Life is good! HTP!

Two haiku slam dunks.

Again, my favorite haiku?

“How would you like a
scuff mark in the middle of
your head goddammit?”

Chryst will be a good fit at Pitt. Last year after Dave Wannstedt’s dismissal, I was hoping that we would hire a coach who favored a pro style offence. Our talent was recruited for that style of play and I saw the problems that Rich Rod had encountered at Michigam. Pederson wanted to make a big splash at the time and went for Todd Graham and his modified spread, and all saw how that worked out. Now after losing probably what would have been Wanny’s best recruiting class ever, and watching the team fight through a difficult transition to the spread, we are starting over. We all know the program has been weakened, but I think it was the right hire and that are once again moving in the right direction. The nucleus of this years recruiting class is staying and hopefully Paul Chryst will have time to bring in some more despertly needed pieces. Christmas came early this year and I’m looking forward to good things in the new year.

Lee: Take a deep breath…

Shell is nd team all-america — ESPN

on 3rd team, is Pat Kugler, OL from North Allegheny and a Junior. I believe he is a son of a Steelers asst coach. Pitt is among several schools who offered (including the heavyweights)

would think that Chryst, especially if he can bring in a reputable OL coach, would have a chance. The other connection is that the NA QB is Ryan Leftwich, son of current Pitt OL coach, but maybe only for 2 more weeks.

Kugler along with Robert Foster (Central Valley) wlll be the 2 biggest area prospects next year.

Sorry for butting in on a joyous blog .. but to me, this site is all about commitment, hard work and The Pitt Way.

We lost to Wagner.
Wagner, from the NEC.
We LOST to WAGNER!

I always hated
those annoying Hurley bros.
We need a point guard!

look to the bright side – good thing this happened now since BE opens next week.

When you play 4 patsies in a row, including 2 of the easiest wins in recent memory … you tend not to be focused, and clearly Wagner was more focused.

Wagner outplayed Pitt in every way and deserved to win. They also exposed some weaknesses .. especially ballhandling. We need Tray back, and Patterson must assume the role that Brad played last year.

WWB………….Amen! Wagner played defence and the Panthers didn’t, until the 7 minutes of the game. We need Trey Woodal the point. Hopefully he’ll be back soon

on a more positive note

link to sbnation.com

Hey, all things considered, things are good at Pitt.

Football: I think we hit an absolute home run, and I could see us roaring into the ACC in a couple of years.

Can you imagine if the Chryst is the guy?? We could actually be playing some meaningful, relevant games nationally against the likes of Clemson, Va Tech, Fla. State etc. etc.

Basketball: C’mon guys. I know, it’s Wagner.
We’ve had 10-11 unbelievable years. Allthough not powerhouses this year, we’ve beaten Tennessee and Ok. St.

Yes, we’ve had some flubs, and we may not be the tough old bad asses this year, but, I still think we keep our streak alive for the tournament.

Kansas, UNC, Duke, they all have some down years, everyone does. We haven’t had one in quite awhile, maybe this is it, that’s ok, happens to everyone.

On a critique of the hoops team, very, very clear, we just don’t have any leadership at this point. Very obvious.

Hopefully, someone grabs the reigns.

Chryst sits down with Bill Hargrove – a must watch!

link to youtube.com

” .. I’d rather people be less excited about the press conference and more excited about the game ..”

Music to my ears!!!

Obviously, time will tell if this is a good hire but I, for one, am more excited now than I was on 1/11/11

Pitt’s basketball team needs to learn that it just can’t show up at the Pete and expect its opponents to roll over and die. If I were LBS and Wagner I’d be mad that Pitt showed them so little respect by not putting forth an effort.

These two home loses should be lessons learned.

As always, life is good, it’s better than the alternative. Happy Christmas!

That was one of the most embarrassing performances by a Pitt team I’ve ever seen.

