Dior Johnson & The Lost Guard of 2023-2024

[tylersmyth]

Noticed on his instagram he averaged 30 ppg and 45 ppg in the tourney they played in.

Definitely he wouldn't have averaged that in the ACC - but maybe 8-10 ppg?

Watching Clemson I see Giradi and I think we missed on another guard for our 23-24 roster that could have been the difference in some of the games we lost and additional fire power off the bench with Leggett.

Missouri - FLA - Cuse (2X) - Clemson (2X) those games if we had an experience guard could they have helped us gain a win or two?

Still bugs me watching the tournament and some of the bum teams that Pitt didn't make it.

The season that could have been if our adminstration could have been upfront about Johnson & just kicked him off the team back when it happened.

Onto next season.......maybe

 

[thebadby2]

Noticed on his instagram he averaged 30 ppg and 45 ppg in the tourney they played in.

Definitely he wouldn't have averaged that in the ACC - but maybe 8-10 ppg?

Watching Clemson I see Giradi and I think we missed on another guard for our 23-24 roster that could have been the difference in some of the games we lost and additional fire power off the bench with Leggett.

Missouri - FLA - Cuse (2X) - Clemson (2X) those games if we had an experience guard could they have helped us gain a win or two?

Still bugs me watching the tournament and some of the bum teams that Pitt didn't make it.

The season that could have been if our adminstration could have been upfront about Johnson & just kicked him off the team back when it happened.

Onto next season.......maybe

Team needed a rugged, athletic big man in the worst way this year. Our front court was as soft as it gets in D1. Teams that run a high ball screen motion offense like us have to have a couple of guys that can screen and recover, protect the rim and rebound at both ends. Add that to what we already had and we would have been fine.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Noticed on his instagram he averaged 30 ppg and 45 ppg in the tourney they played in.

Definitely he wouldn't have averaged that in the ACC - but maybe 8-10 ppg?

Watching Clemson I see Giradi and I think we missed on another guard for our 23-24 roster that could have been the difference in some of the games we lost and additional fire power off the bench with Leggett.

Missouri - FLA - Cuse (2X) - Clemson (2X) those games if we had an experience guard could they have helped us gain a win or two?

Still bugs me watching the tournament and some of the bum teams that Pitt didn't make it.

The season that could have been if our adminstration could have been upfront about Johnson & just kicked him off the team back when it happened.

Onto next season.......maybe

Said before Girard and Touissant were the big misses. NCAAT, maybe Sweet 16, Elite 8, heck Final Four if we landed one.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Said before Girard and Touissant were the big misses. NCAAT, maybe Sweet 16, Elite 8, heck Final Four if we landed one.

Yep. Earlier this year I was saying that the Girard loss to Clemson was the day this season went south. It wasn’t the Missouri loss or the first Clemson or Cuse loss. It happened months before the season even started. Imagine him on the floor with Hinson and our other guards? Holy cow.

Touissant I didn’t sweat at all and never considered him being as close as Girard was.

 

[TD_6082]

Said before Girard and Touissant were the big misses. NCAAT, maybe Sweet 16, Elite 8, heck Final Four if we landed one.

Not really. The big miss was not having a capable big.

 

[Jeffburgh]

The Dior situation was just completely inexcusable.

If they were going to end up expelling the kid, then don't let making that decision linger right up to the start of the season. Just hung HCJC out.

The big man situation ... I think they thought it would be adequate coming into the season, with Fede getting decent NIL coin to stay, anticipating him improving on last year, expecting G to improve a bit and having Kante in the mix.

G improved a bit, but Kante got hurt and Fede didn't improve one darn bit.

 

[JD1976]

If Dior Johnson was still on the team would Lowe and Carrington have developed the way they did ? I doubt it. Certainly, missing the tourney stinks, but the experience our two freshmen gained will pay off big time next year, especially if Leggett returns and Cummings is who everyone says he is.

