So, has Pitt started to find its footing after getting smacked in the mouth by Cinci and Rutgers? Was Georgetown more along the lines of what can be expected, or was it simply that the Hoyas were the perfect match-up for Pitt? There is an awareness that they have to show that was the norm.
…Dixon has been emphasizing to his players why they were so successful against Georgetown. He said that is the key to building a winning streak.
“We want them to recognize why,” Dixon said. “We watch film to show them what they didn’t do well, but we wanted to watch film of why they did things well, show the things we have to continue to do and improve on. There are not many wins like that on the road. We have to see how we respond to it on Saturday. Marquette won two close games that speaks to how good they are.”
Marquette (11-3) brings a 2-0 Big East record into the game after home victories against Connecticut and Georgetown. The Golden Eagles beat Connecticut in overtime and Georgetown by one point.
Pitt also has the looming issue of a back-loaded schedule in the conference. So they can’t afford the luxury of having off-games against teams in the middle and bottom of the conference. Cinci and Rutgers used up the quota.
The players and coaches talk of practices picking up intensity after the losses.
“Those few days in practice, we were getting after it aggressively,” senior center Dante Taylor said. “Coaches weren‘t calling (fouls), just letting (us) play.”
Redshirt freshman forward Durand Johnson liked it.
“We just felt like enough was enough,” he said. “We just had to get back to the way the normal Pitt team was, being aggressive and getting after it, and stop letting teams get after us and getting us on our heels.”
Johnson said Pitt, which opened the season 12-1 before losing to Cincinnati and Rutgers, was developing bad habits.
“Sometimes, you come out in practice, you might be lazy, you might be beat up and sore,” he said. “The old saying, you practice how you play. When we practice lousy and don‘t get after it, we come out with (losses). And we did that at the beginning of the Big East.”
With Trey Zeigler still struggling to find himself on this team, Durand Johnson has gotten more opportunities and taken advantage of them.
Marquette has gotten off to a 2-0 start in the Big East, but it comes with a caveat. They were both home games. The Golden Eagles haven’t won a road game this season — granted they have only played two losing to Florida and Wisconsin-Green Bay — so they have something to prove.
“Good teams win at home,” coach Buzz Williams said. “But all we have done is hold serve. You’re supposed to win at home. The great teams win on the road. Now we have nine chances. That will determine if we’re going to play in some kind of tournament other than the Big East tournament.”
At least the Golden Eagles have done the prep work for this opportunity to keep their early foothold in the Big East.
On New Year’s night they beat Connecticut in overtime. Then on Saturday, they took No. 15 Georgetown inside the final seconds to win, 49-48.
It’s not often that a team gets such disparate competition in the matter of a week.
To overcome the Huskies, Marquette had to contain speedy guards. To beat Georgetown, it was all about preparing for the Princeton offense that is rarely seen anymore.
“We’re thankful for the first week we had,” Williams said. “But we haven’t had any success thus far on the road, and I don’t know if starting at Pitt changes those odds. They have thoroughly dominated us during my tenure in the Big East at home. “
Hopefully Pitt continues that today. It’s a nooner on ESPNU.
The difference last year and this year is that we have no defensive toughness. There are no shutdown guys like Wanamaker, Dixon, Jaron Brown to name a few. Teams get too many easy baskets on us. I think we are getting better but it’s a process. In the past, if we were close at the end or in overtime the d took over.
And Trey will recover.
H2P
Jamie is a terrific coach. Let’s give hime the time to develop this team. We have 5 new players.
Also, I believe Ziegler will be a better player. He is going to class, hitting AA meetings and has just transferred into Pitt after his dad was fired. It has not been an easy transition so let’s give him a bit of time. I think, in the long run, he will help this team as much or more than Durrand Johnson.
Last, we play Villanova next. They are “Marquette light”. We have today’s experience to beat them.
No more excuses.
With Jamie’s system, it has been bring kids slowly around, depend on your upperclassmen that have been in the SYSTEM for a few years. Freshmen don’t play much or indeed they’re redshirted unless exceptional or there is an extreme need. (Taft, Fields, Blair, Adams, JR come to mind)
DeJuan was one of the exceptions and maybe since he played at Schenley HS, on Pitt’s campus basically, he was able to play with some of Pitt’s players in the summertime, so he knew the system. Plus he was just special imo.
