Brad wannamker
- Thread starter PANTHERKEITH
- Start date
Pitt fans were BRUTAL towards him, and many other players that took time to develop under Dixon.
Plenty did blast him those first two years. He developed a lot from freshman to senior, and beyond.
Most players do -- they grow into men while they are at college that is why I don't understand all of the angst around this team. 6 of our top 9 players are freshman/sophomores and by the end of the year the 3 upperclassman should just be role players (2 are already), unfortunately Brown/Hamilton will have a larger minute role, but I think Murphy will settle into a 15-20 minute role on this team.
Capel wanted to build this program from the ground up and not take his words -- any shortcuts, with a lot of Grad Transfers and upperclassman coming in. When you choose to do it that way coming from where we were it takes longer and is uglier in the earlier phases but long-term if you hire the right coach (which I think we did) you have long-term sustainable success in your program like we had with Jamie/Ben.
I think with Capel once we hit that level (imo year 3 or 4) then his skills as a recruiter will shine, people love him but they don't want to send their future NBA player to a school where the BB team gets their teeth kicked in. So he needs to prove himself at Pitt then our recruiting will take off.
So thrilled they hired him. H2P.
Capel wanted to build this program from the ground up and not take his words -- any shortcuts, with a lot of Grad Transfers and upperclassman coming in. When you choose to do it that way coming from where we were it takes longer and is uglier in the earlier phases but long-term if you hire the right coach (which I think we did) you have long-term sustainable success in your program like we had with Jamie/Ben.
I think with Capel once we hit that level (imo year 3 or 4) then his skills as a recruiter will shine, people love him but they don't want to send their future NBA player to a school where the BB team gets their teeth kicked in. So he needs to prove himself at Pitt then our recruiting will take off.
So thrilled they hired him. H2P.
I’m not sure the “blasting” isn’t being overstated a little here.
That was a different time. We didn’t NEED freshmen to be great players. He was a bench player on a top 5 team. By his senior year, that bench developed into its own top 5 team.
So yeah, I remember some rumblings from people that got on him a bit — but I don’t remember this “outcry” against him. In any event, GREAT that he is in the league and making meaningful contributions. That fits his story of just getting better and better.
That was a different time. We didn’t NEED freshmen to be great players. He was a bench player on a top 5 team. By his senior year, that bench developed into its own top 5 team.
So yeah, I remember some rumblings from people that got on him a bit — but I don’t remember this “outcry” against him. In any event, GREAT that he is in the league and making meaningful contributions. That fits his story of just getting better and better.
He was a turnover machine his first couple yrs. I cringed when he was in the game.
However, he developed into a great and totally different player by his senior season.
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I don't remember him getting widely "blasted" either. He didn't make a big impact right away, but he didn't play that much. Glad he turned himself into a great player with a great work either and some serious toughness.
I blasted the hell out of him, I admit it! Can’t believe how good he has become, testament to hard work and perseverance.
I am very happy for him.
ETA the blasting I did was only to family members and it was completely offline, wasn’t on this site back then
I think part of it was I believe he was a post player in high school so his ball handling skills weren’t good. He was a really good athlete who worked on his weaknesses. The classic Dixon Pitt player.
We can only wish and hope that X turns out to be even close to as good as Wannamaker was in his senior year.
He sure turned into a any-league-you-play-in starter at the end. He was a classic player that developed and got better every year. Glad to see him have success.
My recollection was that Brad got blasted his first couple years at Pitt. People said it was too fast for him, he was a deer in the headlights. Great to see him succeeding now.
Actually, he was never really a turnover machine. His turnover rate really never changed drastically during his entire career at Pitt (improved the most as a senior as one might expect).
He actually became a better player between his sophomore and junior seasons (not just his senior season).
But he made significant contributions during Pitt's Elite 8 year, including his 15 point game against UConn at the Pete in the regular season finale.
One of my all-time favorite Panthers for sure.
Kemba Walker went down and the Celts went down big early, but Brad had 12 second half points and they almost pulled in out without Kemba on the road against the very good Denver team.
celts lost by 4. Brad was + 18 on the +/-. 14 points, 4 assist, 1 turnover in 27 minutes of PT. He is definitely a glue guy.
I recall Brad taking a lot of heat on this board from generally the same crew that loved to call anyone positive a JIG.
I recall Brad taking a lot of heat on this board from generally the same crew that loved to call anyone positive a JIG.
I remember a game against Texas early in his junior season. Texas was highly ranked, like preseason top 5 I think. Pitt entered the season expecting kind of a down year after losing the big guns of Blair, Young, Fields. Texas ended up winning that game comfortably but Pitt hung around longer than I expected. Wanamaker impressed me with his command in that game. Probably the most encouraged I have ever felt after a double digit loss! Panthers went on to have a strong season. Oh, the days when preseason NIT expectations turned to NCAA #3 seeds. (Sigh.)
Wanamaker was a joy to watch.
For $210, you could own a piece of Brad. Almost literally:
https://store.nba.com/boston-celtic...+z-8-2006409666?_ref=p-SRP:m-GRID:i-r3c0:po-9
https://store.nba.com/boston-celtic...+z-8-2006409666?_ref=p-SRP:m-GRID:i-r3c0:po-9
Levance Fields was really rough on Wanny in practice when he started at Pitt. It turned Wanny into a confident and tough player but I think he struggled with his confidence when he first started playing at Pitt.
I like Kemba’s game a lot and he seems like a great guy. But I can’t forgive him for hitting that gane winner against Gary Mcgee. I hold grudges for a long time
That was a “magical” year in which Pitt improbably won several games down 6 or more in the final minute.
Was that Texas game on Light Up Night? Thinking it was.
Late edit: Pitt played Texas on Light Up Night the following year. Thought I remembered being downtown and popping into the Courthouse Tavern to watch the game.
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The blasting was brutal. I know because I spent half of my time defending him. Others will say turnovers were part of it...but the guy filled the stat sheet with more than just points which is what everyone wanted. But a typical game for him as a young player was 8 pts, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
The scout board was by far the worst
Wasn’t Brad’s final game versus Butler a bad one, shooting wise? Such a brutal loss for those seniors.
Awesome seeing him do well as it gives me a reason to check Boston box scores. I stopped following Adams in the box scores a while ago.
Awesome seeing him do well as it gives me a reason to check Boston box scores. I stopped following Adams in the box scores a while ago.
what exactly do you think posters on on a basketball board should post about a player playing lousy? If he sucked at a particular point in time he sucked sucked at a particular point in time and merited a call out. His NBA abilities and success now have nothing to do with that. I wish him well...
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