Team gritty vs. VCU in final 20
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Following a tough trip to Brooklyn for the Legends Classic, the Pitt men’s basketball team returns home to the Steel City with two more losses, falling to Michigan and then VCU in back-to-back games.
Despite his team now sitting at 1-3 on the season, Jeff Capel said Thursday evening that he believes the event, which took place at Barclays Center, made his team better. Before we move on to Sunday’s matchup against Alabama State, let’s take one final look at Pitt’s efforts in Brooklyn. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly that came for the Panthers in the Legends Classic:
The good
After being outscored by double digits in the second half Friday against West Virginia and then again on Wednesday against Michigan, the Panthers delivered a gritty showing in the final 20 minutes in their loss Thursday against VCU. Trailing by six at halftime, Capel said the message in the locker room was simple: His team was in a familiar spot and he was looking for an unfamiliar collective performance. While a plethora of mistakes on both ends of the court ultimately led to Pitt’s defeat, it can be argued that the Panthers still responded to their coach’s challenge. Veteran guards Jamarius Burton and Nelly Cummings — who had both struggled in the second half in recent contests — came alive on the offense end, finishing the night in double figures.
Blake Hinson also stepped up after having to sit for most of the first half due to foul trouble. Pitt played solid for 16 minutes but just didn’t finish. It wasn’t the result fans were hoping for, but for the first time in the young season, Capel’s newly assembled squad showed signs of knowing how to play together in the second half of a tight contest. There is still much room to grow, but with their next three matchups against lesser opponents, the Panthers have something to build off.
The bad
There have been many recurring
trends in Pitt’s three losses, but none more consistent than foul trouble in the first half. Against WVU, Michigan and VCU, the Panthers had at least two starters accumulate two fouls in the opening half, which forced Capel to dip into his bench more than he would’ve liked.
Without John Hugley IV in two of those three games, depth was already slim, but the losses of key contributors Cummings, Hinson and Greg Elliott hurt the team on both ends of the floor.
“The thing we have to do better is play without fouling,” Capel said Thursday night. “The foul trouble in the first half, it disjoints us. It gets us out of rhythm.”
Younger players Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham, and even veteran reserves Nike Sibande and Nate Santos, were asked to do more than they’re typically capable of on a normal day, which is a recipe for disaster when facing a quality opponent. Although many believe basketball requires a full team effort to win, right now, in order to find a rhythm, Pitt needs top-of-the-line production from its best players, which can’t happen when they spend most of the first half on the bench.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to be smarter,” Burton said Thursday evening. “Each player is valuable, especially the guys who play heavy minutes. We have to be smarter, we have to move our feet and stay in front of our man. We need to recognize when a team is close to the bonus.”
The ugly
With Hugley’s absence, it would make sense if Pitt’s struggles were primarily down low. However, what truly dismantled the Panthers in their losses in Brooklyn was poor play in the backcourt. Cummings, Elliott, Burton and Sibande all left more to be desired in those games, struggling in a handful of key areas that directly led to the team’s shortcomings.
The two biggest areas of struggle for Pitt’s experienced quartet were outside shooting and ball movement. Against Michigan, the Panthers knocked down three of their first four 3-point attempts, which occurred in the game’s first five minutes. After that, the entire team went cold.
Elliott was the lone Pitt player to make multiple 3-pointers against the Wolverines, finishing 2 for 6 behind the arc. No Panthers guard hit multiple 3-pointers the following night, as Blake Hinson was the only player on Jeff Capel’s team to sink more than one triple — the junior forward hit three of his five shots from downtown.
Collectively, Pitt shot only 26.2% (11-42) from behind the arc, which won’t lead to much success against opponents like the ones it faced in the past week. And although the shooting was bad, ball movement was even worse.
In its losses against Michigan and VCU, Pitt turned the ball over 31 times and tallied only 19 assists. That negative assists/turnover ratio created a host of opportunities for opponents, along with plenty of easy defensive stops.
Even when it wasn’t turning the ball over, Pitt’s passing wasn’t crisp, efficient or effective. In their season opener against Tennessee Martin, the Panthers assisted on 21 of their 26 total baskets. Capel said following the win that rate — which is just over 80% — is where his group should be each game.
In its past two games, Pitt barely reached the halfway point of that figure, assisting only 19 of its 45 field goals in the Legends Classic.