Capel stresses difference between good and great
To Jeff Capel, there is a firm and all-too-oftencrossed line between “good” and “great” when it comes to evaluation in basketball.
Capel has seen what he considers to be greatness. He played for four seasons at Duke with All-Americans, first-round draft picks and future NBA allstars, all under the guidance of perhaps the greatest coach in college basketball history. He later spent seven seasons as an assistant under that same coach, teaching some of the sport’s brightest prospects. For good measure, he has worked with USA Basketball and been around some of the game’s biggest stars.
“It’s different,” Capel said Saturday. “The way
they think is different. The way they approach stuff is different. I think it’s learned. I think the guys that are really great, they’re constantly trying to learn and get better. They’re constantly trying to figure out different ways to beat you, different ways to improve in their craft. That’s why I think there are few greats.”
It’s a measurement Capel applies so strictly that he quickly corrects someone when they refer to him as a “great” player. Right now, as he is about halfway through his second season as Pitt’s head coach, it’s a distinction that isn’t all that relevant for him. The program he inherited was in disastrous shape, so it’s still a ways away from being considered even good. Time only moves so quickly.
Right now, the same sentiment could be applied to the Panthers’ offense. While Pitt’s defense has been relatively steady this season, its offense has helped characterize the team’s overall unpredictability — though more often than not, it’s underwhelming. For the season, it ranks 99th among 353 Division I teams and 10th among 15 ACC teams in adjusted offensive efficiency.
Following one of its better showings of the season in a 6652 victory last weekend against North Carolina, and with increased familiarity between players over time, there’s some hope that this group just might be turning a corner or, at the very least, coming together.
“It’s really just getting a feel for each other, understanding which way guys like to go and which moves they like to make,” guard Ryan Murphy said. “As a shooter, I have to be able to read which way Trey [McGowens] is going to go or [Xavier Johnson] is going to go. I have to kind of think ‘OK, he likes to go left’ or ‘He likes to go right.’ I have to know which way I’ve got to go to make myself available to help them.”
Against the Tar Heels, the Panthers averaged 1.03 points per possession, tying their best mark in ACC play this season and though they shot just 37.7% for the game, they made 48.4% of their shots in the first half as they built a 20
-point lead. Perhaps most encouragingly for them, they managed to post those numbers while their leading scorer, sophomore guard Trey McGowens, missed nine of his 10 shots and finished with just five points.
It’s a sign of improvement from where Pitt was a year ago. Last season, it finished 168th in offensive efficiency and had only three players averaging more than 7.5 points per game (and only four averaging at least six points per game). This season, four Pitt players — McGowens, Johnson, Justin Champagnie and Murphy — are averaging at least 10.7 points per game. From a transactional perspective, it lost one reliable scorer and gained two.
“It’s not just one person that can score,” Johnson said. “Everybody can score. If one person has a bad game, I know somebody else is going to have a good game. That’s the trust you’ve got to have every night.”
One game against an injured North Carolina team that has struggled to contain any opponent the past several weeks may prove to be an aberration. Pitt has averaged more than one point per possession only twice in seven conference games, both of which came against North Carolina. In ACC play, the Panthers are last in field goal percentage (0.376) and ninth in 3-point percentage (0.319).
While there’s hope for improvement, there’s also a deserved amount of skepticism for a team that, against quality opponents, has been streaky at best offensively.
“I don’t think we’ve played better all the way; I think we’ve played better in spurts,” Capel said. “What we want to do is become a team that’s just better consistently. We need everyone. Everyone on this team at some point this year has shown what they’re capable of doing at a high level. In order for us to become the best team we can be, we need everyone to be the best versions of themselves and for them to hold each other accountable to that standard.”
As Capel later noted, many Pitt players have areas of the game in which they are strong on offense. Johnson has been an improved shooter from 3 and is a strong finisher at the rim. McGowens can make any number of athletic shots in difficult positions. Murphy is a capable shooter from 3. Champagnie has been a good offensive rebounder who cashes in on second chances. Even Terrell Brown, at only 5.1 points per game this season, has shown a nice touch on mid-range jumpers.
For the offense to get better, though, there needs to be a level of trust between players. That’s a conversation that begins with Johnson and
McGowens, who both use 25.4 percent of the team’s possessions while they’re on the court, more than five percentage points more than the nextclosest player. But it extends to everyone if the Panthers hope to merely be good.
“Guys have to trust them to be able to create for everyone else,” Capel said. “Those are the two guys who can create offense for us off the bounce. We really don’t have anyone else that can do that, so Trey and X have to trust they’re going to be in their spots, they’re going to be ready to shoot and they’re going to make the right play. Those guys have to trust that Trey and X are going to make the right play when they’re open, the ball is going to be there, it’s going to be on time, they’re going to make good decisions and value the basketball. I think we’ve gotten better at that.”