In something of a sign that Pitt is catching people’s fancy (or that the NHL lockout has some media outlets starved for extra content), a game that would otherwise be subject to only being available on the Comcast-Pitt channel in Western PA (Ch. 188). A game that is a pure patsy game. This game is being picked up elsewhere. SNY (NY/NJ area) and TCN (Philly) are going to offer the game tonight at 7 pm.
This should be an easy win for Pitt. Howard is 1-5. They have lost to Gardner-Webb, West Carolina and Lincoln University (Pennsylvania). Expect a lot of substituting and I will be shocked if any of the starters play more than 25 minutes.
Who next….North Carolina Central or St. Peter’s ?
lol
I’ll always root for the Panthers, and I’m watching the game right now, but watching the ball travel back and forth on the perimeter while Steve Adams continues to suffer from basketball amnesia is really upsetting.
do you think you just put that out of your mind.
right now he is a squre peg who they are trying to fit into a round hole.
I missed the 1st half…
Adams has regressed after his 13 point outing at MSG. Oy Vey !
Pitt’s D was 10 times better in the 2nd half, as the Bison shot over 56% for most of the 1rst half.
Patterson continuing his resurgence !
if you put adams on a in a all star game or if he was on a run and gun team like unlv was years ago you would see how great he is .
right now he is a squre peg tryin to fit in a round hole.
As we saw against Delaware in a transition game, he was able to use this unique ability. I really don’t see why we have to make him the 2nd coming of Aaron Gray or Gary McChee. Let’s make him the 2nd coming of Dirk Nowitzki or Bill Lambeer.
it will take time to catch on he is afered to do wrong.
if you want him to look great you say heres the ball play your game dont worry just use your talent,
but that is not dixons way so it will take time.
and he wont change his system for a star the kid should be on a running team.
insted he will force the sq peg in the round hole.
Through 7 games, biggest team weakness appears to be rebounding. Hard to believe with their lineup, but it has not been good against lesser opponents and they were out rebounded by 11 vs. UM.
They must be so small they aren’t even linked to a team page on Yahoo NCAAB page. lol
Anyway tonite didn’t answer any questions. More of a scrimmage. Still haven’t figured out a way to include Adams in the mix in the half court.
I would think this has to be the #1 priority before we get into conf. play.
For we know we aren’t going to be able to compete with teams with good Centers, with Sleepy in there playing 25-30 minutes.
Hail to Pitt !
VeV !
Good thing the kid is from NZ, he doesn’t know anything about other colleges or basketball programs. Unlike KB.
not good….
Johnson only played 4min.
and 3 players played nearly 30min… Patterson, Woodall, Robinson.
if we had both and dixon had built his team around them insted of makeing them fit the team we would have won it all.
i belive if you want to win it all you bild the team around the stars insted of makeing them fit the team.
Although at UCLA they’ve been fortunate enough to get some bigtime guards who have the ball in their hands a lot. This year’s is Shabazz Mohammed
After Ben’s initial success out there, the natives are getting restless.
when you knew you had Adams coming in to play Center this year, why was KB being played at Center last year. Seems to me you would have wanted him to be comfortable at the PF slot and being ready to go full tilt at that position this year. Not have to learn a different position all over at PF, which would have been the case with Adams now at Center.
He was too slight to play Center as well.
FWIW
his mind set is every one must fit the team
what you do is get one or two great players and make the team fit them.
but he does it backwards it is his mind set.
#3 Michigan buzzsawed Kansas St. the other night.
Tonight they beat #18 NC St. by 7.
Do I think they’re really #3, of course not.
They have beaten two quality programs though, after we had them beat for 30 minutes and ended up losing by 5.
Gonna be and up and down early as think we’ll see steady improvement as we get into late Jan and Feb.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cal Poly made some history against No. 11 UCLA on Sunday night.
Dylan Royer scored 18 points and Kyle Odister came off the bench to score 15 points and the game winning free throws and Cal Poly upset No. 11 UCLA 70-68 on Sunday night.
It was the highest-ranked team ever defeated by Cal Poly, picked to finish seventh in the Big West.
