We all know that Pitt and Doug Gottlieb don't get along. From ripping the zoo for not being loud (against Siena during winter break with 75% of the students home with their families-ass) to constantly taking shots at the team, Gottlieb is certainly an enemy. Therefore in honor of Gottlieb's alma mater OK State, we will have a Gottlieb Joke Counter throughout the recap.
First of all, the title of the post and subsequent photoshop illustrates the funniest moment I've ever experienced in the zoo. During that Siena game (I believe my sophomore year), the cheerleaders/dance team were performing. Gottlieb was watching. And so one of the Zoo standing behind the announcer's table yelled at him "Gottlieb! Quit starin' at our women." He looked away.
Gottlieb Joke Counter: 1
Okay, since there may be a few more people reading these now, I'd just like to give a quick summary of myself. I'm 22 and I've been a fan of Pitt sports since Vonteego Cummings and Pete Gonzalez. Last year during my senior year of undergrad, I decided to start writing about them. I posted notes to Facebook, but this year I felt the need to see if anyone outside of my friends wanted to read them. I am by no means a good writer. I never wrote for a school paper or took a journalism class. I just love Pitt basketball.
Like most of you, I watched the game on TV. Pitt jumped out to a typical huge lead, but we all knew that it would still end up close at the end. We can look at box scores that tell us how many 3's Gibbs made, or how many blocks Khem had, but there are a lot of different stats that go unnoticed. Decisions, good and bad, that define the outcome. Therefore each game, I am going to make up a different stat and keep track of it.
Since I could be on my laptop this game and take some notes I have 3
Edit: And that file is now nowhere to be found so going to be from memory now.
Great passes - Assists tell a pretty good story of how well a player passes, but there's no context behind them. A player swinging the ball around the perimeter to a shooter who buries a 3 gets an assist in the same way a big man in close quarters down low flips it to a teammate for an easy dunk. I'm looking for the latter here.
Bad passes - The exact opposite. Turnovers do not count the times passes are deflected or require a great catch by the receiver. Also in the bad pass category is any time someone makes a bounce pass to a big with 5 guys in the lane around him.
Defensive Blowbys - Any time someone gets beat off the dribble. Whether or not they score is irrelevant and losing your guy because of a pick and a switch also don't count. We're looking at pure one-on-one defense.
Having said all of this, it's time to grade:
Gibbs - (Great passes 1, Bad passes 0, Defensive Blowbys 0) We like to give Gibbs crap for his defense and shot selection, but this was an okay game defensively for him. He didn't get beat off the dribble that often. He picked his spots also and there was only one instance of him dribbling at the top of the key with the shot clock running down waiting to get a pick to shoot a contested 3. Another thing, the announcers (Raftery, Van Gundy, and whoever the play-by-play guy was can't remember) made a claim about how Gibbs is always happy on the court or something. Ummm, what the hell? Gibbs is Mr. Pissy Pants on the floor. He's always scowling or shaking his heads at teammates when they misplay one of his poor entry passes or fail to get open. What an ass. I like the competitive drive, Ashton, but seems like you're being more of a dick than a super-competitor. Maybe, I'm wrong. I don't know. As far as Gibbs' passes are concerned, he's just not good at it. He rarely takes risks or tries to make a great feed. All of his passes are very high percentage (around the perimeter or entry passes with no help defense). I'm not sure he trusts his teammates to make catches in traffic. All things considered, the shot selection was so much better that I have to give him credit.
Grade: A-
Patterson (GP's 5 BP's 0 DB's 1) Great game from Patterson. In the first half, Lamar put on a passing clinic. I counted 5 great passes in total (not all resulting in points, Robinson missed a couple gimmes) It was Chris Paul-esque. He was a force on the boards as well registering his first career double double. There were a couple shots he could've knocked down, but I can't complain, Patterson is making the typical Dixon-coached jump in his junior season. Grade A+
Birch - (GP, BP, DB All 0) I'd really like Birch to get some more minutes in these games. There weren't really any big moments for him this game. As usual, the announcers had to mention his quick leaping ability. Big time trolling of Van Gundy when one of his partners claimed that Alonzo Mourning had quite the vertical despite having a guy hanging on his leg (referencing the Heat-Knicks brawls in the late 90s) He showed his ability to step out when he knocked down a J from the free throw line. Grade B+
Robinson (GP 1 BP 0 DB 1) Awful free throw shooting (1-5) but hey at least he's not Mason Plumlee (2-11 today jeez) Again typical Nas performance down low and finishing. The only thing preventing him from having a monster game was a few blown layups that he normally finishes.
Grade A-
Wright -(GP 0 BP 4 DB 4) Wow, horrible game from Cameron. So many of his passes were deflected, and he was routinely beat off the dribble. For a player who's only getting minutes for his hustle, this is not the type of game you like to see from him. His offense is still a work in progress as well. I did however notice that he had put his shorts on the right way. Something Gottlieb struggles with. Gottlieb can't dress himself Grade D
Gottlieb Joke Counter - 2
J. Johnson - (GP 0 BP 2 DB 2-3). His one three pointer was a heckuva play because it was off his back foot and looked to be a poor decision. But it hung the friggin net. What a stroke. He did have four turnovers and still seems to have trouble staying with guards though. And I'll also mention when he brought the ball back out when he didn't have numbers on the fast break because the announcers saw it and thought it was awesome because he made that decision as a freshmen. I mean, it was a smart play, but just because the guy's a freshmen doesn't mean he hasn't been in that situation hundreds of times before in games. If you don't have numbers, pull it back out. Grade B
Zanna - (GP 1 BP 0 DB 3) The box score says that Zanna did alright in his 11 minutes. He had 4 boards, 0 turnovers, made his only shot. But this was a poor game defensively for him. He was beaten three times off the dribble. Grade B-
Moore - Sophomore slump? When Gil Brown was a freshmen and sophomore he would only get his points by driving and alley oops. Later on, he developed a decent 3 point shot, but he still realized that his bread and butter was the fact he could jump over people. Moore doesn't seem to realize this. When he does, look out. Grade B
Wait a minute my sister just texted me. She's can't seem to find her credit card. Gottlieb probably has it.
DGJC - 3
Epps - Played one minute. Nothing really to say here. Grade n/a
Taylor - Four big-time blocks from him. He had a fantastic hook shot for a 3 point play. There was also another moment when he tried to lead a fast break but blew the layup. That's not your game big fella. As skilled as you are offensively, ball-handling is not one of your strengths. Grade B
Pitt is off for a week until they play South Carolina State. I'll be back in the zoo, leading the charge.
Final Gottlieb Joke Counter - 3
Doug Gottlieb sucks (make that 4),
JO
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