Dixon, Gibbs lead U19 team

After one of the most successful seasons in Pitt history, Jamie Dixon has turned his attention towards coaching another team; no not USC. This off-season, Jamie is focusing on leading USA's Under 19 Team to a World Championship. Team USA started the tournament off with a bang by thrashing Iran by a final of 106-55. Dixon doesn't have any superstars, but a solid class of players who can work together. The team features former Liberty star Seth Curry, Butler's Gordon Hayward, Kansas Sophomore Tyshawn Taylor, Washington State Sophomore Klay Thompson, and Big East 3 point % leader Ashton Gibbs. The team showed balance in their first game with seven guys in double figures, led by Taylor with 13. Team USA has two more games in this round against France (Friday) and Egypt (Saturday). The second round begins Monday, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals from July 10th-12th. This team has talent, butit's no "Redeem Team." There is no LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Dwight Howard. This team is led by a great coach that doesn't whine about every call but instead preaches playing defense and limiting turnovers. If this version of Team USA adheres to Dixon's coaching strategies and plays hard team ball, then this should be a championship team.

Impressions of the NBA draft.

The NBA draft was both exciting and frustrating. The excitement came from many things, like how would the picks fall, who would the Sixers take and where would Sam Young and DeJuan Blair go. Some things went as expected, like Blake Griffin to the Clippers, Tyreke Evens to the Kings and Hasheem Thabeet to the Grizzlies. Other things were rather shocking, like the Timberwolves taking every imaginable point guard and our Pitt stars falling so far. When DeJuan Blair decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility, he had no doubt he was a mid 1st round pick. Blair was projected to have a ceiling of 10 and a floor of 22. What DeJuan didn't realize was that it was a retractable floor that would drop him all the way to the Spurs with the 37th pick in the draft. Although DeJuan will have to compete to make the team, once he does land on the roster, he should have no problem garnering significant minutes alongside four time NBA champion, Tim Duncan. The Spurs also traded some of their front-court depth in a deal with Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson. Many "expert" site Blair's knee problems as a reason for him dropping so far, even though Pitt coach Jamie Dixon talked to all 30 teams and told them there have been no problems during his Pitt career. I still don't understand this explanation. Didn't Portland draft a "franchise" Center a few years ago #1 with a history of injuries? If you have no problem taking a guy #1 with all those injury problems, why even think about it at 22? One thing i know about DeJuan Blair is that every time someone doubts him, he proves them wrong. The Spurs got themselves an angry beast. Sam falling was also pretty surprising. Although he was not expected to be a high draft pick, almost all publications had Young as a first rounder. Ironically, Sam will be playing with DeJuan's bitch (Hasheem Thabeet).

Some people see this year as a weak draft because of the lack of superstar talent, with only Griffin and Rubio as future standouts, I see it more as a draft with lots of huge bust and many late sleepers. I think several 2nd rounders could contribute early in their NBA careers; some of these guys include Jeff Pendergraph, Jon Brockman, Derrick Brown, Marcus Thorthon, Jodie Meeks, Patrick Beverly, Danny Green and Amhad Nivins. I think Sam Young will be the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Grizzlies. That leaves two more guys; DeJuan Blair and Patty Mills. Both players have lottery talent but fell much later in the draft. I would rate Mills behind only Ricky Rubio and Eric Maynor. These two guys have all-star potential. As for the busts, i feel like there are five sure-fire busts in the top 15. Hasheem Thabeet, DeMar DeRozen, Brandon Jennings, Gerry Henderson and Jonny Flynn (solid player, just not for where he was drafted). If you have a lottery pick, you should be taking a guy that will definitely improve your team, not a project that might work out. We'll see how this draft ends up looking, but my guess it's going to look upside down.

A comparison no one will like

Three years ago, with the 11^th overall pick in the draft, the Orlando Magic selected then ACC all-time leading scorer J.J. Redick. Throughout Redick’s career, he did three things; he scored, he got slobbered on by ESPN’s cavalcade of Duke lovers and he choked when it counted. Redick never won a national championship like this guy or even a unanimous ACC player of the year like this guy. Although Redick’s primary skills in college included catching and shooting off screens and sinking countless free throws, many “experts” insisted Redick would be a great pro. Unfortunately, you can’t shoot free throws from the bench because your coach has no confidence in you. With a career scoring average of 5.5 points per game, and a 38.1 three point percentage, I think we can consider Redick a bust. The knocks on Redick coming into the draft were his lack of size (6’3 at most) and athleticism (2 dunks ever) as well as his ability to defend and create his own shot. Aside from the Texas game, Redick played his best games in college against weaker teams. Redick got drafted where he did because of his name.

I feel like there is a guy in this year’s draft that gets the attention he does because of his father’s name and his superfan mother’s craziness. This player is 6’3, not very athletic, isn’t known for his defense and played in a relatively weak conference. Just like dominating Temple football doesn’t translate to dominating Southern Cal, the Southern Conference isn’t comparable to the NBA. Haven’t we seen this movie before? Fortunately, Stephen Curry doesn’t drive daddy's car drunk, write shitty poetry or cry to ESPN, but he does have a skills set very similar to Redick. One positive for Curry is that he is going to be put in a situation where he gets the opportunity to play and make a name for himself. If Curry can knock down his open shots and play solid defense then he thankfully won’t be heading down Redick’s path. My advice for Steph Curry is to go out there and make a name for yourself, so people call you Steph Curry and not Dell’s son. Just ask J.J. if he’s gotten tired of “former all-american” or “former Duke Star.” Good luck Steph, I really hope you can shoot, because if not, you’ll find the bench very uncomfortable.