A week to 10 days I responded to a question someone posed about Capel’s offensive identity. At the time I said my opinion was that Capel wants to run an offense without any plays and allow his players to free lance and create offense. What I’ve seen be successful is the coach establishes rules for proper spacing, ensure that certain spots on the floor are always occupied, also ensure that players stay out of certain places to minimize double team opportunities by the defense, and the list goes on.
For the most part in the first half he stayed committed to that approach but it obviously wasn’t working to the tune of 2 pts in the first 7 1/2 minutes.....a pace that would yield 11 points for the game.
Capel stuck with it for a long time because he knows he needs to install this offense at some point. Much like Narduzzi’s commitment to his defense in the early years when it looked like a really bad idea. Now we see why Duzz was so stubborn. His older players get it and they can mentor the young guys on how it works.
But as all good coaches do Capel decided enough was enough. Eleven points wasn’t going to be enough to win this game and he started to call set plays. I give him credit for having an array of set plays available and you could see how much more comfortable his players were running them. They moved the ball, shared the ball, got defenders in binds, got themselves in motion and just executed very well. I don’t have contacts anymore to tell me what goes on at practice but they definitely have been running plays.
I think long term, when his players figure out what I call the total freedom offense, they will play together and in sync 95% of the time. But until they turn that corner Capel will have to run set plays like he did tonight.
In conjunction with the point above, Pitt is not pushing the ball very well to get easy transition buckets so that forces them to slug it out in a half court offense. I’m not sure they can win many ACC games relying on half court offense. They need to figure out how to get buckets before the defense is setup. Easier said than done, of course.
Now don’t be surprised if you see more first halves like tonight. He needs his guys to work on their “freedom offense” against lesser teams and before ACC play begins. Capel needs to see if his offense can be viable as the season progresses and just like Duzz he needs to get the finer details ironed out before it will allow games to be played in the 70s and 80s.
A few more thoughts about tonight.
- I’m glad Champagnie got the double-double. When he was inserted with about 4:10 to play I figured he had enough time for 1 bucket and 2 rebounds. I bet that was Capel’s plan too to build his confidence. Champagnie is the type of player (length, athleticism, drive, ..etc) that Capel wants to recruit to have true interchangeable parts.
- Murphy played 35 minutes and didn’t have a bucket and Pitt still won.
- Terrell Brown was the only negative player at -3. Only corralled 2 rebounds, an average of 1 rebound every 11 min 10 secs. Not where the starting big man needs to be. Goal should be a bound every 4 minutes.
- Toney had more Off rebounds than Def rebounds 4-3.
- shooting improved first half to second half from 19.2% to 63.6% when set plays were used more regularly
- 3pt Shooting had a similar trend from first half to second half 9% to 68%
- as stated above Pitt stood around on Offense in the first half and that may helped their free throw percentage netting a perfect 10 for 10 while the second half FT% dropped to 68.8% (11-16) when they ran around more
Getting a scare and still winning the game is a plus. Lots of coaching points and hopefully more eager listeners, especially the Sophs who might have thought they were going to stomp on everyone they faced. Playing as a team and not individuals is so important.
For the most part in the first half he stayed committed to that approach but it obviously wasn’t working to the tune of 2 pts in the first 7 1/2 minutes.....a pace that would yield 11 points for the game.
Capel stuck with it for a long time because he knows he needs to install this offense at some point. Much like Narduzzi’s commitment to his defense in the early years when it looked like a really bad idea. Now we see why Duzz was so stubborn. His older players get it and they can mentor the young guys on how it works.
But as all good coaches do Capel decided enough was enough. Eleven points wasn’t going to be enough to win this game and he started to call set plays. I give him credit for having an array of set plays available and you could see how much more comfortable his players were running them. They moved the ball, shared the ball, got defenders in binds, got themselves in motion and just executed very well. I don’t have contacts anymore to tell me what goes on at practice but they definitely have been running plays.
I think long term, when his players figure out what I call the total freedom offense, they will play together and in sync 95% of the time. But until they turn that corner Capel will have to run set plays like he did tonight.
In conjunction with the point above, Pitt is not pushing the ball very well to get easy transition buckets so that forces them to slug it out in a half court offense. I’m not sure they can win many ACC games relying on half court offense. They need to figure out how to get buckets before the defense is setup. Easier said than done, of course.
Now don’t be surprised if you see more first halves like tonight. He needs his guys to work on their “freedom offense” against lesser teams and before ACC play begins. Capel needs to see if his offense can be viable as the season progresses and just like Duzz he needs to get the finer details ironed out before it will allow games to be played in the 70s and 80s.
A few more thoughts about tonight.
- I’m glad Champagnie got the double-double. When he was inserted with about 4:10 to play I figured he had enough time for 1 bucket and 2 rebounds. I bet that was Capel’s plan too to build his confidence. Champagnie is the type of player (length, athleticism, drive, ..etc) that Capel wants to recruit to have true interchangeable parts.
- Murphy played 35 minutes and didn’t have a bucket and Pitt still won.
- Terrell Brown was the only negative player at -3. Only corralled 2 rebounds, an average of 1 rebound every 11 min 10 secs. Not where the starting big man needs to be. Goal should be a bound every 4 minutes.
- Toney had more Off rebounds than Def rebounds 4-3.
- shooting improved first half to second half from 19.2% to 63.6% when set plays were used more regularly
- 3pt Shooting had a similar trend from first half to second half 9% to 68%
- as stated above Pitt stood around on Offense in the first half and that may helped their free throw percentage netting a perfect 10 for 10 while the second half FT% dropped to 68.8% (11-16) when they ran around more
Getting a scare and still winning the game is a plus. Lots of coaching points and hopefully more eager listeners, especially the Sophs who might have thought they were going to stomp on everyone they faced. Playing as a team and not individuals is so important.
