Dixon Facing New Challenges
Pitt coach guides the Panthers through a demanding season
By Ray Mernagh
PSR Contributing Editor

Pitt basketball is a program built on two principles: togetherness and toughness. There's ample proof to support that opening statement, but the most defining example is from the biggest win in the program's history.

There was a little over a minute gone in overtime on December 20th. Pitt had battled back from 16 points down in the nationally televised game against Duke to force the extra session when Mike Cook drove to the hoop and felt his knee go POP! He was left screaming in pain and writhing around on the hallowed hardwood of Madison Square Garden. Cook didn't hear the obnoxious contingent of Duke fans starting up a "Let's Go Duke" chant as he lay there. He was too busy listening to the fear pulsating through his veins. The same fear any elite athlete has in his mind after suffering what he instantly knows is a debilitating injury: Is this it? Is my career over just like that?

While Cook blocked out every sound, his vision was still with him. When he opened his eyes, he saw the same person he'd felt holding his hand almost immediately after he went down, the one guiding force in his life-besides his parents-who could give him some comfort, no matter how minimal, at a time like this: Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon.

"Seeing the look on his face," says Cook now, "it showed how much he cared about me and meant so much to me and my family."

I've seen similar circumstances handled much differently by coaches across the country, in both practice and game situations. Player goes down, coach points to the bench for the substitute he wants to go in as the trainer attends to the injured. I'd throw an opinion out on the percentage of coaches I think would handle it the same way Dixon did in a tight game like the Pitt/Duke contest - but I'd like to continue to get interviews with coaches. I saw one practice where a kid went down screaming and the coach had the team move to the other basket. Just continued practice on the opposite end. Didn't even check on the kid. Let the trainer handle it.

Dixon has a reputation amongst media, especially Pittsburgh media, of being a tough interview, a guy who relies on coach-speak and almost never lets his guard down.

On the flip side, I've never run into a colleague who has anything bad to say about him. His reputation as a genuine, caring person seems universal in the coaching ranks. Dixon's actions in the Garden that night convinced me. His voice, cracking with emotion in the TV interview immediately after his biggest win ever, should have been enough to convince even the most jaded cynic. Dixon did the right thing, despite the fact that doing it meant putting the all-important win in jeopardy by leaving a crucial late-game timeout in the hands of his assistants.

Mike Cook can take solace in the fact that the man he trusted enough to change schools for (Cook transferred from East Carolina to Pitt two years ago, despite being the leading scorer for the Pirates), to grow and mature for, to buy into a foreign philosophy for - was there, holding his hand and tearing up when Cook really needed him. It taught Cook and anyone else watching that night that togetherness isn't just a word inside the Pitt program. Once you put on that uniform, you're family: no matter what.

People question Dixon's ability to recruit the elite-type player he needs to push his program through the barrier that's foiled Pitt since the program's recent rise: the Sweet Sixteen. First, I think DeJuan Blair and Sam Young are looking pretty elite right about now. But I also think it's safe to say that any high school stars not playing that night were watching the game against Duke, either on TV or in the Garden itself.

Togetherness? Think the way Dixon handled the situation might have meant more to those players than the daily bombardment of hosannas sent their way by coaches nationwide?

Toughness? Think the way Blair rebounded, smiled, and rebounded some more didn't make him pretty damned attractive as a future teammate? How about the way Fields stuck the dagger in Duke with a step-back three that had parts of Brownsville-his Brooklyn neighborhood-celebrating into early morning? Think that didn't sway a future NYC point guard from dreaming about doing the same some day? That night, even after losing Cook, Pitt looked like a legit Final Four contender.

Then the script got flipped.

Within ten days they not only lost Cook for the season, but also Fields for the better part of Big East play when he broke a bone in his foot during a crushing loss at Dayton (look for him to return by late-February). Suddenly, the feel-good story-an African American version of "Hoosiers" if you will-had gone all "Apocalypse Now" on the Panthers.

The question now became, "Would the team even be able to compete in Big East play?"

Or, in the more cynical circle of Pitt fans, "GASP - would they win enough games to qualify for the NCAA Tournament?"

The focus, once again, was on Dixon. How would a head coach with nothing but success on his resume handle the first major on-court hurdle of his young, but prolific, career? Former Duke player Jay Bilas thinks Dixon will handle it just fine.

"When coaches say you have to be lucky in addition to being good to win championships they are talking about injuries," says the ESPN analyst. "Pitt did everything right, and still were hit with injuries the program's never seen before. The key is to move on and rely on the fundamental principles of the program and Jamie is really good at that."

Bilas also feels that players often rise to the occasion when presented with opportunities for increased playing time.

"Players always want an opportunity, and now they have one," says Bilas. "How players deal with adversity is a great measure of their character and competitive spirit."

Since the injuries to Cook and Fields, Keith Benjamin has oozed the character and spirit that Bilas speaks of. The career substitute has seemingly overnight become a dependable second option to leading scorer Sam Young. Benjamin has averaged over 16 points a game since entering the starting lineup replacing Cook, but he's not surprised.

"I'm just doing what I'm capable of," says the senior guard, "I always try to do what the team needs me to do."

Pitt has gone a respectable 5-2 since the loss at Dayton, but CBS Sportline's Gary Parrish foresees some struggles ahead for the Panthers.

"People have been able to hold similar situations together," says Parrish, "but this particular one will be difficult."

Parrish then throws out some other ranked teams and offers a hypothetical comparison to Pitt's situation.

"I mean, can you imagine Marquette without Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal, or Michigan State without Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan?" he asks. "Truth is, they'd each slip significantly because it's unavoidable. Jamie has his hands full, particularly in a league with so few nights off. But - if he can somehow hold it together, he'll deserve every award you can throw at him."

Benjamin, for one, thinks his team, and his coach, is up to the task.

"I think coach is doing the best job in the country right now," says Benjamin. "He's doing a lot of instructing and really paying attention to the details, while at the same time giving guys like myself the freedom to play through occasional mistakes."

The fact that Dixon is using no excuses in the press and staying the course seems to be rubbing off on his players and giving them confidence, says veteran basketball writer Frank Burlison.

"Good coaches don't radically, substantially change their approach because of injuries," says Burlison, "but you do adjust, slightly at times, with the replacements. But replacements have worked every day to do the same things as the starters did, so ideally, they will know what is expected. A prime example is what Benjamin is doing now that he has his first extensive playing time."

As of press time, I'm cautiously optimistic that Pitt will handle the injuries well and come out with a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament - perhaps around a five or six seed.

Admittedly, their results since the injuries have been mixed. Tough losses (at Villanova), followed by great wins (Georgetown), followed by losses that should've been wins (at Cincinnati), followed by wins they should have (St. John's). They played well in a lot of areas during the one-point loss at Villanova, and even came back from 13 down late in the three-point loss at Cincinnati. The Cincinnati loss will be respectable by the end of the year; plus, the trend so far in-conference seems to favor the home team - visitors were 8-29 going into the weekend of the Cincinnati game.

But the real reason I feel optimistic?

The growth I see in the little things: The technical taken in the Cincinnati game that preceded an 18-9 Pitt run showed an awareness to work the refs I hadn't seen before. The creative sets being run on offense to get Young both easier looks and driving opportunities. Dixon is growing, becoming a great coach before our eyes. The man himself summed it up by saying, "We're a new team now with the injuries but we're still a good team and we're still working hard to get better."

And they're doing that work the way that he taught them to: together.