Game 4 Wow: Pitt 72 Inferior Oakland 62

And that ladies and gentlemen is the magic of the Oakland Zoo.

Allow me to first summarize the first 30 minutes of this game.

If you don't get that joke, it's an apple turnover.  You see, it's funny because Pitt was turning the ball over all game.  With about 12 minutes left, Pitt was down 48-30.

Pitt would finish the entire game on a 42-14 run (including 28-10 to end regulation)

With under 3 minutes, two free throws by Durand Johnson cut the lead to 56-51, but both teams kept turning it over.  Pitt would force 8 in the final 3 minutes.  With 70 seconds left, Tray turned the ball over and some guy on Oakland named Bader (who hit unlimited 3's in the first half) made two free throws.

58-51 1:07 remaining

At this point, it did not look good, because Oakland was automatic from the line.

Robinson drove and got fouled, missed the first but made the second

58-52 0:59 left

Durand fouls Bader with 0:56, crap.  He's going to make both of these, we have to foul someone else.

HE MISSES THE FRONT END!

Pitt heads back the other way, Lamar for 3...no good but the put back slam by Dante!

58-54 0:38

Oakland turns it over again, and Tray misses a three (he was ice cold) but JJ is there for another offensive board (he had 16 and 10).  He feeds Tray underneath again for the lay-in.

58-56 0:29

The Zoo was NUTS!

An offensive foul off the in-bounds pass and Pitt has a chance to tie or take the lead.  Robinson gets into the lane, but he shuffles his feet.  One of the few mistakes he made all night.

58-56 0:14

And then Robinson made the play of his life, knocking the ball loose and getting fouled.  He made both free throws to tie it.

58-58 0:09

At this point, I'm thinking that Oakland is going to hit a buzzer beater to win it, because these are the things that happen to Pitt.  But Pitt forced a jump ball with 4.9 seconds left.  Unfortunately, Tray got off a terrible "shot" at the buzzer.  And by "shot" I mean he drove, got turned around and threw the ball over his head from the base line.

Overtime city.

Pitt dominated the OT period.  Game.

Grades:

Tray Woodall - He couldn't hit anything (2-14 from the field) but his two three pointers in the second half came at crucial points.  He also had 9 assists but 4 turnovers.  In the classic 3 overtime game against WVU three years ago, Woodall kept attacking the rim for quick twos and relied on a choking mountaineer team at the line.  This time, however, Woodall kept jacking up "hero shots" from the corner.  None of them fell and Pitt was bailed out by a ton of offensive rebounds from Moore and Dante.  Tray better not turn into Ashton 2.0 and start taking 10 three-pointers a game.  If he does, I'm going to be pissed.

Grade B-
Season GPA = 3.58

Side note, I made a spreadsheet that calculates the season GPA so I don't have to keep going back to previous posts.  Go me.

James Robinson - The kid continues to impress.  A career-high 14 points on 3-5 shooting and a clutch 7-8 from the line when Pitt needed every point during the comeback.  35 minutes played and only 1 turnover.  He could have had another in the first half, but he regained possession after it was knocked away from him.  Once he gained control he dished it to Taylor, who found Zanna for the dunk.  Two incredible passes and an easy flush.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00

Lamar Patterson - Yep, not a good game from Lamar.  He was 0-fer from the field and 2-4 from the line.  He forced a clutch backcourt violation in the frantic final minute with pressure defense.  The JJ vs Lamar in the starting lineup debate keeps getting hotter and hotter with each game.

Grade C
Season GPA = 3.25

Talib Zanna - Quiet game from Zanna with only 8 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes.  He also missed two free throws in the first half when Pitt was shooting about 8% from the line.

Grade B
Season GPA = 3.58

Steven Adams - Adams was outplayed/bullied by Oakland's big man for most of the night.  Adams had good positioning on almost every play but Corey Petros kept getting friendly rolls from the rim.  He had 19 on 8-11 shooting while Adams countered with only 4 points on 2-4 shooting.

10 years from now, Corey Petros will be telling his kids how he dominated NBA star Steven Adams on a cool November night in college.

His kids will think he's full of shit.

