Pitt’s Blake Hinson feels pulse of team, provides scoring touch it needs
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Blake Hinson is the only senior in Pitt’s starting lineup, so he willingly accepts the responsible roles of guidance counselor and the team’s leading scorer.
The scoring part is easy for Hinson, who leads the ACC and is tied for sixth in the nation in made 3-pointers (45). He also is third in long-range shooting percentage (45.9%) and one of three players in the conference averaging at least 20 points (20.3). When he told reporters Thursday, “I’m always hot,” it was said in more of a matter-of-fact tone than one of bravado.
Blake Hinson, on being a leader on the Pitt basketball team. pic.twitter.com/1wPTfwFfPs
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) December 28, 2023
The leadership skills, meanwhile, are displayed with tangible and intangible evidence.
His teammates can clearly see what he brings to the team, including the extra shooting drills before and after practice.
“You have to practice what you preach,” he said. “You have to do the things that you ask people to do.”
Yet he tries not to step beyond his boundaries to motivate players, especially when he believes the program provides an inherent boost.
“I’m not really too much of ‘I’m going to push you,’” he said. “The blessing and the opportunity to be here should be enough to push everybody.”
The season enters its most challenging phase Saturday when Pitt (9-3, 0-1) plays its first of 19 consecutive conference games. The Panthers visit Syracuse (9-3, 0-1) in the JMA Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome for a 12:05 p.m. tipoff, trying to extend their four-game winning streak.
Part of Hinson’s role as a leader is merely observing those around him. He said he liked what he saw when players returned from a five-day Christmas break.
Fearing injury to his players, coach Jeff Capel forbade them to engage in pickup games while visiting family back home. Hinson said he and teammates found ways to stay sharp just by putting up shots alone.
“I can tell guys have been in the gym, working over break, which is great to see,” said Hinson, who turned 24 Tuesday. “I feel we are still focused. (Thursday) was the best practice I ever had coming off a break. You can tell people had been in the gym playing basketball. That got me excited. We really haven’t missed too much of a beat.”
Through 12 games, it’s difficult to put a definite label on this team. The 9-3 record is nice, but two of three losses were to unranked Florida and Missouri — in other words, opponents without overwhelming rosters.
Hinson, freshman Bub Carrington and junior Ismael Leggett are three of the best players in the ACC. Leggett contributes in many important ways — second in scoring (13.9), first in rebounding at 6-foot-3 (6.3) and second in assists (36). He also is fifth in the ACC in free-throw percentage (89.4%, 42 of 47).
”He’s a really good dude (off the court),” Hinson said of Leggett. “He likes to learn. He likes to be coached. He fit right in perfect. Of course, he can really play, too, so that always helps.”
But does the team overall have what it takes to make a run at a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth?
Hinson thinks he knows how to make that happen.
“We should always be relentless and hard-playing,” he said. “Almost annoying at all times, regardless of the score — up 20, down 20, tie game.
“We should always be pestering people as far as how hard we play. I think we started to find that. I don’t want to jump the gun and say that’s our identity. But that’s where our identity should be, and we’re moving towards that identity.
“I feel like we have a whole different gear as a group.”
So far, Capel has mainly worked with a nine-man rotation that includes freshman point guards Carrington and Jaland Lowe. Carrington leads the team in average minutes (31.9) and is third in scoring (13.8). Lowe’s court time (14.8) has increased compared to the previous game in each of the past four outings, and he is third on the team with 26 assists.
Carrington and Lowe have appeared in every game — Carrington hasn’t missed a start — and Hinson believes that’s enough to push them higher on the expectation scale.
“There’s nothing to tell those guys. Those young guys are no longer young guys,” he said. “They have a whole half-season under their belt. In my eyes, they’re no longer freshmen. Just do the same things we did in the first half of the season when we played well. Do those things, and we should win games.
“I’ve been seeing it throughout the whole season, as far as practice goes. It’s just a matter of doing it on the game floor. That’s coming to light, too.”