Easy to forget, this week with the coach search in football. Not to mention the fact that Pitt has had the week off (finals?). With no games, no real news, so this week it’s been time to look at individual players.
A good piece on Chevy Troutman, can you picture him being one of THuggins Bearcats?
It was on his way back from a recruiting trip at Cincinnati that Troutman discovered Pittsburgh almost by accident. Troutman, a cousin and aunt were driving back from an unofficial visit with Bearcats coach Bob Huggins. They drove through Pittsburgh on the way back to Williamsport.
“We came through the tunnels,” Troutman remembered. “When we got to the other side, it was all lit up. I was like, ‘Damn, that’s hot.’ It was pretty sweet.”
[Personal aside. Everyone always talks about the view of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington, but that image coming in from the 279/579 is very underrated. I spent all of college it seemed on the other side going out 376 and to the Turnpike to go back to see family. Never a great view of the city coming back. Then when I ended up West of Pittsburgh (Chicago then Cleveland), I came back into Pittsburgh to see friends and when you come up and around that bend into the city — it’s just a great view.]
Aaron Gray gets another piece as his game has vastly improved along with his minutes. He has become a more than capable back-up for Taft. I mean, sure he’s no Darren Morningstar, but who is.
Keith Benjamin, the other heralded freshman recruit hasn’t gotten much playing time yet. Mainly because of Graves’ stunning leap this year in development. It was a surprise to Benjamin who believed he was going to be able to step in and start in place of the departed Julius Page. He is definitely frustrated with not getting to play, still he seems to be doing his best to understand. Troutman and Krauser have helped by pointing out how little they got to play their first year or so.
Chris Taft has not been as dominating as expected early on. Hard to judge so early in the season, and against such poor competition. I expect his game will pick up vastly once the Big East schedule kicks in. The downside for Taft — as far as being an NBA lottery pick — is that it will suggest to scouts that he doesn’t want to work hard every game.
Ray Fittipaldo, the Pitt basketball beat writer for the Post-Gazette has his weekly Q&A posted. Hard to question or complain much about the team to date, but there was some questioning regarding Pitt starting and playing Demetrius.
Q: Am I the only one who thinks the Panthers could do significantly better than Yuri Demetris at the swing position? I finally got to see a game on Tuesday, and it didn’t seem like Demetris was much of a factor at all. Why not see what Mark McCarroll or John DeGroat can do as a starter? Also, is there a chance we’ll see a power lineup this season with Gray at center, Taft at power forward and Troutman at small forward?
FITTIPALDO: I’ve had more e-mails about the small forward position this season than anything else. It’s quite the topic among Pitt fans these days. Demetris is a senior who has bided his time in the program. He is smart, a good passer and a decent outside shooter. John DeGroat is in his first season in the program. Compared to Demetris he is a freshman in terms of knowledge of the offense and defense. He is more skilled, is a better rebounder and certainly a better scorer. At this point, Dixon seems enamored of Demetris and what he can provide for the team. There could come a time in the future when DeGroat plays more. But it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen any time soon. Dixon has barely used him the last few games. As for the power lineup, Dixon has indicated that having Gray and Taft on the floor on the same time would not be an ideal situation because teams would go small and look to beat those guys off the dribble.
DeGroat is okay on the offensive end, but has looked lost on defense. Pitt is still defense first.
Final item comes from an ESPN chat with Andy Katz on Wednesday, December 15 (subscription req’d).:
Joe ((scarsdale)): hey andy- who do you think is the early favorite to cut down the nets? I dont think there have ever been this many contenders early- do you have to give GT the early respect because they went all the way to the championships or does GT or perhaps even Duke get any consideration?
Andy Katz: I’ve got five teams that have separated themselves: Illinois, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Kansas. The second tier is close with Syracuse, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Duke and maybe Pittsburgh and Louisville. But it’s still so early.
People are not sleeping on Pitt this year.