The Kiwi phenom's best play came on a huge block of a three pointer by Bader in the second half.  He was in the middle of the post when Bader pulled up, but hey, being 7 feet tall helps you to close.  He also had a big dunk during the comeback.

Grade C+
Season GPA = 3.58

JJ Moore (MVP)
He had a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.  He hit 3-4 from three and made every one of his free throws.  Just an incredible game from JJ.  He had the biggest offensive rebound of his life in the final 30 seconds following a missed 3 from Tray.  I'm officially on board with Moore starting over Patterson.  A front court of Moore Zanna and Adams would get unlimited rebounds.  I wouldn't mind seeing Lamar play a little at the two for stretches when either Robinson or Woodall are sitting because of his passing.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 3.91

Dante Taylor -
At one point during the comeback, an Oakland player grabbed a defensive rebound with two hands.  Dante got one hand on it and snatched it from him.  He went to work, 3-4 dribbles and a jump hook that closed the lead to 4.
"That was a man's rebound." - @BW628

On two other occasions he found both Zanna and Moore for easy dunks.  Dante continues to do what is asked of him, and that is to grab offensive rebounds (he had 7 tonight!) and get second-chance points.  In addition to a pair of jump hooks, he also had a tip-in and a tip-dunk.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 3.33

Trey Ziegler - He's struggling to fit in right now.  He was the man at Central Michigan and right now he's usually the 4th or 5th option on offense when he's out there.  He appears to be a big fan of "Iso-Ball" as well, which is a fantastic way to get yourself limited playing time from Dixon.  He had 3 turnovers and shot 1-4 from the line.  I have confidence he'll find his role on offense, but right now he's a defensive liability.

Grade C-
Season GPA = 2.91

Durand Johnson = He hit a corner three in the second half to cut into the lead, and missed his other three shots in his 11 minutes.  He didn't turn the ball over, though, which is just about all you can ask from him at this point.

Grade B
Season GPA = 3.5

Note:  Cameron Wright was in Cleveland with his family.

Team GPA = 3.02
Season Team GPA = 3.52

Pitt plays Michigan on Wednesday night.

Hail to Pitt,
J.O.

Game 3: Pitt 78 Lehigh 53

Pitt beat Lehigh in a game that I thought would be a lot closer.  Lehigh is pretty good.  And when I say Lehigh is pretty good, I mean C.J. McCollum is pretty good.    Obviously, everyone knows Lehigh from their monumental 15 over 2 upset of the Dukies.
Lehigh wasn't the #1 seed in their own conference tournament last year, Bucknell was.  That just shows you the magic of March.  A team can lose to American and Holy Cross and then beat Duke when it counts.

I had to watch this one on television so I'm not going to be very detailed here.  The reason is that it's difficult to focus on other things that are going on because the camera always focuses on the ball-handler.  Here are some notes though.

McCollum is all Lehigh has.  It's him and a bunch of tall white guys.  He got his 17 points,but also turned it over 5 times.  There was a white guy named Gabe who had 12 as well.

Pitt got huge games from Woodall and Zanna.  Tray had a game-high 23 to go along with 8 assists.  Zanna had his 2nd dominant game this season with 20 on 8-9 shooting to go with 6 boards.

The two telling stats from this game are the rebounding margin (Pitt 38-20) and the turnovers (15 Lehigh 6 Pitt).  This Pitt team simply does not turn the ball over.  Last year against the crappy non-conference teams, Pitt was still giving it up 12-14 times a game.  This year it's been single digits every night.  It gives them so many extra possessions.

James Robinson had a poor shooting night (1-8) but he played 30 minutes without a turnover, which just shouldn't even surprise me anymore.

JJ Moore was quiet tonight after causing Fordham to probably need therapy later in life with last night's performance.

Dante did his job tonight with 10 rebounds.  That is really his only strength at this point, offensive rebounding.  He had a nice jump hook in the second half as well.

This game was actually close at half-time.  Pitt only led by 5.

Durand Johnson had a huge game with 9 and 7 in 17 minutes.  Hopefully this puts him ahead of Cameron Wright on the depth chart.

Patterson, Adams, and Ziegler were all witnesses to the Tray and Zanna show tonight.  None of them reached double figures.

