Lehigh, despite their record, is a significantly more talented team than Howard. So, the result last night was gratifying. On the other hand, I am concerned about the interior and post defense. Kempton had no difficulty scoring at will in the second half. How much of that was poor post defense itself, or Pitt relaxing and playing more 2nd teamers, or the result of trying to avoid being called for ticky-tacky fouls due to the new rules interpretation emphasis, I am not sure. But, it is worrisome with opponents with stronger frontcourts on the schedule.

Agree, 1972. The Panthers doubled the man in the post pretty aggressively last night with mixed results.

If Durand can keep improving on his defense, I could easily see him replacing Cam at the starting shooting guard spot. Cam has improved a lot, but his shot is still flat and awkward…just plain ugly. Cam missed a couple layups, and still doesn’t look completely comfortable, although he has made progress in this area. There just isn’t enough of a scoring threat from the guards when JR and CW are the 2 out there.

I thought Artis and Young looked good last night too — and that may have as much to do with the quality of the opponent — but it was good to see them attacking the basket and aggressively going after rebounds. Artis looks like he has a ton of potential. They both have a really nice looking outside shot, and can go inside as well.

@@@@@@

Durand can shoot the rock! Typical
JD team evolving here. Unselfish. Hustle.
Good D. Better competition on the horizon.

Kempton looked lie a stereotypical ND center. Big white guy who can score but may not be the best of defenders … surprised they didn’t recruit him

After last night, Cam Wright has made no progress since last year. Some of you must be dreaming. Young and Artis look great for freshman and will make a huge difference. I expect us to be much better this year. Go Pitt – beat Cuse

Very superficial and on the surface observations, from someone who has not been able to go to a game yet, and able to only watch minimally on the tube.

1. This team looks more alert and energetic than the past two years teams.

2. Allthough cupcakes, beating cupcakes by 20 or 30 is much better than eeking out a win over them.

This team looks good so far, a little smaller and maybe less physical but they can run and defend better. Robinson will be the key to their success.

Cam Wright has improved immensely since last year. He may not have had the best game last night but he’s a player.

Artis is Ice. Kid can score! Here’s a thought. Artis @ the 3 w/Young 4 & Zanna @ center. Given the young guys play D & rebound. Patterson @ 2 & rotate the hot hand. JR @ point. I personally would like to see PITT play bigger.

I can see Artis laying a lot of 3 next year, rotating between 3 and backup to Young at 4. But this year, I’m thinking Patterson is not quick enough to defend at the 2 .. and you know what value JD puts on defense.

I agree with folks on Artis at the 3, though he’ll need to continue to slim down. He moves pretty well and his 3 looked fluid. How does Jeter fitt in, any chance we really run and gun and go Jeter, Arits, Young next year? Could be fun times.

Kempton couldn’t be stopped inside in the second half. Scoring at will, I asked myself what are the ACCs big men going to do with our interior defense?

I enjoyed this game with both Pitt and Lehigh playing well after Pitt’s 36-11 start. Didn’t see anyone on the home team coasting with the lead. Didn’t see anyone of the visitors hanging their head because of the score.

Wish the game wouldn’t have ended with Pitt’s two last subs anxiously waiting at the scorers table hoping to get in. Come on,Coach. These guys sweat for you too!

Did anyone at the game notice how friggin big Uchebo is? He looks like he could be amazing. What a specimen.

Art, If we had needed to stop Kempton in the second half we would have shut him down like we did in the first 10 minutes of the game. The game was over at that point and we just played out the remaining time. It is no big deal if he scored a bunch of points after the game had been decided. Zanna dominated inside play until we were up 25. The rest was cruise control.

@Hank the Tank, Durand had a nice game last night but your suggestion that he will be replacing Cam Wright isn’t likely. Wright is smart, unselfish, and the best defender on our team. Even shooting poorly he helped set the table so Johnson could go off from the perimeter. When Wright isn’t shooting well he hustles around helping others get free or stirs things up on D. When Johnson isn’t shooting well Jamie wisely finds him a seat.

