Progression and Regression

By Chris Dokish

Here is a look at how each individual player performed over the last twenty games of the season, split into two ten game sections, and only including top competition. That means the twenty games includes all 18 Big East conference games, as well as their first round Big East tournament loss and their NCAA tournament loss to Xavier. Excluded were wins against Robert Morris and Oakland because, while both are very good teams, they are not at the level of Big East competition. In the first ten games, the Panthers had a 6-4 record, while in the second ten games, the Panthers had a 7-3 record.

Ashton Gibbs

First 10:

37.4 minutes, 17.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 40.7% FG, 42.3% 3FG, 91.4% FT, 1.2 TO, 1.0 fouls

Last 10:

34.2 minutes, 14.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.6 spg, 40.0% FG, 42.6% 3FG, 82.1% FT, 1.2 TO, 1.6 fouls

Conclusion: Some big drops in every category, except steals and FG%, neither of which were good in the first place. The excellent three point shooting was amazingly consistent however.

Brad Wanamaker

First 10:

32.6 minutes, 11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.0 spg, 36.3% FG, 31.3% 3FG,73.6% FT, 2.3 TO, 3.0 fouls

Last 10:

32.7 minutes, 12.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.2 spg, 46.7% FG, 40% 3FG, 75.0% FT, 2.8 TO, 2.6 fouls

Conclusion: The amount of minutes are virtually the same, the rebounds are down, but everything else is up, sometimes way up. The assist total in the last ten games are the level of an All-American point guard, so it's amazing that it's coming from a small forward. Turnovers are still very high, however, and even increased.

Gilbert Brown

First 10:

24.6 minutes, 10.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.5 spg, 57.4% FG, 42.1% 3FG, 68.4% FT, 1.8 TO, 2.6 fouls

Last 10:

23.7 minutes, 11.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.6 spg, 46.2% FG, 36.7% 3FG, 75.6% FT, 1.3 TO, 2.3 fouls

Conclusion: The points went up some and the FT shooting was better. The FG% and three point FG% dropped a lot, but it's still in the good range. Clearly Brown's shooting percentage in the first ten games was too exorbitant to sustain. However, for a 6'6" athletic forward who averages over 20 minutes a game, the rebounds, assists, and steals totals were below average throughout the season.


Jermaine Dixon

First 10 (only played in 9):

32.1 minutes, 11.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg, 36.6% FG, 23.3% 3FG, 71.9% FT, 1.1 TO, 2.0 fouls

Last 10:

29.2 minutes, 10.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 40.0% FG, 15.4% 3FG, 65.2% FT, 1.6 TO, 2.5 fouls

Conclusion: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Dixon's shooting was bad, but you may have to invent a new word to describe how truly awful his three point shooting was.

Nasir Robinson

First 10:

22.7 minutes, 6.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.2 spg, 49.1% FG, 56.3% FT, 1.3 TO, 2.7 fouls

22.3 minutes, 5.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.2 spg, 46.0% FG, 58.3% FT, 0.6 TO, 2.2 fouls

Conclusion: Clearly it wasn't the best season for Robinson. He has a lot of heart, but he's a scrapper who may lack enough skills to ever really do it successfully.

Gary McGhee

First 10:

24.2 minutes, 6.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.1 spg, 1.2 bpg, 56.0% FG, 57.1% FT, 0.7 TO, 2.6 fouls

Last 10:

26.6 minutes, 5.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 2.0 bpg, 52.3% FG, 61.9% FT, 1.1 TO, 1.9 fouls

Conclusion: McGhee was awful in Pitt's last two losses of the season, not scoring in either game, but that overshadows the fact that he improved his rebounding and blocked shots to an all-conference level. The problem is, the rest of his game is nowhere near as close.

Dante Taylor

First 10:

12.9 minutes, 3.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.0 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.6 bpg, 64.7% FG, 57.1% FT, 1.1 TO, 1.5 fouls

Last 10:

12.0 minutes, 4.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.4 bpg, 66.7% FG, 40.0% FT, 0.1 TO, 2.1 fouls

Conclusion: Obviously not a great year for the freshman, but he was a freshman so all is not lost.

Travon Woodall

First 10:

13.4 minutes, 2.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.2 spg, 38.1% FG, 20.0% 3FG, 71.4% FT, 1.4 TO, 1.5 fouls

Last 10:

19.1 minutes, 5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.6 spg, 43.9% FG, 25.0% 3FG, 71.4% FT, 0.8 TO, 2.2 fouls

Conclusion: Obviously, Woodall came around some in the last ten games, but he must improve his three point shooting an awful lot if he wants to be the starting point guard next season.

Overall Conclusion:

It's interesting that only one player made a significant jump at the end of the season and that was Wanamaker. Woodall progressed some, but still has a significant weakness in his three point shooting, plus he should have more steals even in the amount of minutes he has, and he fouls way too much. In what will probably surprise many, McGhee also improved, especially in his rebounding and shot blocking. However his lack of an offensive game will probably prevent him from taking his game much further. Wanamaker, on the other hand, has clearly moved his play to a higher level, though his turnovers are still a problem.

On the downside, Gibbs sharply declined at the end of the season perhaps proving that he would be more efficient if he was not the focus of the team. It's important to not, however, that he was still good at the end, just not as good as he was before. Dixon did not have a bad season, except for his three point shooting, but it was awful, especially for a shooting guard, that it counteracted a lot of the good things he did.

Brown improved some over the season, but his lack of rebounding, assists, and steals makes one continue to wonder if he's more of an athlete than an actual basketball player. He still has one season to disprove that theory, however. Also, this statistic analysis does not show Brown's inconsistency, which is clearly one of the biggest weaknesses on the team.

Robinson, like McGhee may not be able to do too much more. Clearly, as a 6'4" forward with very limited shooting ability hurts his effectiveness, and while he is a great scrapper, there's only so much he's going to be able to do.

Lastly, Taylor did not have a good year. That's obvious, and while it may not show up statistically, I still think he will improve a good deal over his career, perhaps as early as next season.