DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m., in the immediate aftermath of the Mike Tomlin press conference, and offers you a chance to dictate the discussion.
The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit it early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.
UPDATE 1 p.m.: Here we go …
tonyreda8: With the Steelers’ showing this past week vs. the Colts, can you see them taking a similar approach from here on out of possessing the ball to keep their suspect defense off of the field? I feel like that may be their best approach.
DK: Well, foremost on this topic, Tony, Tomlin just stated in his press conference that there was no real tactical or philosophical switch for the Indianapolis game. To quote the coach, “It might have looked like we were more aggressive because of the way some things played out,” but he added that it had more to do with what Indianapolis gave.
Yikes, no. And I can’t imagine who falls for this stuff.
The Steelers threw the ball downfield. We can count yards. We can watch the ball travel through the air. It doesn’t take a Vince Lombardi degree in Football 101 to see that this team was demonstrably — and yes, deliberately — more aggressive in its approach.
But hey, if they want to deny it and continue talking about time of possession and still put up 51 points … go nuts, right?
GVBurgher: Now that it’s excruciatingly obvious to everybody that Cortez Allen has no confidence, can’t cover anybody and is signed for five years, how exactly do you go about building that confidence back up without actually putting him on the field in a real game? Or do you give up and drop him?
DK: I would say that Allen can’t go any lower, but then he just proved that wrong. So I’ll reiterate here, as strongly as the first time yesterday, that he absolutely has no business being on the field against Baltimore. And if he is, that would reflect terribly on Tomlin and his staff, not least of which would be to the rest of the roster that would be trying to win a very, very big game.
Based on recent precedent, I thought we might hear Tomlin come right out and say today that Allen would be benched. He didn’t. In fact, he didn’t come close, even after four questions on the topic.
No point in fuming over something that hasn’t yet happened, but man, if it does …
Newton: Is Olli Maatta some sort of mutant? How else could he return from offseason shoulder surgery with minimal training camp, and be the Pens’ most consistent d-man, all the while knowing he might have cancer! The kid is incredible.
DK: He’s all that and more, and longtime readers will know these aren’t platitudes I’ll offer just because Maatta has run into a serious health issue.
He’s special. I’ve said that from the first day I watched him in camp drills last summer, and he’s only gone above and beyond since.
Nowhere did he impress me more than in Sochi, though, with all due respect to the current situation. His first day or two in Russia, he flat-out admitted to being flustered by the presence of all the great players on the Finnish team, headed, of course, by Teemu Selanne. He was blown away by Sami Salo, the old vet, being his roommate. “This is just so crazy, so much,” he told me after the Finns’ first practice at the Bolshoy Ice Dome. But then, he went out and did what he always does and was among the smoothest, calmest — and yet, ironically as ever, most aggressive — players in the tournament on the blue line. Olli Jokinen went so far as to say that Maatta was “the player we’ve been waiting for” as next in line after Selanne.
I mean, wow.
So here he is, with a bit of a bum shoulder and a little lump in his throat that needs to be addressed. You can see that’s how he’s treating it, how he’s planning to get through it. And you’d better believe that’s his reality.
jtusk64: Hi, Dejan. No real question here, just a note to keep a couple of athletes and their families in thoughts and prayers. For Olli with his surgery, and Oscar Taveras passing in a car accident. Just a reminder that athletes aren’t immune to everyday issues.
DK: Well done.
Kevin: What is up with Pitt not wanting to play West Virginia in football? Seems like a no-brainer, one of the few times they sell out a game.
DK: It’s funny, Kevin, that for all the far-fetched, nonsensical ideas that get thrown around to boost attendance — let’s build a new Pitt stadium on hospital rooftops! — the most obvious one goes willfully ignored by Steve Pederson. And make no mistake: That decision begins and ends right there, not in Morgantown. The Mountaineers would welcome having Pitt in both football and basketball, but Pederson seems to have this vision of somehow expelling West Virginia from the local scene, perhaps with an aim of drawing a hard line in recruiting. And for what it’s worth, Pederson and Jamie Dixon appear to be on the same page here. Not sure about Paul Chryst, as he’s still a little new to this.
Denying a natural rivalry is a losing proposition. Denying one that’s a guaranteed sellout and regional conversation point is a suicidal proposition from a program standpoint.
Tom: You seem to quote Pro Football Focus grades a lot in your columns. Can you shed some light on what goes into those grades and what those numbers actually mean? Seems like it’d be tough to grade someone without knowing what their assignment was on any given play.
