Thoughts from the Desert

[BigZeke]

I started to write so much more a few times today but as a long time Jamie supporter sadly I agree with most of the Pitt hoops fans I've talked, texted or emailed with in the last 24 hours: something just isn't right with Pitt hoops the last few years and major changes need to be made & quite possibly at the top. Just an inexcusable piece of coaching last night and it just does no good to highlight James' lack of athleticism, Mike's mystifying lack of aggression, Jamel's Invisible Man act, the baffling decision to play Luther four minutes and the absolutely "unless you saw it with your own eyes" decision to go with graduate transfers who couldn't make a layup on an empty playground let alone in a NCAA Tourney game. Still stupefied that with a 12 point lead in a low scoring game this staff of Hoops geniuses embarks on a substitution pattern more baffling than "Who built Stonehenge?", in a game where we should have stomped on the gas and blown the Badgers doors off. I also sat in stunned silence and watched as some career assistant / interim coach consistently out maneuvered our $30,000,000 coach the entire 2nd half with timely play calls and key adjustments while the Pitt staff sat on their hands and watched James launch brick after painful brick. Are there any isolation plays in Pitt's playbook for talented offensive players like Artis or Young or is it "have JRob dribble around the perimeter and drive 1 on 5 for a contested air ball as the shot clock expires" every single possession? Again at the very minimum, and short of replacing JD, there better be an experienced former HC with East Coast ties added to that mess of a staff in the offseason. Oh and those other Pitt fans I mentioned earlier, the ones who donate, buy season tickets and love Pitt as much as I do are as close to abandoning the ship under this regime as I've ever seen. Worse they're becoming sadly apathetic with Jamie at the helm - Not good. H2P!

 

[pfffiiit]

Thanks for writing this, you make a lot of great observations. It is too painful for me to think about an entire game analysis - I cannot get beyond how bad it all looked.

 

[pelfrey]

Like you, BZ, I have been a long-time Jamie supporter but agree with everything you wrote, and believe it is time for Jamie to go. Your point about apathy is critically important. This was the first year in ages that I have "not cared" to watch certain regular season games. This morning, a non-Pitt friend of mine called me and asked, "How does Dixon keep his job?" Plain and simple, the program needs a jolt. Very, very soon.

 

[Harve74]

I started to write so much more a few times today but as a long time Jamie supporter sadly I agree with most of the Pitt hoops fans I've talked, texted or emailed with in the last 24 hours: something just isn't right with Pitt hoops the last few years and major changes need to be made & quite possibly at the top. Just an inexcusable piece of coaching last night and it just does no good to highlight James' lack of athleticism, Mike's mystifying lack of aggression, Jamel's Invisible Man act, the baffling decision to play Luther four minutes and the absolutely "unless you saw it with your own eyes" decision to go with graduate transfers who couldn't make a layup on an empty playground let alone in a NCAA Tourney game. Still stupefied that with a 12 point lead in a low scoring game this staff of Hoops geniuses embarks on a substitution pattern more baffling than "Who built Stonehenge?", in a game where we should have stomped on the gas and blown the Badgers doors off. I also sat in stunned silence and watched as some career assistant / interim coach consistently out maneuvered our $30,000,000 coach the entire 2nd half with timely play calls and key adjustments while the Pitt staff sat on their hands and watched James launch brick after painful brick. Are there any isolation plays in Pitt's playbook for talented offensive players like Artis or Young or is it "have JRob dribble around the perimeter and drive 1 on 5 for a contested air ball as the shot clock expires" every single possession? Again at the very minimum, and short of replacing JD, there better be an experienced former HC with East Coast ties added to that mess of a staff in the offseason. Oh and those other Pitt fans I mentioned earlier, the ones who donate, buy season tickets and love Pitt as much as I do are as close to abandoning the ship under this regime as I've ever seen. Worse they're becoming sadly apathetic with Jamie at the helm - Not good. H2P!

