Diary of a Crazy Sunday

What do you get when you combine 5 hours of sleep, a nasty hangover, the number 1 basketball team in the NCAA, Steelers-Chargers, and the return of Jack Bauer? A Three River Sports running diary of course! What follows spans a hectic 13 1/2 hours for yours truly.

8:30 (beep, beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...)"ugh, stupid alarm" (pressing sleep button)
8:37 (beep, beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...) "NO! There is no way it's time to get up yet (pressing sleep button)
8:44 (beep, beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...) "crap" I finally stumble out of bed cursing those extra drinks I insisted on last night at Peter's Pub.
8:46 Trying to shower myself awake
9:30 Only about 25% awake, I embark through the frigid Oakland weather up the large hill in front of the Petersen Events Center that feels roughly like Mount Everest right now. Why did I leave at 9:30 AM for a noon game you ask? Because these are the sacrifices necessary when you are a student fan on the number 1 basketball team in the land. If you don't get to the Pete a minimum 2 1/2 hours early for Big East games, you're seat in the Oakland Zoo just isn't good enough. Plus, it's sort of like a badge of honor. "Oh yeah, well I got up here at 9:30 and I was still a little bit drunk!" Damn I'm going to miss college.
10:20 They finally let us into the Zoo a little before the designated 10:30 time, and everyone rushes inside, only 100 minutes now until the game gets under way! It's always a little weird to look around the Zoo and see it about 80-90% full and see no more than a couple dozen people in the rest of the arena this early.
10:50 Me and my buddies spend the first half hour of the pre-game time discussing the Steelers-Chargers game at every single position. Yeah, we're kind of fans. We're getting a little tired of that discussion, and, distracted by the warming-up Panthers we decide to discuss how far we think each player on the Pitt roster will go with basketball
11:30 Our Consensus: Sam Young hangs around the NBA for about 6 or 7 years as a borderline rotation guy on bad teams or a 10th/ 11th man on good teams. DeJuan Blair has a 10+ year career and spends the majority of that time starting. We also decide he gets badly overpaid at least once in his career. He ends up being about a 15-and-8 guy for his career. Levance Fields goes the Jaron Brown/Julius Page/ Antonio Graves/ Carl Krauser route and plays in the CBA or something weird like that for a couple yers and eventually ends up coaching somewhere before long. Tyrell Biggs does similarly for a year or two and then leaves the sport behind. Jermaine Dixon is a D-Leaguer or something, partially because of name recognition, and kicks around Europe for a while. Gil Brown matures into a stud at Pitt and plays in the NBA, Brad Wanamaker becomes a better Antonio Graves and is a CBA/ D-League type player, as well. Nas Robinson turns into a good player and gets a brief shot at the NBA that doesn't last long. Ashton Gibbs is a CBAer, as is Tra Woodall.
11:47 HERE COME THE PANTHERS!
12:00 Tip-off gets under way with DeJuan losing the tip to a guy wearing a freaking Rip Hamilton schnozzo mask.
12:20 St. John's is a frisky bunch. DJ Kennedy is playing well. Pitt really isn't. Just a sloppy start to this one.
12:56 Halftime. Pitt pulled ahead 41-36 late in the first half. D.J. Kennedy is a hell of a player. I think he was fouled somewhere between 4 and 3,000 times in the first half. Like a poor man's poor man's poor man's Dwyane Wade. Why didn't Pitt go hard after this kid? DeJuan got in foul trouble with 4 minutes to go in the first half. No good Blair, we need you to be nice and available in the second half. Gil Brown, Sam Young not looking good at all. Jermaine Dixon had a decent half as did Levance. Should be an interesting second. Let's hope they remember they need to play defense.
1:19 Just got word from my buddy watching at home that I made an appearance on the tube. Bad-ass-ness. I freakin' love being in the Zoo.
1:30 Things looking much more comfortable, Pitt up double digits. DeJuan has taken control underneath, and I can't be positive, but there is at least a 10% chance that Juan Dixon stole his little bro's body for this game because Jermaine is lighting the stuff up out there.1:35 Forgot to mention, there are all sorts of recruits for the football squad hanging out here today. A few have come over, including QB Kolby Gray, who is not exactly an imposing figure, but at least he can't be any worse than Billy Stull right? I've got to say, Cam Saddler, if he doesn't recover from the torn ACL, has a serious future as a recruiter. He was encouraging the youngsters to come over to the Oakland Zoo and hang out with us and cheer and sign their name on the little white boards the Zoo guys bring along. Even the guys who haven't committed yet are over here basically saying their gonna be Panthers. This comes a year after Saddler helped us land his buddy Shayne Hale in an absolute coup. He just seems like a real cool guy. I wish I was good at football so he could recruit me.
2:05 Panthers win! 90-67 over the Johnnies, pulling away at the very end. Even Tiesi and Sean Brown make an appearance at the end of the game. Jermaine Dixon had a great game, as did Blair and Fieldsy. Sam I Am was okay, but it was obvious that the Storm game planned to keep him in check, so you've got to give him credit for that.
2:18 I finally get the heck out of the Pete. I mean I love that place and all, but it is freaking impossible to get out of there when a packed house attends a game and hardly anyone leaves early. I'm absolutely starving now, having overcoming my earlier nausea and nasty hangover. Time for a Wendy's run.
