Talk matters for Jeff Capel, Pitt, but sometimes silence is good, too

Jeff Capel spends as much time talking with his players off the court as he does chasing them at practice with a whistle around his neck.

Pitt’s fourth-year coach lived in similar sneakers when he was a four-year starter at Duke, and he knows what it’s like to confront the expectations of a scholarship athlete.

So, when John Hugley needed reassurance that basketball is about more than scoring, the two men had a talk.

Hugley is Pitt’s leading scorer (15.6 points per game), but he failed to reach double-digits at Syracuse (eight) in a 77-61 defeat Jan. 11. It’s the only time that has happened in the calendar year 2022. Three days earlier, Hugley scored 32 against Boston College.

“I told him you can have significant impact on the game without scoring,” Capel said. “It can be difficult, and what you can do is score late. He didn’t do that (at Syracuse). But he really did it (in the rematch won by Pitt on Tuesday, 64-53).” Capel said Hugley “set the tone” with his rebounding, passes from the high post, solid defense and patience.

Hugley was still under his average (11 points), but he scored four — with a block — in the last four minutes while Pitt was pulling away for the victory.

“Oddly, one of John’s best games,” Capel said.

“It’s an adjustment. So many of these young people — I was probably like them when I was their age — you base everything on scoring.

“Normally, when you talk to people, your family, friends, ‘Hey, how did you play? How many points did you score?’ That’s normally the first question.”

Hugley likely got several such inquiries while growing up in Cleveland where he scored 1,660 career points at Brush High School. That’s nice, but those points don’t count in the ACC.

“People who know basketball and understand it,” Capel said, “understand there are so many different ways you can affect the game. For him, it’s an opportunity to learn and to grow.”

The result against Syracuse was Hugley grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds, with two assists and a block. Pitt was plus-seven on the scoreboard during Hugley’s 35 minutes, 20 seconds on the court.

Perhaps Capel’s talk worked with Hugley, but what he didn’t say early this season might have helped the cause in another area.

After four games this season, Pitt was struggling from the free-throw line, shooting 55.3% (57 of 103). Since then, Pitt has become one of the nation’s most prolific foul-shooting teams. The Panthers hit 17 of 20 against Syracuse to improve their percentage in ACC games to 75.1% (145 of 193).

“To be honest with you, it’s not really something we work on that much in practice,” Capel said. “We were working on it earlier. We were not making them.

“I decided, ‘Let’s not even talk about it. Maybe it’s in their head.’

“Guys get in and work on it on their own. Work out with a coach and maybe at the end (of practice) shoot some free throws. I tried not to even talk about that much.”

Free-throw shooting is vitally important because the Panthers get so many opportunities to record uncontested points. They lead the ACC in attempts (454) and made shots (315). Nationwide, only Iona has more attempts while Pitt is tied for eighth in makes.

Hugley’s 157 attempts are No. 1 in the NCAA while his 116 makes are second. It’s easy to see why. He usually attracts a crowd when he catches the ball near the basket, and when he gets physical, opponents often can’t avoid fouling him.

Pitt (8-12, 3-6) is outscoring opponents by 88 points at the foul line. The 315 successful shots — 25.5% of the overall total — are only 16 fewer than opponents have attempted.

Pitt is shooting only 69.4% for the season, far down the rankings (220th of 350 schools). But Hugley, Jamarius Burton (54 of 60) and Mouhamadou Gueye (31 of 37) are successful nearly 80% of the time (79.1%, 201 of 254).

“Hopefully, that’s something we can do,” Capel said, “because we do do a good job of generating fouls and getting to the foul line.”