Jeff Capel, Nelly Cummings and Federiko Federiko meet the media after Pitt's win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. Here's the full rundown of their remarks.
Capel: Well, first and foremost, I’m really, really proud of my team. I knew that this would be a tough game. Coming into this game, I thought Georgia Tech was playing as well as anyone in our league. They’d won three out of their last four; their only loss was at Wake Forest, when there were a couple of questionable calls down the stretch that went against them when they had a lead. So, I just have so much respect for Josh and his staff that it’s been a tough year but he’s continued to get those guys to fight. They play a style that’s difficult to prepare for because the zones are just different. They have length. Certainly since they’ve gone smaller, they’ve played a little bit faster. They’ve shot the ball way better. So I knew they would be a different team than the team we played earlier in the season.
I thought we showed a toughness, a grit, and I’m really, really proud of that. We were down four with 12 minutes left, and then we were able to rally. We were able to get some things done offensively, but most importantly during that stretch, we were able to finally get some stops. We were able to get out in transition, get some easy ones, and then these two guys did an unbelievable job from the foul line. Fede eight-for-eight for the game, and then Nelly down the stretch closing it out, seven-for-seven for the game, and then JB’s two at the end.
So really proud. Big, big-time win for us to get up off the mat after losing at Virginia Tech on Saturday, and to come back and to play a team that’s playing with a lot of confidence, playing free, playing loose and that really competed out there. So I’m really proud of our team.
Nelly, when you came here, you said your main goal was to bring winning back to Pitt. Today’s win secured a 20-win season, something this program has not seen in quite some time. Does that mean anything special to you?
Cummings: I think it definitely means something, but we’re in a grind right now, so we’re focused on the next opportunity we’re going to have. So, yeah, the 20 wins is special, but we’re not done.
Nelly, did you feel that today was an appropriate response after what happened Saturday against Virginia Tech? The way that you guys played today, I mean.
Cummings: Yeah. Like Coach said, it was a gritty win. We were tested a little bit and that’s what we needed today. We didn’t need it to be a blowout win or anything like that. We had to dig deep and get the win.
Nelly, Josh Pastner called you ‘grizzly’ in the way you were able to stand tall in tough moments tonight. I think I saw at one point, you hit the corner three and before it even went in, you pointed to the football team. What went into how you were feeling tonight with your shots, especially?
Cummings: Yeah, I just played free. I just wanted to have fun on the court. Coach stressed having some fun; you know, we looked like we were a little bit down early, not a lot of energy. So I was just having some fun playing the game.
Federiko, I know you have a good relationship with Blake. You guys were introduced to this campus together last year. What’s it like for you to see him bounce back like he did today after having a rough showing on Saturday?
Federiko: It’s great. It’s great. It’s always great to see Blake play good.
Fede, I think you surprised Georgia Tech with your foul shooting tonight. Have you been working on that especially hard?
Federiko: Yeah. We shot free throws in practice and I shot free throws before the game. I was prepared.
Federiko, I know you’ve been working on your offensive game and I know you’ve been getting more opportunities to score as well. How much more confidence are you gaining throughout these later parts of the season in your offensive game?
Federiko: Much, much comfort. My teammates are getting comfortable and confident in me getting those plays and passing me the ball. So I’m confident.
Nelly, did putting on some full-court pressure help you guys wake up a little bit and spark the defense?
Cummings: Yeah, I think it gave us a little bit of a spark. Really, we just had a couple mistakes communication-wise. I think when we did that, we kind of connected a little more.
What do you think led to some of those communication breakdowns? Because you guys did fix them mid-game?
Cummings: That’s a good team. They have a good offense, they run a lot of good stuff. When you play a good team, you’re going to have some issues like communication and stuff like that.
On the note of Georgia Tech being a good team, do you think a team with that amount of skill and their record, does that speak to the strength of this conference?
Cummings: I mean, for sure. Every game in this conference is a good game. There’s no teams you can just approach the game like it’s going to be an easy win. I think tonight showed that.
Jeff, were there any defensive changes that helped you guys address the way that they were screening and trying to get the looks that they wanted?
Capel: I thought picking up full-court a little bit, I thought that helped us, just to get some energy. We have to get back to defending. I don’t think we defended well today, and that’s two games in a row. That’s out of character for who we have been. We have to get back to it in practice, and that’s something that we will address on Thursday. But in that moment, from the 12-minute mark, I thought we did some things where we fought over some screens, we communicated better, we contested shots, we rotated and we made some plays during that stretch. But we have to do it more consistently like we were before these last two games.
On Saturday, you guys shot just 68% from the foul line; you went 19-of-20 as a team. Is that kind of bounce-back just expected out of you for this group?
Capel: I think we’ve been a pretty good free throw shooting team all year, so I thought that was a little bit abnormal for us. Again, it’s a very tough environment. Our guys are used to tough environments. We’ve been pretty good on the road. Like I said, I thought we scored enough at Virginia Tech to win; we didn’t defend well enough. We were able to make some plays defensively today to give us a little bit of a cushion.
What kind of spark did Nike bring for you guys off the bench?
Capel: Huge. Huge. Huge. And it was all defensively. With him, we were able to get up and pressure a little bit more, to extend our defense a little bit more. I thought he had some great contests on some drives, he bodied guys up and didn’t take the bump, played dead pivot defense and really did a good job. Out of a timeout, we talked about it and we came out and got a 30-second shot clock violation against them. He drove it, made some good plays there. He gave us a huge spark.