2:25 Turns out we weren't the only ones feeling some Wendy's. A minimum 15 consecutive people in front of us on the street turn in to Wendy's. I consider other alternatives, but I've already begun salivating over a Spicy Chicken sandwich and a chocolate frosty.
2:35 Mmmmm....Spicy Chicken...2:55 I'm finally back to my apartment with less than two hours until game time. I'm real tired all of a sudden. Thinking about a nap...
3:15 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
4:15 Woken up yet again by that damn alarm. Better get another shower before the game starts.
4:30 Heading over to my buddy's house for the game. Luckily he only lives about 2 minutes away.
4:45 HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO! clap clap4:50 Crap! Phil Rivers drills Vinny Jackson for a touchdown. Jackson celebrates by pretending to walk a straight line, then falling off like he's drunk. Just kidding. But how funny would that have been? I'd be laughing even if the Bolts go on to win this thing 70-0. Anywho, the Bolts are off to a cookin' start, 7-0. Our D was having some serious struggles on that one. Bad news bears.
4:56 Steelers going for it on fourth down?!?! Really Mike Tomlin? One of my buddies, who is no Mike Tomlin fan, is quickly irritated and says Tomlin doesn't know how to coach in the playoffs. But Wait! Big Ben with the quick kick! My buddy quickly sits down and doesn't say anything more. That was a bold strategy Cotton, definitely paid off though, as its downed at the 9. Okay Mikey Thomlin, I'm with you on that one. I like the creativity, anyway. Plus, anything that keeps Mitch Berger off the field can't be all bad.
5:09 SANTONIO! Our beleaguered wide receiver HOUSES a punt return from the Mike "Jesus Christ" Scifres. All week long I heard people yelping about Scifres being the ultimate difference maker for the Bolts, including Bill Simmons' ludicrous picking of the Chargers because of Scifres, yet no one mentioned that booming kicks that don't land near the goal line too often out-kick their coverage, which is exactly what happened now. Suck on that Sports Guy.
5:49 The aforementioned friend who doesn't like Tomlin is borderline homicidal right now after a bizarre fake punt that was so bad it looked like it was drawn up by Matt Cavanugh. That's just a ridiculous decision there considering how wonderful our D has been since the opening drive. This game has turned into a field-position battle, and this isn't helping us.
5:58 Field Goal Nate Kaeding. This one's on you Mike Tomlin. You'd best more than make up for it as the game progresses.
6:07 Steelers run a spectacular 2 minute drill with Willie Parker scooting in to the end zone from 3 yards out. Hines Ward made the critical play on this drive on a deep ball from Giant Ben.6:14 We are at the half. 14-10 Stillers. The Yinzers are loving it. Ben is showing almost no ill effects of that concussion, and is doing an excellent job of not risking mistakes or getting hit. The key has been Willie being incredibly effective running the football. And of course, the D has really clamped down after an unusually lackluster opening drive effort. Should be a heck of a second half.
6:34 The Steelers absolutely dominate the opening drive, holding the ball for nearly 8 minutes to start the third quarter. Ben hits Heath for 8 yards for a score. That was old school, Bill Cowher era clock control. Nice mixture of runs and passes on the drive, with Heath being a popular target at thend of the drive. That was a statement drive. 21-10 Steelers.
6:41 After a long kick runback, the Chargers run exactly 1 (one) offensive play and it is... INTERCEPTED by Larry Foote, who apparently stole it from James Harrison on the ground. That was HUGE!
6:45 No Brain Norv spends his last challenge despite absolutely no evidence that the pick was even remotely in doubt.
6:46 AHHH! Ben just made me nearly soil myself throwing a crazy block on a Santonio Holmes end around. Listen, Ben, the extra couple yards gained by you throwing that block wasn't even remotely worth the injury risk. Thankfully he's okay. And by the way... it was a SICK block for what it's worth.
6:52 Holy friggin crap! Mitch Berger's punt smacks off the top of some Chargers doofus and is piicked up by William Gay and run into the end zone! Of course, you can't advance a muff in what is a truly strange rule, but still, the Steelers get the ball on what was basically a long offensive play downfield. Crazy day, eh? Ben knocking a punt inside the 10, Mitch Berger turning into an offensive weapon and Ryan Clark taking the snap on a punt. Just weird all around, but the Steelers have a chance to put this game almost on ice here.
7:01 Fourth and goal at the 6 inch line, and the play goes to... Carey Davis?!? He would have been my 8th guess. It goes mostly without saying this didn't work. The Bolts take over. Let's hope for some more Jimmy Harrison end zone magic.
7:08 The Steelers get the ball back with great field position and march down the field thanks to an Eric Weddle PI call. I think that was the same guy who Pele'd that punt to William Gay before. I think he may have money on the Steelers. Ball at the 1 and... Gary Russell into the end zone! Touchdown!
7:24 Chargers strike back for a touchdown, 28-17. This sucker isn't over yet folks. Hold on!
7:41 Okay NOW it's over. Slick Willie caps off a fantastic day by housing a 16 yard run. 35-17 Men of Steel. Okay, this puppy IS over.
7:58 Let's call it a day. 35-17 Steelers win. And with just 2 minutes to spare until the return of the one, the only, the immortal Jack Bauer!
8:00 Beep...Beep...Beep...BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. (Nothing sends chills through my spine like the "24" clock).
Jack's Back! I'm not going to blog this because, well, it just means too much to me to be distracted. If you want a blog for 24, go here.
10:00 That was so good I think I might smoke a cigarette. Good night all.

