ANO Transfer Official
- Thread starter Zaratoughda
- Start date
I hope he is at the pro-am. Important for a new player so he can get some feel for his new teammates.
Also, important to take a course over the summer so JD can work with him.
Seems like those two things are already there for Rafael Maia.
Also, important to take a course over the summer so JD can work with him.
Seems like those two things are already there for Rafael Maia.
Here's one for you DC....
I am thinking Dixon starts Maia at C, Young at PF, and Artis at SF.... but after a short while... half a normal shift or so... Dixon sits MY down, shifts Artis to PF and brings in Jeter at SF. Then, when it comes time to sit Maia and Artis down, he brings in MY along with ANO.
The thing is... IMO.... we really need to get MY going. Can be a dominant player but he has not reached that level consistently yet. So, if he has just played half a normal shift at PF.... then sits a half shift... when he comes back in he is gonna be totally fresh and... maybe a bit ticked off re having to sit... and hopefully goes on a rampage.
But... there's more. IMO, it is gonna prove out that MY is better at C... offensively.... (yeah, we will have to see on that) so out there with ANO.... on offense you could let MY play C (in other words, set up in the low post) and let ANO play PF. Then, with ANO, he is a shot blocker and it is better to let shot blockers play C because they are closer to the basket... so you let ANO play C on defense and let MY play PF on defense... which also means MY is gonna wear down less covering a PF instead of a C on defense.
Yeah, with this... I would go with either Maia + Artis (+Jeter... who helps out with rebounding more than Jones) or Young + ANO (+ Jones probably) for the rest of the half. One group or the other.
Pairing Young with ANO is interesting because they are both about the same size and are both able to play either C or PF.. and swapping them re O and D might be the answer Dixon is looking for in making sure MY does not get worn down.
Not saying this is the way Dixon is gonna go but we will have to see when the time comes.
Zara ... although I think you are over thinking the minutes WAY too much at this point, I do want to express my thanks to you for at least offering thoughts about the upcoming season, and keeping your posts basketball related (in an effort to look forward to next year).
I do know that Maia will not be at the Pro-Am, but I don't know yet about Ano.
Also, I have been told some very good things about Maia (not from the Pitt Hoops staff). Not great, but good, and enough to think he can be a decent ACC Center.
Like you, I have concerns about Artis at the three, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that so much of this season will depend on his ability to reach as high of a level of play at the three as he did as a four. His defense at the three will especially need to improve.
I do know that Maia will not be at the Pro-Am, but I don't know yet about Ano.
Also, I have been told some very good things about Maia (not from the Pitt Hoops staff). Not great, but good, and enough to think he can be a decent ACC Center.
Like you, I have concerns about Artis at the three, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that so much of this season will depend on his ability to reach as high of a level of play at the three as he did as a four. His defense at the three will especially need to improve.
DT.... unless I am mistaken you are NOT the mod for this board... and don't have any official capacity here. So, you are just another poster. If you are giving your 'personal' thanks... fine but... my posts have ALWAYS been basketball related. Differences of opinion between myself and you and others... have always been related to what I post about Pitt basketball. Things get ugly when some posters get insulting and the like (they give SMF a hard time.. insults and the like... a fair amount also) and I insult back. But, I am now dealing with those situations differently. In any case, Mr. Peak now just deletes any posts that get out of line these days.
If Maia is not at the pro-am then ANO will probably not be there either. Not sure if you have to be taking a class to attend that. I do believe you have to be taking a class for Dixon to have his one hour a week with you (or whatever it is) but am not sure about that either. Freshman, used to be regularly RSed by Dixon but not so much anymore, because he can work with them over the summer and they are thus much more ready come the fall than they used to be. It would really help Maia, ANO and Smith to get into the fold easier if they could have the time with Dixon over the summer but, this may not be happening.
As far as the pro-am is concerned, it is getting to mean less and less with the WVU players no longer participating, etc.
As far as Artis at SF.... my opinion was that he was actually BETTER defensively at SF than he was at PF... but his offense went away and I am sure Dixon knows that. I am also sure Dixon will play things by ear, well into the OOC season in fact, before making any decisions. Artis would have to completely change his game around to be successful at SF and that didn't work last year so seems unlikely it will happen this year (but, you never know). I also feel MY will prove to be a better offensive player at C than at PF.
