DAYTON, Ohio -- One player can tip the scales in Pitt's NCAA Tournament return in the First Four Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
The main question regarding Federiko Federiko's ability as the Panthers get set for Mississippi State is his availability.
Jeff Capel said his starting center is a game-time decision Tuesday after sustaining a knee injury Wednesday in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech, which was maintained throughout Friday's loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament's quarterfinal round. Federiko played in a combined 38 minutes in the two ACC Tournament games, but was held to 12 Friday in his lowest minutes total since his 17 against Louisville Feb. 7.
"Yeah, he'll be a game-time decision if he'll play," Capel said Monday at UD Arena. "He's still nursing that knee. He hurt it against Georgia Tech, tried to play against Duke the next day. We didn't like the way that he was moving, which is why we held him once we got down. So he'll be a game-time decision tomorrow."
Federiko was limited during the 40-minute open practice session Monday evening at UD Arena, as he wore sweats and took a couple of grounded shots and free throws. He was a major part in Pitt's 89-81 win over Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament in posting 19 points on 7 of 7 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds and making 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. He was held off Friday after Duke went on a 12-0 run to start the game and Federiko picked up two fouls by the 6:31 mark of the first half, thus putting him on the bench for the remainder of that half. He had played 8:03 up to that point.
"It's better. We're working on it," Federiko said in Pitt's open locker room before practice. "Not sure (about Tuesday), we're just working on it."
Federiko's development has been one of the unsung storylines for a Pitt team which rode from being ranked 14th in the ACC in the preseason all the way to earning an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, especially while the Panthers have navigated without Will Jeffress and John Hugley IV. We will find out closer to Tuesday's 9:10 p.m. tip-off of whether he will be ready to play -- should he not, that would give way to Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham -- but not having him on the floor could mean everything for Pitt in the matchup with the Bulldogs.
The end-all, be-all force for the Bulldogs is 6-foot-11 center Tolu Smith, who was tied for seventh in the SEC in scoring at 15.7 points per game, second in the SEC in rebounding with 8.5 per game, and led the team with 0.7 blocks per game. He achieved a season-high 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and recorded three steals in the Bulldogs' win over Florida in the SEC Tournament Thursday.
"I think he has some similarities to (North Carolina's Armando) Bacot in the fact that he's very physical, an outstanding offensive rebounder, and an outstanding scorer with a high percentage around the basket," Capel said. "He's relentless in his pursuit of the basketball. On his shots, on other people's shots, with how physical he is posting up, he's a load down there. He's a really, really outstanding player that had an outstanding year and is a huge part of their resiliency.
"When you look at their team, they had some unbelievable non-conference wins. But in their conference they went through a stretch where they struggled, and they showed incredible toughness, togetherness, resiliency to continue to fight and stay together and to really turn their season around. I thought he was a big part of it when you go back and you watch during that stretch, just the numbers that he was putting up, the attention that he commanded from the defense that allowed those other guys to do some really good things.
"They're a really good basketball team. They're tough. They're physical. They're really good defensively. It's going to be a tough challenge for us."
Federiko was the clear winner in both of his matchups with Bacot when Pitt beat North Carolina twice this season, and his defensive presence on Smith is nearly a requirement for Tuesday. In Pitt's most-recent matchup at North Carolina Feb. 1, Federiko held Bacot to a 3-for-10 day from the field.
"I mean, All-SEC first-team. He's a big, super big, super athletic big man," Federiko said of Smith. "He's going to be a challenge for us, but I feel like we're going to do OK."
Pitt is a team which loves to run in transition, and it was not able to do that much in the ACC Tournament, particularly against Duke in getting outscored 21-8 in transition. Federiko and the Diaz Graham twins are relatively quick for their size, with a survey of the Pitt locker room going as far as to suggesting Federiko might be the fastest player on the team.
Even faster than known speedster Nike Sibande.
Asked to weigh in on who is faster between the two, Capel and associate coach Tim O'Toole said Federiko is faster.
Aidan Fisch took Sibande in a sprint. Jorge said it would be a tie.
Who did Sibande take?
"I'm taking me, but Fede, hey, I ain't going to lie, that boy's a gazelle," Sibande said. "Fede, he's got it, but I'm taking me."
Greg Elliott was definitively on Federiko's side.
"He's the fastest player on our team," Elliott said. "It's not a thing. He's the fastest player on our team. It's between him and Nike, 100 percent. It would be a good race, and I'm definitely, 100% sure Fede has better stamina than Nike. 100 percent."
The point is, Federiko on the floor brings the final piece to Pitt's transition offense, which is a key for them to re-establish given how effective Mississippi State is at defending the 3-pointer.
"That makes my job easy at times," Elliott said, "because you've got to think, when you're trying to build a defense, you've got to go inside-out, so if Fede's sprinting down the floor and he's the first one to the rim, you've got to go help. I'm not sprinting down to the rim. I'm not going for no layup. I'm going to sprint to the opposite-corner wing, which makes the floor just so much more spaced. That makes it easier for Nelly (Cummings), (Jamarius Burton) to push the ball, sometimes Nike, you never know.
"Fede just makes it that much easier because he's that much faster than the other bigs, so it don't matter. He can get down there and get a layup or he can come back and come set a ball screen. He makes our job very easy with the way he runs."
Bulldogs coach Chris Jans is aware of Pitt's ability to run, and he considered it a key for his team's defense Tuesday.
"Yeah, it'll be a problem," Jans said. "We're going to have to really be mindful of that. We like to rebound the ball offensively. It's something that we've been fairly decent at most of the year, and that's the game within the game. How active are you on the offensive glass knowing that the other team is really good in transition and they can space the floor. And they've got multiple guys -- sometimes five guys on the court -- that can all shoot the three. Always four, sometimes five. That'll be something that we're going to monitor as the game unfolds and see how it's going, and we may have to change our philosophy of crashing as many people as we do. But that'll unfold the way it does."
Capel is aware of Pitt's struggles in transition from the loss to Duke (among other struggles), and he wants his Panthers to get back out to running as they know how.
With or without Federiko, Capel wants to see the improvement from the inside.
"In order for us to run, we have to rebound," Capel said. "That's the very first thing. We have to get the basketball, we have to rebound, so we have to be able to match their physicality, we have to keep them out of our paint, and we have to get the basketball. Once we're able to do that, then we do want to run. We do want to get out. That's something that we've tried to do all year, and for the most part we've done a pretty good job of that when we've been able to first-shot rebound.
"That's not going to change for us. We want to continue to do that. Like I mentioned earlier, they're an outstanding defensive team. I think whenever you play against teams like that, we've had some in our league, if you can get out in transition and get some things before their defense is set up, that can put you in an advantageous position, so that's something that we certainly want to do."
MORE FROM DAYTON
• Here are a few snapshots from Pitt's open practice session and media availability Monday at UD Arena:
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Though Pitt forward Will Jeffress is out for the season, he is back to practicing with the team.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Blake Hinson had his own cheering section while shooting. “Yay!” chants came from the fans on the left for makes, “Boo!” chants for misses. Hinson even chimed in and reacted after a couple of makes.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Blake Hinson was a fan favorite after practice, as he went around the floor after practice to take photos with and sign autographs with several fans.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
The Pitt team breaks at the end of practice.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Pitt coach Jeff Capel, left, speaks with TV analyst and former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson during Monday's practice.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Jeff Capel speaks at the dais Monday at UD Arena.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
Mississippi State coach Chris Jans speaks Monday at UD Arena.
