For those eager to see what youth (and Talib Zanna) can do at the power forward spot, there will be a small window of opportunity. Nasir Robinson is expected to miss the next 3 to 4 weeks with a knee injury. Nas will have surgery on his right knee tomorrow — actual injury not yet disclosed. He may be back in time for the season opener against Albany on November 11, but Pitt may be extra cautious with him.
Last year, Nas missed several games when he suffered a tear in the meniscus in his right knee. The same knee he has injured this week. Given that it is the second surgery on the same knee within a 12 month period (albeit, both seem relatively minor), there might be reasons to bring Nas back slowly.
I’ll also be interested to see who else than Zanna will be playing the 4
But knowing JD, I wouldn’t be shocked if he got creative early with his lineups by putting Birch in the 4 during non-con….
Question for folks…is the 4 easier/harder/same when running a zone offense vs. our various motion offenses? My guess is the Zone is easier on the 4 (as long as they are skilled passer); thus, maybe JD runs a Taylor Birch high low deal against a zone.
…A high/ low with Taylor and Birch does not sound like a recipe for success. The high post player needs to be a good passer and heady overall player. That scenario would be better with either Robinson (remember against Syracuse last year?) or Patterson. Maybe Zanna if he has improved.
The no 1 class is sean miller at az .
no 2 indiana with former pitt assistant Tom Cean.
no 3 Ben Howland ucla.
no 4 PITT
Against man, the 4 and 5 will rotate more through the high and low posts.
As SilverP points out, Nas has demonstrated several times that he has a real knack for finding the seams in a zone. I would actually expect him to play more, not less, against these types of teams.
BTW, I’m not suggesting that Birch should play ahead of Robinson, only that he may be better served at the 4 rather than the 5. I’m not sure that I feel all that much better about a high/low combo of Taylor and Zanna than Taylor and Birch.
I guess on the flip side you don’t really want to go with a 4/5 combo of Birch and Gilbert unless you really have to…
When Adams comes next year, Birch moves to the 4 bigger, smarter and better.
Pantherman13, you may be on target with Gilbert redshirting. He’s big but he’s supposedly raw. A year in the system without burning his eligibility might be in Jamie’s plan for him, especially since Adams may be one-and-done and Dante will be graduating after next season – unless he has a phenomenal season this year and leaves early.
The one thing we can be sure of is that playing time will be earned in practice, which has proven to be a good thing over the years.
Anyway, we really need to get these new guys and Taylor & Moore up to speed in the non-con.
It is going to be very interesting to see how JD juggles all these pieces at the 3,4 & 5.
If we want Birch on the court, the 5 is the best spot, at least early on. I don’t think there are many big, beastly centers in Big East this year, so his frame may not be a big issue. Birch may get some time at the 4 too, but I think he’ll play mostly at the 5.
People keep leaving Patterson out of the mix. I guess because of JJ’s raw talent and some of these new kids coming in. But I wouldn’t count Lamar out of the mix. He’s got game and a good head, which is why he got more PT than JJ last year. People forget he was a rsFreshman and I think expected a little too much from him.
