Yes, it’s a “blackout.” For which, Jamie Dixon speaks for all of us older curmudgeons.
“Everything’s about gimmicks and promotions nowadays,” Dixon said. “Fans are excited. Our players are excited. You’ve got to do things that excite the players, excite the fans. I wouldn’t notice the difference, I guess, until it got pointed out.”
Preach it!
Rebuttal:
“I’m excited,” sophomore Jamel Artis said. “They’re great uniforms.”
“The jerseys are dope,” senior Cameron Wright said. “The student section will be popping.”
So, opinions vary.
Syracuse made news mid-way through the week by announcing a self-imposed post-season ban for this year. The reason for it concerns academics and the way their drug testing program (didn’t) operate in the athletic department between 2007 and 2012. The details are, of course, vague. This was slightly opportunistic of Cuse to put the ban in effect in a year that would have at best had them squeaking into the NCAA Tournament. Can’t fault them for gaming the system, though.
If Pitt had played them a day or two after the announcement, maybe that plays a role in their performance. Now? More likely to be a motivational thing used by Boeheim.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he doesn’t know the details of what happened at Syracuse, but agrees with his players that Boeheim will be able to use this as motivation.
“I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know how it will affect them,” Dixon said. “But I would think there would be some disappointment that would be used to fuel motivation for your next game. And these kids, to be at the level they are playing at, they already have had motivation in their life and they will be ready to go and ready to play just like our guys are.”
…
“We’ve been fortunate,” Dixon said. “You try to do the right things. Still, things can occur, but [following rules] is something that is important to us, it is important to our university. They have made it very clear to us they don’t want us to even come near the line, and that was made evident to me from the start and emphasized throughout.”
Rough translation to that last paragraph: “You did see what happened to that Wannstedt fella, right?”
The Orange are 6-3 in the ACC, but they haven’t done it with ease.
Syracuse opened this year’s ACC schedule with four consecutive wins but has lost three of five. Down to eight scholarship players because of injuries, Syracuse struggled to defeat Georgia Tech (46-45), Virginia Tech (68-66), Wake Forest (86-83) and Virginia Tech again (72-70) — three of the bottom four teams in the conference.
Swing those the other way and Cuse is 4-5 like Pitt.
For the game itself, I am of mixed feelings on what Pitt will do. Pitt has struggled mightily against teams that shift to the zone. Part of what made the victory over Notre Dame so odd, was the fact that Brey kept the Irish in man-to-man for the entire game. He let Pitt’s offense see the same look the entire game. This, despite every other team that has beaten — or simply made it tough for Pitt — found great success simply by showing a zone defense for spells in the game.
On the other hand… Syracuse plays exclusively zone. Not shifting looks and doing different things. With the way Jamel Artis has been shooting that has the potential to play into Pitt’s hands.
“Teams have used [the] 2-3 zone against us all year,” Artis said. “We just have to find the soft spots in the zones, and I think we have done that very well in the last few games. But this needs to be a big game for all 16 of us. We need to come out and play hard, and we need to win this game and get to .500 [in ACC play].”
Artis said playing against zones can be “irritating” at times because they slow down the offense and force the Panthers to be more patient. But he likes that the zone offenses Pitt runs usually results in an open shot for someone — and recently it has often been him.
Dixon said Artis is in a good groove right now, but the most important thing he is doing is not forcing shots.
“He is playing really confident and the guys are looking for him,” Dixon said. “I have sensed that the last couple of games. So they are finding him, he is moving well without the ball, he is taking good shots, and he is putting himself in position on the catches to score. He is playing to his strengths.”
Offensively for the Orange, for large stretches this year are Rakeem Christmas inside and whoever is hot outside.
Don’t forget that Voodoo Brewery will be serving H2P IPA in the Campus View Club at the Pete along with being available at the University Club. And I’m not reminding you of this just simply because I’m getting an awesome t-shirt.
ESPN2 at 4pm.
On the other hand, we caught them last time after an embarassing loss at home vs Duke when they shot 28%. Now we face thme after a loss at UVa, so they should be focused.
I’d certainly be pleasantly surpised to win there, but still hold out some hope.
Now the following appears at the top of his twitter account:
Walking Dead
Here’s the link:
Here is a link to a sbnation.com article that actually puts mathematical analysis logic to that point.
