Twenty-nine percent shooting won't win many games in the ACC. It won't suffice in the MAC, either. Hell, go down to your local YMCA and hit fewer than three out of every 10 shot attempts in warmups, and you'll probably be picked last when it's time to squad up.
It's a problem. And that problem took center stage throughout Pitt's 72-49 loss to Syracuse Wednesday night at Petersen Events Center. The wind and the rain whipping outside during my walk to the Pete stung my face with a biting cold — but Pitt's shooting was colder.
"Tonight they just couldn't make anything," Jim Boeheim was saying at the podium postgame. "When that happens, it's hard to play the game."
Wait, wait. Boeheim wasn't done there. The best part about this is Boeheim genuinely wasn't throwing shade at the opposition. Pitt was just so bad tonight that telling the truth sounded like smack talk. For example:
"They weren't making threes, [and] they were missing inside shots, they were missing pretty easy shots," Boeheim continued. "When that happens, there's nothing you can do about it."
Boeheim flagged the shooting immediately — 16 for 55 (29 percent) from the field, including 6 for 26 (23 percent) from three — but Jeff Capel offered a different reason why his team found themselves drowning in a double-digit deficit for the vast majority of this one.
"Well, today it was everything," Capel said. "It was everything. It was every aspect of the game."
To Capel, it always circles back to energy. To enthusiasm. To grit and grind, those intangibles that are a little more abstract than "16 for 55." Only tonight, Capel added a dose of hard reality to the subject matter. While he absorbed plenty of the blame, saying, "We have to be better. When I say 'We' I'm not blaming anyone. It's 'we.' It's me. I'm responsible. So we have to be better across the board," Capel also acknowledged that some of this burden falls on his players, as well.
"There has to be self-motivation too," Capel said. "That has to be a part of it. And we obviously didn't see that tonight."
Capel's right about that, and he's right about this, too: It wasn't just the shooting, despite Boeheim trying to give them an easy out there. Pitt was also out-rebounded, 41-32. They committed 17 turnovers to Syracuse's 15. They were out-scored in the paint, off turnovers, off second-chance opportunities and on the fast break.
The one area Pitt wasn't out-scored? Bench points.
And get this: Tonight was senior night (more on that under the banner), meaning Justin Champagnie, Xavier Johnson and Terrell Brown all came off the bench after Capel allowed a senior-heavy lineup to get the start.
Pitt technically out-scored Syracuse, 26-12, off the bench, but take away Champagnie's 13 points, Johnson's five and Brown's three, and that's a loss, too.
If you want to find a silver lining in this one, friends, it's this: It's over now.
And despite it all, despite the fact Pitt produced a loss as ugly as any this season, the Panthers still briefly clawed within 11 to open the second half, allowing just a sliver of hope to shine.
"This game could've gotten close," Boeheim was saying. "But, you know, [Joe Girard] makes those three threes — and, you know, we haven't been making those shots. We just haven't been shooting well from three."
Make shots, win the game.
Crazy concept, I know.
• Hey, it was senior night. That was legitimately cool.
Before the game, the team honored Eric Hamilton, Anthony Starzynski, Kene Chukwuka and Samson George, thanking them for their time and wishing them well in their future endeavors.
Senior night ceremony underway here at the Pete #dkps #unleash pic.twitter.com/UhIDtFfOiE
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) February 26, 2020
The night then got even better for Starzynski, who ended up playing 11 minutes, far above his season average of under two per game. That was partly because of the team's overall struggles, partly because it was senior night and partly because, hey, he actually made one of the team's six threes on the night. You gotta shoot against a zone, and Starzynski was as good a bet as any on this night.
I asked him all about that to kick off the postgame press conference on a positive note:
Capel shared his own thoughts on that aspect of the night:
"I thought it meant a lot," Capel said of Starzynski's night. "Anthony's been — really, Anthony and Samson, I'm going to single those two out, and it's nothing against Eric and I put Kene in that group with guys, but those guys have been through a lot here. And I'm appreciative of them for sticking it out ... After going through a season like they did, 0-18, a coaching change, those guys have had good attitudes.
"They've shown up to work every day. They've been really good teammates, and I'm really, really grateful for it. I'm grateful that Anthony got the opportunity to not only start but to come in and to do some things in the game."
• OK, back to reality. Want a different example of just how poorly Pitt played tonight?
After every game — win or lose — Pitt cuts a highlight reel, showcasing the best plays by their Panthers from the evening. Tonight, no link was provided to that video in the standard postgame email sent to media ... because no highlights exist. This happened just one other time this season, following the team's 72-52 loss vs. Clemson.
