Jeff Capel Provides Clarity on Pitt’s Bench Minutes

On Monday, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel answered questions from the media on the weekly ACC Coaches Conference Call.

One of the topics that came up numerous times was Pitt’s lack of bench minutes, and production, in recent games. Check out what Capel had to say below.

Question: “What do you guys have to do as coaches to get more out of your bench players so that they can be playable guys in key moments, in key games like that?”

Capel: “In key games and key moments, you’re going to play your best players, unless they’re in some sort of foul trouble,” Capel said. “So, the best guys and the guys that have probably played a lot of minutes throughout a season are usually going to play unless you have a group in that’s hot or playing well. What we have to do is continue to coach these guys and help them get better. Then, what they have to do is be better in practice. They have to perform better in practice.”

Capel continued.

“Playing time is not something that’s just given, it’s something that is earned. You have to show up every day. There are a lot of things that go into it. How you practice, you’re putting in a game plan, how you absorb the game plan, are you executing it in practice? If you’re not executing it in practice, you’re probably not going to do it in a game. Offensively, what you’re trying to do. Schematically, what you’re trying to do. You have a shootaround, how is that guy in shootaround, or how are the guys in shootaround? Are they locked in? Are they dialed in? Are they not? If they’re not, then why aren’t they? So it’s a lot that goes in to a guy earning playing time. So, we have to continue to coach them, continue to help them, and if opportunity arises then they will play.”

Later on in the conference call, Capel was once again asked about playing time.

Question: “Were you surprised, or are you surprised, that it is this late in the season that you still have to worry about things like guys giving max effort in shootarounds and things like that?”

“I’m not worried about it,” Capel said. “Guys are giving good effort, and guys have played. The Notre Dame game was the first game that we didn’t go to some guys, and it wasn’t because of anything that they didn’t do, it was just how the game went. In the previous games, all of the scholarship guys have played for the most part. They may not have played a lot, but they’re playing. I think every coach that’s going to get on here, they play their best guys the majority of the minutes. It’s a 40-minute game, so it’s not a lot of minutes to go around. You want to have your best guys in there for a majority of the game. I don’t think Markus Burton came out of the game much when we played Notre Dame. I’m looking at the conference stats, Nathan George is averaging 38 minutes a game, I think he leads the league. So, you’re going to play your best guys. That’s what we try to do. That may mean some guys may not play minutes. So, I don’t want my comments to be misconstrued that my guys aren’t doing things. These guys have really good attitudes, they show up. they work. It just happened against Notre Dame that Papa and Jorge didn’t play. Beebah had three fouls, Amsal didn’t play a lot. It’s as simple as that. It’s nothing more.”

Three players average at least 30 minutes per game for the Panthers: Ishmael Leggett (35.4 MPG). Jaland Lowe (35.1 MPG), and Zack Austin (31.6 MPG). Leggett and Lowe are ranked second and third in the ACC in MPG. Pitt is the only team in the ACC with two players in the top ten of minutes per game.

Pitt gets 16.59 points per game from its bench on average. That ranks 283rd in D1 basketball, and 14th in the ACC.

Three more players average 20+ minutes per game for the Panthers: Cam Corhen (29 MPG), Damian Dunn (24.9 MPG), and Guillermo Diaz Graham (22.6 MPG). After those six comes Beebah Cummings (15.1 MPG), Amsal Delalic (13.2 MPG), Papa Amadou Kante (7.2 MPG), and Jorge Diaz Graham (7 MPG). Amdy Ndiaye and Marlon Barnes Jr. play less than three minutes per game, each.