Well, it's nice to see he managed 23 minutes. That's something, isn't it? Real test of stamina is coming. Heat get a day off, play back to back Tuesday and Wednesday, get a day off, then go back to back on Friday and Saturday. I think it's safe to say we've seen the high mark for Pittman's minutes for the summer league. I don't think it's certain that he won't go to the D league, if he can't function at all in back to back games in the summer league.
We didn't get to see the result of playing on consecutive nights, because he didn't play. Minor toe problem, or so it was said. The Link
Pittman didn't play again last night. Last game on the schedule is today at 5 CST. Article about competition with another large body. The Link Shavlik Randolph is leading the summer team in rebounds and second in scoring, getting to the line a ton, but shooting under 40% from the field. The Link Heat have re-signed Joel Anthony, a pretty effective shot blocker. In the article below about the signing (and reminding us that Ilgauskas will be added soon), David Thorpe is reported to say Pittman is being out-quicked, needs to get an NBA body, has to lose about 50 pounds, but he thinks the Heat can get him there by season's start. The Link
3-6 from the field, 0-0 ft, 4 rb, 1 blk, 4 to, 7 fouls in 16 minutes yesterday. Highlight video here. The Link Must have been a brutal game. Varnado picked up 8 fouls in 30 minutes, and Siler had 2 in 5. Heat signed Ilgauskas and are supposedly after Magloire.
So far Pittmans game has seemed to regress even further. At first i thought he was in a good environment to play right away and develop. However with James and Bosh, the Heat will not be patient dont care about developing a big man (and Pittman needs some time). I really dont think he sees the floor often if at all in the regular season, and am surprised the Heat signed him. Its too bad, if Pittman had some discipline and mental toughness he would be a damn good player.
I'm not surprised the Heat signed him. I just don't see him having much time on the court anywhere but the D league this year. He still needs to lose weight and get in shape to run hard for 20 minutes a night, three or four nights a week. He's always going to be foul prone and an offensive threat only from point blank range, but if he gets in NBA kind of shape, there'd be a significant role for him.
A lot of you who expect to see Dexter eventually starting seem to be overvaluing his work ethic, his will, his confidence ... or all three.
Looking back at the posts in this thread, I don't think anyone here has said anything that suggests they envision Pittman as an NBA starter. He could get there with a lot of effort, but I know I'm not in any position to even be able to guess whether he will make that effort.
No problem. I do recall people opining on the other thread how Pittman was drafted into the dream opportunity to be a starting NBA center. I don't see that without a lot of time and effort. At one point, Pittman had to have a high level of dedication to making himself a good player. Nobody loses 90 pounds in a year without working very hard at it, but it might be another level of effort entirely that would be needed to drop another 50 pounds and succeed at the pro game night after night. The funny thing is that I don't think the getting in shape will be the hardest part of the job. I think learning to control himself in the paint will be.