Now, this year, we’re veering off the SYSTEM bigtime, we have 2 (two) true freshmen starting for PITT. As far as I can remember that never happened in the Dixon/Howland era. And a 3rd, (redshirt freshmen) Durand Durand is starting to get more minutes as Coach is looking for anyone that can shoot and make a few.
While the two true freshmen are talented, in this system it takes several seasons to fully reach or come close to your talent potential (see Sam Young & Aaron Gray as best examples).
So what we’re seeing is kids that would normally be brought along slowly playing minimal minutes or possibly redshirted, instead be in the starting lineup, playing lots of minutes…. BECAUSE WE HAVE NOBODY ELSE. Or the alternative is a lot worse (see last year).
And that imo is why this team is so inconsistent.
So, what we need to do now, looking forward, is follow up last year’s excellent recruiting class with 2-3 excellent years in a row. We have to basically reload. There can not be a near total wipeout of a recruiting class as just happened.
Truth is, Jamie’s system takes to long to learn for the Top players who want to come in for 1 or 2 years and be on their way.
So you either have 2 options:
1) change the system
2) go back to recruiting 2 & 3 star kids (not Top 150 players) that you take a flyer on and that will be in system for 4-5 years. Those type kids are more willing to play tough defense, for the most part, and they’ll be around enough to transform them (see Wannamaker, J. Brown & McGhee)
Anyway, (have a good nite my Panther Brothers)
Hail to Pitt !
Veritas et Virtus
GRP !
Well, by your name, you’re a hockey fan, we got the Pens back!!!
Funny, a few radio people try to make it like the fans will be mad.
Ya, I guess a couple will, and that’s their right.
I myself think it’s just about perfect. 82 games is too long. 60 would be about right.
Once they start next week, we’ll be right in the thick of it, then the playoffs, I’m pumped up!!!
Baseball could due with about 120 games instead of 162 or whatever.
I know it’s money, they’ll never change, but seasons way too long, too many games meaningless.
Well, they’ve been meaningless in PGH for 20 years I guess, but, baseball in general.
Anyhow, I’ve recovered from the game today, hopefully we’ll get going.
I still think we have a chance to have a very good season and get to the tourney.
Time will tell.
Broncos Ravens, hell of a game!!!
I know I will get an arguement, but I tell you all that Pitt will learn more from this loss than any easy win (like G’town). Let’s see if they can apply it next game vs Nova.
Here in B’more land they are partying heavy tonight after one of the best football games I have ever seen. May rank second in playoff greatness to the Immaculate Reception.
This team is no where near aggressive enough.
What came thru loud and clear yesterday was that the half court offense isn’t working and it is contributing to the overall passivity of the team. It takes 5-7 seconds to get the ball over half court, then they throw it around the perimeter (with no threat to go to the hoop) for another 15-20 seconds, then they aggressively look for a shot. They need to drive to hoop sooner AND go inside sooner. But mostly start looking for shots sooner.
Marquette runs a deliberate offense, but with every pass they are forcing the defense to actually defend.
Johnson and Wright are getting PT because they are aggressive and trying to make something happen. Jamie has to figure out how to get Moore more minutes. He can be aggressive in spots too.
Despite his career high in points and his clutch three, I would reduce Patterson’s minutes. He is a big part of the lack of motor on this team.
Moore has got to be more creative. He needs to learn the pump fake and the drive. He settles for too many jump shots. He had the minutes yesterday and did not do enough.
This team needs Zanna to perform at a high level or they are not going anywhere. They need his rebounding and short game around the hoop. Neither was there yesterday and it really hurt us.
That, and the FT shooting. The poor performance from the charity stripe is just unacceptable. I don’t get it.
Even without Woodall, if they make FTs and get some rebounds, they win that game yesterday.
Eh, guess I just bought into the hype of Adams too much, and thought all the ills from last year would be cured by him, and to a lesser extent, Ziegler who I envisioned as the next Wannamaker. Rather, this team is going to grow with Adams, as long as he is here, and Ziegler just looks unsure of his role. Reality is, we’re still in the midst of rebuilding, and the players who we struggled with last year still play significant roles and are what they are. I guess what we hope for this year is improvement between now and March.
BE teams come out hard and fast. Pitt needs to step up quick.
I’ve been happy with the guards and they’ve performed well enough to win. Zanna, despite the season he is having, still has brick hands. The same goes for Taylor and Adams. Catching the ball does not come naturally to them and they are all poor passers.
Pitt’s never been overly big up front but they made up for it by being able to catch and pass with ease. These traits are fundamentally missing in our front court now and the biggest reason for the struggles.
