Jeff Capel met the media on Thursday to talk about Iowa, Duquesne and more, and here's a full rundown of what he said.
What have you learned about the City Game or heard about it?
Capel: I know it’s a game that conjures up a lot of emotions and brings up a lot of emotion for people affiliated with both programs. It’s a game that’s very emotional. There’s a sense of pride around the city. They’re a really good program. They’ve gotten a lot better. Coach Dambrot and his staff have done a great job, especially with the new guys they have in there, of changing their culture. They’re playing really, really well right now, very confident. We’re excited about the challenge and we’ll see what happens.
Gotten to know Dambrot?
Capel: I’ve gotten to know him a little bit since I got here. We’ve been together at a few events since I’ve been here.
How have the players handled their first loss?
Capel: I think we’ve handled it well. Tomorrow will be a great indication. We got back so late. Yesterday was a little bit of a blur. You’re trying to get some sleep, those guys have class and stuff to do. We got together. We talked about it. We talked about, for us, this is our first taste as a group of adversity. How do you handle that? How do you deal with that? First and foremost, I think they were very hurt. It was a hurt locker room after the game because we felt like we were in a position to win. I was glad to see that. The thing I didn’t want to see was everyone just okay with being close because that’s not why any of us are here. I don’t think we have that. I like the way we’ve responded so far, but tomorrow will be a big challenge for us.
What can guys learn from game like that or experience like that?
Capel: I think you have to learn how to win a game like that. There were a lot of things we did that hurt us. That’s not taking anything away from Iowa, but we had some really careless turnovers that put us in that position where we had to make a shot at the end to have a chance to win. We have to be better there. We had some defensive breakdowns and when you’re playing against a really outstanding team anywhere, but especially on their home court, you have to minimize all of those mistakes. We didn’t do a good job of that. Understanding the importance of execution of every play…it didn’t come down to the last play. There were plays throughout the game we didn’t make that we can control better and we can do a better job. We have to learn from that.
Does that come with territory of a younger team?
Capel: I think that has something to do with it. I also think that we have a group of guys that don’t know how to win a game like that. I don’t know the last time our returning guys played in a game on the road where you have a chance like that. That’s something we all have to understand. We have to learn from the mistakes and hopefully correct them and get better from them. At some point, we’ll be in that position again. It could be tomorrow, where we have to learn from it. Hopefully, we’re better when we’re in a situation like that again.
Looking at tomorrow and how you treat this when you’re playing a team from across town, is your messaging to your team that it’s just another game, or do you like to raise the importance, given all the factors at play?
Capel: We’ve talked about how it’s a huge game for us, for a couple of reasons. One, to me, every game is a big game because we’re playing. It doesn’t matter who it is. That’s something I learned in college. Every game’s a big game and the most important game because we’re playing. We need to value every opportunity that we have as a team to compete. And so it’s a big game because of that.
Obviously, with the crosstown rivalry and the history of this game, it’s something that you want: you want bragging rights.
The third thing for me is that we’re coming off of a loss, so we should be emotional, we should be angry, we should be excited, all of those things. So that’s the emotion I want us to have and hopefully we play that way.
Duquesne has talked about how much this game means to them; is that something you bring up with your guys, that they’re going to be hungry out there, they’re going to be gunning for you, a target on your back?
Capel: Yeah, definitely. We’re hungry for them, too. So, definitely.
Other than them being a lot of transfers, new guys who are king of feeling their way out and playing with each other, what stands out to you about their personnel, who stands out from what you’ve seen?
Capel: Their only loss is at Notre Dame and it’s a game where they had the lead in the second half; their ability to force turnovers and the pressure they apply for 40 minutes; Williams and Hughes, I’ve been really impressed with those two guys; I’ve been really impressed with their point guard, Carry, what an amazing story. And they just come at you in waves. They’re a team that just keeps coming. You look at the UIC game, they were down 12 and all of a sudden they just continue to fight and claw and they put it into overtime and then they win it.
So I’ve been really impressed with their team, with how hard they play, how together they are. I know they have a lot of new faces, but those guys did play together, the group of them, last year a lot in practice. So they are familiar with each other. I know they’ve added a lot of pieces recruiting-wise, and they’ve done a really good job and they’re playing really well and they’re confident.
I’ve been impressed with all of them.
You brought up the emotions a little bit earlier, and while this one might not have the cache of UNC-Duke, it being a rivalry game, do you talk to the guys about handling the emotions of a rivalry game?
Capel: We just talked about playing and just going out and competing. That’s something we’ve done every game this year and we need to do it again, regardless of the opponent. It shouldn’t take Duquesne to make us rise to a level or go to a different level; we should - that needs to be our habit, where we play at a very high level and a high standard every time we step on the court.
When it comes to talking to your team and practices, drills, things like that, how do you combat some of the carelessness of the turnovers you saw in the second half against Iowa?
Capel: That hasn’t been who we are, so we talk about it, we show them, we watch film. Today was our only practice so we talked about it in practice, we emphasized different things, and now we just have to go out and do it. Again, that hasn’t been who we were; we were really good in the first half at valuing the ball, and hopefully the last 20 minutes, hopefully that was an aberration.
Are you seeing this team carving out an identity you would like, and do you put a timeframe on such things as far as when you would like to see it, as far as internal goals throughout the season?
Capel: I do think that we have shown we’re going to play hard, we’re going to compete, we’re going to fight, so I am pleased with that. For the most part in the seven games that we’ve played, we’ve done a pretty solid job defensively, so I feel pretty good about that. I don’t put a timetable on anything; we’re just trying to each day get better and I think we’ve done that and hopefully with the little bit of success that we’ve had, that we have to maintain that hunger and use every day to get better.
Do you remember their other guard, Lewis, from when you guys were recruiting Jayson Tatum? He was on his high school team.
Capel: No. I mean I didn’t know, I didn’t realize who that was. I know who he is playing for Duquesne, I know he’s good, I know he’s talented, I know he can get streaky and he can get going and I know he’s aggressive, but I didn’t put it together with - I watched Jayson. That was the only one I really cared about.
