Diminishing shot totals for Justin Champagnie area of concern for Pitt

When Justin Champagnie attempted only eight shots against Virginia Tech, no one noticed.

Or, if anyone did, the meager total was obscured by Pitt’s 83-72 victory.

But the issue was raised Sunday night and Monday morning after Pitt’s 71-65 loss to Georgia Tech.

Champagnie, whose lead over Duke’s Mathew Hurt in the ACC scoring race has dropped to six-tenths of a point (18.7-18.1 per game), attempted a season-low six shots at Georgia Tech (five were good). He also attempted 12 at Wake Forest on Jan. 23 (not an outrageously low amount, except that Pitt lost, 76-75, and the total was slightly under his average).

Those are troubling numbers in close games when you’re talking about a leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year, a team with little margin for error and limited presence in the post.

Champagnie is averaging 13.9 shots, 12.8 in his nine ACC games, but he is one of only nine players in the conference with at least 101 field goals (102).

Coach Jeff Capel quickly dismissed Champagnie’s pinky finger injury that kept him out of practice early last week. As Capel noted, Champagnie was 5 of 6 in the game. In fact, he’s fifth in the ACC in shooting percentage (52.6%).

That brings us to Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, who assigned 6-foot-7 Khalid Moore to guard Champagnie. Moore is built similarly, but an inch taller. He played 38 minutes in only his third start of the season and seldom left Champagnie’s side.

“Justin has to get used to how teams are defending him,” Capel said. “He’s got to move more. He’s got to cut more. He’s got to cut harder. He’s got to work harder to get open. Teams are being very physical, and they’re not leaving him.”

Plus, Pitt needs to execute its offense better. Another problem at Georgia Tech was Xavier Johnson’s foul trouble that limited him to barely more than half the game (20 minutes, 32 seconds). Johnson leads the ACC in assists (6.1 per game).

Yet, there is no pattern that says Pitt loses when Champagnie doesn’t shoot enough, or wins when he shoots the proper amount. He was 8 for 20 when Pitt lost to Notre Dame, 84-58; 8 for 18 in the 73-66 loss at Virginia; 4 for 9 in the victory at Miami; 3 for 8 against Virginia Tech.

Capel said, however, Champagnie’s “whole world changed in a month” when he combined to hit 21 of 33 shots in back-to-back victories against Syracuse and Duke.

“When he came back from the (knee) injury and he had those two games (Syracuse and Duke),” Capel said, “it changed everything for him. Because of the attention. Because of the people pulling at him.

“That’s different when you’ve never dealt with it. It’s not like he’s had to deal with this since high school of being the guy, of being the one that’s the hunted.”

“Everyone wants (the attention), but it can be very exhausting of all the different things you have to deal with. That’s something he’s learning.”

Capel said he discussed the situation with Champagnie on Sunday night after the game and will continue to do so.

“We can do a better job and will do a better job of helping him,” Capel said, “but there are some adjustments that he has to make.”

Capel said Champagnie has handled the mental aspect of the attention “very, very well.”

But the physicality teams are using against him can be “tiring,” Capel said. “That game (Sunday), especially with him, was very, very physical.

“He’s a really good kid, even-keeled. But even if you’re the best of kids, it can get to you. You don’t really learn how to deal with success until you have success. And how do you handle success? He’s doing the best he can.”

It should be noted Champagnie’s shot total is only part of what affects Pitt. And, even then, only in some games.

Other issues are poor free-throw shooting and the inability to handle bigs around the basket.

Pitt is 14th in free-throw shooting in the 15-team ACC (66.9%). Champagnie, though, is 15 of 16 in the past five games.

“Anytime you don’t shoot free throws well, you’re giving up free points,” Capel said. “It can be momentum, especially if it’s a tight game and you miss the front end of a one-and-one. It’s like going 0 for 2.”

Plus, during their current 1-4 slide, Pitt is allowing an average of 19.7 points per game to six opponents 6-foot-9 or taller.

Senior Terrell Brown, 6-foot-10, has played only three minutes in three of the past four games. Freshman John Hugley, 6-9, 240 pounds, remains under suspension.

Capel is expecting N.C. State, who visits Petersen Events Center on Wednesday, to test Pitt inside with 6-11 Manny Bates and 6-10 D.J. Funderburk.

“They’re going to pound the ball inside, I would imagine,” Capel said. “That’s an area where we’ve struggled, defending big guys over the past five games or so.”

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