This Pitt team is so deep.  They're better than the 2010 team, which got a #1 seed.  Does this mean I'm predicting another #1 seed in March?  Well no, but I do predict that they would beat Butler if they played.  I haven't fallen in love with a team like this since the 2008 team.  I mean, I love all Pitt teams, but this one has potential to be special.  They're the deepest team in the Big East.  Louisville and Syracuse can suck it.

They get Oakland at the Pete on Saturday then a date with #5 Michigan on November 21.  Wolverines are overrated obviously and Pitt will smack them around.

Hail to Pitt,
J.O.

Game 2: Pitt 86 Fordham 51

Pitt played the Fordham Rams Monday night at the Pete for the start of the NIT Season Tip-Off.  Fordham's claim to fame is routinely being the 14th best team in the Atlantic 10.  The fact that the A-10 has 14 teams is ridiculous.  Big East should invite La Salle and St. Bonaventure as full members to replace Pitt and Syracuse.

Fun Fact: On February 28, 1940, Fordham hosted Pitt at Madison Square Garden in the first televised basketball game ever.  And you thought these teams didn't have history.

But seriously, Fordham is to quote Chuck Barkley, "turrible."  They lost 41 straight Conference games from 2009-2011.  Last year they went 3-13 and probably had a parade.

Digger Phelps coached Fordham for one season before moving on to Notre Dame. They went 26-3 that year.

So about the game, Pitt again dominated in the paint, outscoring the Rams 42-12.  Let's just get right into the grades because the Steelers game ended and I have to get up at 5:15 for work.

J.J. Moore - This is the type of dominating performance I want to see from Moore. He had a game high 20.  My problem with Moore last year was his over-reliance on three's.  He's a decent enough shooter, but he's close to unstoppable when he goes baseline.  He attacked the rim tonight.  His jump shots were falling also, which isn't a coincidence.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 3.875

James Robinson - I'm pretty sure the entire male population of the Oakland Zoo has a mancrush on Robinson right now.  Kid is that good.  He doesn't force anything.  Okay, well one time he forced a pass on the wing and it got deflected.  Dixon took him out immediately to teach him a lesson.
Important Stat: 26 minutes played, 0 turnovers

Are you kidding me? 26 minutes from a true freshman at point guard and 0 turnovers?  He also picks his spots on offense.  He shot 3-4 from the field (only miss a 3 pointer).

Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00

Steven Adams - Adams was more aggressive on offense tonight, keeping innumerable plays alive with his length.  He finished with 13 and 5 (all 5 offensive) and was a perfect 5-5 from the field.  He had a few great cuts.  I believe Woodall found him for one bucket.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00

Lamar Patterson - Patterson scored tonight, which was nice.  He filled the stat sheet as usual with 5 points 4 rebounds and 6 assists.  With this Pitt team a lot more talented than last year's version, expect a lot of these types of nights from Patterson.  He doesn't have to score for Pitt to be successful.  8-5-5 should be about the norm for him this year.

Grade A
Season GPA = 3.875

Dante Taylor -
The Good: Taylor had a team high 9 rebounds and shot 50% from the field.
The Bad: 3 turnovers
The Ugly: Two times in the second half, Taylor was all alone on the fast break.  The first time he went up for the dunk and it slipped out of his hands out of bounds.  The second time he tripped and almost lost it but threw it back to Durand Johnson who was fouled.

I seriously dislike when people criticize college athletes.

Taylor is terrible.  Now let me explain.

It bothers me when the media puts blame on a particular STUDENT-athlete (Tino anyone?).  They're just kids.  It is not their job to play football or basketball or whatever.  Their job is get an education.  Criticizing a 20 year old kid because he missed a few shots or took a sack to kill a key drive.  Grow up dude.  That's why I get so annoyed when people bash Taylor on message boards.  Give the kid a break.

You obviously knew this video was coming.

However, there is one exception.  The only people who are allowed to rip on college athletes are their peers.  Yes, if you go to school with the person, then by all means tear them a new one.  Since I am still technically a student there I am allowed to criticize whomever I please.  Once the masters degree is finished, I have to try to be nice and positive about all these young whippersnappers.

