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Went to the St. Louis game today and i was impressed with some things....


DeJuan Blair is a future superstar...people said he was like Chevy....waaaayyy more athletic and overall better he is the REAL deal brings a lot more to the table the AGray did

Sam Young has improved from last season....he still travels every single time he touches the ball but he is taking it to the hoop and being aggressive

LeVance lost 15-20 lbs and it is noticeable he is quicker

Also with the more up tempo offense im a big fan....i for one am not a Jamie Dixon fan but i am glad to see he is adjusting to the type of team we have

Bad....

Ramon needs to take more shots he can flat out shoot and this is getting ridiculous with him being unselfish
The Bench.....not to strong..Biggs and Benjamin are expierenced...Nobody else seems to be ready maybe Gilbert Brown but that could be a reach



Any further input on this years version of Pitt Basketabll

For some of you Panther Basketball fans that are a little older, I think Blair is a combination of Sam Clancy and Brian Shorter.

I have seen Pitt practice twice this year and each time I came away more impressed. I wish every high school athlete could have the opportunity to see how Division 1 athletes compete in practice. The intensity is amazing!

As for Pitt's team this year.

1. Fields: Looks great after losing the weight. He is a 1/2 step quicker and his endurance is better. Great floor leader and defender.

2. Ramon: Definitely needs to shoot more. One of the best three-point shooters in the Big East and the entire country. Just needs more shots. Ramon is a great defender as well.

3. Cook: Great offensive player. He has questionable shot selection sometimes. Probably the worst defender in the starting five, but improving.

4. Young: Teriffic athlete. Should excell with more offensive freedom this year when Pitt looks to run. Much improved defender. Great offensive rebounder.

5. Blair: THE REAL DEAL! His offensive game is greater than the normal freshman. He will be amazing when he gets some more defensive reps.

Bench:
Biggs: Competitor. Needs defensive work. Questionable shot selection. Good rebounder.

Brown: The best athlete on the team. Incredible leaper. Improved outside shot. Had two huge threes versus St. Louis. Still learning to defend. He will be a great player at Pitt.

Diggs: Big body off the bench. Very raw on offense. Physical on defense.

Wannamaker: He is gonna be the next great point guard at Pitt when he replaces Fields in a few years. Solid offensive player. Works hard on defense, just needs better technique.

McGhee: Big body. Very raw on offense. If he can be physical on defense, he will get minutes. They would love to redshirt him if they could.

Benjamin: Solid guard off the bench. Nothing flashy.

*A good weekend for Pitt. They defeated what will most likely be two NCAA Tournament teams in NC A&T and St. Louis.

Major Division I basketball is so much different and better than even low D-1 basketball it's ridiculous.

I am personal friends with an ex-D-1 assistant coach (he assisted at Seton Hall and DuquesneU). He tells me, "There's D-1 basketball, then there is REAL D-1 basketball"...He says that the talent gap between Major D-1 and low D-1 is bigger than from low/mid-major D-1 to D-2.

For example, the talent gap betweem Pitt and St. Francis is MUCH MUCH bigger than it is from St. Francis to IUP or UPJ.

That is, the talent at D-2 schools is a lot closer than you think to low D-1s (ie-SFU types, Ivy League, Patriot, etc.). strong D-2 teams can easily hang with low to mid-majors. However, the talent gap between the top 25-30 type teams and low D-1s is HUGE.

A lot of good D-2 players are really slightly undersized and/or slightly less athletic/skilled versions of low D-1 players.

In D-2 and low D-1, for example, you might see a 6-3 or 6-4 swingman (3 guard) who is a good player, but not skilled enough to play a 1 or 2 guard at a D-1 school...whereas at major D-1s you'd see a taller, more athletic 6-7 kid playing the swingman (3 guard) who can shoot the lights and and/or hanlde like a low D-1 point or shooting guard.

titan then how do you explain Gardner-Webb (15 minutes from where i got to college btw) beating kentucky...how do you explain george mason a few years back...schools like butler and bradley knocking off programs with prestige...i think the talent level is actually narrowing between top level schools and mid-majors, and the level of play is getting wider between mid major schools and d2 schools...every year it seems like there are more and more mid major schools doing well...

well i like at it like....

there are the 6 BCS confrences...
then the A10 C-USA Mt. West Colonial WAC and MAC + Gonzaga and Butler and a few more maybe G.Webb
then you have the NEC MAAC ect.


3 levels of college basketball and that 2nd group aint all that far away from #1 but #3 with SFU is a worlds away from Pitt and North Carolina

Upsets of these sorts can happen...but they are exceedingly rare. Back in the early 80s Chaminade beat #1 UVA (Ralph Sampson). Things (ie-S**t) happens sometimes.

If you're going to talk about these few examples, then let's talk about the countless examples of the 40-50-60 point wins that majors have over low D-1s over the years. I watched a mid-major (DuquesneU) beat a low D-1 (Howard) by 70 points last Friday night. That's right, I said SEVENTY POINTS. 129-59 was the score. Howard lost by 70 and couldn't even score 70!!!DuquesneU beat Seton Hill in an exhibition game a week ago by less than that. I'd bet my next paycheck that IUP, CalU, or UPJ could hang with Howard.

Just because Gardner-Webb beat UKY doesn't mean that there isn't a tremendous gap in talent...Sometimes EFFORT and DESIRE or lack thereof can somewhat negate talent.

WT

You'll find out how good Pitt is when they play Duke @ MSG in a month. Should be a good game.

Watched the Duke NM St. game last night. Duke ran the ball like they should have been doing for a while. They are smaller than a lot of the schools they're gonna face, but they sure do make up for it with athleticisim and speed.

I'm pretty excited to see that game on December 20th.

yeah i definatley wanted to get up to the Garden for that game but im busy


That should be a good game with good matchups all around Blair and Young and even Gilbert Brown are really good athletes and Ramon and Fields are intellegent guards that know how to play


Paulus and Fields is going to be a good matchup between 2 good point guards

Nelson and Schyer are good wing players that can cause some problems for the Panthers


Any thoughts on Mike Cook?I for one am not a fan...if you really watch him he takes horrible shots plays bad defense...i just dont see where he is helping the team id love to see Gilbert Brown or Wannamaker step in maybe even Benjamin for defense


Miss Valley State thursday night....shouldnt be a problem at all