I didn't watch this game as I was busy dominating Team Trivia at Mario's in South Side on Wednesday night.
Zanna had a career high 23 points on 9-10 shooting and 14 rebounds. Patterson had 17 points. Robinson had a career high 11 assists and 0 turnovers, and Durand Johnson buried 5 threes for his 15 points. That's basically all you need to know from this game. Lehigh was playing their fourth road game in 12 days, so they could have been tired. You could give them a week of rest and they still wouldn't have threatened. CJ McCollum was their entire team for four years. He's now in the NBA.
Okay, I've been pretty busy the past week so I'm a little behind on these recaps. Yes, I realize that Pitt has already played and won another game, but we have to talk about Howard first.
Pitt shot 81% (17-21) in the first half and these were my seats.
That broke the school record set on January 9, 1980 against George Washington when the Panthers shot 80.8% (21-26) in the first half. I think we all remember that game. Pitt went 17-12 that season and lost to Duquesne in the first round of the NIT. That Duquesne team was coached by Mike Rice, Sr., father of Mike Rice, Jr. who has known anger issues. The elder Rice is now a color commentator for the Portland Trail Blazers and is still the only television broadcaster to be kicked out of an NBA game. That family must be a ton of fun on Thanksgiving.
This was the 5th meeting between the two teams with Pitt winning all four meetings. Pitt raced out to an 18-1 lead in the first 8 minutes as Howard was completely overwhelmed. During one 40 second sequence, Patterson grabbed a defensive rebound, drilled a 3, stole the ball and dunked it. With 2:30 left in the first half the score read:
Howard 17
Lamar Patterson 16
In the second half, I upgraded my seats due to absolutely no one in the Pittsburgh area wanting to come see this game.
Pitt shot 12-29 (41%) in the second half so obviously I am terrible luck and should stay up in peanut heaven where I belong. Let's give some grades.
Lamar Patterson - Patterson was absolutely dominant in the first half. In addition to the sequence I mentioned above he also found Young with a nice look for a dunk early in the game. His final line was 20 pt 5 rebounds 4 assists to go along with a 4-5 night from long range.
Grade: A+ (MVP)
Cameron Wright - Wright had an efficient night. He was 3-5 from the field for 9 points with 0 turnovers. He also ran the point late in the first half with Patterson, Artis, Randall and Johnson on the court. In the first half some Howard player burned Wright with an up an under move, and I'm fairly certain Wright still has no idea where that player went. However, in typical Howard fashion, the player missed anyway.
Grade: A-
Michael Young - Young did not miss a shot. He was 4-4 from the field (including his first career 3) and also 2-2 from the line to finish with 11 points. He had an uncharacteristically low 2 rebounds but anytime a player doesn't miss a shot, there's only one grade he can receive.
Grade: A
James Robinson - In the first half, Robinson had a wide open three and missed badly. I put down in my notes on my iPod "Robinson wide open 3, can't shoot." Obviously next possession Robinson buried a three from the wing and pointed up at me. The second part might not have happened. Robinson's going through the motions right now. I can't wait to see what the kid is going to do when ACC play starts. Last year he fell off the face of the earth in conference play. He had 8 points and 4 assists in this one.
Grade: B+
Talib Zanna - After his double-double against Fresno State (19 and 10) Zanna was invisible in this one. He only shot 1-3 for four points. One of those misses was a three pointer, which was his first 3 attempt since a 2010 game against North Florida. There's a reason you don't shoot threes Talib.
Grade: C+
Jamel Artis - I am coming around on Artis. He'll be a good player. He was very jittery in the opener, but he's since settled down. He had 8 points in this one and had a very nice pass to Johnson for an and one. Johnson missed the free throw, though.
Grade: A-
Durand Johnson - He had 8 points and 3 rebounds, but frankly I don't remember anything else he did other than not completing the and one.
Grade: B+
Derrick Randall - He missed his only shot attempt and committed four fouls in 21 minutes. He did have 7 rebounds, but it was not a good effort.