One point I disagree with is running isolation pays for Young and Artis. Arguably, having Young and Artis go iso is why we lost several games this season. Two crucial turnovers last night came from Mike trying to back his man down to the basket instead of giving up the ball.He also held the ball instead of passing to Jamel and Sheldon cutting into the lane.

It's a motion offense. Guys are SUPPOSED to move and to move the ball. It was discussed this week here in town that Dixon specifically wanted the team to move the ball quickly and freely like the first half of the season.

That didn't happen. And our offense operated at a near record disfunctional pace.

Instead, we saw a lot of guys standing around, again. And our 3rd team All -ACC PF getting 10 points less than his average. And, beng doubled up in rebounds by his PG.

This team and this staff are just not on the same page. Maybe not in the same book.

 

[BigZeke]

One point I disagree with is running isolation pays fir Young and Artis. Arguably, having Young and Artis go iso is why we lost a few games this season. Almost half our turnovers last night csme from Mike trying to back his man down to the basket instead f givjng up the ball.

It's a motion offense. Guys are SUPPOSED to move and to move the ball. It was discussed this week here in town that Dixon specifically wanted the team to move the ball quickly and freely like the first half of the season.

That didn't happen.

Instead, we saw a lot of guys standing around again. And our 3rd team All -ACC PF getting 10 points less than his average. And, beng doubled up in rebounds by his PG.

This team and this staff are just not on the same page. Maybe not in the same book.

100% agree with your last statement Harve but with almost the entire roster back will anything really change or is it easier to bring a new sheriff to town to either motivate or run off this apathetic bunch?

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

One point I disagree with is running isolation pays fir Young and Artis. Arguably, having Young and Artis go iso is why we lost a few games this season. Almost half our turnovers last night csme from Mike trying to back his man down to the basket instead f givjng up the ball.

It's a motion offense. Guys are SUPPOSED to move and to move the ball. It was discussed this week here in town that Dixon specifically wanted the team to move the ball quickly and freely like the first half of the season.

That didn't happen.

Instead, we saw a lot of guys standing around again. And our 3rd team All -ACC PF getting 10 points less than his average. And, beng doubled up in rebounds by his PG.

This team and this staff are just not on the same page. Maybe not in the same book.

There are many knowledgable basketball people on this board. I don't consider myself one of them. But even with that I was saying the same thing last night. There were a few times Young got the ball and it was like he thought he was Carmelo - which was a problem throughout the season.

 

[BigZeke]

There are many knowledgable basketball people on this board. I don't consider myself one of them. But even with that I was saying the same thing last night. There were a few times Young got the ball and it was like he thought he was Carmelo - which was a problem throughout the season.

I would have loved to see Artis isolated with the ball much more than JRob that's for sure.

 

[BigZeke]

I would have loved to see Artis isolated with the ball much more than JRob that's for sure.

Hey I've got no problem with Mike Young "thinking he's Carmelo" if he would play with the same aggression on the other end - contesting shots, calling out screens, banging with the other teams Bigs, knocking a few guys on their cans, etc.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

I would have loved to see Artis isolated with the ball much more than JRob that's for sure.

Yea I don't think this team is suited for isolation all that much but if the situation calls for it I'd agree Artis is the best bet.

I do recall one game (can't remember against who but was relatively recent) where Young was just abusing people but more often than not when he played that game it just wasn't good.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

There's really nothing to disagree with ,but I feel a change at the top needs to done only after next year if the ship hasn't started turning. The defections two years ago coupled with the need to add three highly mediocre grad transfers this season says all you need to know about the roster and recruiting . Next season with the 2 freshman ,2 red shirts and 1 transfer and the maturation of CamJ and if he plays him Luther Pitt will have a roster that's not patch work combined with their three forwards and Wilson. They will have two bigger bodied guys in Nix and Man...,quicker guards let's see what he does with them. I'm not against adding an assistant head coach with HC experience and recruiting ties and if I was Barnes I might insist on it. His past success has earned him another year with a full roster but after last night fiasco I've changed my thoughts on whether he can turn this thing around from yes he can to I'm not so sure and if I'm Barnes he has to be held accountable if the team is mediocre without improvement as the season progresses .

