Ray Fittipaldo: Welcome to the Pitt basketball chat. On correction I would like to make from my online Q&A today. Sam Young did not get the opportunity to play small forward full-time until his senior year. I wrote that he got his opportunity at small forward as a junior. I "misremebered". Now that I have that out of the way, go ahead with your questions.

McGheeforHeisman: Ray, what is your take on Mike Rice? Last night he publically castigated his players on the bench, shoved the towel boy and got T'd up. Seems like a lose canon to me that wouldn't fit nicely on Dixon's staff.

Ray Fittipaldo: I did not see Rice shove anyone. I missed that if it happened. Mike is very intense. That's how he coaches. I am too young to remember his father when he coached at Duquesne, but I am told he was the same way. Just because Rice is fiery does not mean he was not a good fit when he was on Dixon's staff. My understanding is that he fit in very well, although it was only for one season. Coaches have different personalities. It would be quite boring if every coach had the same demeanor. And you can't argue with Rice's success. It looks like his two best players are freshmen and he has his team in first place in the NEC.

chicago_pitt_fan: Are we staring at 4 straight losses coming up?

Ray Fittipaldo: This is a big four-game stretch. Pitt has WVU at home, then goes to Marquette, comes back home to face Villanova and then goes on the road again to play Notre Dame. It's a brutal stretch. A week ago, I might have predicted 0-4 as well. But I am encouraged by the signs of the offense coming to life. When this team shoots it well it is capable of beating anyone, including WVU and Villanova. And when they don't, they're capable of losing to Seton Hall and South Florida as we all saw.

Jamie For President: During Saturdays game an S/H player was about to shoot a foul shot when a technical was called on their bench. There was some confusion between Hilgrove & Aiken about the rule, Hillgrove saying that the rule was changed about three years ago. Do you know what they were talking about?

Ray Fittipaldo: I do not listen to the broadcast during the game, so I do not know what was said. I believe a similar situation occurred last night. Gary McGhee was shooting two fouls shots. Mike Rice was called for a technical after his first attempt. Ashton GIbbs then shot the two technical fouls before McGhee got his second attempt. Was that the source of confusion. I cannot remember specifically what the situation was during the Seton Hall game.

born2run: Enough of the Taylor at the 4 or 5, or the 3, 2, or 1 for that matter. It's time to start giving out T's to any reader who brings this topic up again. The kid is going to play where his coach thinks he most helps the team. It is a team sport, after all.

Ray Fittipaldo: I could not agree more. Quite frankly, I think J.J. Richardson deserves some of Taylor's minutes. But as I have mentioned before, that is a delicate situation for Dixon to handle. You don't want to completely discourage the kid. On the other hand, you have to give your team the best chance to win games.

Rich: Any updates on if J.J. Moore will qualify?

Ray Fittipaldo: I haven't heard anything recently. I think we'll probably get an update this spring when it should be more clear as to where he stands with his academics.

Send It In, Jerome!: In hindsight, do you think Jamie Dixon has second thoughts about not taking a chance on Herb Pope? He'd sure look good playing PF in a blue and gold uniform, and that would fix two of Pitt's vulnerable front-court lineup spots: his and SF (by allowing Gilbert Brown to slide down one slot). But if memory serves, wasn't there was a conflict between Pitt coaches and the kid's AAU coach, or some such?

Ray Fittipaldo: There was a lot of stuff going on with Pope's recruitment. He committed then decommitted. I don't think Jamie Dixon and J.O. Stright, Pope's AAU coach, have a great relationship, but Stright also coached DeJuan Blair. And Blair came to Pitt, of course. I think it had more to do with Pope's off-the-court problems. Even before he was shot and was arrested for driving under the influence he was not a great citizen at Aliquippa. He made some mistakes. And Dixon is not one to take a chance on players who have some character flaws.

Send It In, Jerome!: If you see Jamie Dixon, can you please slip him that crispy new sawbuck as "incentive" to please at least TRY putting Dante Taylor and Gary McGhee on the floor at the same time? Even if just for a few minutes to shake things up?

Ray Fittipaldo: I honestly do not know why people want to see that. I really don't. Dante has trouble defending opposing centers, so he's not going to be able to defend power forwards all of a sudden. The bottom line is he needs to get in better shape if he wants to contribute. And that's not going to happen until he has an offseason of rigorous training under his belt. He is out of shape and not strong enough. Period.

Jamie For President: I don't know, I thought it was something about who got the ball out but I might have been wrong. Nice of Pitt to allow a free internet broadcast of the game, though there doesn't seem to be any consistency as to when I can listen to games on Fox970 on the internet and when they're blocked. Can you shed any light on this as I have to get my broadcast in San Diego.