Grade: C-
Josh Newkirk - He did make 2-3 shots, but he turned the ball over 5 times in 12 minutes. He also found time to commit 3 fouls. He was awful tonight, but we'll chalk this one up to freshmen growing pains.
Grade: D
Chris Jones - He had 7 points (aided by 5-5 ft) and 4 rebounds in what was easily his best game as a Panther.
Grade: A
Aron Nwankwo, Mike Lecak, Joshua Ko - Nwankwo even played a minute in the first half and scored 5 points. Lecak and Ko played in the final seconds and Ko missed a shot attempt.
Grade: A+ because Nwankwo buried a second half three and it was amusing.
Pitt will play already beat Lehigh on Wednesday night.
Howard is awful. They went 7-24 (4-12) in the MEAC conference last season and finished dead last nationally in effective field goal percentage, which adjusts for the fact that 3 pointers are worth more. They beat two teams this year, but they were Division III Washington College and Gwynedd-Mercy. Harvard beat them by 32 and Old Dominion by 20.
Last meeting: Pitt 70 Howard 46, November 27, 2012
"Pitt had a height advantage at just about every position, which makes the rebounding margin (or lack thereof) another cause for concern. The score was 36-28 at halftime. In the second half Pitt remembered that they were playing Howard and smacked them around."
Howard outscored Pitt in the paint in this game and the rebounds were even at 35.
Player to watch: James Daniel is a 5'11 true freshman guard who is by far their leading scorer at 21 per game. Those are impressive numbers sure, but this kid still plays for Howard so he can't be that good. He's only shooting 39% from the field. Expect this kid to shoot a lot of threes tomorrow.
This is the preliminary round of the Legends Classic, which means absolutely nothing. The Legends Classic is one of those tournaments where the final four is already set. Pitt will play Texas Tech next week at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with the winner of that game getting either Houston or Stanford. This week those teams will host two games against Howard, Lehigh, South Dakota State or Texas Southern. Pitt gets Howard tomorrow and Lehigh on Wednesday. Oh boy.
Pitt is favored by eleventy billion. If they keep their starters in the whole game, they might have a chance to cover.
Prediction: Pitt 85 Howard 42
Last game's prediction: I had Pitt beating Fresno State by 20 (88-68) and they won by 21 (75-54) so go me.
In the beginning of Pitt's basketball renaissance it was said that Pitt players played well as a team, but they weren't talented enough to play in the NBA. While Pitt is never going to have multiple players drafted every season like a Duke or Kentucky, several players have gone on to have success either in the NBA or overseas.
Steven Adams
Adams was the first Panther to be selected in the first round since Vonteego Cummings in 1999. It was the highest a Panther had been selected since Charles Smith was taken #3 overall by the 76ers. Adams is having a decent season for the Thunder so far. He has an opportunity to play because their starting center, Kendrick Perkins, is crap. Through seven games, he's averaging 6.1 points and 5.7 rebounds with a high of 17 and 10 against the Pistons a few games ago. He started last night against the Clippers. Adams is very raw offensively still, but once he learns the NBA game he will be a force.
DeJuan Blair
My favorite Pitt basketball player ever on my favorite NBA team? Is this real life? Blair played for the Spurs for four seasons and was one win away from a ring last year, but he was eventually phased out of the rotation. It was time for Blair to move on, and he did by signing with the rival Mavs. He doesn't start, but he averages about the same amount of minutes he did during his first three seasons in San Antonio (about 21). He and Samuel Dalembert split time at the Center position. Samuel Dalembert sucks. So far this season, Blair is averaging 8.8 points (career high 9.5 in 2011) and 7.9 rebounds (career high 7.0 in 2010). He's also averaging 2.1 steals (11th in the league) which is just amazing. Blair is never going to get many shots on a team that features Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis and Vince Carter, but if he maintains his current output (steals numbers aside because that's unsustainable), he will be an important piece for the Mavericks.
Aaron Gray
Yes, Aaron Gray is still in the NBA somehow and is entering his 8th NBA season. The Raptors are his third team (Chicago and New Orleans), and he has been with them since 2011. So far this season he has a whopping 5 points in 4 games. Gray has carved out a nice career for himself despite being completely devoid of talent. Being seven feet tall helps a lot. Good for you, Aaron.
