Tray Woodall still has discomfort in his abdomen

Monday, 01 October 2012 23:28

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Midnight Madness is next Friday, and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon worked late tonight at the Petersen Events Center finalizing plans for Pitt’s outdoor event on Bigelow Boulevard.

Two players who had offseason surgeries are experiencing different results as the Panthers prepare for the 2012-13 season. Junior forward J.J. Moore, who had surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot, will not have any limitations when practice begins next week. Dixon reported only some minor problems with Moore getting into the physical conditioning he desires after rehabbing the foot.

It’s a different story for senior point guard Tray Woodall, who had offseason sports hernia surgery after the injury forced him to miss 10 games in the middle of last season. Woodall has not missed any of the team workouts since the players reported back to school in August, but Dixon said he has had to miss some strength and conditioning workouts because of the same discomfort in the abdomen.

“With Tray, it’s his call,” Dixon said. “There are times when he has discomfort.”

I asked Dixon whether he might have to rest Woodall in season because of the injury, much in the same way he did last year when Woodall would practice occasionally and play in games in the second half of the season. Dixon said he hadn’t looked that far ahead, but said that arrangement last season “was not beneficial for him or for us.”

One thing Dixon has going for him this season that he did not have last season was a true backup point guard. James Robinson was recruited to be the point guard of the future, and his development might be important if Woodall cannot find a way to play through the discomfort.

Comments (8)

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tigerpaul, October 02, 2012 - 05:25 PM

Ray,

Let's assume Woodall gets healthy and everyone else (knock on wood) stays healthy. Do you mind taking a stab at the starting five against Mount St. Mary's on November 9?

My five would be Woodall, Zeigler, Patterson, Adams and Zanna at the one through five spots.

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R_Fittipaldo, October 02, 2012 - 06:14 PM

I agree with your starting five. I hope Adams is the guy at center, but I've been covering this team for a 10 years now and Jamie does not hand starting jobs to freshmen over seniors very often. GO back to 2004, and Toree Morris started over Christ Taft until late December. I think Taylor will get a shot to start, but Adams will play the majority of minutes there.

I also think Patterson plays some at power forward, which would open up more minutes for JJ Moore and limit the amount of time you have to have Zanna in the game.

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raidbuck, October 02, 2012 - 07:29 PM

Will they be at least competitive this year and have a chance at the NCAA's?

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tigerpaul, October 02, 2012 - 07:44 PM

Good point Ray. It brings back memories of John DeGroat. Dixon would pull him out of the game after his first turnover or by the first TV timeout but DeGroat did start 27 games during his senior year back in 2005-2006 but only averaged 10 minutes a game.

I guess a few better questions would be:

Top 4 reserves: James Robinson, J.J. Moore, Dante Taylor and Durand Johnson???

Redshirt candidates: Malcolm Gilbert and Chris Jones???

Not really in the mix: John Johnson and Cameron Wright???

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R_Fittipaldo, October 02, 2012 - 09:24 PM

Raidbuck, if Woodall is healthy I see this team as top 5 or 6 in the Big East. A lot depends on the development of Adams, too. But yes, will be competitive in the Big East.

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R_Fittipaldo, October 02, 2012 - 09:27 PM

Moore is the top reserve for sure. Robinson is the backup point guard, which could be important with Woodall's history. Taylor should play 10-15 minutes a game. Durand Johnson is the wild card. He has tons of offensive upside, but he hasn't shown anyone he can defend. That's why John Johnson and Cam Wright might have a role again. Wright can defend if nothing else, and John Johnson showed last season he can stroke it from 3. He can't defend either, but at least he's shown he can shoot in real games. We're talking all about potential with Durand Johnson. He has to prove it to me before I put him in the rotation before John Johnson.

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tigerpaul, October 02, 2012 - 09:41 PM

Ray,

If Adams stays healthy and plays 25 minutes a game, don't you think they could be much better defensively simply because Adams can defend the front of the rim? That makes a huge difference on any team.

Also, it will be interesting to see what Wright and John Johnson do this year. I'm not sold on either one, but it is possible that one of them shows lots of improvement. What's your take here Ray? Who has more upside of the two in your opinion?

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R_Fittipaldo, October 04, 2012 - 12:15 AM

I think John Johnson has more upside because he is a better offensive player. He has proven he can shoot from the perimeter and I think with time he can become effective in transition and in the half-court taking his man off the dribble. With Wright, I just don't see a lot of offensive upside.

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