Do columnists assume everyone has been paying attention or ignoring the same things they have? I guess so. Gene Collier, much like the rest of the Pittsburgh media, is finally done talking about the Steelers (at least for a few days). So he turns to Pitt and the Big East to discover *gasp* there are a lot of teams in the conference.
This was in the dark ages of, oh, 1990, when, then as now, Big East basketball meant some of the best teams in the land and most of the best teams in the land between the North Atlantic and the West End Bridge. In that era, you could lurch away from six months of NFL immersion and easily wrap your sports brain around college basketball, at least as it impacted Pitt and the aligned powers.
Tried this approach yesterday by searching out the Big East standings.
First impression: The Big East standings are about an inch too thick.
They’re practically a poll unto themselves.
The storied conference once made up of seven schools now includes 12 states and the District of Columbia. The basketball map that once represented a highly manageable little v-chip of the Northeast — Syracuse to D.C. to Boston — is today not merely the Big East, but the Enormous East. A similar triangulation in 2006 requires a round trip of nearly 4,000 miles, from Milwaukee to Tampa to Providence and back to Point A.
And when there were 7 schools, Pitt wasn’t included. With breathtaking shock, he reports that South Florida isn’t even 50 years old. That Pitt and Villanova don’t play this year, in fact the Big East teams don’t play all the same conference opponents.
And get this. There is size disparity between a school like Providence and Cinci. He neglects to mention or notice that the size disparity is about the same between Pitt and Providence.
I think this article can be safely filed under “filler.”
Aaron Gray gets a puff piece, and reveals that he will probably go through the NBA Camps this spring.
Gray indicated he is leaning toward going through the NBA pre-draft workouts to see where he might get drafted, the same process Taft and Krauser went through last season.
“It’s a possibility,” he said. “They have a great rule in place where you can go through all the camps and everything without an agent. It’s definitely a big decision I’m going to have to make. Right now, I’m just content here with this team for this season.”
Dixon knows many scouts and personnel people in the NBA and will be able to help Gray make his decision, but he said the only thing he and Gray are concerned with is winning games.
“That’s an after-the-season thing,” Dixon said. “We’ve talked in generalities before. There’s no point in talking about it now. The information is not available to him or to any of our other 12 players.”
There is absolutely no reason for Gray not to take advantage of it, and he should.
Last week I noted how sick I was of Dixon being stuck with Howland comparisons.
I realize Dixon was Howland’s assistant and is his close friend. Still, there has to come a time when the credit for the way this team is now has to stay with Coach Dixon. This is his team. Howland has been gone for 3 years. It’s not like Coach Dixon changed or subordinated his own philosophy and views on how to run the team to fit the system.
…
I guess it bothers me because it seems to be denigrating the job by Coach Dixon to this point. The first year, it seemed like many acted like he was Phil Jackson with Michael Jordan and the Bulls, rolling out the ball and letting them do it themselves. Last year was a disappointment, and the fingers were pointed at Dixon — especially from me — and the questions about whether he could really handle being the head coach. This year, he’s showing everyone what kind of job he is capable of, and the comparisons go right back to Howland.
Looks like at least one writer is getting the message, sort of.
But the most credit is reserved for the guy who believed in this team all season. Finally, Dixon has stepped away from the shadow of his predecessor, Ben Howland, by doing his best coaching job with these Panthers.
How good has Dixon been this year? This guy was 31-5 and won the 2004 Big East coach of the year award in 2003-04, his first season as a head coach.
That’s tough to beat.
That Panthers team, however, featured Howland’s players, from starters to bench. Dixon ran the Howland game plan, which was already in place. It was Howland’s offense, Howland’s defense and despite him being a couple thousand miles away at UCLA, Howland’s team.
That’s not to say that Dixon just could have rolled the balls out for practice and left to get a latte – because he did prove a lot that first season – but he didn’t change much for the sake of consistency and was branded for being merely a babysitter.
This year’s Panthers are all Dixon’s own. Krauser was the only Panther to play for Howland. Levon Kendall, Antonio Graves and Gray were recruited during the Howland watch, but probably don’t even remember that he’s bald.
And Dixon isn’t running with Howland’s offenses and defense. Certainly, there are some similarities, but all artists have inspiration. Dixon has morphed his game as his team morphed into a faster, better shooting and more athletic one. They run transition. They look for the 3-pointer. They play a better one-on-one defense.
Of course the “emerging from shadow” cliche started in the first season, and periodically makes an appearance.
