I'm guessing Pitt's Dejaun Blair is vaguely familiar with the 80's band The Clash and their 1981 hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go". Soon, the 6-6 sophomore will have to ask himself that very question about whether or not to leave his beloved Pitt and apply for the 2009 NBA draft.
The question is where would Blair go in the draft? Is he a first rounder? Is he a lottery pick? The answer could surely affect his decision but it wouldn't necessarily be the only factor.
There are plenty of reasons for Blair to stay in school. First and foremost, Blair is from Pittsburgh. He went to Schenley High School about a mile from the University of Pittsburgh campus. His upbeat personality combined with his on the court exploits could make Blair one of the city's most famous sons but Pittsburgh doesn't even have an NBA franchise so he may decide to stay home as long as possible.
Some people didn't feel like Blair, at 6-6, was big enough to be effective in major college basketball, especially the rough and tumble Big East conference. Perhaps they didn't take into account his 7-foot wing span or the tenacity that makes Blair college basketball's best offensive rebounder. His loyalty to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon could well be another factor in his decision.
After last season, Pitt forward Sam Young was faced with the same question. Young elected to stay and now teams with Blair to form one of the nations best tandems on one of the nation's best teams. Young, a senior, will no doubt go in the first round of the 2009 draft.
There's no doubt, Blair is under-sized yet the list of taller big men whom Blair has outplayed continues to grow. Blair has erased the doubt in the minds of those who didn't think he could dominate D1 hoops but now the same sorts of questions will arise about his ability to do the same thing in the pros.
I haven't seen all of the NBA prospects. Indeed, I don't watch as much college basketball as I'd like to and I know practically nothing about the European players which creep their way into the draft every year. I watch Pitt religiously and I'll catch a few other games during the course of the season but until March Madness gets underway, my viewing oppurtunities are limited. From what I've seen though, I'd consider Blair as the #1 pick overall. No one, with the exception of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, another sophomore, is dominating the college game the way Blair is.
One NBA mock draft I found on the internet had Griffin going #1 overall while Blair was way down the list at #23. Granted, the NBA draft is about "upside", a term used to describe what a player will or could be rather than what he currently is. In the same mock draft that had Griffin going #1, UConn's Haseem Thabeet, all 7-3 inches of him, was penciled it at #2. For those of you who saw Pitt and Blair dismantle Thabeet and his Huskies this past Monday, you might question that assessment. Let's just say it's easier to imagine someone 7-3 developing into an NBA star ahead of someone who's 6-6.
Still, some of the players on the list ahead of Blair are ridiculous(Arizona's Chase Budinger?). I have a hard time imagining there are 22 players out there I'd rather have on my NBA team than Blair. The problem for those who search too hard for upside is they sometimes forget to see what's already there.
Success at the college level doesn't necessarily equate to success in the pros. Duke's JJ Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison are two recent players that come to mind. They were in programs which took maximum advantage of their skill sets and I'm surprised they were drafted as high as they were(Morrison #3, Redick #11 in 2006). A long, NBA like body, also doesn't guarantee NBA success(Patrick O'Bryant, Saer Sene, and Hilton Armstrong-#'s 9,10, and 12 from 2006).
NBA teams would be wise to look closely at Blair. Look at what he's done, how quickly he's improved. As a Pitt fan, I certainly don't want him to leave for the pros, but when he does, I've begun to expect him to gobble up offensive rebounds by the dozen, put in the easy put backs, and continue to display the work ethic, attitude, and selflessness that make him an excellent teammate.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Pitt beats up UConn
There's no truth to the rumor a member of the XL Center janitorial staff in Hartford picked up Hasheem Thabeet's ulna bone off the court after Monday's game against Pitt but it was a little scary to see the ferocity with which Pitt's Dejaun Blair ripped down a rebound with Thabeet's arm caught in the proverbial cookie jar. The sheer force of Blair securing the ball lifted Thabeet completely off the ground, up and over Blair's head where he landed, hard, on the other side. Free advice to Big East big men: if you're contesting D.Blair for a rebound and he gets his hands on the ball, scream "you, you, you" and run down to the other end.
Blair finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds and Sudden Sam Young led the Panthers with 25 points to help the Panthers upset #1 ranked Connecticut on the road 76-68, the first time Pitt had beaten a #1 ranked team.
