Nothing really noteworthy. While Oregon might come after Coach Jamie Dixon, assuming Gonzaga’s Mark Few rejects them once more, there is not much belief Dixon would seriously consider it.
Multiple sources have also told me that Oregon will target Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon — as USC and Arizona did a year ago — in an attempt to get the West Coast native to return back closer to home.
However, I’d be shocked if Dixon — who has done one of the top coaching jobs in the country this year and in his tenure at Pittsburgh — would agree to take an Oregon job that isn’t all that attractive except for its ties to Nike.
The Nike ties. It seems that with Phil Knight on hand, the coach had better be in the Nike stable.
Mike Bellotti’s decision to step down as athletic director makes it even more clear that former AD and influential Oregon booster Pat Kilkenny will make the hire with the nod from Nike’s Phil Knight, who has invested in Oregon as much as any high-profile alumnus at any other school. Don’t be surprised to see the next Oregon coach coming from the family of coaches who work with Nike.
The resignation of Bellotti is a huge strike against someone like Dixon taking the job — or really many top coaches. There’s no sense at who is in charge there in the future. And at a program where football is much more important, even a “name” coach has to worry about getting involved in a situation where the next AD will be hired after he is.
I think Oregon might already be aware that the chances of getting Dixon and certain other coaches probably won’t happen. Witness this bit from a beat writer indicating a sudden concern by Oregon over the style of play by the coach they hire.
Oregon isn’t necessarily looking for style over substance in its new basketball coach. The Ducks want a whole lot of both.
We’re not talking uniform colors here, but playing style. Fast is good. Fast and smart is better. Fast, smart and defensive-minded? Sign here.
Oregon is ready to throw a lot of money at the right coach, a coach who can fill a big new arena. A coach can do that three ways: He must have a resume that inspires excitement, he must bring an entertaining style of play and – oh yeah – he must win.
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Pittsburgh, under Oregon coaching candidate Jamie Dixon, is far from speedy — his Panthers play at a pace almost equal to that of Oregon State. Duck fans may be smarting over the Beavers’ sweep of their team this season, but they probably aren’t eager to adopt OSU’s style.
You would think, given the offseason that Oregon football is having, that getting players that won’t be arrested would make the list. But no, the article has quotes from (Ommygodthey) Kilkenny talking about how important the style is.
There is also the fact that it is not nearly as simple as shoveling buckets of Nike money at someone.
Oregon is shooting large by going after Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and Florida’s Billy Donovan. I’d be surprised if any of them were to take the bait. The money isn’t as grand as what apparently is being bandied about. The facilities are expected to be beautiful, but Nike czar Phil Knight has always been about improving the infrastructure at Oregon more so than supplementing a coaching salary.
That’s somewhat silly. When Phil Knight is footing the bill for infrastructure costs, then more money is freed to pay the coach. It may not be directly from Nike, but it impacts.
The fact that style of play suddenly has become a factor indicates that both Jamie Dixon and Mark Turgeon of Texas A&M showed little interest in the predictable feelers that have been put out there. You don’t make statements that effectively limit your pool unless you want to cover yourself from claims that you were rebuffed. That or they doing whatever it takes to get Mark Few from Gonzaga.
Both Gibbs and Brown can improve .. Gibbs needs to be able to create a shot from his dribble, and Brown, of course needs to be consistent. But more importantly, Pitt had no inie scoring threat this year. Taylor and Richardson will both be better next year … it is just a matter of degree .. and any inside threat will make Gibbs, Brown and Wannamaker much more effective next year.
Another thing ignored by Dokish is the fact that half of Pitt’s top players this year did not play their natural positions .. which will probably not always be the case the next year. Not to mention the fact that the 2nd tallest player on the court at any time next year will most likely be taller than 6’5.
There just isn’t much upside to the backcourt and wings…….and that’s the strength of this team. Gibbs is making the most out of himself as a player, but he’s limited athletically. Woodall’s relatively quick, but he’s one-handed and doesn’t look like he’ll ever have a reliable shot. Wanamaker is solid, and the alpha dog on the team from the look of it, and I love his penetrating and passing, but he’s not taking anybody to the Final 4. Brown’s a nice contributor, but obviously not the future star he was once billed as.
