My Rushmore
- Thread starter rockypanther
- Start date
Hard to put someone that has won nothing over someone who won the BE tourney and BE regular season along with an Elite 8 trip.
The number of times Young put the team on his back to win meaningful games is very important to note. Pitt doesn't even get to the Sweet 16 without his herculean efforts. Leaving him off for two of his teammates is a CRIME!
So for me, if we were drafting two teams, with one pick at a time, I would select based on who I would like to face the least. I would go Blair number one. Then I’d honestly go Hinson. Young was way more consistent yes, but the potential of Hinson going off in a take all game is incredibly valuable. Winning is dependent on the team. Put Blair on this team and they could make a run this year. Maybe Hinson isn’t mountain worthy as a whole package, but his value and talent is.
Basketball is weird, because the points are going to come from somewhere. Even an awful team can put up 60 - hell, 80 sometimes - on a great team. So it gets tough to determine who is just the best players on a bad team versus who is benefitting from being on a good team, etc.
Like if we're going on individual skills and potential, some guys whose teams at Pitt didn't do much might still rank pretty high on the list: Steven Adams, Bub, Cam Johnson, Champagnie, Lamar Patterson, etc.
Like if we're going on individual skills and potential, some guys whose teams at Pitt didn't do much might still rank pretty high on the list: Steven Adams, Bub, Cam Johnson, Champagnie, Lamar Patterson, etc.
It’s Sam, Blair and Brandin for sure. The last one is TBD, but I think Hinson is in the running. At the moment, my #4 could be Aaron Gray, as he’s the only other player of the Millennium to be named All-American.
But Chevy, Gray, Krauser, Levance, Ashton, Brad, Lamar and Blake could all be in the running for the last face of the millennium.
I just find this take insane.
For their season years, Young averaged more points. More blocks. More steals. More rebounds. More assists. Shot better from FT and from 2. The ONLY thing Hinson does better is shoot the three. In the Hardest. Conference. In. Basketball. Not the watered down ACC.
Sam was a third team All American! And if you want to talk the potential for going off, Sam scored 32 to beat OK State in the Round of 32. He scored 31 against the #1 team in the country on senior night against UCONN. He scored 25 at Storrs against #1 UCONN.
Sam was a monster and I won't stand for the casual disrespect here!
I’m not certain, but I think he’s commenting on the Mt Rushmore of Pitt Hoops for the Millennium as the was just the topic on the @Chris Peak podcast.
I said Sam was the better player. But in a one game on the line, I’m taking Blake before Sam. Blake is only one to have an upset win in the NCAA tourney and not choke. If you give Hinson Blair on his team, he would easily match young’s production because you can’t double both.
A
Sure, Hinson would be better with a Blair on his team. But if your point is that he's more dangerous, I don't see the evidence. Young put up huge numbers repeatedly in tournament games and against the #1 team in the country.
All American by whom?
Brandin Knight was a 1st team wooden All American in 2003 and 2nd team TSN All American in 2002 and a 3rd team AP All American in 2002
Fields was an SI 3rd team All American in 2009 and AP All American honorable mention in 2009
Krauser was an All American Honorable mention in 2004 by the AP
Wanamaker was an All American Honorable mention in 2011 by the AP
Gray was a 3rd Team AP All American in 2007
So we going there? Duke could very well be the number one team in the country this year and Hinson was 7-7 from 3…
This is one of the most important shots in Pitt history.
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I wasn’t including Honorable Mentions because they aren’t actually All Americans.
By the way, you forgot Gibbs as HM in 2011, and Krauser was also HM in 2006. You also forgot that Aaron Gray was third team All-American by NABC.
I only use AP, Sporting News, NABC and USBWA.
I wasn’t including SI. And they are gone now anyway.
I believe this is the correct take, though I acknowledge that team success skews things a bit - especially after those top three. For instance, was Troutman better than Michael Young? Not saying he wasn't necessarily (62.5% FG is fantastic), but that's just one example.
The really good teams (and players) in the past played defense and rebounded like their lives depended on it.
In Mike Young's senior year, our team defense was an embarrassment, that's another team that couldn't even rank in the national top 150 on defense because their effort alone was pathetic on that end, all they wanted to do was score. The same can be said for Ashton Gibbs senior year who also didn't rank in the national top 150 on defense.
I would take Troutman over Mike Young or Champagnie without even thinking twice in terms of a mt rushmore or a player I would build my team around. And because Chevy still averaged 8 boards per game which is almost twice as much as Blake Hinson and Troutman was a pretty darn good defender, I would take him over Hinson too.
We got a good core of players to work in the future. But until we take it to an all new level on the glass and on defense at the 4 and 5, bubble territory is where we are going to remain.
