End of nonconference season signals nothing but ACC opponents, tougher games for Pitt
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Every game is important in Pitt’s rebuilding process, but its season will take a significant turn toward relevancy Tuesday when the Panthers begin their grueling, 19-game stretch of nothing but ACC opponents.
The Panthers visit Syracuse (8-4, 1-0) at the JMA Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome, carrying confidence into the 9 p.m. tipoff. It’s an attitude generated from a roster that has produced an 8-4 record (7-1 since Nov. 20) and already has defeated a conference opponent, N.C. State, 68-60, on the road Dec. 2.
It’s fair to note, however, that Pitt was 9-3 in each of coach Jeff Capel’s first two seasons and 8-4 in 2020 before sinking into despair in the new year.
Is this season different?
Capel has said repeatedly — and his players have echoed the sentiment — that he likes the chemistry his players have built with each other on and off the court. But he is smart and savvy enough to realize that seasons are long and can be full of potholes.
“We’ve had moments (in the past) where we had good teams, but we haven’t been able to sustain it,” he said. “We still have a ceiling that we can get to.”
While watching video last week, North Florida coach Matt Driscoll noticed something about Pitt’s players, and it emerged Saturday during the 82-56 Panthers victory against the Ospreys.
“I told Jeff when we met up outside in the parking lot (Friday), ‘The one thing I noticed about your team after watching all your games is you guys are so connected. You guys look like you, actually, enjoy each other. You, actually, look like you like each other and you look like a team that has some purpose,’ ” Driscoll said.
“He has a group that actually likes each other, and that’s hard to do when you have all these transfers.”
Several new player have enjoyed some productive moments this season.
• Federiko Federiko scored 22 Saturday in the absence of John Hugley.
• Blake Hinson is leading the team in scoring (16.3 points per game).
• Nelly Cummings is averaging 4.7 assists per game.
• Then, there’s Greg Elliott, who has hit 65% of his shots (26 of 40) in the past five games and is averaging 11 points for the season. Capel said Elliott has been better than advertised.
“Greg is an elite teammate,” Capel said. “When he joined our program, we knew he was a good player. We knew he could shoot the basketball. But you don’t really know anyone until you’re with him.
“You can recruit these guys and think you know them, but until you’re with them you don’t really know them. He’s an even better teammate than I thought. He’s a guy who’s willing to do whatever, and I mean that in a literal sense. He has an ego that he thinks he’s good, but he doesn’t have an ego problem.”
Syracuse’s dome provides a unique problem for opponents, some of whom believe the sightlines are difficult to manage. Capel said such thinking is overblown.
“For our new guys, it will be different,” he said. “But as a guy who can shoot back when I played, if the ball is round, I can put that ball in the basket. Hopefully, our guys have that same mindset.”
Pitt has played Syracuse 122 times (48-74) since 1914, more often than all but three opponents: West Virginia, Penn State and Carnegie Tech/Carnegie Mellon. Capel’s teams have won three of the past four after losing the first five.
Some teams struggle to initially adjust to coach Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. When he was Pitt’s coach, Jamie Dixon had two five-game winning streaks against the Orange (2007-11 and 2015-16).
“Every time we’ve played them the first time, we really struggled in the first half,” Capel said, “because we’re not going to be able to simulate (the zone in practice).”
The basic keys, he added, are to “get out in transition … get on the glass. We have to defend at a high level.”
Speaking of defense, Capel has been generally pleased with what he considers one of the most important elements in that area: communication among players on the court. In the past eight games, opponents are averaging 61.8 points per game.
“It was better, but it can still get a lot better,” Hinson said. “We’re moving towards that. We have to have it and we’re going to have it.”