Thoughts on the Future of Jamie Dixon ...

[NCanton Panther]

My apologies if my thoughts come off as pompous. That is never my intention.

DT, I don't think he was referring to you as pompous, I strongly suspect that was directed at Harve and Crazy Paco, in which case I would have to agree 100%.

 

[InfoManiac]

......I just don't know why someone who is recruiting at an 80 in the country level is going to start bringing in talent that's going to move us up from where we are.

Bob you ask a great question. Obviously none of us know what the coaches are saying and many times we don't know who they are talking to early in the recruiting process and if those kids tell them "no thank you" right out of the gate.

So we unfortunately cannot critique Pitt's approach but we do realize something has to change.

But to answer your question let me offer this. I am involved in BB recruiting at the D3 level. Our staff receives a weekly email from a consultant that offers advice, perspective on trends and results of studies related to recruiting. The latest study I read was specifically focused on schools with a tougher sell job and how they can overcome the gap between them and the big boys. It offered 3 techniques that were shown to make a profound difference. As I read it I wondered if Pitt was doing these things or if they approached things differently.

I don't want to go into those details, but there is evidence that if you are willing to change your approach as a staff that you can (without breaking the rules) get players you may have missed on in the past. But it is a process and not something that changes overnight.

Only time will tell if Pitt's most recent class is enough evidence that they have turned the corner.

 

[PittPoker]

DT, I don't think he was referring to you as pompous, I strongly suspect that was directed at Harve and Crazy Paco, in which case I would have to agree 100%.

I don't think Harve comes off as pompous at all. He is very knowledgeable and maybe sometimes it may come off as frustration that people aren't getting what he is saying. I totally disagree with him on his assessment of Robinson though.

 

[Cap pitt]

I think the ACC move got to Dixon in the sense that he thought he needed to change his recruiting philosophy and go after more athletic scoring types like Artis and Young.

However, his issues are two-fold. One, he is striking out on plan a targets and ending up with second tier recruits that are athletic to a degree but lack the signature toughness and high basketball IQ of the early years of the regime. Two, even when Pitt has an athletic advantage, Dixon just can't bring himself to let his players play loose uptempo (like against Wisconsin).

Dixon won't wade into the recruiting cesspool and apparently is unable or unwilling to change his defense/rebounding emphasis. I think he needs to re-examine what made the program strong in the first place and recruit players willing and able to execute his basketball philosophy, regardless of conference affiliation. Perhaps Kithcart and Maginault are a step in that direction.

The down hill trend started a couple of years before moving to the ACC

 

[UPitt129]

No offense taken. You are blinded by your passion for the University and UPMC that u have little to no objectivity on most matters related to those 2 topics.

And I could say the same in the fact you are blinded by your hatred of Dixon.

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

I think his post-game press conference spoke volumes about the man. He obviously has a great amount of respect and loyalty to James Robinson. Holy crap... the man almost cried talking about him. But that type of personal attachment to a player (which he's probably had for years) prevents one from honestly accessing that player.

Robinson's final act as a Pitt player - dribbling down court, head down until he unknowingly collides w/ his teammate - is about as sorry as indictment of him as a flawed player as you will see and Dixon's virtue - his undeniable loyalty to his players - backfires again.

CBS reporting he will accept the TCU job, so this is probably all water under bridge at this point.

 

[TejasPanther]

Several things come to mind here.

Who exactly are we going to get if not Dixon? Homer route says Orlando, Sean or Brandon etc.

Would we think someone like Buzz would move within the league? he always seems to eat Jamie's lunch whether its with Marquette or now VT.

Do you think someone like Chris Mack would leave a good situation at Xavier to come to Pitt?

So before casting JD out, I really wonder who else better we could really legitimately get.

As for style, I think you need to look no further than UVA for what Tony Bennett has done in effectively implementing Jamie's former style with better results in the ACC than Jamie has with whatever style he's tried to implement the past few years. So in my view, Jamie and the program need to figure out what style they can best recruit for and coach. I'd argue that Jamie has shown about as much deviation from his core coaching values as he can. The old dog, new tricks deal. As such, if we think the UVA model is in fact repeatable by Pitt in the ACC then let's get after it then since UVA has proven that model is definitely capable.

It feels as if this program and Jamie himself are trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Maybe that's a bit overblown but it sure feels that way to the untrained homer eye.

HTP.

** After the Panther loss to the Badgers, there was only one thing I knew completely for certain. That is the "Fire Dixon!" contingent would be out in full force on the PantherLair.

** I’m not in that contingent.

** It’s an understatement to say that Dixon didn’t coach his best game on Friday night. And with that, second guessing the coach follows. We all get that. But let’s try to look at the bigger picture.

** Before getting into a deeper dive into Dixon and the program, let’s make one thing completely clear. He’s not going to be fired, and not just because he’s got a huge buyout making it economically unfeasible. It’s my understanding is that Barnes and Gallagher are very pleased with Dixon, and there is no way in the world the any AD and Chancellor are going to fire a coach with the success Dixon has had, including making three of the last four NCAA Tournaments, while maintaining a highly respectable program. That would be ridiculous.

** Those who somehow think that Gallagher is “all in” on sports success, any more than Nordenberg, are likely to be very disappointed.

** Otherwise, there are so many places to go next, so I’ll start by sharing the conversation about Dixon I had with my very good friend of nearly 40 years as we watched our kids at a swimming meet today.