Blair a Man Amongst Boys; The Zoo Strings Gottlieb Up From the Rafters

Although Pitt-Siena was slightly marred by refs who had apparently never seen a Big East basketball game before judging by their shock at the Panthers' style of play, and by Pitt's difficulty in going for the jugular, it was still a highly entertaining late night at the Pete for any number of reasons. What follows are some of those highlights:

-DeJuan Blair continues to be an absolute monster underneath the boards. Smaller, less physical teams are going to get absolutely obliterated by this guy. He was brilliant as a freshman, but rarely was he good enough to dominate and become the best player on the court. That has already happened several times this season, and it happened for the entirety of the 30 minutes of playing time he logged last night. He put together 21 points and 16 rebounds and was absolutely hosed by the freakin' refs in this one. He was given the Shaq treatment where, if he so much as breathed in the wrong direction the refs whistled him for a foul, yet down on the offensive end, Siena did everything to stop him short of using pitchforks and torches yet nothing was called because the refs continuously choked down their whistles. Ridiculous. The good news is, the Big East regular season typically gives us competent refs, except of course this guy:For those of you unaware, that's the Notorious T-I-M aka Tim Higgins. Anyway, Blair's progression has been eye-opening this season, and while the stats may not really show that much of a difference from last year, one look at this guy on the court and the difference is unbelievably obvious.

