PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Panthers close the non-conference hosting North Florida Saturday afternoon at 1p on 93.7 The Fan. After a 1-3 start, the Panthers are 7-4 and players crediting the confidence instilled by Head Coach Jeff Capel as a big reason.
After losing three straight to West Virginia, Michigan and blowing a lead against VCU, Jeff Capel met with his team. He didn't chew them out, punish them in practice or make sweeping changes. Instead he kept their heads up.
"He's a great motivator," said graduate transfer Greg Elliott of Capel. "He gives us nothing but confidence.
It was when I wasn't really hitting shots. He never told me not to shoot. He gave us the utmost confidence and that's exactly what we needed at that point."
What he did worked for Elliott, shooting an incredible 22 of 34 including 13 of 21 from three over the last four games. He's not the only one. Nelly Cummings has made 21 of 41 field goals over the last four games (13 of 28 from three) and that includes a 1 for 7 night. Sophomore forward Federiko Federiko has 27 points and 21 rebounds in the last three games.
Elliott said Capel's confidence has given the team more confidence. They believe if they do what they do best, they will be successful. It starts with being aggressive shooting the ball.
"If you have a clear look at the basket and you feel like you know what you do well, shoot your shot," Elliott said of the message from the coaches. "It's not just your shot, it's a Pitt shot. As long as Pitt scores, we are good. It's something Coach tells us too.
If it's a shot you should take, take it. It's our shot. If we know you are going to shoot it, that gives us a better chance to get it on the offensive rebound."
They seem to have come a long way from the 31-point loss against Michigan at the Barclays Center last month.
"We had some losses early we had to learn from, but it takes a mature team to look in the mirror," Elliott said. "It's not about what they were doing against us, it was about the stuff we didn't do well that cost us some games. Once we fixed those things, it gave us a better chance to win games. We pulled it out because we are an older team."
"Coming into a new situation where you don't know the people," said transfer forward Blake Hinson. "You don't know how people feel about themselves and how they feel about you. I feel everybody is confident in me and confident in each other. I didn't know that coming into it. I think the trust is there."
"If we keep our 1-0 mindset," Elliott said, "I feel we can beat any team on our schedule. If we do what we are supposed to do, it's going to be real tough for us to be beat. If we continue to play defense at a high level and do better with our start of the game, I feel like we can go a long way."
Opponent
North Florida is 3-6, but played at Gonzaga, Washington, Kentucky and Houston. They also had a one-point loss at Duquesne. The Ospreys are coached by Northgate HS grad Matthew Driscoll who started his career at his alma mater along with coaching at Seneca Valley HS, Butler County Community College and LaRoche University. Before taking the job at North Florida, he was the top assistant at Baylor University.