Get back to recruiting kids who can catch and pass despite the stars. That doesn’t mean recruit someone 4 inches too short like Robinson but he did possess the skill set that was needed to be successful in Pitt’s program … his lack of height at the position was just too detrimental to overcome.
Bad break for Woodall
Poor free throw shooting
I like Robinson however he
dribbles too much
Adams has to demand the ball too
passive so far
This team will get better as the season
progresses
Webb is a Panther.
Sleepy 3 points 0 rebounds
Zanna 3 points 5 rebounds
Adams 4 points 6 rebounds
Combined production from the 4 & 5 spots
10 points 11 rebounds.
There my friends lies the answer and the problem with this team (for the most part). These 3 ALL play significantly better in transition. They are all soft and are minimally effective in the halfcourt offense.
Score of note: Cinci 68
@ Rutgers 58
Cinci came out early and put the hurt on RU, as it was 27-15 at halftime at the RAC. Both Cuse & Cinci beatdown RU quickly. RU came out against us and immediately got ahead 15-5. Game over
Other than the G-town game, where the Hoyas couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, we have not come out with guns blazing. Something is amiss.
This team isn’t ready to play at the beginning of games. Even in the weak non-con against some terrible teams, they were not able to get a substantial lead in many of those games in the first half and even trailed in some. Against lame competition. Again other than the G-Town game and maybe a few other as exceptions, they seem to come out very tentative, not sure of themselves.
They are under pressure more to win at home, and it’s becoming obvious this team doesn’t play particularly well when it feels any pressure.
Don’t know how this is cured since the team is made up of mostly as the same lot as last year. And the new players are not scoring enough points to make much of a difference. While we did get an unexpected 10 points from Durand Durand yesterday, that was more than offset with the near goose egg
by Zanna (3 points) who is the team’s leading scorer.
This team is like a ‘box of chocolates’.
Welcome to Terrish Webb, we’re glad to see you sign on. Best to luck to the Clairton Bears as new Pitt Panthers.
Any chance those stickers come back for the helmets? My understanding is that players got them for good play but does anyone know more about them. Such as…what specifically did a player have to do to earn one, was there a max number per game, did the player place them on the helmet, any guidelines on the placement, what did they look like, did the design change from year to year, what former Pitt player had the most?
I always loved dem stickers and the script but I’m just a big ole redneck from Texass.
Pitt Basketball can play its games at the Consol.
Wait a minute. Hold the bus. An off-campus facility would never work.
Think of all the inconvenience for students having to make their way down and up Fifth Avenue for games.
Would love to meet up with anyone in DFW. I know there’s a Dallas Pitt Club and they meet every once in a while for games. They just haven’t learned to meet in a central location like Arlington. Addison seems to be their watering hole of choice. Too far for me being that I live in Mansfield.
Who is working on that feasibility study again for the new on campus football stadium between Frick and Katz and down to the Hollow? CompLit?
You will have to give me some poetic license when I tell you that teams learn more from losing…and yes, I loved the comment “that Pitt players should have their PHD.”
These quotes out of the most recent SI issue:
* “success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people to thinking they cannot lose” Bill Gates
* “winning is overrated. The only time it is important is in war and surgery” Al McGuire
* “winning!” Charlie Sheen
There, don’t we all feel a little better now!
Getting the sense now that even the most ardent Dixon supporters are starting to waver a bit as the evidence mounts.
The question I posed prevously, at what point… how many losses… will it take to realize the USS Dixon is taking on water?
It’s been my opinion going back to last year’s lost season that Dixon is being exposed as being limited in his ability to single-handedly lift a team to success.
It is my opinion that in the past it was some key assistants now gone who played key roles in developiing players while Dixon was getting the credit.
Last year really threw up the red flag when it became apparent that Dixon was totally unable to turn the team around time after time. It seemed as though players did not respond to his coaching style.
A year later, not much has changed.
And this is not going to change unless Dixon is able to bring aboard one or two assistants who complement his style well enough that their effort as a whole will once again make Jamie look like the master of turning lemons into lemonade.
A 7-foot 5-Star center would also help.
OK, he’s got that.
Trust me. It ain’t the players.
Now cast-offs aren’t good enough. He needs “better players.”
What’s changed?
Got the #2, 3, 4 or 5 top recruit by anyones standards. Think ESPN had him at #4.
Robinson, pretty much the #10 to #15 guard by most services.