They’re good players. Solid players. But not Final 4 type players.
Then you factor in the frontcourt. We all love what McGhee brings. He really does do a good defensive job, but this whole “he’s a great defensive player” thing is getting ridiculous. He plays good position D, doesn’t get in foul trouble and rebounds OK. Last I checked, that doesn’t make you a great defensive player. It’s doing what you’re supposed to do and doing more than many of us ever expected from him — but it’s far from great.
Taylor — well, who knows? We’re all guessing on Dante. Decent athlete, kind of clueless right now. Could he contribute much more next year? Yes, but probably not at the 5 position. He’d have to play power forward and Pitt would have zero depth inside. Don’t tell me about JJ Richardson or Dwight Miller. It’s not happening. They were both major reaches and the lack of frontcourt recruiting (besides Taylor) over the last couple yrs really hurts.
I don’t know who’s calling out Dixon. He did a wonderful job this year without great players.
But I wouldn’t start comparing him with coaches like Izzo. Self’s a different story – not sure he deserves to be coaching at KU and getting players like Xavier Henry. Izzo, though, has built a long track record of accomplishment.
Personally, I just want to have a program that goes to the tournament most years and makes the Sweet 16 periodically. Expecting much more from Pitt’s program is setting yourself up for disappointment.
Hugh why “don’t tell me about JJ Richardson”? Every game he stepped into this year he contributed. I think with another year in the system his minutes should and will increase. Especially if Taylor is at the 4, we could afford to play Richardson at the 5. He rebounds, is physical, defends, and gets garbage points. The fact is the kid came to play each time he was called on.
Expecting much more from ANY program is setting yourself up for disappointment.
College basketball talent, and basketball talent in general, is a little down right now. I am curious to see what teams make the final four this year. We’ll have to see how many “final 4 type players” they have. I’m not sure that Duke, Syracuse, Cornell, Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s, Butler, Purdue, Baylor, etc. have too many elite recruits or star players. WVU has maybe one or two NBA players, Xavier has one (a 3* recruit), Tennessee has one pro, Kentucky has three or four pros, MSU maybe one, bottom line is many of these teams aren’t stacked with talent. Hugh and I will continue to disagree. Most years he will be right, but it will be sweet when he is wrong. Like he was this year.
As for Taylor, he has more upside than any 4 or 5 Pitt has had in the Howland-Dixon era (except maybe for Taft, and he already shown more enthusiasm in one season than Taft has shown in two.)
Here’s a reach for you, Hugh .. how about McGhee or Aaron Gray winning the skills competition at the McDonald’s All-american game like Taylor did last year.
But, I think what he did this year shows me he is by no means a reach.
The way Taylor played at times down the stretch made me excited about his future.
Pitt needs to continue to let the offense evolve to fit the current personell. However, Taylor and McGhee must develop an offensive game to complement the perimeter players. Neither player will be double teamed early in the year. They have no excuse but to work hard and improve on that end. I really think Taylor has the talent to be a dominant offensive player. McGhee is already a great defensive player. Pitt has both, therefore they should be able to deal with most of the frontlines in the country.
Finally, the fans who are calling out Jamie Dixon are, quite simply, stupid. Since he has been at Kansas, Bill Self has lost to the following teams in the NCAA Tournament: Bradley, Bucknell, and Northern Iowa. This is with the talent at Kansas. He has also won the NCAA title.
The NCAA tournament is a difficult playoff. For all of Tom Izzo’s success at Michigan State in the tournament, he has 1 NCAA title. If the goal is to win the whole thing, then it doesn’t matter if you lose early once in a while. And it certainly doesn’t make Jamie Dixon a bad coach. I am certain that Jamie Dixon will win the NCAA tournament while he is at Pitt. I don’t know when, but I know that he will.