*Gibbs is still a one trick pony. Watching his aimless dribbling brings back Krauser nightmares and liability is the nicest word I can think of for his defense.

*How did Dixon end up with this lack of speed and physicality in his backcourt? The only one with a little size and athleticism is Wright, and he’s an offensive liability. Woodall’s a midget, Gibbs can only do one thing, Patterson isn’t really a guard and Epps doesn’t belong on a D1 court. Johnson looks to have some potential (he already guards better than Woodall), but jeez, Jamie, how did you end up with this crew at guard? With Woodall, it’s a very average crew — without him, it’s terrible, especially from a speed and physicality standpoint.

*Wussy is the word that comes to mind regarding Pitt’s big men. Taylor and Zanna should dominate a game like that against an NEC foe with no frontcourt. I know the guards don’t feed them; I have to assume that’s because they’ve seen enough lousy post play in practice and they think it’s not worth it. But what about second shots and defense and screaming for the rock in the post? At one point Taylor had the ball 5 feet from the hoop just outside the left block and chose to flip up a soft lefty hook. Are you kdding me? Just lousy and lame……

*Last night was one of those outings where Dixon’s lack of flexibility hurt Pitt’s chances. For once, I actually agreed with a TV analyst. Whoever it was mentioned that Pitt’s halfcourt offensive approach was ill advised. Pitt should have attacked that pressure. Gibbs bringing it up slow and having trouble entering it to the wing made establishing any offensive rhythm impossible. It just exposed and exacerbated the biggest weakness Pitt has — Gibbs’ lack of speed. Dixon should have been leveraging Patterson and Wright and Moore and Robinson to help get the ball upcourt and apply pressure to Wagner’s defense. Instead the slowdown and the predictable halfcourt approach played right into Danny Hurley’s hands. Weak. How would Dixon not see that coming? He knows how slow Gibbs is and he knows the rest of his players are superior to what Hurley is bringing — so be flexible, for once, and let them open the game up a bit.

Just embarrassing……

Hugh Green, a little dramatic? This team is going to be a work in progress all season but they’ve shown promise the last 6 weeks. May have been a holiday hangover and trap game with ND coming up.

The press will be a bitch all season though. Taylor plays much better coming off of the bench. Dare I say, have Zanna start. I was hoping to see Patterson and Moore on the court more too. I thought we might actually see Patterson start at the 2 and Moore at the 3.

I was at the game, and agree with Hugh’s assessment. Not being dramatic or overreacting. Just a horrible performance by our team against a team we should have dominated inside.

Jamie will fix what he can, but this team is definitely lacking the toughness of our recent past. Nas, Johnson, Tra have it. Bigs lack it.

I’ve said it since the end of last year that the only way this years Pitt team could succeed is if the pushed the tempo and utilized the athleticism of their bigs and their three point shooters. this team is not built for half court offense.

on to football. I love cryst being hired. I’m really anxious to see who he hires on his staff. if I could pick someone to be the defensive coordinator it’d be teryl Austin but I know the improbability of that. anyone heard anything about the oc and dc positions?

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Festivus to all.

Okay, so the sky didn’t fall this morning. We shouldn’t have lost, but it is a flawed team without Woodall and Birch. And with Birch, it’s more that we could have had Bond, not that Birch was so vital.

Hurley looked at the ND game plan from last year and his team pulled it off against a young team that’s a work in progress. Let’s enjoy the ride and not freak out, because there’s likely another 10+ losses out there.

Happy holidays to all of you, except the trollers and sock puppets.

Markp:

Just watched our new coach’s interview with Hillgrove. He seems like a really low key, humble, and likeable guy. Don’t know if he’ll be successful, but after watching this I think we can truly say that Graham is the “antichryst!”

