Cook, Panthers hitting their stride

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PITTSBURGH -- On a night when every move he made seemed like the right one and he practically willed his tough-minded team to a win against No. 5 Georgetown, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was at his best in the final minute Monday night. He made it his business to get point guard -- yes, point guard -- Ronald Ramon out of the game so Ramon could get a roaring standing ovation that must have been heard in every corner of Oakland."He deserved it," Dixon would say later.The entire Pitt team did. This was a terrific win, make no mistake. The Panthers beat No. 6 Georgetown, 69-60, on a night when leading scorer Sam Young shot 3 of 13. They did it because freshman DeJuan Blair thoroughly outplayed 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert despite giving away 7 inches. They did it because Young, Gilbert Brown and Tyrell Biggs combined to hold forward DaJuan Summers -- Georgetown's second-leading scorer -- to 0-of-7 shooting and no points. But, most of all, they did it because of Ramon, who threw himself some 22nd birthday bash with his teammates and 12,508 of his closest friends at the Petersen Events Center.Dixon had a strong handshake and a big smile waiting for Ramon as he made it toward the bench at the conclusion of his 18-point, four-assist, one-turnover performance. But it was what Ramon found when he reached the bench that told the story of this remarkable game. There, with three consecutive rapid hand slaps for him, was the man who invented the point guard position at Pitt -- at least during the Dixon/Ben Howland era -- none other than Brandin Knight, now a Dixon coaching lieutenant.It only seemed right.This was a Knight-like effort by Ramon.That loss at Villanova seems like what now? Nine months ago? It can't be just nine days, can it?Ramon beat himself up pretty good after that 64-63 defeat on the five-hour bus trip home from suburban Philadelphia. He had lost five turnovers, the final one in the final seconds, denying Pitt a chance at a game-winning shot. No one blamed Ramon; he's a shooting guard by trade. But a lot of us on the outside did some wondering about how Pitt would fare in the Big East Conference season without injured point guard Levance Fields.Well, the answer -- so far -- is pretty darn good, a lot of the credit for that going to Ramon. Pitt has won three in a row since Villanova with Ramon averaging 12.7 points, 6.3 assists and 2 turnovers."We never had any doubts (in Ramon), that's for sure," said Dixon, his biggest backer. "He's been playing some point guard here for four years."Dixon has taken some criticism for not having a contingency plan in place in case of an injury to Fields, but he said that's a bunch of nonsense. He said Pitt works all four of its guards -- Fields (before he broke his foot Dec. 29), Ramon, Keith Benjamin and Brad Wanamaker -- at both guard spots in practice every day. As Ramon put it, "We don't have point guards or shooting guards on this team. We just have guards."Ramon still is a shooter, first and foremost. Pitt loses some of that aspect of his game when he's playing the point, although the zone defense Georgetown played for much of last night made it easier for him to get his looks. He made four of his six 3-point shots, three of which were absolute killers. One came at the end of the shot clock in the first half when he was falling away from the basket, the second got Pitt started early in the second half when it took control and the third put the Panthers in cruise control with a 45-34 lead.But what's been most impressive about Ramon in this early conference season is his sound decision-making. He gives something to Pitt that not even the redoubtable Fields does; he plays a little more under control. He certainly knew exactly what he was doing late against Georgetown when he drove into the lane and dished through traffic to Blair for an easy layup and an insurmountable 58-49 lead."I'm just trying to run the team," Ramon said. "Even my teammates are telling me I have to look for my shots a little more, but I want to get good shots for them. When I do get open, I'll take my shots -- within the team rather than going one-on-one and trying to create."So far, so good.For Ramon and for Pitt."Oh, yeah, I feel like a point guard now," Ramon said, grinning.Looks like one, too.(Contact Ron Cook at rcook@post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)