Sam Young
After almost 3 full seasons with the Grizzlies and a brief 14 game stint with the Sixers, Young played last season with the Pacers. In 56 games he averaged 2.8 points in 12 minutes for a team that came within one win of the NBA Finals. Lebron James had to go and ruin what would have been an epic battle of Blair vs Young for an NBA title. Young signed with the Spurs but was waived before the season started. He has just signed with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League. The deal includes an NBA escape clause, but Young's NBA career might be over. He is already 28, which is old man age in today's NBA. Good luck in Sydney, Sam.
That's it for now. In another post, I'll talk about what some other Pitt players are doing overseas and in the NBDL.
Eleven seconds into this game, Fresno State hit a three. After a Patterson miss, Michael Young grabbed the offensive rebound but then had it stolen. Five seconds later, it was 6-0. Then I walked into the Pete after racing up from my car and it all got better from there. The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes until Jamie Dixon tried something he rarely uses, zone defense. Fresno State had no idea what to do. It was 13-8 Fresno at the first media timeout. By the time the half ended it was 35-18 Pitt, a 27-5 run after switching to zone.
Fresno State's Marvelle Harris, who scored 30 points in the opener and hit the first three of the game, didn't have another field goal the rest of the game. Fresno was completely over-matched in the paint, and thankfully for Pitt, Paul George wasn't walking through the Pete doors.
Cameron Wright - I am a believer in Cameron Wright. I still do not want him shooting from outside 15 feet, but his game has finally matched his effort. In his first two years, Wright was the guy who hustled his butt off no matter what the score was. There was a non-conference game at the Pete his freshmen year when the ball was knocked loose in the backcourt. Wright had no chance at it. But he sprinted down the court, dove head first and tried to swipe the ball off the baseline. Pitt was up by 30. He has always been strong defensively (he had 3 first half steals and 4 in the game), but now he has finally matured on the offensive end. He knows he's not a great shooter, and he doesn't force anything. This is really quite amazing. No matter how terrible some of Dixon's recruits look their first two years, they always end up as very solid basketball players. Anyway, Wright finished with 13 points 6 rebounds and the aforementioned 4 steals.
Grade: A+ (MVP)
Talib Zanna - If you watched the game, you're probably wondering why I didn't give the MVP to Zanna. In his debut, Zanna was a beast, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the 7th double double of his career. I don't have a reason, really, so deal with it. When Zanna plays center, he is able to take advantage of mismatches because he is quicker than 90% of them. At the same time, he still has the strength to deal with some of the bruisers. The people on the post game made a comment about how strong Zanna looks this year and how he must have dedicated himself over the summer in the weight room. Honestly, I feel like he has looked jacked at the start of the last three seasons. I think he might lose weight during the season. I'm really not sure about that, perhaps that's something most players do, but Zanna always seems thinner at the end of the year. In this game, Fresno had no answer for him. He shot 8-10 from the field and they were all easy baskets.
Grade: A +
Michael Young - Young got the start again at power forward and put up another strong performance. He finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds including a ridiculous 6 on the offensive end in only 17 minutes. Everything people said about Young before the season started is true. His offensive game isn't there yet, but he plays defense and rebounds. He'll be a star.
Grade: A
James Robinson - This was a very quiet game from Robinson. He made a jumper, a layup, and hit both of his free throws for 6 points. Other than that, he was just solid and didn't make any huge mistakes.
Grade: B
Lamar Patterson - Patterson had an off night shooting (2-10, 0-4 from 3) but he always seems to make up for it in other areas. He had 7 assists for the second straight night. I worry however, that Patterson will be the same offensive player he was last year. We're looking at another season of about 12 per game from him, which is fine, considering what else he brings to the team every night.