That full-court, is that something you always have available?
Capel: We always have it. We’ve done it at times this year. I thought it could be something that could be good for us. I knew that they - they don’t have a lot of guards with Smith out, so their perimeter depth isn’t great. And then Terry was in foul trouble for most of the game, so we wanted to do something to try to get into their legs a little bit.
Nike obviously had a big defensive presence, but he had a season-high 21 last time you guys played Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Did you say anything to him about not having any points at halftime? Was there any change in mood for him?
Capel: No. No. I did not.
Greg had a noticeable decline in playing time the second half. Was he a little banged up there?
Capel: No, we just had a lineup that was playing well. Nike came in and gave us a spark defensively and we decided to go there.
What made Nike a good fit at the top of that full-court press?
Capel: Just his activity, his athleticism. We wanted to put him on the ball, whoever the ball-handler was, even in the half-court to try to extend that pressure a little bit. The thing we wanted to do was maybe take some time in the back court so once they got to the front court, we didn’t have to defend all that cutting and stuff for 25 seconds. Maybe it was 20 seconds, 19 seconds, as they were getting into their offense.
Can you talk about how the fouls were in this game and how you can work with the players to improve fouling in the future?
Capel: Yeah, we just have to be better. At Virginia Tech, we were at some foul trouble. Here we were in some foul trouble, especially with Federiko. That all goes back to working on our defense. We have to get back to becoming a good defensive team again.
What’s it about Greg that helps him focus so late in games? Miami he stepped over the line on the inbound but then he got a huge steal for you guys. Tonight he had an inbound pass that kind of went a little chaotic but he got the loose ball and then got a steal for you guys.
Capel: Yeah, I just think it’s moving on to the next play. That’s the big thing. When you’re mature, if you make a mistake - mistakes are going to happen; you don’t want them to happen, but you have to move on. I thought a few times in this game - there was a play earlier where we turned it over in the first half and everyone dropped their head and thought the play was over and they pushed down and got a layup against us. So we have to eliminate those plays.
Zero turnovers for Georgia Tech in that first half; what did that say about their offense and what they were doing well?
Capel: I think they’ve - again, they’ve been good the last four games. They’ve really, really played at a high level. I thought just their movement, their stuff is tough to guard. You really have to communicate. And again, I thought we had some breakdowns. We didn’t have any pressure. They didn’t feel us at all. So that’s something we talked about at halftime and wanted to make some adjustments with.
What did you say to your team that had five turnovers at halftime and Georgia Tech ended up getting 11 points from those turnovers - what did you say to them at halftime? Capel: We just talked about how we have to do a better job of valuing the basketball. We have to be stronger. I thought we finished in the second half better. I thought in the first half we probably had about four layups - four shots right at the basket that we didn’t finish. I thought in the second half, we did a much better job of finishing through contact.
You’ve had some close wins this year; what’s the value of a gritty win, especially this time of year?
Capel: It’s huge. It’s huge. Look, I don’t take - we don’t take winning for granted. It’s hard. It’s hard. It’s hard in this league. This league is better than the reputation that it has right now. And it’s hard this time of month, because February’s the grind and everyone’s banged up, everyone’s hurt, you can’t really practice as much right now, the games are coming at a quicker pace, so to be able to get off the mat after losing at Virginia Tech - and we hadn’t had that feeling in awhile - and then to do it in this manner is good for us.
What are you going to say to your team about Syracuse and how are you going to inspire them to play Syracuse?
Capel: I don’t think we have to inspire them. We’ll be ready to go. It’s a rivalry game, they’re a good basketball team. We’ll be ready to go.
This is your first 20-win season here and the first for the program since 2015-2016. I know there’s still more work to do, as Nelly talked about, but what does that say as a benchmark for this program and building what you guys have been able to build these last few years?
Capel: I think what this team has done all year - it has been really good, and it’s something that I certainly don’t take for granted, we don’t take for granted - but like Nelly mentioned, we’re in the moment right now, man, and it’s hard to kind of reflect on those type of things right now because we know we have a heck of a game coming up on Saturday, our last home game in front of this crowd that’s been unbelievable all year, especially the Zoo, and we’ll focus on that. Then we have two road games, one of which is going to be that coach’s last game there. That’s going to be very emotional. And then one against one of the better teams in the country. So we have a lot of games left. We’ll reflect on it when it’s over with, but it’s certainly something we don’t take for granted.
You mentioned awhile ago that you weren’t pleased with the defense. What can you do in practice to maybe play better defense? What kind of things can you do, especially this time of year?
Capel: Well, first of all, we have to practice. Like, we haven’t been able to really practice. Maybe that’s on me; maybe I’ve been a little bit soft with the guys. But we have to practice. And it’s not long, but we’ve got to get out there and we have to get after it a little bit defensively. More drills defensively, more things like that. We haven’t had a lot of bodies in practice. Like I mentioned, guys are banged up, we had some guys that were sick that were not able to even be out on the court to go through things. We’re going through a walk-through, we’ve got two coaches out there, a grad assistant out there, a graduate manager out there. So we have to be able to be available. We’ve had some slippage because we haven’t been able to get out there and do some things.
Josh pointed out after the game that your starting lineup is older than the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup. Do you think when you talk about the grind in February and early March that that age, that experience, really gives you guys an advantage?
Capel: I hope so. I hope so. I’d like for them to be able to practice. They’re acting like they’re 10-year vets. We have to change that.