 

[Dointhatrag]

If Dior Johnson was still on the team would Lowe and Carrington have developed the way they did ? I doubt it. Certainly, missing the tourney stinks, but the experience our two freshmen gained will pay off big time next year, especially if Leggett returns and Cummings is who everyone says he is.

Agreed and I think we would be far more like to see one or two of those guards hitting the portal right now.

 

[joeydavid]

If Dior Johnson was still on the team would Lowe and Carrington have developed the way they did ? I doubt it. Certainly, missing the tourney stinks, but the experience our two freshmen gained will pay off big time next year, especially if Leggett returns and Cummings is who everyone says he is.

I really wouldn't matter because if Dior was getting minutes it would be because he earned them over Bub and Jaland. It's likely imo that having Dior would of won them a couple of games when Lowe and then Ish were injured/playing injured.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Agreed and I think we would be far more like to see one or two of those guards hitting the portal right now.

Well, this is going to be a big discussion point going into next season if our 3 powerhouse guards return.

Im of the opinion that, we would have run a 3 guard offense heavily last year with Dior, Lowe, and Carrington at the 3 and Austin would have got his minutes cut substantially lower.

I think next year with Cummings and his Elite shooting coming to the table, you are going to see a lot of 3 guard offense next year.

Dior Johnson is one of the best rebounding guards in the country. So is Bub. So is Leggett. This would have been, without question, the #1 rebounding backcourt guard trio in the nation this past year and it wouldnt have been all that close.

Before I do minute and roster predictions, I want to see who is staying on this team and who is coming in.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yep. Earlier this year I was saying that the Girard loss to Clemson was the day this season went south. It wasn’t the Missouri loss or the first Clemson or Cuse loss. It happened months before the season even started. Imagine him on the floor with Hinson and our other guards? Holy cow.

Touissant I didn’t sweat at all and never considered him being as close as Girard was.

Yea, I posted after the Mizzou game that we would not make the NCAAT if we lost to Clemson. 2nd year in a row I was right on making a proclamation like that. I knew the schedule and knew the numbers werent in our favor and that we'd have to do extraordinarily well in the ACC to make up for it. Turns out I was close to being wrong. I wished I was.

And I'll say it again, the Ath. Dept. needs to step up and do a better job making sure people are in the building in November and on weeknights. There were a combined 6000 people for those Mizzou/Clemson games. That's not acceptable. Perhaps the energy in the building forces a bad decision by the other team or something.

 

[NTOP]

Noticed on his instagram he averaged 30 ppg and 45 ppg in the tourney they played in.

Definitely he wouldn't have averaged that in the ACC - but maybe 8-10 ppg?

Watching Clemson I see Giradi and I think we missed on another guard for our 23-24 roster that could have been the difference in some of the games we lost and additional fire power off the bench with Leggett.

Missouri - FLA - Cuse (2X) - Clemson (2X) those games if we had an experience guard could they have helped us gain a win or two?

Still bugs me watching the tournament and some of the bum teams that Pitt didn't make it.

The season that could have been if our adminstration could have been upfront about Johnson & just kicked him off the team back when it happened.

Onto next season.......maybe

He had little more, if any, experience than our 2 teenagers that were terrific. His story is over with Pitt.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

The Dior situation was just completely inexcusable.

If they were going to end up expelling the kid, then don't let making that decision linger right up to the start of the season. Just hung HCJC out.

The big man situation ... I think they thought it would be adequate coming into the season, with Fede getting decent NIL coin to stay, anticipating him improving on last year, expecting G to improve a bit and having Kante in the mix.

G improved a bit, but Kante got hurt and Fede didn't improve one darn bit.

My guess is that two things happened with regards to adding an additional big .
1) everything you mentioned ( more than 2! )
2) they tried and failed to sign someone

In todays world of recruiting not only does it need to be the right fit , but you also need enough cash to make it happen . Money talks and BS walks !
I doubt they had dollars to improve that issue and having no experienced guards didn’t make it the most attractive offer out there .
Next season if everyone returns Pitt becomes an attractive spot for a quality big !