 

[Harve74]

I would have loved to see Artis isolated with the ball much more than JRob that's for sure.

Agreed. No way JRob should take 15 shots. But, it's a motion offense. Dixon hasn't called out sets since before Herrion left, except on set pieces after TimesOut. The players mostly determine who get the ball and who shoots by their movements and passing.

Ths bunch is just schizo.

With the recruiting cycle where it is, it's too late to add anything to the '16 class unless something unexpected happens and kids suddenly become available. A move would be more likely to make us lose the couple promising kids we've signed.

All things considered, it's probably too late to get in on new '17 recruits, too. The relationships have been forming for the last year or so and most of the high school and prep kids will be committing in July or August. Or certainly the Plan A kids. We did get in with Kithcart late but we'd been recruiting Manigault for quite a while.

Maybe we could hit the Jucos hard with a new staff or find the proverbial guy with a couple "kids in his pocket." Or fid a booster with an open wallet, assuming everyone involved here turns a blind eye. (Which I really doubt.)

But, the most likely way to have an impact recruiting year is probably to ride Smoke Williamson's work and relationships formed of the last year or two. (And, BTW, probably hope Barnes doesn't make an untimely move away from Nike, since Smoke is supposed to be a Nike guy.

If the '17 class isn't at least as good as the '16 class, we are looking at a major rebuild anyway, probably from the top down. We'll probably have a good idea by Labor Day and can start lining up changes early.

I don't know what happens with Young and Artis, but at worst, they're gone by this time next year anyway. I've said before it would not surprise me if at least one of them is gone this Summer. It might be addition by subtraction.

Hey, maybe Kithcart and Manigault come in and hit the ground running and we win 25 games next year. Maybe Milligan and Clark look like UConn guards. It would sure be dumb to fire a former COY because his best players this year were knuckleheads. Dixon has ALWAYS had an offense highly ranked nationally. He didn't go away from 15 years of history because he forgot how to coach offense overnight.

If it fails, we're starting from the ground up. It will be a long way back, if that's necessary.

 

[noelr]

I do not see how we improve next yr. The top echelon is set and buzz will.gain ground. I am not ready to can jd but on some level change is needed. Jds insistence that rebounding lost last night is disturbing.

 

[BigZeke]

Agreed. No way JRob should take 15 shots. But, it's a motion offense. Dixon hasn't called out sets since before Herrion left, except on set pieces after TimesOut. The players mostly determine who get the ball and who shoots by their movements and passing.

Ths bunch is just schizo.

With the recruiting cycle where it is, it's too late to add anything to the '16 class unless something unexpected happens and kids suddenly become available. A move would be more likely to make us lose the couple promising kids we've signed.

All things considered, it's probably too late to get in on new '17 recruits, too. The relationships have been forming for the last year or so and most of the high school and prep kids will be committing in July or August. Or certainly the Plan A kids. We did get in with Kithcart late but we'd been recruiting Manigault for quite a while.

Maybe we could hit the Jucos hard with a new staff or find the proverbial guy with a couple "kids in his pocket." Or fid a booster with an open wallet, assuming everyone involved here turns a blind eye. (Which I really doubt.)

But, the most likely way to have an impact recruiting year is probably to ride Smoke Williamson's work and relationships formed of the last year or two. (And, BTW, probably hope Barnes doesn't make an untimely move away from Nike, since Smoke is supposed to be a Nike guy.

If the '17 class isn't at least as good as the '16 class, we are looking at a major rebuild anyway, probably from the top down. We'll probably have a good idea by Labor Day and can start lining up changes early.

I don't know what happens with Young and Artis, but at worst, they're gone by this time next year anyway. I've said before it would not surprise me if at least one of them is gone this Summer. It might be addition by subtraction.

Hey, maybe Kithcart and Manigault come in and hit the ground running and we win 25 games next year. Maybe Milligan and Clark look like UConn guards. It would sure be dumb to fire a former COY because his best players this year were knuckleheads. Dixon has ALWAYS had an offense highly ranked nationally. He didn't go away from 15 years of history because he forgot how to coach offense overnight.