DK: No football grades are perfect, but then, neither are even the most intricate of statistical measures, no matter what some might have you believe. There’s almost always a hidden variable in any play, things we’ll never see or know even from asking.
The PFF staff spends close to 24 hours reviewing the ‘All 32′ film that the NFL began making public two years ago — at a significant fee — and breaking down the performance of every player on the field in a broad array of categories. It’s amazing work and, I dare say, well worth the $27 annual subscription if you’re a football fan. (No, I don’t know those guys or get anything from shilling.)
I try not to present their information as gospel, same as I don’t with hockey (which still doesn’t have advanced metrics worth squat, unless your next Hart Trophy winner is Tyler Kennedy) or baseball (which does and is about to get a whole lot better with hit/pitch trajectory tracking). But it’s a good, consistent brand, and I find that it adds a good amount of color to our weekly Steelers PATs sessions.
seantcampbell3: Early in the season, are there any components to the Penguins’ game that you think they should continue doing, stop doing, or start doing?
DK: I haven’t exactly kept it a secret that I love Mike Johnston’s system and how it can fit this particular group, but I’ve also seen signs these two weeks that it’ll take some longer than others to either buy in or adjust or, plain and simple, play better.
Evgeni Malkin is hardly pouting on the ice, but it’s easy to see that some facets are still work for him. Which is fine. He played Dan Bylsma’s system for half a decade, then missed all of this training camp. It’s to be expected, to an extent. So long as he keeps from using that as a crutch every time things go south.
It’s fair to put Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and some of the other long-timers in the same bracket, for that matter. It isn’t easy.
But the biggest issue I’ve seen that’s been a minus has been a couple of guys who are just flat-out playing poorly, notably Craig Adams and Christian Ehrhoff. Paul Martin hasn’t been much better, for that matter. Eventually, that gets isolated from the systematic stuff, and we’re getting there. Sure, the system is new for those guys, too — and Ehrhoff actually came from a Buffalo team that might not have any system at all! — but their individual decisions with the puck or, in Adams’ case, inability to get the puck to make a decision in the first place, that’s getting glaring.
We’ll see. Still early. But you asked.
benschmitt: Dejan: What are your thoughts on Tomlin’s explanation for not trying for the passing yards record Sunday?
DK: It’s a little hard to believe, but I’m not prepared to accuse him of lying about it, either. The NFL’s passing record has stood since 1951 and, while it’s not exactly Babe Ruth’s 714 in sporting annals, it’s fairly well known. Besides, once your QB crosses 500, it’s probably a logical reflex to turn to someone nearby and say, man, is this getting close to some kind of record?
At the same time, I was one of the few souls in town that didn’t make a big deal of the Antonio Brown 5/50 affair in Cleveland, and I’m not about to do that here as it relates to Ben Roethlisberger. It would have been nice, but it doesn’t — and shouldn’t — dwarf what actually did take place Sunday.
partspoke: I think the Pirates MUST sight Russ Martin BEFORE he hits the open market.(qualifying offers are out 5 days after end of Series) Have the Bucs already made an offer of at least 4yrs 60mil to Russ? If so, will he take it or will he walk?
DK: Not exactly breaking fresh ground here, but I get it. People want Martin signed. So do I. And in the interim, there really isn’t much to discuss because, if there’s one thing I know for sure about Neal Huntington, it’s that he hates agents leaking stuff.
Really, he’ll outwardly chastise agents if he sees any aspects of discussions getting reported, especially if it’s transparent that such information could only have come from that party.
So what we’ve continued to see here in recent days, since Martin’s agency can’t seem to control itself in this regard, are these continued tricklings of nuggets to national baseball reporters, presumably with the idea that this is OK because at least it’s not directly involving Pittsburgh. Expect to see more of that in the days ahead. And expect almost all of it to paint Martin’s imminent exit based on uber-billions of dollars awaiting in a greener pasture.
Oh, and hey, here’s another one this morning from ESPN’s Buster Olney describing Martin as the ‘Lamborghini of the catching market.’
FreddieH: Do you see Pitt keeping Chryst for another season? After a 6-7 season, 7-6 season, and currently 4-4, does he deserve a 4th season? Also, will you be covering Pitt basketball?
DK: Chryst isn’t going anywhere after this season, Freddie, and I don’t think it’s an issue at all. Certainly not yet. He hasn’t recruited brilliantly, but he’s done OK. He hasn’t coached brilliantly, but he’s done OK. That’s not to suggest that OK is good enough, at Pitt or anywhere, but, rather, to emphasize that it takes more than a couple years to get everything the way you want.
