Jeff Capel was on the ACC men's basketball coaches teleconference Monday morning. Here's the full rundown of what he said.
Your guys have been very resilient all year long, bouncing back from adversity and different things. What did you see from them coming back from Virginia Tech? I know you guys practiced today, but what have you seen from them in their mentality, how they’ve approached things and just talking with your guys?
Capel: I think the main thing is that we’ve moved on. Every situation is an opportunity to learn and they certainly provided us with a lot of stuff that we need to work on, to look and to see. I thought the mindset was really good when we got together yesterday and we practiced and I anticipate it being good today.
We talked a lot Saturday night after the loss about what you thought went wrong for your team. After getting a chance to watch the film, was there anything else that stood out to you about what Virginia Tech did on the defensive side of the ball?
Capel: No. They just played really good defense. You know, we scored enough points. We scored 72 points. We scored enough to win. I felt like the reason we didn’t win was that we didn’t defend them well. And I thought they made us pay for our lack of communication just about every time. But I thought we did enough offensively to win the game.
When I asked Coach Pastner about what stands out about your team, he mentioned the age and the experience and how you guys are older. What are the advantages, in your opinion, in coaching an older team and having an older group of guys to go forward with?
Capel: I don’t know if there’s an advantage; I just think you have to have good players and guys that fit together, guys that are connected, guys that want to be about the right stuff. You can have older guys and all that stuff and they’re not about the right stuff. There can be selfishness, there can be jealousy, there can be any of that stuff. I just think you have to get the right guys - guys that fit, guys that understand how much they need each other. Certainly, if you have some older guys and you have experience, you’re hopeful that it’s good experience and it’s experience that helps you get better. But just because you have older guys doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be good.
As Milan recovered from his scare in May, as a head coach but also as his friend, did you have to reign him in at all as he attempted to come back to work and resume his duties?
Capel: Yeah, I did. I mean, I was afraid. There’s still a little bit of that, to be completely honest with you, because you care about him. I wasn’t here when it happened. I was on a plane actually headed to ACC league meetings down in Florida. As I got up, I guess 20 minutes up in the air when wifi connected, I started getting all of these texts from my wife and when I got back and went to go see him and seeing his recovery, I mean, yeah, there was a - trying to, you know, like, ‘What are you doing here? Why are you at the office?’
When he started where he was able to get back on the court, when he first started coming, he could just come and watch because we were doing workouts. And then every now and then, I’d see him just get up and be on the court and trying to tell guys stuff. I’d, you know, ‘Go sit down.’ So yeah, there was a little bit of that. But as he’s gone through the recovery process and handled everything and some of the changes that he’s made, thank goodness he’s fine.
He mentioned that, during a practice, an errant pass back in October caught him flush in the chest, and he said everybody just kind of froze and got silent. What was your reaction? What went through your mind?
Capel: I was just, you know, what in the world? The scariest one was when we played Miami here. I think it was the Miami game. Late in the game, his pacemaker went off. It was Wake Forest. It was the Wake Forest game. It was, like, tight and we were trying to - they were going to be running an out-of-bounds play. It was Miami. They were going to be running an out-of-bounds play and he got up and the place was going crazy and his pacemaker went off. He tells me, like, ‘My pacemaker just went off.’ And I was like, ‘Go sit down.’ Like, ‘Go sit down, man.’ Like, what in the world? Go sit your butt down. It was maybe four seconds left in the game.
So you worry about him, but I think he’s good. The one thing I knew - we said when the pacemaker went off, at least we know it works.
Not nearly as interesting as that story, but the ACC Tournament is going to Greensboro this year, Washington next year; after that a little uncertain. Is there anywhere the tournament hasn’t been in awhile or has never been that you would like the tournament go?
Capel: I mean, the only place, but I don’t think we could ever get it, is Madison Square Garden. That’s really the only place but I don’t think - I think other conferences have rights to that. But I would like it in - I think it’s been fine where it’s been, the places that it’s been. I don’t have an opinion about where it should be.
Would you support if Pittsburgh were to bid to play over at the other arena?
Capel: Yeah. Sure. Of course. I would love to have it here. This would be a great place to have it, because where the arena is, you have unbelievable restaurants - it’s just, there’s so much to do here. It’s a great city. So yeah, I would love to have it here.
With Syracuse coming up, there’s kind of a rich history between these two programs and schools on the hardwood that kind of predates your time there. The Big East was big-time for those two to engage in a big rivalry. What do yo remember about - do you have any memories of those games or watching those two teams play from that era?
Capel: The only memory I have, to be completely honest with you, of a Syracuse-Pitt game was when I was the head coach at Oklahoma. It was 2009 and we were going to be playing Syracuse in the Sweet 16. And I remember watching both games when Pitt and Syracuse played because it always seemed like Jamie Dixon did a good job against the zone, so just trying to figure out ways to play against the zone. But I don’t really remember from my childhood a lot of Pitt-Syracuse games. I don’t.
As a guy who’s been around the ACC for a long time, you’ve seen the perception of this league nationally change. Why do you think the ACC is held in such low regard right now nationally, especially as it relates to you, N.C. State and especially Clemson in the NCAA Tournament?
Capel: Yeah, it’s interesting. For me, I only hear that it’s down when you talk about those teams. You don’t hear it when you talk about Virginia, and maybe it’s because of what Virginia has done nationally during the time that Tony’s been there. He’s done an unbelievable job. I mean, they’ve maybe been the premier program, if you look at accomplishment, throughout definitely probably the last 8-10 years.
I don’t really understand it, to be completely honest with you. I don’t know if - you know, Coach Smith, Coach K, Coach Williams, I don’t know if it’s because they’re not here anymore, so the national reputation of that. Coach Pitino, same thing. But I don’t really get it. When you look at the success that we’ve had in the NCAA Tournament, when you look at the success we’ve had in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, if you look at what our guys have done nationally, as far as coaching, as far as players, as far as talent, as far as draft picks - all of those things, it’s more than anyone. So I’ve never really understood it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
I don’t think it helps when we, you know, have our own network and they’re - I was watching when we were at Virginia Tech, the night before, I’m watching our own network and one of the first questions that comes up is, ‘Is it perception or reality that the ACC is down?’ I never see that on the Big Ten Network. I watch the Big Ten Network a lot because one of my best friends coaches in that league so I’m watching them and, man, they are always, always pumping the Big Ten. Always. I think it’s a really good league, but I think ours is, too, and I wish the people that represent us would have the respect and pump our league and be positive instead of looking at negative things.
