Capel: 'We found something that worked'

Jeff Capel liked his team’s bounce-back from the Nicholls State loss, and here’s the full rundown of what he said after Pitt beat RMU Tuesday night.

Capel: They did an amazing job and it’s an arena that’s worthy of the really good program that Robert Morris has. I’ve always been a fan of Andy’s, even before I came here. I think he’s a heck of a coach, I think he runs a really good program, his kids play hard. They have an identity: they’re going to play hard, they’re going to execute, they’re going to be physical, they’re going to be together and they’re going to compete their butts off. And I thought they did that. It was a great environment in there tonight.

I’m really proud of our team. We got off to a very good start, and then from the under-16 timeout to the under-12 timeout, we were really bad. During that stretch, we had four straight turnovers and just panicked a little bit. But I thought we got ourselves back into the game over the last 11, 11 and a half minutes and were able to go into halftime tied up, and I thought we did a really good job in the second half of methodically getting stops and coming down on the offensive end. We found something that worked and we just kept going with it. Trey made some great reads off ball screens, but it was all set up by execution: the timing, the screening, the spacing, and then once they started to close that down, he made some good passes out of it.

Terrell was really good. It was great to see Justin make some plays. I thought one of the biggest plays that got him going, he had a tip-in in the first half that really got him going. And I thought Au’Diese made some great plays, not just offensively but a lot of the things that he did defensively. I thought it was the best that we’ve done so far this year with our communication. We tried to switch a lot of things, but what we tried to do was break their rhythm a little bit. I felt like, in watching them, they’re a very good offensive team when they can be in rhythm, and I thought the switching did that.

So I’m proud of our group and we have a tough one coming up, so we have to get prepared very quickly.

Those things you talked about this week - maturity, seriousness - was there more of that tonight?
Capel: Yeah, I think it was. I think it was. My staff told me that how the guys warmed up is how they were for Florida State.

You know, look, we’re young. We’re really, really young and we’re really inexperienced and we don’t know success. And we had a small bit against Florida State; we didn’t handle it right and it was a lesson. I thought we did some good things, so we took a step in maturity but we’re still not even close to being there. This is a process and we have a lot of teaching to do, but I am pleased with some of the things we saw tonight.

Not many of your guys have experience going on the road and handling a hostile environment; how do you think they handled that stretch where they fell behind, the crowd started getting into it and things could have gotten away from them?
Capel: Well, this was big for us. I spoke to our guys and, if I’m correct, I think it was February 8, 2017, was the last time that Pitt won a true road game. So this was - this game provided us with an opportunity to do that. They had a great environment, a hostile crowd, it was very passionate and when they made their 15-0 run, it was loud and we could have folded. But I’m proud that we stepped up and made some plays and I think this will help us as we move forward.

Is what might happen in practice the next two days just as important as what happened here tonight?
Capel: Yeah, it’s very important. We have to understand the importance of each day. We are not a program and we don’t have the type of talent where you can just show up. And normally the teams that are those types of programs and have that type of talent; they don’t. So we have to continue to grow wand the next two days will be very, very important, because we have a heck of an opponent coming up.

What did you see in Trey tonight that you didn’t in the first two games?
Capel: Well, obviously he scored the ball and he was very efficient doing it. This is the first time, until late in the game, that those two guys didn’t really get doubled on ball screens so there was a little bit more space to do some things and to attack, and he was able to find some things. But I thought he just got into a good rhythm offensively and we found something that worked and we kept going to it and he kept making plays.

Obviously it was better than his first two games this season, but did it even compare favorably to what he did last year?
Capel: I wouldn’t say that. I thought he played well. I’ve tried not to think about last year too much. I’m in this moment with this group right now, so I thought he played well today. I thought he played very well today.

You said Terrell played a good game, especially defensively - he had five blocked shots. What did you see from him defensively?
Capel: I thought one of the reasons he did so well defensively is that I thought he talked, and with him talking like that, he was in a stance, he was alert, so he was able to clean up a lot of stuff at the rim for us. He blocked five but he probably changed at least three or four more. He’s been really good for us and we need him to continue to be that way, to start stacking some games up like this and to feel good about himself. I thought he rebounded well. I thought he got very tired. It’s probably the most minutes he’s ever played but I didn’t want to take him out because of what he was doing for us defensively.

This is probably the best three-game run Terrell has had in his time here; how much of what we’re seeing from him now did you see leading into the season, and as a coaching staff, does it feel like you have unlocked something with him?
Capel: We work with Terrell like we do everyone. Sometimes it takes guys a little bit longer, and a lot of times it takes big guys longer to figure some things out. He does not have it figured out right now, but he’s taking steps to do it and he’s doing a really good job. He’s worked at it, he’s had a positive attitude and he’s put in the time; his play has been the reward for that. But we need him to continue. We need him to continue to take steps forward.

It looked like in the first few games, if Trey wasn’t scoring or he wasn’t getting the call when he got in the lane, it seemed like he was getting frustrated. Have you talked to him about trying to keep his composure and just keep attacking?
Capel: We’ve talked to everyone about that. Again, we’re a really young team and they all want to do well very badly and they get down on themselves. There was a play in this game that was late; we were up, I think it was 15, and I think we had a three-on-one break and Xavier shot a three. It wasn’t a good shot, and I think they got a transition basket out of it. There was a timeout right after that and, you know, my whole thing to them was, okay, next play, it’s over with; you can’t do anything about it. Don’t let that play mess up the next play. And that’s the way we have to be. But also, at the same time, holding them accountable and teaching them. So we continue to do that with all of them.