Khem Birch , shot blocker
Khem Birch , Montreal native
Khem, hardly knew ya?

pk, 3 cuurent Wisc assistants have been mentioned:

– Bostad (might be mispelled): current run coordinator/ OL coach (highly thought of)
– Ed Rudolph: TE Coach/recruiting coordinator Belle Vernon native
– C Partridge: Asst HC former Pitt asst with FL ties, and

Todd Orlando: former Wisc player who was DC at UConn and is DC at FIU .. Pgh native

Doubt if all 4 would come but maybe get a couple.

Chryst has been around and should have many contacts

WWB, Paul Chryst said in his interview that has a group of guys who have talked about coming with him and he talked about keeping an open mind with new people. He said, “There are guys I don’t even know yet who are good coaches who could do a good if given a chance.”

i agree with hugh green. Pitt’s offensive style is awful and predictable. It’s the basketball equivalent of Wannstedtian football. Very boring to watch. Why not let the boys play?

INFO WISCONSIN said PITT coach chryst has made offers to two coachs offensive line coach Bob bostad and TE coach Joe Rulolph wisconsin though will give one of them chrysts old job as OC the outher one may go to PITT but they might tray a pay rise to keep both.

thanks wbb

Anyone else surprised that the SBNation article posted talks about Shell as if Ray Graham never existed? I have to imagine that Ray will be coming back for another year as he finishes recovering from his knee injury. I can’t imagine Shell carrying the ball 200+ times next season with Ray still in the fold.

Well we dont know who coach chryst will get but at lest we know 3 coachs he wants
jonathan smith from montana
joe rulolph
bob bostad both from wisconsin.

Well Frank, They opened up the checkbook for Graham and his assistants, so I imagine they will give Chryst enough of a budget to get the assistants he wants. A five year contract and more money pay his staff will certainly help. The optomism surrounding Chryst is very high and I don’t think have any problem getting good people. Also because his success as the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, offensive linemen will want to play for him.

Justinian good point and after x mass we will start to hear more names hope at least one is from the ACC.

Frank people tell me Rudolph is likely to come here while Bostad will stay at Wisky as OC. That your feeling?

I must have watched different interviews. I saw a guy who had a tough time giving a direct answer to simple questions. No doubt his heart is in the right place, unlike the previous stugats, but if you can’t be decisive and communicate clearly, you are going to have your work cut out for you as a Div 1 college coach for sure. Perhaps it was just the jitters of getting an awesome job like head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh – walking in the shoes of Carl DePasqua, Dave Hart, Foge Fazio, Paul Hackett, Dave Wannstedt, Mike Haywood and Todd Graham.

I hope it was just a case of being squarely in the media spotlight for the first time. Really is a guy we can pull for, for a change. But there remains this gnawing voice in my head that keeps reminding me – he had a great interview with Steve Pederson.

Po’d, I didn’t see the presser but you are tue only one to say he didn’t make a good first impression.

po’d. he was humorous and sincere and unscripted. not everybody is cut out for public speaking and just because this is the case for him does not mean he isnt a good coach by any means. like thabeets said, youre the only person, either a commenter or member of the media, that has a said anything but positive things about his presser.

PO’d, You’re a hard one to please.

Chryst doesn’t pass your public speaking test and Dixon should resign.

I’m guessing that Santa doesn’t have you on his “nice” list. Hoping I’m wrong and you have a great holiday! H2P

Hey about all the Kehm Birch stuff. He’s not on the team. Yes I think it would have been good if he had hung in there, but he didn’t. He would have gotten a lot better and he would have helped the team get better. That’s a moot point now and there’s a lot of basketball to play.

All – I like the rest of us hope he is the real deal. He just did not sound like a head coach, which may not be a bad thing, and there could have been a thousand reasons for that. A humble person grateful for getting the chance of his life is certainly one possibility.

po’d, what does a “head coach” sound like?

I thought Chryst did a better job communicating his approach to the new job in the Hilgrove interview. I’m guessing that his communication style will play better with his players than the media. And that’s OK.

