Facing tough finishing stretch, Pitt's Jeff Capel remains encouraged

Two weeks before the start of the ACC Tournament – and with Pitt’s signs of life slowed down considerably by Georgia Tech on Saturday night — Jeff Capel wants to be clear about the current state of his team.

“One loss we had the other day is not indicative of where we are right now,” he said. “Just like one win is not. We’ve gotten better as the season has gone on.”

Concrete evidence might be difficult to find over the next three games. Pitt will host Miami on Tuesday at Petersen Events Center and No. 7 Duke on March 1 before visiting Notre Dame to end the regular season March 5.

Collective record of those three opponents: 61-20.

But it also should be noted Pitt won at North Carolina only last week. And the Tar Heels are 19-8, just like Miami and Notre Dame.

Capel has been a college coach for all 22 basketball seasons this century — with his dad at Old Dominion, as an assistant at VCU and Duke and head coach at VCU, Oklahoma and Pitt. He knows the score.

Pitt’s program has a long way to go before it regains relevancy, but what most interests Capel is the progress Pitt has made in his eyes.

“We have faced, as most teams do, different types of adversity throughout the season,” he said. “We got our butts handed to us earlier this year. We’ve been able to respond at times. The thing I’ve said over and over, we’ve continued to show up and continued to try to get better. Because of that, I think we have gotten better.”

“As a coach, as the person who’s in it, I understand what we’re going through better than most. I understand the progress we’ve made. Would I like for it to be more consistent? Sure.”

When he was asked on the ACC coaches conference call Monday about what he has done to motivate his team behind closed doors, he questioned the use of that word to define his role.

“I don’t know if it’s more motivation or if it’s just teaching,” he said. “I’m not big on rah-rah speeches. I wasn’t as a player. You just teach. You tell them the truth. Is that motivating? Is that inspiring? I don’t know.

“Kids today are different. What inspires them? What motivates them? Sometimes, I feel like (for) a pregame speech, I should send them all a text. If you’re talking to them in a timeout, maybe they should all have phones and you can send out a mass text to the five guys that are in. Maybe they’ll get it.”

While acknowledging how players and their attention spans have changed, he is proud to say, “I think our guys have been ready to play, for the most part. Every team has moments, a game or two – you hope it’s not many – where you just don’t have it.

“We’ve had moments when we were like that. We’ve been able to get out of it at times. Is it me or my words? I don’t know if it’s that or it’s something inside of them.

“My job is to tell them the truth all the time. I’ve never had a problem doing that, and I will continue to do it as long as I’m in this chair.”

Barring a seven-game winning streak that would carry Pitt all the way to the championship game of the ACC Tournament, the Panthers (11-17, 6-11) will end up with a losing record for the sixth consecutive season – the longest streak at Pitt in 70 years.

But there’s time and opportunity to make a difference and affect other teams’ seedings in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. More importantly, to build confidence that will carry into spring and summer workouts and into the 2022-2023 season.

The start to that process won’t be easy. Miami (19-8, 11-5 ACC) has thrived with a four-guard lineup of Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller, Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore. McGusty leads the team in scoring (17.7 points per game) and is one of four sixth-year seniors, along with Moore, 6-foot-10 forward Sam Waardenburgh and 7-foot center Rodney Miller Jr.

Coach Jim Larranaga made good use of the NCAA transfer portal, luring McGusty from Oklahoma, Jordan Miller from George Mason and Charlie Moore to his fourth school after leaving California, Kansas and DePaul.

Moore’s journey was triggered by coaching changes at Cal and DePaul; a desire for more playing time sent him from Kansas to DePaul.

“The only reason we got him is DePaul made a change,” Larranaga said. “We recruited Charlie out of high school. Not only has he played well. He’s really been the difference in terms of how we play. The way he shares the ball.”

Miami balances its scoring among McGusty, Wong (15.6) and Moore (12.4), but what especially sets the Hurricanes apart is the care they take with the basketball. Miami leads the ACC in fewest turnovers overall and per game (257 and 9.5).

“When you watch them, they’re never really rattled,” Capel said. “You look at them in huddles. You look how they interact with each other.

“They’re just incredibly confident. They have a belief in what they do and who they are individually and who they are collectively.”