Rebounding, defense among chief concerns for Pitt's Jeff Capel

On the list of matters that concern Jeff Capel, perhaps, the loneliness of Petersen Events Center might be the least worrisome (even though on game days it seems more like a big, empty barn than an ACC basketball arena).

Still, he did comment Monday about what has happened to home-court advantage this season in college basketball:

“I don’t think there is one,” he said. “Most teams in our league, at least from what I’ve seen as I watch film, don’t really have a home court. And if you do, it’s a few thousand (people). We haven’t played anywhere where there’s 1,000.”

Pitt’s next two games are at home: Wednesday against No. 16 Virginia Tech and Saturday when No. 20 Florida State comes to town. It’s nice to have a stretch of three consecutive home games, but the first — an 84-58 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday — extended Pitt’s losing streak to three.

Of greater concern, at least for fans, is the simple act of turning the calendar past January. Pitt is a combined 2-14 in February under Capel.

“I try not to think about the first or second year,” he said. “My focus is on right now.”

Right now isn’t so good.

• Pitt stopped defending with the intensity it needs to win in the ACC.

• Rebounding has fallen off significantly.

• The Panthers have been unable to sustain success. They were 4-1 in the ACC and 8-2 overall before the losing streak.

Defensively during the losing streak, Pitt has allowed 76 points to Wake Forest, 75 to North Carolina and 84 to Notre Dame. Those opponents’ shooting percentages gradually have risen from 46.4 to 52.5 to 56.1.

On the boards, Pitt is averaging 34.3 rebounds in the past three games, compared to 43.1 before the streak started.

The indefinite suspension of 6-foot-9 freshman John Hugley after the seventh game isn’t the main reason for the rebounding problems, but Pitt’s depth in the paint is thin. Hugley has missed nearly half the season, but his rebounding average (4.3) is behind only Justin Champagnie (12.1) and Au’Diese Toney (6.0).

Yet, Pitt has shown enough talent and fight to beat Miami, Duke and Syracuse twice, but losses to three teams with losing records — St. Francis (Pa.), Wake Forest and Notre Dame — tell a different story.

“One week, you can look really good,” Capel said, “and the next week, you can look like you have no idea what you’re doing, like you’re not prepared, like you didn’t practice.”

Knowing consistency might be difficult to maintain under covid restrictions, Capel sought guidance before the season from football coach Pat Narduzzi, who went through it first.

“He said, ‘You’ll see it once you actually get started and you start playing games.’ And he was 100% right on,” Capel said.

“Just the week-to-week for them, the things these young guys are going through, the things they are dealing with, the experiences they have.”

Capel is not using covid-19 as an excuse — he was highly critical of his own team after the Notre Dame game — but he hopes critics outside the program consider the circumstances.

“They are at times judged like it’s normal. And I don’t think that’s fair to them,” he said.

“I don’t know what’s being said about my team or my players, because I don’t read it. I know I read some things about other teams that are struggling and some things that maybe are negative.

“At times, we’re trying to normalize this. Nothing they are going through is normal. I would hope these young people, especially, would be given some grace for what they’re trying to accomplish.”

NOTE: Champagnie was named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced.

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