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Early Rotation Look

Zaratoughda

Redshirt
Nov 12, 2009
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OK.... it is just 15 days before we open up against the Zags in Okinawa and we have Dixon's comments after the B/G game (getting us some insight into what is happening in practice) as well as various this and that and so... we can at least make a stab into what we are looking at re rotation and how good this team might (or might not) be.

So.... lets discount Rafael Maia at C... just for now. He has not gotten many practices in so we will have to see about Maia.

And thus lets say at C we have ANO spelled by Young... and Young starting at PF spelled by Jeter... and Artis starting at SF but playing most of his minutes with Jeter so they can swap positions O and D. Young would essentially split his minutes between C and PF opening up starter minutes off the bench at PF for Jeter.

Hmmmm... this is essentially the team we had last year except I expect ANO (or Maia) to be MUCH better than what we had there last year with Uchebo and Randall. With this we won't be having the 'undersized inside problem' we had last year starting Young at C and Artis at PF... and shouldn't be having problems getting worn down.

But, even after getting moved to PF it took Artis a while to get his game going. When he did he was awesome offensively but... sure didn't have it in the B/G game. Also, Jeter was terrible covering the 3 point line last year and if he has to cover Wiltjer of the Zags... he will have to cover Wiltjer all over the floor. So, we are just gonna have to see how this group works out.

On the perimeter... Slim Johnson has a lot of potential but IMO still has to earn his stripes... so, again just for now, lets discount Slim. And lets also discount Milligan in the belief that Dixon will only play one defensive liability (Wilson) in the guard slots.

So, we got Robinson at PG spelled by Wilson, Sterling Smith starting at SG, and Chris Jones spelling both Smith and Artis.

Again, not that much different from last year except Smith should be a HUGE improvement over Cam Wright as far as 3balls are concerned... which should open things up inside more. Also, I would not be surprised if James had a great senior year.. scoring 12-15 PPG. Chris Jones, may also show considerable improvement.

So, an 8 man rotation with Maia, Slim and Milligan as depth and significant possibilities down the road.. and IMO all three have significant possibilities down the road.

This leaves Luther (Nix will get RSed for sure), who has looked good in practice but looked good in practice for us last year and had one good game then nothing the rest of the year... so I say RS him anyways because we simply have no place to play him this year.

With the increase in depth... SHOULD be a better team this year... maybe MUCH better. We will just have to see how things develop.

No?
 
Thanks for your summary. Don't know how close to reality it will be, but still an interesting theory of how things may shake out. I'm hoping that Young at Center won't have to be utilized much when playing tall teams with a true center.
 
I think Luther is the backup C right now until Maia gets in better shape and that said, I'm not sure he ever beats out Luther. I dont think you see Young for more than 5 MPG at the 5.

The 2 is most interesting. Milligan has the most potential offensively and is most exciting whereas Smith is more of a "Micah Mason" type. However, Dixon went out of his way to mention Smith several times at the post-game presser and also went out of his way to mention Milligan's D problems so I have a feeling Smith is ahead of Milligan. Though I think the starter could be Chris Jones ( with him also backing up Artis) or Wilson. If I had to bet, I'd say Jones starts.
 
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OK.... it is just 15 days before we open up against the Zags in Okinawa and we have Dixon's comments after the B/G game (getting us some insight into what is happening in practice) as well as various this and that and so... we can at least make a stab into what we are looking at re rotation and how good this team might (or might not) be.

So.... lets discount Rafael Maia at C... just for now. He has not gotten many practices in so we will have to see about Maia.

And thus lets say at C we have ANO spelled by Young... and Young starting at PF spelled by Jeter... and Artis starting at SF but playing most of his minutes with Jeter so they can swap positions O and D. Young would essentially split his minutes between C and PF opening up starter minutes off the bench at PF for Jeter.

Hmmmm... this is essentially the team we had last year except I expect ANO (or Maia) to be MUCH better than what we had there last year with Uchebo and Randall. With this we won't be having the 'undersized inside problem' we had last year starting Young at C and Artis at PF... and shouldn't be having problems getting worn down.

But, even after getting moved to PF it took Artis a while to get his game going. When he did he was awesome offensively but... sure didn't have it in the B/G game. Also, Jeter was terrible covering the 3 point line last year and if he has to cover Wiltjer of the Zags... he will have to cover Wiltjer all over the floor. So, we are just gonna have to see how this group works out.

On the perimeter... Slim Johnson has a lot of potential but IMO still has to earn his stripes... so, again just for now, lets discount Slim. And lets also discount Milligan in the belief that Dixon will only play one defensive liability (Wilson) in the guard slots.

