A few things from Capel on The Fan

[Sean Miller Fan]

https://937thefan.radio.com/media/audio-channel/pitt-basketball-head-coach-jeff-capel-1

- Said the City Game hiatus was solely due to the RMU game. To me, that's a little disappointing. If it were over money, ok, Pitt should get more of the gate and maybe they do but if it's not, I'd rather see Pitt vs Duquesne than Pitt vs Delaware State. To be honest, I feel like Capel thinks his non-con is too difficult next year with WVU, Big Ten, and 2 out of 3 of KST, NW, Bradley, and even that road game vs RMU can be tricky. Duquesne has become a legit upper tier A10 team (in a watered down A10 but still) which is capable of beating us and in his 2nd year, I don't think he wanted to run the risk of losing that game. I think he wants a safer game.

- Said he doesnt want to have to play Audiese Toney at the 4. Said hopefully they can add talent

- Said he wonders if they won 4 more games, mentioned Iowa, Niagara, Wake, and 1 of the NC St games, if they would have been on the bubble......and when you think about it, at 17-14 with a strong NET and wins over Lou, FSU, @ Iowa, and NC St.....you know what?

 

[daytonpanther]

https://937thefan.radio.com/media/audio-channel/pitt-basketball-head-coach-jeff-capel-1

- Said the City Game hiatus was solely due to the RMU game. To me, that's a little disappointing. If it were over money, ok, Pitt should get more of the gate and maybe they do but if it's not, I'd rather see Pitt vs Duquesne than Pitt vs Delaware State. To be honest, I feel like Capel thinks his non-con is too difficult next year with WVU, Big Ten, and 2 out of 3 of KST, NW, Bradley, and even that road game vs RMU can be tricky. Duquesne has become a legit upper tier A10 team (in a watered down A10 but still) which is capable of beating us and in his 2nd year, I don't think he wanted to run the risk of losing that game. I think he wants a safer game.

- Said he doesnt want to have to play Audiese Toney at the 4. Said hopefully they can add talent

- Said he wonders if they won 4 more games, mentioned Iowa, Niagara, Wake, and 1 of the NC St games, if they would have been on the bubble......and when you think about it, at 17-14 with a strong NET and wins over Lou, FSU, @ Iowa, and NC St.....you know what?

Should've beat GT at GT but free throw shooting was awful.

 

[pittzap]

https://937thefan.radio.com/media/audio-channel/pitt-basketball-head-coach-jeff-capel-1

- Said the City Game hiatus was solely due to the RMU game. To me, that's a little disappointing. If it were over money, ok, Pitt should get more of the gate and maybe they do but if it's not, I'd rather see Pitt vs Duquesne than Pitt vs Delaware State. To be honest, I feel like Capel thinks his non-con is too difficult next year with WVU, Big Ten, and 2 out of 3 of KST, NW, Bradley, and even that road game vs RMU can be tricky. Duquesne has become a legit upper tier A10 team (in a watered down A10 but still) which is capable of beating us and in his 2nd year, I don't think he wanted to run the risk of losing that game. I think he wants a safer game.

- Said he doesnt want to have to play Audiese Toney at the 4. Said hopefully they can add talent

- Said he wonders if they won 4 more games, mentioned Iowa, Niagara, Wake, and 1 of the NC St games, if they would have been on the bubble......and when you think about it, at 17-14 with a strong NET and wins over Lou, FSU, @ Iowa, and NC St.....you know what?

By "Upper Tier" do you mean the middle of the pack? They finished 7th out of 14 in one of the worst years the A10 has had in a long time. I'm not buying this, "Duquesne is back" crap that many want to continue to say. Pitt had arguably its worst two teams in its history (from a record standpoint) and beat Duquesne by double digits both games.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

By "Upper Tier" do you mean the middle of the pack? They finished 7th out of 14 in one of the worst years the A10 has had in a long time. I'm not buying this, "Duquesne is back" crap that many want to continue to say. Pitt had arguably its worst two teams in its history (from a record standpoint) and beat Duquesne by double digits both games.

