Dixon finding consistency

Heading into a game against the Georgetown Hoyas earlier this season, Pitt guard Jermaine… Heading into a game against the Georgetown Hoyas earlier this season, Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon was struggling with his 3-point shot, shooting just 7-of-38 on the season.

While on the trip to the Washington area, Jermaine’s older brother, Juan, a guard on the NBA’s Washington Wizards and former NCAA Tournament champion with the Maryland Terrapins in 2002, met up with his younger brother to help him fix his shooting woes.

In the next few games, Dixon’s shot improved. After scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting in a 92-69 win at DePaul on Saturday, it’s obvious that he’s found some consistency.

Since that win at Georgetown, Dixon is 16-of-32, raising his overall average to 29 percent on the season.

‘I’ve gained a lot of confidence,’ said Dixon. ‘My brother helped me with some mechanics that I was messing up on.’

Also, since that time Dixon has exhibited a harder work ethic.

‘I’ve started working out more with my jump shot,’ said Dixon. ‘Me, coach Knight and Levance [Fields] are shooting all the time so I’ve been getting a lot of repetition on my jump shot and my confidence has been building.’

Juan Dixon, shooting 38 percent from 3-point range this season in the NBA, is more of a pure shooter than Jermaine, and has a strong focus on mechanics.

His advice might have shown the most when his younger brother went 3-of-4 from behind the line and scored 19 points in a loss against Louisville.

A week later, Jermaine went 3 for 5 from 3-point range at West Virginia.

He followed that performance up with a perfect 3-of-3 long-range shooting effort and was 5-of-7 overall from the field. During Pitt’s last two games, Dixon is a combined 5-of-7.

Coming to Pitt out of Tallahassee Community College, Dixon wasn’t thought of as much of a shooter.

But it now appears that he’s comfortable letting his shot go from anywhere on the floor. While Juan will surely keep offering advice on Jermaine’s game in the future, Jermaine’s current success is keeping even his harshest critics away.