Pittsburgh News, Ray Mernagh

BELLY OF THE BE-AST: SAM I AM

by Ray Mernagh

I watched Pitt smash Duquesne 78-51 last night at the “Pete” behind the play of the best small forward in the country. I watched him score 23 points in 24 minutes on 9-14 shooting. Watched him block shots he had no business blocking and finish alleys he had no business ooping. Watched the best pump fake in basketball once again get defenders off balance. Watched as this man who couldn’t dream of shooting three-pointers just a few short years ago continued to show off the range that will likely make him a first round draft pick in June. When I was done watching I walked away impressed… but not surprised. After last year’s Big East tourney — an MVP performance — I’ve come to expect extraordinary things from this cat.

Stop in Before, During and After the game for ALL the Big East Action!!

The surprise came this morning when I woke up. I started the coffee, grabbed the paper off the porch and the Sports Illustrated out of the mailbox (the mail comes early on my block). I opened my SI and read about De Juan Blair as a possible early player of the year candidate, due to the double-double binges he’s been on so far. Then I turned my Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to the sports section and read Ron Cook’s column (Blair has insatiable hunger of great ones) all but announcing Blair’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame, not to mention mayor (which might be kind of cool really, D-Blair in office. We’d definitely have the most intimidating/engaging mayor in United States history and he’d only be a few years younger than our current one)!

The point of this is not to denigrate Blair or his talent. I love the Big Fella. Love the way he represents his city and neighborhood — the Hill — with a passion that screams look at me! It’s completely real too. There’s not an ounce of fraudulence to Blair. It must be the way that Bird or Coltrane’s passion grabbed their audiences at the Crawford Grill back in the day. Blair, like the Jazz greats that once shined bright on the Hill’s Wylie Avenue, is a star.

In fact, Blair’s ability to rebound out of his area is a trait that will eventually earn him an incredible living. I Watched Pitt on TV with an experienced talent scout last weekend and his remarks on Blair were all positive. At one point, after Blair went up and snatched a board in that special way of his, the guy literally screamed out “that’s a man!”

But Big Fella’s not the main man in Oakland.

That distinction belongs to Sam Young. Young’s game is efficiency personified. He’s the smoothest operator since Big Daddy Kane (youtube it young bucks) and quite possibly the most overlooked/under-appreciated superstar in college basketball. Young is giving Pitt a guaranteed 20-plus a night while almost never getting 30 minutes of playing time, playing with the skill and production of a first team All American (Young was first team all Big East last year).

Even better, like Bernard King circa 1984-85, Young is starting to impose his will on opponents. He started showing signs of this trait in the aforementioned Big East tournament at the end of last season. He seemed to be a man possessed and that’s carried over to this season. It’s as if Young surveys the pulse of games before deciding the perfect time to dominate. He might go about it quietly, in a business-like fashion, but at some point he insists that everyone on the floor recognize he’s the man in charge. He did it last weekend against Texas Tech when the Red Raiders seemed to be making a statement that they weren’t going to go away quietly. Young hit a three from the corner, absorbed some contact while finishing at the rim with a violent banger, and hit a pair of free throws. Texas Tech went away.

Young confirmed my thoughts on his game after the win. “When I see the game is close, I just decide that it’s time,” Young told the Post-Gazette. “When I saw we were a little bit shaky that’s when I decided to take over.”

“Sam Young’s an NBA player,” said the scout who’s played with, watched and coached quite a few.

The best small forward in the country for my money.

Maybe some folks — both in Pittsburgh and nationally — need to recognize that too.

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Ray Mernagh is the Basketball Editor for the Pittsburgh Sports Report and writes for Basketball Times as well as his own blog, Hoop Wise. Ray’s first book, 1 Chance 2 Dance: A Season Inside Mid-Major Hoops in Mid-America, focuses on 18 months of MAC basketball.
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