-If there have been any unknown government advances in cloning in recent years, I volunteer Levance Fields' cells be the first to be replicated, because the Panthers NEED to find a way to get him out there for 40 minutes a game come Big East time. I'm sorry but Ashton Gibbs had the complete deer-in-the-headlights look going tonight when Siena put the press on him. In case you weren't aware, the Big East coaches, to a man, are probably 16 of the best defensive coaches in basketball and are guaranteed to be licking their chops at the thought of sicking the dogs on him. If he's doing anything other than running the point in blowout home wins during Big East season, the Panthers are going to have some issues. And I'm not sure what happened with Tra Woodall tonight, though I'd guess he's a bit banged up, as he didn't play despite some promising efforts in recent games.

-I know he made 2 treys, but can someone please tell Tyrell Biggs it's not okay to launch threes and long-range jumpers? He does know he's a role player whose sole reason for being on the court is to grab rebounds and hustle back on defense right? The only way he should score is if Sammy or Levance clank one and he shoves the putback in.

-Jermaine Dixon may start every game this season, but mark my words, in close games he'll be popping a squat the same as Gary "The Koopa Troopa" McGhee, Gibbs, Woodall, Nas Robinson, and the white guy scrubs. That's because Gil Brown's energy, athleticism and versatility will make him the ultimate weapon late against their Big East foes and he'll be the guy playing the two spot instead of JD. Now, you may say, "Well why wouldn't Gil start then?" And my response is this: He's the perfect weapon off the bench. Around that first media timeout when Blair and/or Biggs and Dixon come out of the game and the Panthers have to work in a 2 or 3 new guys into the game for the first time that day, Gil is the ultimate spark plug to keep that lineup going and give them a bit of a different look. Then have Gil move down to the 3 (or even 4) spot when Sammy takes a quick breather and put JD back at the 2. I mean let's be honest, despite the fact that this Pitt team has as much talent as any Pitt team that I've ever seen, there is a definite hierarchy to this team. It really comes down to the Big 6 (the starters and Gil), the Small Big 1 (Gary McGhee whose enormous but small in court presence and ability), the Small Small 2 (Tra Woodall and Ashton Gibbs, who combined weigh roughly the same as the Koopa Troopa), and the Other 2 (Nas Robinson and Brad Wanamaker, both of whom have talent but are too similar to Gil to really merit serious crunch minutes). So the more minutes they get out of the Big 6, the better off this team will be.

-Although I knew Doug Gottlieb has snubbed our Panthers and the Big East as a whole in years past (though his idiocy really isn't confined to a single team or conference), I didn't anticipate the venom spewed his way tonight by the Oakland Zoo. As always I was sitting right smack dab in the middle of things, and was shocked, amused, and at times even a little uneasy over the rioting mob mentality that developed toward him. Good, clean, fun chants like "Where's my Visa?" (A reference to Gottlieb being given the boot from Notre Dame many years ago after, I think, stealing credit cards or some kind of credit card scandal) started the night off. From there, things got crazier in a hurry. Much like the Anchorman fight, "That escalated quickly, I mean that really got out of hand fast...Roc killed a guy..." After some of the self-proclaimed "leaders" of the Zoo put some inflammatory quotes on their little dry erase boards claiming that Gottlieb claimed the Zoo wasn't a tough place to play, a recurring "Gottlieb sucks" chant started and continued for much of the second half. This obviously isn't anywhere near as creative or fun as the Visa trade, and led to only more malicious stuff, such as a number of derogatory sexual slurs directed at himself, his mother, and other family members. Good times all around!

