Dexter Pittman Guilty of Foul Play

Well said, well spoken, sir. And as a person who enjoyed watching you play, thank you for the memories as well.

He’s an abysmal defender who has no real skill other than a drop step. If that’s not there — and he only finds this out after trying anyway — there is nothing he does well. One would assume he spent all his free time doing sprints instead of practicing anything you do in the actual game.

That being said, if you can’t utilize a guy with his size and quickness, then maybe coaching basketball isn’t your thing. Yeah he’s not great, but it’s not like he’s easy to stop in the right situation.

Our offense seems designed to make it easy to double team him, while keeping the ability to stop our drives and rebound. We spread the floor a bit at the end of the KU game and looked somewhat competent. Other than that we just plop two guys down underneath the basket and it ruins everything, er, both things we try to do.

Nice write up Hank. Spot on about about Dexter’s problems. I think he’s holding on a little tight because he had the ball swiped so much when he brings it down (a big man no-no). He’s abandoned his half hook and I haven’t seen a good quick drop step since January.

I also agree with you about having to play Dex. Going to Gary and Damion as our front line is asking too much of them especially the way Barnes wants to play defense. No interior anchor means no changing shots when someone penetrates or cuts back door. We need Dexter to play 20 minutes a game b/c Alexei, Chapman, and Hill are worthless and can’t play defense good enough. Also, having Gary and Damion on the court allows too many offensive rebounds. Damion is 6’7" (maybe). Gary is 6’6". These guys are our interior? Are we playing in the Ivy league? Then we compound it with short guards? We can play this lineup in spurts or if we want to go full court press, which we never do, but we’re too poor defensively with this lineup even with JH playing 3.

Need to start JH and bring Gary and Dogus off the bench next game. Need to calmly explain the situation to Dex. He should be a guy we screen off of or play p’n’roll off of at this point. If he seals his guy on the block then great. Throw it in to him. Otherwise, play him offside and open up driving lines for AB, JH, and DJ. He no longer needs to be an offensive focus and should just worry about defense…..Very disappointed in Barnes and Dex….

It’s hard to use the drop step out of a double team…wait, that falls on the coach, and a “PG” that never shoots the fucking ball.

Too much Knob Creek tonight for me to be of any use…fuck this team.

Good write-up on some of the problems though Hank, thanks.

Fantastic post, Hank. I hope Dexter Atchley reads it and take it to heart.
 
My gripe with our post offense is the complete lack of meaningful screening and the hesitancy of our guys to feed the post when we do get that rare clean angle of entry – particularly when our post guy is being fronted. Make a solid pass, it’s a dunk and a foul.
 
As for screening, if you do it properly, it’s an offense in itself. Sometimes I’ll watch Damion and Dexter walk back and forth across the lane in alternating fashion and I honestly believe that they think they’re screening for each other. Then Avery will run through and not even so much as a hip gets laid on his trailing defender.
 
While we’re getting out pet peeves, I’d love to see one of our bigs rebound and look upcourt immediately while the defense is still getting back rather than take a picture, swing their elbows, cradle the ball into their stomach, and stare at Balbay or J’Covan as they gesture Give It To Me! for an extra half count. Yes, we wouldn’t our young athletic team running on a 3 on 2 break would we? We’d prefer to run some set offense.
 
I’m somewhat convinced we don’t coach situational basketball much at all.

We’d prefer to run some set offense.

Ha ha ha ha!

You intimated that we have a set offense to run!

Scipio,

That’s such a great observation about our “screen” game. We’re absolutely horrid and that is on Barnes. Not only do we not pick well on the far block or on the baseline but even when we play P’n’Roll, our guys (generally DJ or GJ) bail too early looking for their spot up and don’t set a solid pick. Also our guards are very poor in using high picks or screens. There is an art to running off picks away from the ball or running off them up high and we suck at all of the above….

I wouldn’t worry, he’ll look like an All-American on Saturday going up against Darko in Lubbock.

spot. fuckin. on.

this page’s link has been via text message to dexter.

Good post, Hank. I think part of the problem is confidence and part of it is catching the ball in an uncomfortable position. We need to start getting the kid an easy bucket or two early on.

When was the last time we reversed a ball forcing Pitt’s defender to come across his big body to get into a half front position. I can’t remember this team doing that for him since last year’s big 12 tourney. It’s a simple concept that you’ll see in any game involving an elite sized post player.

Hell, Cole Aldrich was 6-10 the other night and his post moves consisted of catching a high low entry pass and laying it in against an undersized defender. He couldn’t have traveled if he wanted to.

Chris, Cole Aldrich disagrees.

In that case:

Dexter, stop being so aggressive about blocking shots, and focus more on not letting guys spin off you on defense. Play with your knees bent and butt back, not thrusting your hips into the guy.

Also, tell whoever is at the 4 spot to get the fuck away from the basket and let you do some work.

Alrdrich is a stiff. Quicker bigs like Brian Davis own Dex. Own.

Sure, quicker bigs own Dex on offense. There’s no reason Dex can’t return the favor on the other end. Other than Mason, Balbay, and our random screen offense, that is.