Grade: B-
Durand Johnson - Durand was 0-4 from three like Patterson (part of an 0-11 night from deep for the Panthers), but I want to talk about one play in particular. With about a minute left in the half, Durand got the ball on the baseline about 18 feet away. A quick ball fake and a half a second later he was to the rim, where he finished with a layup. If he learns to be more explosive like that, he'll be a dynamite player. Of course, I said the same thing about Gil Brown and JJ Moore but they continued to try and shoot jump shots 75% of the time. Maybe it will click with Durand, who knows.
Grade: B-
Josh Newkirk - Not a good game from the freshman. He missed all four of his shots and didn't score. He'll get better.
Grade: C-
Jamel Artis - Artis was a lot more relaxed in this one. He made all 3 of his shots (including showing some range on a 16 footer) and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Grade: B+
Chris Jones - He looks to be the odd man out at this point. He played 5 minutes of garbage time and scored 2 points with a turnover. I barely noticed him.
Grade: C for Chris
Derrick Randall - He wasn't as dominant as the first game, and was a little erratic at times (he committed a couple quick fouls at one point), but he still produced. His 7 points and 6 rebounds are probably a better indication of what we can expect from him this season than the double double against Savannah State.
Grade: B
Joshua Ko, Aron Nwankwo, Mike Lecak - The walk-ons all played in the final minute and Nwankwo missed a shot.
Grade: S for Studying Hard
Pitt cut their fouls down from 21 to 13 and their turnovers from 16 to 10 so there's an improvement. Next game is Sunday at 5:00 pm against Howard.
Fresno State won their opener against the UC Irvine Anteaters (great name) 98-97 in overtime. The game ended on a buzzer beater from just inside half court.
I want to give a special shout out to the coach running down the sideline waving his arms at around the 19 second mark of this video.
Fresno State finished 11-19 (5-11) in the Mountain West Conference last season, but they will be improved this season. They return their two leading scorers in guards Tyler Johnson and Allen Huddleston. Huddleston is the player who hit the buzzer beater above.
Player to watch: Transfer guard Cezar Guerrero joins the team after sitting out last season. Guerrero, (#71 Rivals 2011) a 4-star recruit, originally signed with Oklahoma State but transferred after one season to be closer to home. He is a California native.
I am back from the dead. It's time for another exciting year of Pittsburgh Panther basketball. Before we begin talking about all the new faces, let's pour one out for all the departures.
Tray Woodall (Graduation) - Woodall leaving severs the final tie to the 08-09 team, which was by far Pitt's best team ever. He did redshirt that season, however. In his first two seasons, Woodall was great at getting to the rim. He was the catalyst for Pitt's epic triple overtime comeback win over a top 5 wvu team in 2010. His junior season (which I've almost completely erased from my memory #CBIncredible aside) was plagued by injury. He played well enough last season to earn a professional contract in Turkey after graduation. That's as much as you can hope for from a guy who looks likes he fits in more with my 8th grade rec team than major college basketball.
Dante Taylor (Graduation) - A McDonald's All American, Taylor never lived up to the expectations of being a 5 star recruit. He would be brilliant for 3 minute stretches, and then disappear for the next 15. A natural power forward, Dixon forcing Taylor to play center from the moment he stepped on campus definitely hindered his development. Dixon has a habit of doing that. In his last two years, Taylor recognized his role and grew to love it. He continued to work and never seemed to let the disappointment of his career get to him.
Trey Zeigler (Transfer) - Dribble. Dribble. Dribble. Get a DUI. Dribble. Dribble. Dribble. Force up an off-balanced, contested leaner that misses badly. Transfer to TCU. And that, folks, summarizes everything Trey Zeigler ever did for Pitt basketball. There have been worse Pitt basketball players, but I can't remember a player who was supposed to be above average suck as much as Zeigler.
