Some might say that I've saved the best for last. Perhaps some have been more excited about the previous five players I reviewed. But, I don't think anyone would debate that point guard Josh Newkirk is the most exciting player on the team. He's unlike any point guard Pitt has had in the Dixon era, and is cut from a similar mold like a lot of prototypical ACC lead guards.

Newkirk is quickness personified, and his ability to push the pace in transition and beat his man off the dribble is a nice contrast to the more traditional James Robinson. Point guard is arguably the most difficult position to play, so it wasn't surprising that Newkirk had his ups and downs throughout last season. He dropped 20 against UNC on 7-8 from the field, including 5-5 on three-pointers in early March, but he also recorded just seven assists in 10 games (142 minutes) from the middle of January until mid-February.

The biggest area that Newkirk needs to improve on is defense. Like Jamel Artis, Newkirk was a willing defender, just one that was often caught out of position and didn't demonstrate a high basketball IQ on that end. There were plenty of times that he went under or over screens that he shouldn't have. He also wasn't adept at chasing players around screens and ball watched a little bit.

There is definitely potential for him to be a pesky on-ball defender. With his quickness he should be able to disrupt passing lanes, particularly when a player drives and looks to kick back to the wings. A lot of this will come with time, and not something I expect to see a lot of at the Pro-Am, beyond his on-ball defense.

Newkirk is going to really need to improve on his free throw shooting if he wants to have the ball in his hands late in the game at some point. At 44.7%, granted just 38 attempts, he was pretty much cringe worthy from the charity stripe. His form isn't poor, so perhaps it's more a matter of concentration. Regardless, this is something that I hope he's been working on since the season ended - 500 makes per day.

With an improved free throw percentage, Newkirk can really take advantage of his ability to beat his man off the dribble by getting into the paint and hopefully get opposing frontcourt players in foul trouble.

Speaking of beating his man off the bounce, it would be nice if Newkirk improves on finding open players when the defense collapses. Newkirk does a decent job of moving the ball, although his first instinct when he receives a pass is to put the ball on the floor immediately. Obviously, spacing is very important in those situations, but he'll have some very good targets in Cameron Wright and Artis along the baseline, and Young around the rim.

There is a lot to be excited about with Newkirk, especially if he can harness his quickness. A lot of the mistakes he made consistently as a freshman, like passing the ball behind him blindly in transition after he left his feet, will go away with experience. He's a player that can generate a ton of "oohs" and "aahs" at the Pro-Am, let's just hope that's because he improving in a meaningful way and not putting on an And-1 mixtape demo.

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