Capel: 'I thought this was a great game for us'

Capel: First and foremost, this was a heck of a win for our team. I thought we beat a good basketball team that’s a little bit older, very physical, well-coached. They have good players and they played their butts off. I thought this was a great game for us. It’s a great game to learn from. I can’t wait to get to the film and I think there are so many teachable moments from this game that will help us as we go forward.

I’m really proud of our guys for being resilient and fighting. We had some great individual performances. I thought Jaland Lowe came in in the first half and was unbelievable. It was great to see him trust his shot and trust his instincts, and I thought he gave us a huge boost. I thought Will’s defense throughout the game was one of the big reasons why we were able to win. Anderson was coming in averaging 14 and a half points, he was leading them in scoring, and I thought Will did a great job on him. At times, especially, in the last three minutes, Will guarded everybody. Came up with some big steals, big rebounds, just was outstanding.

I thought Ish made some big plays. I thought Blake, with not playing as well as he’s capable of playing, made a huge three and made a drive for a layup and then had a good defensive possession. I thought he did some good things.

Obviously, Ish driving and defending and scoring and making big plays and being a facilitator for us. And obviously Bub did some really, really good things. So there’s some great things to learn from this game - some real live game situations that we try to simulate in practice, but it’s different when there are people here and there’s someone coming after you.

I thought some of them, we didn’t handle well. But the last one, I thought we did a really, really good job of, so I’m proud of that.

What were the defensive adjustments you guys made when Florida Gulf Coast was able to get some baskets close to the hoop?
Capel: We tried to double the post. That’s something we worked on yesterday. We anticipated them - watching film of their first two games, I thought their two post guys were good. The kid, Kellman, was a really good player at Princeton on that team that went to the Sweet Sixteen. I think he was second in the Ivy League in field goal percentage, so obviously a very confident player, played well against Indiana and Ave Marie, and Weir, too. They’re big, physical guys, so it was really good for us to play against that. We haven’t seen that yet this year, and we know that that’s coming as we go forward with our schedule. So we tried to double the post at times and just tried to make it a little bit tougher for them to get initial position.

We don’t have that in practice, so it’s not something we practice against all the time, that type of physicality those two guys have. So I thought we did a good job there. We did a better job of individual defense, not just getting blown by. In the first half, I think their first five points came - we got beat; one was on the baseline opposite our bench and they kicked it out for a three in the corner. Same spot, drove it, dumped it off to the post guy, so that hurt us there. We had a game plan for Barno, who started for them, to go under; he made us pay. So salute to that kid because he’s been in the gym working. He hit a three - he hit a couple three’s a pull-up early, a quick eight points, that was different. We lived with that, we made an adjustment after that. But again, I thought our guys did a much better job of fighting in the second half.

But like I said, this was good for us, because our defense was tested. This was not as good of a performance defensively as we’ve had and that hopefully we have going forward. Hopefully we learn a lot from this.

Did you feel like some of the switches you used when you were doubling and they were trying to use ball movement off of that - it seemed like you guys got faster as the game went on?
Capel: I thought in the first half we didn’t do some of the things that we were supposed to do. We didn’t switch at times on some of the ball screens, so they were able to turn the corner and get downhill, and that put pressure on Fede and G. Those guys were having to make a decision of whether to help up - if they did, they had a guy in the dunker spot that they hit, or if they didn’t, they guys were getting floaters because we were behind. I thought we did a much better job of doing what we’re supposed to do in the second half of making those switches. We still have to continue to get better. We got a little bit better today. We have to continue to get better of just ball-watching. They hit a big three; we had the guy contained on the baseline in front of their bench on a drive, but a guy sprinted from the opposite side and got a wide open naked three right in front of their bench because we were ball-watching. We have to do a better job there.

There was a big stretch where Blake was kind of cool. What’s it say about your team that it’s the new guys who are coming in here and picking up the slack?
Capel: Yeah, well, I think we have a good team, I think we have good players. We’re confident in them, they’re confident in themselves and their abilities. I thought in the first half we actually extended the lead when Blake was out. I thought our defense - Will did a heck of a job defending, and like I mentioned earlier, Jaland was terrific. In the second half, Blake didn’t make some shots, missed a couple of free throws, but he hit a huge three, he had a drive where he was able to get to the basket, which was a big play for us. But we have guys that are capable of making big plays.

