Pitt Basketball: J.J. Moore’s Performance Encouraging for Panthers’ Future
By Matt Shetler
A ton has gone wrong this season for Jamie Dixon and the Pitt Panthers.
There’s been everything from injuries to getting ridiculously young overnight, but it’s been one thing or another all season long for Pitt.
The result has been a 15-14 record after dropping their fifth straight game on Sunday, a 57-54 loss to Louisville.
While the Panthers have to work to get into the NIT, which is well below the expectations coming into the season when Pitt was ranked No. 11, there have been some bright spots.
One main problem all season has been the lack of a secondary scorer to emerge all season long, but the play of guard J.J. Moore the past three games has turned into a very bright spot heading into next season.
Moore came to Pitt wit a reputation of a scorer, but minutes haven’t been ideal for him his first two seasons in a Panther uniform, partly to playing behind Ashton Gibbs. Moore can play the 2-guard, but is probably viewed more as a small forward.
Between now and the beginning of next season though, there’s an opportunity for Dixon to find out if Moore can be the Panthers’ 2-guard of the future.
In the last three games though he’s scored into double-figures each time.
Moore scored 10, 21 and 16 points in losses to West Virginia, South Florida and Louisville.
Next season, Moore will have a much bigger role in the Pitt offense and it’s encouraging to see him increase his scoring of late.
Someone is going to have to step up and assume a bulk of the scoring load next season and Moore has the talent to be that guy.
Dixon got a lot of young players minutes this season that they normally wouldn’t have got at Pitt as an underclassmen and we’ve seen small glimpses from all of them that they will be able to contribute in the future.
Someone has to take their game to the next level though and there’s no better candidate than Moore.
He’s great in transition and can both put the ball on the deck to get to the rim and beat you with his jumper. His game is only going to get better heading into his junior season.
Paired with point guard Travon Woodall, who will be back for his senior season, the Panthers could have a pretty solid backcourt to help them get back on the winning track.
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