game on 6/18 @7pm, PGT v SCT. Get there early.

PGT
Steven Adams (Pitt)
James Robinson (Pitt) – later this summer.
Trey Ziegler (Pitt)
Lamar Patterson (Pitt)

SCT
Dante Taylor (Pitt)
Durand Johnon (Pitt)

Can’t wait to see Adams v. Taylor and Zeigler v. D Johnson.

Looking forward to any and all coverage of Greentree from the PB Nation.