WVU or ND? Who is the biggest surprise in Big East?

Did you ever think a Pitt Panther team could shoot the ball so well from 3-point range? I’m… Did you ever think a Pitt Panther team could shoot the ball so well from 3-point range? I’m not sure if any team in the Big East had the phrase “deadly from behind the arc” on the Panthers’ scouting report before Pitt’s last two games, but they have to now.

A few impressive shooting days have put Jamie Dixon’s team at 2-0 in the Big East. First a much-needed road win over a slumping Syracuse team, then a sloppy win over hapless South Florida. Still, this Pitt team is showing an important trait – it can win without Preseason Big East Player of the Year Aaron Gray leading the charge.

Can that trend hold up, though? The questions keep on coming.

What is going on with Aaron Gray?

Every player is entitled to his slumps. Still, I’m hesitant to call this a slump for Gray. It’s not like he isn’t doing other things out there besides being big.

Aaron Gray is seven feet of you-have-to-get-around-this. He changes the game just being out there, and any Pitt opponent will concur. If he doesn’t draw the double team, then everybody knows where the ball is going. If he does, then we will see the improved passing facet of Gray’s game, finding open shooters that are, as we said, knocking down those long jumpers.

True, he hasn’t scored in double figures since the Oklahoma State game, possibly the best game he has put together in a Panther uniform. Pitt, however, hasn’t lost any of those games.

Make no mistake about it, though. Pitt needs production out of Gray when they run into some size. Luckily, this weekend will bring the Georgetown Hoyas into the Petersen Events Center.

How about Levon Kendall? Shouldn’t Sam Young get more minutes and play a true four?

This is one of the cheapest possible answers to give, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Kendall isn’t playing up to snuff offensively, but he has to stay in because things are working for Pitt.

I know that’s a cop out, but it’s true. Young is a fantastic player – he has the kind of finishing skills close to the basket that will make him an incredible asset to Pitt. In the future, that is, when he is set defensively.

Kendall isn’t just about taking that baseline jumper that he shoots so well. His defense is valuable, especially for a defensively developing team that, don’t forget, gave up 89 to Wisconsin and 95 to Oklahoma State last month.

His presence is similar to Gray’s in that his size bothers people, but his defensive mechanics are ahead of Young’s at this stage. This is why Dixon hesitated to start Young last year. Don’t forget, either, that Pitt demands a lot from its players defensively so that doesn’t mean Young won’t get it.

But when he does and we start seeing him 28 minutes plus