The regrouping game.
The Leopards, who went 9-21 last season and lost games this season to Wagner and Farleigh Dickinson, afford Pitt a chance to tinker with its rotation before heading into the 18-game conference schedule.
Pitt’s Big East opener is Sunday at No. 17 Villanova (10-1).
“(Lafayette is) going to go out here and play us hard,” Ramon said. “That’s for sure. But at the same time it’s a game that we can see different lineups and see how we are synchronized out there as a team.”
Hopefully, all nine scholarship players will get a chance.
Dixon will start two seniors, a junior and two freshmen against Lafayette. Another freshman, Brad Wanamaker, is the only healthy reserve guard. And two other first-year players — junior-college transfer Cassin Diggs and freshman Gary McGhee — could be pressed into action as well.
Pitt opens Big East play Sunday at Villanova, so the game tonight is one in which the Panthers can experiment with different combinations.
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Dixon likely will try many different combinations over the next few weeks as he tries to figure out what is best for his team in the wake of the injuries.
One option is playing a bigger lineup that would include Diggs or McGhee and Tyrell Biggs.
Junior forward Sam Young, the team’s leading scorer, has experience playing small forward and could play some there with Biggs at power forward and Blair at center. He could even move Blair to power forward and play with Diggs or McGhee at center.
It’s going to be something to see just how flexible some of the players are. Young prefers to be an undersized PF. He was unhappy trying to play the small forward spot last year. Will he be more flexible if Pitt needs him to be elsewhere?
I guess, to some degree, it will be a question of leadership on the court from players like Young and Ramon.
