Sam Young wanted to play small forward from the time he first set foot on campus at Pitt, but he did not get his opportunity until his senior season. For his first three seasons, Young played out of position at power forward, and with great success during his junior season.

Jamie Dixon has no problem moving players out of their comfort zone when it's in his team's best interests. The coach is doing it this season with a couple of players who would rather be playing other positions.

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Next

• Game:Pitt (7-2) vs. Kent State (5-3).
• When: 2 p.m. tomorrow.
• TV: ESPNU.

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Dixon's starting power forward is Nasir Robinson, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who believes he is best-suited to play small forward. Dixon's backup center is freshman Dante Taylor, the McDonald's All-American who feels his best position is power forward.

And even though Robinson's production at power forward has fallen off considerably since the beginning of the season, there is no indication that Dixon plans to make midseason changes with the pair.

Robinson has struggled in the past two games -- he was 0 for 11 from the field and did not score against New Hampshire or Indiana.

"Nas was playing really good early," Dixon said yesterday after practice. "I don't think he has played as well lately. He's rebounding well. He's a sophomore who didn't play a lot last year. He's shown flashes. He's played well, but he hasn't given us everything we've wanted."

In addition to his lack of offensive production recently, Robinson has had a season-long problem with turnovers. He has 21 in nine games and had two more Tuesday night against Indiana.

With Robinson struggling against the Hoosiers, Dixon turned to redshirt freshman Dwight Miller, who had played 41 minutes in the first eight games. Dixon played Miller for 15 minutes, and he produced five points and two rebounds.

Miller, who is 6-8 and 240 pounds, did not practice a lot with the team last season because of a foot injury. He missed 10 of the first 20 practices this season because of an illness. But in the past month, he has been healthy and has been gaining the confidence of his coach.

"He made sure I was ready before he put me out there," said Miller, a native of the Bahamas who has only been playing organized basketball for the past five years. "I showed him some things. He repaid me by giving me some extra minutes. I showed I can do things he wanted me to do, which is knock down shots, rebound and play hard."

In a meeting two weeks ago, Dixon expressed to Miller the importance of practicing well.

"Dwight has really improved," Dixon said. "Practice is important. When you miss so many practices things aren't being accomplished. You have to be out there. He's starting to grasp it.

"This is the first time he's practiced for an extended period of time. He's rebounding better. He's taking care of the ball better and he's running the floor and executing the offense better."

It appears Dixon will be going with Robinson and Miller at power forward for the foreseeable future. He has said repeatedly that he does not want to have Taylor play power forward because he said it's hard enough for a freshman to learn one position.

Taylor, who is 6-9 and 240 pounds, is trying to make the most of his opportunity at center, but he said he would welcome a move.

"If he asks me I would love to go play power forward," Taylor said. "That's where I'm comfortable. But right now I'm focusing on being a center."

Taylor said Dixon has not brought up a change of positions.

Like Taylor, Robinson would welcome a move to small forward. But despite his recent low production he is still the team's third-leading scorer (7.4 points per game) and tied for second on the team in rebounding (6.0 rebounds per game).

"I had a good idea I would play small forward when I came here," Robinson said. "That's my real position. I'm playing power forward now but small forward is my position. I'm comfortable [at power forward]. I've just had two bad games. I'm trying to bounce back and help my team. The offense hasn't been there. I've been trying to do other things to help us win. I'm just missing shots. Those are shots I have to make; I'm just missing them. I have to take my time to finish the play."

The rotation at power forward could get a little more jumbled in a couple of weeks when Gilbert Brown returns for his first game of the season after serving his academic suspension. Brown has played small forward for the most part in his first two seasons, but he could see some time at power forward as well if Dixon wants a more experienced lineup.

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NOTE -- Taylor has outplayed starting center Gary McGhee the past two games, and Dixon hinted there could be some lineup changes. "I don't anticipate us having the same lineup the entire season," Dixon said. "There could be some changes. Gary was playing well. He didn't play as well last game. Dante played better the last game. That was evident. I think between the two of them we've gotten good production."

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