Levance Fields, held scoreless most of the game, came to life with back to back treys late in the game. Fields leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio, an underappreciated statistic ignored by the casual fan. The form on Fields jumper is far from perfect but the senior never fails to rise to the occasion. He had a couple of shaky possessions down the stretch yesterday but he also hit the aforementioned three pointers. The fact is the ball will end up in his hands down the stretch of a close game and he's proven time and again he'll make the right decision.
The difference though between Pitt now and Pitt early in the season is the maturation of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon. Dixon has gotten better in Big East play and he's just what Pitt needed, a ball handling athletic shooter who can take some ballhandling pressure off Fields and/or hit a big three as he did late against the Huskies.
Right now, this Pitt team looks like a #1 seed but with games against Marquette and UConn again before heading into the Big East tournament, their work isn't done. Still, I can't help but imagine a Pitt-Oklahoma game with Blair and fellow sophomore Blake Griffin flexing their games with the national championship on the line. Don't bet against the man who will most likely be the mayor of Pittsburgh when his playing days are over. Pitt's first local recruit in years, Blair is a great teammate according to Coach Dixon, but he is absolutely not a great opponent, just ask Hasheem Thabeet.
Blair finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds and Sudden Sam Young led the Panthers with 25 points to help the Panthers upset #1 ranked Connecticut on the road 76-68, the first time Pitt had beaten a #1 ranked team.
Levance Fields, held scoreless most of the game, came to life with back to back treys late in the game. Fields leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio, an underappreciated statistic ignored by the casual fan. The form on Fields jumper is far from perfect but the senior never fails to rise to the occasion. He had a couple of shaky possessions down the stretch yesterday but he also hit the aforementioned three pointers. The fact is the ball will end up in his hands down the stretch of a close game and he's proven time and again he'll make the right decision.
The difference though between Pitt now and Pitt early in the season is the maturation of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon. Dixon has gotten better in Big East play and he's just what Pitt needed, a ball handling athletic shooter who can take some ballhandling pressure off Fields and/or hit a big three as he did late against the Huskies.
Right now, this Pitt team looks like a #1 seed but with games against Marquette and UConn again before heading into the Big East tournament, their work isn't done. Still, I can't help but imagine a Pitt-Oklahoma game with Blair and fellow sophomore Blake Griffin flexing their games with the national championship on the line. Don't bet against the man who will most likely be the mayor of Pittsburgh when his playing days are over. Pitt's first local recruit in years, Blair is a great teammate according to Coach Dixon, but he is absolutely not a great opponent, just ask Hasheem Thabeet.
Monday, February 16, 2009
My Favorite Sports Movie
It's pouring! It doesn't pour often in Los Angeles. Being so close to Hollywood, we automatically migrate to our local movie theaters on a rainy day. I got out of actually seeing "Confessions of a Shopaholic" at my daughter's 10th birthday party yesterday. First, I had to wait outside for a late arriving guest. The cake and gift bags needed to be taken to Fuddrucker's which didn't open up for a half hour after the movie started. My friend Gerry was with me after dropping off his daughter for the movie and there was already a 3 to 1 adult-child ratio since two of the moms couldn't wait to see it.
Now had there been a great sports movie on the schedule instead of "Shopaholic" I might not have ended up drinking Bloody Mary's at Barney's Beanery. Why are there so few really great sports movies? Sure, you've got Rocky, Hoosiers, Pride of the Yankees, Bad News Bears(the one with Matthau and O'Neal as if there was any doubt). I enjoyed "Cinderella Man" immensely and I'm still hurt it wasn't one of the favorites for "Best Picture" the year it came out. You see, I lost $50.00 on an internet gambling site betting on it to win the award at a good number.
I'm not writing about "Cinderella Man" today however. The movie I'm touting is not very well known. It came out in 1986. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the film is it has not one, but two major stars. It's titled "Best of Times". I'd like to start a fan club for this film and turn it into a cult classic. Maybe someday we can dress up like members of the cast and have a big viewing party or a "wrap party". Ok, sorry, too exuberant.
The movie is set in central California oil country, specifically the towns of Bakersfield and neighboring Taft between whom exists a lopsided high school football rivalry in Bakersfield's favor. Kurt Russell plays Reno Hightower, Taft's star quarterback from 1972. Reno's buddy, Jack Dundee played by Robin Williams is trying to garner support for a rematch of the 1972 game between the two schools in which Taft was poised to upset Bakersfield but a beautifully thrown bomb by Hightower in the games waning seconds fell innocently to the turf after slipping right through the hands of Dundee.