So, we got Robinson at PG spelled by Wilson, Sterling Smith starting at SG, and Chris Jones spelling both Smith and Artis.

Again, not that much different from last year except Smith should be a HUGE improvement over Cam Wright as far as 3balls are concerned... which should open things up inside more. Also, I would not be surprised if James had a great senior year.. scoring 12-15 PPG. Chris Jones, may also show considerable improvement.

So, an 8 man rotation with Maia, Slim and Milligan as depth and significant possibilities down the road.. and IMO all three have significant possibilities down the road.

This leaves Luther (Nix will get RSed for sure), who has looked good in practice but looked good in practice for us last year and had one good game then nothing the rest of the year... so I say RS him anyways because we simply have no place to play him this year.

With the increase in depth... SHOULD be a better team this year... maybe MUCH better. We will just have to see how things develop.

No?

Unless at least one of Jeter and Artis shows he can defend ANYONE, it will be difficult to play both of them together much, unless of course Jamie wants to rank over 200 in defense again. Swapping Artis and Jeter defensively is not new. We did it a lot down the stretch last season. At least one game we even tried Artis guarding a guard. Because of a lack of offense from our backcourt, Jamie had no choice but to play Jamel last seaon, even though he probably gave up more points than he scored.

This year, the bench is longer and Dixon as enough options that he can dole out playing time as a carrot and stick approach based on playing defense. I wouldn't count on things being the same as last season for anyone, well, except JRob.
 
I think Luther is the backup C right now until Maia gets in better shape and that said, I'm not sure he ever beats out Luther. I dont think you see Young for more than 5 MPG at the 5.

The 2 is most interesting. Milligan has the most potential offensively and is most exciting whereas Smith is more of a "Micah Mason" type. However, Dixon went out of his way to mention Smith several times at the post-game presser and also went out of his way to mention Milligan's D problems so I have a feeling Smith is ahead of Milligan. Though I think the starter could be Chris Jones ( with him also backing up Artis) or Wilson. If I had to bet, I'd say Jones starts.

I say Smith starts... because you use Jones to spell both Artis at SF and Smith at SG... and also because Smith is a senior and will bring stability.

We need Jones to raise the level of his game. He was OK last year and had some good moments but could be a lot better.... along the lines of more consistent. So, maybe some competition for PT from Slim and Milligan will do for him what it apparently has done for Jeter and Luther.

Everybody that is not getting RSed will get PT in the 4 cupcake games we have after the Zags. So, that will give Dixon the time to sort things out. This is after the Zags so who know's what the rotation will look like in that game. So, probably won't be until the Purdue game that Dixon has a good sense for the rotation.
 
I think Luther is the backup C right now until Maia gets in better shape and that said, I'm not sure he ever beats out Luther. I dont think you see Young for more than 5 MPG at the 5.

The 2 is most interesting. Milligan has the most potential offensively and is most exciting whereas Smith is more of a "Micah Mason" type. However, Dixon went out of his way to mention Smith several times at the post-game presser and also went out of his way to mention Milligan's D problems so I have a feeling Smith is ahead of Milligan. Though I think the starter could be Chris Jones ( with him also backing up Artis) or Wilson. If I had to bet, I'd say Jones starts.

Dixon did play Luther at C in the B/G game, spelled by Nix... and started ANO on the other side spelled by the 'not completely up to speed' Maia.

But, Dixon tried to play Luther at C last year and it was a disaster... got eaten alive by Okafor and then again by Christmas. I think Luther at C would be fine against lesser competition but against major competition he just does not have the beef to play the position.

I think Dixon is trying Luther at C because he does not have the PT at PF to play him there... and because he has a problem at C come next year with both ANO and Maia gone. But, as I said above, it will work against cupcakes and the like but prove a disaster against the big boys (unless Luther puts on considerable beef).
 
Unless at least one of Jeter and Artis shows he can defend ANYONE, it will be difficult to play both of them together much, unless of course Jamie wants to rank over 200 in defense again. Swapping Artis and Jeter defensively is not new. We did it a lot down the stretch last season. At least one game we even tried Artis guarding a guard. Because of a lack of offense from our backcourt, Jamie had no choice but to play Jamel last seaon, even though he probably gave up more points than he scored.

This year, the bench is longer and Dixon as enough options that he can dole out playing time as a carrot and stick approach based on playing defense. I wouldn't count on things being the same as last season for anyone, well, except JRob.

I was going to say that Artis and Jeter were not as bad as people say last year but, then again...