Ray Fittipaldo: I do know that 970 was off the air for a few days because of the storm, but I believe they repaired their signal and got back on the air yesterday.

Send It In, Jerome!: Punxy Phil saw his shadow last week: does that mean six more weeks of impressive Pitt road wins over 'Cuse, UConn, Cincy and the like? Or six more weeks of bad losses to WVU, SoFla, Indiana ????

Ray Fittipaldo: As I said before, I am encouraged that the offense seems to be coming around. I know Seton Hall is a bad defensive team and Robert Morris is Robert Morris, but they are sharing the ball more and less reliant on Ashton Gibbs. I'd like to think this team won't be as streaky in the final month, but you never know. This is the Big East and there is tough competition every night. I wrote somewhere in early January that Pitt might lose all five against Syracuse, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville and Georgetown. They won four of those. Maybe the Panthers will surprise us all again with another surge.

bubs: Ray - everyone seems to be asking about this possible Big Ten move with football in mind - obv. Big 10 hoops aren't as good as BE, but they aren't the NEC either. Last I checked they have more than a few good teams ...

Ray Fittipaldo: The Big Ten is not bad. It would just be very different. People are attached to the rivalries Pitt has established in the Big East. I think fans love the anticipation of playing Georgetown, Syracuse and Connecticut. There is a long history there of great games. People don't want to lose that. They don't want to go to the trouble of starting over after 30 years in a great basketball league. I understand the football league is bad, but people have deep attachments to Pitt and Big East basketball.

Bonnie: Which Pitt BB alum are doing fairly well in careers playing or coaching?

Ray Fittipaldo: DeJuan Blair is having a nice rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs as is Sam Young with the Memphis Grizzlies. Lots of guys from a few years back are playing overseas and doing very well, including Levance Fields, Tyrell Biggs and Chevy Troutman. As for coaches, Brandin Knight is on Jamie Dixon's staff. He is the only recent from recent teams who is involved in college coaching to my knowledge.

Send It In, Jerome!: Why the talk to get Dante Taylor on the floor? It's two-fold. From the team game, a 6-9 guy in the post should be able to out-rebound 6-5 PFs. Works in our favor with DT on the floor at 4, work against us with Gilbert Brown or Nasir Robinson at 4. USF and WVU killed us on the glass. But foremost, it's about recruiting. If DT understands and accepts his "demotion" and is willing to work to overcome it, fine, then nevermind. But if not he might transfer or (foolishly) enter the NBA draft, and cripple our chances for future McDonald's All-Americans.

Ray Fittipaldo: Dante Taylor hasn't exactly been a rebounding machine when he has played. Rebounding has nothing to do with what position you play. It's about desire and not being outworked. And if you did gain anything from having a 6-9 player on the floor to rebound you would lose the ability to defend because Taylor is a below average defender and most certainly cannot move his feet well enough to guard Big East power forwards. I'm sorry, but this is pretty cut and dried in my eyes.

Yuri_Demetris: Any update on the transfer front? Dwight Miller seems to be on his way out the door

Ray Fittipaldo: As I have said all season those things tend to work themselves out over the offseason. It's easy to speculate who might want to transfer because of lack of playing time, but nothing will happen until the season ends and Dixon has a chance to sit down and talk to each player about their futures in the program.

born2run: Is anyone keeping track of Gilbert Brown's pre-game diet? Maybe what he eats on game day is effecting his play, and adjustments need to be made. Seriously, has Dixon expressed any thoughts on this inconsistency?

Ray Fittipaldo: Dixon isn't hung up on scoring. He is looking more at how a player defends, passes, rebounds, etc. Scoring is part of it, but it's not everything. That being said, it is strange how Brown can be so good offensively one night and then almost invisible the next. Matchups have something to do with it, but Pitt does need a little more scoring consistency from Brown.

Yuri_Demetris: I know it was just garbage time, but Chase Adams proved last night that he can shoot. In a game against a team like RoMo why not at least TRY playing him just a little bit?

Ray Fittipaldo: Because the score was 39-33 at halftime and RMU controlled play for long portions of the first half. It's not exactly time to experiment. You have to win the game. Adams might be able to help the team in a game or two down the stretch, but he's not going to be a big part of the team's success. The coaching staff has decided that Tra Woodall is the better option and they are going with him for better or worse.

Jamie For President: Off the subject but, re: Big East football, with Wanny highlighting two more Pitt inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame I can see many BCS bids in the future.

Ray Fittipaldo: Really? I can almost guarantee you that the average 17-year old high school junior has no idea who Ricky Jackson or Russ Grimm is. And I don't think Dave Wannstedt will be using that as a sales pitch for his program. Jackson and Grimm played at Pitt 30 years ago. It's some nice publicity, but I highly doubt that it will help land blue-chippers.

pittfan08: You mentioned earlier that Dante Taylor is not strong enough and out of shape. Not strong enough I can see as you don't get stronger overnight, but is their any excuse for him being out of shape? Shouldn't he have been working with Pitt conditioning coaches all last summer to get in shape for the season?

