Pitt HC Jeff Capel Addresses Loss to SMU

Opening Statement

“Congrats to SMU, they’re an outstanding team. They put together a great roster with experience, elite level guard play, a really good big guy inside and young energetic guys off the bench.

"They’re one of the best offensive teams in our league, you saw it for a reason. They lead our league in scoring. 

"I thought we did a good job in the first half. We generated good looks, it’s a two-point game. I thought we came out and generated good looks to start the second half, we missed and we allowed that to affect everything and it started with us not getting back in transition defense, giving them easy baskets. 

"They went on a 10-0 run to start the half and we could never really recover from that. At one point we got it back to 12, forced them to call a timeout, right around the eight-minute mark and from there, we couldn’t get stops and we couldn’t make shots. 

"So obviously frustrating from us. There were some good things we did, but obviously, nowhere near good enough."

What Worked Well Defensively in the First Half

“We were getting back in transition. Individual one-on-one defense was pretty good. They missed some shots. We were doing a pretty good job of rebounding, defensive rebounding. So not giving them second chance points. That was it during that time.”

Getting Outscored in the Paint

“I think and I may be wrong, when you look at the stat sheet, I think transition points count as paint points as well. They got 25 points in transition, like I mentioned, to start the second half, we did not do a good job of getting back in transition. We missed two wide-open 3’s and we didn’t have good defensive balance on those. We missed a short pull-up jump shot on the left-side of the short corner. We did not have good defensive balance on that, they hit two 3’s, they got a layup, they got a dunk. 

"That was their 10-0 run and then they have elite level guards. Boopie Miller is one of the best guards in college basketball. He’s a top five guy in our league in scoring, leads our league in assists and just really took command of the game and was able to get into the paint. Our ball-screen coverage wasn’t as tight as it needs to be, but at times, he just made some heck of a plays and got into the paint.

"They’re a team with him, with Boopie Miller, with Pierre and with Edwards, they’re very, very comfortable in the mid-range, so getting to the paint. And then they have a really good big guy that generates things down there and with us being in foul trouble, they were able to exploit that as well.”

Moving the Basketball

“I thought we did a better job than we did against Virginia of moving and the ball not getting stuck as much. We didn’t have as many moments where it got stuck. So I thought we generated some really good looks in the first half. In the second half we just couldn’t make anything. 

"For a team that’s struggling, like we are, a lot of times, guys get energy when they see the ball through the basket. If it’s not going through the basket, it can drain the energy and suck the energy from them and they start thinking about, ‘I can’t make a shot, I can’t make a shot,’ and then that affects everything, it affects defense. You stop talking on defense. Your attention on defense maybe slips a little bit.

"That’s where we have to grow. That’s where our immaturity and inexperience really has to grow.