The departure of Newkirk left this year’s Panthers looking at a looming problem for this season, backcourt depth. The guard position has taken several key hits over the course of the offseason. Starting with offseason surgeries to James Robinson, Josh Newkirk, and graduate transfer Sterling Smith. Newkirk was not even the first transfer of the summer, as forward Durand Johnson will also be gone after two suspension filled seasons. With Robinson recovering from surgery, Newkirk gone, and Damon Wilson Jr. still not eligible who can Dixon turn to at point guard?
Robinson is expected to be ready to play by the time the season starts, but foot surgery for basketball players always leads to question marks. If he is still recovering by that time Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon is going to need to get creative with his backcourt. Newkirk being gone means he won’t be an option, but Pitt did land four-star guard Damon Wilson Jr. who has been described as an athletically gifted pass first guard. He could foreseeably play a lot of minutes early on the season. However, two problems still arise with this strategy. One, Wilson is only a freshman so giving him that much responsibility is unfair to a guy in only his first year. Two, there still have been some questions regarding his eligibility so Dixon cannot put all of his eggs into that basket just yet.
Dixon also is in a bit of a jam, because both of his shooting guards do not posses point guard skillsets. Chris Jones does not have the necessary ball handling and passing vision to be counted on to command the offense, the same goes for Sterling Smith and he is still recovering from surgery anyway. Without having a shooting guard to convert to point guard this is where Dixon will have to get creative.
Forward/guard Cameron Johnson played point guard throughout high school, making him at the very least comfortable with primary ball handling responsibilities. However, the injury bug plagued him last year as he only appeared in eight games before missing the remainder of the season due to shoulder surgery. Also, even with some point guard skills he still needs better ball handling and more strength for him to be a reliable option at the point.
To add fuel to the fire the Panthers are not looking at an easy start to the schedule. They play Gonzaga, an elite eight team from a year ago, to open the season off. The Zags will definitely be a top ten team possibly even top five. If Robinson is unable to go or is still recovering whoever comes in to replace him is looking at a baptism by fire.
Point guard in basketball is like quarterback in football, his job is to make sure the offense gets going and into rhythm. That is why if the 2015 Panthers cannot sort out this dilemma they are currently facing we could be looking at a long season.