If it fails, we're starting from the ground up. It will be a long way back, if that's necessary.

Harve staying in that ridiculous motion offense mind numbing possession after mind numbing possession makes the point of my original post: if you're struggling to score don't u have ANY other plays or players to go to when you can't throw it in the ocean from the railing of the pier?

 

[BigZeke]

Agreed. No way JRob should take 15 shots. But, it's a motion offense. Dixon hasn't called out sets since before Herrion left, except on set pieces after TimesOut. The players mostly determine who get the ball and who shoots by their movements and passing.

Ths bunch is just schizo.

With the recruiting cycle where it is, it's too late to add anything to the '16 class unless something unexpected happens and kids suddenly become available. A move would be more likely to make us lose the couple promising kids we've signed.

All things considered, it's probably too late to get in on new '17 recruits, too. The relationships have been forming for the last year or so and most of the high school and prep kids will be committing in July or August. Or certainly the Plan A kids. We did get in with Kithcart late but we'd been recruiting Manigault for quite a while.

Maybe we could hit the Jucos hard with a new staff or find the proverbial guy with a couple "kids in his pocket." Or fid a booster with an open wallet, assuming everyone involved here turns a blind eye. (Which I really doubt.)

But, the most likely way to have an impact recruiting year is probably to ride Smoke Williamson's work and relationships formed of the last year or two. (And, BTW, probably hope Barnes doesn't make an untimely move away from Nike, since Smoke is supposed to be a Nike guy.

If the '17 class isn't at least as good as the '16 class, we are looking at a major rebuild anyway, probably from the top down. We'll probably have a good idea by Labor Day and can start lining up changes early.

I don't know what happens with Young and Artis, but at worst, they're gone by this time next year anyway. I've said before it would not surprise me if at least one of them is gone this Summer. It might be addition by subtraction.

Hey, maybe Kithcart and Manigault come in and hit the ground running and we win 25 games next year. Maybe Milligan and Clark look like UConn guards. It would sure be dumb to fire a former COY because his best players this year were knuckleheads. Dixon has ALWAYS had an offense highly ranked nationally. He didn't go away from 15 years of history because he forgot how to coach offense overnight.

If it fails, we're starting from the ground up. It will be a long way back, if that's necessary.

We can also agree to disagree on Smoke. Very underwhelming hire that made no geographic or common sense and unless I'm very wrong we'll be replacing him anyway after we miss badly again in 2017.

 

[noelr]

Well we got a moral victory coming in 2nd for eubanks.

 

[Harve74]

Harve staying in that ridiculous motion offense mind numbing possession after mind numbing possession makes the point of my original post: if you're struggling to score don't u have ANY other plays or players to go to when you can't throw it in the ocean from the railing of the pier?

I'm not sure some of these guys are coachable at all. But, they're who we have.

If they don't run the most player-friendly offense around, and they won't screen off the ball, there isn't much you can do except hope the jumpshots fall.

We have 3 nominal shooting guards who verage 40% on 3-point shots. They combined for ONE trey last night. That's a problem.

As I said, Dixon has a long history of highly ranked offensive efficiency teams nationally. This team just disappears offensively. I don't believe Dixon has forgotten how to coach an offense. I just think this team collectively are knuckleheads.

 

[KiwiJeff]

Well we got a moral victory coming in 2nd for eubanks.

? Code?

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

? Code?

I'm guessing maybe he means Cassius Winston. Who really did nothing more than make a courtesy visit since he had ties to Smoke since he was a kid. I don't think Smoke had anything to do with Kobie Eubanks and wasn't even on the staff at that time. But I'm going on memory and could be incorrect.

