The season just ended and I’m already looking forward to next year. Here’s some things that we might want to think and worry about during the next few months and into the 2008-09 season.
1. Will Gilbert Brown continue to show the improvement he demonstrated this year? When he started to see meaningful playing time after Cook and Fields went down, it’s safe to say we all agree that he struggled. He just couldn’t get it going on both ends of the floor. As the season went on though, he showed a great deal of maturation and improvement. Chances are he’ll be in the starting lineup next year – is he going to keep improving enough to show he belongs and deserves to be in the starting five?
2. Will Sam Young go pro? A topic that really didn’t gain legs until his great week during the Big East Tournament, but his decision could change the shape of this entire team for next year. As quickly as he rose to prominence in NYC, he blew it (like everyone else did) in the tourney loss to Michigan State. Had he led the team to an Elite Eight/Final Four and played amazingly on said mythical run, he might have been more inclined to leave early. For his own good and the good of the team, it’s best that he stay at Pitt.
3. Which freshmen will see a lot of playing time next year? The newcomers next year are Ashton Gibbs, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall, and Dwight Miller. The guy most likely to see the most action is Robinson, rated as one of the Rivals 150, who could challenge Brad Wanamaker for a bulk of the minutes. An excerpt from what Chas said a few months ago:
Nasir Robinson fits Pitt. A lot of reports have been saying that for a while, that the Pitt commit plays tough gritty defense. That he scraps for balls and will be a perfect fit in the way Pitt plays the game, and the Big East play. What also has become clear is that Pitt found a player who was under the radar a bit and got him before he was fully appreciated by other coaches.
4. Will Jamie Dixon get an extension? Dixon is not going to Indiana, TCU, Cal, or anywhere in the next year or two. That said, young coaches that have success get plenty of offers with plenty of cash. It might be time for Steve Pedersen to look into extending Dixon and keeping him here for hopefully the rest of his career. Pitt doesn’t need to be a stepping stone for coaches (Howland), but instead could be a place where a coach wants to spend his entire career.
5. Will there be anyone to shoot the three? No one could shoot the three pointers this year. During Ronald Ramon’s time here he was generally considered our “sharpshooter†who could make the three pointer consistently. That’s largely debatable, especially with declining numbers in his senior season. He was the guy though, because who else was there? And now that he’s graduated, who’s going to shoot all those treys? Fields’ biggest flaw has been that he isn’t a consistent jump shooter. Sam Young, if he’s around, took more threes in ‘07-‘08 but isn’t a pure shooter. After those two it’s hard to see anyone else taking a bulk of the threes.
6. Will Mike Cook get a 6th year of eligibility? Wishful thinking…