Okay, love might be too strong a word, but it has been nice to see things starting to click for Bradley Wanamaker. He has responded to getting extra attention at practice before the last couple games.
“I was really riding him (Thursday) in the walkthrough and the shootaround and in the film room, making sure he was ready,†Dixon said. “He’s kind of a quiet kid, so I tried to pump him up … I think I need to try that again.â€
The quiet freshman made a quite a statement Thursday.
Of his career high-tying 23 minutes played, 13 of them came in the second half during some of the most pivotal moments of the game. He even created one with a driving lay up, capping an 8-0 run and putting the Panthers ahead 50-45 with 4:30 to play.
Wanamaker’s seven points also tied his career best. He was 3 of 4 from the field and made his only 3-point attempt. He had two assists, two rebounds and a block that was questionably called a foul late in the game.
In the Providence game he played 19 minutes, 3-4 for 6 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers. He has looked more comfortable as he knows he will get a little extra time. It’s a tough thing. Coach Dixon is prone to pull younger players for mistakes. It’s hard to say that is wrong or bad coaching, but clearly some players don’t handle it well. Keith Benjamin and Wanamaker seem to do better with the knowledge that they have some room to screw up.
“We have confidence in him,” Ramon said. “He just hasn’t been believing in himself.”
Ramon said defense is the hardest transition in going from being a prep star to a Big East freshman.
“A lot of players go through it,” he said. “I went through it myself. At the beginning of the year, you don’t feel as comfortable. You want to make sure you do the right things on defense, just so the coach won’t take you off the court. That takes your mind off trying to score and trying to play your game.
“He went through it a little bit, but now he’s feeling more comfortable within the offense and what he has to do in order to play.”
The good game against WVU coupled with running out of players to talk about this late in the season and a few extra days between games meant that Wanamaker got plenty of stories in the local papers.
Dixon said Wanamaker had been going through a typical progression for a freshman. In high school and AAU, star players do not always grasp the little things that it takes to play at the college level. The more games Wanamaker plays, the more he understands.
“He’s seeing it,” Dixon said. “He understands how precise it has to be, how players at this level take advantage of mistakes. The better teams often take advantage of mistakes. What guys can get away with in junior high school and high school is different than what you can get away with now.”
Learning curves. It’s always frustrating when the kids don’t make the impact or grasp the system as quickly as we think they should.
Anyone remember a guy named Aaron Gray? It took until his junior year for him to even warrant playing time, and his senior year for him to really be any good. He never became the type of player you hope a 7 footer can be. But he shows that you can’t write a guy off as a freshman just because you aren’t already dominating.
As for the whole LSU/USC/Jamie Dixon thing, I hope he doesn’t leave for any other job, but we all know giving a 10 year contract extension doesn’t keep him from taking another job if he wants. Contracts are utterly meaningless in sports.
And while Sean Miller is doing a fine job at Xavier, I truly believe Dixon is an elite coach the caliber of Coach K or Jim Calhoun. You don’t just let a guy like that leave assuming that a guy from a mid-major is going to come in and also be an elite coach.
as an aside, new orleans paper thinks that lsu wont offer floyd enough money to come. other candidates are anthony grant and the coach of north texas (an old lsu player)
It is good to see the younger players get more PT but the injuries are hard to take. Panrhers will be better down the road because of it.
No one seroiusly wants any change and it would be a tragedy if JD was lured away so soon. JD seems like a part of the Pitt family, maybe more than any of his mentor BH and earlier Pitt BB coaches.
re: Sean Miller, you have to admire his rapid progression to being a ‘very good’ coach. It has to be tougher recruiting there than at Pitt. It is easy to see what a terrific job Sean has done. He has made the Panther nation proud.
I don’t have any worries though.. Dixon was tempted before, but nothing came of it. He wants to win big before he leaves for another job..
However, the win over Duke was huge. There were some top recruits at the game, and one (I am recalling the news story, but don’t know who he is) said that he wanted to play for Dixon, not because of the win over Duke, but because of the emotion he showed when Cook got injured. So things like that win, that instance with Cook, and the media hype (that has been significant this year), Pitt will begin getting better recruits.
But still, no matter how dominant Pitt is in the Big East, if they don’t make a final four, which kid out there is going to choose Pitt over UNC/Duke/Kansas?
