Pitt has an embarrassment of point guard riches

Friday, 02 November 2012 22:25

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Remember when Pitt didn’t have a point guard in the middle of last season? There was the Ashton Gibbs experiment that failed miserably and then the Isaiah Epps experiment that failed even more miserably.

That seems like such a long time ago. Tray Woodall is healthy after an abdominal injury forced him to miss a big chunk of last season. Freshman James Robinson is playing like a veteran and has apparently won a starting job alongside Woodall in the backcourt. And now, there is a third point guard who has been pushing for more playing time.

John Johnson, who played shooting guard last season, received praise from Dixon after Pitt’s 77-45 victory over Hawaii-Hilo Friday night. Johnson committed himself to learning to play the point over the summer.

“John has made tremendous strides over the last 10 days,” Dixon said. “It’s tremendous strides. I don’t think anyone thought he’d be where he is point-guard wise. But he’s doing a great job, working hard and playing hard.”

Johnson had seven points, five assists and one turnover in 17 minutes off the bench.

How about this stat line for all three point guards: 22 points, 13 assists and one turnover. Robinson had nine points, two assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes and Woodall had six points, eight assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes.

“I’m real excited about them,” Dixon said. “I really feel like we have three really good point guards at this point.”

Robinson said the game was much better from his perspective than last week’s outing against IUP. Dixon had only practiced with Robinson and Woodall in the same backcourt for a week before that game.

“It went a lot smoother tonight than it did last Friday,” he said. “I think the week of practice really helped both of us out. I know a couple of times we got caught up running each other’s lane. We’re just trying to keep working hard together and building on what we can do for the team.”

Woodall also appears comfortable with the two point guard lineup

“It’s easy to play with a guy like him,” Woodall said. “He’s willing to learn and he’s listening. It’s easy to communicate with someone like that. He’s definitely a complement to my game.”

The Panthers still have some issues to iron out before next Friday’s regular season opener against Mt. St. Mary’s – such as getting Steven Adams on track offensively and getting more production from Lamar Patterson and Trey Zeigler – but one area where there is no concern is point guard.

Dixon might have the best trio of point guards in the country.