And yeah, I am way off in the area of speculation with my last post. But, with the ANO transfer official, I was trying to find where he might fit in, and came to the idea that he goes well with MY, because they are interchangeable at C/PF and you can play ANO at C on D and MY at C on O and, this is one way JD will be able to get past the 'MY gets worn down' problem.
Yeah, a possibility nothing more.
Zara, I believe Jamal could guard either position, but his biggest weakness is that he cheats on defense. He has a tendency of leaving his man on the perimeter & defending closer to the basket. This might be attributable to our guards not being able to stay in front of whom they are defending. all five players need to work as one unit & know how to defend one & half players. It is all about spacing & Jamal gives his man too much space & isn't able to recover. If Pitt had stronger defenders at the other positions, Jamal's defensive short comings wouldn't be as big of an issue.
Some of the reason for what you observe about Jamal's defense could be the need (maybe even taught by Dixon?) for the defense to sag often due to our relatively poor defensive rebounding--compared to better Pitt teams that rarely gave up close-in offensive rebounds. Maybe the addition of Maia and ANO will at least help cure this problem and Jamal will look better if he doesn't have to cheat on defense.
Unfortunately, the Artis to 3 conversation is one of the few real BB conversations we can have right now. So let me add my 2 cents.
The argument that Artis' offense really picked up when he went back to the 4 is a bit misleading. I contend that what really happened is it became clear that this team needed more. Jamel started to have some success. He became a more willing shooter and facilitator. The move back to 4 was more coincidental than causal. This kid is a perimeter scorer not a power player. He scores from the mid-range and out. Offensive will not be the question.
Defensive questions will be a bigger issue. Given the composition of this team he's going to play 30 plus minutes so he better figure it out! The arrival of 2 viable centers means, to me a return to PITT's man to man roots.
The argument that Artis' offense really picked up when he went back to the 4 is a bit misleading. I contend that what really happened is it became clear that this team needed more. Jamel started to have some success. He became a more willing shooter and facilitator. The move back to 4 was more coincidental than causal. This kid is a perimeter scorer not a power player. He scores from the mid-range and out. Offensive will not be the question.
Defensive questions will be a bigger issue. Given the composition of this team he's going to play 30 plus minutes so he better figure it out! The arrival of 2 viable centers means, to me a return to PITT's man to man roots.
You're more optimistic than I am about the defensive ability of our two combo forwards. I don't think either Artis or Jeter were consistently successful in guarding ANYONE last season, whether in M2M or Zone. And I don't think it had anything to do with being pulled back to be in better rebounding position.
Neither rotated to cover whenever we hedged or when Young had to pick up an opponent driving the lane. Neither was succesful in defending a pick and roll. And, neither was able to cnsistently stay in front of their man and prevent dribble penetration. The last may be physical. Maybe they just do not have enough lateral mobility. But, I think it is mostly mental, involving intensity and focus.
We will have two or three different guys to play at 4/5. At least one, Ododa, has shot blocking ability none on the roster did last year. Hopefully you are correct that he can cover for the sins of the rest of our defenders and ANYONE new plus Young almost has to play better defense than last year's front line. It would be difficult to be worse.
But, it is possible that the best things that Ododa and Maia and maybe Nix bring to the roster are alternatives for Dixon. If Artis and Jeter are as lost as both frequently were last season, sitting on the bench can be a power motivator and tool to increase focus.
If we again are at 200 or worse in Adj Defense, we are not going to get this program back to where we want to be and we will likely squander the junior and senior seasons of a pair of promising forwards. And, possibly the Pitt program and career of a guy who not so long ago looked like a future HOF coach.
And that doesn't even address the problems with our backcourt defense, which may be as bad as our front court defense.,
Our defense was clearly very poor last season and in a variety of ways ..... the two worst areas to me were inability to stop dribble penetration and inside help defense.
I think it was also clear that the combinations we had at the 4/5 positions last season were not strong enough at defense and rebounding ..... Jamie has added some players that may help that problem and it looks like Young will be paired with another true 4/5 which should help interior (and help) defense and rebounding.