 

[Piranha]

I started to write so much more a few times today but as a long time Jamie supporter sadly I agree with most of the Pitt hoops fans I've talked, texted or emailed with in the last 24 hours: something just isn't right with Pitt hoops the last few years and major changes need to be made & quite possibly at the top. Just an inexcusable piece of coaching last night and it just does no good to highlight James' lack of athleticism, Mike's mystifying lack of aggression, Jamel's Invisible Man act, the baffling decision to play Luther four minutes and the absolutely "unless you saw it with your own eyes" decision to go with graduate transfers who couldn't make a layup on an empty playground let alone in a NCAA Tourney game. Still stupefied that with a 12 point lead in a low scoring game this staff of Hoops geniuses embarks on a substitution pattern more baffling than "Who built Stonehenge?", in a game where we should have stomped on the gas and blown the Badgers doors off. I also sat in stunned silence and watched as some career assistant / interim coach consistently out maneuvered our $30,000,000 coach the entire 2nd half with timely play calls and key adjustments while the Pitt staff sat on their hands and watched James launch brick after painful brick. Are there any isolation plays in Pitt's playbook for talented offensive players like Artis or Young or is it "have JRob dribble around the perimeter and drive 1 on 5 for a contested air ball as the shot clock expires" every single possession? Again at the very minimum, and short of replacing JD, there better be an experienced former HC with East Coast ties added to that mess of a staff in the offseason. Oh and those other Pitt fans I mentioned earlier, the ones who donate, buy season tickets and love Pitt as much as I do are as close to abandoning the ship under this regime as I've ever seen. Worse they're becoming sadly apathetic with Jamie at the helm - Not good. H2P!

Steve DeMeo would be a good hire. Good recruiter and coach. Good ties to the NE and Jucos. Has experience at this level, and is currently HC at a Juco in FL.

 

[KiwiJeff]

I'm guessing maybe he means Cassius Winston. Who really did nothing more than make a courtesy visit since he had ties to Smoke since he was a kid. I don't think Smoke had anything to do with Kobie Eubanks and wasn't even on the staff at that time. But I'm going on memory and could be incorrect.

Where did Eubanks end up? I know he changed schools a couple times.

 

[Harve74]

We can also agree to disagree on Smoke. Very underwhelming hire that made no geographic or common sense and unless I'm very wrong we'll be replacing him anyway after we miss badly again in 2017.

Very possible that he fails. He wasn't my first, second or third choice. But, replacing him right now means starting the 2-year clock again, throwing away two year's work and starting the rebuilding over right now from the bottom.

Success is probably unlikely continuing with where we are. But, failure, at least for the next couple years, and given $18MM or $21MM or however many millions we owe Jamie, probably until we're out from under the contract, is certain if we change horses right now.

I think we shoud have hired a Philly guy or a DMV guy. But, we didn't. We'll know in 6 months and whether he fails or not, if we make a major staff overall, particularly the recruiting assistant move, it is going to take years to recover.

 

[steel_curtain]

I'm not sure some of these guys are coachable at all. But, they're who we have.

If they don't run the most player-friendly offense around, and they won't screen off the ball, there isn't much you can do except hope the jumpshots fall.

We have 3 nominal shooting guards who verage 40% on 3-point shots. They combined for ONE trey last night. That's a problem.

As I said, Dixon has a long history of highly ranked offensive efficiency teams nationally. This team just disappears offensively. I don't believe Dixon has forgotten how to coach an offense. I just think this team collectively are knuckleheads.

-Cant really disagree with this. No one can really explain how the offense just goes off and shuts down in random games. Perhaps the rotation was to big and we really couldnt find our identity.

-Pitt did improve from last season to this one. That is a start. I think we do improve next year. Maybe because our players will be better. Maybe because of Kithcart. Maybe because the ACC is going to have a large talent drain after the NBA draft. Maybe a combo of all the above. But we should in my opinion with all guys back except Robinson, be quite a bit better I think.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Where did Eubanks end up? I know he changed schools a couple times.

Texas A&M I believe.

 

[noelr]

Right winston. Even angrier now that playing ano and maia so much led to double teaming-not a hoops guru. Jh christ jd.

