Capel on the win, coming out flat, a needed break and more

Here's the full rundown of everything Jeff Capel, Bub Carrington and Blake Hinson said after Pitt's win over Canisius on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center.

Capel: First and foremost, congrats to our volleyball team. Unbelievable job by Dan and the young ladies getting to the Final Four. Hate that we missed it, but heard the ovation during the second half and kind of figured what was going on. So big-time shout out to them and what he’s continued to do with their program.

I’m really proud of our team. I knew that this would be a tough game for a few reasons. Number one, it’s the end of the week. This is our third game in seven days. We haven’t embarked on anything like this since we’ve been together. The second reason, you’re coming off an emotional win Wednesday night against West Virginia, against a rival. And then third, they’re a good basketball team, especially offensively. And we started out a little bit flat, but that was them. It wasn’t us. It was them. They made us start flat with their movement and their continuity. They were strong. They were really, really prepared. I think we were ready to play, but we just didn’t have the same force to start the game, and really throughout.

We dug a hole. I think they got up seven. But we showed some grit, some perseverance, some toughness. We went to a zone - something that we’ve been working on in practice. We’ve maybe played a couple of possessions all year. But that kind of negated their movement a little bit and we were able to finally get some stops, string together some stops and come down and continue to score. I thought we had great contributions from everyone.

So really proud of my team. A tough, tough victory.

Blake, Canisius hit seven three-pointers in the first half and you guys held them to two in the second. Was there a consistent message to change that in the second half?
Hinson: Yeah, we just did a poor job defensively in the first half. And a lot of the game, to be totally honest. So that’s all that is.

Bub how do you feel like the zone did?
Carrington: It definitely slowed them down. But it wasn’t just the zone; it was us kind of just, keep preaching more force. Just play harder, play more aggressive. The zone definitely helped us and the mind switch to stop the bleeding was definitely in our favor.

Blake, the twins brought a big presence, especially in the first half offensively. How have they improved on the offensive floor for you guys?
Hinson: They improve like you would expect them to improve. They’re just naturally talented. Basketball is in their blood. So they improved tremendously.

Blake, did they run you off the three-point line a little bit tonight?
Hinson: Yeah, a lot of teams try to do that, so that’s totally fine. We won, so it really doesn’t matter how that goes.

Bub, a lot of times in the first half, you and Jaland were out there a lot together and were in an offensive flow. What did that feel like with you guys both on the court at the same time?
Carrington: It’s definitely amazing because Jaland brings a lot offensively for our team, creating his own shot and getting other people shots. So it’s definitely a big, big bonus to have him on the court with us.

They out-rebounded you guys by three in the first half. What were you able to do to battle back and get it even by the end of the game?
Hinson: Try. Try. We had a hard time just mustering up some effort this whole game, really. But toward the end, we definitely got some effort. But that’s just because - it’s kind of like when you’ve got that assignment due at 12 and it’s 11:45 and you’re like, ‘Oh, let’s do it.’ You know what I mean? But that doesn’t win games, so we have to make sure the time and the clock doesn’t pressure us into playing hard.

Was that also like the turnovers? In the first half, you guys had six turnovers -
Hinson: The whole game. The whole game.

Fede had one assist and he also had a pass out to the corner to Leggett for a three. He passed the ball tonight pretty confidently off the roll. What does that add to the offense when he’s doing more than just finishing lobs?
Carrington: Man, it’s amazing. Especially just to have a fifth almost like skillfully-minded
guy out there. Usually it’s just a one-two punch with him and G, but he’s starting to really come into himself offensively. So it’s definitely a big, big bonus just to have that fifth kind of mindset out there to just do whatever we can to get a great shot.

What was your message to the team about defense coming out of halftime and maybe out of that first timeout?
Capel: We had to play with more force. We had to try to create energy. They had us spread out. They had us chasing them. They had us in rotations. We didn’t communicate well and we just didn’t play to the level that’s necessary to be the type of team that we want to be. Again, part of it was that I thought we played tired. Part of is that they really do a great job of executing and moving the basketball and playing with pace. But we were able to muster the last 10 minutes or so and get back in the game and get a lead and make some plays.

You went with Guillermo and Will coming out of halftime instead of Fede and Zack. What went into that decision?
Capel: Just guys were playing better.

What’s been going on with Fede in your opinion? It seems like he’s been struggling of late to try to find any rhythm.
Capel: Yeah, well, he was in foul trouble at West Virginia. Tonight in the first half, he didn’t play with the force necessary, had some turnovers, didn’t rebound and he just didn’t play well. I thought he did a much better job in the second half of playing with force. He made some good passes. He finished. He got an offensive rebound and kicked it back out. So he just has to play better. It’s pretty simple. He’s got to play better.

Kind of the same question about Zack. What do you need from him?
Capel: He’s got to play better. He’s got to play better, he’s got to play all the time, motor has to be revved up all the time.

Will Jeffress has played very strong the last two games. Is that something you like to see and is it an influence on recent playing time that he’s been getting?
Capel: Yeah. He’s played with force. He’s played with energy. He’s been a guy that’s a connector out there. He communicates at a high level. He’s not without mistakes, but he’s played with force and he’s played with energy and he’s done a good job for us.

You don’t have a game for seven days. Is this good for your team?
Capel: Yeah, we need a break. This is - like I said, it’s the end of an energy cycle. You know, third game in seven days starting on Sunday to today. Coming off of an emotional win, a hard-fought game on Sunday. We really haven’t had a lot of time to practice because of the games and things like that. This will be great for us to take a couple days off. Obviously we want them to focus on their finals and the things that are necessary for them to finish strong there. And then we’ll get back together on Tuesday and start working on us, and then probably on Thursday we’ll start working on our next opponent.