We got our first look at the 2021-22 Pitt men’s basketball team today, as the media was invited in for the final hour or so of Thursday’s practice. Here are some things that stood out.
- Our viewing window opened with some four-on-four work that seemed to be focused on communication on defense. After that, Jeff Capel had the team line up on the baseline and called Nike Sibande out for a free throw attempt. There was a lot riding on the shot: when Sibande missed, the team had to run down and back in 10 seconds or less.
Then Sibande missed his second free throw, and the team ran again. He finally hit one on his third try, which everyone celebrated since it meant no running, and Ithiel Horton confidently drained his attempt, after which Capel gave the team a break.
- Following the break, Capel split the team into what you could loosely term guards and forwards. The splits looked like this:
Guards - Femi Odukale, Nike Sibande, Jamarius Burton, Ithiel Horton, Will Jeffress, Nate Santos, Onyebuchi Ezeakudo
Forwards - John Hugley, Chris Payton, Noah Collier, Mo Gueye, Dan Oladapo, Max Amadasun
Walk-on guard Aidan Fisch was working on feeding the forwards during the drill, which saw a lot of post-up work and finishing around the basket. Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, the guards were working on penetrating, kicking and knocking down three-point shots.
The forwards also worked on catch-and-shoot midrange jumpers, but I didn’t see too many of those fall.
- Capel had the team run through five-out drills using these lineups:
White Team - Odukale, Sibande, Santos, Collier, Gueye
Blue Team - Burton, Horton, Jeffress, Payton, Hugley
I don’t know if those are necessarily set rotations, but it does look like Burton is in line to be the primary backup to Odukale at point guard, with Ezeakudo behind them both. Odukale and Burton also can both play off the ball, which means they could play together at times this season.
- Today was a chance to get my first impression of Burton, who transferred from Texas Tech this offseason. We heard that he was going to bring toughness and physicality, and while there wasn’t a lot of that to see in the first practice of the season, you get the sense that he can be that kind of player - a point guard who isn’t afraid to initiate contact and can absorb it, too.
- That was also our first chance to see Payton, Oladapo, Santos and Gueye. Payton, Oladapo and Santos are all listed at 6’7” and Gueye is listed at 6’9”; it’s a testament to the size and length of this roster that the three 6’7” guys don’t look that big. I think they are that big, but when there are so many guys in that range, they all kind of look to be around the same height. If nothing else, this roster is bigger overall than previous years.
- Gueye will be an interesting guy to watch. He’s the tallest player on the roster, but he’s pretty thin. He may get out-muscled around the rim, but I think he’ll block shots. And I saw him knock down a couple three-pointers when he was left open on the wing. So that could be a part of his game, too, and he seemed to play more forward than straight center (although that may have been due to Capel working more five-out sets).
And then there’s the length. On one play, Odukale tried to drive to the basket before pulling up for a cross-court pass to the corner. Gueye was in the way, though, and Odukale couldn’t throw the ball high enough to get over the Stony Brook transfer whose 6’9” listed height doesn’t fully give credit to the length of his arms.
- On one inbounds pass, Gueye poked the ball away from Collier, scooped it up and ran down the court for a dunk.
- During five-on-five work, Gueye was guarding Oladapo in the corner. Oladapo, who attempted four three-point shots in two years at Oakland, used a pump fake to get Gueye in the air and then drove the baseline for one of the afternoon’s more powerful dunks.
Later in practice, Payton got one back against Oladapo when he used a pump fake to get the Oakland transfer off his feet and then drove for a big and-one dunk.
- Payton had two nice plays back-to-back at another point in practice. First, Burton got out in transition, drove under the basket and then dished to Payton, who finished the layup. Then Horton passed inside to Hugley who made a quick pass to Payton in the corner. The JUCO transfer drove and finished a nice up-and-under field goal.
- On the very next play, the Blue Team ran a set that got a deep shot for Jeffress, who drained the three-pointer.
- I’m highlighting some made baskets, but I was impressed with the defensive intensity. It’s clearly a focus - it’s always a focus - but it stood out during Thursday’s practice. There’s always going to be some sloppiness in the first practice so there were naturally some turnovers, but I thought both the Blue Team and the White Team brought some good energy on the defensive end.
- Back to the offensive highlights, though, Sibande had a nice fadeaway three for the White Team and followed it with a steal for a breakaway that was whistled dead.
- Collier was pretty active on both ends of the court, including a nice and-one finish near the basket. On a later play, though, he caught a pass near the basket with Hugley guarding him, but Payton joined the fray and eventually knocked the ball away.
- Another Payton highlight: he caught a pass from Jeffress close to the basket but Oladapo gambled on defense and tried to get a steal. Oladapo missed on the steal attempt and it left Payton a clear path to the basket for a big dunk.
- I didn’t see too many three’s from Santos, but he did have a nice runner in the paint.
- Overall, the things that stood out to me in Thursday’s practice were the size and length of the athletes on this roster and the defensive intensity they had during the afternoon.
- Oh, and in the final drill of the session, Capel had them shooting free throws and running again. There were some more misses and some more running, but Gueye, Hugley, Oladapo, Payton and Santos all connected in succession to save their teammates’ legs.
Odukale got the next call and missed, but Capel gave him another shot and he made it. Odukale took one more after that, but it bounced off the rim and the players ran one more time. Horton and Jeffress then made two free throws, which brought Odukale back to the line. The sophomore point guard hit the shot and practice came to an end.
