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February 7, 2015

Yes, it’s a “blackout.” For which, Jamie Dixon speaks for all of us older curmudgeons.

“Everything’s about gimmicks and promotions nowadays,” Dixon said. “Fans are excited. Our players are excited. You’ve got to do things that excite the players, excite the fans. I wouldn’t notice the difference, I guess, until it got pointed out.”

Preach it!

Rebuttal:

“I’m excited,” sophomore Jamel Artis said. “They’re great uniforms.”

“The jerseys are dope,” senior Cameron Wright said. “The student section will be popping.”

So, opinions vary.

Syracuse made news mid-way through the week by announcing a self-imposed post-season ban for this year. The reason for it concerns academics and the way their drug testing program (didn’t) operate in the athletic department between 2007 and 2012. The details are, of course, vague. This was slightly opportunistic of Cuse to put the ban in effect in a year that would have at best had them squeaking into the NCAA Tournament. Can’t fault them for gaming the system, though.

If Pitt had played them a day or two after the announcement, maybe that plays a role in their performance. Now? More likely to be a motivational thing used by Boeheim.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he doesn’t know the details of what happened at Syracuse, but agrees with his players that Boeheim will be able to use this as motivation.

“I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know how it will affect them,” Dixon said. “But I would think there would be some disappointment that would be used to fuel motivation for your next game. And these kids, to be at the level they are playing at, they already have had motivation in their life and they will be ready to go and ready to play just like our guys are.”

“We’ve been fortunate,” Dixon said. “You try to do the right things. Still, things can occur, but [following rules] is something that is important to us, it is important to our university. They have made it very clear to us they don’t want us to even come near the line, and that was made evident to me from the start and emphasized throughout.”

Rough translation to that last paragraph: “You did see what happened to that Wannstedt fella, right?”

The Orange are 6-3 in the ACC, but they haven’t done it with ease.

Syracuse opened this year’s ACC schedule with four consecutive wins but has lost three of five. Down to eight scholarship players because of injuries, Syracuse struggled to defeat Georgia Tech (46-45), Virginia Tech (68-66), Wake Forest (86-83) and Virginia Tech again (72-70) — three of the bottom four teams in the conference.

Swing those the other way and Cuse is 4-5 like Pitt.

For the game itself, I am of mixed feelings on what Pitt will do. Pitt has struggled mightily against teams that shift to the zone. Part of what made the victory over Notre Dame so odd, was the fact that Brey kept the Irish in man-to-man for the entire game. He let Pitt’s offense see the same look the entire game. This, despite every other team that has beaten — or simply made it tough for Pitt — found great success simply by showing a zone defense for spells in the game.

On the other hand… Syracuse plays exclusively zone. Not shifting looks and doing different things. With the way Jamel Artis has been shooting that has the potential to play into Pitt’s hands.

“Teams have used [the] 2-3 zone against us all year,” Artis said. “We just have to find the soft spots in the zones, and I think we have done that very well in the last few games. But this needs to be a big game for all 16 of us. We need to come out and play hard, and we need to win this game and get to .500 [in ACC play].”

Artis said playing against zones can be “irritating” at times because they slow down the offense and force the Panthers to be more patient. But he likes that the zone offenses Pitt runs usually results in an open shot for someone — and recently it has often been him.

Dixon said Artis is in a good groove right now, but the most important thing he is doing is not forcing shots.

“He is playing really confident and the guys are looking for him,” Dixon said. “I have sensed that the last couple of games. So they are finding him, he is moving well without the ball, he is taking good shots, and he is putting himself in position on the catches to score. He is playing to his strengths.”

Offensively for the Orange, for large stretches this year are Rakeem Christmas inside and whoever is hot outside.

Don’t forget that Voodoo Brewery will be serving H2P IPA in the Campus View Club  at the Pete along with being available at the University Club. And I’m not reminding you of this just simply because I’m getting an awesome t-shirt.

ESPN2 at 4pm.





Well you can’t get top recruits here if you don’t offer them, but closing the deal is a whole different matter. Certainly like that we have a coach that wants to raise the profile vs one that really seemed uncomfortable in the limelight.

Soon enough we will find out if he can back-up the tough talk. We all hope he can. Still an uphill battle to get top ranked kids to consider Pitt, let alone come here.

Winning eight games would be a major step in the right direction.

Comment by gc 02.09.15 @ 10:13 am

gc, the hope vs Lville is that they normally are not a good shooting team ..but of course shot lights out vs us. And many of them were longer shots, not just putbacks. So hopefully since they beat us badly on our floor, they won’t be as focused this time.

