September 2010

MERNAGH: DIXON’S ACUMEN ON DISPLAY IN BIRCH’S PITT COMMITMENT

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon really knows what he’s doing.

I open with that line because despite how obvious it is — that Dixon knows exactly what he’s doing — some were worried what the result would be when he lost yet another assistant last spring to a head job.

And that’s just flat-out ridiculous, but that’s also today’s sports landscape (mixed with a little Pitt fan inferiority complex).

When Dixon’s right hand Tommy Herrion took the Marshall job there was rabid speculation amongst the loyal and concentrated Pitt hoop fans.

Ohio Panther: He needs a Mid-West guy!

Hoosier Panther: Yeah, we need to recruit Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan more! Especially for when the Big 10 comes calling!

Calipari Panther: He needs to start getting top-25 guys!

Yankee Panther: No, he needs another NY guy! We need to re-establish our recruiting roots in the city!

There’s a feeling that permeates the Pitt fan base that Dixon doesn’t get the kind of recruit he needs at Pitt to get the Panthers to a Final Four and win a National Title.

Gary Parrish over at CBSsports.com recently had a great piece about recruiting and in it he mentioned how other coaches called Dixon a master at realizing if he’s wasting his time with a kid and focusing his attention on a kid that Pitt can get — while the rest of the coaches are chasing the kid destined for another school. Dixon was called a master at getting to the “no” in the piece.

My take is that Sam Young, Blair and Fields were a Final Four team until Scottie Reynolds broke them.

My take is also that Dante Taylor, Talib Zanna, JJ Moore, Durand Johnson, Isiah Epps, John Johnson, Malcolm Gilbert, Steven Adams and the newest verbal — Khem Birch — are all potentially those types of players.

Moore and D. Jonson are the big wing-type scorers who can also maybe play the 2-guard that are so valuable in college basketball, particularly in March. Moore is a first year guy already capable of winning a game here or there with his scoring prowess, Johnson arrives next fall.

Zanna is an athletic power forward who I expect to assert himself in this, his red shirt freshmen season. Taylor’s an athletic big who’s added strength.

Epps and Johnson are fleet guards. Epps is a first year guy, J. Johnson comes next fall. Gilbert is huge and athletic and comes next fall.

I haven’t even mentioned Cam Wright, Lamar Patterson or J.J Richardson (all guys that will contribute heavily to successful teams in their Pitt careers).

Steven Adams is a big from New Zealand who looks to me to be a future pro. He arrives 22 months or so and it appears that Birch, an athletic shot-blocking/highly ranked Canadian, will arrive with him.

Which brings us back to the point when Herrion left and Dixon went into action. Everybody wanted that job because Dixon has become a coach who’s assistants get head coaching opportunities. Dixon was deluged with calls and resumes. Guys were even reaching out to know-nothings in the media to see if they knew anything! But Dixon had a plan.

He saw the talent in New England’s coming classes (the 2012 and 2013 classes each has potentially five top-25 guys)

He saw the potential problems at UConn.

Finally, he saw the guy involved with most of that talent — Pat Skerry, then at Providence — and went and got him.

That hire made its bones last night with the news that Khem Birch, a consensus top-10 player in that loaded 2012 class, had verbally committed to Dixon and Pitt.

Here’s a short clip of the kid from Notre Dame Prep and what he brings to the table.

That hire will continue to make its bones in the next year or so.

And who knows?

At some point maybe we can start opining that Dixon is a guy who’s great at getting to the yes.

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ANGEL NUNEZ PULLS TRIGGER FOR LOUISVILLE

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Although a down year is expected for Rick Pitino and Louisville this upcoming season, it won’t last long given the recruiting class the Cardinals have coming in 2011.

Pitino picked up another one on Thursday, as New York native Angel Nunez committed to the Cardinals.

“Rick Pitino is a great coach who can push me to get to the next level,” Nunez said. “They’re a school that recruited me all four years, through my hard times and down times.”

Nunez, a 6-foot-7 swingman who is now at Notre Dame Prep (Mass.), chose Louisville over Miami (Fl.), Providence, West Virginia, Kentucky and others.

Because of his length and versatility, Nunez reminds some of former Cardinals star Francisco Garcia. Nunez will mesh nicely with the style of play that Pitino runs.