 

[gary2]

Agreed. No way JRob should take 15 shots. But, it's a motion offense. Dixon hasn't called out sets since before Herrion left, except on set pieces after TimesOut. The players mostly determine who get the ball and who shoots by their movements and passing.

Ths bunch is just schizo.

With the recruiting cycle where it is, it's too late to add anything to the '16 class unless something unexpected happens and kids suddenly become available. A move would be more likely to make us lose the couple promising kids we've signed.

All things considered, it's probably too late to get in on new '17 recruits, too. The relationships have been forming for the last year or so and most of the high school and prep kids will be committing in July or August. Or certainly the Plan A kids. We did get in with Kithcart late but we'd been recruiting Manigault for quite a while.

Maybe we could hit the Jucos hard with a new staff or find the proverbial guy with a couple "kids in his pocket." Or fid a booster with an open wallet, assuming everyone involved here turns a blind eye. (Which I really doubt.)

But, the most likely way to have an impact recruiting year is probably to ride Smoke Williamson's work and relationships formed of the last year or two. (And, BTW, probably hope Barnes doesn't make an untimely move away from Nike, since Smoke is supposed to be a Nike guy.

If the '17 class isn't at least as good as the '16 class, we are looking at a major rebuild anyway, probably from the top down. We'll probably have a good idea by Labor Day and can start lining up changes early.

I don't know what happens with Young and Artis, but at worst, they're gone by this time next year anyway. I've said before it would not surprise me if at least one of them is gone this Summer. It might be addition by subtraction.

Hey, maybe Kithcart and Manigault come in and hit the ground running and we win 25 games next year. Maybe Milligan and Clark look like UConn guards. It would sure be dumb to fire a former COY because his best players this year were knuckleheads. Dixon has ALWAYS had an offense highly ranked nationally. He didn't go away from 15 years of history because he forgot how to coach offense overnight.

If it fails, we're starting from the ground up. It will be a long way back, if that's necessary.

Two questions (not asking for premium information) and two observations

1) Can a recruit who has signed, ask for a release because an assistant leaves?

2) Who are our primary targets for 2017 and which of the 3 assistants is the least involved?

1) There is never a good time to change assistants, yet head coaches do make changes for a number of reasons and I do think we have a reason to make changes - Our staff being inadequate.

The late signing period is sort of the Wild West where the unexpected is what is expected. Coaches are getting fired, head coaches are moving, assistant coaches might be looking for jobs. This often leads to players who were signed or committed becoming free agents. Then you can add in the large pool of grad transfers. It is extremely likely that we will be able to add to the 2016 class. I would venture to guess we would also be able to replace (numerically at least) any number of our players that might depart.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

I think they are big on Jarrod Simmons for 2017. And I think he has some interest. But the rest will have to come from the ppl far more knowledgable than me.

 

[gary2]

I think they are big on Jarrod Simmons for 2017. And I think he has some interest. But the rest will have to come from the ppl far more knowledgable than me.

I know about Simmons and think Simmons would be a big get. He was on twitter posting during the Wisconsin game and definitely seems interested.

I think Smoke is also in on some bigs from Mich.

I am unaware that Barton is the primary recruiter on any primary recruit. It has been my stance from the day he was hired, that we can and must do better. If you want to impact recruiting the least amount, doesn't it make sense to change the assistant that only does the initial observe and meet before handing the recruit off to another assistant?

 

[Harve74]

I know about Simmons and think Simmons would be a big get. He was on twitter posting during the Wisconsin game and definitely seems interested.

I think Smoke is also in on some bigs from Mich.

I am unaware that Barton is the primary recruiter on any primary recruit. It has been my stance from the day he was hired, that we can and must do better. If you want to impact recruiting the least amount, doesn't it make sense to change the assistant that only does the initial observe and meet before handing the recruit off to another assistant?

Mostly, kids are not gonna be released because an assistant leaves. But we are still after a few kids for the last scholarship this Spring and probably in case some other kids leave.The program is so secretive that it is difficult to assess from outside who is doing what. Even writers close to the program disagree.