As we speak, the Panthers’ two best players, Tyler Boyd and James Conner, are sophomores. So is Chad Voytik at the most important position. And the roster as a whole is the youngest in the NCAA. I still feel the program’s most glaring need is an elite quarterback, and that it won’t go anywhere meaningful without one. But I’m willing to give this broader outlook another year before wailing any sirens.
Oh, and yes, I will be covering Pitt basketball. Probably more than most people will like, actually. I’ve shared this before, but being around that program is as much fun as anything on this gig.
Mtnwood: DK, do you see more site traffic after a Steelers win or a horrible loss? I admit that I tend to be a glass-half-empty Steelers fan and am a much more voracious reader on Monday morning after a poor showing.
DK: I love your honesty, man, and you are, indeed, the norm. Steelers fans will crush the site after a loss like the one to Tampa Bay and go deathly silent after a game like yesterday in which there’s only poor Cortez to pick on. Not sure what that says about the franchise’s fans, but feel free to read into it as you wish.
For what it’s worth, Pirates fans are the polar opposite. If things are great, they come in droves. If they aren’t — and you rip the team for it — the two-decades-in-the-making persecution complex of the local baseball fan comes out full-bore because, a-ha!, you must hate the Pirates to be criticizing them!
The only fans who come rain or shine are Penguins fans. No difference, good or bad. Almost no complaints about the coverage tone, whether upbeat or negative.
One of many neat things about this site, to be honest, has being able to see all these things play out numerically by viewing the data.
heismano1: I’m getting goose bumps just imagining how the atmosphere will be for the Joe Greene ceremony on Sunday Night. How much does he really mean to the Steelers and Pittsburgh?
DK: Totally with you on that. Really looking forward to this. Reporters get all hardened and crusty over the years, but there’s nothing that brings out my inner child like the 1970s Steelers. And Greene always was, always will be at the head of that class. He got it all started. And he followed through with what, in my estimation, anyway, is the greatest NFL career of any player with the Steelers.
The only way the night could be any better for the home side, aside from the obvious beating of Baltimore, would be if they opted to wear the bumblebees forever!
Thanks to all for participating! Good stuff today!
I’ll be at Consol tonight for Penguins-Devils. Full column to follow.
October 28, 2014
Tuesday 12 Qs: Cortez, Olli, Russ, Pitt-WVU
by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Pirates, Pitt, Steelers, West Virginia
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit it early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.
UPDATE 1 p.m.: Here we go …
tonyreda8: With the Steelers’ showing this past week vs. the Colts, can you see them taking a similar approach from here on out of possessing the ball to keep their suspect defense off of the field? I feel like that may be their best approach.
DK: Well, foremost on this topic, Tony, Tomlin just stated in his press conference that there was no real tactical or philosophical switch for the Indianapolis game. To quote the coach, “It might have looked like we were more aggressive because of the way some things played out,” but he added that it had more to do with what Indianapolis gave.
Yikes, no. And I can’t imagine who falls for this stuff.
The Steelers threw the ball downfield. We can count yards. We can watch the ball travel through the air. It doesn’t take a Vince Lombardi degree in Football 101 to see that this team was demonstrably — and yes, deliberately — more aggressive in its approach.
But hey, if they want to deny it and continue talking about time of possession and still put up 51 points … go nuts, right?
GVBurgher: Now that it’s excruciatingly obvious to everybody that Cortez Allen has no confidence, can’t cover anybody and is signed for five years, how exactly do you go about building that confidence back up without actually putting him on the field in a real game? Or do you give up and drop him?
DK: I would say that Allen can’t go any lower, but then he just proved that wrong. So I’ll reiterate here, as strongly as the first time yesterday, that he absolutely has no business being on the field against Baltimore. And if he is, that would reflect terribly on Tomlin and his staff, not least of which would be to the rest of the roster that would be trying to win a very, very big game.
Based on recent precedent, I thought we might hear Tomlin come right out and say today that Allen would be benched. He didn’t. In fact, he didn’t come close, even after four questions on the topic.
No point in fuming over something that hasn’t yet happened, but man, if it does …
Newton: Is Olli Maatta some sort of mutant? How else could he return from offseason shoulder surgery with minimal training camp, and be the Pens’ most consistent d-man, all the while knowing he might have cancer! The kid is incredible.
DK: He’s all that and more, and longtime readers will know these aren’t platitudes I’ll offer just because Maatta has run into a serious health issue.
He’s special. I’ve said that from the first day I watched him in camp drills last summer, and he’s only gone above and beyond since.
