It may be a good thing that Pitt is in a bit of a rebuilding year. Judging by some of what players that were on the U-19 team are saying, they are going to be better for their college teams after the time.
Whether it was Terrico White at Ole Miss.
White said his main focus on the trip was defense. The USA’s coach was Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon, who’s known for his defensive knowledge.
“That’s his main focus, so we really worked on good team defense,” White said.
Or Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor who came out as the team’s leading scorer and was an all-FIBA selection.
At one point, a frustrated coach Jamie Dixon even challenged Taylor to play harder.
“We had some words because I wasn’t playing good and he was yelling at me and I was getting frustrated,” Taylor said.
Ashton Gibbs reports that Dixon worked all of the players hard.
On the court, Gibbs said many of his teammates appeared to be in awe of Dixon’s work ethic, much in the same way Gibbs appeared to be when he first came to Pitt for the 2008-09 season.
“The guys were in the dorm after practice saying, ‘No more coach Dixon,’ ” Gibbs said, with a laugh. “I absolutely knew what they were talking about. He’s a tough and competitive guy because it leads to winning. That’s what he’s all about.”
Sean Ford, the men’s national team director of USA Basketball, said he was impressed with Dixon’s coaching approach.
“Jamie said after the first practice that they were going for nothing less than a gold medal,” Ford said. “And after every practice and every timeout, for 29 days, he had them say one simple phrase: ‘Gold medal.’ “
So now Pitt has a coach getting more accolades and even a senior editor at (NBC) Universal Sports (you know, the people with the Olympic broadcast rights) is starting to talk of Coach Dixon as a future USA Olympic basketball coach.
USA Basketball should look to secure the long-term services of another coach, Jamie Dixon, after he led the U.S. U19 team to a world title earlier this week.
By beating Greece 88-80 Sunday in Auckland, New Zealand, the Americans claimed the crown for the first time since 1991. They have won the quadrennial tournament four times since it was first played in 1979 and have won medals in seven of the nine tournaments.
The team finished the 2009 tournament with a 9-0 record and a 22.2 points margin of victory average.
Dixon, the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, was named the team’s head coach on May 12. The team did not hold tryouts until mid-June and none of the players on the team that played in the regional qualifying tournament last summer were members of the world championship team.
Dixon was named the 2009 Naismith Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year after leading the University of Pittsburgh to a 31-5 overall record and the school’s first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the East Region final.
Krzyzewski was an assistant to Chuck Daly with the 1992 USA Dream Team that won gold at the Barcelona Olympics. As a head coach in 1990 he led the Americans to a bronze medal at the 1990 world Championships and a silver medal at 1987 World University Games
He’s not done what Dixon did last week—lead a U.S. team do a world title as a head coach.
Perhaps Dixon is destined to win an Olympic gold medal as a head coach as well.
Of course, as soon as the FIBA U-19 Championships were over, Dixon was on the recruiting trail for the last couple days of the open period.
“What else would I be doing?” Dixon asked when it was suggested to him that it seems a little extreme to fly Monday from New Zealand to Atlanta and then to Pittsburgh late this afternoon to watch more games tonight in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am Summer League.
Really, what else?
And you wonder why Dixon is one of the top coaches in America?
Correct that.
One of the top coaches in the world?
Albeit, in demand for interviews.
9:40 AM (Jeff): Gold-medal winning head coach of the USA U-19 team Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh) has strolled in with phone to his ear and grabbed a bunch of score sheets. This is Dixon’s first appearance on the recruiting trail since arriving back in the US from New Zealand.
No, the U-19 gold isn’t getting a lot of publicity, but there has been a steady trickle of stories relating to it. Couple it with Pitt’s success on the court and it just adds to kids being very interested in having Pitt show interest in them.
Pitt’s accomplishments were enough to woo Cincinnati Moeller, one of the top programs in Ohio. The Crusaders have won three state championships over the past decade in the state’s largest-enrollment classification, and by coach Carl Kremer’s estimate, have produced 15 to 20 Division I players in that span.
Kremer’s squad camped at Pitt five years ago, and have attended camps at schools such as Illinois, Clemson and North Carolina State in recent years. Kremer said a return trip to Pitt was a no-brainer.
“For our kids, I think they’re always excited to go to a big-time school. And you have Pitt, who was No. 1 in the country, and they were excited about that name and the great program that [Coach] Jamie [Dixon] has here,” said Kremer, who brought four teams of players.
Getting seen by college coaches is another advantage of the team camp environment. The Pitt camp took place within what the NCAA deems a “quiet period,” meaning coaches from any other Division I school were prohibited from attending games. Although Dixon was in Colorado Springs coaching the USA men’s under-19 basketball team for the FIBA World Championships, Regan and the rest of the Pitt staff were allowed to evaluate players throughout, a fact that wasn’t lost on some of the attendees.
“We really want the Pitt coaches to look at us,” said Scott, who already owns a scholarship offer from Duquesne.
Harris quickly interjected: “We’re trying to get into college.”
