Artis will be at small forward
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
I don't know how well it's going to work, and there's no doubt that he struggled there last year.
However, there's also no doubt that this raises the ceiling for our team. If Jamel can bring his strong offense playing the three instead of the four, that will be a very good thing for the Panthers.
And he needs to play better defense no matter where he plays.
I imagine I am the poster you are referring to and... here's the link to the article in the Pitt News.
http://www.pittnews.com/sports/article_a617f944-2a8e-11e5-8053-17de8aa57511.html
Dixon says they have been working with Jamel on this since the end of last season and.... as far as any professional career for Jamel it has to be at SF. The thing is, he was our best scorer at PF during the meat of the season and a big part of that was catch and shoot.... and at SF you need to put the ball on the floor and either take it to the hoop or stop and pop.... so maybe that is what Dixon has been working with him on. Otherwise, I *guess* they could make plays so that Jamel is running through the lane, getting open, and catch and shoot. We will have to see when the time comes.
As far as defense is concerned... watching the Louisville game again... Jamel is not that bad... about what you would expect from a sophomore. I think he is better at SF defensively because at PF he can get posted up and scored over. IMO, we absolutely don't want Jamel playing PF against Gonzaga as both of their players that play PF are 6'10" (and both are VERY good) and this would mean a size mismatch and that would be REAL bad... given their major strength is their inside players. Yeah, would want ANO and Young covering Wiltjer and Sabonis.
The question that gets raised here is.... what happens to Jeter and Jones?
Well, if there are still going small at times with Jamel at PF, then that leaves more than enough time for EITHER Jeter or Jones at SF... but not both.
It is *possible*, that Dixon could go with a 3 man rotation at guard, with Smith playing PG when Robinson is not in there. The 3 man rotation would be Smith, Robinson and Jones. This scheme, leaves enough time for each player except Newkirk and Wilson, would not be playing much at all.
In watching the Louisville game, IMO Jeter's defense was terrible... much worse than Artis. But, this is something where there can be improvement. Also, Jeter was really working hard in the weight room and what not last year and it showed in him being a major factor in the big games we won. One problem, is it seemed he came on late, in the second half and down the stretch, and if he is not getting many minutes, he may not get going at all.
Hmmm.... and THEN there is Cam Johnson.
Yeah, moving Artis to SF lightens things up re the inside players but then things get real crowded on the perimeter.
If things don't work on this.... OR one of the bigs gets injured.... I would not be surprised to see Jamel back at PF.
http://www.pittnews.com/sports/article_a617f944-2a8e-11e5-8053-17de8aa57511.html
Dixon says they have been working with Jamel on this since the end of last season and.... as far as any professional career for Jamel it has to be at SF. The thing is, he was our best scorer at PF during the meat of the season and a big part of that was catch and shoot.... and at SF you need to put the ball on the floor and either take it to the hoop or stop and pop.... so maybe that is what Dixon has been working with him on. Otherwise, I *guess* they could make plays so that Jamel is running through the lane, getting open, and catch and shoot. We will have to see when the time comes.
As far as defense is concerned... watching the Louisville game again... Jamel is not that bad... about what you would expect from a sophomore. I think he is better at SF defensively because at PF he can get posted up and scored over. IMO, we absolutely don't want Jamel playing PF against Gonzaga as both of their players that play PF are 6'10" (and both are VERY good) and this would mean a size mismatch and that would be REAL bad... given their major strength is their inside players. Yeah, would want ANO and Young covering Wiltjer and Sabonis.
The question that gets raised here is.... what happens to Jeter and Jones?
Well, if there are still going small at times with Jamel at PF, then that leaves more than enough time for EITHER Jeter or Jones at SF... but not both.
It is *possible*, that Dixon could go with a 3 man rotation at guard, with Smith playing PG when Robinson is not in there. The 3 man rotation would be Smith, Robinson and Jones. This scheme, leaves enough time for each player except Newkirk and Wilson, would not be playing much at all.
In watching the Louisville game, IMO Jeter's defense was terrible... much worse than Artis. But, this is something where there can be improvement. Also, Jeter was really working hard in the weight room and what not last year and it showed in him being a major factor in the big games we won. One problem, is it seemed he came on late, in the second half and down the stretch, and if he is not getting many minutes, he may not get going at all.