JJ Moore (Transfer) - JJ Moore could have been an All Conference player for Pitt. A slightly more muscular Gil Brown clone, Moore dominated games for stretches. Sadly, he shared a wing position with Lamar Patterson, and Dixon never figured out how to use them both effectively. I always thought with Patterson's passing skills he could have made a home in the backcourt, which would have allowed Moore to stay at his natural 3. Unfortunately, Jamie disagreed and tried to make Moore into a low post player. That's one of the few things I don't like about Dixon. I get that you want to find minutes for the guy, but sometimes you have to let the players do what they're good at. Moore, to his credit, attempted to develop an inside game, but he would have been a lot better off if he learned to use his strengths instead. I blame Dixon for that. He transferred to Rutgers to be closer to his ailing grandfather. He has been granted a hardship waiver and will be eligible immediately.
Steven Adams (NBA) - Adams declared for the draft and was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 12th pick in the first round. He is the first player out of Pittsburgh to be selected in the first round since Vonteego Cummings (26th overall by Indiana) in 1999. Adams was okay in his lone season, but he could have been absolutely dominant this year. With Adams manning the middle, this Pitt team would have had final four potential. Another year of seasoning and Adams would have been a no-brainer top 5 pick in the 2014 draft. He seems to have made the right choice, though, as his height and potential still landed him in the lottery. Going to a Thunder team that has championship aspirations but lacks a center is the perfect fit for him. Mark my word, Adams make the all-rookie team.
I've just learned that Hasheem Thabeet is also on the Thunder. I am contractually obligated to post this photo.
Okay, now onto the 2013-2014 season. Pitt opened with the Savannah State Tigers out of the MEAC conference. The Tigers won 19 games last season and lost in the first round of the CIT to East Carolina. The year before they won 21 games and made the NIT so chances are they would have beaten Pitt that year. If Savannah State sounds familiar, they did go winless in 2004 which was the first time that happened since Prairie View A&M in 1992.
Pitt jumped out to a 40-13 halftime lead and in the first 10 minutes I thought they might have a chance at 100. Savannah State shot better in the second half, but the game was never in doubt. There are a couple things to take away from the game. The first is the amount of fouls called. The NCAA made a few rule changes this season to limit physical contact by the defender. This will lead to a lot of fouls early on as teams learn to adjust. This will hurt Pitt initially, but eventually it will prove to be beneficial. One of the things Pitt has struggled with is the different way games are officiated in the NCAA tournament as compared to the Big East. In the Wichita State 1st round debacle last year, there were 48 fouls called. Compare this to the 32 fouls called in Pitt's Big East Tournament loss to Syracuse last year. Pitt lost to the Shockers by 18 and the Orange by 3 so the foul differential is even more incredible. Last night's game had 48 fouls. Moving to the ACC and having an entire year of games called as tightly as the the NCAA Tournament will be great for Pitt.
Now onto the first grades of the season.
Lamar Patterson - Patterson is back for his senior season. He'll again play the wing. Patterson is only
206 points away from becoming the 42nd 1000 point scorer in Pitt history. He should reach that mark in the first half of the conference schedule. It was a typical Patterson performance of 11 points 7 rebounds and 7 assists (career high). The 7 assists being a career high seems a bit low. I thought he had more in a game last season. After consulting the Internet, it turns out that he did have 7 against Detroit last year. The hope last year was that Patterson would make the usual jump in performance during his junior year that has been so characteristic of Dixon recruits (Sam Young, Gary McGhee, Brad Wanamaker, etc.). His scoring average and shooting percentage rose slightly, but his assists and rebounds both fell. I wouldn't look too much into that as Woodall being healthy for a full season and James Robinson being in the mix took away most of the playmaking responsibilities from Patterson. In the first half Patterson forced up a shot that hit the side of the backboard. It was an ugly shot, sure, but I'm taking that as a positive that he was a little more selfish. What I'm not happy about was the 4 turnovers. That part is unacceptable.
Grade: B+
James Robinson - James Robinson is going to be a really good 4 year college player, and that's it. He lacks the quickness necessary for the NBA game. Last year, he did everything you could expect from a freshman point guard, namely, take care of the ball. His assist to turnover ratio was very good. The problem with Patterson is that his shooting percentage fell off a cliff in conference play. He finished 37% for the year, but I'm pretty sure it was closer to 3% in Big East play. After a year of deferring to Woodall, this is now Robinson's team. Patterson and Zanna might be the better players now, but Robinson is the most important. Pitt is rail-thin at guard. Freshman Josh Newkirk will have to run the point when Robinson is taking a breather. Against the Tigers, Robinson had a game high 13 points, which was aided by an 8-8 night from the line. He made his only three as well. If Robinson can bring his field goal percentage up to around 45% while continuing to limit turnovers, Pitt will be in great shape.
