Fields and Ramon Pitt’s two-guard tournament force

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon heard all the questions. But the same answer followed each one…. Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon heard all the questions. But the same answer followed each one.

His view of the starting lineup was set in stone and has continued that way.

And only after Pitt’s first game of the season, an 86-67 win over Western Michigan, was he willing to expand on it.

“He really can run a team,” Dixon said at the time, referring to his starting point guard Levance Fields. “We’re very fortunate to have him and Ronald [Ramon]. It’s a good combination.

“We’ll go back and forth at people.”

After a full season of doing so, Dixon will continue to rely on the play of his two point guards – Ramon and Fields – when the NCAA Tournament starts Thursday against Wright State.

That’s not a problem for Dixon and the rest of the team. The two have produced and will look to do more in the tournament – a setting many consider to be a guard’s game.

Fields has started all 34 games in his sophomore season, running an efficient offense built around 7-footer Aaron Gray. He handed out 152 assists on the season, possessing a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

He’s held his own scoring, too, ranking fourth on the team with a 9.3 average. To Fields, it didn’t matter where he played and when, but when he earned the starting nod, he took off with it.

“It doesn’t matter to me where we play,” Fields said earlier about the guard situation. “If coach sees it best for us to be together or out there alone, that’s what we’ll do. We’ve got a lot of flexibility.”

Ramon is no stranger to that type of thinking either. To the surprise of many, Ramon flourished this season in his new role of coming off the bench.

The 6-1 sharpshooter started 29 of 33 games last season and has since seen that number fade to zero. Despite not starting a single game this season, though, he’s seen his production increase.

Ramon is averaging 8.5 points per game and leads the team in free-throw shooting. He’s the team’s biggest outside threat, shooting 148 3-pointers and making the most with 64 – good for second on the team at 43.2 percent.

“The shooting percentage is because of Aaron,” Ramon said, noting the open looks the guards receive are because of the defense on Gray inside.

But as for the playing time issue – Fields starting and Ramon coming off the bench – it’s been no problem for Ramon.

“Coach sees us as guards,” Ramon has said. “And it’s not just Levance and me. We have some good guards on this team that can all play together or at different times. We make each other better.”

What Dixon has seen out of Ramon isn’t something that has come unexpected.

When slated for the reserve role, Dixon told Ramon not to get down about it. He told him to keep firing up his shots. He told him to not let back, and he told him that plays would be run his way.

“He’s a good shooter who’s gotten better,” Dixon said. “He works hard. He’s a great player all around. Obviously, he’s shooting the ball extremely well, as the numbers indicate.

“It gives us a great guy coming in there and gives us a spark every time we bring him in.”

Even more important, the play of both Ramon and Fields has added to the play of Gray.

With the emergence of capable-shooting guards, Gray has been able to look outside when the defense collapses on him. It’s a dimension that Pitt’s offense hasn’t seen in recent seasons. Just ask the opposing coaches.

“You have no choice,” Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin said after Pitt connected on 12 3-pointers in a win over the Bearcats. “You have to pick your poison against these guys.”

But it all goes back to that first game and the move Dixon made. He started Fields. He used Ramon instantly off the bench. It worked then, and it’s worked all season long.

His answer to the starting point guard question when he finally expanded?

“It is what it is,” Dixon said after the first win. “It’s a problem other teams wish they had. It’s not a problem to us. It’s just a case of having two very good point guards that can play together.”