Everyone's moved on except for Dundee who manages to convince the Taft misfits including good friend Hightower. Russell's portrayal of Hightower is excellent. He manages to come off humble, not cocky, but confident. He's lukewarm at best, at least until halftime of the actual rematch. With Taft getting smacked in the mouth, embarrassed, and humiliated by arrogant Bakersfield, Reno decides to put on his old white cleats for the second half and leads Taft to a second half comeback.
The football scenes are so-so. Criticisms can certainly be made. The Bakersfield domination depicted in the first half would have led to a far greater lead than the 20-0 score we're given in the movie. Still, I enjoyed it enough to buy a copy and Reno Hightower gets my vote for best fictional sports name of all time. So, if it's ever raining in your neighborhood you could probably do worse than "Best of Times".
Now had there been a great sports movie on the schedule instead of "Shopaholic" I might not have ended up drinking Bloody Mary's at Barney's Beanery. Why are there so few really great sports movies? Sure, you've got Rocky, Hoosiers, Pride of the Yankees, Bad News Bears(the one with Matthau and O'Neal as if there was any doubt). I enjoyed "Cinderella Man" immensely and I'm still hurt it wasn't one of the favorites for "Best Picture" the year it came out. You see, I lost $50.00 on an internet gambling site betting on it to win the award at a good number.
I'm not writing about "Cinderella Man" today however. The movie I'm touting is not very well known. It came out in 1986. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the film is it has not one, but two major stars. It's titled "Best of Times". I'd like to start a fan club for this film and turn it into a cult classic. Maybe someday we can dress up like members of the cast and have a big viewing party or a "wrap party". Ok, sorry, too exuberant.
The movie is set in central California oil country, specifically the towns of Bakersfield and neighboring Taft between whom exists a lopsided high school football rivalry in Bakersfield's favor. Kurt Russell plays Reno Hightower, Taft's star quarterback from 1972. Reno's buddy, Jack Dundee played by Robin Williams is trying to garner support for a rematch of the 1972 game between the two schools in which Taft was poised to upset Bakersfield but a beautifully thrown bomb by Hightower in the games waning seconds fell innocently to the turf after slipping right through the hands of Dundee.
Everyone's moved on except for Dundee who manages to convince the Taft misfits including good friend Hightower. Russell's portrayal of Hightower is excellent. He manages to come off humble, not cocky, but confident. He's lukewarm at best, at least until halftime of the actual rematch. With Taft getting smacked in the mouth, embarrassed, and humiliated by arrogant Bakersfield, Reno decides to put on his old white cleats for the second half and leads Taft to a second half comeback.
The football scenes are so-so. Criticisms can certainly be made. The Bakersfield domination depicted in the first half would have led to a far greater lead than the 20-0 score we're given in the movie. Still, I enjoyed it enough to buy a copy and Reno Hightower gets my vote for best fictional sports name of all time. So, if it's ever raining in your neighborhood you could probably do worse than "Best of Times".
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Welcome to my blog. My name is Perry Suppa. I am and always have been a bit of a sports geek. I'm in a fantasy league for each of the 4 majors. The only 4 majors. I'll watch Tiger in a golf major or a Federer-Nadal final but there are 4 major team sports, basketball, hockey, baseball and football in no particular order.
As for my street cred, I was a 3 year varsity basketball player at Notre Dame High School, one of only two players to play alongside both Nigel Miguel, class of 81' and Jamie Dixon 83'. If Jamie's name sounds familiar, it's because he's the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, currently the #4 team in the nation.
Yesterday, Pitt defeated the University of Cincinnati. In truth, they put on a show. That show appealed to both basketball purists and the hyperbolic park-pick-up game crowd.
There was a sequence where Pitt worked the ball around the perimeter, including a textbook bounce pass into sophomore superstar Dejuan Blair after which Blair refusing to force a bad shot, kicked the ball back out. Two passes later a Bearcat defender lost sight of Gilbert Brown for a moment, he motioned to point guard Levance Fields and Fields through a slick lob pass to the rim for the emphatic slam.
Minutes later all 5 Pitt players were in the lane as a defensive rebound came off. Somehow they broke out 3 on 1 and it was Fields again finding Sam Young shooting down the middle for an even more EMPHATIC SLAM.