At the Pitt camp, players got a kick out of mingling and playing in front of college players, some of whom they’ve only seen on television. Much like they did at an AAU tournament in April, Pitt players sat at the scorers table, keeping score and watching the newest wave of talent.
“People want to get a little more close and personal with the team,” Regan said. “I think the high school kids get a charge out of Levance Fields, for example, running the scorers table”
Ironically, it appears that the JD style is college-oriented and his recruitung has often suffered because of it. Nonetheless, his on-court success seems to ahve paid off and attracting better recruits.
I guess this is a glass half-full post in that I see (or hope) that both programs will be very good in the upcoming years.
Here’s what I took from the first game, which featured a Gibbs/Woodall head-to-head matchup:
* I’m happily surprised by Woodall; he’ll definitely contribute this year and it’s possible he could start at PG, even early in the season. That’s partly a reflection on Travon and partly a result of the Panthers not having anybody else around who can play the position.
* Woodall is bigger around than he was last year. He’s got a bit of a behind now and that will help him bump a bit with BE guards. He’s still 5’9″ or 5’10” on his best day, but at least he’s not a wisp of a kid anymore.
* He played a strong first half against Gibbs, which included a couple finishes at the hoop and a couple nice dishes to Gilbert Brown and others. He’s a far better penetrator than Gibbs and thinks more like a PG. He disappeared a bit in the 2nd half, but finished well by taking some fouls at the end and making most of his FTs.
* His perimeter shot is still unreliable and it will stay that way until the coaches fix his mechanics, but it’s not a Dante Taylor/Chris Taft sidespin problem, so there’s hope.
* Gibbs played well, too — he’s just not a natural PG. He handled the ball for his squad and showed some burst on the perimeter to get open for treys, several of which he drilled. He scored a bunch, almost all from the outside. The shot looks great, and it better, because he’s going to have to score in bunches for this team.
* Gilbert Brown is the same frustrating player he’s always been. Best athlete on the floor and not much of that translates to production. The one bright spot was his penetration — when he drove to the hoop, good things happened, either fouls drawn or strong finishes. Unfortunately, he often settled for jumpers and shot a very low percentage and that low percentage included some embarrassing airballs. Don’t think he’ll ever develop into a BE star and I think there will be many situations where Robinson/Wanamaker would give Dixon more production at the 3.
* Dwight Miller is still a mystery. He has a really pretty perimeter jumper, but not much else. Banging for rebounds and/or posting up is not natural for him and his hands aren’t the greatest, which is interesting for a kid with such a sweet stroke. I guess he plays at the 4 position because there aren’t many other options, but I don’t know whether Dixon will get much out of him.
* JJ Richardson is still probably in Greentree banging around for rebounds; that’s the type of player he is. Work in progress, but at least he plays hard and isn’t scared of contact.
* Zanna was there but stayed in street shoes and didn’t play, so he must have tweaked something.
* I walked out of there thinking that Dixon has some depth in the backcourt. He’s got Woodall, Wanamaker, Dixon, and Gibbs, and it will be interesting to spread the minutes among those 4. (Guess Wanamaker could play some 3, but that would hurt on a team that’s going to struggle rebounding the ball.)
* I also walked out of there thinking that this team doesn’t have much in the paint, offensively or defensively. There will be an incredible amount of pressure on Taylor and he won’t get much support inside from Miller or, god forbid, McGhee.
* This could be the type of team that inspires a coach to play up-tempo, but I don’t know if JD has that in him. He might have to expand his coaching palette a bit.
Anyway, interesting evening……..
He’s at least 3 inches shorter than I am (and at least a couple inches shorter than my buddy, who’s 6′), and I’m being generous because I was wearing flip flops and he was still wearing his kicks. That’s a fact.
He’s 5’11” the same way Gibbs is 6’2″, which is the same way that Ramon was 6’1″ (well, maybe with the hair….)
glad to hear your review of Woodall, I know you’ve been tough on him so if he impressed you a little it must mean that he did a decent job. I know you wouldn’t hold back if you thought he was horrendous so its good to hear positives from you. good review
Also an article about Cignetti — interesting towards the end outlining the differences between Cav and Cig. Also said that QB position is open.
Here is FB recruit No. 15. Another project that DW thinks he can develop, I’m sure after trimming him down. The positives are that he is from NJ and Rutgers had offered him, and that depsite his size, he is light on his feet.
link to pittsburghlive.com
From link to pittsburghlive.com
Pitt has placed a premium on oversized offensive linemen in its 2010 recruiting class, and the Panthers have added their biggest prospect in 6-foot-6, 350-pound right guard Arthur Doakes of Lebanon High School.
Doakes picked the Panthers over scholarship offers from Middle Tennessee State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Troy.
He’s Pitt’s 15th recruit from the Class of 2010 and its second on the offensive line, joining 6-6, 310-pound four-star right tackle Matt Rotheram of North Olmsted, Ohio.
“I really loved it there,” said Doakes, who was recruited by tight ends coach Brian Angelichio. “I have a really good feeling about Pitt. They were the first to offer me. They make you feel like family.”