-Gary McGhee, if you can't even freakin' dunk the ball, why are we keeping you around? He was matched up against someone named Josh Duell tonight who was easily 40 lbs. overweight for most of his breathtaking 6 minutes of PT, and it's probably safe to say this clash of the titans wasn't quite what James Naismith had in mind. And the highlight (or more accurately, lowlight) came when Duell took McGhee off the dribble around the 3-point line. And by off the dribble, I mean he stared head down at the ball as he slammed it insanely hard into the ground while slowly moving forward. I'm pretty sure that was the quietest the crowd was all night long as all 12,000+ in attendance gawked in horror at what was taking place. The weirdest part of all was Duell draining two treys despite looking like he would lose to Casey Hampton in wind sprints.

-This Siena team may have been a frisky bunch that played with solid fundamentals and had a smart, if somewhat loathsome, head coach, but I can't figure out how in the hell they ever beat Vanderbilt last year if this was their team. Pitt, if this was a meaningful game, would have blown the doors off of Siena early in the second half instead of subbing in the backups, who allowed the Saints to stay within striking distance. Any half-decent squad could've beat them tonight, and I really didn't see much in the way of potential three-point ability for most of the game that so often characterizes those mid-major Cinderellas. They were 6-23 from downtown, and no one on that team, except for maybe the aforementioned fat guy, looked comfortable shooting it, either, so I don't think it was just an off night.

-Our Panthers are now 11-0, and there is no way rest for the weary, as they play an athletic Florida State team Sunday evening in Tallahassee in what figures to be a very interesting game to keep an eye on. The 'Noles may not be a powerhouse ACC program, but they know how to play with the big boys, and add that to the fact that it's outside of the 4-1-2 area code, and it's probably the toughest non-conference game the Panthers will play this season.

Impressions From Pitt-Fairleigh Dickinson

The Pitt Panthers began their march toward defending their Big East title this evening (even though this game had nothing to do with how they will be seeded come Big East tourney time) and the school noted this championship in a very high-profile and pride-inducing manner by way of a nice little banner-raising ceremony prior to the game. Each of the players from last season's squad were publicly announced, the scores of the games were announced, and then, with the lights out and a single spotlight on, the championship banner was slowly raised to the rafters at the Pete.

Anywho... here are some impressions formulated from my spot amidst the inmates at the Oakland Zoo:

First of all, DeJuan Blair looked like an absolute BEAST out there on the court. Blair was a scoring machine, was the ultimate windex man (cleaning the glass), and had his usual surprisingly adept quick hands in scraping up a few steals with a double-double and a pair of steals. I think Blair could be poised for an even bigger season than originally thought. He was a court leader out there too, an even bigger surprise to me, given the seniority of the team's other stars.

The team's other pre-season star, Sam Young, looked like he was a little bit of adjustment issues from his new spot at the 3. He took a few early 3's and clanked each one and ended the game at an 0 for 4 clip from downtown. He also didn't spend enough time early on fighting his man inside on the offensive zone, and if you had seen the guy that was attempting to guard our beloved 2-3, you would have seen just how easily Young could have dominated this guy. And like I said, while his opposing 3 wasn't anything special, Sammy did show that he is capable of guarding a typical 3 on the perimeter as well as absolutely obliteratiing him if he dared try to head inside. Playing outside also didn't really prevent his typical inside presence defensively. He only pulled in 3 boards but he was in on several others and helped out countless times. I do think that we could see him hit some dry spells early on if he continues to play on the perimeter too much, as that long range tre definitely could use some work. It will be very interesting to see how this work-in-progress continues as the season goes along.

Levance Fields surprised just about everyone in the house when it was announced during the pregame intros that he was going to be in the starting lineup. I was pretty skeptical of this decision by Jamie Dixon to allow our hobbled point man to play, but Fields showed absolutely no ill effects from the foot injury and looked like his usual warrior self at the point, playing typically selfless and smart ball with 8 helpers and pouring in a somewhat unusually high 15 points, including an impressive 5 for 5 from the charity stripe.

Tyrell Biggs looked like every bit the role player I expected him to be. That may not sound like a compliment, but it actually is. This squad doesn't need anyone to carry the scoring load, unlike past Pitt squads that had 5 guys averaging double digits. With Young and Blair both likely to go over 15 a game most nights, Fields likely to get double digits, and an incredibly deep bench, they need guys like Biggs who are happy to play 25-30 minutes and only grab a handful of shots while grabbing some serious rebounds and playing really tough D on the opposing team's 4 and 5's.