Ben, Ben, Ben.
We looked a little sloppy but mostly because playing a team like Howard means playing down to your competition. It was weird pacing. A little sloppy looking but no concerns.
8 man rotation, i guess because Zeigler was out, and no need for Johnson especially if he’s even a little hurt. No use for anyone else we intend to redshit (ie Gilbert). And J.Johnson is gone. So rotation made perfect sense.
Not a lot of people ‘creating their own shot’ but also absolutely no need to. This is a game where you practice your sets, especially when at no point were we at risk of losing control even when we were up by only 1 or 2 pts.
We would greatly benefit from a consistent 3-pt threat a la Gibbs/Ramon, but that guy isn’t on our team. Patterson and Woodall can get hot, but this is the main thing that worries. Everything else critical looks like its progressing well.
That would explain the 8man rotation.
Steven Adams has a lot to learn. He’s going through the motions on what has been taught to him on team defense and looks like he really just lacks experience and natural instinct beyond shotblocking. He’s pretty much a non-factor in these games until late when things break down. The idea that the coach or the program need to somehow adjust the entire system to let him run free is ludicrous. He simply needs to get better at playing at this level.
This crap about not having a player able to create his own shot- it’s horseshit. It’s the same lame complaint that comes up every year here. This is college basketball. There are very few players who are going to come in and make some kind of ankle breaking whirlybird move that is going to rescue you and take you to the Final Four. This year’s offense looks fine. They just need to get better at handling zone because the level of athleticism and size are intimidating enough for opponents to feel threatened by strict man-to-man…Every team is dying to have a superstar lottery pick that can carry you on his back. Complaining and holding out for that is just going to make your head hurt, not to mention turn up more noise than there already is around here.
Lastly, there must be somebody here from a couple years ago who is cumming in their shorts as Dante Taylor saw what I’m pretty sure were some of his first minutes at power forward in his Pitt career. Apparently, we may see more of it.
I still say Adams will be here 3-4 years….unless he transfers. If he does Dixon will be a Sweet 16 coach forever.
Like I’ve been saying, BC doesn’t want UConn in there, and Cincy is just too small….
I heard Katz talking up UConn on ESPN at the half tonight….I can’t believe he doesn’t know about BC.
Just wondering….
Was at the game and the number of offensive rebounds they give up are mind boggling. they need to work thisout to have a chance against teh top BE teams.
Howard basically packed their entire defense into the paint, so to think somebody was going to penetrate five guys to get his own shot is ridiculous. Pitt has always done well against the zone because they’re extremely efficient and they crash the offensive boards, which are usually much easier to come by outside of man to man.
The anti Dixon sentiment is perplexing. The guy is flat out one of the best coaches in the country.
Glad to see your thoughtful comments! I thought we all agreed that this team would have some brilliant moments as well as some head-scratchers as they grow. Steven Adams is well below expectations but James Robinson is well above expectations. I believe both will be huge contributors in our tourney run this March.
Bottom line is it is still November! After reading the comments last night, I was expecting to wake up to headlines….Coach Jamie Dixon fired for dismal .780 winning percentage!!
1 of 2 things is true. Either every scout was flat-out wrong in their scouting of Adams, or he made a terrible mistake coming to Pitt where he will never be able to flourish.
I am the biggest Pitt fan there is, but I know enough to acknowledge when something simply isn’t working out.
@MikePITT You don’t understand the situation. Adams played one season in America and didn’t get to play a signifcant amount of AAU ball, which means his experience level compared to the typical Freshman is much lower. He does have to learn how to play with top players night after night. Take Nerlens Noel another top recruit, he’s been playing in big games against big competition for years. He’s averaging 30 minutes per game, 8.6 rebounds and 12.4 points while Adams is averaging 20 minutes per game 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds, which over the course of 30 minutes would be about 10 points and 7 rebounds which isn’t that far off from Noel. Let’s give the kid some time.