Since the acquisitions of Ododa and Maia, it has become clear that Artis has to play some significant minutes at the 3 ..... I agree with "So Much to Say" that Artis at the 3 should not be a problem offensively, defense still may be a problem ...... but Artis defensively was also a problem at the 4 last season ..... I agree with Harve74 that a lot of Artis (and Jeter's) problems on defense were in help defense (on the pick and roll ... and on help defense when there was dribble penetration by guards) ..... I believe that help defense depends on positioning of the defensive player that is helping, understanding where you need to be position wise, anticipating and reacting quickly to get to that position ..... it can be learned and improved by experience and good coaching ..... so I believe Artis and Jeter can improve defensively and may well do that as many Pitt players have done in the past as they matured.
Also, Matt said that the initial impressions on the new guard Smith were that he is more athletic then thought and may potentially become pretty good defensively ..... boy would that help !
Now, if injuries don't kill us, I think we will be good offensively next season and improved on defense and rebounding .... how much remains to be seen.
I think it was also clear that the combinations we had at the 4/5 positions last season were not strong enough at defense and rebounding ..... Jamie has added some players that may help that problem and it looks like Young will be paired with another true 4/5 which should help interior (and help) defense and rebounding.
Since the acquisitions of Ododa and Maia, it has become clear that Artis has to play some significant minutes at the 3 ..... I agree with "So Much to Say" that Artis at the 3 should not be a problem offensively, defense still may be a problem ...... but Artis defensively was also a problem at the 4 last season ..... I agree with Harve74 that a lot of Artis (and Jeter's) problems on defense were in help defense (on the pick and roll ... and on help defense when there was dribble penetration by guards) ..... I believe that help defense depends on positioning of the defensive player that is helping, understanding where you need to be position wise, anticipating and reacting quickly to get to that position ..... it can be learned and improved by experience and good coaching ..... so I believe Artis and Jeter can improve defensively and may well do that as many Pitt players have done in the past as they matured.
Also, Matt said that the initial impressions on the new guard Smith were that he is more athletic then thought and may potentially become pretty good defensively ..... boy would that help !
Now, if injuries don't kill us, I think we will be good offensively next season and improved on defense and rebounding .... how much remains to be seen.
Wow ... I'm not sure how people read so much into sincere comments. I gave my thanks to you in comparison to so many of the other posts happening right now that are just focused on recruiting complaints.
Megadog... what I will say about Artis and his D is that he was definitely improved last year over what he was his freshman year... where he was pretty much a disaster. His comment going into the season was that he spent too much time just standing there on D (yeah, he resembled that remark) and did something to change that but still has a long ways to go. So, maybe with more work he will be better this year... but at PF he still has a size disadvantage and may continue to have problems with opposing PFs posting up and scoring over him. Of course, IMO the solution to this problem is have him out there at PF with Jeter at SF, and let them swap positions on D... Jeter is the better interior defender and is a bigger problem defending when he is playing SF.
I don't feel it was just coincidence that his scoring picked up once he was at PF.
But.. lets dredge through our memories if we can of Jamel in action last year and see what we got.
As I see it... Jamel was scoring from all over the floor. Some inside (not the post-up player that MY was but still scored some inside), mid-range (10 footers and the like) catch and shoot after getting open... and stepping outside and putting in 3balls. All over the court and averaged over 20 PPG for a considerable stretch and was our best player, despite his defensive weaknesses, over that stretch.
I just don't see how this inside/outside game that Jamel has translates to SF at all. If you try to move through the paint under the basket it is too crowded in there. You could move players around so that Jamel can do his thing but that is almost like playing MY (or someone) at SF on O for this.
Ideally, as I see it an SF needs to be a more profound outside shooter, able to create his own shot, and able to take it to the hoop all the ways from the 3 point line. I just don't see that as being Jamel. Chris Jones maybe but I don't see it with Jamel.
But, my guess is Dixon is gonna try a lot of stuff once training camp opens and see how things are looking. Unfortunately, we won't see a lot of this and will just see what he decided to go with once he gets into the exhibitions.
Still almost 5 months from now.
I agree that Jamal couldn't stay in front of his man...it was a problem that all of the guards & forward had.
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