The difference between what previous Jeff Capel teams have done versus what his current one is doing is one of a few separators on why this current team has believability when it comes to its potential to make the NCAA Tournament.
Take what transpired after Saturday's 71-64 loss to Florida State as an example.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Nelly Cummings, left, speaks with Pitt staffer Jake Presutti after Saturday's loss to Florida State at the Petersen Events Center.
The above photo is of Pitt point guard Nelly Cummings alongside Jake Presutti, the Panthers' Assistant Athletic Director of Scouting. It might just look like the two are having a regular conversation, but this (low-quality -- I was in the press box for this) photo was taken nearly two hours after Saturday's game ended. Cummings had just come off of a forgettable performance against the Seminoles, having made 2 of 12 shots from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range, while pitching in three assists and turning the ball over once.
Saturday was a continuation of offensive struggles for Cummings, who is shooting 15% (3-for-20) from the field over his last two games. His woes from 3-point range have carried over his last seven games, in which he has made 6 of 33 (18.2%) from distance. He has registered 12 assists to seven turnovers over his last five games.
What is not directly shown in that photo is the work Cummings put in while nobody was watching, as the cliche goes, as he put up jumpers and 3-pointers from varying spots on the floor while Pitt staffers rebounded for him.
It is, one, the cognizance and the acceptance that something needed to be worked on. And, two, a clear and indicative verification to Pitt being as mature of a team as it is.
Cummings is not the only player to get extra work in before either a practice or a game, but the fact that he went right back onto the floor after a stinging loss is telling of how Capel has gotten this group of veterans bought into his culture. It has carried over into practice on Monday as Pitt prepares for home games against Wake Forest on Wednesday and No. 20 Miami on Saturday inside the Petersen Events Center.
"We've had guys that have done that all year," Capel said on Monday at the Petersen Events Center. "I'm not surprised to hear that -- I didn't know that (about Cummings) -- I'm not surprised to hear that. He was good today. He was a great spirit, great energy, positive, worked, got extra work in after practice. Got extra work in before practice. Came in with a coach, I think, at noon. We practiced at 1. Not surprised by that. That's who he is."
Pitt (13-7, 6-3 ACC) is moving forward after its first Quadrant 4 loss with respect to the NCAA NET rankings. The Seminoles entered Saturday's game at NET 207, and the Panthers NET 50. The result bumped Pitt back to 65 and Florida State up to 187, which still qualifies as a Quad 4 loss.
Pitt is now a combined 8-1 in Quad 3 or 4 games, which is less than ideal for a team on the NCAA Tournament bubble as we hit the final week of January.
However, there is still a prime opportunity to make up for the defeat with games against Quad 2 opponent Wake Forest and a pair of Quad 1 games against Miami and at North Carolina coming up in the immediacy. Pitt has not seen either of Wake Forest or Miami, but has a victory over North Carolina under its belt already from Dec. 30.
For now, it is about preparing for the Demon Deacons, which shares an identical 6-3 ACC mark with the Panthers while overall up a game on them at 14-6. Wake Forest and Pitt each are two games back of ACC leader Clemson (8-1 conference). Pitt shares common 6-3 records within the ACC with each of its next three opponents.
How is the response the Monday after the loss?
The recovery started, as Capel says, on Sunday:
"Guys came in (Sunday) when we were off just to get treatment," Capel said. "The spirit was great, the energy was great. They talked, they were upbeat and excited about the next opportunity. When we got with them today I felt the same thing. We've been pretty good this year, wins and losses, of moving on to the next thing, and I don't expect us to change right now."
Much of the talk over the early going of the season was about how four players from the transfer portal could come in and solidify in such a rapid period of time. It then expounded to a discussion about overcoming losses of Dior Johnson, Will Jeffress, and John Hugley IV -- three scholarship players with Johnson and Hugley likely being starters when healthy. It then came to a head of getting over a 1-3 start, but stacking some wins over Virginia and North Carolina in December sent this team into new heights and placed it within the scope of NCAA Tournament prognosticators.
Pitt has been practicing without those three for the majority of the season. Johnson is back to practice, but these absences result in just nine scholarship players being available for Capel on a game-by-game basis. This brings walk-ons like Aidan Fisch and K.J. Marshall into the fold during practices.
"They're very instrumental," Capel said. "Those two guys, Dior being able to practice gives us another body. We're, like most teams right now, we're a little but banged up, too. We've got some guys that aren't able to practice or go through a whole practice. We have to be cognizant of that. Right now we're at a period where it's mainly walking through some things we want to go through. Maybe one or two things live, but really trying to take care of bodies and making sure we're ready mentally and physically in these games."
Pitt is still firmly on the bubble, but this group with -- as Capel has said more than once -- "convenient amnesia" cannot afford another slip-up to these teams within lower seedings inside the NET.
Wake Forest and Miami could be considered as gettable games for the Panthers, and the expectation is to at least compete with UNC once again. Pitt is currently 67th on ESPN's Basketball Power Index, with a strength of schedule at 66th in the NCAA. BPI has Pitt's win-loss projection at 19.6-11.4, which factors in a projected 12.6-7.4 ACC record and the 86th-hardest remaining schedule in college basketball.
While the loss to Florida State took Pitt out of the firm side of the "bubble," Pitt can still rally and get back in its good graces with strong showings -- and a couple of wins -- over Wake Forest, Miami, and North Carolina.
It will need every bit of that before- and after-practice work from its veterans to help get over that point.
"They're playing great," Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said on Monday. "They're physical, they're really tough in the two-point field goal percentage. I think they lead the league. I know it's going to be a really hard-fought game."