On the other hand, we caught them last time after an embarassing loss at home vs Duke when they shot 28%. Now we face thme after a loss at UVa, so they should be focused.

I’d certainly be pleasantly surpised to win there, but still hold out some hope.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 10:16 am

Early in the Syracuse game Cameron Wright hurt his left ankle — the ankle of the foot that he broke earlier this year.

Now the following appears at the top of his twitter account:

Walking Dead

Here’s the link:

link to twitter.com

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 10:30 am

Walking Dead is a long running series on AMC which I believe started a new season last night.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 10:36 am

Louisville shot great, but we have no answer for Rozier or Harrell. Our only answer is to shoot well, and to get production from Jeter and Jones again. If Jeter has really turned a corner this time, his size and athleticism could really help vs a team like Louisville. But we still need 3’s from the guards. Can they do it on the road?

Comment by gc 02.09.15 @ 10:41 am

Many of us have made the point here that Pitt’s football class is not a poor one so much as it is a small one (14 recruits). Volume, even if it is fortified by mediocre rated recruits raises up a national ranking.

Here is a link to a sbnation.com article that actually puts mathematical analysis logic to that point.

link to twitter.com

I believe Coach Narduzzi resisted adding several lower ranked recruits at the end simply to get to 18-20 recruits and obtain a higher ranking from various services. When he lost out on some key prospects, he decided instead to put the extra slots in his pocket for next year. I think it was the right thing to do. It should also be pointed out that he did not need to pursue the “fill the roster” strategy of adding as many recruits as possible because Paul Chryst’s staff added approximately 50 players in the past 2 years and there is a fairly good amount of young talent already on the roster.

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 10:41 am

Oops. Let me try that sbnation recruiting article link again. Grabbed the wrong part, I think. Sorry about that!

link to t.co

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 10:44 am

Howard, if you look down on the twitter feeds that Jim linked, you will see another Walking Dead reference, and it had nothing to do with Cam W

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 10:45 am

A road win vs. Louisville or Va would get us on the bubble.

Comment by gc 02.09.15 @ 10:55 am

wbb,

I hope you are right! We should find out this afternoon. Zeiss wrote in his PG blog yesterday:

Cam Wright went down early in this game with a left ankle injury. We will meet with Dixon on Monday afternoon to see Wright’s status.

Here’s the link to Zeiss’ blog:

link to sportsblogs.post-gazette.com

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 10:59 am

pittman4ever quoted Bear Bryant on recruiting: “Bear looks down at his sandwich and says: “Do you see this chicken salad sandwich? You can’t make a great chicken salad sandwich with chicken sh$t – you need the best chicken!!!”

I’ve had some pretty bad chix salad sandwiches. Now maybe I understand why.

Comment by NOLA69 02.09.15 @ 11:07 am

Like most, I doubt we can win on the road against Louisville, but the fact that we are in a position where ‘just one more win’ gets us on the ‘right side of the bubble’ is amazing, considering where we were at just 2 weeks ago.

Disagree with Zeise’s comment about Jeter in the article; the fact is, he has NOT been a good scorer, or even a mediocre scorer, up to this point. He has not cashed in on his opportunities. However, and more importantly, he has been working hard and his confidence was up, and it payed off big time Saturday. This is exactly how Artis started this year, with one big game like that. Hopefully Jeter can do the same, I don’t see why not. Would be a great story (and give us some more size).

Comment by 1618mt 02.09.15 @ 11:26 am

Announcers always love guys from Beaver Falls. Wonder why???

Comment by alcofan 02.09.15 @ 12:18 pm

1618mt wrote:

JD has already learned new tricks, implementing an entirely new offensive philosophy (which he should never abandon) and a new defensive one as well to make the best of his situation.

I don’t think his philosophy has changed. He has done what the best coaches do — adjusted to suit the strengths and weaknesses of his players.

This team is fast and passes great, so he is having them play fast in transition. This team cannot shut-down the opposition in the man-to-man, so he varies defenses to keep the opposition off balance.

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 12:47 pm

So are we rooting for FSU or DUKE tonight? An FSU win gives our RPI a boost, but also puts them closer to the right side of the bubble. I’m assuming VTech would be a boost to our resume if they can some how get inside the top 200 RPI by the end of the year.