Yeah. That’s kind of the whole problem. We give up all our advantages. Dexter has things going for him for sure, but this is a team sport. Saw the same thing happen to Colt this year. Once teams take away the thing you do well, and your teammates or coaches don’t help you to counter, then you’ll look like a spittle-dribbling retard.

Rick Barnes is SO concerned with being a proper defense that we give up any edge on offense because we either don’t work on or don’t care about doing the right things. If you don’t aggressively defend power forwards 40 feet from the basket you won’t play, even if you can score.

Then we just suck on defense anyway. We could work certain advantages every week — like Dexter Pittman being theoretically unstoppable — but instead decide in June . . . 1998 that we are going to play a certain way and fuck you if you can’t do it. It’s like Having Vince Young run an offense, then just keeping the same offense for the next small white kid. Nobody is that stupid!

I wouldn’t exactly label Bryan Davis as “quick”. He just makes Dexter look like a huge fucking pussy. Oh, and Turgeon does a superb job of putting Davis in situations to succeed and get his double doubles.

Bryan Davis is actually a pretty good college player. He doesn’t have a NBA career most likely, but he does a lot of things well within the context of the college game including being a far superior passer out of the post than Dex. Plus, he looks like a balding Predator. A Predator! Sorry, don’t want to get off track……Turgeon has definitely out coached Barnes this year. That saddens me.

Davis is also clever enough to befriend Dexter and then eviscerate him.
 
That said, Sam Cassel makes fun of Bryan Davis’ cranial structure.

Sam Cassel looks like an Alien. You know Sigourney Weaver’s little friends. I actually think he burst from his mother’s stomach. That said, JCB looks like Sam Cassel’s illegitimate kid….Can we pitch in and get the kid some veneers? Maybe a retainer…..

Davis is a bigger PJ Tucker without the whatever it was that made Tucker awesome.

I rarely blame referees, but it’s easy to see why Mizzou is 15-1 at home and 2-5 away from home cooking. Their fans have adjusted to the chippy games Missouri plays and relish the fine art of the “boo”.

Thoughts big picture: team actually played really well tonight. I saw Avery and Jordan attacking, which I’ve been begging for months. Scouting report was force Hamilton to drive and albeit saved by fouls many times, he can finish (when given time to get in rhythm). Of course, getting to the line isn’t necessarily the best strategy for this team.

Debby Downer: Rick still plays into the hands of opposing coaches. Instead of dictating our style, we give Mizzou the exact game they want. Once again, most of James/Pittmans FG’s were on put-backs. James is our best option, but we neglected him for most of the night. The frustration on Damion’s face says it all. Hell, Pittman didn’t even attempt a shot?!? And our offensive set plays to end halves continue to be abysmal. I have a funny feeling it will end our chances in the tourney (again).

HOWEVA, the swagger is building for the young guys. Hamilton looked like a leader tonight and it seems like the guys prefer JCovan at the helm. We’ve gone from vastly overrated to vastly underrated in a month, and I finally feel like we’re making progress.

Last thing: again we missed an obscene amount of bunnies (layups, put-backs, etc). For as much grief as I’ve given Barnes, missed “bunnies” fall on the players. At this point in their careers, if you can’t make a 2-footer in traffic, you’re never going to.

he plays too nice, he’s kind of a chris hall. and every time he gets the ball under the basket, he’s fartin’ around for about 3" before taking it up for the shot, allowing for the d to come up and contest. i see this time and again, even on offensive boards, he feels the need to juke when he just needs to get his ass in the air for a shot/dunk.

Pittman has become an actual problem at this point.

I chose not to watch the last seven minutes in order to ratchet down expectations. Looks like 9-7 in the league — could even be 8-8 — no bye in the B12 tournament (which actually gets the freshmen another game, a good thing) and a battle to make the S16. I’m mystified and mortified at the same time.

Guys,
Good comments here. It is funny that some people want Dex out of the lane to free it up for our driving but I don’t see why we can’t drive if Dex is setting screens and freeing guys up for the kickouts off the drive or being the recipient of the dish from our drivers.

The problem is they sit him in the post with no purpose and like Trips mentioned we never revierse the ball to put the pressure on the defense. PB and CA mentioned how worthless our “fake screen” game is and how we have zero ability to actually feed the post from the wing, corner or high low. ZERO.

This brings one guy to mind, OLIVER MILLER.. Nolan Richardson knew how to get the big O the ball right at the basket and as obese as he was Miller still got paid. Dexter scoring 6 points and getting 5 rebounds a game is criminal and Barnes needs to fix this if we havve any chance of advancing past the first round. This team is ripe to be upset by a Cornell or my old school Richmond in the tourney, both teams with high basketball IQ and great team play.

Trips, I think confidence comes from knowing you can score outside of a dunk and I honestly think the problem is that Dex does not hold the ball correctly to shoot it. I don’t think he lacks confidence in himseff but if you don’t physically know how to change it you are screwed. That’s why Duval comes to mind. The guy knows he can dominate but can’t find his swing

Guru,
I agree that Hamilton is starting to look like he can fit in with this team. I have actually seen him come off a few screens and get a shot in the flow of the offense in the last 3 games. I almost spit my beer out when I saw out. It was a beautiful thing. Then I saw him pass the ball and go away. Maybe he is finding out that if you are good the ball will find it’s way back into your hands for a good shot.

