Well, the big news on a light news day for Pitt is that Aaron Gray has “flu-like” symptoms.
Center Aaron Gray sat out Pitt’s practice session Tuesday at Petersen Events Center with flu-like symptoms that coach Jamie Dixon said began to affect the 7-foot junior a day earlier. “He looked much better today. He’s going to be OK,” Dixon said. Also, Dixon said freshman center Tyrell Biggs was being evaluated for a calf muscle injury he sustained near the end of practice. Biggs was on crutches as he headed to the locker room, but Dixon said he didn’t think the injury was severe. However, Biggs’ status for Friday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game against Kent State in Auburn Hills, Mich., was uncertain.
It doesn’t look like Gray will miss any time in the games, though it should be another reason for Pitt to try and blow Kent State out of the water early to give Gray some extra time to sit. There’s nothing in the story to suggest it, but you almost hope Gray was coming down with the flu during the Big East Tournament. That would provide a little more explanation as to why he looked absolutely drained and spent during the games.
Antonio Graves gets a little love for the way he’s been playing. His comments are straight from the “I’m just happy to help the team,” handbook.
“I just want to be ready for anything, mentally,” Graves said. “If I don’t get the minutes I have been getting the past couple of games, maybe I can help somebody from the bench. Seeing things from the bench is different from being in the game. I’m ready to take whatever role I need to take for us to win.”
Pitt gets to take a charter flight to Detroit as the distance from Pittsburgh to Detroit is 18 miles over the NCAA minimum of 300 for flying versus taking a bus. That would mean that Kent State are definitely taking the bus.
Kent State Senior Center Nate Gerwig is a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Schenley High. So naturally he gets a story in each paper today.
Gerwig has averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds during a career that has included three knee surgeries and shoulder problems.
“Resiliency is what he’s all about,” said Kent State coach Jim Christian, whose team will face Pitt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. “We’ve got a lot of great players, but Nate Gerwig is the toughest player we’ve had here, bar none, and the other kids see that.”
Christian’s statement stunned Gerwig.
“He’s saying I’m tougher than Antonio Gates and Demetrius Shaw?” Gerwig said.
After a pause, Gerwig bought into Christian’s way of thinking.
“Well, I don’t know if there are many players that can go through what I did. But I want to play basketball.”
The number of injuries he’s suffered have changed his game over his 5 years at KSU.
Gerwig is a shadow of the player he used to be. He was a starter as a true freshman when Kent State beat Pitt in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2002. He led the team in field-goal percentage that season and averaged 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
Gerwig averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game with the shoulder injury as a sophomore. He tried to beat his man up court on the fastbreak and relentlessly bang low for offensive rebounds.
But the knee surgeries have taken a toll. He played 17 minutes a game this season and averaged 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds a game. Christian has to pick his spots when and where to use him. Gerwig must pick his spots, too.
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What bothers Gerwig is that he knows the game inside and out as a senior. He has such a better understanding of the game than when he was a wide-eyed freshman on that talented and experienced team that advanced to the Elite Eight.
He just can’t make his body move the way he wants it to anymore.
“It’s terrible,” Gerwig said. “It hurts me most on defense, rotations and things like that. I’ll see things happening, but I just can’t react. It’s kind of tough, knowing that you could do something four years ago but you can’t do it now.”
That does suck. To be in your early 20s but to already sound like a guy in his 30s because your body just can’t do it.
Another Kent Senior, Guard DeAndre Haynes gets a puff piece on how his coach got an old teammate to help him out of his early season funk to becoming the 2006 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year.
Like Pitt, Kent State uses its bench liberally.
“Our thing is, everybody is important,” Kent State coach Jim Christian said. “I can go down the roster and point out guys who made big plays, huge plays, in 10 minutes or less. I think that was evident in the MAC Tournament. When we break down game film, we make sure to point out who made big plays in just three or four minutes more than the guy who made big plays in 30.”
There are no complaints from Kent State’s bench as the Flashes, the No. 12 seed in the Oakland Regional, prepare for Friday’s NCAA Tournament matchup with the Big East’s Pittsburgh, the No. 5 seed.
“We play our same role, no matter what,” said Kent State junior guard Omni Smith, who started five games and came off the bench for 28. “It’s no life-ending thing.”
Kent State plays 9 guys who average at least 14 minutes a game. Only 2 players Youngblood and Haynes have started more than 23 games this season. Not so coincidentally they are the only player to go more than 30 minutes per game.