The new guys made some interesting first impressions. For all the impressive numbers and efforts put up by Ashton Gibbs in the 2 pre-season games, Travon Woodall looked like the better of the two to me tonight. Woodall had 5 assists and very rarely looked for his own shot, whereas Gibbs appeared a bit more selfish, though it may have been because he played some serious garbage minutes, but he had just 1 assist to go with a turnover. Nasir Robinson showed the impressive athleticism that made him the most heralded recruit on the roster, but he looks pretty raw to me. He reminds me a bit of Gilbert Brown with less polish. I think his minutes may be hard to come by after Brown returns unless he shows more polish as the season goes along. Lastly, Jermaine Dixon did a solid job from his starting spot at the 2, but if Gil Brown comes back healthy, I think he eventually takes that job from Jermaine. Dixon looked solid out there, and it's still early to really get a good handle on what kind of player he could be, but you can tell immediately he isn't in the same ballpark as Gilbert in the athleticism department. He looked like he had the smarts for the job though, and my bet for now will be a platoon situation at the 2.

As for the others, well Gary McGhee was clumsy, Brad Wanamaker disappeared for a while and still doesn't impress me much and I think will fall down toward the bottom of the depth chart, and Dwight Miller didn't play and is likely headed for a redshirt.

One final note before I go, I was certainly concerned with the lack of 3 point shooters on the roster. Levance and Ashton Gibbs both were productive from beyond the arc, a fact I neglected when I discussed Ashton earlier, and a fact that could make a difference in his playing time if he keeps this up. Sammy struggled, and Jermaine Dixon was a mildly alarming 0 for 3 from out there, as well. Travon Woodall was the only other Panther to attempt a bomb, and was 1 for 2 for the day.

Pitt Basketball Season Preview

PA Announcer at Petersen Events Center: "And the coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, Bob Huggins"
Thousands of screaming, seething, excited, and basketball hungry Pitt fans (In unison): "HE SUCKS TOO!"

That's right folks, it's basketball season, and as a Pitt student I really couldn't be any more excited to spend another season with my fellow lunatics in the asylum that is the Oakland Zoo. Cheers like the one above just warm my soul. And so, with another season about ready to tip off this Friday evening at the Pete against the mighty Fairleigh Dickinson... hold on a sec, let me look up their nickname on Google... Knights, I thought I'd usher in what looks to be the Panthers best returning team since the Brandin Knight/ Julius Page/ Jaron Brown era with a little season preview.

Returning Contributors
This past spring, after the Panthers were yet again knocked out too early in the NCAA tournament, many a Pitt student thought they had seen the last days of Sam Young wearing the home 2-3 jersey for our beloved Panthers. Turns out they were wrong, much to my surprise. For those of you not aware, Young is 23 years old right now, and will be 24 before next June's draft, and I will go to my grave thinking he made a mistake in not going pro last year. NBA teams just usually aren't interested in 24 year old rookies, but for now, I suppose there's no use jumping ahead.

No, instead, I should be rejoicing (and believe me, I definitely am) that our studly go-to player of a year ago has returned for what should be an excellent senior season. What's interesting about Sammy is that, despite putting up excellent numbers from the power forward position a season ago, the wise Jamie Dixon has opted to switch his All Big East performer to the small forward position. I wasn't totally surprised by this move, given Pitt's lack of perimeter players and abundance of inside men, but I was surprised when I read that Dixon has no intention of playing Young at power forward at all this season. No matter though, as I still think we should be able to pencil in Sam I Am for a minimum 18-20 points and 5-6 boards a night and some serious mismatches against smaller, less physical players. And therein lies the point of what Dixon is doing. He knows that with Young at the 4 and Blair at the 5, the Panthers, no matter how talented those two are, are still badly undersized. With Young at the 3 though, he knows that his ultra-athletic star can not only more than hold his own defensively against quicker, smaller guard-like small forwards thanks to his jaw-dropping athleticism, he can also abuse these same players with his physical style on the offensive end. I mean, think about some of the 3-men Pitt has had over the years. Sure, Mike Cook probably could have done a okay job against Sam, but remember when the Panthers were starting Keith Benjamin at the 3 towards the end of last season? Or Antonio Graves? Or (wow I can't believe this guy started for Pitt) Yuri Demetris? While Graves and Benjamin could have defended Young on the wing, he would have broken the two of them in half on the inside, and Demetris couldn't have covered Sam Young with a baseball bat. If teams think they are throwing a 3 guards lineup at the Panthers and getting away with it, they are sorely mistaken.