Don’t think we’ll get a true indication of this team until we play the Bearcats on Dec 17th. They have beaten us a few times in the last couple years.

The games until then should all be routs. Not much competition at all, whereas the 2 games Cincy has before playing us, they play @ Top 20 New Mexico and their crosstown rival, Xavier before in the 2 games leading up to playing us.

Meaning they’re going to be more battle tested.

So that should be interesting.

@Comment by spiritofsection22 11.21.13 @ 3:22 pm Assuming he ever plays you mean.

BTW Texas Tech struggled to beat Texas Southern the other nite.

Pitt should clobber them.

Pitthw, If Uchebo plays anything like what he looks we have something. Zanna looks like his little brother.

Only have 2 more rent-a-wins after the Bearcat game before we open conference play @ NC State.

Hard to believe, how fast things are coming up.

I agree that Cincy’s the only real test. I’ll be pretty concerned if we’re not 13-0 heading in to NC State. Maybe a loss to Cincy if something goes wrong. But I really can’t imagine not winning everything before ACC play.

I hope we beat Ped State by 50. Getting the chance to crush them in hoops via the B1G-ACC challenge is the only thing about being in the ACC I’ve liked so far.

@Emel, I agree we should handle Texas Tech easy enough but Stanford has some tools. I saw the highlights of their loss to BYU on “on demand” and they scored a hundred on the Cougars. They are the type of team that could cause us some headaches. They have size and athletic ability and don’t have much discipline or care much about D. I don’t think we can keep them below 70 so we will need to score. They are bigger than us also, so it will be an interesting test.

@Pitthw, We are playing a lot of freshman, and we haven’t played a game in the top 100 yet so I wouldn’t be jumping from 4 wins to 13 so fast. We will be doing great if we can get through the next 2 weeks without losing. I’d bet my Pitt cap we don’t win any of the next 4 by more than 25 let alone 50. Stanford might even be a tough matchup for us. Penn St. and Duquesne will be looking to make their seasons by embarrassing us, and the Penn St. game is the only one in the next 4 at home. Let’s start by getting past Texas Tech and see how it looks from there.

Maybe the Trib’s Nov 19 feature on Cameron Wright hurt his focus this week:

link to triblive.com

@ sos22

Yea I was waiting to comment on Stanford, until after we know if we indeed are going to play them.

If they beat BYU they’re pretty good, as a very good Iowa State team had their hands full last nite with BYU.

So they will be a tough one if Stanford beats Houston. Those Cougars happens to be playing Howard tonite after beating Lehigh 80-66.

I just watched the postgame interviews at pittsburghpanthers.com:

link to pittsburghpanthers.com

It made me realize two things:

1. Newkirk was the first sub that Dixon put in off the bench when the game was still in doubt. When asked, Dixon said he did it because Robinson had just gotten a foul, but I think there was another reason. Newkirk didn’t play well the last game, and Dixon was showing him that one bad game didn’t affect his confidence in him.

2. The Panthers are finally getting the ball inside, and the big men are finishing! How many times have I yelled at the screen over the last 10 years — “Get it inside”? But either we had point guards that couldn’t thread the needle, or we had big men who would fumble the pass or not be able to finish. Against Lehigh, we had a point guard who could thread the needle and a big man who could finish.

Emel, Stanford lost to BYU but scored 100. The game was at Stanford. I hope Houston beats Stanford because I think we will struggle with there size and athleticism. They aren’t that good but I think they would be a tough matchup for us.

sos22

You’re probably right. The refs will most likely favor the preppies from Stanford as well. It’s like Duke West. Oy vey !

I could see our big guys getting into foul trouble and Aaron Nwankwo having to play 20 plus minutes.

