What's So Good About Pitt & GTown?

[bleedbluegold03]

I understand everyone's man crush on Otto Porter, but if you're going to write off Marquette's B2B S16s on account of us losing our top 2 scorers, Gtown lost their top 3, didn't make the 2nd weekend, and will have just one senior contributing a lot as well. And don't even get me started on Pitt, they lost their far and away best player from a horrendous campaign last year.

I firmly believe these standings are created on the fact that a writer looked at the names of the programs and penciled in Gtown and Pitt in top 3rd because it would look weird not to. You'd think eventually Marquette would start getting that same respect...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/dan_greene/10/23/Big-East-primer/1.html

I think a lot of predictions are going to be shattered about this conference and I'll make 3 of my own:

Siva is a siv with the ball and won't finish top 3 in BEast PoY
Pitt and Gtown will both finish below Marquette in the standings
And for my WC: St. John's will make the NCAA tourney

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

And don't even get me started on Pitt, they lost their far and away best player from a horrendous campaign last year.

Are you talking about Ashton Gibbs? Far and away their best player? That's crazy talk. Ashton Gibbs may have been the worst player in the entire country last year. He was the ONLY high major player in the top-40 of shot attempts to shoot under 40%. He did nothing but chuck crap at the rim all year long. He was also one of only two high major players in the top-40 of three-point attempts to shoot under 35% (Truck Bryant was the other). And when Tray Woodall went down and it became apparent they needed someone to man the point, did Gibbs step up? No, he just kept hucking feces at the net every time he touched the ball.

Of everyone on Pitt who took 100 or more shots, Gibbs had the worst shooting percentage. Yet he took 152 more shots than the second most frequent shooter (Nasir Robinson). He took more three point shots than Tray Woodall and Lamar Patterson combined, yet shot at a notably lower percentage. Pittsburgh would have been a better team last year if they had just benched Gibbs, and will be much, much, much, much better without him this year. Getting rid of Ashton Gibbs is the best thing that could have happened to Pitt and it may well be the most blatant case of addition by subtraction in the entire history of sports. He was a greedy cancer that made the entire team worse.

If you look at Pitt for this year, they are solid. With Woodall back at the point, Lamar Patterson can shift to the 2 where he belongs. James Robinson, Cameron Wright, Trey Zeigler, and John Johnson are all capable backups. Up front, Steven Adams is a top-5 recruit at center without all the crazy of Khem Birch. He will likely be a stud, and with Dante Taylor, Talib Zanna, Durand Johnson, and Malcolm Gilbert they have plenty of talented options to flank him. Pitt will almost certainly be challenging all year long for a top-4 spot, and after Louisville and Syracuse, are right there with Marquette and Notre Dame in that next tier and it wouldn't surprise me if they contended for the Big East title.

I agree that Georgetown is overrated. I like Porter, but they need Markel Starks and Greg Whittington to be stars immediately if they want to compete for a top-4 spot. I think 6-8 is more likely. Cincy's another team that might be a bit overrated, as Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates leave big shoes to fill. But Pitt is legit.

[bleedbluegold03]

apologies, I think I should have said "far and away best player" as that was the perception going into the year when he got the BEast Pre Season PoY award

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

What can I say...I get overzealous talking about how god-awful Ashton Gibbs was last year :D

[MU_Iceman]

I agree with Bleed...When i saw Pitt and GT picked ahead of MU, I was like "yeah ok, and UW will win the National title too". Don't get the love fest for either team, and i"ll be incredibly disappointed if MU finishes below either of them. Specifically Georgetown. I also agree that if Peyton Siva is the Big east POY, then the Big East is the worst it's ever been. He's not even close to being a POY in any conference, let alone one like the big east. i get tired of MU not ever getting the pub they deserve. heck, even MU fans themselves constantly underrate them. :confused:

[BLT]

Here was an article on Adams from their summer ProAm. Dixon is a defensive-minded coach and he always seems to do well with a big man anchor it seems, which they missed last year in addition to injuries. I am still unsure how good Adams is since he is from New Zealand and didn't play US AAU ball. I have read mixed reviews on his impact readiness as a frosh to be the dominate one that a #5 recruit ranking would suggest (lottery pick), like Drummond last year (not sure he had an impact at UCONN). Maybe one of the experts here knows more, but this adds to the poll rankings hype.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/pitt-basketball/panthers-big-time-recruit-steven-adams-displays-skill-in-summer-league-pitt-basketball-640980/

[Phantom Warrior]

Pitt will be a good team this season. Gibbs was bad for team chemistry last year, especially when Woodall was out. the Panthers were a different team without their starting point guard, just as we would have been last year had Junior missed a major portion of the season. There are some Pitt fans who view Gibb's graduating as addition by subtraction.

Pitt has solid talent. If Adams comes even close to playing at a level matching his hype, he could be the premier big man in the conference. Plus, though Dante Taylor has never come close to matchinjg his high school ranking, he and Zanna give Pitt size and athleticism up front.