Comment by ShorePitt 02.09.15 @ 1:08 pm

Howard – I disagree. Year after year (literally, right up to a few weeks ago) we have historically grinded the shot clock down to nothing on almost every possession in our half court offenses with what appears to be an overemphasis on everyone touching the ball and seemingly trying to find the perfect shot. Posters have claimed for years that our style was a put-off to certain types of recruits, for what it’s worth. The new philosophy is said to be this: ‘take the first good shot we get’. Certain guys even getting free reigns to take lower quality shots? Yes, it’s a stark contrast, and I’m glad.

Comment by 1618mt 02.09.15 @ 2:25 pm

Anyone think we have a shot of going 6-2 the rest of the way? We’d be 22-10 (11-7). A few weeks ago, that thought would not have crossed my mind.

H2P!!!

Comment by Pitt Dad 02.09.15 @ 2:37 pm

I think that taking a year off is very hard at this level of basketball. Jeter may well have needed that much time to adjust. What he was doing against the Orange was no accident, he has some ability. Having another guy up front that can share the load with Young and Artis could go a huge way towards helping move our offense forward. The bad news is I bet that Duran will have a hard time getting back in the flow next year too.
Wright has not played at the level we had hoped most of the year, and I remarked that in the Bryant game he looked physically ill except for a brief spurt. Ankle injuries can be career threatening and once seriously injured they become more likely to recur. Senior leadership has been a staple of Dixon’s teams and this year Wright was it.

The good news is that will give Newkirk and Jones more minutes. I don’t know if that bodes well for this season but my guess is that it will pay dividends before they graduate. Jones is every bit as good as Patterson was as a sophomore and if Newkirk can harness his potential he could dominate by the time he is a senior.
I don’t know where the Dialo kid could find a more ready made perfect scenario for a one and done career than Pitt. We have everything in place to make a real run if we only had a big strong talent in the middle.
I love to dream.

Comment by spiritofsection22 02.09.15 @ 3:01 pm

@Pitt Dad, If we somehow won 2 of the next 4 we would still blow a game down the stretch. WE are starting to rise to the competition but still drop to it too. The trip to Florida State will be brutal and Miami isn’t going to roll over either.

Comment by spiritofsection22 02.09.15 @ 3:05 pm

@Jim

Thanks for the link. Just confirms the fact that the more recruits the higher overall ranking.

I had heard this elsewhere but the article gives the rival formula.

link to cardiachill.com

Comment by PITT-cocks Fan 02.09.15 @ 3:13 pm

Here’s a nice PR piece:

link to pittsburghpanthers.com

Comment by dinosaur 71 02.09.15 @ 3:14 pm

Mugsy lewis st. francis ,miami floridians, how about barry, garry nelson dusqesne

Comment by paul shannon 02.09.15 @ 3:17 pm

I don’t know that I really agree that Jeter took a year off, spirit. I realize he couldn’t play in games, but didn’t he do everything else? If he practiced with the team, I’m sure they scrimmage almost everyday. And, he was playing in summer league, etc. I think his only issue offensively was that he wasn’t getting consistent minutes, so he could not get in a groove and get his confidence up. The reason he didn’t get minutes is Jamie was not comfortable with his defense, right?

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 3:23 pm

Jim, He was enrolled in some junior college. It isn’t like he was a regulqar transfer and he had to spend a full year outside of division 1 basketball. Playing a summer in Greentree doesn’t come close to the level of play in the ACC. I repeat a year away from major college basketball is a hard obstacle to come back from. He certainly showed plenty of rust and I just hope that now he is back in gear. With Wright down we need him.

Comment by spiritofsection22 02.09.15 @ 3:36 pm

Jim, from what read and just following JD all of these years, defense has alwaus been a major factor for PT under JD. But I think this is changing quickly. We’ll see.

BTW, what should not be to anyone’s surprise, Artis has been named ACC player of the week.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 3:41 pm

dinosaur, just watched that piece you linked.. does Gallagher seem like the anti-Nordy or what? Not just his approach to athletics, but just his whole persona; he certainly doesn’t come off as a typical college president.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 3:45 pm

another thing about not being able to practice with Pitt last year, Jeter is a frosh when it comes to playing JD’s defense … it’s not just playing man-to-man, but knowing when to switch or fighting thru screens .. or rotating when the ball is on the other side of the court and there is a double-team, etc.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 3:52 pm

I don’t think it is as much rust as it is being lost on defense. We saw what he could do earlier in the year vs BC. I think the other problem is playing two minutes at a time waiting for the hook. If Wright is out for a while Jamie has no choice but to play Jeter. Him knowing he is going to get 20+ minutes makes a big difference. Let’s him get into the flow of the game.