Yes. In what has become a 1-2 bid league, Duquesne, with Dambrot will finish anywhere between 3rd and 8th. They are not "back" but as long as he is there, they will be respectable and capable of beating us in some years including next year.

 

[Chescat]

Capel said that he doesn't want Toney at the four. If that happens again we're in
trouble. He may have been our best rebounder, but given what we had, or more
accurately what we DIDN'T have on the inside.....that tells us a lot.
Toney is a small forward type. He rebounds well for that type of player, but by no
means should he be mostly on the inside. IMO his game and stats suffered
greatly last year because he was needed as a rebounder. He has a decent floor
game and moves well. Unfortunatly his outside shot is lacking. If he can develop
a reliable outside shot, he's going to be valuable as long as we have the BIGS
that Capel hopefully will land. Of course developing an outside shot for our returnees
is more than just with Toney......X, Trey, and Ellison along with Toney all have to
improve their outside shooting. Again, if we get the BIGS, and our shooting
improves with the aforementioned players, we'll IMO make a huge turnaround.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Capel said that he doesn't want Toney at the four. If that happens again we're in
trouble. He may have been our best rebounder, but given what we had, or more
accurately what we DIDN'T have on the inside.....that tells us a lot.
Toney is a small forward type. He rebounds well for that type of player, but by no
means should he be mostly on the inside. IMO his game and stats suffered
greatly last year because he was needed as a rebounder. He has a decent floor
game and moves well. Unfortunatly his outside shot is lacking. If he can develop
a reliable outside shot, he's going to be valuable as long as we have the BIGS
that Capel hopefully will land. Of course developing an outside shot for our returnees
is more than just with Toney......X, Trey, and Ellison along with Toney all have to
improve their outside shooting. Again, if we get the BIGS, and our shooting
improves with the aforementioned players, we'll IMO make a huge turnaround.

Toney has that Jaron Brown-not a great shooter, not a blow by you, but tough grinder, mid-range type of game. I think he'd be a good 3. Honestly, if Brown improves, I wouldnt mind him at the 4 with someone like Sy at the 5. As a 4, Brown would be an OK rebounder.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

that's applying the Franklin 'super bowl' theory to the Dukes.....

 

[rockypanther]

Capel said that he doesn't want Toney at the four. If that happens again we're in
trouble. He may have been our best rebounder, but given what we had, or more
accurately what we DIDN'T have on the inside.....that tells us a lot.
Toney is a small forward type. He rebounds well for that type of player, but by no
means should he be mostly on the inside. IMO his game and stats suffered
greatly last year because he was needed as a rebounder. He has a decent floor
game and moves well. Unfortunatly his outside shot is lacking. If he can develop
a reliable outside shot, he's going to be valuable as long as we have the BIGS
that Capel hopefully will land. Of course developing an outside shot for our returnees
is more than just with Toney......X, Trey, and Ellison along with Toney all have to
improve their outside shooting. Again, if we get the BIGS, and our shooting
improves with the aforementioned players, we'll IMO make a huge turnaround.

We really need to hire a shooting coach as a consultant or something. What’s Ronald Ramon or Ashton Gibbs up to?

 

[PittMan2003]

We really need to hire a shooting coach as a consultant or something. What’s Ronald Ramon or Ashton Gibbs up to?

Agree. Our three freshman all need to become better shooters. I think they will. Ironically the guy with the ugliest shot-X, had the best shooting percentage.

 

[PittMan2003]

Agree. Our three freshman all need to become better shooters. I think they will. Ironically the guy with the ugliest shot-X, had the best shooting percentage.

And Ellison may as well just shoot underhanded. How does a 2-3 at this level have such an ugly shot? Love the kid but his shot is putrid.

 

[rmf05]

"If only we could've won 4 more games...."

-about 100 teams

 

[below0w]

"If only we could've won 4 more games...."

-about 100 teams

How many of those teams can say that with a straight face? Nowhere near 100.

