Hoops Dreams
October 27th, 2008 | by The Prowler |One of the exciting things about this time of year is the beginning of basketball season. Making the coming season especially exciting is the fact that most preseason polls have Pitt ranked somewhere in the top 10. It appears as though this year Pitt has a team as good or better than when Ben Howland had Pitt at preseason no. 4 with Brandin Knight, Julius Page, and Jaron Brown.
Levance Fields, Sam Young, and DeJuan Blair are a truly formidable tandem that should be difficult for any team to prepare for. Gilbert Brown started playing well at the end of last season and could prove to be the most improved player this year. Jermaine Dixon also adds a new dimension if he lives up to his JuCo All-American status.
One of the more exciting things about the team is that they have had some solid recruiting that allows us to look forward to this level of success for the coming years as well. This shouldn’t be a case of having a few good players that will leave and then the level of play will take a hit.
As good as Pitt looks, unfortunately they play in the Big East. At one point they were the favorite to win the league this year, but after Big East Media Day, the coaches voted Pitt to finish third. A third place finish in this league doesn’t mean that they aren’t a legit final four contender. Their might just be three to four legitimate final four contenders in te Big East this year. UConn and Louisville are going to be extremely tough and Notre Dame has the core of its team back from last year.
It is tough to have to play in a league this deep year in and year out. The teams beat up on each other almost like it is football and it is a greuling schedule. Pitt definitely has the talent to compete at the top of the league, however, and they could make a serious run in the NCAA tournament as well.
There are two wild cards to consider, though. First of all, we don’t know how healthy Fields will be. He hasn’t had the type of offseason we would hope considering he had to have another surgery on his ankle. If Brad Wannamaker can step up at point, that would be a big help. Otherwise we have to depend on true freshman Trevon Woodall. If Fields comes back and has no further problems, the experience for the younger guys in the early schedule will turn into a plus. But if there are any complications, the entire complexion of the season could change for Pitt.
The second wild card would be that Pitt can’t afford injuries to other guys, especially Blair and Young. We saw how Pitt’s momentum was broken last season once Mike Cook and then Fields went down. Any injuries could hurt the team; but injuries to Blair or Young would prove to be traumatic. They just don’t have the type of talent behind those two to just step in without a significant drop off. The season hingest on those two staying healthy and holding the front-court down.
All in all, it should be a good and exciting season. Pitt may not be the best team in the country, but they are definitely one of them. We as fans have to be cautious not to get caught up in the rankings too much. We have to keep in mind that Pitt can only win Pitt’s games. UNC is probably the best team all around in the country and there are other teams that are really good such as UCLA. But we can’t worry about what they do. Pitt just has to go out and win their games and then prove how good they are in the NCAA tourney. I think this could just be the year that they take the program to the next level. They certainly have Elite 8 talent and could very well make a Final Four.