Jamie Dixon has done a good job with his Pittsburgh team this year. They lost starting guard Mike Cook for the season with a knee injury to sour a win over Duke and then, the next time out, Levance Fields broke his foot in a blowout loss to Dayton. Losing your starting backcourt would kill a lot of teams but Dixon reshaped his team to its new reality. He relied on Sam Young for scoring and DeJuan Blair for interior toughness and got surprisingly strong play from senior guard Ronald Ramon at the point. It's worked pretty well. The Panthers have gone 8-4 since losing Fields, including a lights-out performance against Providence on Tuesday night. Now, in advance of a crucial stretch run, Dixon gets his point guard back to lead them. Fields is expected to play against Marquette on Friday and, logically, at Notre Dame next week in two games that will have a lot of say in who gets a bye in the first round of the Big East tournament.
Frankly, I like Pitt's chances. With Fields healthy, Ramon and his 42% three-point touch will move to shooting guard. That gives Pitt more flexibility and balance on offense to go with their always strong defense. That's the team that handed Duke their only loss of the season and a team that should close the season with a flourish.
