** Is it entirely possible that several games into Coach Capel’s fifth year, we might need to start selling some seats on the Jeff Capel Bandwagon?
** Too make my point … I’m going to quote myself after the Edinboro exhibition win. Here goes: “Why can’t I get more excited about this team? … I guess the answer to my question lies simply within Coach Capel. In his first four years, I’ve yet to see a Pitt Hoops group that has looked like he’s organized them well. I’ve yet to see a group that has looked like it’s even played to the sum of it’s parts, let alone greater than.”
** I’m also not going to screw up and try to quote myself from back in January 2021 proclaiming “We’re ba …” Afterall, we all know how that turned out.
** But I have no problem saying that the Panthers we have watched in the past two games have looked organized well. They have looked to play to the sum of their parts, and perhaps even beyond.
** What I watched tonight was in my opinion the Panthers' most impressive game of the year.
** We blew out Northwestern because we played well and shot really, really well. But sometimes shooting really, really well can make a team look a little, if not alot better than they really are.
** We won tonight because we played really well, not because we shot well. And we played physical and focused on both ends.
** Tonight, on the same number of deep shots, we hit 8 fewer three pointers against the Wolfpack than we did against the Wildcats, and yet we were able to go on the road and keep a quality opponent at arm’s length for the entire second half.
** And perhaps the biggest reason we kept NC State at arm’s length was because of the length of Federiko Federiko’s arms.
** It’s not often that something of a bit player like Fede can make such an important stamp on a game like he made today.
** In the NBA, you can find those who compile a statistic known as “screen assists.” Maybe someone else can compile that number for the Panthers today, but it’s easy to guess that Fede had at least three or four of them today.
** On the defensive end, Fede’s length stood tall in the post and contested jump shots further out. Most importantly, I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a player be as incredibly disruptive to an offense with the way Fede executed his hedges this evening. It really can’t be done any better.
** The willing recipient of most of Fede’s screens was the not so young man who played by far his best overall game as a Panther. Jamarius Burton was nothing short of splendid tonight.
** Burton’s execution of the offense this evening was nearly flawless. There have been times over the past season and a half when his game has felt a little more individual than I would like. But even though he was the Panthers lead dog against the Cats, he never really forced a shot.
** Jamarius was an equal force on defense as well. He keeps this up and All League could end up next to his name.
** And while their production wasn’t at Burton’s level, Nelly, Greg and especially Nike played really well too. Our guards were much better than their guards and that’s saying something.
** All of this credit to execution needs goes to Coach Capel, but let’s also give credit to Capel's playing time decisions also. First, he recognized John just didn’t have it. Next, he recognized that Jorge was wrong for this game. Lastly, Jeff went against his usual grain and brought Blake back in the first half with two fouls. It’s a different game if he doesn’t do that.
** So if you do want to buy a seat on the Capel Bandwagon, you better get your ticket now because if there are a couple more games like this, seats could go fast.
** Nonetheless, once you do get on the wagon, I would also recommend wearing your seat belt. Unfortunately, in the past some of Capel’s bandwagons have come to abrupt halts. But for now, let’s look forward to the ride!
, but I love chaos.
