Pitt Panther Prowl

‘08-09 Hoops Expectations

I am not the first Pitt blogger to notice and comment on the high expectations that many in the media have heaped on our Pitt Panthers basketball team for next year. After reading on Oakland Zoo and Pitt Blather about the brackets that Joe Lunardi had put out for next year, I was rather dumbfounded. It isn’t surprising to me that Pitt is being picked as the Big East favorite. It wasn’t so shocking to see Andy Katz have them in his preseason top 5. Katz has consistently been friendly to the Pitt program. Lunardi, on the other hand, is a wet blanket who tries to avoid giving any love to the Big East. So when he had Pitt as a 1 seed I was somewhat shocked.

I don’t know if it is a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, to put this much pressure on a team that was running the risk of making the NIT with a few weeks left in the season seems ridiculous. Then again I don’t ever want to over sell the team because I realize I can’t be objective as a fan and alumnus. On the other hand, if Joe Lunardi is saying that Pitt will be this good there must be something to it. Since he doesn’t seem to like the Big East (and I am aware that probably every fan in every conference feels that way come bracket time), if he is giving Pitt this much preseason props then maybe it is actually a legitimate prediction.

ESPN analysts aside, Pitt does have a promising team coming back next year. Many of us were saying that even during this season. I for one wasn’t saying it to make myself feel better as Pitt struggled to close the regular season. I honestly thought back then, and do now, that Pitt has a pretty solid team next year. Levance Fields is a great point guard. His assist to turnover ratio is ridiculous and he is a leader on the floor. He is fearless, but he backs it up with skill.

Sam Young was a completely different player from his sophomore to his junior season. Assuming he comes back as a senior, there is no reason to expect that he won’t be even better. Actually, there is one reason. Pitt’s stars in recent years have seemed to fall off in their senior seasons, when expectations were highest on them. But that fact doesn’t condemn Young to the same fate. He is a hard worker. He wants to be good. And unlike some of our other stars, he is willing to be a go to guy. I think guys like Aaron Gray struggled as seniors because there were expectations that they would shine when they didn’t want to be the go to guy. Young wants to score 25 a game. I don’t see any reason why he can’t be that player next year. If he works half as hard this off season as he did last, he will be Big East Player of the Year.

DeJuan Blair was a stud as a freshman, though he did hit some bumps along the way. At times he struggled with confidence and I think it was hard for him to be in a position where he wasn’t the most dominant player on the floor. In high school that certainly never happened to him. Aside from his skill and his quick hands, Blair played his best games against Pitt’s best competition. I like the sounds of having a stud like Blair who actually rises to the level of competition. As a freshman he had his share of struggles. I expect that much of them will be worked on intensely in the off season. Part of the problem with working on a lot of his problems this year involved the injuries and not being able to do full five on five walkthroughs in practice. Blair will be a monster next year and won’t have to face the likes of Hibbert. Possibly he won’t have to face Thabeet either. He could end up being the dominant big man in the conference.

Gilbert Brown showed a lot of athleticism this season. He struggled with confidence and played with a torn labrum, but he showed, especially at the end of the season, that he can really play. Brown has the skill set to be a Brandon Rush type of player. If he can keep his confidence up and heal his shoulder, he will be a force. I could handle watching Fields throw ally-oops to Brown all day, just like he did against Oral Roberts.

Brad Wanamaker is a talented athlete who has a passing ability that I can’t even comprehend. He is a question mark for the team because he didn’t seem to develop the way we would have hoped throughout this past season. As a true freshman he didn’t handle pressure well. The big if with Wanamaker is whether he will mature between this year and next. He has the talent. He needs to get his game under control a bit and get his shot to fall regularly. He doesn’t need to be a 15 point per game guy as a sophomore. If he can get 8-10 points, but use his athleticism to create off the dribble and feed the ball to Blair and Young then he will be a huge asset.

Tyrell Biggs gave Pitt solid play and even if he only averages 15-20 minutes a game next year, there is no reason to believe they won’t be 15-20 solid minutes. Gary McGhee is in the same boat. He progressed very well this season. If he can give 10-15 minutes a game or can fill in when Pitt’s bigs have foul trouble, that should be enough, if he is playing at the level he was by seasons end. There is no reason to think that he won’t improve. Ultimately, all that is really needed is for him to be a large presence and to not give away fouls. Other than that, he will accomplish his task just by giving Blair a breather.

Of course there is also the question of whether or not Mike Cook will be granted a sixth year. I don’t honestly know what the chances are, but I suspect it isn’t terribly likely. There is also the issue of what the incoming freshmen will do. Pitt has some solid recruits for next season. However, we saw what happened this year when we had to count on true freshmen. It would be best if the new guys could come in and mature a bit behind some of our veterans. Giving the freshmen time off the bench would be great.

Then there is the x factor of the whole situation: Jamie Dixon. Dixon is a solid coach who knows how to get the most out of his players. If anyone can make sure that Brown and Wanamaker are game ready for next season it is Jamie Dixon. Not only is he a good coach, but he is a good Big East coach. He knows physical basketball and isn’t afraid to let his players brawl it out.

It is hard for me to be terribly objective about next season. I don’t honestly know if top 5 is too high or not. I do know that Pitt has a solid core of players who aren’t afraid to leave it all on the floor. Number 1 seed or not, it isn’t unreasonable to believe that this team will be the one to finally get past the Sweet 16 hump.