Nowhere did he impress me more than in Sochi, though, with all due respect to the current situation. His first day or two in Russia, he flat-out admitted to being flustered by the presence of all the great players on the Finnish team, headed, of course, by Teemu Selanne. He was blown away by Sami Salo, the old vet, being his roommate. “This is just so crazy, so much,” he told me after the Finns’ first practice at the Bolshoy Ice Dome. But then, he went out and did what he always does and was among the smoothest, calmest — and yet, ironically as ever, most aggressive — players in the tournament on the blue line. Olli Jokinen went so far as to say that Maatta was “the player we’ve been waiting for” as next in line after Selanne.
I mean, wow.
So here he is, with a bit of a bum shoulder and a little lump in his throat that needs to be addressed. You can see that’s how he’s treating it, how he’s planning to get through it. And you’d better believe that’s his reality.
jtusk64: Hi, Dejan. No real question here, just a note to keep a couple of athletes and their families in thoughts and prayers. For Olli with his surgery, and Oscar Taveras passing in a car accident. Just a reminder that athletes aren’t immune to everyday issues.
DK: Well done.
Kevin: What is up with Pitt not wanting to play West Virginia in football? Seems like a no-brainer, one of the few times they sell out a game.
DK: It’s funny, Kevin, that for all the far-fetched, nonsensical ideas that get thrown around to boost attendance — let’s build a new Pitt stadium on hospital rooftops! — the most obvious one goes willfully ignored by Steve Pederson. And make no mistake: That decision begins and ends right there, not in Morgantown. The Mountaineers would welcome having Pitt in both football and basketball, but Pederson seems to have this vision of somehow expelling West Virginia from the local scene, perhaps with an aim of drawing a hard line in recruiting. And for what it’s worth, Pederson and Jamie Dixon appear to be on the same page here. Not sure about Paul Chryst, as he’s still a little new to this.
Denying a natural rivalry is a losing proposition. Denying one that’s a guaranteed sellout and regional conversation point is a suicidal proposition from a program standpoint.
Tom: You seem to quote Pro Football Focus grades a lot in your columns. Can you shed some light on what goes into those grades and what those numbers actually mean? Seems like it’d be tough to grade someone without knowing what their assignment was on any given play.
DK: No football grades are perfect, but then, neither are even the most intricate of statistical measures, no matter what some might have you believe. There’s almost always a hidden variable in any play, things we’ll never see or know even from asking.
The PFF staff spends close to 24 hours reviewing the ‘All 32′ film that the NFL began making public two years ago — at a significant fee — and breaking down the performance of every player on the field in a broad array of categories. It’s amazing work and, I dare say, well worth the $27 annual subscription if you’re a football fan. (No, I don’t know those guys or get anything from shilling.)
I try not to present their information as gospel, same as I don’t with hockey (which still doesn’t have advanced metrics worth squat, unless your next Hart Trophy winner is Tyler Kennedy) or baseball (which does and is about to get a whole lot better with hit/pitch trajectory tracking). But it’s a good, consistent brand, and I find that it adds a good amount of color to our weekly Steelers PATs sessions.
seantcampbell3: Early in the season, are there any components to the Penguins’ game that you think they should continue doing, stop doing, or start doing?
DK: I haven’t exactly kept it a secret that I love Mike Johnston’s system and how it can fit this particular group, but I’ve also seen signs these two weeks that it’ll take some longer than others to either buy in or adjust or, plain and simple, play better.
Evgeni Malkin is hardly pouting on the ice, but it’s easy to see that some facets are still work for him. Which is fine. He played Dan Bylsma’s system for half a decade, then missed all of this training camp. It’s to be expected, to an extent. So long as he keeps from using that as a crutch every time things go south.
It’s fair to put Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and some of the other long-timers in the same bracket, for that matter. It isn’t easy.
But the biggest issue I’ve seen that’s been a minus has been a couple of guys who are just flat-out playing poorly, notably Craig Adams and Christian Ehrhoff. Paul Martin hasn’t been much better, for that matter. Eventually, that gets isolated from the systematic stuff, and we’re getting there. Sure, the system is new for those guys, too — and Ehrhoff actually came from a Buffalo team that might not have any system at all! — but their individual decisions with the puck or, in Adams’ case, inability to get the puck to make a decision in the first place, that’s getting glaring.
We’ll see. Still early. But you asked.
benschmitt: Dejan: What are your thoughts on Tomlin’s explanation for not trying for the passing yards record Sunday?