Grade B-
Season GPA 3.00

Talib Zanna - After going for 20 in the opener, Zanna was quiet this evening, only registering 8 points.  The three assists were a surprise.  According to my friend, Zanna ran the pick and roll with Woodall 4 times in the first half.  It resulted in a basket, a foul, and two wide open threes (both missed).  The pick and roll remains the single most dominant offensive play in basketball.  Adams was rolling to the basket all night, and the guards were getting wide open jumpers.  At one point tonight, Zanna and Taylor both tipped in a basket.  They both ran down the court with their index fingers in the air to signal that it was to be their basket.  The PA announcer called it as Taylor's bucket and Zanna pretended to be shocked.  The two of them had a laugh about it at the next whistle.
Grade A-
Season GPA 3.875

Durand Johnson -
Peewee made his college basketball debut tonight and scored his first points on a dunk.

He finished with 8 points, but was very jittery in his first action.  He took a baseline jumper and shot it completely over the rim.

Grade A (come on had to give him an A in his debut)
Season GPA = 4.00

Cameron Wright - He didn't do much this game.  Had three points, and even made a jump shot, which is rare.  That was his only bucket as he shot 1-5 from the field. His three steals sort of makes up for it.

Grade B+
Season GPA = 3.625

Tray Woodall - Another solid night for Tray.  Getting lazy because I'm really tired.    As always, he made a few nice passes, hit a few jump shots and got into the lane.  He didn't turn the ball over at all, which means that our 2 primary ball-handlers were on the floor a combined 52 minutes tonight with 0 turnovers.  One particularly nice play involved Wright and Woodall in the second half.  After Adams kept a play alive with an offensive board, Pitt seemed to be struggling to reset.  They threw the ball around the perimeter before Wright found Tray on a nice cut for an easy lay-in.
Grade A
Season GPA = 4.00

Trey Ziegler - Quiet night from him.  He had 7 points.  I have a feeling he's gonna lead the team in dumbass reach-in fouls.  Call it a hunch.

Grade B+
Season GPA = 3.50

While I've been writing this post, the Gonzaga wvu game has been on in the background.  It's currently 34-12 Zags.

LOLmountaineers.

Pitt plays the Lehigh McCollums tomorrow night.

Do it,
J.O.

Game 1: Pitt 80 Mount St. Mary's 48

Pitt opened the season against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers.  The Mount, as it is known, is the oldest independent Catholic college in the United States.  I got a chance to tour their campus in May at the end of a 5 day hike along the Appalachian Trail.  It is beautiful.  I also currently know 3 men in the seminary there.  It's a wonderful institution.

The basketball team has had some success.  They made the tournament in 2008 and even won a play-in game against Coppin State.  Then they ran into Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina (lost 113-74).  For 49 years they were coached by the legendary Jim Phelan, who over that span accumulated a record of 830-524.  His 830 wins are 7th most all-time and his 1324 games coached is the most. He was famous for wearing a bow-tie on the sideline.

What a boss

There is also a coach of the year award named for him, which Dixon won in 2010.

Jim Phelan Award Winner: Jackie Moon

It's also Dixon's birthday today.  He is 47.  Happy birthday to one of the best coaches in the country.

The Mount came out on fire.  They hit seven of their first nine 3-pointers to start the game and even took an 18-17 lead.  Then Pitt realized that they were better and dominated the rest of the way.  They finished half 18-24 from the field, which was the fourth best shooting percentage for a half in Pitt history.  They would finish 34-48 (70%) and broke the school record, which was set in 1980 vs George Washington and we all remember that game.  What?  You don't remember that game?  It was the last in a season-high 5 game winning streak for the Panthers.  They would lose to Maryland 3 days later.

Every Pitt player shot over 50% with the exception of Lamar (0-2) but more on him later.  They outscored the Mountaineers 58-14 in the paint.

This year, in addition to giving out grades, I will also be keeping track of everyone's gpa for the season.  Let's begin.