I have seen Artis get posted up and scored over when he was playing PF... by taller PFs... but if we are not talking about Artis playing PF defensively then this should not be a problem.

However... I have seen him guarding a player and switching off way to easily... and this causes MAJOR chaos in the D and might be why Dixon went away from using the man D. Jamel, has got to get his a** into gear and put in the effort on the D end and stay with his man or he may find his a** riding the bench.

As far as Jeter is concerned... IMO he was OK when defending inside. Dixon even used him at C once and he held his own (more than we can say for Luther). But, he was TERRIBLE covering players at the 3 point line. Was defending too far off and they were hitting 3balls right over him. Given Wiltjer's ability to hit the 3ball, and the large number he puts up, the thought of Jeter trying to cover Wiltjer (who plays PF) is... scary.

I should say here that... I was not overly impressed with MY's D either. Usually he was OK but there were times that I saw where the effort was not as much as you would like. Maybe he was getting worn down from having to start at C but.... won't have that problem this year and, like you say, there's are lots of options to sit players who are not bringing it on the D side.

So, yeah, there are LOTS of things we need to keep an eye on this year re how players are playing defensively.
 
Thanks for your summary. Don't know how close to reality it will be, but still an interesting theory of how things may shake out. I'm hoping that Young at Center won't have to be utilized much when playing tall teams with a true center.

What I would like to see, is MY playing alongside ANO... and you can swap them O and D much like Artis and Jeter. The thing is, MY had a quickness advantage over almost all Cs he came up against last year and developed a good post game... and I am not sure he can bring that from the PF slot. You just don't want MY to have to play C on the D end as he just gets worn down and we need his scoring.
 
I think Luther is the backup C right now until Maia gets in better shape and that said, I'm not sure he ever beats out Luther. I dont think you see Young for more than 5 MPG at the 5.

The 2 is most interesting. Milligan has the most potential offensively and is most exciting whereas Smith is more of a "Micah Mason" type. However, Dixon went out of his way to mention Smith several times at the post-game presser and also went out of his way to mention Milligan's D problems so I have a feeling Smith is ahead of Milligan. Though I think the starter could be Chris Jones ( with him also backing up Artis) or Wilson. If I had to bet, I'd say Jones starts.

Ya know... Jones could indeed start... at SF. If you think about it he is our best defensive player at SF. Was terrible at the start of last season but put the effort into getting better and now is at least reasonable.
 
Ya know... Jones could indeed start... at SF. If you think about it he is our best defensive player at SF. Was terrible at the start of last season but put the effort into getting better and now is at least reasonable.


Is there a bigger waste of Bandwith than Zara? after reading your posts I want to order a Rope and a Chair.....
 
I agree with the Artis assessment, people fixate on his scoring and forget about his defense. On the whole, I think he's a slightly plus player, but man his defense is not good.

Also, the boards are quiet from June-October, but I'll miss these reasonable discussions soon. Inevitably we'll lose to a team we shouldn't (Rutgers? Wake? take your pick...) and random posters will come out of the woodwork to moan. I'll look back at this fondly.
 
Unless at least one of Jeter and Artis shows he can defend ANYONE, it will be difficult to play both of them together much, unless of course Jamie wants to rank over 200 in defense again. Swapping Artis and Jeter defensively is not new. We did it a lot down the stretch last season. At least one game we even tried Artis guarding a guard. Because of a lack of offense from our backcourt, Jamie had no choice but to play Jamel last seaon, even though he probably gave up more points than he scored.

This year, the bench is longer and Dixon as enough options that he can dole out playing time as a carrot and stick approach based on playing defense. I wouldn't count on things being the same as last season for anyone, well, except JRob.

This post couldnt be any more far off than our guards lack of 3 point shooting last year.

Vs Wake Forest-Wilkebin and Mcintyre scored 27 points against Pitt, shooting 62%
Vs Miami-Reed and Mcclellan scored 39 points against Pitt, shooting 54%
Vs Florida State-Mayes and Brandon scored 29 points against Pitt, shooting 65%
Vs N.C. State-Barber and Lacey scored 56 points against Pitt's backcourt shooting 64%
Vs George Washington-Garino and Savage scored 32 points against Pitt's backcourt, shooting 52%

-Suggesting Artis and our frontcourt was the problem last year in any way is nothing short of ridiculous. In each of our last 5 losses of the season, the opposing teams point guard and shooting guard annihilated our guards. Artis guarded NONE of these players. None. These were the players that killed us. Artis outscored his man just about every single game. Once again, someone not realizing just how terrible Pitt's guards were last year, possibly the worst in college basketball. Once again, Pitt's frontcourt is not the problem, nor is Pitt's frontcourt defense.
 
