Gilbert isnt ready for the grind of the big east..and it stinks he’ll have to learn during big east play..that could hurt us

What are the transfer rules for mid season. I thought Jamie could refuse to release him and make him sit out all of next year too?

I hope Birch reconsiders and returns. Sometimes when one player leaves another get the opportunity to develop. When Taft left early Arron Grey got a shot and it’s Grey who’s in NBA now and not Taft. Arron Grey and Garry McGee all developed when the guys ahead of them went early.
Sam Young, Chevon Troutman and a lot of other guys got a lot better by working within the system and becoming more complete players.

I know this is a bb post but Zeise needs a new source becuse smiling steve is out of town per the trib
and there have been no interviews and when fickel
was talked to bye trib he said a frend talked to a offical at pitt but he has not had a interview and does not know if he will he has had no offical world of when or if there will be one.
the trib thinks there will be 3 interviews cristobal fickel and chryst but when who knows becuse smiling stevie is out of town he should be here and taking care of things the prick.

Would love to see Gilbert-Christmas match-up.

Gilbert will be needed to play defense for 8-10 minutes each game; I’m sure he won’t be asked to do much offensively. I saw him play in high school and he needs much work offensively but seemed to be much more advanced on the defensive end.

Frankcan–Smiley may be conducting out of town interviews.

So I was over at Pantherlair and Matt Steinbrek was saying Birch might not actually be leaving and may return. What actually is true anymore?

Or maybe smiley is not the interviewer!! Maybe nordy sent him on a vacation… Somewhere warm… Out west perhaps… What state is the grand canyon again?

Tossing,
NCAA rules require that a student transferring from a 4 year school to another 4 year school (and not otherwise qualifying for an exemption, which Khem most likely would not) must have an academic year without playing their sport. An academic year is defined as a period of two academic semesters or three academic quarters during which the student athlete is enrolled as a full time student (carrying 12 credit hours or more) at the school which he intends to play for.
The student athlete must be enrolled in all courses not later than the 12th day of class in order for the semester to count.
Whether Jamie Dixon releases him or not is only relevant to whether the student athlete is immediately eligible for a scholarship. No release, no scholarship for an academic year.

Under the above rules, if KB is enrolled at another 4 year school in time for the January semester, he could theoretically play for that school as early as the following January.

Different rules would apply with respect to moving from a 4 year school to a 2 year school.

But he could not just sit out a year without enrolling somewhere and then begin playing for a school.

Financepro – thank you. I had read earlier that if Jamie did not release him he would have to sit out three semesters but the official reports fell more in line with what you posted.

Very informative post, Financepro. thanks. Birch is what, 18 yrs old? He needs to get some sound advice from someone who truly cares about his future. Hopefully, he will return to Pitt—where he can earn more playing time under Jamie, rather than sit a year brooding.

If not, I really like Gilbert. Only true center on this team. 6’11″/240. Can help now on D as shot blocker. We have 3 non-conf teams and then a depleted Cincy & ND, DePaul and Rutgers to get him game action. Play him. Adams is coming in next yr and will start at the 5. Play Gilbert now.

I am looking forward to seeing Gilbert play. I wish he had the year to develop but I think he’s just the kind of kid Jamie Dixon can coach up to reach his potential. I don’t think Pitt will suffer all that much without Birch and I wish him well. These things don’t usually work out well for kids who are listening to the wrong people…. Basketball is littered with the carcasses of overhyped and under ready kids.

Let’s be honest, right now Birch is 80% potential and 20% production. For the 2011/2012 season this isn’t a crushing loss.

Lately, Birch was playing about 15 minutes a game and was mostly a defensive player. He was way too skinny and weak to dominate in the big east, yet. And he is confirming what many of us feared, that he is NOT VERY TOUGH or mature mentally/emotionally.

Pitt is a true team and has proven that they can insert new players into spots and keep on chugging. Luckily this team is very deep and they’ll be able to find people to replace his minutes. But certainly this hurts that depth, a lot.

Where this will hurt even more is for my 2014 final four trip to Dallas! Birch clearly was showing potential to be a star once he developed physically and if he matured emotionally. That was going to take a couple of seasons.

So now we’re on to Gilbert. Gilbert was very impressive in Greentree. HE IS TOUGH and COMPETITIVE. He can rebound, defend the post and block shots. He will not give us much on the offensive end. And he will not be able to run the court like Birch.

Most concerning is his ability (or inability) to defend the high ball screen. Birch had the footwork to be good at playing defense on the perimeter. Most college teams use their bigs to set these ball screens. Pitt asks their centers to hedge that screen and stop the ball. Gilbert has trouble on the perimeter.

Pitt has built it’s offense and defense around smaller and more mobile bigs. I doubt Dixon will change much to accomodate Gilbert. So I expect Taylor’s minutes to increse, Zanna’s minutes to increase and Gilbert to get maybe 8 minutes a game, more only if Taylor gets in foul trouble.

If its true that Birch may change his mind and return, its hard to commit to Gilbert and waste his redshirt. On the other hand this years front court, even if Birch comes back but especially if he leaves, is a little thin. Zanna is not a great Forward, Nas is great but has limitations as an unconventional PF. Taylor has the tools, but that’s about it at the moment. It was a hodge podge front court to begin with without a true center and with Birch that was ok. W/out Birch, we definitely need someone with either size our blocking/shot altering presense. Gilbert’s gotta play and its gotta be like 10+ minutes. Imho.

All that said, this situation is really weird. It seems mostly likely that its just a matter of Birch having not been very mature when he made the decision to come here, got cold feet when Skerry left, and now he’s just working through his anxiety. Maybe he now has some more powerful, non-Pitt-friendly voices in his ear that Skerry can’t countervail. Maybe he sees Adams coming and thinks his star wont shine as bright (i would totally disagree with this though, as I think it would just magnify it having perhaps the best front court in the country and nat’l title run to get him some more publicity).

In any case, its still in his best interest to return. Even if there was a chance he wouldn’t play as much as he wanted to this year, leaving guarantees he won’t play at all this year and leave him languishing unable to hone his skills. If he’s not in hurry to make lots of money, that may nto be a problem. But if he wants to develop into an NBA player, staying remains his best choice. This gives me the slightest glimmer of hope he’ll come back after the break and some time with his family. He is 19 afterall and being indecisive given the magnitude of what’s at stake (next 4yrs of his life at least, and probably his chacne at becoming a millionaire NBA player) is understandable.

Lastly, wI was away all last week and missed all this stuff…what was going on with twitter and other people saying he was leaving then him calling them out on twitter? it seems weird. were there other pitt players saying things that upset him? Is this making him think its not a good fit cuz his teammates are crossing him on twitter? i’m confused.
but hopeful, cuz we still have a really good team and there is a bright future with or without him.

I think he did ptetty well in is limited time. Hope he gets more mins.

pretty

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