2011-12 Pitt Basketball Preview
October 25, 2011
Jamie Dixon and the Pittsburgh Panthers had a very productive regular season in 2010-11. Despite taking part in a hard Big East schedule, the team ended up with a 15-3 record in conference play and 28-6 overall.
The Panthers defeated Connecticut easily in the final regular season meeting, but were beat by the Huskies by a couple of points in the conference tourney. Pitt didn’t have much luck in the NCAA tournament either, losing in the second round to Butler. So, even with their regular season success, fans had to be a little disappointed at the close of the season.
The 2011-12 version of the Pitt basketball team will have only two starters returning. Still, coach Dixon has started a winning tradition and the school has shown to be able to reload when losing top talent. Expectations will be high once again for the Panthers.
Backcourt
Pittsburgh’s backcourt play centers around Asthon Gibbs. Gibbs was thinking about declaring for the NBA draft, but withdrew due to the uncertain labor situation. It’s a good thing he did since it doesn’t look like the NBA will hit the court any time soon. Last year he put up 16.8 points per game on 49% 3-point shooting and he will be counted on to be the main offensive force for the Panthers in 2011-12.
Travon Woodall will try to replace Brandon Wanamaker. Woodall is a good defender who is going to have to live up to the hype of being a decent distributor. Also seeing playing time will be Cameron Wright, Durand Johnson, and John Johnson.
Frontcourt
Pitt’s main losses came from the post positions that will be without Gilbert Brown and Gary McGhee. Even with those two gone, Pittsburgh does get some strong players returning to go together with some exciting recruits.
Nasir Robinson will bring the expertise to the floor. Last season he averaged 9.4 points and almost 5 rebounds each game, but he should get more minutes this season and thus increase his productivity.
Khem Birch was a McDonald’s All-American and one of the very best big men coming out of high school. Malcolm Gilbert was also desired by a good deal of universities due to his rebounding and shot blocking capabilities. These two newcomers will be expected to produce right away, and there is little reason to believe they won’t be up to the challenge.
Supplying the team with some additional minutes will likely be Dante Taylor, JJ Moore, and Talib Zanna.
Each year we offer our Pitt Panthers basketball predictions so you can get yourself ready to beat the college basketball lines on their games.