@Howard, Both of the last two games Pitt has taken control from the onset. This is the formula they have used. 1)Tight D 2) strong team rebounding 3) Offensive ball movement and penetration taking the first available good shot. In both cases they shot out to a 25 point lead and didn’t look back. They have a host of options on offense and with Patterson, Robinson and Wright they have smart, unselfish experienced players moving the ball. I like what I see so far and it is working way better than what we saw last year. My guess is we will do well against better teams as well. Zanna seems to be a better center than forward, Robinson looks stronger and more confident, Wright is playing much better in every aspect. Patterson seems more confident too and Young looks like he is a JC transfer rather than a freshman. Artis and Durand can score and Randall is big and looks to be a decent back up center. Newkirk looks like the little kid from up the street that they let in the game because everyone knows he is going to be a star someday.

@ Emel, Funny you bring up Nwankwo, our walk on neuroscience major. Even Stanford doesn’t have one of those. Dixon gave him several minutes last night and he didn’t embarrass himself. Dixon inserted him after a timeout inside of the one minute mark at the end of the first half. He then set a perfect screen leaving Patterson wide open for a 3. Blair couldn’t have executed it any better. Dixon loves smart kids. That’s why I laugh when people suggest Wright is going to lose his starting job. He will at the end of the ’14-’15 season.

I heard a guy theorize last night that the reason our team was so lethargic offensively last year was because the upper classmen didn’t like the idea of Adams jumping in and using Pitt as a launching pad. I don’t know if it has any merit but I can clearly see we aren’t having the same problems this year. I heard another guy say he thinks Dixon was getting ready for the ACC and still playing in the Big East.

@ Emel, Have you seen Uchebo in person?

One thing I’ve liked/noticed is that even with the rules changes, the team is play pretty effective defense while not picking up the many ticky tack fouls. Only one player had more than 2 fouls in last night’s game and we’ve only had one guy with more than 3 in the first four games.

I assumed that the refs would be emphasizing the new rules early in games the first couple weeks in the season so teams could get used to what was legal and not. Our lack of fouls is hopefully a sign that the coaches have done a good job of helping the players adjust.

I also like that fact that this team is actually fun to watch. Two seasons ago and many times last year I wanted to gouge my own eyes out watching them play.

@spirit: I laughed out loud at that “Newkirk looks like the little kid from up the street that they let in the game because everyone knows he is going to be a star someday.”

Soon after he came in, time was running down on the shot clock and he made a nifty move through Lehigh’s defenders to the basket, and his shot fell! Later he had a nice kick-out for an assist. He’s got talent, and he’s learning how to play Pitt style.

@CNorwoodAZ, You are absolutely right, We all had the same concerns and the changes have seemed to work to our advantage. We have good defenders so they play D with their feet and have less adjustment to make. The other side is our guards have more freedom to move.

@ howard, If and when he matures “Pitt’s style” will be whatever he decides to do with the ball. This kid has a gift. Very raw but he has majical quickness that you don’t see everyday.

@ howard, have you seen Uchebo in person?

I think so far this season suggests a few things:

1. Cam is much improvrd, last night notwithstanding. Patterson is the new wannamaker.
2. Zanna will disappear in conference play, again.
3. Newkirk not as fast as everyone keeps saying
4. this team like many dixon teams before will be better than expexted. More wins in conf pmay than virginia and ND. At least i hope so!!

@ sos 22

He’s listed at 6’10”, only supposed an inch taller than Z at 6’9″. So you’re saying he’s substantially taller ?

@spirit, no I’ve never seen Uchebo.

yea the Newkirk line was a good way to describe that. The little kid up the street, everyone knew was going to be good. lol

Pitt’s offense might look better, more fluid, as Adams not only clogged up the middle on defense, but he CLOGGED UP THE MIDDLE ON OFFENSE AS WELL.

So it might be zero sum game.