We think Smoke is following the key guys, but Brandin sees some of them too. I think after the fiasco with Slice misevaluating some guys, Dixon wants as many eyes on a kid as possible. And, there is a guy we want who has some relationship with peope who have been around the basketball program in the recent past. BK might or not be a key with him. Who knows?

I understand your point about Barton not being key on key targets. But, no matter who you are, most schools miss on most of their targets. KY's fan site listed 15 key targets last season. They signed TWO. That might be above the average.

We are likely to whiff on most of the primary targets and possibly most of the Plan B's. That's normal. Like this '16 class, Barton's jucos and Plan C guys might make up much of the class we eventually sign. As I said in another thread, that's the reality of how this program was built.

You can make a case for firing any assistant. Or just as strong a case for keeping any of them.

The only thing that is certain is no matter what move is made, there will be fans saying Dixon was stupid for making it.

 

[BigZeke]

Mostly, kids are not gonna be released because sn assistant leaves. But we are still after a few kids for the last scholarship this Spring and probably in case some other kids leave.The program is so secretive that it is difficult to assess from outside who is doing what. Even writers close to the program disagree.

We think Smoke is following the key guys, but Brandin sees some of them too. I think after the fiasco with Slce misevaluating some guys, Dixon wants as many eyes on a kid as possible. And, there is a guy we want who has some relationship with peope who have been around the basketball program in the recent past. BK might or not be a key with him. Who knows?

I understand your point about Barton not being key on key targets. But, no matter who you are, most schools miss on most of their targets. KY's fan site listed 15 key targets last season. They signed TWO. That might be above the average.

We are likely to whiff on most of the primary targets and possibly most of the Plan B's. That's normal. Like this '16 class, Barton's jucos and Plan C guys might make up much of the class we eventually sign. As I said in another thread, that's the reality of how this program was built.

You can make a case for firing any assistant. Or just as strong a case for keeping any of them.

The only thing that is certain is no matter what move is made, there will be fans saying Dixon was stupid for making it.

I am still waiting for all those AAU Family kids Smoke was gonna deliver to Pitt once he was an assistant at a P5 school. Not a single one came. Not one. Hey he might be the next Dalonte Hill or Book Richardson by 2017-18 but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[Harve74]

I am still waiting for all those AAU Family kids Smoke was gonna deliver to Pitt once he was an assistant at a P5 school. Not a single one came. Not one. Hey he might be the next Dalonte Hill or Book Richardson by 2017-18 but I won't be holding my breath.

You're probably right. But, unle$$ you play the game a certain way which we rarely do, merely hiring an AAU guy is not going to bear much fruit. I didn't thnk it was a good hire, but it was an agressive, outside the box move, hiring a young guy with good Nike connections and trying to extend the ACC footprint.

There is a very good chance our next head coach is going to be a similar gamble, a young guy with supposedly good connections. And, as long as we follow the rules, probably similarly disappointing resuts.

 

[gary2]

Mostly, kids are not gonna be released because sn assistant leaves. But we are still after a few kids for the last scholarship this Spring and probably in case some other kids leave.The program is so secretive that it is difficult to assess from outside who is doing what. Even writers close to the program disagree.

We think Smoke is following the key guys, but Brandin sees some of them too. I think after the fiasco with Slce misevaluating some guys, Dixon wants as many eyes on a kid as possible. And, there is a guy we want who has some relationship with peope who have been around the basketball program in the recent past. BK might or not be a key with him. Who knows?

I understand your point about Barton not being key on key targets. But, no matter who you are, most schools miss on most of their targets. KY's fan site listed 15 key targets last season. They signed TWO. That might be above the average.

We are likely to whiff on most of the primary targets and possibly most of the Plan B's. That's normal. Like this '16 class, Barton's jucos and Plan C guys might make up much of the class we eventually sign. As I said in another thread, that's the reality of how this program was built.

You can make a case for firing any assistant. Or just as strong a case for keeping any of them.

The only thing that is certain is no matter what move is made, there will be fans saying Dixon was stupid for making it.

Thank you for your reply