Also the more uptempo style works to his advantage. If you remember he was part of the furious comeback vs BC. With more focus on offense and less on shutdown defense, Jeter is an asset.

Comment by gc 02.09.15 @ 3:54 pm

1618mt,

Dixon’s philosophy about passing or shooting is not completely new. Last year DJ was given permission to take bad three-point shots when he came in to provide energy off the bench. This year it is Jones.

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 3:56 pm

So who’s going to be the first recruit to commit for 2016 football?

Comment by JJ 02.09.15 @ 4:05 pm

At the end of last season, I was predicting that Jeter would come in and be our starter right away at the “4.” SpiritofSection22 corrected me, pointing out that Jeter wouldn’t play for Dixon unless he plays good defense.

Turns out that we could both end up being correct. Jeter didn’t play at the beginning of the season because he was a big liability on defense. However, I expect him to start tomorrow, especially if Wright is out. He is too good an athlete to leave on the bench.

GC is correct. Jeter plays much better if is in longer, instead of “playing two minutes at a time waiting for the hook.”

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 4:09 pm

next year DJ and Cam J will be joining Jones and Artis… not sure what kind of shooter Wilson will be, but JR is shooting better and hopefully Nuke will regain his touch.

Heck, JD may have to hire Paul Westhead as an assistant.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 4:09 pm

Paul Zeise ?@PaulZeise

Jamie Dixon said Cam Wright (sprained left ankle) is “day to day” He didn’t practice today, optimistic about him returning tomorrow. #Pitt

Comment by Mailman 02.09.15 @ 4:12 pm

I meant “start Wednesday” not “start tomorrow”.

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 4:13 pm

JJ, I assume junior day will be coming up real soon at The Pete … maybe this Saturday when we host UNC.

The 1st recruit may come from that group.

Comment by wbb 02.09.15 @ 4:14 pm

Thanks for the update on Wright, Mailman. That is good news!

Sounds like he will be back. I was worried that it might be something much worse — something related to his broken foot.

Comment by Howard 02.09.15 @ 4:18 pm

Hey…I’m not bashing Dixon. Nor am I a hater. But I don’t have to agree with everything he says or does.
The black out was am overwhelming success and Pitt should be commended for doing it.

Comment by Sfpitt 02.09.15 @ 4:42 pm

If Wright can’t even practice I doubt he’ll play Wednesday or get many minutes if he does play. Maybe having a better offensive player like Jeter against L’Ville will work out better anyway.

Comment by Jackagain 02.09.15 @ 4:56 pm

Sorry, spirit. I blanked on Jeter’s transfer. I forgot that he wasn’t at Pitt the full year.

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 5:18 pm

@sfpitt

it’s a shame you have to put that disclaimer out like that or your labeled a hater.. i think dixon or any other coach is out of touch if they don’t think the uni’s arnt important. it’s what the kids like, whether we like or not.

Comment by goalie44 02.09.15 @ 5:20 pm

wbb – Agree on Gallagher. I have great respect for Nordenberg and all that he did to enhance the status of the university, but Gallagher seems to be much more in sync with the needs of the athletics side of the equation.

I see better times ahead. And no one would ever mistake me for an optimist when it comes to Pitt sports.

Comment by dinosaur 71 02.09.15 @ 5:21 pm

I read that they hosted a bunch of junior prospects at the Pete for the Syracuse game.

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 5:22 pm

Wright’s sprain must not have been as bad as first thought. Either that, or he is one very quick healer. Either way, playing less than a week later seems very optimistic to me.

Comment by Jim 02.09.15 @ 5:25 pm

Possible that the ankle sprain wasn’t that bad, but since it was the one he broke, they wanted to play it safe. During the game he was standing up and down during time outs. Did not see a boot or ice so it wasn’t a real bad one.

Comment by gc 02.09.15 @ 6:35 pm

Don’t think Wright would have scored 18 points had he got his normal minutes, so we most likely lose if he doesn’t get hurt.

Jeter also had the putback at 33 seconds or so which pretty much sealed the victory.

If Pitt is going with Young at the 5, you need Jeter at the 3 or 4. Artis is much more a perimeter player so I guess he is the 3 and Jeter and the 4. But Jeter is also somewhat a perimeter player as Zeise noted on his blog.

Whatever…it worked against Syracuse.

The big thing at L-Ville, will be of course….how Pitt handles the Ville press.

Will we attack or we will hold the ball after breaking it, and have to beat their defense again in the half court. Are our guards, specifically Robinson going to be up to the task.

Comment by Emel 02.09.15 @ 7:49 pm

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