Area 4-1-Zoo: Gilbert Brown Ready For Increased Role

Fifth-year senior Gilbert Brown's season last year reflected his entire career at Pitt thus far: inconsistent.

Brown has had nagging injuries and off-court issues in his four years as a Panther, keeping his athleticism and talent off the court at times. Last year, Brown missed the opening 11 games of the season and returned as Pitt's sixth man. His production wasn't at all consistent, but he has high hopes that will change in 2010-11.

In a stretch from Jan. 13 to March 19 — 18 games — Brown's point production went as follows: 11, 0, 20, 7, 9, 25, 0, 23, 6, 16, 5, 16, 3, 13, 0, 19, 3 and 17.

Coach Jamie Dixon says he wants Brown to be a regular part of Pitt's starting lineup. Part of being a regular starter will depend on Brown's ability to stay healthy, stay focused and erase the every-other-night trend.

"It's hard to be the best you can be when you've missed numerous practices each year," Dixon said. "For him, it's been really all four years he's been here.

"He's been pretty good. He's been healthy. He missed one practice in July. I was like here we go again, but it was just one practice so it was good."

Brown says he's not worried about pressure on himself or the team. He just wants to use the positive work from the offseason and apply it to this year.

Despite his up and down numbers last season, he still finished third on the team in scoring with 10.7 points a game. Now he hopes to form a more complete game and become more consistent.

"I know what I'm capable of," Brown said. "I always knew what I was capable of. Just going out there and putting it all together is going to be the biggest thing. That's all I have to do.

"This is basketball, it's the game I love. All I have to do is concentrate on what I have to take care of in the classroom, off the court, and everything else will take care of itself."

Dixon said Brown had good performances on Pitt's summer trip to Ireland, praising his shot, leadership and attitude. The coaching staff has been pushing him to work on his defensive skills to increase his value on the floor and worth as a starter every night.

"(Defense is) where we're really pushing him," Dixon said. "I like how he's shooting the ball. He's creating shots for other guys off the dribble, so I think he's doing good things."

As for Brown's health, drive and expectations? Non-factors, he says.

"I feel great," Brown said. "I'm confident in my abilities and the players that we have. We have a great coaching staff. I'm ready to just get going and get ready for these games.

"The high expectations from everybody around the country really doesn't change anything because you see how they picked us ninth (in the preseason Big East poll last year) and we finished second," he added. "Everybody really doesn't know what any team is capable of until they go out there and actually play. We're not even focused on that. We're focused on handling and taking this as a job and just handling our business."

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com