Cameron Wright - Before the game, Cam's father, Kevin Wright, passed away.  He decided he wanted to play in this game.  Being blessed enough to still have both of my parents, I cannot even fathom the strength it took Cam to keep from crying his eyes out constantly, let alone play a physically demanding sport.  My prayers go out to the Wright family.  Cam responded with 8 points on 3-4 shooting, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 17 minutes.  His best move came on a runner  in the first half.
Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00

Steven Adams - Steven Adams is a tall human being.  His strength so far is very clearly defense and rebounding.  He had 8 points 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in his college basketball debut.  There is one play in particular I would like to mention.  In the second half, with the the game well in hand, Adams was posting up.  His man was fronting him and someone (I don't remember who) lobbed an entry pass that was deflected.  Adams followed it all the way, deflected it once more to himself, then rose straight up from directly under the basket and flushed it.  The amount of athleticism displayed in those 3 seconds was unbelievable.  That's a turnover by any other Pitt center in the last 10 years not named DeJuan Blair, including Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaryyyyy.

any excuse to use this shop really

My one complaint on Adams is his tendency to try and grab rebounds with one hand.  Blair would do that all the time, but his girth never made it a problem.  And plus, I wouldn't want to try and fight for the ball after the Grizzly Blair got a paw on it.

Grade A
Season GPA = 4.00

Dante Taylor - To put it bluntly, Adams is a lot better than Taylor.  Pitt is a much better team with the Kiwi Phenom playing the pivot.  Taylor made his only field goal and also attacked the rim another time and made two free throws as a result.

Grade B+
Season GPA = 3.25

James Robinson - Robinson is awesome.  It was the first time that Pitt started two true freshman in a game since January 6, 2004 (Antonio Graves and Chris Taft).  Think Levance Fields with size and a jump shot.  Yeah, he's that good.  The unfortunate thing is I don't remember any specific plays he made, but he did have 6 points.  Robinson and Woodall have the ball in their hands 95% of the time on offense.  This is not a bad thing.  They play well together and Robinson has the size to defend 2's.

Grade A
Season GPA = 4.00

Lamar Patterson - After watching him in the summer league, you'd think Lamar was ready to challenge for 1st team All-Conference.  He still is, however with the arrival of Robinson and a healthy Tray, Lamar is no longer required to run the offense.  He did not score but set up plays on offense and set screens for the two guards.  Expect him to just about equal his scoring average from last season (9.6). This is due to Pitt having a lot of weapons on offense.  I wouldn't be surprised if Lamar exploded for 17 a game as a senior to replace Woodall's scoring.

Grade A-
Season GPA = 3.75

JJ Moore - With Moore, Patterson, and transfer Trey Ziegler, Pitt is loaded at the wing.  There was talk of playing JJ at the 4 which I do not have a problem with at all.  As always, Moore is capable of having dominating stretches, and then disappearing for 10 minutes.  He had a quiet 9 points outside of an impressive jump hook, which appears to be a new move.

Grade A-
Season GPA = 3.75

Tray Woodall - Tray finished with 14 points, 6 assists and made good decisions.  With Robinson at the point, it allows Tray to play off the ball more which is his strength.

Grade A
Season GPA = 4.00

Talib Zanna - Zanna completely dominated with a game high 20 on 10-12 shooting.  If Zanna limits his shot selection to lay-ups and dunks he will be fine.  As a fellow Pitt blogger said, if Zanna and Adams both average around double figures then Pitt's inside scoring problems will be solved.  I have to agree with that.

Grade A+
Season GPA = 4.00

Trey Ziegler - The transfer scored all of his 11 in the second half.  It'll be interesting to see how he fits into Dixon's system.  He's no longer the guy like he was at Central Michigan.  If he can find a role much like Mike Cook did a few years ago after he came over from ECU, then Pitt will have another weapon.
Grade A-

Season GPA = 3.75

John Johnson - Johnson did not play and then he complained about it on twitter.  That was probably a mistake.  Pitt Blather has the full story for those interested.  Both Cameron and Johnson were rushed into big time minutes last year with injuries.  This year with a healthy lineup and Robinson in the fold, you would expect their minutes to decline.  Unfortunately, John did not expect this to occur and is unhappy about it.  If his minutes stay down the whole year, expect a transfer.  He complained last year too so he's probably on Dixon's last nerve.

Grade n/a
Season GPA = n/a

For a game against inferior competition, the Zoo was lively.  I hope they continue it throughout the dreadful non-conference schedule.  That's it for today.  Pitt plays Fordham Monday night at 6 p.m.
I will be there obviously.

