Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel pulled out a timeworn trick last evening. He reached in and yanked out the old I'm-going -to-make-this-guy-who-normally-starts-come-off-the-bench-and-see-how-he-reponds coaching tool.
Actually, he did it with two guys --- Xavier Johnson and Ithiel Horton. How did they retort? You probably know by now Johnson came off the pine and poured in 32 in an 83-72 win against No. 17 Virginia Tech while Horton added 15.
Change it up, shift it up and hopefully get a different result.
If things aren't working --- and they weren't as Pitt came in losers of three consecutive games --- you gotta try something different.
It was a stroke of genius (or some will say desperation) as these Panthers have looked beaten down after beating Duke not too long ago. I liked the move as the starting lineups were announced last night and liked it even more as the game went on and Johnson and Horton responded masterfully to the not-so-subtle nudge to get better.
It was a risk, a real big risk, taken by Capel.
So here we are, with Pitt 9-5 overall and 5-4 in the ACC and I still don't know what to think about this band of Panthers.
Sometimes they look like they can play with just about anyone you put in front of them (think the Duke, Northwestern or both Syracuse games) and sometimes they get pasted by Notre Dame or lose to St. Francis of Loretto by 10.
Hard to tell, even as we have flashed past Groundhog Day, exactly what this version of Pitt basketball is. But I'm here to tell you --- and this might not be a popular opinion --- I'm going to give Pitt a bit of a pass this season. In actuality, I'm giving just about all college football and basketball teams a one-time pass this season. The pandemic has made everything so fractured and non-rhythmic that it's a wonder to me sometimes they have even been able to continue to play.
That pass, however, ends when this season does.
And the pass for not going to the NCAA Tournament ends next season for Jeff Capel. I'd like to see him advance the Panthers into the tournament next season or it will be time to raise an eyebrow.
In his first season he won just three conference games, which was perfectly understandable because of the chaos that had been in the program and left behind by Kevin Stallings.
What a damn mess left behind, huh?
In Capel's second season in Oakland he pushed the program to 16-17 and 6-14 in the league in a year in which no postseason tournament was held due to the arrival of the pandemic.
This is now his third season. There are times it looks like serious progress is being made --- case in point the huge spike in Justin Champagnie's individual game. But there are also times in which you scratch your head --- case in point how Pitt came out flatter than month-old roadkill against Notre Dame.
Again, though, they get a pass from me for this season because of all the extenuating circumstances.
This feels like a practice run. A practice run for next year --- when I want to see Pitt back in the NCAA Tournament.
