Frontcourt Improvements Boost Pitt During Stretch Run
PITTSBURGH -- Things looked bleak for the Pitt Panthers who, while battling for their postseason lives, were dealing with foul trouble and dealing with it poorly. Federiko Federiko had been sent to the bench with three penalties and his lanky understudy Guillermo Diaz Graham entered to face an imposing Virginia Tech frontcourt that had anywhere from 15 to 45 pounds on him.
But like they have in many of Pitt's biggest games this season, the frontcourt stood tall in the face of a matchup they should have been overpowered in. The Panther frontcourt trio of Federiko, Diaz Graham and Zack Austin have started to hit their stride and in doing so, have flipped one of this team's biggest weaknesses into an asset.
Austin was one of the stars of the show for the Panthers in a 79-64 win over Virginia Tech, scoring nine points on 5-10 shooting, grabbing 14 rebounds rejecting five shots and stealing a pass. He did a little bit of everything for Pitt as they locked down the Hokies in the second half.
"Just playing defense, playing off of others," Austin said of his strong night as Pitt's glue guy. "It wasn’t really nothing special, for real."
"Nah, it was special," his teammate, Jaland Lowe said sitting next to him.
Lowe is right - his night was special. Austin gives the Panthers a versatile defender, sneaky rim protector, capable 3-point shooter and a player with a nose for loose balls when he is at his best and he was at his best in this game. He took a mid-season removal from the starting lineup in stride and has found his role ever since. His contributions are hard to pick out on a box score most nights, but his acceptance of a less glamorous role has been one of the reasons why Pitt is rolling, having won eight of its last 10 games.
And while Austin was impressive, the centers turned in another performance that's evidence of their own remarkable in-season improvements as well. Both Federiko and Diaz Graham have fit into their roles effectively, with Federiko starting games as a defensive anchor like he was last season and Diaz Graham delivering an offensive punch off the bench, but they did good things on the opposite ends of the floor as well, according to head coach Jeff Capel.
"I thought they played really, really well. [Guillermo] more offensively. Fede in the first half was really good offensively - catching on the short rolls, his decision-making, his passing, he scored down there, offensive rebounds. And then Guillermo stretching the court out," Capel said. "I thought they battled inside. Those two guys are really good inside - Poteat and Kidd - I thought they battled."
Diaz Graham eight points on 2-3 shooting from deep, a block and three rebounds in 19 minutes while standing up stronger than he has all season against physical centers defensively. Meanwhile, Federiko only scored two points but grabbed three offensive rebounds, dealt two assists and forced plenty of misses from Lynn Kidd and Mylyjeal Poteat.
The Pitt frontcourt has taken their fair share of heat this season and for good reason. It's bene a glaring weakness in losses to Duke, North Carolina, Florida and others. The Panthers had been winning despite the contributions of their big men and now they're winning because of them.
Against Louisville, with Pitt desperately needing to notch their first ACC win, Austin delivered 20 points on 4-9 shooting from 3-point range.
But in the biggest games . Against Duke, Federiko bottled up Kyle Filipowski and forced five turnovers against the star big man. Diaz Graham was invaluable in a reserve role as well, adding four points, four rebounds and a block to Federiko's nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks and Austin's three blocks and five rebounds.
Against Virginia, when the Panthers held a size advantage and were holding the Cavaliers in check defensively but needed a spark on offense, Diaz Graham closed the game by hitting two big triples in the second half to help his team separate late.
Pitt is still in a precarious spot, just on the outer reaches of the NCAA Tournament bubble and in the middle of crowded ACC standings. But they are still playing some of their best basketball of the season, a phenomenon that has been made possible in large part because the frontcourt has found it's footing after a rough start to the season.
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