Pitt Panthers Basketball: Has the Window Closed on Jamie Dixon and Pitt?

You only get so many opportunities to crawl through the window before it closes shut.

That could be exactly what has happened to Jamie Dixon and the Pitt basketball program.

So many opportunities in March that were left on the floor. So many games in March that Pitt just didn’t win.

They had their chances and now the window closed.

It’s natural. It happens to programs all over the country all of the time.

Take Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators as an example. After winning back-to-back titles beginning in 2006, it took Donovan until 2011 to get the Gators back to relevance. After Roy Williams and North Carolina have won titles lately, they experienced a couple down years as well.

The difference is the majority of the players on those two teams are in the NBA at the moment. The other difference is that those guys have won the big ones, which is something that still eludes the Panthers.

Given the type of players that Dixon has had at Pitt, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

It’s just strange to see.

It eventually happens to every program. Pitt fans have just been spoiled under Dixon.

Pitt 0-2 in the Big East? The Panthers out of the Top 25 for the first time in what seems like forever? Home losses to Wagner and Long Beach State?

Another strange sight is that the Panthers aren’t the good rebounding or defensive team we are used to seeing. That’s the main reason for the mediocre 11-4 start to the season.

There’s plenty of reason’s why, but the main reason is that Pitt got real young, real quick.

Dixon, who primarily doesn’t play many young players off the bat has been forced to play as many as seven freshmen and sophomores during games. He doesn’t have the customary senior leadership to fall on that pretty much every Pitt team under him has had.

He also didn’t plan on one of his promising big bodies, Khem Birch, picking up and leaving school.

But the main problem is that there is no consistent second scoring option on this team other than Ashton Gibbs.

There’s plenty of problems to deal with and if Dixon can get this young team competitive in the Big East and into the NCAA Tournament, it should be viewed as a good coaching job.

The good news is that Pitt will be good again soon. They have young talent and a good pair of recruits coming in next season.