small ball....

[mo cheeks]

nba finals being played with no center. bunch of stretch fours and guards.

maybe Pitt had it right last year. now we have 4 centers. maybe we should have been getting more 2's, 3's and 4's.

very interesting to see in the NBA finals. if a big can't guard a shooter, they don't play

 

[Zaratoughda]

Actually, we only got 1 true center on the roster, Nix, and a bunch of us are guessing he will get RSed this year.

Young, Maia, ANO and (I guess) Luther, are all 4/5 players. 'Stretch 4s' I guess if you want to call them that.

Dixon has been trying to go in this direction for some time now.... more athletic inside players. Yeah, I imagine he is going in this direction in the hope it will get him over the hump as far as competing at the national level.

But, more athletic usually means not as big... and Zanna played there (at C) and he was a 'stretch 4' for sure if you want to use that term... and he did fine there but, IMO you just got the impression that he didn't do as well as if he were playing PF with a true sized C (like Aaron Gray to be sure) playing next to him.

Now it is Young.... and you just got the impression he got worn down playing almost all his time at C and Dixon has been trying different things to take care of that. Some think Dixon will move MY to playing all his time at PF but we will have to see about that.

In any case he has brought in two more 'stretch 4s' (Maia and ANO), so now he has a bunch of them and, we will just have to see how he handles that come November.

 

[So Much to Say]

Actually, we only got 1 true center on the roster, Nix, and a bunch of us are guessing he will get RSed this year.

Young, Maia, ANO and (I guess) Luther, are all 4/5 players. 'Stretch 4s' I guess if you want to call them that.

Dixon has been trying to go in this direction for some time now.... more athletic inside players. Yeah, I imagine he is going in this direction in the hope it will get him over the hump as far as competing at the national level.

But, more athletic usually means not as big... and Zanna played there (at C) and he was a 'stretch 4' for sure if you want to use that term... and he did fine there but, IMO you just got the impression that he didn't do as well as if he were playing PF with a true sized C (like Aaron Gray to be sure) playing next to him.

Now it is Young.... and you just got the impression he got worn down playing almost all his time at C and Dixon has been trying different things to take care of that. Some think Dixon will move MY to playing all his time at PF but we will have to see about that.

In any case he has brought in two more 'stretch 4s' (Maia and ANO), so now he has a bunch of them and, we will just have to see how he handles that come November.

I really don't believe anyone would possibly consider either of the grad transfer bigs as "stretch 4s." The term is meant to define a big who can "stretch" the defense by shooting the 3. Both of these guys are centers with limited skills outside the paint.

 

[Zaratoughda]

Hmmm... I respect the comments that are being made here but last year...

Rafael Maia was 5-19 from 3point land.
Alonzo Nelson Ododa.... was 10-37.
Mike Young, was 5-17.
Jamel Artis.... 39-99.

So, like I say, these two new players are not pure Cs. They are in fact just like Mile Young... 4/5 players that can play either C or PF.

Because he is the biggest of the three, I expect Maia to just be playing C this coming year. But, if he were out there with... Rozzie Nix.... LOL Rozzie would not be playing PF. But, Rafael would and I am sure he could handle it no problem.

I think a major thing here is that a lot of people are assuming that Dixon brought in ANO so he can handle the C spot along with Maia, and Young would play all of his time at PF with Artis playing 20 mpg at SF and 10 at PF when Young is not in there.... but I don't think that is Dixon's thoughts at all. Rather, after signing Smith and Maia and other things not panning out, he was still dissatisfied with our interior defensive possibilities and so brought in ANO as a shot blocker.... and not concerned about rotations now will work things out later as far as minutes and rotations.

But... I really doubt Dixon has any plans of playing Artis most of his time at SF. That was tried last year and it didn't work and Dixon made a point of that when he moved Artis back to PF. Also, I think it is gonna prove that Mike Young is a better offensive player when he is up against opposing Cs... where he has a significant quickness advantage over almost all of them.

So, IMO Dixon is just gonna have to work out the minutes and rotations when the time comes... and I am sure that is his plan. But he will have a bit of a challenge on his hands because there are not really enough minutes to get all four players the minutes he would like to get them.

In short, although we can speculate how things will pan out, we will just have to wait until November to see what Dixon has decided.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Hmmm . . .

Those 3-point shooting stats translate to the following percentages:


Rafael Maia was 5-19 from 3 point land. = 0.263

Alonzo Nelson Ododa.... was 10-37. = 0.270

Mike Young, was 5-17. = 0.294

Jamel Artis.... 39-99. = 0.394

The only one of the four who has any business launching the 3-ball (other than at desperation time on the shot clock) is Artis. Any player who doesn't make 1/3 (0.333 or greater) of his 3-ball attempts should not be launching any. Both new guys are solidly in this category. So, both are only suited for playing close enough to the hoop to be able to shoot 50% (0.500) on 2-point attempts. They are, therefore, best suited to play as as C/PF types operating almost entirely inside about 10 feet of the basket on offense.

