Well, in the past Pitt has survived spells of not having Levance Fields. Now Pitt will try to manage with Woodall. The reports are that Travon Woodall suffered an abdominal tear and will miss the next month.
There’s no sugarcoating that this is a big loss. He was playing 32 minutes a game. Shooting real well from the perimeter. The leading assist man on the team — a better than 2-1 A/TO ratio — and clearly the floor leader.
I can see Lamar Patterson getting some of the time running things as a point-forward type player like Brad Wanamaker. Patterson has good court vision and has 20 assists to only 8 turnovers. This could create times where both Patterson and J.J. Moore are on the floor at the same time. I would be somewhat intrigued to see that. Like it or not (and I don’t), Ashton Gibbs will get some more chances to play point.
Most of the minutes, though, should end up going to John Johnson, Cam Wright and Isiah Epps. The latter has not gotten much playing time after redshirting last year and still struggling to get on the court. He’s an actual point guard, but most stories are that his defense is lacking to be kind.
Going to be a hell of a first test with a road game on ESPN.
Obviously, this is going to be tough to overcome, but I really feel bad for Woodall. He’s been playing pretty well, and really has emerged as a leader on the court. He is far from a perfect player, but he seemed to really be finding his identity on the court. Hopefully, this is just a brief setback, but abdominal injuries can be tricky.
I’m guessing Johnson starts (but maybe officially Gibbs is the 1) and like Chas says Epps becomes part of backcourt rotation with Wright. Probably becomes another “play the hot hand” type rotation.
Johnson, Wright and Epps (in that order) will get more minutes. But I think it’ll really force Gibbs to do some PG work. Could be a win-win. Gibbs gets to play a positions phisically more suited for (ie height, though not really his talent) in the NBA/Euro leagues. Dixon gets one of his staring guards to distribute and play-make more.
That said, the flip side is Gibbs will feel that he has to take an even higher percentage of the teams shots and lock up our offense more. This would be bad not terrible if he’s shooting at ihs career percentages. But it would be really bad if he’s shooting at his season percentages.
Fantastic player, but not a point guard. Pitt needs to be able to keep him at SG.
The bright side: Pitt is very, very deep. Jamie has options to deal with an injury at any spot. No one on this team is indispensible.
My guess is that Gibbs will start at the point and Johnson (maybe Wright) will start at the two. I would rather have Gibbs stay at the two, but so far most of Johnson’s minutes have been at the two.
Patterson shouldn’t be playing the point much. He may be asked to play like Wannamaker did last year. But he can’t defend a point guard or really even a quick two gaurd.
Johnson should get some time at the point.
Best case scenario for March is that Johnson does great at the point while Woodall is out. When all gaurds are healthy, Gibbs plays about 30 minutes, Johnson plays 18, Wright 8, and Woodall 28. I know that math doesn’t work, but there will be times, particularly at ends of games, when three of them play together.
Prior to the injury, Woodall (32+) and Gibbs (36+) were averaging too many minutes. That may have contributed to some of the inconsistency (turnovers) we saw out of Woodall.
What is of concern that no one has talked about yet–who is the backup at the 1? Before, from what I saw, when Woodall was out, Gibbs moved over to the point. Now what? Who will run the show when Gibbs needs a blow or (god forbid) he gets in foul trouble or injured?
I agree J Johnson probably gets the start, with Wright getting an increase in minutes. I have never seen Epps play that much but he came here much heraled as a “Levance Fields-type” player-strong leader with great passing skills, so I guess we will now see what he can bring to the table.
We may have more close games and even lose a few more than we are used to during the time Woodall is out, but hopefully it will make us stronger as the young guys get some in-game experience.
This could be real value in disguise.
With a stiff cocktail of course…
Those two are both 6’9″ and both can board. And we’ve seen a small glimpse of Birch’s shot blocking abilities. We are soft with Taylor in there despite his last game, Duquesne was very small up front and is getting out rebounded by everyone.
They really need to find these guys in the post for a more balanced scoring attack. You don’t want to become a team that lives and dies by the 3, so maybe losing Woodall for a month gets them to work the ball inside more. Definitely good for the long term, might be ugly short term as nobody up to this point has shown an ability to pass into the post.
Coach has a big decision to make, do you move Gibbs to PG and therefore limit his shooting opportunities on the wing and also Gibbs would have to work that much harder handling the ball all the time as the PG. I would think ‘No’, you keep him at SG, so you don’t have 2 players playing out of position and you don’t take away your best scorer.
If Patterson is up for a Wannamaker imitation, that would be the rout to go, as JJ has limited experience and is a true freshman after all. And playing PG full-time would be asking an awful lot of a true frosh and Epps has hardly played at all. They should see more minutes but I don’t think you want them starting quite yet.
Big Weekend for PITT sports and all the opposition is colored Orange. Let’s Crush some Orange or drink some Orange Crush, whatever. lol
Virtus et Veritas
Hail to PITT !
vires et decus
I feel a kinship with him. I do commuted to a catholic N. J. high school from Brooklyn. Came from a working class family. Was a gymnast at Pitt.
The Pitt degree did me well in getting a good job to allow me to gain experience to form my own company. I think I ended up pretty successful.
Remain proud my fellow Pitt fans.
I agree with Emel. Why have 2 shooters out of position? leave Gibbs at the 2 and start JJohnson at the pt. He leads the BE in 3s (for now) and is a tough Philly kid. If he falters, try Wright or Epps. Some pts from the 3 from Lamar or JJ are critical, as Tenn will key on Gibbs.
need to play Birch, Zanna and Nas to compete inside with Tenn. Revenge game win over the Vols on their court will be sweet. HTP
Watched Tenn play Memphis in Mauii. They are tough. They have some big strong dudes inside that will cause Pitt all kinds of trouble. Jeronne Maymon is the real deal. Don’t know how Pitt will defend him. Hall, the other big, is tough too. McCrae is one of those 6’7″ skninny athletes who can score in bunches. Golden, the point guard is physically tough, but doesn’t make great decisions.
They are NOT well coached. They took a ton of quick bad shots and frequently got lost on defense (particularly in the first half). They committed a ton of fouls, many of them unnecessary. They didn’t press against Memphis and it didn’t appear to be part of their arsenal.
For Pitt to win, they need to execute their offense. If they are patient and run their stuff they should get good shots. They should get some open looks at three, they’ll need to hit them. They need to hold their own on the glass, particularly the defensive glass. They can’t let Tenn get too many put backs. Robinson and Zanna have to contain Maymon and make him take tough shots.
So to me this game will come down to coaching/exectution (Pitt) v. athleticism toughness (Tenn).
If Pitt can handle their athleticism they can win a close one. My guess is, they won’t. Hope I’m wrong.
My freshman year I was at Florida State; broke my leg was out a year then transfered to Pitt.
FSU back then was segregated. Kind of a cultural shock for a kid from Brooklyn.
