St. John's made the tournament last year because they dressed 17 seniors. So this year their team is basically all freshmen. They're all good recruits, so in about 3 years, St. John's might be a final four favorite. Not now though. They're coached by Steve Lavin, aka the man Howland replaced at UCLA and a man who has single-handedly kept numerous hair gel companies in business.
Lavin's a good coach and a top-notch recruiter but he hasn't been on the sidelines because he's been battling prostate cancer.
Looking at St. John's roster of freshmen (13!) some names jump out at you.
F 6'8" God's Gift Achieuwa - This guy is actually a Juco transfer, but seriously, that's his actual name. Here's a story about it. He has siblings named Peace, Promise, God's Will, and Precious.
G 6'5" Sir'Dominic Pointer - This guy's name was actually Dominique but he changed it. His dad wanted to name him Anthony 2 but his Mom wouldn't go for it. He named his older son Anthony and liked it so much he was going to call Dominique Anthony but with a 2 at the end. Woooow, could you imagine the life that kid would've lived growing up. Way to make the kid feel inferior Dad.
Father of the Decade right there.
So going into this game Pitt was going to have to face God's Gift and freaking nobility.
Eat your heart out Tim Tebow.
Enough background info. The team's traded leads in the first half. Pitt would either make a brilliant play or turn the ball over. They barely missed, shooting about 58% in the half. St John's was almost as hot. The difference was the rebounding in this one. Pitt 30-14 advantage. Wow. The highlight of the half was probably a sick dunk by St. John's second leading scorer, Moe Harkless. He went baseline and threw it down reverse one-handed. It was filthy and caused me to utter the phrase, "How could you be so Harkless."
I love puns.
Harkless averages 15 and 8 but that dunk was his only made field goal of the night.
Anyway, outside of the turnovers, Pitt was really playing brilliant basketball. They went into the locker room up 5.
Evidently, Dixon lit a fire under their asses because they just creamed the Johnnies in the second half. Started with a 13-2 run and blew the game wide open. St. John's only played six guys with two playing 40 and one 38 minutes. They still managed to shoot 50% for the game. The bad news for them is that Pitt shot 63%. Wow. Grades time.
Ashton Gibbs - This is pretty much the performance that should've been the norm for Gibbs this season. He shot 50% and didn't force anything. He also tried to get the mid-range game going as well. Scored 19 points, but didn't really fill up the other stat categories (1 assist, 2 rebounds), but Gibbs is a shooter, he did that tonight. Grade A-
Note: I'll be writing individual posts about the careers of Gibbs and Robinson later.
Lamar Patterson - Typical Lamar stat-line 13 5 and 7. He hit a pair of threes, but turned it over 4 times. I don't remember any specific plays he made, just know that he was solid. Oh he had a nice layup for an and one. Pitt had infinite 3 point plays in this game. Grade A
Dante Taylor -
I will however say that one time when he was celebrating a dunk, St. John's beat him down to the other end and got an easy bucket. Gotta get back on D big fella.
He also got the start tonight, so maybe that had something to do with his confidence.
Tray Woodall - Quiet game offensively for Tray, only took 5 shots making 3 of them. He had a 3 and a nice reverse during the portion of the game that St John's was playing the matador defense. He had 6 assists as well. The downside to Woodall's game is of course the turnovers. Some of them are really bad. He has to lead division 1 in passes thrown into the stands. Grade B
Nasir Robinson - I would've liked Nas to have a bigger role in his last game but he just did his thing. Made all 3 of his shots and turned it over 3 times. He is so calculated in his moves though. He makes the catch in the high post, swings the ball almost down to his knees in one motion, hesitates, and then starts his move. If the refs aren't calling a tight game then teams will collapse on Nas during that moment of hesitation and it'll cause a turnover. Refs swallowed the whistle tonight for the most part and Nas got hammered a few times.
Grade B+
John Johnson - He had a layup on a fast break and missed both of his 3's. He was actually the only player that didn't shoot at least 50% from the field. 3 assists in 14 minutes was a nice touch though. Grade B-
Cameron Wright - Oh my gosh he made a 3 pointer tonight! He also turned it over twice in 5 minutes, but hey, what're you gonna do. The fact that he was 1-1 makes him an automatic B+.
Malcolm Gilbert - His stat line reads as 4 min 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 block, but he definitely changes things defensively when he's in there. He's just so long. He could be a defensive force for 4 years for Pitt. He also set a devastating pick for Gibbs at one point. Grade B+
JJ Moore - He might be finally getting it. He drove all night. And though he didn't actually finish any of the plays, he got to the line hitting 5-6. What a surprise though, when he drove, guys played off him and he got more open looks from 3 as well so his shot started falling, 3-4 from deep. In particular there were two plays I'd like to point out. The first, he drove right down the lane then flipped it back around the defender to Taylor for an easy dunk. I know Taylor and the other Pitt bigs have hands of stone sometimes so they'll bobble any pass that's not perfect. This one was right on the money. The second play started with a Pitt turnover, Moore ran the guy down, picked his pocket at mid-court, went down the right sideline then turned and went baseline. He guy bumped him and the whistle blew but Moore kept driving took another couple dribbles and threw it down violently. The foul was obviously on the floor so no and one or anything but I feel like it was a giant F you from him and a sign that he is going to be playing with anger next season. I can't wait.
Grade A
Talib Zanna - Zanna got a haircut so no hi-top fade anymore. Sadness. He's regressed defensively, he gets beat so easily now. I don't even know what to say, this was a poor game from him. Dumb fouls, had 4 in 14 minutes. He made 2 free throws for his only shot attempts. Grade C
Nick Rivers and Aron Nwankwo - Rivers made a free throw. Go Rivers.
Pitt plays at UConn Saturday in the All-Disappointment Tournament.
Conceivably Pitt could get a few more home games if they make the NIT. I want to say that I'm too proud of a Pitt fan to go to NIT games in Pittsburgh, especially because the actual tourney is coming to Consol, but you know I'll be there. Mostly because I remember when this season was the norm for them. Seriously though, Pitt would miss the tourney the year they came here, but then again Pitt played the first and second rounds of the 2002 tournament at Mellon (wins over 14. Central Connecticut State and 6. Cal in case you were wondering), and that season ended with a loss to friggin Kent State and Antonio Gates. Maybe it doesn't matter where they play. Yeah tell that to the team that will face Kentucky in the South Regionals in Atlanta where it will be 95% blue and white.
Anyway, I think this post is long enough,
JO
Will be difficult to see Nasir and Gibbs go, but I see promise next year. I think the key is JJ Moore, he has got to become the next Sam Young.
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