McGowens takes game up a notch
Sophomore becoming the go-to guy
Around Christmas, Trey McGowens received a pair of boxer briefs with a pattern similar to that of a large cat, either a cheetah, jaguar or leopard.
Once Pitt’s practices resumed after the holidays, the sophomore guard wore them. He felt good and comfortable, able to move in a way he hadn’t earlier. So when the Panthers’ first game rolled around, he stuck with them. He played well, so a young athlete who admittedly is a bit superstitious continued to wear them.
“I believe in sticking with what works,” McGowens said Thursday.
The underwear, of course, isn’t the reason for McGowens’ recent play. If anything, what has been unfolding the past several weeks is a player who was a top-100 recruit and the team’s third-leading scorer as a freshman last season showing exactly why he was able to earn such distinctions.
Either way, over the past month, McGowens has elevated his play, emerging as the go-to player, and perhaps even emergency handle, for a Pitt offense that has struggled at times this season. Over the past seven games, the 6-foot-4 guard has been averaging 17.5 points, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 37.8% from 3-point range. With that recent push, he stands firmly as the team’s leading scorer, at 13.8 points per game, more than two points more than his next-closest teammate.
Around this time a year ago, McGowens saw what had been a revelatory freshman season start to crumble. After scoring 30 or more points twice in a 120-hour stretch, his scoring and shot attempts dipped drastically for much of the rest of the season. A player who had been the centerpiece of coach Jeff Capel’s first recruiting class seemed to disappear at times, hitting what Capel routinely dubbed “the freshman wall.”
Now, a year older and ostensibly a year wiser, McGowens feels like a different player.
“The work has always been the same,” McGowens said. “I’ve been working hard. I think the difference is after seeing last year how I’d get down on myself and how it would affect the team, just trying to stay in it.”
McGowens, in many ways, has a different identity and role this season.
He is handling the ball much more, as he has used 25.8% of Pitt’s possessions while on the court this season, up from 23.2% a year ago. In six conference games this season, that number has jumped up to 30.9%, ranking him second among all ACC players. With the ball in his hands more often, he also has developed into much more of a playmaker for his teammates. Through the team’s first 17 games, he is averaging 3.2 assists per game, nearly double his average from last season.
“It’s not even about being a facilitator, per se; it’s about just making the right play, whatever the play is,” Capel said last week. “Sometimes, that’s a drive all the way to the basket. Sometimes, it’s a pass. You have to be able to read defenses and understand what they’re trying to do and adjust to it and make the play that’s in front of you.”
Certain aspects of McGowens game still need to improve. His shot selection remains questionable at times. His turnovers are up from 2.4 per game last season to 3.0 per game this season, though part of that can be attributed to handling the ball more (plus, his higher assist total offsets those mistakes a bit). His shooting percentages are within tenths of a point of what they were last season.
Over the past four games, a time in which he has averaged 19.5 points per game, he has seen his role in the Panthers offense swell. In those contests, he’s averaging 17.5 shots per game, 6.5 attempts per game more than his next-closest teammate (Justin Champagnie).
He has performed well in those games, but, for Pitt to excel, its offense will need to be more balanced.
“Our guys need Xavier [Johnson] and Trey to create for them,” Capel said last week. “Those are two guys, I think, that can be difficult to keep out of the paint. They’re strong, they can drive it, they can get fouled, they can put pressure on the defense. If they’re making shots from the outside, those two, then they’re even more difficult to guard.
“They have to understand that they need Justin knocking down shots or finishing plays inside. They need [Ryan] Murphy knocking down shots. They need Eric [Hamilton] and Terrell [Brown] and [Abdoul] Karim [Coulibaly] to ball-screen and rim-run hard and to put pressure on the rim and to finish if they have opportunities down there.
“If we’re doing all that, then we can be a good offensive team. But they need each other. That’s why when a guy’s open, you’ve got to be able to hit him.”
McGowens credits much of his recent success to an intense offseason regimen. In the mornings, he would work with assistant coach Milan Brown — be it shooting drills, ballhandling exercises or film breakdowns — before getting in a weightlifting session with strength and conditioning coach Garry Christopher. He would reconvene with Brown later in the day before returning to the gym at night for more shooting.
“This year, I just felt like I worked harder than I ever have,” McGowens said.
It’s the kind of work he believes can continue to carry him as Pitt’s season progresses. On Saturday, that will come against a North Carolina team McGowens had 24 points and a career-high eight assists against in a 73-65 road victory 10 days earlier.
Since that win, McGowens has worn the same pair of shoes. After all, if something’s working, why change it?
“Just staying consistent,” he said.