But the guy who could make the difference for Pitt this season is Ziegler. I see him having the same kind of impact on Pitt that Lockett will have at MU.

I will not be surprised if Pitt finishes higher than we do in the league. That's entirely possible.

As far as Georgetown, however, I don't see that happening. I think the Hoyas are over-rated.

[Nukem2]

Pitt will be a good team this season. Gibbs was bad for team chemistry last year, especially when Woodall was out. the Panthers were a different team without their starting point guard, just as we would have been last year had Junior missed a major portion of the season. There are some Pitt fans who view Gibb's graduating as addition by subtraction.

Pitt has solid talent. If Adams comes even close to playing at a level matching his hype, he could be the premier big man in the conference. Plus, though Dante Taylor has never come close to matchinjg his high school ranking, he and Zanna give Pitt size and athleticism up front.

But the guy who could make the difference for Pitt this season is Ziegler. I see him having the same kind of impact on Pitt that Lockett will have at MU.

I will not be surprised if Pitt finishes higher than we do in the league. That's entirely possible.

As far as Georgetown, however, I don't see that happening. I think the Hoyas are over-rated.Don't know that Gibbs was all that bad last year. I think the loss of Khem Birch left Pitt with poor defense on the frontline and the injury to Woodall simply left Pitt rudderless. Without those two, Pitt did poorly when Gibbs was not shooting well or Gibbs was defended more tightly. At the BC, Pitt did well with Gibbs shooting until MU shaded Gibbs more closely.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

The problem was that Gibbs never realized he had to adjust without Woodall. He kept shooting like Wanamaker and McGhee were there and they weren't. They needed to play like a team, and he played like Custer's Last Stand. If he ever thought to pass they would have been in the NCAAs. I guess you can blame it on Dixon, but that was probably the most wasted talent in the country last year, and taking out the trigger-happy Gibbs will only help them this year.

[bleedbluegold03]

Pitt will be a good team this season. Gibbs was bad for team chemistry last year, especially when Woodall was out. the Panthers were a different team without their starting point guard, just as we would have been last year had Junior missed a major portion of the season. There are some Pitt fans who view Gibb's graduating as addition by subtraction.

Pitt has solid talent. If Adams comes even close to playing at a level matching his hype, he could be the premier big man in the conference. Plus, though Dante Taylor has never come close to matchinjg his high school ranking, he and Zanna give Pitt size and athleticism up front.

But the guy who could make the difference for Pitt this season is Ziegler. I see him having the same kind of impact on Pitt that Lockett will have at MU.

I will not be surprised if Pitt finishes higher than we do in the league. That's entirely possible.

As far as Georgetown, however, I don't see that happening. I think the Hoyas are over-rated.

1. This comment in general is bunk. I don't think I need to make a list of the impact bigs in the conference to tell you he will not be the premier big in the conference

2. Bigs don't come in as freshman and perform well. For every Anthony Davis I'll show you 20 Khem Birchs

That being said, Pitt has a track record of All BEast quality bigs in the last 10 years - Gray, Blair, McGehee - and it was odd last not seeing one on their roster

[Nukem2]

The problem was that Gibbs never realized he had to adjust without Woodall. He kept shooting like Wanamaker and McGhee were there and they weren't. They needed to play like a team, and he played like Custer's Last Stand. If he ever thought to pass they would have been in the NCAAs. I guess you can blame it on Dixon, but that was probably the most wasted talent in the country last year, and taking out the trigger-happy Gibbs will only help them this year.Actually, Pitt's offense w/o Woodall and Birch was pretty much "designed" to get Gibbs open for a catch and shoot or take the defender to the hoop . Thats what I saw at the BC.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

As I said, you can blame it on Dixon, because pushing everything through Gibbs was atrocious, but when you're forcing that much, any player with a nickel of sense would realize sometimes he's better off passing. Especially when you're only shooting 38% from the field.

And even if Adams disappoints, Taylor and Zanna are a solid frontcourt foundation. Gilbert will likely be better with a year of seasoning, and there are plenty of guys that can play the 3 (Patterson and Johnson both come to mind). I really feel there are 5 teams that are clearly the cream of the league. Pitt is one of them, along with Syracuse, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame. Georgetown is overhyped. Cincy also may be. Honestly though, I think that Louisville is more likely to fall flat on their face regarding expectations than Pitt is this year.

[Markedman]

I think the major reason people are picking MU fairly low is because we not only lost our top 2 scorers but we lost the BE player of the year and another first team all BE guard who was 2nd in the league in scoring.

Nobody depended on 2 players more then MU did on Jae and DJ last year so it's pretty natural to think they might struggle to replace all that production.

Good thing is starting next week none of the predictions mean a thing. MU will rise or fall based on how good they play...not on how good or bad anyone thinks they should be.