Sliding in and taking the Samster's spot at the 4 will be senior Tyrell Biggs. Biggs has been the consummate prototypical Pitt role player for the past three seasons. His freshman year he was sparingly used toward the end of the season and appeared a little overweight and out of shape for much of the season. He came back his sophomore seasons looking much more svelte (that's a fun word) and while he looked like a totally different player, his path was still blocked by the two immobile giants, Levon Kendall and Aaron Gray, despite the fact that Biggs could have beaten either in a foot race with cement boots on. Still, Biggs kept working and last season saw some consistent playing time thanks to a rash of injuries and the inconsistencies of freshman star DaJuan Blair. He average right at 20 minutes a game, and while he was rarely spectacular, he proved to myself and any loyal Pitt follower that he was more than capable of stepping in and playing some serious minutes, which is why it was no surprise when I heard that he was the reason Sam Young was shifting to small forward. I will definitely be intrigued to see how Biggs reacts to being a starter this season, and while I think he won't be playing nearly as many minutes as Young, DaJuan Blair, and Levance Fields (when healthy), he will be an important cog for the Panthers all year long.

Starting next to Biggs will be hulking sophomore sensation DaJuan Blair, the 4-1-2 kid himself. Blair had one of the best freshman seasons in Pitt history, and there's little reason to expect anything different from him this year. The switch of Young to the 3 and Biggs at the 4 should benefit Blair quite a bit this season, as well. Having three players who are all essentially power forwards should make it a little easier on Blair underneath as they spread opposing teams' big men out a little more. It will also be intriguing to see if they follow up with a rumored plan to get Blair some minutes at the 4 spot with Gary McGhee at the 5. It could also even be argued that Biggs and Blair will both be 4.5's and not a 4 and a 5 given that Biggs is the taller one. Getting Blair minutes at the 4 would also be a beneficial move for his career as his natural position for the long term is clearly at the power forward spot no matter how much he may play like a center.

The backcourt will see the return of the consummate floor general, Levance Fields. Fields enters his senior season with lingering questions about the foot injured that derailed much of his junior season. He is questionable for the opener Friday night against the Fair Dick Knights (that's a far superior name), and even if he does suit up, expect Coach Dixon to ease him back into the rotation. If the Panthers expect to finally break through that ceiling that has developed in the Sweet Sixteen, they will need a healthy Fields during the Big East season to ensure a good seed and they will especially need their point guard come March Madness time, so if he skips out on a few early season games and plays limited minutes in some others, I won't lose much sleep over it. If anything, this could be somewhat beneficial for the team to develop the chops of a few youngsters who will back Fields up. With the development of Blair and the continued excellence of Young I fully expect Fields' assist numbers to be spectacularly high.

One serious X factor for the coming season will be sophomore swingman Gilbert Brown. Brown got a bit of bad news recently when he developed a stress facture in his foot, and likely will miss some time because of it. That aside, he is basically the definition of an energy bench player and his athleticism lets him play the 2 or 3, both potentially critical positions for the Panthers this season. With Sam Young playing the 3 for the most part (though I'm not sure I really buy that Young won't play any 4 this year), expect Brown to see a fair amount of time playing the shooting guard. At 6'6 he will be one of the biggest 2 guards in the entire country and yet definitely has the skill set to match up with the shorter counterparts. This could be a big season for Brown, and while he likely lost the starting job for now when he got injured, he is going to be a definite crunch time player for the Panthers and it will be worth keeping an eye on how he develops his scoring touch, especially a potential perimeter game that could make him a legit star and pro prospect down the line.

