When asked if he made enough shots during Friday's practice at the Petersen Events Center, Greg Elliott seemed bothered in a whimsical way.
"Is water wet?"
That is the type of attitude the Marquette graduate transfer brings to the Pitt men's basketball team, and one which is exuding emotion from all angles.
Keeping it light, while maintaining tones of confidence and seriousness. That is how Elliott operates.
And it is how he was brought into the college basketball world.
The influences of former Marquette teammates Sacar Anim, Sam Hauser, and Koby McEwen run strong within Elliott, and upon transferring to Pitt over the offseason from a successful program, the guard has taken on that leadership role on the floor.
"We can be loose right now, because at the end of the day we know we're getting ready for war," Elliot said after Friday's practice. "At the end of the day, this war is not life or death, like an actual war is. You go out there, it's wins or losses. We can equate them to the same thing, but they're really not. If you go out there with that mentality that you've got to be loose, even though it is war, then you can have fun doing it."
The veteran Elliott transferred after playing four years for Marquette under coaches Steve Wojciechowski and Shaka Smart. Elliott was a part of Wojciechowski's fifth-seeded 2019 NCAA tournament team which lost to Murray State (and some NBA player named Ja Morant), as well as Smart's ninth-seeded team which lost to eventual national runner-up North Carolina in the first round last year.
At Marquette, Elliott averaged 5.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. Last season, he averaged 7.0 points while playing in 28 games and 27 off the bench. He shot 38.6% from 3-point range.
"He's great; he brings great, infectious energy," Pitt forward Nate Santos said. "Energy that everybody could absorb, and it's good energy. It's fun to be around. he's a really loud guy, fun guy, cracks jokes, so it's just infectious."
He is being counted on to do much of the same -- and perhaps kick it up a notch -- for Pitt, especially while the team works through injuries to a pair of starters and while true freshman Dior Johnson remains suspended.
On the floor, Elliott got off to a solid start in Pitt's first exhibition game against Clarion last week, having scored 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting and 2 of 3 on 3-pointers in just under 19 minutes on the floor.
While keeping things lax early, there is still an acquired balance (a cliche for this would be "a switch to flip") to having these tones set for the rest of the team, according to Elliott.
"You can have fun, but when you're stepping in the lines, it's all business," Elliott said. "You can have fun while you're doing your business, because if you're having fun doing something you love, you never work. So I feel like if we go out there and have -- I don't know how to put it -- but you go out there and be sharp enough to where you can have fun doing what you want to do."
NOTES FROM OAKLAND
• Here are groupings for the 5-on-5 sessions available during the media viewing window on Friday:
Team 1: Guillermo Diaz Graham, Nate Santos, Nelly Cummings, Blake Hinson, Greg Elliott.
Team 2: Jorge Diaz Graham, Fede Federiko, Nike Sibande, Aidan Fisch, KJ Marshall.
There was some mixing and matching involved later in practice, but these two units stuck out to me as ones which Capel would likely lean on in-game, unsurprisingly so.
We already knew that Will Jeffress (ankle) and John Hugley IV (knee) would be out for a significant amount of time. Jeff Capel has said that Jeffress is expected back before the Nov. 7 season opener, while Hugley's timetable to return is still unknown.
Jamarius Burton did not practice Friday after undergoing a dental procedure, but he is expected back in full within the next couple of days.
• During some of the 5-on-5 window, Pitt utilized quite a bit of high-screen action in attempts to free up its shooters from the mid-range and extending to the 3-point arc. Cummings was fluid in roving in and out of the arc, while Hinson and Elliott were apt to cutting to the basket and operating from the mid-range.
• Guillermo Diaz Graham impressed me with his passing ability, and he took a couple of 3s, one which was all-net and the other which rattled in and out of the rim. He runs the floor well for a true freshman, but definitely needs to bulk up.
"Their ability to pick and roll, to pick and pop, and their ability to also distribute," Santos said of the twins. "They have a lot; they're very versatile. So I think once they get stronger and experienced they're going to be good."
• Cummings can score with the best of them. With Hugley out, he has a solid chance at leading the team in that department. Cummings can create his own shot, shoot off the dribble, spot up, and do so from just about any area on the floor. I took note of quite a bit of him handling the ball, as well.
• Federiko earned a surprising bit of run during some 3-on-3s, and in 5-on-5s was utilized alongside Jorge Diaz Graham. I was impressed with how long Federiko is. He measures at 6-foot-11 in height, and his wingspan is at 7-foot-3.
• There were a couple of hiccups mixed in with drills -- like a fastbreak resulting in an errant pass, which was recalled by Capel and re-played -- but that's expected in the preseason. There were also some notable lapses on defense, namely not closing out on 3-point shooters and allowing some looks to be more open than they probably should have been. Credit goes to Santos, Elliott, and Hinson, as well, because they were hitting their shots in these situations.
"I think making the defense paying for their mistakes, I think we're a lot better with that," Santos said. "Just hitting open shots, we've definitely improved in that. If the defense makes a mistake, we're going to make them pay."