Hail to Pitt,
J.O.

We're All Gonna Get Lei'd: Pitt 77 Hawaii-Hilo 45

Pitt continues their dominance in the exhibition season with a 32 point win over the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans.  They played much better than they did against IUP last week.

Even though Hawaii lost, I'm pretty sure they're okay with it.

I got a chance to interview one of their players after the game.  I asked him what it was like to go to school in Hawaii.  He showed me a picture of their campus.

I asked him what that bright orange ball in the sky was.  He told me it is something that they call "the sun" and that it is used to bring light to the area during hours when people are normally at work.  I said that Pitt didn't have this thing called "the sun."  He agreed and said that the time spent in Oakland was really bumming him out.

Hilo is also notable because Babe Ruth planted a tree there, and apparently so have a lot of other celebrities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_Drive

Babe Ruth also probably got hammered there, so Hilo is kind of like every other place in the United States.

Since, there was a basketball game against a team from Hawaii, the Zoo passed out leis.

-Zoo President Rodney Dangerfield

It was a little weird being in the Zoo this year.  Maybe it was because it was a pre-season game and the Zoo wasn't as bumpin' as it usually is.  It also could be because I truly don't know anyone (outside of my one friend with whom I watched the game and NotYanni whom I saw at halftime) who still goes to games.  During undergrad, I could go to games and I'd see familiar faces.  Even if they weren't my friends I'd think, "Hey, that girl's in my calc 3 class," or "I don't know that person but I've seen them at other games before."  I did the same thing last night and I knew no one.  Hopefully, that feeling of awkwardness will pass once the regular season starts.

Anyway, uhhh basketball yeah.

Pitt jumped out to a 27-4 lead and Hawaii really didn't challenge the rest of the game.  Dixon played the entire team except freshmen Chris Jones and center Malcolm Gilbert, who is expected to red-shirt this season much to the dismay of Pitt fans everywhere.  I managed to come across the Pitt News' basketball preview.  I'll be doing another post in which I make fun of them in some fashion.

A few actual game notes:

-Freshman point guard James Robinson is AWESOME.  He actually is a point guard, unlike some previous players we have tried to pass off as point guards.  (I'm looking at you Ashton Gibbs).

I feel better now.  It really isn't a blog post unless I rip Gibbs.

-John Johnson is making more of an effort to drive this season.  He was pretty much a spot-up shooter last season, but he definitely has the quickness to get to the rim.  With all these newcomers and a healthy Woodall, though, Johnson's minutes will decrease this season, which is fine by me because has some room for improvement.

-Durand "Peewee" Johnson redshirted last year and didn't do much in this game.  He's solidly behind Lamar, JJ, and transfer Trey Zeigler  on the wing depth chart.

-Cameron Wright has not yet learned how to shoot a basketball

-Dante Taylor is still sleepy.  He got a technical for hanging on the rim for no other reason other than the fact that he is Dante Taylor.

-Steven Adams is a bit soft.  He is very raw offensively and missed several shots from close range.  His talent alone was enough to get him 6 and 10.  That also may have to do with the fact that he is 7 feet tall and the tallest Hawaii player is 6'7".  He had a few nice blocks though.  He is a big guy and the talent is there, but he needs to bang bodies for a while and develop some toughness.  My dream is that Adams stays two years.  He's a lottery pick on potential alone right now.  Somewhere around January, he is going to start to dominate once he learns the college game.  If hey stays two seasons he is an All-American as a sophomore.

-JJ Moore has a solid beard.  Lamar is still awesome. Zanna had a lot of layups.

-Trey Zeigler didn't show me much, but he's still a guy who already has 1000 points at the D-1 level.

Pitt opens the season next Friday against Mount St. Mary's.

Hail to Pitt,

J.O.

Sam Young Dances (and I made a post about it because I'm bored)

The list of things that Sam Young does better than me is not limited to basketball and piano (basically my two favorite things in the world), he now dances better than me.  This clip was taken from a fan event from the Indiana Pacers.  Yes, rookie Miles Plumlee does ride a unicycle, but Sam steals the show with his aerial.  Yeaaaaaaahhh!

Sam starts at around 45 seconds.

