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By Joel Welser
Pittsburgh Panthers
Big East (22-7, 12-4)
Seed: #3
West Region
RPI: 5
Big Wins:
1/13 Georgetown (74-69), 1/29 at Villanova (65-59), 3/8 vs Marquette (89-79)
Bad Losses:
12/21 at Oklahoma State (89-95), 1/21 Marquette (74-77), 2/12 Louisville
(53-66)
Last NCAA
Appearance: 2006, Second Round loss to Bradley
Coach:
Jamie Dixon (3-3 in 3 NCAA appearances)
Probable
Starters:
Levance Fields,
Sophomore, Guard, 9.3 ppg, 4.5 apg, 3.6 rpg
Antonio Graves,
Senior, Guard, 9.4 ppg, 2.4 apg
Mike Cook,
Junior, Guard, 10.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Levon Kendall,
Senior, Forward, 5.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Aaron Gray,
Senior, Center, 14.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg
Key
Roleplayers:
Ronald Ramon,
Junior, Guard, 8.5 ppg, 2.3 apg
Keith Benjamin,
Junior, Guard, 3.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg
Sam Young,
Sophomore, Forward, 6.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg
Tyrell Biggs,
Sophomore, Forward, 3.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg
Why They Can
Surprise:
Pitt knows what
they are good at and they play within themselves. They will make smart
passes and get the ball inside to center Aaron Gray, who averages 14.1
points and 9.6 rebounds. Despite having three very capable long range
shooters in Antonio Graves, Levance Fields and Ronald Ramon, the Panthers
rarely force up a bad shot and usually move the ball down low. Gray is a
dominate force inside and if he does not touch the ball on two consecutive
possessions, the rest of the team should have to run laps. Levon Kendall
does the dirty work underneath and Sam Young can be a major scoring threat
off of the bench aside Gray.
Pittsburgh has
one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the nation and that is because
of Fields. The sophomore has the speed to get to the basket and the smarts
to run a consistent and smooth offense. With Ramon an experienced option off
the bench, Pitt will not run into any problems at the point.
Why They Can
Disappoint:
The defense is
good, but Pitt does not force a lot of turnovers and get easy fast break
points. Usually that is not a big deal, but if the offense is sputtering in
the half-court set, a fast break bucket or two could be exactly what they
need to get back in the flow. The team free-throw shooting could be better
and most of that is due to Gray shooting just 54.8% from the charity stripe.
He is a liability on the line down the stretch and sooner or later Pitt will
find themselves in a close game.
Who To
Watch:
We know the
point guards are good and the big guys are good, but Pitt has a couple
scoring threats on the wings as well. Graves and East Carolina transfter
Mike Cook both average around ten points per game and the Panthers need that
scoring to compliment Gray’s game.
Joel’s
Bracket Says: Final Four loss to Florida
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2007 NCAA Tournament Bracket
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