After what is hoped to be his break-out game, Sam Young is the topic of a couple articles today. Obviously after the South Carolina game the issue is not will his minutes increase, but by how much.
Dixon has brought Young along slowly, playing him less than 17 minutes a game the first 10 games of the season. But it is becoming evident that Young is a player who can help the Panthers reach unexpected heights this season, if he can perform on a consistent basis.
“I told him that’s how I expect him to play every game,” Pitt senior Carl Krauser said afterward.
Young could be forcing his way into a more prominent role. He is Pitt’s most productive player when broken down into points per minute. Young has scored 74 points in 168 minutes. Center Aaron Gray is next with 123 points in 257 minutes.
Despite playing 66 fewer minutes than Levon Kendall, the starter at power forward, Young has scored just one fewer point. If Young can find consistency in his game, he will force Dixon to find more playing time for him.
As it is, Young is Pitt’s fourth-leading scorer with 7.4 points per game while seven other players on the team get more minutes.
Part of Young’s problem is that he has been maddeningly inconsistent. He failed to score against Vermont and scored three points or fewer on three other occasions. Yet there he was against South Carolina, playing like a seasoned veteran in his first college game outside Pittsburgh.
Based on the one game I have actually seen, I think Young has to rein in his showmanship. That seemed to be a problem. He was looking to create the big impact play to really bring the crowd to its feet, rather than just play and make things happen within the game. I’m a little uncomfortable saying that because it is extrapolation from too small a sample. It’s all I have at the moment to offer as a theory.
In the South Carolina game, it was Young’s offensive rebounding that made the difference in how much he scored and how Pitt came back and won the game.
“Sam Young had six offensive rebounds, four of which I know were put back by him,” Odom said.
After Dixon decided to replace Pitt starting forward John DeGroat with Benjamin in the opening minutes, Young spelled Levon Kendall at the other forward. Young (22 minutes) and Kendall (21), though, rotated consistently and played nearly an identical amount.
“Sam can be a great offensive rebounder, but I don’t think he’s quite grasped that yet,” Dixon said. “We’ve seen it at times, but we want it all the time. We want it every time.”
With Gray continuing to control the rebounding — he grabbed 13 to lead Pitt’s 38-22 domination of South Carolina on the boards — Dixon may want to find a way to keep Kendall and Young on the floor together with the 7-foot Gray.
“We had (Kendall and Young) in there at the same time, which is something we’ve done a little bit in the past,” Dixon said. “We’ve practiced that way probably more than in the games. It’s something that can happen.”
And likely will. There has yet to be any report of an injury to DeGroat, so it might be safe to assume he got in Dixon’s doghouse for now.
Ray Fittipaldo has his Q&A filed. He’s worried about the lack of depth behind Aaron Gray. Go figure. How many schools have a good center in the first place? Let alone 2? He also provides some updates on former Pitt players. Seems Julius Page is close to getting his degree.