Your point is well taken irrespective of context, but with context I think Capel's statement is perfectly reasonable. There were at least 4 games that we lost on a knife's edge. The record is bad, but the team was clearly, from a qualitative standpoint, better than it suggests.

Of course, we didn't win those games so it hardly matters now.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Bottom line ...Pitt was not a tournament team this yr . Stay tuned though soon they will be !

 

[PA_Panther]

Toney has that Jaron Brown-not a great shooter, not a blow by you, but tough grinder, mid-range type of game. I think he'd be a good 3. Honestly, if Brown improves, I wouldnt mind him at the 4 with someone like Sy at the 5. As a 4, Brown would be an OK rebounder.

If Brown ever plays the four we are in some serious stuff. In today’s game your PF has to be Somewhat of a threat to hit a jumper and be able to put it on the floor in a pinch.

Brown needs to improve his hands this offseason. I would love to see a Gary McGhee type improvement from him. He needs to learn how to position himself better on the lower block and use his body better.

The power forward position is dead in modern basketball. You are either a PG, wing, or back to the basket player.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

If Brown ever plays the four we are in some serious stuff. In today’s game your PF has to be Somewhat of a threat to hit a jumper and be able to put it on the floor in a pinch.

Brown needs to improve his hands this offseason. I would love to see a Gary McGhee type improvement from him. He needs to learn how to position himself better on the lower block and use his body better.

The power forward position is dead in modern basketball. You are either a PG, wing, or back to the basket player.

I dont disagree but with Coulibaly coming in, if we get Sy, I dont see Brown at the 5. He's too soft. Doesnt have that inherit toughness. He does have an ok 15 footer and might can rebound ok for a 4. I'd play him, Toney, and Ellison at the 4.

 

[pitt2533]

By "Upper Tier" do you mean the middle of the pack? They finished 7th out of 14 in one of the worst years the A10 has had in a long time. I'm not buying this, "Duquesne is back" crap that many want to continue to say. Pitt had arguably its worst two teams in its history (from a record standpoint) and beat Duquesne by double digits both games.

Amen... for the life of me I can't figure this out either. Dambrot has become the 2nd coming of Christ for some reason and while I do think he is a good coach overall, I think the Duquense is back stuff is extremely premature at this point.

 

[MyNameisJoe]

How many of those teams can say that with a straight face? Nowhere near 100.

Your point is well taken irrespective of context, but with context I think Capel's statement is perfectly reasonable. There were at least 4 games that we lost on a knife's edge. The record is bad, but the team was clearly, from a qualitative standpoint, better than it suggests.

Of course, we didn't win those games so it hardly matters now.

I do agree with everything you said here, but to play devil's advocate for a second...how many teams did we beat that we probably shouldn't have? FSU, LVille - etc. The numbers seem to always even out to tell you what you are. You are what your record says you are...

 

[JS School]

I dont disagree but with Coulibaly coming in, if we get Sy, I dont see Brown at the 5. He's too soft. Doesnt have that inherit toughness. He does have an ok 15 footer and might can rebound ok for a 4. I'd play him, Toney, and Ellison at the 4.

Could Brown defend anyone playing the 4? He lacks quickness even more than toughness.

 

[thebadby2]

By "Upper Tier" do you mean the middle of the pack? They finished 7th out of 14 in one of the worst years the A10 has had in a long time. I'm not buying this, "Duquesne is back" crap that many want to continue to say. Pitt had arguably its worst two teams in its history (from a record standpoint) and beat Duquesne by double digits both games.

Back from where would be my question? 1955?

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I do agree with everything you said here, but to play devil's advocate for a second...how many teams did we beat that we probably shouldn't have? FSU, LVille - etc. The numbers seem to always even out to tell you what you are. You are what your record says you are...

Yes, we no doubt won the number of games we should have based on relative talent. We probably should or could have lost the Louisville and Florida State wins but, instead, beaten Wake and BC. It all evened out in the end.