Hmmm.... and THEN there is Cam Johnson.
Yeah, moving Artis to SF lightens things up re the inside players but then things get real crowded on the perimeter.
If things don't work on this.... OR one of the bigs gets injured.... I would not be surprised to see Jamel back at PF.
best players on the court - with Young and the two fifth year power players ... Makes sense. He is going into his junior year and might have that good upper class spike show with his tertiary game, like being able to handle the ball to score better, and maybe not be tragic with his man on.
Yeah, the bottom line is the results... and what Dixon may well be trying to do... is shore up the defense.
But, moving your top scorer to a new position... is dangerous.
Also, I am not convinced Mike Young is gonna be as good offensively at PF as he was at C... albeit getting worn down and his D falling apart was a big problem with MY at C last year.
Hey, if Ryan Luther ends up having a GGLF... maybe he will be the player starting at PF... or at least getting a lot of minutes there.
Ya gotta go with who is bringing it... on both ends of the court.
But, if Dixon's schemes are NOT WORKING... and he continues to go with them... it took a LONG TIME before he left that hideous switchoff 1-5 defense behind... then he gonna be getting the heat on these boards.
The key to all this is getting Young to the 4 where he can excel. Bringing the big boys in and adapting Artis to the 3 would set us up to be pretty darn good. As far as the other players go there are a lot of minutes to be spread around thru different combinations and situations.And I haven't seen very much conversation lately on this board about having TOO MUCH talent.
The fact that Dixon has been working with Artis since the end of last season is something that I was not aware of until now.
Probably... the situation is that Dixon has a problem with Young getting worn down playing C... and also Artis sometimes gets posted up on and scored over at PF. So, this is a defensive thing more than anything else.
BUT.... we will have to see how this goes. Artis at SF last year was a disaster offensively and Young did not excel at PF when given a chance to play there.
So, we will have to see if this ends up as another 'Dixon special' that does not work.... like the switchoff 1-5 defense.
Probably... the situation is that Dixon has a problem with Young getting worn down playing C... and also Artis sometimes gets posted up on and scored over at PF. So, this is a defensive thing more than anything else.
BUT.... we will have to see how this goes. Artis at SF last year was a disaster offensively and Young did not excel at PF when given a chance to play there.
So, we will have to see if this ends up as another 'Dixon special' that does not work.... like the switchoff 1-5 defense.
Cruzer.... I agree that Jamel's size is better suited to SF.
But, his skill set is a PF's skill set.
Yeah, that is probably why he was just a 3 star coming out of HS.... as he can shoot for sure.
At SF, he has to be able to put the ball on the floor and score. Taking it to the hoop or stop and pop.
At PF, much of his scoring last year was getting open and catch and shoot. You won't get those opportunities at SF like he got them at PF.
Yeah, we will have to see if Dixon changes his offense around any so that Artis can still get the catch and shoot opportunities while playing SF.
I find it kinda funny that Dixon seems to be backing off from his 'going small' approach that he seems to have favored over the last couple of years. But, whatever.
But, his skill set is a PF's skill set.
Yeah, that is probably why he was just a 3 star coming out of HS.... as he can shoot for sure.
At SF, he has to be able to put the ball on the floor and score. Taking it to the hoop or stop and pop.
At PF, much of his scoring last year was getting open and catch and shoot. You won't get those opportunities at SF like he got them at PF.
Yeah, we will have to see if Dixon changes his offense around any so that Artis can still get the catch and shoot opportunities while playing SF.
I find it kinda funny that Dixon seems to be backing off from his 'going small' approach that he seems to have favored over the last couple of years. But, whatever.
That's just it. Honestly, it is in our best interest if he plays the 3. He is definitely one of our best 5 players (best 2) so having him max his minutes is a good thing. He is not exactly a defensive stalwart at the 4 either. Artis is a 3. He has to play better defense. I am guessing he will. But he reminds me a lot of a Ricky Greer, you take the good with the bad.
