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Unshapely Fields finds ways to contribute
That's why Fields is the last guy on the team that Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon wanted to see take 11 months off.
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Fields, who missed much of the second half of last season with a broken left foot, isn't 100 percent. Teammate DeJuan Blair puts him at 90 percent or so while Panthers associate head coach Tom Herrion wouldn't even go that far.
But Fields just shakes his head and continues to scoff at any questions that deal with his lingering foot issues.
"I'm fine," said the Panthers senior point guard. "If I'm out there, then I'm 100 percent. I'm not going to make excuses."
It's difficult not to love Fields' New York toughness, but that's not possible.
Fields missed a dozen games in January and February last season with the broken foot, but returned earlier than expected and played in the Panthers final 13 games. He then went to the Steve Nash camp in the summer, which featured many of the elite college and high school point guards, before experiencing pain in his foot.
Fields wound up needing surgery in August, then a serious infection followed and he was unable to do anything for three months.
It was Dixon's worst nightmare.
"I was very worried," he said.
Dixon was concerned because Fields isn't genetically blessed with a LeBron James body. With three months on the mend just prior to the start of a season with high expectations, Dixon worried his leader and point guard might balloon and wouldn't exactly return in tip-top shape.
That's exactly what happened.
Fields is listed at 190 pounds in the team's media guide, but he's probably realistically playing at around 215 pounds.
"I can't tell you," Fields said of his current weight. "Undisclosed."
Fields struggled against Texas Tech on Friday night in the Legends Classic and wasn't playing much better in a grind-it-out game on Saturday night against Washington State. He appeared winded, unable to explode to the basket and had made just 3-of-17 shots in New Jersey as the Cougars found a way to hang around.
After a Daven Harmeling 3-pointer, Tony Bennett's club was down just six points with less than five minutes remaining.
It was time for Sam Young or maybe even DeJuan Blair to take over down the stretch for Pittsburgh.
Instead, it was a stocky, out-of-shape Fields who stepped up and had enough. He knocked down a step-back 16-footer to push the lead back to eight points and then connected on a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 51-40 advantage.
"He doesn't blow you away or wow you," Bennett said. "But he hits big shots. He similar to (Darren) Collison, not in stature, but in that he's a winner. He just runs the show and gets them where they need to be."
Young said it before the season started.
"He's the most important player on our team," he said. "We're not winning anything without him because we'd have to play with a freshman point guard."
Fields is probably a month or so away from getting back to where he needs to be — and the Panthers have also dealt with injuries to Blair and fellow starter Gilbert Brown.
But this is a team that could be a difficult out come the postseason. There aren't many teams that can boast a quality point guard, an explosive wing and a productive big man. Dixon has also added a defensive stopper in Jermaine Dixon, who locked up Washington State's talented freshman Clay Thompson for most of the contest.
If the Panthers can make enough shots from the perimeter, there's no reason to believe they can't take the step everyone is waiting for — to the Final Four.
"Once Levance gets healthy, it's going to be crazy," Young said.
Actually, the crazy part is that Fields still finds a way to win games — even when he's not full-strength.
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