Jeff Capel and Pitt Panthers Remain Optimistic For 2 Reasons After Near 30 Point Loss

Jeff Capel, whose Pittsburgh Panthers suffered a blowout loss at his alma mater Duke, addressed the postgame press room with a disappointed yet surprisingly optimistic tone.  Rather than focus on the second half clinic the Blue Devils put on to win by almost 30 points, Capel addressed a few positives from Pitt’s perspective. 

Jeff Capel on Damian Dunn’s Return

The return of seasoned guard Damian Dunn provided a bright postgame outlook for the Panthers, who have been missing Dunn for 6 weeks after a prolonged thumb injury sidelined him.  Jeff Capel preached the significance of Dunn’s return in his postgame press conference:

“It was just good to have him back.  Obviously he (Damian Dunn) hasn’t played in a while.  He’s an older guy.  Besides the last play I thought he did some good things on both ends.  It gives us another guy who can play off the bounce.  In a game like this, with them switching, we wanted to have more guys that can play off the bounce and create some stuff for us.  He’ll continue to get better as he gets more games under his belt, more practices under his belt, but I thought for not playing since before Thanksgiving, I thought he did some good stuff.”

During the loss in Durham, Dunn came off the bench but played the 5th most minutes for the Panthers, adding on an underwhelming 7 points and 2 rebounds.  Jeff Capel and the Panthers will look for the Senior to take on an integral role in this pivotal ACC stretch, hoping that he will provide veteran leadership and a relief to the offensive stress placed on Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett.

A 2nd Silver Lining for Pitt Panther Fans

While the scoreline of 47 points won’t necessarily back up Capel’s claim here, the Pittsburgh coach seemed relatively pleased with certain spurts of offensive production during his Pitt vs. Duke postgame comments.

“I thought, in the second half, we got into, finally, a little bit of a rhythm offensively and we cut it to 9.  And then after that, they made some plays, we missed some shots, and it got away from us.  I thought we fought, but it wasn’t good enough, and we just didn’t play as well offensively as we have all season.”

Capel did mention one large concern regarding Pitt’s ability to convert turnovers into points against Duke, adding how it might impact the Panthers’ ability in big games going forward as well:

“In those moments when we force some turnovers, we have to be able to convert in transition.  We probably had about three or four plays in transition in the first half where we didn’t convert.  We gotta be able to get easy baskets against a really good defensive team like them (Duke).  If you can get some easy stuff in transition, you have to be able to capitalize.”

Looking to get back on track vs. Louisville

Capel and the Panthers return to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center on Saturday to face a dangerous 2nd-place in the ACC Louisville team. While the Cardinals on paper look like a middle-of-the-road team, they’re coming off 3 comfortable wins against North Carolina, Virginia, and Clemson.  With 5 players averaging over 10 points a game, Louisville will look to use their scoring flexibility to wear the Panthers down over 40 minutes. 

As Coach Capel said in the Duke postgame press room, Pitt needs to improve their ability to turn transition offense into points.  Louisville, however, boasts the 2nd best offensive rebounding team in the ACC which will make it incredibly difficult for Jaland Lowe, Ishmael Leggett, and Damian Dunn to find quick gaps in the Cardinals’ transition defense after missed shots.

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