Pitt Basketball: Ashton Gibbs Playing The Point?

With the insertion of Travon Woodall into the starting lineup next season (at least that's what I'm expecting, anyway), I figured Ashton Gibbs would shed the point guard role completely.

But Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com caught up with Gibbs recently and, well, that's not his impression.

Gibbs was at Deron Williams' Skills Camp this past weekend competing against a host of other guards. Brennan is of the belief that he'll be a point guard at least part of the time next year:

Now, with Wanamaker gone, Gibbs will likely be called on to facilitate his teammates' offense as much as his own. He'll play some combo guard, some pure point guard, and some pure shooting guard as junior guard Travon Woodall steps into a larger role in the backcourt and the Panthers incorporate two highly ranked freshmen centers Khem Birch and Malcolm Gilbert into a frontcourt that still includes Nasir Robinson but lost rugged forwards Gilbert Brown and Gary McGhee to graduation.

Part of that, as the article somewhat indirectly points out, is that so Gibbs can learn to play the point a bit more to make himself more valuable to the NBA.

I've got to admit that it makes a bit more sense to me when put that way, but if we're talking in terms of how is Gibbs most valuable to the team's success, it's clearly as a shooting guard. Not that he can't manage the game as a point guard, but as a shooting guard, he can focus more about getting open for shots and less about running the offense.

Travon Woodall's improvement last year also make it much easier to trust him with the ball-handling responsibilities and while I understand Brennan's point, I expect Gibbs to play mostly as a two-guard.