It’s still too early to tell whether Khem Birch will amount to anything, so let’s stop pointing to his transfer as a clear Dixon failure. I also don’t buy the nonsense that Birch couldn’t play center. At the time he was listed as 6’9″. Which is the same height as Talib Zanna and Dante Taylor. Birch is a much better shot blocker than either one. Dixon played Birch in front of both of those guys. No, Birch didn’t have Gary McGhee’s body, but I don’t really recall him being muscled around for the month that he played at Pitt.
How on earth some of you guys can look into your crystal ball and determine Adams is a bust after 7 games and Khem Birch will be a dominant player after 10 games is mystifying. Maybe you guys can give the rest of us mere humans the winning Powerball numbers for tonight so that we too can enjoy your exceptional predictive skills.
he saw the kid in thoes games block shots throw down dunks.
in all star games he out played noel.
the NBA scouts were weting there paints over the kid the way he runs the floor.
so all the reasons that dixon fell in love with the kid so what does he do when he gets the kid.
trys to change every thing he loved abought him make him a half court player.
like EMEL SAID WHY IS HE TRYING TO TURN HIM INTO ANOTHER GRAY.
the kid is like a race car that is why you liked him so why are you trying to turn him into a mack truck.
Adams is playing “big boy” basketball for the first time in his life. Other similarly projected players have spent years of playing organized high school ball, as well as AAU. As skilled as he may be, things are overwhelming for him, and he’s tentative. That will change. And yes, he is still “learning” to play basketball.
Who knows if Birch will be a head case at UNLV. He hasn’t played a minute yet. And furthermore, who cares.
Your schtick is really getting to be irritating. You don’t know what you are talking about. I have already explained why you don’t know what you are talking about using facts and analysis. Please stop with your stupid, idiotic, baseless, ignorant, childish, and uninformed critique of Jamie Dixon.
Steve Adams will HAVE to play the 5 in a half court set. For Dixon not to prepare him for that would be idiotic. Major Div1 Basketball games are won and lost in the half court. If that weren’t true everyone would be playing Paul Westhead-ball. Kentucky excells in the half court. Indiana excels in the half court. Duke excels in the half court. Are you trying to say that Calipari, Crean, and Krzyzewski intentionally turn their thoroughbreds into plodding plow horses? It’s called coaching. And Dixon does it well. In fact he does it better than any other coach to ever pace the sidelines (and a little bit of the court) for Pitt.
While you are at it, please learn how to type using punctuation and paragraphs. Reading your posts is mind-numbing for multiple reasons, but the lack of punctuation is usually why I skip them.
omar must you attack me becuse i belive different
then you. the last time i checked there was free speech on this post.
but i wont stoop to your low level of child name calling.
bossdawa dan can you help me out with this child
tell him he must act grown up no room for personal attacks.
Omar, I ditto you comment to Frank on the punctuation. It’s hard to take any of his comments serious when they appear to be typed by a first grader.
I explained all of the same things to you in a previous thread without name calling. I have seen zero facts or analysis to support your opinion. I disproved your theory last week and, yet, you continue to repost the same opinion.
I was forced to resort to name calling to get my point across. I apologize for hurting your feelings.
Regarding the punctuation remark, this is simply a friendly suggestion.
Louisville to ACC…
Cincy and UConn were considered…
Makes sense… if ACC is only going to add 1 college at this time… makes sense to add Louisville before Big12 grabs them.
Louisville has a long history of good basketball teams and ACC is basketball first mentality.
Big12 nor Big10 will add UConn…
On Adams, it may take a while and I have faith in Jamie to develop him. I guess my question is should Gilbert be playing this year which could allow us to put Adams at the 5, gets another shot blokcer on floor, improves rebounding…
*Adams is playing very tentatively. He missed many opportunities to exploit holes in the middle of that 1-2-2 or 3-2 zone that Howard was playing. He needs to be much more assertive in positioning himself and DEMANDING the ball. But even as passively as he’s playing, he attracts a ton of attention and opens things up for others.
*It was great to see Robinson look for, take and hit a few more shots. He has to be a threat or teams will back off him and limit his ability to create. Patterson finally stepped up an knocked down a few threes. That said, Pitt did rely too much on throwing it around the outside then hitting jumpers over the zone instead of getting it inside. Pitt has to do a better job of going inside out against the zone.