Grade: A
Cameron Wright - Do you remember in the movie Major League 2 when Willie Mays Hays has to do pushups every time he hits the ball in the air? That's what Cameron Wright should do every time he takes a jump shot. It is still ugly. He's also from Cleveland.
However, Wright knows how to score in other ways and he plays excellent defense. I can think of at least 4 instances in the game where Wright either knocked the ball loose or flat out stole it. Wright looked awful in his freshman year, but so did Brad Wanamaker. Here's hoping Wright has a breakout year and I can make innumerable Wright puns. He also had 10 points, though I don't remember any of his 4 field goals.
Grade: B+
Durand Johnson: The transfers of Moore and Zeigler opened up a ton of minutes at the 3. Those minutes will be filled by the man they call Peewee.
After redshirting in 2011, Johnson wasn't a pleasant surprise in his first season. On a team of players unwilling to take an open shot (looking at you Patterson and Moore) it was refreshing to see someone actually shoot any time they were open. Johnson will fire from anywhere. I expect him to mature this season and improve his decision-making, but his aggressiveness will be welcomed. Durand hit three three pointers and had 6 rebounds.
Grade: B+
Talib Zanna broke a team rule and was suspended for the game.
Grade: Rulebreaker
That's it for the returning players. Wow, there are so many new players on Pitt this year it is ridiculous. I will be writing an individual post on each newcomer in the next week, but for now I'm just going to finish the grades because this post is entirely too long. Most of you probably stopped reading three paragraphs ago.
Jamel Artis - Artis is a 6'7" freshman forward from Baltimore. He missed both of his field goal attempts, but managed to grab 5 rebounds. He is a prime red-shirt candidate.
Grade: B-
Michael Young - Young is a 6'8" freshman forward who played high school basketball in New Jersey but is originally from McKeesport. He is a natural 4, but could be forced to play some minutes at center. Young is Pitt's highest ranked recruit this year (ESPN #67). He finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds and just missed being the first player since Blair in 2007 to record a double double in their debut. For the record, Blair put up 20 and 14 against Houston Baptist in the first regular season game I ever attended in the Zoo. Coincidentally that was the last time Pitt scored over 100 points in a game.
Grade: A
Josh Newkirk - Newkirk is a 6'2" guard from Raleigh, NC. If Josh Newkirk is 6'2" then I'm 6'6". For the record I'm 6'4" and Newkirk is closer to an even 6 feet. Newkirk could play a little at shooting guard, but mostly he'll back up Robinson at the point. He showed an impressive shooting touch from long range by making all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Grade: A
Chris Jones - Jones redshirted last year so there isn't much to go on. He played 16 minutes in this game but missed both of his shots (2-2 from the line though). He'll play this year, but who knows how much.
Grade: C
Mike Lecak and Josh Ko - They are the walkons. Lecak returns for his second season and Ko was the player of the year in the state of Hawaii. Ko made both of his shots and Lecak missed his one attempt. The game was so out of hand that Lecak even got in in the first half.
Grade: T for Tuition Payments
Derrick Randall - Randall is a 6'9" transfer from Rutgers where he played sparingly for two seasons. Yes it was Savannah State, but Randall dominated. He is the best rebounder Pitt has right now. He had 12 and 12 and shot 5-7 from the field. He has very strong hands. If he gets his hand on a rebound, he's coming down with it, very Blair-esque. We've had big men in the past (looking at you Gary) fail to secure rebounds they should have gotten so this is a nice change of pace. I'm not saying Randall is going to turn into a double double machine, but this was a good performance.
Grade: A (MVP)
That's it for now. Pitt plays Fresno State on Tuesday, and it should be a better game.
.JPG)