This post couldnt be any more far off than our guards lack of 3 point shooting last year.

Vs Wake Forest-Wilkebin and Mcintyre scored 27 points against Pitt, shooting 62%
Vs Miami-Reed and Mcclellan scored 39 points against Pitt, shooting 54%
Vs Florida State-Mayes and Brandon scored 29 points against Pitt, shooting 65%
Vs N.C. State-Barber and Lacey scored 56 points against Pitt's backcourt shooting 64%
Vs George Washington-Garino and Savage scored 32 points against Pitt's backcourt, shooting 52%

-Suggesting Artis and our frontcourt was the problem last year in any way is nothing short of ridiculous. In each of our last 5 losses of the season, the opposing teams point guard and shooting guard annihilated our guards. Artis guarded NONE of these players. None. These were the players that killed us. Artis outscored his man just about every single game. Once again, someone not realizing just how terrible Pitt's guards were last year, possibly the worst in college basketball. Once again, Pitt's frontcourt is not the problem, nor is Pitt's frontcourt defense.

I'm not at all suggesting your assessment of our backcourt is in any way incorrect. However, when your team is 202 in defensive efficiency, the backcourt defense AND the frontcourt defense is the problem.

In regards to Artis, his biggest defensive weaknesses much more seemed to be when he had to defend his man out to the perimeter.

Also, our perimeter defense wasn't just a "guard problem" -- it was a team problem with defending screens and switches and pick and rolls.

Plan and simply however, dribble penetration simply destroyed us, and your examples above demonstrate this abundantly well.
 
This post couldnt be any more far off than our guards lack of 3 point shooting last year.

Vs Wake Forest-Wilkebin and Mcintyre scored 27 points against Pitt, shooting 62%
Vs Miami-Reed and Mcclellan scored 39 points against Pitt, shooting 54%
Vs Florida State-Mayes and Brandon scored 29 points against Pitt, shooting 65%
Vs N.C. State-Barber and Lacey scored 56 points against Pitt's backcourt shooting 64%
Vs George Washington-Garino and Savage scored 32 points against Pitt's backcourt, shooting 52%

-Suggesting Artis and our frontcourt was the problem last year in any way is nothing short of ridiculous. In each of our last 5 losses of the season, the opposing teams point guard and shooting guard annihilated our guards. Artis guarded NONE of these players. None. These were the players that killed us. Artis outscored his man just about every single game. Once again, someone not realizing just how terrible Pitt's guards were last year, possibly the worst in college basketball. Once again, Pitt's frontcourt is not the problem, nor is Pitt's frontcourt defense.

The defense against the high ball screens got to be sooooo bad... at the end of last season Dixon's 'defense' against them was sending Newkirk out there and letting Newkirk try to defend against them with NO HEDGE SUPPORT AT ALL. People complain about how bad Newkirk was but maybe they should watch the games and think how they would do it they had to defend that way. Once Newkirk got nailed so bad by a screen the announcers were surprised he got up.

So, yeah, if your bigs aren't hedging then the opposing guards are gonna eat you alive and that was what was happening.

And.... your bigs not getting the job done re hedging... is more the C than the PF and... that means Mike Young moreso than Artis. But, it was probably a 'team effort' (or lack thereof) more than anything else.
 
I'm not at all suggesting your assessment of our backcourt is in any way incorrect. However, when your team is 202 in defensive efficiency, the backcourt defense AND the frontcourt defense is the problem.

In regards to Artis, his biggest defensive weaknesses much more seemed to be when he had to defend his man out to the perimeter.

Also, our perimeter defense wasn't just a "guard problem" -- it was a team problem with defending screens and switches and pick and rolls.

Plan and simply however, dribble penetration simply destroyed us, and your examples above demonstrate this abundantly well.

I have the replay of the Louisville game and watching Artis in that game... he was switching off way to easily... and that caused chaos in our defense. So, a matter of 'lack of effort' on the part of Jamel on the defensive end.

IMO the biggest problem was lack of hedging in the man-to-man which meant going to zone (which good teams like Louisville would eat alive) or the other crazed stuff Dixon used last year like the switchoff 1-5 and the crazed 'wing' defense (don't have another word to describe it).

Yeah, to be honest I feel the crazed defenses Dixon was using last year is the biggest reason our defensive ranking dropped precipitously, and if he uses the same stuff this year... things are not gonna change.
 
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