Jeff Capel talked about good shots, effort, rebounding and more after Pitt beat Miami on Sunday. Here’s the full rundown of what he said.
Capel: First and foremost, I’m really proud of our guys. It was a heck of a win for us. We did some really good things in the last three minutes, and I’m so proud of how we stepped up and made some plays. I thought one of the biggest plays was Terrell’s turnaround jumper; I thought that got us going. And then Xavier made some big-time plays down the stretch, and for Trey to step up and knock those free throws in was huge.
So I’m really proud. We found a way to win. It wasn’t pretty. Their zone bothered us, and how it bothered us was that it got in our head and guys lost confidence and we stopped attacking, we played on our heels. And that’s why that last three minutes was so good: because we forgot everything that had happened up to that point, we focused on that moment and we stepped up and made the necessary plays to win.
Really proud of us and look forward to going on the road and hopefully playing well again.
What does it say about Xavier and Trey that, like you said, they both struggled from the field but Xavier hits that layup with 40 seconds left and Trey hits the free throws?
Capel: Yeah, I mean, Xavier’s three, the layup going through contact but he was decisive. It wasn’t hesitant. Those are big-time plays anytime, but especially when you’ve had the afternoon like he was having. For him in that moment to forget everything and to be who he is and to do that - for us to be able to get the ball inbounds down the stretch, we struggled with that against Boston College, knowing that they were going to press, we struggled with that - for us to be able to A, get the ball inbounds and then B, for Trey to step up and make those free throws, those are big-time plays.
You struggled from three-point range but Trey made a couple three’s back-to-back in the second half. How much did that change the confidence, that a guy found some success?
Capel: It changed it, but again, we were still a little bit hesitant. We were still in our heads a little bit. Those are big plays, though, because they had gone on a run and that got us the lead back and we were able to extend it a little bit. But give credit to Miami; that was a smart decision by them at that point to go zone, and they really packed the zone in. And then their guys made some big-time plays. Beverly made some big-time drives. They stepped up and made free throws. I thought the difference in the game, though, was, I thought we dominated the glass, especially on the offensive end. We felt coming into this game that’s something that we could exploit and our guys did a good job of doing that.
How do you get your guys to attack more against the zone and maybe get more movement?
Capel: Well, we got good shots. We got movement. We just didn’t make shots. And we were hesitant. The zone made us hesitant. We got movement, but when a guy is not guarding you and you’re missing shots, that can get in your head and that’s what happened. So we just have to be confident. Earlier in the year, when we played Northwestern, they did that to Justin: they just didn’t guard him. And we kept telling him to shoot; as long as they’re good shots, we don’t mind them because they’re our shots and we’ll live with the result. I thought we were getting pretty good shots. Some of them weren’t - a few because we didn’t drive in there with conviction. We were just driving in there hoping, hoping that, ‘I get a call’ or hoping that they don’t come over. That last play Xavier made, that was a drive with conviction, and that’s who we have to be all the time.
How do you get your guys to change that mentality midgame? Is it something you said to them, something that clicked for them?
Capel: We just continued to encourage and tell them, you know, during that under-four media timeout, we’ve talked about that - forget everything that’s happened, it’s zero-zero right now, we have to win this - I think it was 3:54 on the clock - we have to win this 3:54. And forget about everything. Concentrate on right now and finish. And again, our guys stepped up and made big plays.
You’ve been talking about rebounding all year. Are you guys turning the corner -
Capel: I wouldn’t say we turned - again, we did a good job today. I wouldn’t say that that’s turning the corner. We did a good job this afternoon. I think Miami has not rebounded the ball well this year. I think when we played at their place, I think we got 16 offensive rebounds. So it’s something we thought we could exploit. We still have to do a better job.
We did a much better job in the second half today than we did the first, so we haven’t turned the corner but maybe we’ve put a little bit of an indent into the page.
With X, how do you walk that line between encouraging him to shoot while also trying to hope he takes smart shots and not just the ones that are available?
Capel: I thought in the first half, maybe there was some that were a little bit forced, and then in the second half, I thought he was hesitant.
Look, we tell all our guys - this is the way I coach, okay? - if they’re good shots, I’m okay with them. If they’re good shots, I’m okay with them. I’ll tell you if it’s a bad shot. And what I consider a bad shot may not be what someone else considers, but I’m the one that matters. So, I want my guys to have confidence in shooting the basketball. I don’t want them to be hesitant. And when they are, we tell them about it.
It happens in practice with us, where guys will miss a shot or miss a couple and all of a sudden they start passing up shots and I stop the practice and tell them to shoot the damn ball. So I want our guys to have confidence in themselves like I have in them when it’s a good shot.
What have you noticed has been different about the way Au’Diese has been playing? Obviously, statistically he’s on a hot tear, but what has gone into that in your opinion?
Capel: I think the work. I think he’s gotten healthier. He’s bouncier now. I think he’s more confident in shooting the basketball. I think one of the things that’s gone very, very underrated is what he’s done defensively. Obviously, what he’s done scoring the ball the past couple of weeks, but what he’s done defensively, man, and what he did to DJ today, you know, against Cassius Stanley against Duke, in the first half against Syracuse he did it to Elijah Hughes and Boeheim went nuts; we made the switch and then he shut down Boeheim in the second half. How he’s defended Nwora - I think he’s one of the better defenders in our league, and I think his offensive game has continued to get better as he’s gotten more confidence.
Do you expect Murph available on Wednesday?
Capel: I’m not sure. I’m not sure. It depends on how he’s recovering from the concussion.
You mentioned a lot of shots that were just people driving and hoping. Do any plays come to mind for you on that?
Capel: Yeah, there were several. I don’t know the time period of it, but there were several were Xavier, Trey, those two guys drove in there hoping to draw a foul instead of going in there and concentrating on finishing.
You said to win the 3:54, what’s the difference between hoping and actually doing it? What did you see that clicked for these guys that they were able to do it?
Capel: There was just conviction. There wasn’t hesitation. I think that’s the main thing: there wasn’t hesitation. It’s our shot. And when you have it, shoot it. That’s what they did and fortunately they went in.
Without Murph, you went mostly with the guys you usually play. A couple more minutes for Onye, but what went into the decision to just go with the guys and not try to play a deeper bench?
Capel: We don’t have a deeper bench. Gerald played. Onye played. Karim played. That’s our scholarship guys without Murph. And Onye’s not a scholarship guy. So that’s who we have. That’s who we played. That’s what we went with: who we had.
What did you think Onye brought on the perimeter defense?
Capel: I thought he was terrific. I thought he was terrific. And he’s been really good for us in practice. He defended. He passed. He ran our team. He didn’t turn - I thought he was really, really good.