“I think I fit in well because they press and get up and down, shoot threes, so I think I can fit in,” he said. “Plus the class I’m coming in with is [really good].”

Nunez is glad the process is finished; he did not want to wait any longer.

“[Pitino] was excited, but he wanted me to wait to see a practice just to see how hard he’s going to make me work,” he said. “But I wanted to do it now.

“I wanted to get it over with so I know what I have to do. I’m glad it’s over.”

2010-2011 BIG EAST PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME

by RAY MERNAGH

Under the tutelage of head coach Mike Brey Notre Dame basketball has created a style of play that’s been very successful for the program. Irish “fits” tend to make shots, catch and make the correct pass in an offense that’s predicated on unpredictable movement. At the same time I think Brey showed enormous growth and flexibility when he lost Luke Harangody last season, switching the Irish style to one of clock management offensively that put a lot of pressure on their opponents defense –with the focus on getting a really good shot towards the end of the shot clock (it’s incredibly debilitating to sit in a stance for 30-33 seconds possession after possession only to have Ben Hansbrough hit Tim Abromaitis off penetration for a back-breaking three). The style/pace change worked wonders for ND down the stretch and into the Big East tournament and helped them defensively as well as they really locked down the three-point line especially.

Those who viewed the ODU loss as an upset simply don’t understand basketball — and if you’d been reading this site would’ve known that the match up was probably the worst possible one for the Irish. ODU was a vet-filled team full of size at each position and really smart players who shot the ball well. Adding to the Monarchs advantage was ND’s season-long struggle to guard and the whole “Gody” situation as he was inserted back into a lineup that had learned to play and prosper without the All American around. Throw all that stuff together and the task of beating ODU — one that would’ve been difficult under normal circumstances — was amped up a few decibels.

But that was last year. This is a new year that ushers in the post-Gody era (and more importantly IMHO the post-Tory Jackson era — RIP to Tory’s mother Sarah Jackson and best wishes to him as he enters the Bucks training camp with a heavy heart over the recent loss of his mom). This year’s Irish are a team that has one big hole to fill — that of Jackson at the point guard spot. If they can do it — and the early belief here is that they can with the duo of newcomer Eric Atkins and Ben Hansbrough. Atkins will play a lot and has a decent shot at starting, if not out of the gate then eventually. In fact the sooner Atkins gets major minutes the sooner the Irish staff will know if the young man can handle the point for 30 minutes a night. If he can, Notre Dame will be an NCAA team and a team that can finish in the top-5/6 of the Big East.

My reason for the optimism?

First of all it’s the major minute guys they return. Hansbrough logged 1241 minutes and will immediately become the leader that Jackson was, only with a better ability to make shots. He also dished out 153 assists compared with 63 turnovers. He’s very tough and he’s still smarting from some of the late season close losses the Irish incurred. A few of those defeats were decided without the ball in his hands. This season I expect him to be in position to have the rock when it counts most and be the key decision-maker on whether to take the shot or dish. This will be a very good thing for Brey’s club IMHO.

Abromaitis played 1104 minutes and surprised the whole league with his breakout play. He’ll be good to at least duplicate last season’s numbers but I’d be shocked if he doesn’t improve upon them some as he’s worked extremely hard over the off-season and gained even more confidence from what I’m hearing. Both these guys, along with Jackson, were the heart of the team that made the run down the stretch of last season — that entire experience that the returning vet role players were a big part of(Tyrone Nash, Carleton Scott) along with the young beef returning (Jack Cooley, Mike Broghammer) and the newcomers make this edition potentially very good. And that’s without mentioning the “newcomer” who IMHO will have the most impact on the roster by far (and possibly the league) in Scott Martin.

Martin, 6’8 and 220 lbs., will be a double figure scorer and probably grab at least 7-8 boards a game. His toughness was questioned after the fact when he left Purdue. I can only go off of what I saw in the NCAA’s his last year in West Lafayette, and in those games Martin, when he was on the floor, was as tough and as effective as any of the then “Baby Boilers.” His addition should be huge.

The Irish finished with 23 wins last year and 10 Big East wins. I expect them to match that this season and wouldn’t be at all surprised if they improved upon it.