Ray Fittipaldo: He arrived at Pitt in June. His mother was sick in the spring and he fell out of shape. He went home for a while to make sure she was OK. Yes, he should be in better shape now, butt he point is Pitt's strength and conditioning will have a full spring and summer to work with him instead of just a few months when he was badly out of shape to begin with.

Send It In, Jerome!: Hypothetical: the Big-10(11)(+1) invites Pitt to join. Do you predict we accept, for the money and football? or decline due to hoops?

Ray Fittipaldo: It would be hard to turn down for football and the money. For that reason, many people expect them to accept. But there should be no debate. It would not be good for the basketball. program.

Send It In, Jerome!: Early signing day having now passed, when is the next window for Maurice Walker to presumably sign a LOI?

Ray Fittipaldo: The spring signing period, which is in April sometime. Not sure of the exact date off the top of my head, but I believe it is a two-week period.

chicago_pitt_fan: I understand it's a delicate situation, but how can Richardson not play over Taylor, especially to show recruits and players that the best players play?

Ray Fittipaldo: There does come a point in time when the players lose complete confidence in Taylor. He has had opportunity after opportunity to prove himself and has shown little. Richardson, meanwhile, capitalized big-time on his only extended opportunity of the season against WVU. I agree with you. I think Richardson probably does deserve more minutes. Maybe we will see that develop soon.

BobL: Any more news or speculation on Gil Brown leaving after this season to play ball overseas?

Ray Fittipaldo: I have not heard that at all.

Send It In, Jerome!: To your earlier comment: "Dante has trouble defending opposing centers, so he's not going to be able to defend power forwards all of a sudden." With respect, that doesn't make sense to me. If I cannot push a train, that doesn't mean I cannot push a car. In other words, maybe DT would fare better against smaller & lighter (albeit quicker, unfortunately) PFs. Re-thoughts?

Ray Fittipaldo: He might fare better against smaller and lighter players in terms of rebounding, but those same players would go right around him and score easy baskets. That was my point. He does not have the foot speed, athleticism or endurance to play power forward yet.

Send It In, Jerome!: Is it me, or has Gary McGhee suddenly caught "A-Gray Fever"? Rather than powering back up with high-percentage dunks (like he was before), he's trying to finesse put-back bunnies, which are less certain and (obviously) blockable.

Ray Fittipaldo: He has trouble finishing. He has had all season. McGhee can dunk when he is wide open, but he has to use a little finesse around the hoop when he is being guarded. In those situations he sometimes struggles a la Aaron Gray. The only difference with Gray was he was able to get a lot of his own rebounds and score after missing. McGhee does not do that as much.

BobL: Wny are we not seeing more of JJ Richardson? He seems to have a much better feel for playing with his back to the basket then Taylor and a much better overall presence then McGhee?

Ray Fittipaldo: Let's slow things down on Richardson a bit. He had one really nice game against WVU. He's not better than McGhee at this point. Does he deserve more playing time? Yes, I believe so. But he's not going to supplant McGhee from the starting lineup.

Send It In, Jerome!: Two more wins makes 20 and a .500 league record. Is that enough to punch our ticket to get in the Big Dance, thus to pay back WVU fans chanting "NIT???NIT???NIT???" as last week's send-off? Do you see two more wins, and against whom? Rutgers and St.Johns Part Deux seem to be our best chances.

Ray Fittipaldo: I think three more wins gets it done. Pitt can get those against any of the remaining teams but the most likely candidates appear to be Providence, Rutgers and St. John's. I think a 10-8 Big East record would be good enough to get in because Pitt has an RPI of about 20 right now. It won't go down all that much even if the Panthers lost at home to highly ranked WVU and Villanova and on the road against Notre Dame and Marquette.

Jamie For President: Maybe we ought to get these recruits to enroll in the second half of their H/S year and get them in early as is happening in football. That way they can get 6-8 months of weight training in before the season starts?

Ray Fittipaldo: The only problem with that is that they're still playing high school basketball at that time.

Send It In, Jerome!: Something I've always wondered: in those instances under the basket where guys try to tip back misses 3-4 (or more) times Whether he finally succeeds or not, are all those touches counted in his / team's shooting percentage? Or just one?

Ray Fittipaldo: They all count as shot attempts although that is at the discretion of the statisticians.

Ray Fittipaldo: Thanks for participating this week. We'll do it again next Tuesday. Enjoy the Backyard Brawl Round 2.

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