While Pitt is still yet to list the basketball schedule, things trickle from others. Kent State is on the schedule. Coming to the Pete on Saturday, December 12.
It took all weekend, but the reports of Sam Young signing with the Grizzlies have finally been confirmed. The reports surfaced as early as late-Thursday night, but took until the end of the weekend for the Grizz to confirm. No terms announced — of course — but it appears to be a $2 million deal guaranteed over three years along with around $600,000 in incentives — the first two years base pay is around $900,000 per. The Griz hold the option for the third year which suggests that if they don’t exercise the option they pay him about $200 K to leave.
The Grizzlies finished the summer league 5-0. As 3 Shades of Blue simply put it:
Sure, it doesn’t mean much (except that it can surely add fissile-quality fuel to the debate that rages over draft picks and placement). But darnit, all eleven of us that count ourselves as what could be termed “Grizzlies fans” are jonesin’ for something to view positively, and view summerleague positively we will.
and Sam Young was part of the good.
Sam Young playing like the experienced player that he is, and showing that he has an idea already how he’ll earn his paycheck in the NBA-knowing how to use his size on the perimeter on both ends and having enough of a nose for the ball inside to grab some rebounds.
Thabeet, to the surprise of no one who watched the Big East, was a disappointment in that fans of the pro game realize he is an even bigger project than expected for the NBA.
Gilbert Brown, is hoping to emulate the progression of Sam Young. Tantalizing, promising athletic talent in his first year of playing. A seeming step back in his second but emerging in his junior year as he gets stronger and more committed to the full game (at least that’s how the storyline is shoehorned).
Brown contends he realized he needed to be bigger long ago (“Just watching this league, not even playing in it, you got to know how physical it is,” he said.), but youth and a spot often outside the starting five may have contributed to the late start. Injuries, too, have collared Brown, who suffered through ankle and shoulder problems and missed his true freshman year with a medical redshirt.
“I feel great now. I feel like I’m in great shape,” Brown said. “My shoulder’s fine; it hasn’t hurt for a while. My ankles, well, they’ll always be my ankles.”
In addition to an increased workout regimen, Brown said he’s been focused on his shooting and ballhandling, building upon a strong second half of last year when he was a key to the Panthers’ first Elite Eight appearance of the modern NCAA Tournament era.
With his new and improved body, Brown may appear to be a Young-type player in the Panthers’ strong forward position. But with newcomers Dante Taylor, Talib Zanna and J.J. Richardson entering a frontcourt with Nasir Robinson, Dwight Miller and Gary McGhee, Brown’s better off remaining in the rotation at the swing spot. There, he’ll likely compete with Brad Wannamaker for the starting spot as Jermaine Dixon slides over to the two guard on offense.
That doesn’t mean Brown can’t play the way Young did in his two seasons as Pitt’s top scorer. Young developed a solid outside shot and drove from the perimeter inside, much like the three would do in the Panthers’ offense.
Brown’s game has seemed to follow Young’s pattern. Now, his body does, too.
Even Gilbert Brown seems unsure what to expect from his ankles (other than a sense of betrayal).
Levance Fields is getting ready to head overseas, but still has his eyes on the NBA.
That ability extends beyond the hardwood. The 22-year-old Fields, who grew up in the rough-and-tumble Brownsville Houses, has long had a penchant for turning struggles into successes. He established himself as a big-game floor general at the University of Pittsburgh, the latest in a string of metro-area guards to stand out at the Big East school.
“He’s shouldered a lot in his life,” says Pitt assistant Brandin Knight. “It’s made him mature beyond his years.”
Ask Fields why he wants to play in the NBA, and he gives a quick response: He says he wants to buy his mother Koreen Thomas a house, one far from Brownsville.
“I go home to see her all the time … she still lives there,” he says. “I go home, and I’m just a homebody, hanging out with her. I hardly go outside.”
Fields speaks quietly when he talks of his old haunt, as if reflecting on each word. Last year, the 73rd Precinct, which encompasses Brownsville and Ocean Hill, reported 31 murders, the most in the city according to the NYPD.
There’s also a nice sidebar piece looking at Travon Woodall as the next possible PG at Pitt.
Woodall, who’s 5-11, lacks Fields’ savvy and court vision, but he brings speed and athleticism. “I’m more athletic than him,” Woodall says. “I can jump. I’ve caught some (alley-)oops.”
He also picked up plenty of wisdom from Fields. While sitting on the bench, he watched Fields run the offense; by the end of the season, he was often pointing out Fields’ mistakes during timeouts.
“It was weird,” Woodall says. “I started feeling like his father, criticizing him.”
Of course the competition to start at PG will be with Ashton Gibbs, who isn’t shying from expectations with Pitt.
“I think people are definitely underestimating us,” Gibbs, a rising sophomore point guard, said last week at the Joe Brown Memorial tournament. “We’re bringing a lot back. We lost four starters but we’re bringing a lot back, a lot of reserves back. We’re the same team that went at the starters in practice last year so we know we can play against some of the best players in the country.”
And this more than a little rose-colored glasses look at Pitt players’ summer league performances.
Throughout the summer league all four true freshmen showed their ability at times and the two redshirt freshman showed signs of improvement. Because practice is such a critical factor in how the rotation comes to form, it is too early to name any certainties as starters, but there are two clear facts about this version of the Panthers: this team is extremely deep, and there are a lot of options with the personnel of the roster.
With the summer league over, one thing that is certain is that there will be some serious battles at every single spot on the floor this year. Despite all the uncertainly, Panther fans should be pleasantly optimistic about this young group.
It’s a little on the overly-gushing side, and yes it’s summer league. Still it is an encouraging read.
