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7 footer Rozelle Nix?

Pitt79

Board of Trustee
Oct 3, 2005
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Will he be ready to PLAY center? Or a bust like Uchebo or Haughton?
 
I guess that's unknowable at this time. But from what I hear he is a very hard worker that will play like an Ontario Lett with six inches added on. I think he will at least make us much better defensively with ability to rebound, block shots, and most important take a lot of pressure off Mike Young.

If he scores 8 or 9 points a game it would be icing on the cake.
 
I'm skeptical. I've watched some of his highlights from this year. He will be a junior when he gets here, so he won't have a lot of time to develop. He's lost a lot of weight but he's still way too heavy. He's slow footed and plays well below the rim for a 7 footer. In his highlights, he looks pretty raw and the guys guarding him are half his size. He's averaging 11 and 10, but like I said, the JUCO post men he's going against in those highlights are a lot smaller than the big men he'll be facing in the ACC.
 
Lett was actually a very polished offensive player, he had good post moves to both sides, a right and a left hand, could play away form the basket a little bit and was the best passing big man I can remember ever seeing at Pitt.

Nix doesn't compare to O Lett from a skill standpoint, but he's a helluva lot bigger.
 
Originally posted by Pitt79:
Will he be ready to PLAY center? Or a bust like Uchebo or Haughton?
Never seen him play but I'm not expecting anything from him. When I think of next year's team, I dont even think of him. Anything he gives us is a bonus similar to Uchebo or Randall.

Now, that's me just preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best but I just dont think we can count on this unknown 7 foot overweight project to give us anything. If he does, that would be fantastic.
 
I've watched at least a half-dozen full game videos of Nix. Ontario Lett had very nimble feet. We're not going to see that from Rozelle.

He's not a shot blocker. He is quicker than you would expect from a 300# kid and he hustles. His willingness and ability to box out seemingly half the lane is his biggest rebounding asset. He can dunk with no problem but he is not a leaper. He mostly plays below the rim but he takes up,a LOT of space. He sets a VERY good screen.

He's strong, works hard and won't give up. Some quick guys will go around him but nobody is going to back him down to the rim. He is still getting better almost every time out.

He has some touch around the basket and can score a bit. Quickness and stamina will be issues. They started running the Hedge about halfway thru their season and he was OK doing it but he's not gonna make anyone forget Steve Adams.

He's not a saviour and he may not even be a starter. But he's gonna help more than Joe or Haughton. Probably about like Randall on one of his better days.

Some people will hate him but the people at Pensacola love him. He has really totally remade himself.

Some full game videos are available at www.psblive.com.
 
I saw a photo of Nix on his twitter where he's outdoors wearing Pitt warm-up pants and he looks like he's under 300 pounds.
 
He is literally working his butt off.

He'll never be Okafor but he's gonna be the best he can be.

We can't really ask for more from him.
 
Here's the good news


It will be impossible for him to give us less then Haughton has given us this year.

Cruzer
 
Thanks Harve. I don't expect him to be a polished offensive force or a great leaper. But I m willing to bet that with his size inside Pitt would have won at least 4 more games this year.
 
If he can provide 15-20 minutes of solid play, then I will be happy. 5-6 points, and 3-4 rebounds. Play solid, fundamental basketball and do the dirty work inside.
 
On one play, he was up against 7 ft Legend Robertin, who has signed with Clemson. He put his backside against Robertin at the right low block and started walking him backwards. The shot was tipped a couple times by his teammate and another opponent so he kept boxing out Robertin. He finally disengaged outside the 3 point circle on the LEFT side. He has walk ed Robertin clear around the offensive zone.

Seriously, as I've said in several posts, it seems he finds his man and boxes out every time a shot goes up.

He does seem bigger than most if the guys who are guarding him, but the players in that juco league are a bit bigger than you might think. The PF on Nix's team looks small beside him too and he is supposed to be 6-8 and 260.

The guy is still too fat but many of the ACC back-up bigs are not so much different. As I keep saying,he's not going to be a star or probably even a starter. But he'll provide a better option behind Young than we had this season.

I'd like to see him at 280 or so next Fall.
 
I saw that play and he looked like an offensive guard pushing a DE down the field, backwards. He could be an O lineman.
 
If Lett vouches for him, that is good enough for me.
 
Kiwi Jeff,

Maybe he can play on our D-Line...lol, just think maybe the Duzz will talk to Jamie, and he can be a football recruit, opening up another recruiting spot for hoops..

Hail to PITT!
-Al-
 
The difference between Nix & joe/Haughton is that the staff targeted Nix early instead of scrambling in the spring to land a center. Lett isn't a good comparison, since Nix is at least 4 inches taller & 50 pounds heavier. I hope that Nix's play will be similar to Aaron Gray's play where he can occupy space, grab some rebounds & score on put backs. I don't see the offense running through him, but see him as ancillary scorer off of missed shots.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
Re: Here's the good news

Originally posted by cruzer:

It will be impossible for him to give us less then Haughton has given us this year.

Cruzer
Yeah? What is up with that guy? Is he THAT BAD? I mean Phillips-Nwonkwo gets lots of minutes for a walk on, Lecak gets a few, Ko get's in to the occasional blow out, but that guy, I've probably missed maybe 5-6 games this year and I've never seen him set foot on the floor? WTF?
 
Originally posted by wbrpanther:
Thanks Harve. I don't expect him to be a polished offensive force or a great leaper. But I m willing to bet that with his size inside Pitt would have won at least 4 more games this year.
If he could even be Toree Morris, that would be OK, we need a big guy that has serious size to give us 10-15 minutes a game.
 
And the real question is.....

how he ever ended up getting a free education at a great school. It seemed pretty obvious that he couldn't play worth a lick before he ever got here. Pure desperation long shot after whiffing on every live body out there. That's no way to recruit.
 
Re: And the real question is.....

You have 13 scholarships... But not always 13 players able to contribute.

Some schools elect not to fill all of their scholarships, Duke for instance.

Fretting about the 12 and 13 slot is beyond silly... Expect turnover.
 
Re: And the real question is.....

They took a flyer on a 13th guy on the roster, fairly late in the process. If you're gonna gamble, gambling on 6-10 is better than gambling on 5-10. His freshman year, he blocked a ton of shots at his juco.

What was the risk? If he didn't work out, they could cut him loose, which is what they are doing after the season.

If they brought him in, I would have at least given him a few minutes here and there early to see if he was a gamer instead of a practice guy but apparently he was bad enough in practice that they decided preserving his RS to help him hook up elsewhere was kinder.
 
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