** He’s done with Dixon. For him, like many others I suppose, last night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In some respects, that part I can understand.

** But there’s much more to his opinion I can’t understand. That is, he believes that the first eight years of Dixon’s career at Pitt were only carryover from Howland, and luck because he snagged the local kid in DeJuan Blair. Accordingly, he believes that the last five years of Dixon are the only results truly indicative of Dixon’s abilities as a coach. In short, he doesn’t believe now (as he probably never believed) that Jamie Dixon has the attributes one needs to be a high level coach. He said the last five years are proving him right.

** I say now what I said to him then. That’s crap.

** Nonetheless, I do suspect there are many who want Dixon gone now, who at least in some ways, agree with part of my friends’ notion that Dixon wasn’t really ever that good to begin with.

** This is why I suspect some pick apart Dixon’s idiosyncrasies, at times like catty school girls, as if we have the only coach in the country who is stubborn or is wildly demonstrative on the sidelines.

** If one is to assess Dixon and the current state of the Pitt Basketball program, I believe there are two very important “givens.” If these two givens can’t be accepted, I don’t know where any middle ground can exist.

** These are: 1) Jamie Dixon is a highly capable Division One Basketball coach and 2) the program, while not nearly where it was in 2011, is not in shambles.

** I think it’s also important to reiterate how incredibly good this program was during Jamie Dixon’s first eight years, and how hard it is for any coach, not to mention at a program without previous high level success such as Pittsburgh, to perform at such as high level for so long.

** I don’t think many Panther fans realize how hard this is, and because of it, don’t want to credit the man responsible, or think it can easily be replicated.

** It’s not easy to have a career in the Big East that ended in that League with the highest winning percentage of any coach in that League. Ever. But that’s what he did. That’s not a fluke. That’s a man who knows how to coach.

** Still, whether it be easy or not, this is indeed the bar Dixon has set for himself and the Panther Hoops program. It’s understandable that he should receive criticism that he’s now falling well short of that high bar.

** So let’s get to that falling short side of things. We live in a world where many folks say “what have you done for me lately?” That’s reality.

** A year ago, many asked me if I thought Dixon should be on the hot seat, and at the time I replied no. But I also suggested that if things didn’t look any better a year later, I might be singing a little bit of a different tune.

** Perhaps I must confess that my response even signaled that I started my own clock ticking on Dixon.

** I do think this year’s results slowed the ticking of that clock for me, even if it be ever so slightly. But it is one more year of only adequate success against the high standard Dixon set for himself. And I think it’s fair to suggest the clock is still ticking, and the fact that another year has gone by matters.

** If you are concerned that things won’t be much improved next season, and could possibly get worse, I’m not going to try to convince you that the thought is off base. That’s because that could be the way it goes. I wish I could say I was highly confident it won’t be the case.

** But I have seen the man who I know can coach rebuild his program several times in his tenure, and that’s why I believe he’s the best chance to do it again.

** I know there are those who do think Dixon can coach, but just don’t think he’ll be able to get this team back to where it was. Maybe you think something has changed. Maybe the ACC, or different kids, or recruiting strategies, or anything else. I completely understand the logic here, and again, I wish I could say that I was highly confident this thought won’t end up being right.

** Let’s face it. Dixon has his work cut out for him. I don’t know how much his returning upperclassmen players can improve, nor how much the newcomers will add. And we could go into next year without Artis or Young or both.

** I also don’t know how much changing assistants is required. I know this is a popular thought here on the Lair, but I honestly don’t have any spurious information to make any responsible judgement as to whether an assistant or two needs to go.

** It’s logical to think Dixon needs to shake things up for a program that has flatlined at a spot lower than where it thrived. If it’s his assistants that need to be shaken up and Dixon resists that idea due to loyalty, stubbornness, if not lack of insight, then that’s on him if this is what holds the program back from where it once was.

** But the shakeup I see that needs to take place more than any other is that Dixon’s players need to get better. Either they need to get more talented ones or they need to become more connected to what Dixon is coaching, much like was the case for Dixon’s first 8 years.

** If you believe my given that the program is not in shambles, then you might also agree that totally breaking it up at this time just doesn’t make sense.

** Regardless, I still believe the best chance to get the program back to where it was is using the abilities of the man who put it there in the first place.

** I don’t know if he’ll get us back there, and my ticking clock metaphor demonstrates that it would be disingenuous to deny that I’m at least a little concerned or impatient.

** I believe it will become completely clear when or if the time comes that Dixon’s time here must end. Heck, maybe Dixon will head out to Stanford or TCU in the next few days and that time will become sooner than later.

** But for now, that time is not now.

 

[33pitt99]

I think his post-game press conference spoke volumes about the man. He obviously has a great amount of respect and loyalty to James Robinson. Holy crap... the man almost cried talking about him. But that type of personal attachment to a player (which he's probably had for years) prevents one from honestly accessing that player.

You know coaches tear up at press conferences quite frequently when they talk about their seniors last games, right? Check out the Izzo press conference after their loss. Same thing. Also, Jamie has reacted this way with previous seniors. Honestly, If a coach isn't personally attached to his players, with all of the time they spend together and all they go through for four years, there is something seriously wrong with the coach.

I'm constantly amazed at how people just search for things to criticize Dixon for. His coaching against Wisconsin should be enough, to be honest, so there is really no need to reach for something as ridiculous as his attachment one of his players.