Pittman enjoys homecoming in Houston
Nov. 30, 2009 Thomas Dick, Texas Media Relations Dexter Pittman grew up in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg. But in the world of basketball, he’s pretty much done all his growing up in Austin. To find evidence of that, all one needs to do is look at his performance in the six games the Longhorns have played in his hometown since his arrival at the Forty Acres. Tracking those six games tells the story of Pittman’s maturation on the basketball court. In Sunday’s 77-59 win at Rice, Pittman had a dominating performance, as he equaled a season-high with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. The mammoth center was a menace in the paint, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots. He was tough for the Owls to handle, getting to the foul line 12 times. “Dex played the way we expect him to play,” Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. “The truth is we may have underutilized him. We took some three-point shots when maybe we should have worked the ball through Dex some more and maybe got some easier shots.” He played a game that made his hometown fan club of more than 30 people proud. “It’s always a blessing to see Dexter play well,” Pittman’s mother Selma Harris said. “To play so well with all his friends and family here was special.” His performance at Tudor Fieldhouse was that of a player taking ownership of a team. And in a sense, that is what he and fellow seniors Damion James and Justin Mason have done this season. James is leading the team with 15.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game, and Pittman has been equally effective with 15.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting an extraordinary .816 (31-of-38) from the field. Mason has provided stellar defense and a calming hand to help run the Longhorns’ offense, posting 11 assists against just three turnovers in the first five games. “We want this team to do special things,” Pittman said. “This is our last run at it. There aren’t any do-overs.” As well as Pittman played against the Owls, he knows he has improvements to make. “I left some points on the court with missed free throws and gave away some possessions with turnovers,” Pittman said. “When we get into Big 12 play, we will need all the points and possessions we can get.” Rewind back to Pittman’s first collegiate trip to Houston on Dec. 10, 2006. The game had a different venue (the Toyota Center) and a different opponent (then-No. 9 LSU). And Pittman had a different view of the game, from the bench. With his physical renaissance still in its infancy, Pittman did not see action as the Longhorns scored a thrilling 76-75 overtime victory over a Tigers squad that featured fellow big body Glen Davis. “It was frustrating being close to home and having it be a big game and not getting in,” Pittman said. “But I understood that I wasn’t ready for it.” Pittman spent the season “getting ready for it.” His weight loss that year was well-documented. During the process he managed to get into 29 games, averaging 5.3 minutes per game. During his brief appearances, he could be dominant at times, and he shot .604 from the field. His 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game would have translated to 11.9 points and 8.4 rebounds if he would have stayed on the court 25 minutes per game. The next trip to Houston went a little better for Pittman. On Dec. 8, 2007, the Longhorns beat Rice 80-54 at the Toyota Center. This time he played 16 minutes and went 3-of-3 from the field while totaling seven points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench. The numbers weren’t mind-blowing, but they showed the progress Pittman had made, especially the career-high 16 minutes. The Longhorns capped the 2007-08 season with another trip to Houston for the NCAA South Regional at Reliant Stadium. In the “Sweet 16,” Texas was slated to face No. 10 Stanford, and media and fans were worried about how the Longhorns would matchup against the Cardinal’s Lopez twins. Texas had never faced the likes of 7-footers Brook and Robin Lopez. Pittman was the first guy off the bench in the 82-62 win over Stanford. In just 10 minutes of action, he helped get Robin in foul trouble and wore down Brook. Robin managed just six points in 21 minutes. Brook scored 24 of Stanford’s first 48 points, but did not make a basket over the last 13:55, as the Longhorns closed out the game by outscoring Stanford 30-14. "I think I just stopped playing aggressive since he was guarding me, throwing up low-percentage shots," Brook Lopez said after the game. "He just bodied up against me and tried to push me off the lane." In the regional championship game, Pittman logged just four points and four rebounds in Texas’ 85-67 loss to Memphis. The two games at Reliant Stadium showed Pittman that he could indeed be a factor on the biggest stage. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore and had increased his minutes per game up to 6.8 in 36 games played. “I was still getting used to my body and still working on my conditioning,” Pittman said. “I had improved a lot. It just wasn’t showing up in the stats.” Last December, Texas returned to the Toyota Center for a Top 25 showdown against No. 19 Michigan State. The Horns lost a nail-biter (67-63) to the Spartans. This time Pittman came as a starter, scoring six points and eight rebounds. He managed just 18 minutes due to foul trouble. Two missed layups by Pittman in the first two minutes prevented the Horns from taking control of the game early. Once again, the game in Houston was a metaphor of Pittman’s year. He was a starter and averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game on the year. He was in better condition and was able to stay on the court for 16.6 minutes per game, but he was still tentative to go strong to the hoop at times and often found himself in foul trouble. “That game was a battle,” Pittman said. “Michigan State played a bruising game. I learned a lot from that game. I needed to get more aggressive and play a more physical game. I also learned I need to be able to stay in games longer if I was going to help the team win.” So tracking Pittman’s first trip to Houston and all the subsequent visits through the most recent one, it’s easy to see his maturation. It’s a maturation that has people thinking of what Pittman can be. “From what I saw today, Dexter played like a first-round draft pick,” said Greg Anthony who served as color analyst for Sunday’s CBS College Sports telecast. “A lot of NBA teams would like to get a hold of a big man like Dexter who has soft hands and is also a good passer out of double-teams. He needs to continue to work hard and keep improving his conditioning. He has things to work on, but if he continues to improve in the manner he has, the sky is the limit.” When people talk about the changes Pittman has gone through, most point to the obvious, the weight loss. But his father, Johnny Pittman sees something else. “Mentally he knows the game a lot better now,” Johnny Pittman said. “It’s something we talk about a lot. He’s gotten smarter at not making as many cheap fouls, and he puts himself in better position both offensively and defensively. He was able to just step on the floor and dominate in high school. In college, he has had to learn how to dominate.” If things work out for Texas, Sunday’s game won’t be Pittman’s last collegiate stop in Houston. Reliant Stadium is slated to host the NCAA Southeast Regional in March, the most Longhorn-friendly of the four regional sites. “We can’t even think about that now,” Dexter said. “All we’re thinking about is our next game. We have USC on Thursday.” Pittman might not be thinking about it, but others are. “That would be great,” Johnny Pittman said. “That would be a fantastic way for him to end his career. Win the regional in Houston and go to the Final Four.”
|
|