- Our viewing window opened with some four-on-four work that seemed to be focused on communication on defense. After that, Jeff Capel had the team line up on the baseline and called Nike Sibande out for a free throw attempt. There was a lot riding on the shot: when Sibande missed, the team had to run down and back in 10 seconds or less.
Then Sibande missed his second free throw, and the team ran again. He finally hit one on his third try, which everyone celebrated since it meant no running, and Ithiel Horton confidently drained his attempt, after which Capel gave the team a break.
- Following the break, Capel split the team into what you could loosely term guards and forwards. The splits looked like this:
Guards - Femi Odukale, Nike Sibande, Jamarius Burton, Ithiel Horton, Will Jeffress, Nate Santos, Onyebuchi Ezeakudo
Forwards - John Hugley, Chris Payton, Noah Collier, Mo Gueye, Dan Oladapo, Max Amadasun
Walk-on guard Aidan Fisch was working on feeding the forwards during the drill, which saw a lot of post-up work and finishing around the basket. Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, the guards were working on penetrating, kicking and knocking down three-point shots.
The forwards also worked on catch-and-shoot midrange jumpers, but I didn’t see too many of those fall.
- Capel had the team run through five-out drills using these lineups:
White Team - Odukale, Sibande, Santos, Collier, Gueye
Blue Team - Burton, Horton, Jeffress, Payton, Hugley
I don’t know if those are necessarily set rotations, but it does look like Burton is in line to be the primary backup to Odukale at point guard, with Ezeakudo behind them both. Odukale and Burton also can both play off the ball, which means they could play together at times this season.
- Today was a chance to get my first impression of Burton, who transferred from Texas Tech this offseason. We heard that he was going to bring toughness and physicality, and while there wasn’t a lot of that to see in the first practice of the season, you get the sense that he can be that kind of player - a point guard who isn’t afraid to initiate contact and can absorb it, too.
- That was also our first chance to see Payton, Oladapo, Santos and Gueye. Payton, Oladapo and Santos are all listed at 6’7” and Gueye is listed at 6’9”; it’s a testament to the size and length of this roster that the three 6’7” guys don’t look that big. I think they are that big, but when there are so many guys in that range, they all kind of look to be around the same height. If nothing else, this roster is bigger overall than previous years.
- Gueye will be an interesting guy to watch. He’s the tallest player on the roster, but he’s pretty thin. He may get out-muscled around the rim, but I think he’ll block shots. And I saw him knock down a couple three-pointers when he was left open on the wing. So that could be a part of his game, too, and he seemed to play more forward than straight center (although that may have been due to Capel working more five-out sets).
And then there’s the length. On one play, Odukale tried to drive to the basket before pulling up for a cross-court pass to the corner. Gueye was in the way, though, and Odukale couldn’t throw the ball high enough to get over the Stony Brook transfer whose 6’9” listed height doesn’t fully give credit to the length of his arms.
- On one inbounds pass, Gueye poked the ball away from Collier, scooped it up and ran down the court for a dunk.
- During five-on-five work, Gueye was guarding Oladapo in the corner. Oladapo, who attempted four three-point shots in two years at Oakland, used a pump fake to get Gueye in the air and then drove the baseline for one of the afternoon’s more powerful dunks.
Later in practice, Payton got one back against Oladapo when he used a pump fake to get the Oakland transfer off his feet and then drove for a big and-one dunk.
- Payton had two nice plays back-to-back at another point in practice. First, Burton got out in transition, drove under the basket and then dished to Payton, who finished the layup. Then Horton passed inside to Hugley who made a quick pass to Payton in the corner. The JUCO transfer drove and finished a nice up-and-under field goal.
- On the very next play, the Blue Team ran a set that got a deep shot for Jeffress, who drained the three-pointer.
- I’m highlighting some made baskets, but I was impressed with the defensive intensity. It’s clearly a focus - it’s always a focus - but it stood out during Thursday’s practice. There’s always going to be some sloppiness in the first practice so there were naturally some turnovers, but I thought both the Blue Team and the White Team brought some good energy on the defensive end.
- Back to the offensive highlights, though, Sibande had a nice fadeaway three for the White Team and followed it with a steal for a breakaway that was whistled dead.
- Collier was pretty active on both ends of the court, including a nice and-one finish near the basket. On a later play, though, he caught a pass near the basket with Hugley guarding him, but Payton joined the fray and eventually knocked the ball away.
- Another Payton highlight: he caught a pass from Jeffress close to the basket but Oladapo gambled on defense and tried to get a steal. Oladapo missed on the steal attempt and it left Payton a clear path to the basket for a big dunk.
- I didn’t see too many three’s from Santos, but he did have a nice runner in the paint.
- Overall, the things that stood out to me in Thursday’s practice were the size and length of the athletes on this roster and the defensive intensity they had during the afternoon.
- Oh, and in the final drill of the session, Capel had them shooting free throws and running again. There were some more misses and some more running, but Gueye, Hugley, Oladapo, Payton and Santos all connected in succession to save their teammates’ legs.
Odukale got the next call and missed, but Capel gave him another shot and he made it. Odukale took one more after that, but it bounced off the rim and the players ran one more time. Horton and Jeffress then made two free throws, which brought Odukale back to the line. The sophomore point guard hit the shot and practice came to an end.
