The game today (now playing) against Mt. Saint Mary’s is the last that won’t be seen on any TV. After today, whether on Big East/ESPN regional or somewhere on the Mouse Monopoly, there Pitt will be watchable on the tube.
The annoying thing — beyond the fact that I want to be able to see every game — is that this game will be very interesting to watch after Pitt has had a week off for finals. Coach Dixon has decided that the team needs some shaking up.
When the players reported for practice Tuesday afternoon they were informed that all starting positions were up for grabs. The practices were harder and longer than usual. One player described the past three days as a “boot camp.”
Another player said he wished Dixon would have done it sooner.
“The week was tough,” junior guard Brad Wanamaker. “I felt as though it was something we needed. It helped us mature. It will help us make better decisions. Every little thing we did coach was on us in practice. Coach was constantly on us to see the fight in us. Maybe it was something he should have done constantly throughout all of the practices. We would be a better team now. But it was good for us.”
Freshman forward Dante Taylor said when the players got to practice on Tuesday they discovered there were no gold jerseys. Gold jerseys designate the starters and represent a team hierarchy of sorts.
“When we came out for the first practice there was no gold team,” Taylor said. “He told us positions were open. This was the time for you to show if you wanted to be a starter or not. He was going to start the five guys who play defense.”
And for the first time this season, Coach Dixon really explained how the inexperience has been a problem. Not an excuse, but a problem.
“That has been the challenge,” Jamie Dixon said. “You have new guys who are used to doing it one way. You don’t have the guys to demonstrate it. Jermaine is our best defender, and he’s not there.
“I think we’ve had to do more teaching and more film. New guys generally don’t believe it until they see it in a game situation. And then if they continue to play minutes and not suffer the consequences then it becomes less believable. There has been improvement and there needs to be more improvement.”
In other words, how do you yank their asses off the court and onto the bench to make the point when you don’t have a viable option?
And of course, after today, the rotation changes again with Gilbert Brown returning.
Jamie Dixon will likely give Brown minutes at power forward and small forward, meaning once again that the rotation will change significantly.
The unique aspect of Brown’s return is that he has been barred from practice and has not been a part of the team since September. He has attended games, but has not been allowed to participate in any team-related activities during his suspension.
“There is no formula for that one,” the coach said. “That’s a unique situation. It is what it is and we’ll see come Sunday. It’s the situation that we’re in.
“The thing that’s unique is that he’s been in the program for four years. That’s something that should factor in some ways. He has played minutes. He has that going for him unlike the seven new players we have this year.”
We’ll see. I know I’ll be very curious to see what kind of shape Brown is in at this point.