@DD, I was curious what you have seen this season that suggests #’s 2 and 3. Last night was about as good as I have seen Talib play since his redshirt freshman year and Newkirk might be green but I can’t imagine him being any quicker.

I see about 8 main contributors this year.

Young, Zanna, Patterson, Robinson, Wright.

Durand Durand, Artis, & Randall.

At this point Newkirk isn’t among them, turns the ball over too much. Needs to up his game a lot in the next 6 weeks. Which is why JD is experimenting with Wright at PG to give JR a break.

Chris Jones doesn’t appear at this point to warrant many minutes.

Nwankwo is smart enough, big enough to be used in a pinch if both Z & R are in foul trouble.

I figured Zanna would be similar sized. He isn’t. Uchebo is an inch or 2 taller but he is way bigger than Zanna. He might have the most imposing physique ever at Pitt. When I first realized who he was I immediately became much more interested in his status. This guy can just show up and look mean and get 10 boards. He is that big and strong.

@ sos 22

You rememeber the giant clod we had named,
Lucious Keese. Looked like a black Herman Munster

@emel, I concur with your rotation and would add that JD will use Nwanko in situations where he can avoid exposing our big men to foul situations too. End of half, defensive substitution in foul giving situations etc.

Emel, Hillgrove called him Lucious Keese the 6 foot 11 senior center from Largo Florida. Lucious suffered from a pituitary gland irregularity medically defined as gigantis. His hands were irregularly huge as was his jaw. He also had another area of peculiarity that was legendary in the Pitt locker room. He was a really nice kid and brutally strong. Unfortunately he was uncoordinated and could only be used as a backup center. Buzz Ridl used to use him to rough up the opposing center with a few hard fouls. Lucious also served as a bouncer at the “O”.

Spirit i guess i worry that i saw 3 games just like last nights for zanna in last year’s noncon…great mid range jumper, lots of rebounds, and a few garbage baskets = a real nice double double. But: still no real post moves, slow to make a move, and still a loose handle on the rock. So i worry he will disappear again with stiffer competition. But i hope not i am rooting for him!

Newkirk just looks like he needs a year of seasoning, but that is ok!

Oh that’s right I remember talking with him at the ‘Big O’. I was friends with all the Simon’s, who ran the place, Bruce and I played baseball together when we were younger. Larry and Linda were always around too.

Didn’t know Lucious had gigantis. He was one huge dude.

Emel, Played major college hoops but couldn’t do layup drill. I remember him putting 5 hard fouls on Adrian Dantley at the Field House. Nice guy with the deepest voice I ever heard.

@DD, You could have the right impression but something tells me the Talib is headed for a big year. I don’t know about Newkirk. I know what he has is special, I think he came to the right place to become a complete player , but as to when or if, who knows?

On Uchebo, if he were to get healthy and be any kind of a contributor he will be grabbed by the NBA. There aren’t many people on the planet with that type of size and strength. Zanna looks kind of frail next to him. Surprised the heck out of me when I saw him.

@DD Zanna seems more comfortable at center than forward, he has his new hook shot, and he is a senior hoping to play professionally. I think he is going to average a double double, and the ACC is way softer than the Big East.

Florida State made the ACC look a little better tonite & other scores of future/past opponents.

FSU 85 ….. #10 VCU 67

Texas Tech 68 …S. Dakota St. 54

Houston 75…. Howard 62

Stanford 97…..Texas Southern 71

Clemson 72…. Temple 58

UCF 63 ……Miami 53

#18 Uconn 72…..BC 70

As long as others are making analogies, has everyone seen the “Progressive Insurance” commercial where a man becomes so confident in himself that while watching a street juggler juggling chain saws, he keeps asking for a chain saw confident that he can do the same. Kind of reminded me of DJ.

What impressed me is how the Pitt players are not just rebounding but snatching the ball out of the air. The quick hands and good timing leaves the opponents just reaching for a rebound that has already been taken by Pitt and on its way for the fast break.