Fields is back tonight for Pitt

[Raji]

Ever since the calendar flipped to 2008, it’s been a bad year for the Pitt Panthers. But it looks like things are about to get better.

On the night of Dec. 29, the Panthers were working on an undefeated season and were ranked No. 6 in the country when a dark cloud parked itself over western Pennsylvania and cast a big, money-sucking shadow over the University of Pittsburgh. That was the night Levance Fields – the Panthers’ point guard, assists leader and the engine behind the team – broke his foot.

The injury would keep Fields out of the lineup for six weeks, during which time the Panthers’ promising season steadily fell apart as Ronald Ramon moved to the point and Fields watched from the sidelines. Although the roster wasn’t lacking in talent, the 12 games without Fields resulted in a disappointing 8-4 record (7-4 ATS).

It could have been their missing point guard or it could have been the added intensity of the Big East schedule. Whatever the reason, Pittsburgh wasn’t the same solid bet it was in the early part of the season, but now there’s a ray of light in the Steel City and that dark cloud could finally be lifting.

Fields is set to return to the Panthers lineup for their matchup with Marquette on Friday night. From a long term perspective, that’s the best news the Panthers have heard all year. With Fields taking his spot at point guard, it means Ramon can move back to his natural shooting guard position and Keith Benjamin can move back into the frontcourt at small forward where freshman Gilbert Brown has been starting.

Sportsbooks have noted Fields’ return, but according to one prominent Las Vegas bookmaker, the point guard won’t make any difference in Friday’s pointspread.

“Before the injury he was averaging impressive numbers,” says Chuck Esposito, the assistant vice president of Caesar’s Palace race and sports book, “but he’s going to have to split time (on Friday). Once he’s back in shape and into the swing, he’ll probably have an impact of two points (on the pointspread) but until he gets his stamina back and plays full-time, he won’t be a major impact.”

Caesar’s Palace opened the overnight line with Pitt as a 4-point underdog. Esposito says he doesn’t expect it to move significantly before tipoff.

Although Fields is a key player and he’s been cleared by doctors to play, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon says he’ll only see the floor for “limited minutes.”

That means they will probably be making multiple substitutions throughout the game and players like Ramon and Benjamin will be changing positions on the fly. That could cause a problem for the Panthers as they try to get reacquainted with Fields and find a rhythm on the floor – which could prove particularly difficult against a very good defensive team like Marquette.

“The Golden Eagles are going to press all over the court, which really forces the offense to be in rhythm,” says Covers Expert David Malinsky. “When your timing is off it can mean some bad passes in these situations, and all it takes is a couple of mistakes that lead to easy baskets to create a real hole, especially in front of the kind of crowd that they are going to have for this game.”

Marquette leads the Big East with 9.3 steals per game and they have had great success all season pressuring teams with a press defense. Normally that wouldn’t bother Pittsburgh. The Panthers have one of the better turnover margins in the league with 12 per game, but if Fields shows some rust or the other guards get out of synch, they could run into problems.

One factor that can’t be gauged is the emotional boost the Panthers could get from seeing Fields in uniform again. This is a young team that has been struggling in recent weeks, but with one of their best players back for an important nationally televised game, they may come out with a little extra energy in this road game.

Raji