Panthers in the Pros (The start of a season-long series)

As we near the start of actual basketball (JJ Moore dunking over radio personalities notwithstanding) I thought it would be fun to see what some former Pitt players have been up to since they left the friendly confines of the Oakland Zoo.

Ashton Gibbs - Nobody was more critical of Ashton than me, particularly the last  two years of his career here when he couldn't rely on Wanamaker to run the offense.  On a more talented Pitt team (see 2008-2009) Gibbs could have been a great sixth man, providing instant shooting off the bench.  Sadly, he was just not talented enough to carry a team by himself.  You'll notice that most of his highest scoring games came in Panther losses.  I'd look up that information but I'm lazy.
Anyway Gibbs signed with Panionios of the Greek Basketball League in August. Note:  He appears to be the only player in the league whose last name does not end in opolous.  That's a joke, gotta have a joke for 'da comedy.

Team Website: http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=gre&Team=273

Prediction:  Gibbs shoots a lot, and the team goes bankrupt like its country.

Gilbert Brown - Brown had a shot to make the Celtics in camp last season but sadly, when asked, "What can Brown do for you?" Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge replied, "Nothing.  Nothing at all."  Anyway, Brown played last season in the NBA Development League for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (great name or greatest name?).  He played in 19 games (started 7) and averaged about 12 points and 4 rebounds.  His career high of 21 came against the Tulsa 66ers, proving once and for all that 66's should only play hockey.

Ooops, forgot this was a basketball blog.

Prediction:  Brown leads the Mad Ants in scoring and is asked to star in the sequel to the 1998 animated classic Antz alongside Danny Glover who is still too old for this shit.

Antonio Graves - He played last year for the Canton Charge of the D-League.  As one of three former Panthers on the roster he averaged 8.9 points a game.  I will discuss one of his teammates later, but the third one is Dante Milligan who played a few games with the Panthers in 2004 before transferring to UMass because Chevy Troutman was mean to him.

Prediction: He'll still look like like a goomba from the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Tyrell Biggs - The other member of the Canton Charge, it turns out that Biggs is actually a beast.  He made the all-star team last year.  Who knew?

Prediction: Biggs makes the Cleveland Cavaliers out of training camp, and leads them back to the playoffs.  However, being from Pitt, his team loses in the Sweet 16 (aka the first round of the playoffs).

Carl Krauser - Spent 2012 getting arrested for everything.

Prediction - Will attempt to challenge Brandin Knight in a game of one-on-one for scraps of food and a spot on Dixon's coaching staff.  Knight will beat him 11-1 in a suit.

Aaron Gray - Aaron Gray made 2.5 million dollars last year playing professional basketball in the NBA.  I repeat, Aaron Gray is still in the NBA.  He averaged a career high 16 minutes a contest for the Toronto Raptors, and even started 40 games, which begs the question.  Who the hell is the backup center for the Raptors?  The google has told me it is former all-star Jamaal Magloire, who only made the all-star team once because the East needed to send 2 centers.  In a February game against the Spurs, Gray started at Center opposite DeJuan Blair in what has to be the only time in history two former Pitt players started against one another in an NBA Contest.

Prediction: Gray will continue to be the city of Toronto's only chance to watch a professional athlete.

h/t to BGW

DeJuan Blair - He started 62 games for the Spurs last year and averaged a career high 9.5 ppg.  His Spurs won 20 games in a row at one point including the first 10 in the playoffs before the Kevin Durant decided to try and the Thunder won 4 straight.  Blair played sparingly in the playoffs and this is probably why they lost.

Prediction: Hunts down Hasheem Thabeet and breaks his other arm.

Sam Young - He played three seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies (even starting during their run to the Western Conference Semi's in 2011) before being dealt to the Sixers in March.  He barely played with the Sixers before signing a free-agent deal with the Pacers this September.

Prediction - He will still play piano better than me.

Shavonte Zellous - Apparently she is a force for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.  She dropped 30 last night  on the poor Minnesota Lynx to give the Fever a 2-1 series lead in the WNBA finals (it's best of 5).  She hit a buzzer beater to win game 2 of the east finals against Connecticut as well.  What a player.

Prediction: WNBA Champion

Hail to Pitt,

J.O.