Brad Wanamaker will be a part of the group that splits time at the 2 guard, and he showed a little ability last season to spend some time playing the point guard. I doubt we'll see much of him at the 1 this year, but it's worth remembering nonetheless. It's difficult to say if he'll see much more time than last year, as he still looks a little raw to me after watching the early exhibition games. The development of the other potential guards, especially JUCOer Jermaine Dixon, will go a long way toward determining Wanamaker's playing time.

Gary McGhee rounds out our returning players, and he will be an interesting case to keep an eye on. McGhee reminds me a fair amount of what Aaron Gray was when he came to Pitt some years ago. Of course this by is not to suggest that I think McGhee will develop into a double double machine around whom Pitt will base its offense for 2 years, but it is at least worth noting to the detractors out there who feel McGhee is nothing more than a minutes eater. Jamie Dixon's track record suggests he can mold McGhee into a solid player (at worst), and I think we should expect to see some serious improvement from McGhee this season to the point that they may rely some on him to play some minutes in the clutch that will allow DaJuan Blair to spend more time playing the power forward spot, as I previously delved into.

New Players
In the early stages of the offseason, many assumed that the biggest new contributor would have to be JUCO transfer Jermaine Dixon, who is the brother of former Maryland star and NBA player Juan Dixon. Dixon is certainly the most Big East-ready of the bevy of new players brought in, and has demonstrated something of a knack for the perimeter shot early on. He is also a slasher and should be able to put up some nice numbers on the board in the early going, assuming he wins the starting job. I mentioned earlier that I felt that Gil Brown was a definite X Factor for this year, but I think that Dixon is probably every bit the same X Factor, as the Panthers need at least one (and preferably both) of these two to really step into legit crunch time players, and if this leads to not enough being available for the two of them, then so be it, but that's a very good problem to have in my opinion.

At this point in the preseason, though, I'm not so sure that Dixon is actually the most important newcomer, as I think that circumstance may have transferred that role to true freshman Ashton Gibbs or potentially fellow true freshman Travon Woodall. With Levance Fields out, these two have filled the gap through two exhibition games by mostly splitting time. Gibbs has had slightly more minues, and has definitely looked like the better of the two, and if Fields can't go, expect to see Gibbs get the starting nod. Both will undoubtedly go through growing pains, and if either is asked to taken on a lot of minutes during the Big East season it could certainly be to the team's detriment. I also don't think either will be asked to do much in the way of consistent scoring, but both have demonstrated something of a knack for hitting the 3, and if one can learn to consistently hit the tre, it would be hard to keep him on the bench given this squad's general lack of long range threats.

I'm curious to see how the two freshmen forwards are used. Nasir Robinson was the higher ranked recruit of the two and looked to be further along after the two games, but Miller is a better inside presence as opposed to Robinson's presence on the wing. It's worth noting that neither one would likely see a whole lot of playing time once the Panthers hit the meat of their schedule, so how they fair in practice, in the two exhibition games, and in the first game or two of the regular season may determine whether or not one, both, or neither take a redshirt this year.

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Panthers appear geared for a big season, and with a number 6 ranking in what is undoubtedly the toughest conference in college basketball, it's safe to say that the expectations don't get any higher. They have a good mix of experienced and wildly talented veterans to go along with talented and potentially productive newcomers, and they also have players who more than understand their roles, guys like Biggs and Brown. Their bread will be buttered with the post game, same as it has the past few seasons, and while they certainly will take a lump or two in the unbelievably tough Big East Conference, few teams in the country have their overall talent and as they say, the cream always rises to the top. I expect big things from the Panthers this season, and as a very bold prediction, I'm saying, right here and right now, that the Panthers finally smash that threshold and become a Final Four squad, inciting riots Oakland-wide, because if we riot for a Philadelphia World Series championship and for the results of a Presidential election, it's about time the students here had a real reason to riot.