Bradley has been solid all year. He will have to work on his ball handling in the off season as this is the only part of his game that can keep him from the next level. At 6’3" he will have to be able to take guys off the dribble and be able to go left.

Brown is getting better. His defense is sketchy and his ball handling is inconsistent. but he has the ability to be a very good player. He rolls the ball a lot when he dribbles and I think that is why we see him lose it a lot for no reason. The rolling is great for setting your guy up but not for just bringing the ball up the court. He can’t turn the ball over so much if we are going to let him have it. He needs the ball and we need a point who is a threat to shoot it. I love Doge but it is painful to watch our offense when no one respects his shooting.

Hey Hank, Great write up. The observations on Dex are spot on. His touch is there when he shoots FT sometimes ,when it clanks off the rim he is palming the ball, when he shoots a nice arching shot just the net make noise.

We looked scared yesterday, timid and our confidence was left in Barnes’ left hand drawer and will he ever give it back is the question. Strollin’ Nolan used his players ability to the max or almost. The team has been sucked dry not just the freshmen. They appear broken with no mojo at all.
The inconsistent play is a lack of confience in you ability to play basketball and defend , and score. Same if you play baseball its the same, I knew I could hit the high hard one but the curve was a bitch until my coach explained about timing it and the break of the pitch. The ability to believe in yourself is important. The team is still questioning who they are and what they can do to play better ball.
Most of the comment indicate that we do have a high basketball IQ but and I like Barnes but the Buck has to stop somewhere. Most of the comments are simply elementary coaching of how to play the game.
OH! Who told Dex to be a shot blocker and jump into space ? see my point.

I think that game demonstrates the difference between Pittman and Cole. Pittman can be a nice D presence against another really big guy, but that it just about it. Cole absolutely dominated MU on the D side of the ball. He single handily stopped MU from driving after awhile, and if they tried they jacked up circus shots to get shots over him. Basically, Cole can almost defend an entire team whereas big Dex only factors on the guy he is guarding and that guy better not be much quicker than he is.

Dex is pretty quick and does come off to block shots. He just looks right now like he’s thinking about everything except what he is doing at any particular moment.

He’s not as good defensively as Aldrich but I don’t think he’s that far behind.

I knew we had the game lost when Balbay passed up a wide open look at the basket and passed to a covered Bradley. You just can’t have that guy on the floor and expect defenses to give us anything in the post.

Balbay needs to shoot the ball. Even if he misses he must fake like he is going to keep people honest. He can’t do any worse than an airball that has a chance of being rebounded.

It also does not help that Dex cannot take a halftime piss without picking up a foul.

If I were Barnes, I would have used last night to have a nuclear meltdown about the officiating. I think I would have dropped some choice nuggests along the lines of “The officiating in this league is the number one reason we have for leaving the Big 12.”

and “The fact that these guys do not confer before calling an intentional foul on a clear cut case of a good basketball foul shows that these gusy care more about being liked by the home crowd than they do about doing their jobs.”

and something about only having shot 1 FT in the second half at around the 3/4 mark, despite doing a decent job of attacking the rim.

Balbay needs to shoot the ball. Even if he misses he must fake like he is going to keep people honest. He can’t do any worse than an airball that has a chance of being rebounded.

Remember, he’s being coached not to take that shot. Yeah, he should’ve taken it. Bill Raftery just about came out of his chair when he didn’t.

It’d be interesting to hear what Raftery and Fraschilla… longtime friends of Rick, really think about what he’s doing with Balbay in particular.

Do you think Dexter Pittman Will get drafted? I agree with ChrisApplewhite, I think a NBA team would be smart enough to create plays that would put a guy who is 6’10,300 with a 7’0 wingspan into a position to be successful. Its just sad Rick Barnes cant figure it out!

Longhorn22,

I definitely think Pittman gets drafted in the late 1st to mid second round depending on how this year finishes for him. You can’t teach this kind of size and the fact that he has gotten to where he is today is a big plus. Imagine someone teaching this guy how to post correctly, how to make the proper post moves, and how to shoot the ball. It seem like a lot but he has the athletic ability and when he is pro he will have nothing but time to learn.

Trips kills me with all these answers he gives where he tries to make everything sound so complicated with all these strategic adjustments to make people think he knows what he’s talking about. It’s really simple. Dex has put on 12 pounds from the start of the season until now, that’s why he’s struggling.

I used to think Dex would be drafted but if he can’t play more than 4 minutes at a time at the college level (I might be exaggerating the number here but he’s not on the court long) where you play 30 games a season how is he going to play 10 minutes stretches in the NBA every damned night.

So sayeth Roger Murdock: The hell I don’t. LISTEN KID. I’ve been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I’m out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

Anywho, my guess is Dex gets a lot of camp invitations but is not drafted – unless he somehow has another stretch of 20-10 games in the tourney like he did last year.

Dexter’s problems are due to the coach. Rick Barnes Sucks. barnessucks.blogspot.com