GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Consider Federiko Federiko's chances of playing in Friday's NCAA Tournament First Round against Iowa State at least improved from Tuesday.
Though he is not a lock to play just yet, Jeff Capel also did not rule him out altogether Thursday.
After missing Tuesday's First Four matchup with Mississippi State, Pitt's sophomore center was considered "day-to-day" by Capel, as the No. 11-seed Panthers gear up for a 3:10 p.m. tip-off with the No. 6 Cyclones in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region First Round at Greensboro Coliseum.
"There's not an update. It's still kind of day-to-day. We'll have a better idea today," Capel said during Thursday morning's news conference at Greensboro Coliseum. "We traveled yesterday, and all we did was walk-through yesterday. We'll do more physical stuff today, so we'll have a better idea after today's practice about his status. So right now it's still kind of day-to-day. I think he is doing OK."
Federiko was encouraged by his knee's progress Thursday as compared to Tuesday:
"I feel much better now," Federiko said during Thursday's open locker room session at Greensboro Coliseum. "I've been working out with the trainer, getting moved, moving, and going through walkthroughs, so I feel pretty good."
Federiko injured his right knee in last Wednesday's ACC Tournament second round against Georgia Tech when a Yellow Jackets player fell on it. Prior to Tuesday's game against Mississippi State in Dayton, Ohio, Capel considered Federiko a game-time decision. He did not play and was later declared "a long shot" after the fact by Capel in Tuesday's First Four.
During Thursday's open-practice session at Greensboro Coliseum, Federiko wore sweatpants while the rest of the team worked out in shorts, and he took some standing shots and free throws as he did during Monday's practice in Dayton.
But, Federiko was noticeably doing more work in this practice session than what he did in Dayton. He did not jump or run, but he at least took some standing shots and walked around a bit more. He exited the floor with a Pitt athletic trainer with about 12 minutes remaining in the open 40-minute practice session Thursday.
Guillermo Diaz Graham stepped in Tuesday to deliver a performance to remember for Pitt. He started, played 37 minutes, and help stymie Bulldogs center Tolu Smith to 13 points on 5 of 11 attempts to go along with five committed turnovers, and blocked Smith's game-winning layup attempt with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Iowa State is another team which likes to play from inside, just as Mississippi State did. More analysis on how Pitt could fare defensively against a similarly composed Iowa State team Friday -- with or without Federiko -- can be found HERE.
"We saw that their bigs are really aggressive with the ball screens," Guillermo said of Iowa State. "Their ball-screen defense won't change, so we'll have to take it on another way. And, on defense, the same. Just speak together, be in the gaps, and help your teammate."