 

[NTOP]

Hmmm . . .

Those 3-point shooting stats translate to the following percentages:


Rafael Maia was 5-19 from 3 point land. = 0.263

Alonzo Nelson Ododa.... was 10-37. = 0.270

Mike Young, was 5-17. = 0.294

Jamel Artis.... 39-99. = 0.394

The only one of the four who has any business launching the 3-ball (other than at desperation time on the shot clock) is Artis. Any player who doesn't make 1/3 (0.333 or greater) of his 3-ball attempts should not be launching any. Both new guys are solidly in this category. So, both are only suited for playing close enough to the hoop to be able to shoot 50% (0.500) on 2-point attempts. They are, therefore, best suited to play as as C/PF types operating almost entirely inside about 10 feet of the basket on offense.

Yessir, 33% is what gets "shooters" time on the bench. These 2 grad additions aren't perimeter players at all. Neither is Mike, though he might improve a bit....his shot is OK. Jamel's the opposite, needs to score more inside, already fine on the outside.

 

[mo cheeks]

Yessir, 33% is what gets "shooters" time on the bench. These 2 grad additions aren't perimeter players at all. Neither is Mike, though he might improve a bit....his shot is OK. Jamel's the opposite, needs to score more inside, already fine on the outside.

I think Mike Young is a much better 3 point shooter than he has had the opportunity to show so far. we will see him shoot a lot more from outside than last year, say double the shots (still not a lot).

 

[Zaratoughda]

Remember that a 3ball is worth 50% more in points (to state the obvious) so you can increase those percentages by 50% if you want to compare them to 2ball shots.... and 30% from 3ball land is like 45% from 2ball land.... and that isn't that bad. Even 25% would correspond to 37.5% which is not good but not terrible. James Robinson, just shot .367 from the floor last year and Josh Newkirk... just .377 (those stats include their 3balls).

Plus, you get more offensive rebounds from 3balls (as best as I can tell... don't have the stats) because the misses tend to bounce outside the paint (yeah, you also get more runouts).

So, if they can hit .250 or better from 3ball land, I would let it go... except not that much... unless they start hitting a higher percentage.

(Cam Wright was 4-19, .211 last with 3balls... now that is BAD. Sterling Smith, 76-182, .418, WHOA!)

On another item... remember that ANO had an eye injury last year that affected him for a time. The previous year he was 13-44-.295 which was a bit better.

Hmmm... looking at ANO's stats... he shot 55-68, .809, free throws last year and that is EXCELLANT. Nice to have another big that hits his FTs to go along with Young and Artis (Maia shot .545 in FTs last year).

In any case, my original point was that Maia and ANO are two more C/PFs like Mike Young rather than pure Cs like Nix, and thus they can potentially play some PF as well as C. Because we don't have any pure Cs other than Nix, I expect Maia will play all his time at C but ANO.... can play some PF... particularly if MY is better offensively at C.

The OTHER point... is Jamel Artis is a force offensively in no uncertain terms and the 39-99, .394 says an awful lot, and then overall he shot .469 so... I would not bet any money on Jamel playing a significant amount of his time at SF..

The LAST point.. and these stats show it... Sterling Smith playing at SG instead of Cam Wright is gonna make a huge difference on this team.

 

[So Much to Say]

Remember that a 3ball is worth 50% more in points (to state the obvious) so you can increase those percentages by 50% if you want to compare them to 2ball shots.... and 30% from 3ball land is like 45% from 2ball land.... and that isn't that bad. Even 25% would correspond to 37.5% which is not good but not terrible. James Robinson, just shot .367 from the floor last year and Josh Newkirk... just .377 (those stats include their 3balls).

Plus, you get more offensive rebounds from 3balls (as best as I can tell... don't have the stats) because the misses tend to bounce outside the paint (yeah, you also get more runouts).

So, if they can hit .250 or better from 3ball land, I would let it go... except not that much... unless they start hitting a higher percentage.

(Cam Wright was 4-19, .211 last with 3balls... now that is BAD. Sterling Smith, 76-182, .418, WHOA!)

On another item... remember that ANO had an eye injury last year that affected him for a time. The previous year he was 13-44-.295 which was a bit better.

Hmmm... looking at ANO's stats... he shot 55-68, .809, free throws last year and that is EXCELLANT. Nice to have another big that hits his FTs to go along with Young and Artis (Maia shot .545 in FTs last year).

