One thing that has been evident throughout the early season for Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers is thy have had a size advantage on the inside and are willing to use it, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Dixon’s starting lineup features the 7’0” freshman Steven Adams at center and 6’9” Talib Zanna at the power forward spot, but 6’9” Dante Taylor has also logged major minutes at both the 4 and the 5 so far this season.
Having three capable big bodies has paid dividends at both ends of the floor.
Most collegiate teams aren’t equipped with enough size, so Pitt can create matchup nightmares for opposing coaches, but the three-headed monster underneath has paid immediate dividends defensively.
What the likes of Adams, Zanna and Taylor have done so far is bought in big time defensively. They, especially in the case of Taylor, have done a great job defending and crashing the glass. In essence, they have made it next to impossible to get to the rim against them.
“They are so big,” said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora “Having that type of size on a Jamie Dixon coached defensive team allows their guards to be even more aggressive. You think when you get by them there is a path to the basket and once you commit to driving it closes up instantly. Once you do that they have you in trouble. It’s like playing against the boogie man.”
The difference has been Adams, who while still learning the offense has no problem at all banging and fighting for rebounds. His insane wingspan alone just makes him a presence underneath that teams have had second thoughts attacking.
Adams has had some success blocking shots (seven blocks), but his true value is in the amount of shots that he changes or alters on a given night.
His presence alone allows the Pitt guards to pressure the basketball more aggressively because they know he is back there.
“The coaches want us to go out and pressure the ball aggressively,” said freshman guard James Robinson. “It easier to do that knowing we have that type of size behind us. We can take a few more chances because we know they have our back.”
But it hasn’t just been Adams.
Zanna looks like a completely different player at both ends of the floor. His early season scoring has drawn a ton of praise, but he’s been more aggressive on the defensive end as well.
Then there is Taylor.
Say what you want about him, but he adds a ton of value to this team, filling a Gary McGhee type of role.
Through three games, Taylor has shown to be the Panthers best interior defender and rebounder. He has come off of the bench to lead the Panthers with 7.0 boards per game, including 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. In the Panthers last two games alone, Taylor has grabbed 19 boards, with eight of them coming at the offensive end. That’s great production considering Taylor has gotten only about 19 minutes of playing time per game.
His footwork and positioning have improved so much over the course of a season and he has, at least to this point, accepted his role as a defender and rebounder off the bench.
“All three work very hard,” said Dixon. “With our depth we have options, but we have talked all year about pressuring the ball and causing turnovers. We want to limit teams to a certain number shooting the ball and having great size means not a lot of easy baskets and a lot of challenged shots.”
Of course it is one thing to have success against the likes of Mount St. Mary’s, Fordham and Lehigh, as they will have to defend like that through the course of a Big East Conference season.
Whether they can or not is something that only time will tell, but one thing is for certain and that is that opposing teams will have their hands full with the Panthers size on a nightly basis and as you can see from Pitt’s 3-0 start, that size has made the entire team better.
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