Ya, numbers are only numbers, and don’t mean anything, we’ve discussed that ad nauseum on the football posts.
But, they are a general starting point and give an idea of what kind of player they are.
So, a top 5 big man and and a top 15 guard.
Recruiting????
There was a lot of opinions offered as to the likely outcome, a good portion of it from contributors making their living in the courts.
Let’s see who was right.
——–
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pitt football players Ray Graham, Lafayette Pitts and Devin Street have cut a deal to reduce misdemeanor assault and conspiracy charges to disorderly conduct counts.
The players were charged in November after police say they surrounded another student on a sidewalk near the campus before one of the players punched the man in the head.
The man told police he didn’t want to press charges but wanted to ensure the players didn’t harass others.
The three players were scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday. But Graham’s attorney, Mark Fiorilli says a deal was struck to have their charges reduced to disorderly conduct — a charge similar to a traffic ticket that carries up to a $300 fine.
The players must complete community service by April 15 for that to happen.
*******
I don’t get it. Yes, last year was horrible, a little rocky so far this year.
8 or 9 years of NCAA’s, 2 outright BE champs, a BE tourney championship.
Now, because of a bad year, Dixon has suddenly been exposed???
Was he exposed the couple years we had 31-5 records??
Was he exposed not more than 2 years ago when he won the BE championship outright with a 28-6 record???
Wow, tough crowd. Ya, I’m not happy either, and if this year goes into the tank, and next year is bad, sure, you have to take notice.
One bad year and a so-so start this year condemns him???
Geesh, tough, tough, crowd!!!
And, if you really want him gone, please elaborate with who you would get to come in here and do better.
Not a wishlist, someone who we could afford, and someone that is known to have said that they want to come here. Ya, Jamie makes good change, you want some elite guy, gonna be double what he makes. We payin’ that??
JD coaches one way only and when that doesn’t work Pitt is screwed.
Needs to be more flexible. And as far as freethrow shooting, they are regressing. I have seen them all shoot better than they have recently, it is called fatigue.
Problem with this team seems to be confidence..they start to miss a few baskets and it seems to snowball into a bunch more..if they start to fall then things really open up for them…see GT game and some of those early huge blowouts against the cupcake teams.
Dixon didn’t say it outright but whne asked about Zanna possibly being sick because how bad he paid he didn’t say Zanna was ill but he mentioned Zanna got down on himself after missing some early open jumpers and it effected his game. You see the same thing with Patterson at times
Everything being equal, would you rather have the #42 big man, and the #87 guard???
I think Adams is going to be an absolute monster, and Robinson has allready shown he will be good.
Are they now, no, probably not.
It is also only their 17th game of their freshmen seasons.
Did seem like they knew how to find those guys.
No.2… Pointing out Dixon’s shortcomings is not the same as saying the guy should be shown the door.
There’s a mounting body of evidence to suggest it’s simply time to put to rest the urban legend of Dixon being the best at getting the most out of average players. In the last two years Pitt players have never been so average and look at what’s happened.
Accept Jamie for what he is and isn’t. A great guy and at times a pretty good coach who with the right assistants and players makes Pitt Basketball fun to watch and root for.
If you want someting more than this, a maximum return on investment for the University’s apparent commitment to building a big-time basketball program as evidenced by the erection of “The Pete” in place of Pitt Stadium… well then it’s time to start coming up with some names.
Then again… maybe the University’s commitment to building a major basketball program is also an urban legend?
Like I said, I’ve been a defender, but I’m a little frustrated. Tank it this year and start out horrible next year, I’d probably be doing a lot more questioning myself.
Almost is just a word, I understand that, shoulda, woulda, coulda, I understand that.
However, in comparing to say, a coach that only got to the NCAA’s and lost in every first round, Dixon did in fact get as close to the final four as humanly possible. Scottie effin’ Reynolds.
Bottom line, he didn’t, I understand that.
Not like he wasn’t on the cusp though.
Has Sean Miller ever made it known that his goal is to come back to his alma mater someday???
Some guys get set up like kings, eventually some family moves around them, and they all don’t have that need and desire to “get back home”.
Just wondering if anyone has ever heard him speak of that???
As far as not getting the most out of average players…who (besides Taylor) who have stayed for their entire career has not at least played to their potential? You might list players who have transfered..OK…which players who have transfer have had more success elsewhere..(Birch perhaps but only because he did nothing while he was here.)