*Rebounding, WTF? This team should be a GREAT rebounding team and so far they’re adequate at best. Adams needs to be more aggressive in fighting for position. Dixon said after the game that he was concerned about fouls. When Taylor and Moore play together, Pitt is a small and has trouble getting 50/50 balls. The guards are not grabbing enough boards either. I am confident Jamie will get this fixed.
*Liked that Jamie experimented a bit with the rotation. Moore played some three and Taylor (for the first time I can remember) played some power forward. Depth and versatility are huge advantages for Pitt. Need to get something out of these non-con scrimmages, now is the time to figure out who can play where.
*Liked that Dixon yanked Woodall after FOUR bad plays in a row. In one sequence, he had the ball on the break, missed an open Patterson and took the ball 1-on-2 to the hoop and got rejected. Then he threw a brain dead half court, cross court pass that was intercepted for a layup, then he missed a jumper on a quick shot, then the coup de gras was when he failed to stay in front his man who beat him off the dribble for an easy hoop. Woodall is a nice player, a good leader and can be a valuable contributor, BUT HE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE THE NUMBER ONE OPTION on a good team. He will never be consistent enough. Jamie needs to keep him in check and not let him try to do too much. Jamie even called him out after the game saying his defense needs to improve.
*This non-conference schedule is a travesty. They only have one game away from the Pete (against Duquesne at CONSOL) and will be at least a 12 point favorite in every remaining non con game. This team desperately needs some competition. I am concerned that this team is going to get fat feasting on a month of cupcakes. If you want to criticize Dixon, look no further than this BULL S*%# schedule. Getting screwed out of the SEC game hurt, but he still needed to schedule at least one more road game and one more high major. It is going to be hard to make the kind of improvement necessary without playing legit competition.
*Glad to see Zeigler on the bench last night, hope he’s back soon. Pitt is going to need him to play close to his potential to make a serious run in March. He has a ton of ability and has yet to figure out how to use it in the role he’s been asked to play for this team. He needs game experience to figure it out.
Really disappointed in the offensive rebounding, too — only Taylor and Moore have even shown glimpses of pulling some down. That’s been such a staple with the program, that’s certainly where some of the numbers are lost too.
Jamie Dixon is one of the best coaches in the country, and I think it was mentioned last night that he has won more games in his first 8 yrs than any other NCAA coach to date. Lets be patient and see how he handles Adam’s development. I have faith in Jamie and see Adams getting better as the season progresses. Once he gains strength and uses his size to his advantage, he will be a force underneath. HTP
Dante Taylor is obviously not what everybody expected. But let’s be honest — he is physically limited and is a tweener, even in college. Khem Birch can’t be evaluated because he wanted to go play street ball at UNLV. And you also need to include Blair in the list of blue chip recruits — he was in the top 20 in some rankings.
But let’s look at the guys that have developed under Dixon:
– Gary McGhee
– Sam Young
– Aaron Gray
– Antonio Graves
– Levance Fields
– Ronald Ramon
I could keep going. The one thing with Dixon I think is indisputable is if you work hard and follow instruction, you’re going to leave a much better player than when you arrived.
There are five to ten schools that battle over the top twenty players and very rarely to top ranked kids go elsewhere. If you want to hold that against Jamie, so be it, but I feel lucky to have a coach of his caliber at Pitt.
Dixon isn’t the only coach that doesn’t let individuals dictate the system, it’s every coach. You can’t let kids come in and change the way you coach, because they’re gone in a few years. Some coaching philosophies are more geared toward certain types of player — Calipari and the dribble penetration — but every coach has a system. Dixon runs the motion offense, just like coach K, coach Knight, etc…
Lastly, from a pure basketball perspective (not tailgating football dumbspeak) let’s open the floor for someone to come in and explain how an offense works so that an individual can dominate the system and not be “held back”. Please provide examples and explain how the other four players fit into the scheme.
One of Pitt’s most loyal sons. Give him a break.