Young and Troutman are fairly close in rebounds. Young averaged 6.2/game and Troutman averaged 5.7/game, despite the minutes being 28.9 to 24.1. So Young average .214533 per minute and Troutman averaged .236515 per minute. Basically the same.
Who would be your best 5 if you were basing it off each guy's maximized talent (i.e. not just what he was at Pitt)? I think it might be Bub (projecting, obviously), Wannamaker, Cam Johnson, Blair, and Adams. Next tier might be Zanna, Patterson, Young, etc. Point being... I don't know that guys like Knight, Krauser, Fields, Troutman, etc. would be anywhere near the list.
Have to agree with Vader on this one, though... we just don't own defense and rebounding enough for this to even be a possibility. So much has to go right for us to even beat a good team, much less make a run like that.
The guy to watch in the future is Jaland Lowe, not Blake Hinson. I said that the last time this type of thread came up.
Blake is great at offense. Maybe he will change my mind if we make a major run this year.
But Im bullish on Lowe the same way I pumped Levance Fields when Fields was a senior at Xaverian NY. Watch out for Lowe in the future. He is the the captain of this team moving forward. His leadership is Knight level.
Blake is great at offense. Maybe he will change my mind if we make a major run this year.
But Im bullish on Lowe the same way I pumped Levance Fields when Fields was a senior at Xaverian NY. Watch out for Lowe in the future. He is the the captain of this team moving forward. His leadership is Knight level.
I guess you didn't see Chris Peak's podcast. It was the 21st Century Mt. Rushmore.
I have to wholeheartedly agree about Lowe. If he stays at Pitt, I could see him being better than Knight. Even if he doesn't stay at Pitt, he's going to make some other team great and possibly Final 4 material, depending on the other pieces on the team. He is a great one with so much potential. He'll improve next year, and I hope it's at Pitt.
If Cummings delivers the shooting Ive hyped to be and matches what he did in the EYBL, Bub returns, and Kante is the 5 and delivers on solely defense and rebounding, we are going to be extremely dangerous next year.
I know that is 3 "what ifs", but I feel pretty darn good on 2 of those and I think this board has really underestimated Kante. Its Bub returning now with his 3 point shooting that has recently caught fire that has me worried.
Iconic moment. For sure. But not even in the conversation with Young's alley oop at home against #1 UCONN.
Blake's good. I'm not disputing that. But I remain unconvinced that it's a no brainer you'd rather have him as the guy to go off in a big game. Sam did it more, against harder competition, in higher stakes games.
The 2 biggest plays in the last 30 years were both by Levance Fields in the Sweet 16 and to be perfectly honest, Im not sure its even close by anyone else.
He hit the go a head 3 pointer to give Pitt the lead in the Sweet 16 with 1 minute to go, then stole the ball and hit a layup to give Pitt a 3 point lead with 30 seconds left to help win the game. It doesn't get much more clutch than that.
This is exactly where I land. Knight, Young, and Blair are the Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln of 21st century Pitt basketball. I feel absolute certainty on those three. And then the Roosevelt? I could probably negotiate with myself all day from the list of players you mention for the last spot. I find it hard to even make a tentative choice.
No...I didn't see his podcast. And since it's not included in the topic header - why would I know that was in play?
This. From an impact perspective, those shots lead to an elite 8 and Hinson lead to the round of 64. A number 3 team at home alleyooping to beat a number 1 is expected. 7-7 from 3 at Duke is another whole level, particularly with Fede on the court, Jeffress, and GDG.
the whole "against harder competition" is completely irrelevant. Blake is legit face guarded every single game. Sam didn't get that treatment. Hinson is the best shooter in school history. If I need a 3 ball, I wouldn't pick anyone else. To me, that makes him more dangerous on the court.
Sam Young is arguably the best player to wear the threads. Nobody is denying that. You don't need to outline how the competition is more difficult. We all understand the Big East was very tough .. but idk how many guys can shoot like Hinson with how he's guarded. I can't express how hard he's face guarded and he's still shooting 43% from 3 and set the school record in makes.
I'm not here to say Sam Young wasn't good at x, y and z. He was awesome at everything .. I'm here to defend this insane Blake Hinson slighting. He's 1000% in the conversation.
all time dudes Nick Rivers and Gary McGhee catching strays being with those muppets
Based on how much I liked them: Fields for his onions, Blair for thrashing thabeet and also Dook with 20 boards, Sam Young because he's Sam Young, and Troutman because I loved Chevronous.
Honorable Mention Page, Gray, Krauser, Hinson.
Really too many to list.
Honorable Mention Page, Gray, Krauser, Hinson.
Really too many to list.
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