A Unique Position

MIAMI, October 6 -- Dexter Pittman is in a unique class of Miami HEAT player for very simple reasons.

He’s big, and he’s young.

In a frontcourt laden with some of the most experienced veterans the league has to offer, that’s enough to stand out. That can mean less opportunity up front, but it also means you aren’t getting lost in the shuffle.

It helps to have a raw skillset that translates to the NBA every day of the week and twice in the playoffs, but he’s a project amid a number of guys who have been around and just know.

Guys who know which point guards need to be hedged out on, no matter what, in the screen-roll, and know which forwards are most dangerous diving to the rim, or popping out to the wing. Guys who have the instincts burned into their muscle memory for when the exact moment is to release their man and help out across the paint. And guys who know how to avoid fouls.

Because no matter what system you played in during college, or what competition the conference offered, once you get to the pros, you don’t, can’t, know.

Well, you might know a little about playing in front of big crowds.

“It wasn’t anything that I wasn’t used to,” Pittman said of Tueday’s packed preseason opener against the Detroit Pistons. “I’m not trying to brag about it, but playing in the Big-12, you got rowdy fans and its loud everywhere you go, so all you got to do is zone out and play hard.

“One of my friends reminded me, just pretend you’re back at Texas and play like you normally play. And I did that.”

He certainly did. Pittman averaged 10 points and six rebounds in his senior season at The University of Texas in under 20 minutes per game and Tuesday night he put up eight points and two boards – a couple more were tipped out of bounds – in less than 18 minutes, shooting 3-of-5 from the floor.

Those five shot attempts weren’t exactly expected, either, as Pittman said he mostly focuses on rebounding and was “shocked” to get a couple of touches in the post, touches that indicate the coaching staff is trying to see what it has.

“You’re able to uncover a unique athlete of somebody that big, with quick feet, very good jumping ability for somebody that size, and he has big soft hands,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Those are raw skills that we like to try and develop.”

One of the most difficult to develop in young big men tends to be defensive recognition, which tends to be because, as Pittman says, everything is just so much quicker. So quick, that in those limited minutes, Pittman picked up four fouls, with at least one of them coming after a late decision to help defensively.

“He also has somewhat of an IQ for the game,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t want to give him too much credit, but he does have a mind [for the game] and that helps at that position.”

But sometimes understanding gets in the way of reacting, particularly defending the pick-and-roll, which Pittman says has been his main weakness.

“I’m grasping it pretty well,” Pittman said. “It’s a little different from college. You can’t think, you just got to go, go with the flow. So that’s all I’m doing.”

It sounds simple because it is, but that doesn’t make it easy. Pittman’s roster spot, for one, isn’t guaranteed. He has to earn his way on the team, just as he earned a contract after being drafted in the second round – by dropping pounds with the help of a diet consisting of lots of salads-covered-in-lemon-juice. And even though he feels good about his first performance on the job, with three weeks until rosters have to be cut down to 15, there’s no time to stop.

“You still got to keep going,” Pittman said. “There’s no relaxing. Anything could happen. You just have to keep pushing.”