Not a 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. While the U18 basketball coach Billy Donovan is stressing “versatility” as a key component with the squad, you try to take at least one true point guard whenever possible.
The two players cut from 14 to the final 12 man roster were both from the front court. Center Joel James (UNC) and Forward Austin Nichols (2013, undecided) were cut. Interestingly enough, these were the two tallest players remaining on the squad. There is no one over 6-8 on this team.
Apparently even the USA Basketball U18 squad can struggle to find a really good center.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
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.
Robinson has the tools and intangibles to be good and I expect him to be a nice compliment to the team this year.
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 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.
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…….
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.