Ok, your favorite player is Tim Duncan. Maybe you'd like the play where Pitt went around the horn as if all 5 players needed to touch the ball before a shot went up, which culminated in a Tyrell Biggs three.
Pitt got me so darn fired up yesterday. Incidentally, my high school sweetheart was Charli Turner Thorne, the women's basketball coach at Arizona St, and I taped the Pitt game because I took my daughter's 4th grade basketball team to see the Sun Devils beat UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, thanks to tickets from Charli.
It's pretty amazing to think two of the people I was closest to in high school, actually 3 if you count Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell, a teammate and friend as well, have reached such great heights in the sports world. I'd like to think my presence helped them in their journeys. Indeed, mix a healthy dose of alcohol into the equation and I often become solely responsible for their success.
I'm certain all 3 would attest to the fact I'm a true sports geek, pure and simple. That sports love has fostered a love for fantasy sports.
People ask me all the time "what's your favorite team?" Except for Pitt(men) and ASU(women) in college hoops, I'm not really a diehard fan of any team. I hop on any bandwagon that appeals to me; the Chargers(my older brother's team), UCLA men(a favorite both before and after Jamie's mentor-Ben Howland got the job), the Lakers(I live in Los Angeles and grew up a fan but I'm honest enough with myself to know that I love the Lakers over the Cavs but prefer Lebron James to Kobe).
My real favorite team is the Corleone Family, the name I've adopted for all 4 of my fantasy teams. I follow the players on my roster as well as "scout" other players in order to assess their value. I won my football league and both my hockey and basketball teams are in first place right now so I definitely have some fantasy game.
I hope you enjoy my blog. Thanks for reading.
As for my street cred, I was a 3 year varsity basketball player at Notre Dame High School, one of only two players to play alongside both Nigel Miguel, class of 81' and Jamie Dixon 83'. If Jamie's name sounds familiar, it's because he's the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, currently the #4 team in the nation.
Yesterday, Pitt defeated the University of Cincinnati. In truth, they put on a show. That show appealed to both basketball purists and the hyperbolic park-pick-up game crowd.
There was a sequence where Pitt worked the ball around the perimeter, including a textbook bounce pass into sophomore superstar Dejuan Blair after which Blair refusing to force a bad shot, kicked the ball back out. Two passes later a Bearcat defender lost sight of Gilbert Brown for a moment, he motioned to point guard Levance Fields and Fields through a slick lob pass to the rim for the emphatic slam.
Minutes later all 5 Pitt players were in the lane as a defensive rebound came off. Somehow they broke out 3 on 1 and it was Fields again finding Sam Young shooting down the middle for an even more EMPHATIC SLAM.
Ok, your favorite player is Tim Duncan. Maybe you'd like the play where Pitt went around the horn as if all 5 players needed to touch the ball before a shot went up, which culminated in a Tyrell Biggs three.
Pitt got me so darn fired up yesterday. Incidentally, my high school sweetheart was Charli Turner Thorne, the women's basketball coach at Arizona St, and I taped the Pitt game because I took my daughter's 4th grade basketball team to see the Sun Devils beat UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, thanks to tickets from Charli.
It's pretty amazing to think two of the people I was closest to in high school, actually 3 if you count Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell, a teammate and friend as well, have reached such great heights in the sports world. I'd like to think my presence helped them in their journeys. Indeed, mix a healthy dose of alcohol into the equation and I often become solely responsible for their success.
I'm certain all 3 would attest to the fact I'm a true sports geek, pure and simple. That sports love has fostered a love for fantasy sports.
People ask me all the time "what's your favorite team?" Except for Pitt(men) and ASU(women) in college hoops, I'm not really a diehard fan of any team. I hop on any bandwagon that appeals to me; the Chargers(my older brother's team), UCLA men(a favorite both before and after Jamie's mentor-Ben Howland got the job), the Lakers(I live in Los Angeles and grew up a fan but I'm honest enough with myself to know that I love the Lakers over the Cavs but prefer Lebron James to Kobe).
My real favorite team is the Corleone Family, the name I've adopted for all 4 of my fantasy teams. I follow the players on my roster as well as "scout" other players in order to assess their value. I won my football league and both my hockey and basketball teams are in first place right now so I definitely have some fantasy game.
I hope you enjoy my blog. Thanks for reading.
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