Near-identical score there, eh? Life's weird like that sometimes.
• Remembering that Clemson loss immediately after reading about Wednesday night's flop against Syracuse might have you a little worried about the future of Pitt basketball. The Panthers realistically might not win another game this year, and that'd be a bad look after a strong start.
But remember where this team was just two years ago, too. Boeheim certainly does:
“To say they were rock-bottom isn’t even a close approximation of where they were when Jeff took over. They were below that.” - Jim Boeheim #dkps #unleash pic.twitter.com/VYSWRYSEsK
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) February 27, 2020
Even Champagnie, the freshman, gets it:
“I just feel like, a couple years ago this school hadn't won a lot of games and last year they won three, and this year we won six," he said at the podium. "I'm just trying to build on that. And hopefully by the time I’m a senior we can just turn this program around completely and become a force in the league, and around the whole NCAA.”
There's a lot to digest there. I'll have much more on this theme in an upcoming article.
• Champagnie put up 13 points and 17 rebounds, but he didn't play well, either. He went 4 for 11 from the field (36 percent), including an 0-for-3 showing from beyond the arc.
"I mean, he rebounded the ball well," Capel said. "You know, look: Those numbers look great, but there's more he can do, just like there's more everyone can do. And so we have to do more. Everyone has to do more."
That said, Champagnie's been one of the most — if not the most — consistent players for Pitt this season, and Boeheim acknowledged he's been as good as any freshman in the ACC. The stats back it up, and with his sixth double-double tonight, Champagnie moved into fifth all-time in that category in the program's history for a freshman.
The history doesn't stop there. Champagnie also became the fifth Panthers freshman to score 300 points and grab 200 rebounds in the same season, joining DeJuan Blair, Chris Taft, Charles Smith and Sam Clancy.
• On the other side, Elijah Hughes and Bourama Sidibe were monsters for Syracuse. Hughes scored 25 points on 8 for 15 shooting and added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals against just one turnover, pacing the away team throughout. Boeheim summarized Hughes' play best when asked why he believes his player doesn't receive much national recognition despite his stellar and consistent play.
"I don't know. [That's] ignorance. I can't help it," Boeheim said. "If you watch, you know. If you don't watch, you don't know."
He chuckles.
"It's not the points. He's at, what, five rebounds a game, four assists a game, something like that? ... I don't know who's voting on these things. People who don't watch basketball and don't know anything about it or are prejudiced."
Yeah, I watched tonight. Hughes is good at basketball. Can confirm.
Sidibe, meanwhile, swatted away four shots and collected five steals while also contributing 10 rebounds (four offensive) and 13 points on 5 for 6 shooting. Pitt had no answers.
"He had a big impact," Capel said of Sidibe. "I mean, their first couple of baskets came from him along with some offensive rebounds. When he’s in the middle of the zone it is very different. His ability to block shots, he did a good job."
• Mad as he might've been — and he was clearly irritated as he opened his presser — Capel lightened the mood with this gem of an interaction:
I’m upset it had to come at the expense of a dude as awesome as @JDiPaola_Trib, but @jeffcapel just threw down the perfect roast in his post-game presser. It’s “Coach Boeheim,” not “Jim,” for the record. #dkps #unleash pic.twitter.com/Sub4FxYHnw
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) February 27, 2020
That's one reporter referring to Jim Boeheim as simply "Jim" and Capel correcting him: "Coach Boeheim, man." Capel then explains that, to people his age and younger, it's always Coach Boeheim ... before pointing to a more elderly reporter and joking, "He can say [Jim]."
That provided a much-needed chuckle for everyone in the room, Capel included.
• Pitt's now 15-14 and 6-12 in ACC play this year with three games remaining.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE STARTING LINEUPS
For Capel's Panthers:
Trey McGowens, guard
Anthony Starzynski, guard
Au'Diese Toney, guard
Samson George, forward
Eric Hamilton, forward
And for Boeheim's Orange:
Joseph Girard III, guard
Buddy Boeheim, guard
Elijah Hughes, forward
Marek Dolezaj, forward
Bourama Sidibe, forward
THE SCHEDULE
Pitt closes out the season before the ACC tournament with back-to-back road contests — first in Raleigh, N.C., against North Carolina State Saturday, Feb. 29, then against Georgia Tech March 4 in Atlanta. I'll be on the coverage for both of those.
THE COVERAGE
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