I agree that we "need" him to play at least a fair number of minutes at the three, however if Artis could rebound the way that Ricky Greer could no one would care about his lack of defense. Or what position he was playing.
Pitt basketball fun fact. Pitt's all time leader in offensive rebounds (total, not per game) is not Jerome Lane or DeJuan Blair or Charles Smith. It's Ricky Greer. Without looking it up who would have guessed that?
I won't disagree that Artis has his shortcomings at SF, but IMO, most of the shortcomings you mention are areas that he can improve by playing the position and knowing that he's going to be playing the position. You can't learn to put it on the floor, if you don't get a chance to put it on the floor. I think Artis has the inherent skill set to learn to be a pretty good SF, which is why I like him there. He's not likely to learn how to get big enough to play the PF.
Cruzer
Cruzer
s
If you want to talk about a SF... Lamar Patterson. Would take it to the hoop and had that long reach layup that mostly nobody could stop. Then, at the perimeter, he would put the ball on the floor and had that nice step back 3ball which he would hit at a high percentage.
Despite the fact that he was our leading scorer last year, that is NOT Jamel Artis, who's points mostly came off of catch and shoot. In other words, not putting the ball on the floor.
So, we are just gonna have to see how this all works. With Patterson, he had a RS year and didn't really mature until his senior year. With Jamel, he had almost nothing at SF last year so... he has a ways to go to be sure.
IMO Dixon should at least have some plays to get Jamel open for the catch and shoot that he is familiar with.
Despite the fact that he was our leading scorer last year, that is NOT Jamel Artis, who's points mostly came off of catch and shoot. In other words, not putting the ball on the floor.
So, we are just gonna have to see how this all works. With Patterson, he had a RS year and didn't really mature until his senior year. With Jamel, he had almost nothing at SF last year so... he has a ways to go to be sure.
IMO Dixon should at least have some plays to get Jamel open for the catch and shoot that he is familiar with.
Bingo. Not sure why this is so surprising. He's probably good for at least 15 minutes at the 3.
Well, Dixon went for Sterling Gibbs first and when that didn't pan out, then he signed ANO.
So, what would Dixon have done re the bigs if he had been able to sign Sterling Gibbs?
Well, given that he has been working with Artis at SF since the end of last season, he probably would have started Maia (C), Young (PF), and Artis (SF).... but who would be spelling them? Nix at C? Or, more likely, he would have swung Young to C spelling Maia, and swung Artis to PF to spell Young, and that would have meant 20 MPG at PF for Artis. This unless Nix or Luther had a GLF.
But, with ANO... you can have ANO spell BOTH Maia and Young. In other words, a 3 man rotation inside. This is exactly the role ANO played at Richmond last year.
(BTW, re the article in the Pitt News, there is come concern with ANO and his eye injury. Only time will tell on this one.)
But, I would be really surprised if Dixon did not play Artis at PF at all. Given the work Dixon has been doing with Artis, I would expect he would be better at SF than he was when he played there last year. But, at PF he was averaging over 20 PPG during the meat of the ACC season and that is a LOT.
So, we (and Dixon also) are gonna just wait and see what happens. Yeah, it would be really nice if Jamel at SF turned out to be the next coming of Lamar Patterson, or something along those lines, but that is probably not gonna happen overnight... and without Jamel's scoring, our offense will take a big hit.
In any case, against Gonzaga Dixon should not play Artis at PF AT ALL. Should cover Wiltjer and company the ENTIRE GAME with Maia, Young and ANO....and even that may not be enough.
This should surprise no one. It's the right move and the one that lets us have our best 5 on the floor as much as possible. Plus we will see all kinds of combos out there this year. I think all 5 guards-JRob, Jones, Newk, Wilson and Smith will see plenty of action. Jones may play some at the 3 as well.
The 4 spot is for a physical player. Artis will never be that kind of player.. The three is for scorers. He's pretty good at that. If he can pick up his D, he could do big things at the three. I think he's a better passer than we've seen to this point and the three will allow him to expand his game.
Hopefully Luther is ready to contribute more in the front court. I'd love to see him turn into a three point specialist like Kenny KaminskI was for MSU before Izzo threw him off the team. It's nice to have that weapon.