To me, it’s obvious he is very humble and kind of shy and/or reserved(hell, maybe even a little introverted) when it comes to being in the spotlight or in front of cameras. I know I have a tough time speaking in front of people.

JW i dont know just hope he gets one of them

Enough. Mr. Chryst has somehow gotten his players to be more proficient against serious competition than Mr. Graham was able to do against the likes of…are you ready?

9/5/2010 @ East Carolina L 49-51
9/11/2010 Bowling Green State W 33-20
9/18/2010 @ Oklahoma State L 28-65
9/25/2010 Central Arkansas W 41-14
10/2/2010 @ Memphis W 48-7
10/9/2010 @ Southern Methodist L 18-21
10/16/2010 Tulane W 52-24
10/30/2010 @ Notre Dame W 28-27
11/6/2010 Rice W 64-27
11/13/2010 @ Houston W 28-25
11/20/2010 Texas-El Paso W 31-28
11/26/2010 Southern Mississippi W 56-50
12/24/2010 @ Hawaii W 62-35

Oh, by the way, Merry Christmas!

After all the football drama and even with the loss to wagner Pitt fans really do have so much to be greatful for….new fb coach is awesome…Jamie Dixon is a future hall of fame coach and conference games are ALL still in the future…Pitt ill be ready in March. We made it to a bowl even with Voldermort as the coach all year. And the icing on the cake…..ACC! Hail to Pitt!

I do have to say as a guy that screamed PENN STATE SUCKS in Pitt stadium for the best 4 years of my life I wouldn’t wish the kind of problems not so happy valley has on anyone. Makes a bad coach leaving like a dick and a couple non conference BB losses look like a good deal.

“I was at the game, and agree with Hugh’s assessment. Not being dramatic or overreacting. Just a horrible performance by our team against a team we should have dominated inside.
Jamie will fix what he can, but this team is definitely lacking the toughness of our recent past. Nas, Johnson, Tra have it. Bigs lack it.”

This is without a doubt the weakest team Dixon has had.

And it’s still better than ~90% of the teams in D-1. He just needs a good recruiting class next year to get back on track.

Hey for those of you who don’t get the PG or live in other parts of the country, there is a nice article in the Christmas morning’s Post-Gazette about Paul Chryst.

link to post-gazette.com

Birch still is on scholarship at Pitt I hope. One of Dixon’s weaknesses is his inflexibiltity. He needs to talk to Boeheim and Calhun about working with so called “prima donas” that are 5 star recruits.
Birch offers so much more than Naz now and certainly in the future (next year).

Only Zanna, complained self-servingly about Birch’s not fitting in.” It is a coaches responsiblity to help his players adapt something possibly I think Dixon has difficulty doing.

What would be the harm to contact Birch to determine if he has thought of coming back. That he still sees him as a part of the program or he would not have recruited him or started him.

Also he wants to get him more playing time at the SF because that is were we see your best use now and in the future.

Dixon too often hurts the team by letting certain players dominant the game Krausier, Fields, Gibbs who do not have the ability. (A major resaon why we never get over the hump). Naz had a big run against the weaker opponents but without McGee Pitt can not afford to play him at SF. Birch is the answer. Zana is not nor is Naz,

Winning helps team cohesion losing to the LBS and Wagner’s destroys it. Dixon has to show the 5 stars they will grt a fair chance not just the 3 stars that he can “coach up.”

I felt this way since Birch left not just since the Wagner game.

I don’t think it’s dixons inflexibility towards playing younger guys, it’s that he never adapts his game plan to his players. let’s be honest, Pitts style of play is to win the big east, not to win in the tournament. Pitt is not a half court team this year. the only time they can score in on the fast break. so why doesn’t Dixon let them run the floor? Dixon needs to allow some offensive freedom or else Pitt will never win tournament games and they’ll never land elite scoring guards. dixons landed a few elite forwards but both have been busts. Taylor sucks and birch quit. I hope Steven Adams is neither of those things haha.