While games grow in intensity, Pitt's Jeff Capel seeks more of the same on defense

Pitt’s victory against Georgia Tech on Tuesday padded the Panthers’ NCAA Tournament resume and relieved some pressure and perhaps some doubt among the fan base after the loss at Virginia Tech.

More importantly, it fortified one important thought in coach Jeff Capel’s mind:

It’s time to get tough in practice. (Or, at least, tougher, keeping in mind the physical toll of the past 28 games.)

Capel was in a good mood Tuesday night after the victory, Pitt’s seventh in the past eight games. So he was kidding when he said, “They’re acting like they’re 10-year vets. We have to change that.”

But he also said it’s time to pick up the intensity in practice and get better on defense.

“We have to practice. We haven’t been able to really practice,” he said, mentioning injury and sickness that left some players unavailable and forced coaches and a student manager occasionally to fill the void.

“Maybe that’s on me. Maybe I’ve been a little bit soft with the guys, but we have to practice. It’s not long, but we have to get out there and get after it a little bit defensively. More drills defensively.

“We’ve had some slippage because we haven’t been able to get out there and do some things.”

Some concerns surfaced Tuesday that Capel will address before Pitt (20-8, 13-4 ACC) meets Syracuse (16-11, 9-7) at 5 p.m. Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd at Petersen Events Center.

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• In the past two games, Pitt has allowed 79 and 68 points after opponents averaged 64.4 in the previous five.

“I don’t think we defended well (Tuesday),” Capel said. “That’s two games in a row, and that’s out of character for who we have been.”

• Georgia Tech played the entire first half without committing a turnover and ended up with only four in 40 minutes.

“We had some breakdowns. We didn’t have any pressure,” Capel said. “They didn’t feel us at all. That’s something we talked about at halftime and wanted to make some adjustments.”

• Foul trouble has been a problem recently. Blake Hinson has fouled out of three of Pitt’s ACC defeats, and he ended up with four fouls in five others. Federiko Federiko fouled out Tuesday, his second disqualification of the season, and he had at least four fouls in five of the past six games. “That all goes back to working on our defense,” Capel said.

• Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech shot a collective 51% from the field (51 of 100). Before that, Pitt was holding opponents to a 40.5% accuracy rate. Even in the second half Tuesday when Pitt eventually pulled away from Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets shot 54.5% (12 of 22). For the game, Georgia Tech made more baskets than Pitt (26-24), but the Panthers made up the difference at the foul line (19-7).

Capel made a defensive adjustment to ratchet up the intensity with a three-quarter-court press that slowed down the Yellow Jackets, who were dealing with injuries in their backcourt.

“I thought picking up full-court helped us, just to get some energy,” he said.

Capel pointed to a turnover Tuesday that illustrated his concerns.

“Everyone dropped their head and thought the play was over, and they pushed it down and got a layup against us. We have to eliminate those plays,” he said.

Players insist they are playing games one at a time, but success in the postseason tournaments will depend heavily on playing good defense. The Syracuse game will be a good place to start.

Pitt defeated the Orange, 84-82, in December, but Syracuse scored 38 points in the final 13 minutes to erase most of an 18-point lead. That equates to a pace of about 114 points in a full game. Players will expect Capel to reference those 13 minutes in the next few days.

“We have to get back to becoming a good defensive team again,” he said.