DK: It’s a little hard to believe, but I’m not prepared to accuse him of lying about it, either. The NFL’s passing record has stood since 1951 and, while it’s not exactly Babe Ruth’s 714 in sporting annals, it’s fairly well known. Besides, once your QB crosses 500, it’s probably a logical reflex to turn to someone nearby and say, man, is this getting close to some kind of record?
At the same time, I was one of the few souls in town that didn’t make a big deal of the Antonio Brown 5/50 affair in Cleveland, and I’m not about to do that here as it relates to Ben Roethlisberger. It would have been nice, but it doesn’t — and shouldn’t — dwarf what actually did take place Sunday.
partspoke: I think the Pirates MUST sight Russ Martin BEFORE he hits the open market.(qualifying offers are out 5 days after end of Series) Have the Bucs already made an offer of at least 4yrs 60mil to Russ? If so, will he take it or will he walk?
DK: Not exactly breaking fresh ground here, but I get it. People want Martin signed. So do I. And in the interim, there really isn’t much to discuss because, if there’s one thing I know for sure about Neal Huntington, it’s that he hates agents leaking stuff.
Really, he’ll outwardly chastise agents if he sees any aspects of discussions getting reported, especially if it’s transparent that such information could only have come from that party.
So what we’ve continued to see here in recent days, since Martin’s agency can’t seem to control itself in this regard, are these continued tricklings of nuggets to national baseball reporters, presumably with the idea that this is OK because at least it’s not directly involving Pittsburgh. Expect to see more of that in the days ahead. And expect almost all of it to paint Martin’s imminent exit based on uber-billions of dollars awaiting in a greener pasture.
Oh, and hey, here’s another one this morning from ESPN’s Buster Olney describing Martin as the ‘Lamborghini of the catching market.’
FreddieH: Do you see Pitt keeping Chryst for another season? After a 6-7 season, 7-6 season, and currently 4-4, does he deserve a 4th season? Also, will you be covering Pitt basketball?
DK: Chryst isn’t going anywhere after this season, Freddie, and I don’t think it’s an issue at all. Certainly not yet. He hasn’t recruited brilliantly, but he’s done OK. He hasn’t coached brilliantly, but he’s done OK. That’s not to suggest that OK is good enough, at Pitt or anywhere, but, rather, to emphasize that it takes more than a couple years to get everything the way you want.
As we speak, the Panthers’ two best players, Tyler Boyd and James Conner, are sophomores. So is Chad Voytik at the most important position. And the roster as a whole is the youngest in the NCAA. I still feel the program’s most glaring need is an elite quarterback, and that it won’t go anywhere meaningful without one. But I’m willing to give this broader outlook another year before wailing any sirens.
Oh, and yes, I will be covering Pitt basketball. Probably more than most people will like, actually. I’ve shared this before, but being around that program is as much fun as anything on this gig.
Mtnwood: DK, do you see more site traffic after a Steelers win or a horrible loss? I admit that I tend to be a glass-half-empty Steelers fan and am a much more voracious reader on Monday morning after a poor showing.
DK: I love your honesty, man, and you are, indeed, the norm. Steelers fans will crush the site after a loss like the one to Tampa Bay and go deathly silent after a game like yesterday in which there’s only poor Cortez to pick on. Not sure what that says about the franchise’s fans, but feel free to read into it as you wish.
For what it’s worth, Pirates fans are the polar opposite. If things are great, they come in droves. If they aren’t — and you rip the team for it — the two-decades-in-the-making persecution complex of the local baseball fan comes out full-bore because, a-ha!, you must hate the Pirates to be criticizing them!
The only fans who come rain or shine are Penguins fans. No difference, good or bad. Almost no complaints about the coverage tone, whether upbeat or negative.
One of many neat things about this site, to be honest, has being able to see all these things play out numerically by viewing the data.
heismano1: I’m getting goose bumps just imagining how the atmosphere will be for the Joe Greene ceremony on Sunday Night. How much does he really mean to the Steelers and Pittsburgh?
DK: Totally with you on that. Really looking forward to this. Reporters get all hardened and crusty over the years, but there’s nothing that brings out my inner child like the 1970s Steelers. And Greene always was, always will be at the head of that class. He got it all started. And he followed through with what, in my estimation, anyway, is the greatest NFL career of any player with the Steelers.
The only way the night could be any better for the home side, aside from the obvious beating of Baltimore, would be if they opted to wear the bumblebees forever!
Thanks to all for participating! Good stuff today!
I’ll be at Consol tonight for Penguins-Devils. Full column to follow.