Pitt head coach Jeff Capel met with the media on Monday morning for the weekly ACC coaches Zoom call. Capel broke down Pitt’s next opponent in NC State, discussed the ACC’s national perception, and more. Here is a complete rundown of everything he had to say.
What are some of the things you are still pushing on your team every day?
Capel: Well I think we’re starting to learn how hard it is to win and what’s required as far as to become a good team the things that are required. You have to learn how to compete at a different level, taking care of yourself off the court, the attention of detail to scouting. All of those things, I just think are really, really important. Our guys are doing a better job of learning how to do those things more consistently and learning how to play harder more consistently.
Obviously Ish has been playing pretty well these last five games, but one thing is he kind of hits shots when you guys are going scoring droughts or when you really need a shot. What about him allows him to do that in those situations?
Capel: Well, I think the first thing is the easy answer, he’s a good player. He’s one of the guys that we have that can create offense off the bounce. He has the physical strength to play through contact and he can be shifty with handling and bumping you off and being able to get to spots. He’s also a guy that’s able to draw fouls and he’s been a really good free-throw shooter. But I think the simple answer and the easy answer is that he’s a good player and he’s just been able to make plays for us.
When you look at NC State, what stands out about them on film?
Capel: I think the first that really sticks out and stands out is the joy they seem to have playing with each other. It looks, again on film, that Kevin has a really good group that he really likes and they really like each other. That’s the first thing. Obviously, the talent stands out with Horne, Morsell, with Burns, really all of those guys. They’re a very athletic team and they play really hard. They pressure you defensively and push it in transition. They usually have at least three and a lot of times four guys out there that can break you down off the bounce, so that can be difficult to defend. I just think they’re a really good team. They are playing very, very well right not and again it looks like a team that has joy playing with one another.
Obviously there were some major changes to the block/charge rule and the secondary defender this year. How do you feel about how that has been implemented and did you have to change anything with the way you teach defense?
Capel: We talked about it with our guys. I haven’t really seen much of a change to be completely honest with you. It seems like every year that there’s something new that’s coming and maybe the first week or first couple of weeks it’s officiated different than as you get going, it kind of goes back to how it always is. I just think you have to be able to as a player and coach, you have to be able to adjust on the fly because each official is different in what they see and how the officiate. One may deem a foul and another may not, so you have to nbe able to adjust from game to game with how the game is being officiated. They do a really, really good job. The thing I like about the officials in our league, at least with me, they’ve been easy to talk to, During the game, I can talk to them and ask question and get an explanation. I’m able to go back to my team and talk about certain things. That’s something I’m able to appreciate that I’m able to do that with the guys in our league.
Saturday night very late, you were up 16 and there was a timeout and you were in a huddle coaching these guys very animated and just as if it were tied in triple overtime. In those situations, do you not really try to concern yourself with the score in the point you are trying to get across?
Capel: Yea, I think any coach you are trying to coach habits. I want to help these young guys create really good, winning habits. And winning habits are all the time, it’s not even just during the game. How you conduct yourself, I think, is a direct correlation, in my opinion and I could be wrong. But if you’re a guy that’s costa qtly late for something…being prompt, being on-time. If you’re late for stuff, then you’re probably going to be late for a (defensive) rotation. You’re going to be a second late and that could mess your defense entirely up. And so trying to just teach them habits. For me, with the way I was taught the game, it’s all off it that correlates to life. Being a good teammate, working hard, being disciplined, being responsible, accountable, all of those things that help you become a good player and good team, they’re all things that kind of help you be successful in life, too. No matter what the score is, you’re constantly trying to teach lessons. Whether it’s in a game, off the court, in a meeting, a workout, or I’m just talking to the guys and it’s something that I see. I think all coaches are like that, I know the guys in our league are, If it’s something you see that can be a lesson to help these guys get better than it’s our responsibility as coaches and leaders to do that.
I wanted to ask you about NC State inserting Michael O’Connell into the starting lineup. He’s changed the offense a little bit over the last four games. I wanted to get your take on what you’ve seen from them since he’s been inserted into that lineup as that more traditional point guard…
Capel: Yea, well it frees Horne up to score more and just to concentrate on that. But even with that, that helps him with better playmaking, Horne, because he doesn’t have to have primary ball handling responsibilities. I think it’s made them faster. O’Connell is a tough kid. He’s fast, tough, competitive, he’s smart both offensively and defensively, and just has given them even more pace and kind of helped put these guys back in their natural positions. Again, I think they’re a really, really good team and Kevin has them playing really at a high level right now.
When you look at bracketologies from Joe Lunardi, there are conversations about the ACC and a lot of people only have Duke and North Carolina from the league in, and not even NC State or Virginia. What more can the ACC do at this stage when all your opponents are just other ACC teams to show that this league deserves more teams in the tournament?
Capel: Well first and foremost, I don’t look at it. I hear about them because I hear people complaining about them, people on my staff, but I try not to look at it. I don’t, because it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t understand it, I don’t, for the life of me I don’t. Our league is really good, the players and coaches. It’s way more than North Carolina and Duke. Last year the narrative was that, ‘If Duke and North Carolina aren’t Duke or Carolina how they normally are..’ Well, they just played the other day and they were both in the top 10, so Duke and North Carolina are Duke and Carolina. They’re both really, really good. So is NC State, so is Virginia, and so is the rest of our league. So it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating if you look at the number of teams we have in the top-75 of the NET. Just all of those things. I wish I had an answer for you, but unfortunately I do not. I’m not a bracketology expert. I’m not a numbers expert. I’m not a NET expert. I know what my eyes see and it’s frustrating a lot of people sit behind a computer and look at numbers and that’s the metrics they came up with. Maybe some of the teams in the other conferences figured how to game the system and manipulate the numbers. I just know when we get to the NCAA Tournament, the teams that get there, we win. We win at a very high level, our league does. We played last year a team from the Big 12 that was really good, and we beat them pretty handedly and we barely got into the tournament from what the numbers say. We played a team from the SEC that was a pretty good team and we beat them and we beat both of those teams without our starting center last year. If you look at what Miami did in the tournament and so we get there, we perform, we do well, but every year it’s this same thing over and over. Maybe we need one of the coaches to call some of these bracketology experts out, I don’t know. I wish I had answer. I’m talking too long and holding up whoever is next. I’ll let everyone go and let the experts figure it out.
