No way for VCU to prepare for versatile Pitt

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Virginia Commonwealth knew what it was getting into when it drew Pitt in the… BUFFALO, N.Y. – Virginia Commonwealth knew what it was getting into when it drew Pitt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Seven-footer Aaron Gray had already given the Rams headaches two nights prior.

Three members of the VCU coaching staff sat in the second row of the media section Thursday night, taking in the Panthers’ late-night demolition of Horizon League champion Wright State.

Minutes removed from the NCAA Tournament’s biggest first-round upset, assistant coaches Allen Edwards and Tony Pujol – head coach Anthony Grant joined them later – began scouting VCU’s potential next opponents. The white-lined paper on which Pujol scribbled had one underlined word in all caps: “GRAY.”

“He’s going to be a pain in the [butt],” one assistant muttered. “I don’t know how we’re going to stop him.”

Neither did Wright State.

The Raiders started 6-foot-8 Jordan Pleiman, a 240-pound junior listed as a forward on the roster, and his mission was to slow down Gray. From the opening tip-off, Pleiman was clearly overmatched.

Gray established position five feet from the bucket on the first three possessions, pushing around Pleiman so easily it looked like the forward was wearing rollerblades.

Wright State defenders focused on Gray all night. The center required the attention of two, sometimes three Raiders every time he touched the basketball. And when Pleiman needed a breather, a pair of 6-6 forwards, Drew Burleson and Scottie Wilson, were left with the arduous task of handling the big man.

In watching Pitt’s offense, Edwards and Pujol suddenly understood the fears of every coach Pitt faced this year – Gray’s size and ability combined appeared unstoppable.

“[Pitt’s] size bothered us,” Wright State coach Brad Brownell said after the game.

Grant moseyed into a folding chair next to Pujol with a handful of minutes remaining in the first half of the game against Wright State. The first-year coach studied the game quietly, occasionally chatting with Pujol to his right.

When Gray pushed his way into position with sheer force and slipped a layup in off the glass from the left block, Edwards made a comment that captured the trio’s mindset.

“That boy is huge.”

VCU took the floor Saturday with the very same problem with which Wright State struggled immensely. Of the Rams’ key contributors, 6-7 is the tallest height listed on the roster.

So for the second game in a row, Pitt looked to exploit its size advantage and keep VCU from turning the contest into a track meet.

“I think it’s important for us to slow it down,” Pitt forward Levon Kendall told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Friday. “They have athletic guys, small guys. If we can dictate the pace, that will play into our hands.”

On the first possession against VCU, Kendall immediately found Gray four feet from the cylinder. Gray turned, bumped his man into the band section on the sideline and softly laid in an easy deuce.

Grant’s game plan was exactly the same as Brownell’s – all hands on deck when the big man had the ball, forcing the little guys to hit their shots.

On Pitt’s next possession, VCU guard Jesse Pellot-Rosa, the man charged with covering Mike Cook, shifted into the paint to slap at the ball in Gray’s hands. Cook was left all alone on the wing. After Gray smelled the double team, he found Cook, and Pitt’s second-leading scorer made VCU pay – again and again and again.

Cook’s shooting range and penetration wreaked havoc on Ram defenders early and often. Cook tallied seven of Pitt’s first 11 points and finished with 12.

Then the rest of the Panthers started chiming in. Levance Fields had 10, Antonio Graves had nine, Ronald Ramon had 12 and Sam Young finished with 15 points.

“They were double-teaming and triple-teaming in the post,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “But Aaron made some good decisions, and our guys responded in a lot of good ways.”

When the game settled down and Pitt worked into its half-court sets, Gray’s shoulders bumped the face of each Ram defender every time he jostled for position. And the big man’s blows were not met with any kind of response.

In boxing, it’s called “working the body.”

“It’s not just one or two plays that we run,” Dixon said. “It’s running them again and again and getting them right.”

Yet the headache Gray inflicted on the VCU coaching staff and players did not pound nearly as hard as the one Pitt’s guards created. The scouting report said “Shut down Gray” – it didn’t mention much about the little guys.

“Aaron is a great passer,” Fields said after the game. “Teams have to pick their poison, either guard him one on one or double team him and leave other people open for baskets.”

Edwards was right – Gray is huge, and his ability to see over the top of VCU’s double teams crushed the Cinderella slippers on the Rams’ feet.