Pitt Basketball: Players On The Move

With the Greentree Summer League here, basketball is making its way back into our minds. Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette has a good, recent look at some position changes that might be happening for Pitt basketball players.

The focus of the article is on Durand Johnson and John Johnson. Durand, who redshirted last year, is really a bit of a forgotten guy. We haven't heard all that much about him, but Fittipaldo says a position change might be in store for him:

Durand Johnson, who redshirted last season, said the coaches believe his long-term future is as a shooting guard. So the 6-foot-8 native of Baltimore is working his on outside shot and ball-handling skills in an attempt to get on the court sooner.

First of all, a 6'8" shooting guard would be sick. If he could actually shoot, that could be a huge mismatch for opposing teams. And the move even makes a bit of sense because Pitt is pretty thin at shooting guard as far as quality depth goes right now.

As Fittipaldo points out, he's buried a bit behind J.J. Moore and Lamar Patterson right now. But the thing is, those guys are third-year players next season. Even if they both stick around for their senior seasons (as they presumably will), Johnson will still have two full years to get significant minutes ... or maybe even start.

I don't have a problem with the move as long as it's a comfortable fit. If not, though, I'd bump him back to the three. Too early in my mind to be worrying about him playing big minutes.

The move could also mean John Johnson moves to the point - a move it seems he's in favor of:

"It didn’t happen last season for whatever reason, but it was always in the plan for me to be a point guard," Johnson said.

I've already jumped on this wagon, but with the loss of Isaiah Epps, that's another position where Pitt will be thin after Tray Woodall graduates next year. Robinson is presumably going to be the starter, but he'll only be in his second year in the program. Pitt definitely needs a fallback option since I don't think Cameron Wright is the answer there. I'm don't hold the same view as others that think he can't contribute - he'll get better. Just not sure point guard is his position.

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