PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Pittsburgh is nothing if not consistent in who they are. The Panthers’ identity has not changed since Ben Howland was roaming the sideline, continuing into current head coach Jamie Dixon’s tenure. With Tuesday night’s 68-64 win at Providence being their third straight, the bottom line is keeping up with that consistency.
Pittsburgh is playing the same style that has made them a big winner in recent years, but now they are more mature after being less experienced last year. The big staple of this team from its physical play is defense, and this year’s team might be the best one they’ve had during their big run the last 12 years. There is still a lot of basketball left to be played this season, but the Panthers are surrendering 54.5 points per game, the best scoring defense number in the program’s history.
While that’s the talk of the team, they pulled out Tuesday’s game with offense. It wasn’t just the 51 percent shooting; it was the way they executed, especially coming out of timeouts as they frequently scored right away, including a couple of key baskets late in the game that helped seal it. Dixon knows why that shouldn’t surprise too many people.
“There’s always a secret every year that offensively, Pitt is one of the most efficient teams in the country in scoring baskets per possession,” said Dixon.
One big difference in this team can be found in two freshmen that have given the Panthers a good boost. The first is big man Steven Adams, who came in with a big-time reputation aided by his play at the adidas Nations Camp in 2011 after averaging 22 points and 16.8 rebounds per games, tops in both categories. The other is James Robinson, whose reputation wasn’t nearly as big but whose play has been at least as important. They are the first duo to start consistently for the Panthers since Brandin Knight (now an assistant coach) and Donatas Zavackas in 1999-2000.
Adams was the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year and has had his moments. He has started all 20 games thus far and has put up good, not great, numbers, largely a product of Pittsburgh’s depth. Adams averages under 23 minutes per game and not because of foul trouble (although two early fouls limited him to three minutes in the first half on Tuesday night) or not being a factor. Instead, the Panthers play ten players between 12 and 28 minutes per game, and the frontcourt includes capable veterans Dante Taylor and J.J. Moore. (They played nine on Tuesday, and Dixon said not playing Cameron Wright was “a bad coaching mistake”.)
Robinson, meanwhile, has come in and settle the point guard spot, no easy task for a freshman. Robinson leads the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio and leads the team in minutes. He didn’t shine in the box score on Tuesday night, but he hit two crucial free throws in the final seconds to seal the game. He’s also a big part of the Panthers having the lowest turnover total in the Big East at ten per game.
“What he does never really shows up in the stat sheet,” said senior guard Tray Woodall. “He was poised and knocked down the two free throws that we needed. That’s the guy that we’re used to, we’re not used to him having big numbers, but we’re used to him going out there and having a big heart.”
All the while, they both fit the profile of your typical Panther player in the last 10-15 years. Although Adams and Robinson are noteworthy as freshmen starters, the Panthers are fine at the other end of the spectrum with Woodall and wing Lamar Patterson. Both are a big reason this team has won and is winning again after a down year last year, and not just because like Robinson they are both in the top five in the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Woodall has been a winner his whole career, from legendary St. Anthony’s in high school to his four years at Pittsburgh. A couple of years ago, during a stretch where he had struggled, he hit a clutch shot to beat Providence in the same building. Tuesday night he did something similar, putting them up by five in the last minute with a big jumper coming out of a timeout, but had a better night overall with nine points on 4-7 shooting to go with eight assists and three steals.
Patterson is a player you have to watch to appreciate, although a couple of his numbers tell you something about him. At first glance, he might not pass the “look test” of a Big East player, and he’s not going to bowl you over with athleticism or power. He’s incredibly effective, however, and a lot of that owes to his basketball I.Q. He showed it several times on Tuesday, from hitting a three-pointer right in the flow of the offense to driving right to the basket for layups. Included was a key one coming out of the last timeout that put the Panthers up 60-53 as they tried to fend off a Providence rally.
He finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting and led the team with seven rebounds. Better yet, how many wings do you know whose assist-to-turnover ratio is about 2.6? That’s what Patterson’s number is on the season.
“He’s a great passer, has great vision,” said Dixon, who added that he thinks redshirt freshman Durand Johnson is making Patterson better from their practice battles. “He can pass, he can catch, he can dribble, he can shoot, and when you’ve got all those, once you learn to use it and understand it, you can become effective.”
Pittsburgh is the same even though the names and faces may change. Last year, the results weren’t quite there, but they have stuck to who they are and are starting to look more like the Panther teams of other recent years on the bottom line. They go ten deep, with a lot of players who play a physical style and might not strike you as Big East players at first glance. It’s hard to argue with the results to this point save for perhaps last season, and this season is starting to go the way of most of Dixon’s tenure.