I do think, however, the idea that we were/are close to being even better in terms of Ws vs Ls in the future is a valid point. We did improve our negative points per game ACC margin significantly---by ~10 ppg relative to the prior year. As a result, we weren't regularly blown out, keeping many games competitive until late in the second half. This all bodes well for the future; presuming of course, that we add enough additional talent pieces to improve still further.

 

[Chescat]

Could Brown defend anyone playing the 4? He lacks quickness even more than toughness.

This is so true. Aside from those two qualities that he lacks, is also a basic
non - understanding of the game. On top of that his decision making is poor
and worse yet, is his lack of basic instinct. He obviously would be better with
a legitimate BIG along side of him because of his shot blocking ability, and
the ability to make an occassional basline jumper which he has proven
he can do. This would in effect stretch out the opposition's inside defense
since he would have to be guarded. However, with these limited attributes,
I still see him as a substitute in this league.
Hopefully Capel recruits over him for this coming season.

 

[thebadby2]

Could Brown defend anyone playing the 4? He lacks quickness even more than toughness.

Hell no. Especially not in this era of the stretch 4 where most teams utilize a versatile 4 man that can play on the perimeter as well as around the basket.

 

[below0w]

I do agree with everything you said here, but to play devil's advocate for a second...how many teams did we beat that we probably shouldn't have? FSU, LVille - etc. The numbers seem to always even out to tell you what you are. You are what your record says you are...

I'm not sure FSU can really claim that they should have won any particular game while they continue to employ Leonard Hamilton. Talent wise, sure, they should have won. If we want to look at it that way, you've got two games that we should have lost, but I'd imagine there are more than two games that we should have won. Just off the top of my head - Niagara, WVU, Wake, BC and Georgia Tech. None of those teams have more talent. You are what your record says you are - absolutely, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the numbers even out. I think we were a little bit better than our record.

 

[Chescat]

I'm not sure FSU can really claim that they should have won any particular game while they continue to employ Leonard Hamilton. Talent wise, sure, they should have won. If we want to look at it that way, you've got two games that we should have lost, but I'd imagine there are more than two games that we should have won. Just off the top of my head - Niagara, WVU, Wake, BC and Georgia Tech. None of those teams have more talent. You are what your record says you are - absolutely, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the numbers even out. I think we were a little bit better than our record.

Although not overly talented, I felt that WVU, Wake, BC, and Georgia Tech had more
"talent" than Pitt. Where I do agree is......we should have beaten all of them.
As far as Niagara......they had a pg who destroyed our press which led to easy
layups and dunks. They also had a BIG who ate our two BIGS for lunch. Overall
though, I thought we had more "talent" as a team than Niagara, and we should have
beaten them.

 

[below0w]

Although not overly talented, I felt that WVU, Wake, BC, and Georgia Tech had more
"talent" than Pitt. Where I do agree is......we should have beaten all of them.
As far as Niagara......they had a pg who destroyed our press which led to easy
layups and dunks. They also had a BIG who ate our two BIGS for lunch. Overall
though, I thought we had more "talent" as a team than Niagara, and we should have
beaten them.

I'll concede WVU because Konate was still healthy when we played them. I strongly disagree about BC and GT. Wake might be a push. The Niagara game was a complete joke, though. Dominic Robb needed four years to break double digit PPG in the MAAC. Towns shoots 38% and has a garbage A:TO ratio. The Tate kid who lit us up from 3 is a 28% shooter. They're all garbage. Just one of those weird games where everything goes wrong.

 

[Chescat]

I'll concede WVU because Konate was still healthy when we played them. I strongly disagree about the other 3 having more talent. The Niagara game was a complete joke. Dominic Robb needed four years to break double digit PPG in the MAAC. Towns shoots 38% and has a garbage A:TO ratio. The Tate kid who lit us up from 3 is a 28% shooter. They're all garbage. Just one of those weird games where everything goes wrong.

Ok, we can agree to disagree on BC, Wake, and Georgia Tech. I did agree that I felt we had "more talent" than Niagara.