Ish said that Jaland, after he made those first couple buckets, he seemed to feel like he belonged on that floor. Did Jaland need a shot of confidence?
Capel: I don’t agree with him there - I think he’s always felt that he belonged, and he’s played well. He just couldn’t make a shot. So obviously when you make a shot, you start to get a little bit more confidence. I don’t think he lacked confidence, because it wasn’t like he wasn’t shooting in the other games. He was still taking the shots, and I tell him all the time, as long as they’re good shots, I’m good with it. But to see the basketball go through, I thought, was huge for him.

He’s a good player, man. He is. I thought - we’re talking about the shots, I thought he made some heck of a passes, you know, off the ball screen. That’s what he’s been doing all the time. I thought maybe he was a little bit pressed because he couldn’t make a shot, that he got away from that a little bit. I thought today he was back more of who he’s been - this guy that can play-make and do some different things.

This is the closest your team has really been in a game in the second half. Did you notice them being calm or did you feel they were on edge? What were they like in the huddle?
Capel: I thought they were determined. I thought they were locked in. Again, some unbelievable teachable moments. I think we had a 15-point lead with a little bit over eight minutes left, and we did not handle that situation well. We didn’t get stops and it led them to cut it to where it was a one-possession game. But then I thought we did a heck of a job down the stretch of extending it and getting it back to double figures. I think we were up 10 and we got a stop, pushed it, and that’s when Fede missed the lob. We got the rebound; we should pull that back out and take some time, but we rush then and miss the layup. I think the next time down, we missed a shot, got an offensive rebound; we should pull it out. We try to make a bounce pass in traffic and we went up and tried to shoot over two guys where we should pull that back out. That’s what I mean. There were some unbelievable teachable moments for us in this game, where we can learn a lot and get better.

How do you feel like your guys have responded to some of the teachable moments that you guys had in the first two games?
Capel: I think they’re responded well. I mean, look, I’ve said it all along: this is a really good group, I enjoy being around them, they want to be good, they want to learn. I think we have a high ceiling, and as long as we continue to have the right attitudes and come in and be about the right stuff, then I think we will get better.

On the note of teachable moments, that’s what you hope to have in these early games, right? Against the mid-majors.
Capel: Yeah. Like I said, I think this team is good. I think they went on the road last year and won at USC. They’re an older team. Coach Chambers is a heck of a coach. He’s instilled a culture there of fighting and competing and playing hard, and he’s got some good players. I think they’re going to win a lot of games. So to be able to do this, score this many points and not shoot free throws well and not shoot the three ball as well as we’re capable of doing, I think that’s big for us. We got tested defensively this game by better players; nothing against North Carolina A&T, nothing against Binghamton, but these guys, I think, are just a little bit better. So it will give us some things that we have to continue to work on and talk to our guys and watch film and get better.

Any particular reason Jorge only played two minutes?
Capel: He got in foul trouble in the first half. We got lineups in the second half and played.

Do you like that dynamic with three guards that you used a little bit?
Capel: Yeah, we do that in practice a lot. This is probably the first time we’ve done it in a game; in the games that we’ve played so far, we’ve been up by a lot so we really haven’t done it. But I’m comfortable with that. We’re comfortable with that.

What does Zack do for you guys defensively? He seems to find a way to be in a lot of different places.
Capel: Yeah, he’s a great help-side defender at blocking shots. He can be athletic and contest and get some steals and do some things like that. He’s got to continue to get better individually, one-on-one defense and concentrate all the time. But he has a level of athleticism that we haven’t had since I’ve been here.

Your thoughts on your team getting 40-plus rebounds per game.
Capel: Well, I want us to be a really good rebounding team. We did a heck of a job with it tonight, again, against a team that was a little bit bigger, a little bit more athletic than the first team that we played - the first two teams, I should say, that we played. So I’m pleased with that. We know the competition will get stiffer as we continue to go up in levels with the competition that we’ll play. But hopefully these rebounding numbers can continue to be really good.