Doakes can bench press 405 pounds and squats 550. But he didn’t play organized football until eighth grade and has only one season as a starter at Lebanon.
Even so, the Panthers identified him as a prospect early and invited Doakes to their Blue Chip Day for a men’s basketball game against Cincinnati and to coach Dave Wannstedt’s individual skills camp in June.
“A lot of other schools wanted to wait for my senior film,” said Doakes, who also was receiving interest from Connecticut, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Virginia and West Virginia, “but I’m glad Pitt saw (potential) in me.”
Despite his size, Doakes projects as an offensive guard because of his ability to protect the passer. He started at right guard and nose tackle for Lebanon as a junior and blocked for Big 33 Football Classic quarterback James Capello, an Iowa State recruit who passed for nearly 3,000 yards last fall.
“(Doakes) moves extremely well,” said Lebanon defensive coordinator Frank Isenberg, a West Mifflin graduate who played offensive line at Kent State. “We are primarily a pass-oriented team — we run a no-huddle ‘air raid’ and throw the ball almost every down — and he’s an excellent pass protector. He’s really light on his feet. He runs very well. We do a lot of screens, and what we like to do with Arthur is get him out in front. He creates a lot of lanes for guys to run through.”
As for this summer league, it’s beyond stupid that there are fans, mostly those dumb pantherlair fans, who thinks that league means anything. Outside of Pitt players, the next top programs represented is Duquesne. After that, it’s like NAIA schools. Give me a break with that stupid league.
Clearly the competition is not what these guys will see in the BE, not even close, but I think the regulars here have pretty good basketball IQs and can filter out things like the weak competition and identify both positive and negative things that might/will carry over to regular season play.
Mark, coaches and astute fans gauge players when they play in high school against far inferior competiton. I live in Jersey and can’t view these games, but my guess is that the games are both entertaining and somewhat informative.
I used to play in summer leagues with Pitt, Duquesne and Bobby Mo kids and could tell you plenty of stories about D1 kids getting ALL they could handle from local playground players, so be careful with the uninformed comments about summer leagues.
On the Woodall thing — I don’t “know someone who saw him get measured” — I did the measuring!! But I love “I know someone who saw him get measured”. Sounds like hearsay, your honor. 🙂 So was your med staff friend present at the session when they do the actual measurements or the one where they perform the measurements that they put in the press guide? Don’t answer that…..
If you don’t like the league, just ignore it. The players like it, the staff like it, and many fans like it. And as hugh said, the Pitt versus Pitt match-ups are very entertaining.
link to pittsburgh.rivals.com
Mark, what gives you the idea that unless Pitt is a Top 10 FB program, it is an abject failure? We directly compete with arguably the most beloved pro sports team, Western PA is not nearly the fertile recruiting ground it was 20-30 years ago, and, unlike bb, we compete in a fb conference with little exposure (and unattractive bowl tie-ins.)
I expect Pitt to compete for BE title every year and a BCS bowl bid … nothing more. I’d be overjoyed for the program to return to what we had back in the late 70s / early 80s but am realistic enough to be satisfied enough with annually competing for ther league title.
Comparing the conference records among all Big East schools in the four seasons that Dave Wannstedt has been Pitt’s head coach.
West Virginia 22-6
Rutgers 17-11
Cincinnati 16-12
Louisville 15-13
South Florida 14-14
Pittsburgh 14-14
UConn 11-17
Syracuse 3-25
Pitt’s Big East record in Walt Harris’s final four seasons at Pitt: 18-9
Record against out of conference BCS programs:
West Virginia 10-2
Louisville 9-3
South Florida 5-5
Rutgers 4-4
UConn 4-5
Pittsburgh 3-6
Cincinnati 1-5
Syracuse 1-10
Total record against all BCS programs, Big East and non-conference, over the last four seasons:
West Virginia 32-8
Louisville 24-16
Rutgers 21-15
South Florida 19-19
Cincinnati 17-17
Pittsburgh 17-20
UConn 15-22
Syracuse 4-35
“Pitt junior Gary McGhee dominated the boards in the second half, grabbing 15 rebounds to go with his 20 points.”
I haven’t read about McGhee in recent posts on this blog, but this has to be encouraging.
In the past 4 years, WVU (05-07), UL (06-07), UC (07-08) and RU (06-07) have had the greatest teams in the HISTORY of their programs … as did UConn and USF (albeit a very short history.) Only SU didn’t. Wanny had a lot to rebuild froma very flawed BCS team left to him by Harris, which incidentally wasn’t even his best team (2002 was the best.)
I note that you didn’t include the BE teams vs BCS teams during Harris’ last 4 years.
How’s that for a homer analysis … yet indisputable.
There is no doubt that Pitt was better in the 1st half of this decade than the 2nd half, but again, Wanny definitely had some rebuilding to do. Since he got a late start in recruting his 1st year, it was just this past season where his early classes have become juniors and sophomores, and Pitt got 9 wins.
If Pitt falls flat this year, then we have every right to b****. Otherwise, be patient.