I believe Coach Narduzzi resisted adding several lower ranked recruits at the end simply to get to 18-20 recruits and obtain a higher ranking from various services. When he lost out on some key prospects, he decided instead to put the extra slots in his pocket for next year. I think it was the right thing to do. It should also be pointed out that he did not need to pursue the “fill the roster” strategy of adding as many recruits as possible because Paul Chryst’s staff added approximately 50 players in the past 2 years and there is a fairly good amount of young talent already on the roster.
I hope you are right! We should find out this afternoon. Zeiss wrote in his PG blog yesterday:
Cam Wright went down early in this game with a left ankle injury. We will meet with Dixon on Monday afternoon to see Wright’s status.
Here’s the link to Zeiss’ blog:
I’ve had some pretty bad chix salad sandwiches. Now maybe I understand why.
Disagree with Zeise’s comment about Jeter in the article; the fact is, he has NOT been a good scorer, or even a mediocre scorer, up to this point. He has not cashed in on his opportunities. However, and more importantly, he has been working hard and his confidence was up, and it payed off big time Saturday. This is exactly how Artis started this year, with one big game like that. Hopefully Jeter can do the same, I don’t see why not. Would be a great story (and give us some more size).
JD has already learned new tricks, implementing an entirely new offensive philosophy (which he should never abandon) and a new defensive one as well to make the best of his situation.
I don’t think his philosophy has changed. He has done what the best coaches do — adjusted to suit the strengths and weaknesses of his players.
This team is fast and passes great, so he is having them play fast in transition. This team cannot shut-down the opposition in the man-to-man, so he varies defenses to keep the opposition off balance.
H2P!!!
Wright has not played at the level we had hoped most of the year, and I remarked that in the Bryant game he looked physically ill except for a brief spurt. Ankle injuries can be career threatening and once seriously injured they become more likely to recur. Senior leadership has been a staple of Dixon’s teams and this year Wright was it.
The good news is that will give Newkirk and Jones more minutes. I don’t know if that bodes well for this season but my guess is that it will pay dividends before they graduate. Jones is every bit as good as Patterson was as a sophomore and if Newkirk can harness his potential he could dominate by the time he is a senior.
I don’t know where the Dialo kid could find a more ready made perfect scenario for a one and done career than Pitt. We have everything in place to make a real run if we only had a big strong talent in the middle.
I love to dream.
Thanks for the link. Just confirms the fact that the more recruits the higher overall ranking.
I had heard this elsewhere but the article gives the rival formula.
BTW, what should not be to anyone’s surprise, Artis has been named ACC player of the week.
Also the more uptempo style works to his advantage. If you remember he was part of the furious comeback vs BC. With more focus on offense and less on shutdown defense, Jeter is an asset.
Dixon’s philosophy about passing or shooting is not completely new. Last year DJ was given permission to take bad three-point shots when he came in to provide energy off the bench. This year it is Jones.
Turns out that we could both end up being correct. Jeter didn’t play at the beginning of the season because he was a big liability on defense. However, I expect him to start tomorrow, especially if Wright is out. He is too good an athlete to leave on the bench.
GC is correct. Jeter plays much better if is in longer, instead of “playing two minutes at a time waiting for the hook.”
Heck, JD may have to hire Paul Westhead as an assistant.
Jamie Dixon said Cam Wright (sprained left ankle) is “day to day” He didn’t practice today, optimistic about him returning tomorrow. #Pitt
The 1st recruit may come from that group.
Sounds like he will be back. I was worried that it might be something much worse — something related to his broken foot.
The black out was am overwhelming success and Pitt should be commended for doing it.
it’s a shame you have to put that disclaimer out like that or your labeled a hater.. i think dixon or any other coach is out of touch if they don’t think the uni’s arnt important. it’s what the kids like, whether we like or not.
I see better times ahead. And no one would ever mistake me for an optimist when it comes to Pitt sports.
Jeter also had the putback at 33 seconds or so which pretty much sealed the victory.
If Pitt is going with Young at the 5, you need Jeter at the 3 or 4. Artis is much more a perimeter player so I guess he is the 3 and Jeter and the 4. But Jeter is also somewhat a perimeter player as Zeise noted on his blog.
Whatever…it worked against Syracuse.
The big thing at L-Ville, will be of course….how Pitt handles the Ville press.
Will we attack or we will hold the ball after breaking it, and have to beat their defense again in the half court. Are our guards, specifically Robinson going to be up to the task.
Soon enough we will find out if he can back-up the tough talk. We all hope he can. Still an uphill battle to get top ranked kids to consider Pitt, let alone come here.
Winning eight games would be a major step in the right direction.