Panthers head to Brooklyn for season’s first true tests

After having their way against Howard and Lehigh in the regional round of the Progressive Legends Classic, members of the Pitt men’s basketball team have traveled to New York to continue play in the early season tournament. 

The Panthers (4-0) will take on Texas Tech (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. in the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. Stanford and Houston will play the tournament’s following game at 9:30 p.m.

The winners of each game will play in the championship game Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. in the Barclays Center, and the losers will play in a consolation game at 7 p.m.

Pitt redshirt senior Lamar Patterson suffered a minor injury to his Achilles early last week during practice, and head coach Jamie Dixon said Patterson still felt some lingering pain toward the end of the week.

Yet Patterson is expected to play against Texas Tech, a team entering tomorrow’s contest with a double-digit loss to Alabama under its belt. 

The Red Raiders are led by first-year head coach Tubby Smith, who has been in the head-coaching business for 22 years. At age 62, Smith appears to be in the downhill stretch of his coaching career. From 1997 to 2007, Smith was at the helm at Kentucky, where he collected a national title, five Southeastern Conference championships and an award for Associated Press Coach of the Year.

In 11 seasons at Pitt, Dixon has not been matched up against a team led by Smith. 

“This year, they’ve been a physical team with good size and good strength, and he has older guys too,” said Dixon.

Dixon also said the Red Raiders primarily show a man-to-man, but mix in some 2-3 zone on occasion. Smith will try to control the game’s pace at all times, playing a slower game of basketball.

Win or lose, Dixon and his coaching staff will have under 24 hours to prepare for their next opponent. Dixon said he has a system in place for scouting during these types of tournaments. 

“We always assign a coach to each team, and we scout them like we’re definitely playing them, and then we have to make that decision once the winner or loser comes about,” Dixon said. “We look at it as the same thing. We have a shorter amount of time to prepare for it, and our team does as well. You focus on the first one, the one you know you’re playing, and put all your emphasis on that.”

Four Pitt players are from the New York area. Dixon always tries to schedule at least one game per year in the area so his players have a chance to “go home.” 

Guard Cameron Wright, a redshirt junior, is always excited to go to the New York area because he knows one of his teammates’ families will house the team and feed them a home-cooked meal.

“We’re familiar with the city, and my entire team is excited to get back up to New York. We have a lot of guys from the New York area, so we’re excited to go home,” said Wright.

Pitt is 42-20 since the turn of the century in the New York City and New Jersey area. Wright said he is excited to play away from home for this reason, and he is actually one of the few who prefers playing on the road to playing at the Petersen Events Center.

“I actually like playing on the road more. To make their crowd feel bad is a better feeling than hearing my crowd cheer Pitt on. That’s just me,” Wright said.

Pitt could find itself matched against a former Panther on Tuesday night. Houston’s J.J. Richardson, who played under Dixon during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons as a forward, is now a redshirt senior for the Cougars.

The 6-foot-7 Texas native transferred after he received little playing time at Pitt. Since then, Richardson has not made many strides on the stat sheet and enters the tournament as a bench reserve.

Regardless of whom Pitt takes on, the team needs to improve its man-to-man defense. Dixon said his team has improved everywhere except in this aspect of play.

“Our man is not where it needs to be,” Dixon said. “It’s being able to adjust and being able to recognize a hot hand too and change and adapt and improve as the game goes on.”