In any case, my original point was that Maia and ANO are two more C/PFs like Mike Young rather than pure Cs like Nix, and thus they can potentially play some PF as well as C. Because we don't have any pure Cs other than Nix, I expect Maia will play all his time at C but ANO.... can play some PF... particularly if MY is better offensively at C.

The OTHER point... is Jamel Artis is a force offensively in no uncertain terms and the 39-99, .394 says an awful lot, and then overall he shot .469 so... I would not bet any money on Jamel playing a significant amount of his time at SF..

The LAST point.. and these stats show it... Sterling Smith playing at SG instead of Cam Wright is gonna make a huge difference on this team.

Zara - Love your interest in PITT b-ball. However, These 2 guys made 15 3pt shots between them for the season. They are in no way "stretch 4's." I don't want to sound condescending but a "stretch 4" is a big who by definition "stretches" the defense because of his outstanding long range shooting. This is not the grad transfer bigs!

As far as Artis not playing minutes at the 3, you are way to enamored with stereotypes. Artis is going to be on the court a lot with Young and Maia/Ano. These 2 in demand, grad transfers did not both agree to come here to be the second and third options behind Young. They have been told that Dixon wants to start Young next to another legitimate big. Assuming everyone is healthy I believe your starting 5 next year is Maia/Ano, Young, Artis, Smith and Robinson.

 

[Zaratoughda]

Zara - Love your interest in PITT b-ball. However, These 2 guys made 15 3pt shots between them for the season. They are in no way "stretch 4's." I don't want to sound condescending but a "stretch 4" is a big who by definition "stretches" the defense because of his outstanding long range shooting. This is not the grad transfer bigs!

As far as Artis not playing minutes at the 3, you are way to enamored with stereotypes. Artis is going to be on the court a lot with Young and Maia/Ano. These 2 in demand, grad transfers did not both agree to come here to be the second and third options behind Young. They have been told that Dixon wants to start Young next to another legitimate big. Assuming everyone is healthy I believe your starting 5 next year is Maia/Ano, Young, Artis, Smith and Robinson.

I am not trying to say that these guys, including Young, are 'stretch 4s' like you say. Rather, I am saying all three of them are about the same.. not Maia and ANO are Cs and Young is a PF.

Also, I agree with you (Maia not ANO) on the starting lineup.... at least best as I can see... but don't think Dixon will play Artis at SF at all EXCEPT at the very start... and that is just a matter of getting your top players into the game at the start. IMO, he will go with that starting lineup and then, after a short time, either sit Artis or sit Maia or Young and swing Artis to PF. I think Artis will still be on the court some with Young, with Young at C and Artis at PF, just like last year, but don't think he will be in there with Young and either Maia or ANO except at the very start.

But yeah, Dixon makes the call and we will have to see what he does. Sometimes he does something different that nobody was expecting... like starting James Robinson over Trey Zeigler three years ago.

Another thing.... Jeter and Jones progressed last year and we do not know how much they will progress before the start of this coming season. Hey, if either of these two have a GLF... they could be starting at SF and that will be that.

Things are more complicated this year for those that might speculate because of the grad transfers in and not sure what Dixon's plans for them are.

 

[Zaratoughda]

SMTS... I was thinking a bit more on Artis at SF and... IMO a SF has to be prepared to shoot more outside shots and put in contested 3balls and the like. Jamel, seems to shoot his 3balls because he gets open on the perimeter (because the PF that was covering him got caught up in an inside screen or just was slow getting out to the perimeter). Also, an SF has to be able to put the ball on the floor, and take it all the ways to the hoop or stop and pop.. and Jamel seems to be all catch and shoot... not much putting the ball on the court and then shooting.

So, I just don't see Jamel's game translating to SF AT ALL.. and being he was the main reason we went from a total also ran last year to at least getting on the bubble for an NCAA bid... I don't see Dixon messing with it.

Of course, you never know... and come November we just might start seeing Jamel doing all those things that SFs do.

We will have to wait and see.

 

[NTOP]

SMTS... I was thinking a bit more on Artis at SF and... IMO a SF has to be prepared to shoot more outside shots and put in contested 3balls and the like. Jamel, seems to shoot his 3balls because he gets open on the perimeter (because the PF that was covering him got caught up in an inside screen or just was slow getting out to the perimeter). Also, an SF has to be able to put the ball on the floor, and take it all the ways to the hoop or stop and pop.. and Jamel seems to be all catch and shoot... not much putting the ball on the court and then shooting.

So, I just don't see Jamel's game translating to SF AT ALL.. and being he was the main reason we went from a total also ran last year to at least getting on the bubble for an NCAA bid... I don't see Dixon messing with it.

Of course, you never know... and come November we just might start seeing Jamel doing all those things that SFs do.

We will have to wait and see.

"total also ran last year" ???? Ask Colorado if we were "also rans"