CHARLOTTE — While first-year Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel isn’t familiar to being a part of a team that goes winless in conference play like the Panthers did last season, he is no stranger to teams that have to fight.
“It’s about trying to get better each day and the most important thing is learning how to fight,” Capel said. “I don’t know what it’s like to be 0-19, but I do know what it is like to have to fight.”
Capel referred back to his sophomore season at Duke when the Blue Devils went 2-14 in ACC play as a time he was a part of a team that had to fight.
As the Fayetteville native and former assistant at Duke under coach Mike Krzyzewski spoke to the media as a part of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s annual Operation Basketball media day in Charlotte, he spoke of the differences in where he left and where he is now, but said there are still similarities.
“When you are at Duke and you’re 2-14, it’s miserable,” Capel said. “You have to fight your way through that and say enough is enough.”
Pitt finished last in the ACC last year with a 0-18 record in league play and 8-24 overall under Kevin Stallings and returns three starters from a year ago. Three days after Duke lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight, Capel’s next stop at Pittsburgh was set in stone.
Sharing the sidelines with Capel is his brother Jason, a former UNC standout, to add knowledge to his staff.
“When I took this job, one of the things that was important to me was putting a staff together,” Capel said. “I understand even more this time around as a head coach the importance of a coaching staff. I wanted guys that were really good, could communicate well and were good teachers, and guys that I can trust.
“With him it’s someone that I trust.”
Back in the Spectrum Center
Player and coach representatives for the University of North Carolina and Virginia on Wednesday had the refreshing of emotions they had seven months ago in the Spectrum Center when both of their seasons ended in NCAA Tournament upset losses.
The Cavilers were on the wrong end of history when they became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 when UMBC pulled off the 74-54 upset. Kyle Guy was open and mentioned how he had battled borderline depression in the months since, but fought his way back to accepting what happened, and how the team has moved on from how the season ended.
“Time heals most wounds, but I think why this was so bad was because of how public it was,” Guy said. “I was really struggling this and it’s because no one has ever gone through this. To be the first was not easy to deal with, but I’m pushing forward from it now.”
The junior guard who was named ACC Tournament MVP last year, said that the loss has brought the team together, and has helped push it forward.
“I heard LeBron James say on his show The Barbershop that his first loss with the Miami Heat in The NBA Finals was his greatest achievement,” Guy said. “That really hit home with me. Maybe the UMBC loss is my greatest achievement and I get to make what I want out of it.”
North Carolina was a No. 2 seed and lost to Texas A&M 86-65, and for graduate transfer Cameron Johnson, the feelings of the loss hit him as he exited the car at the loading dock.
“I still felt there were some emotions left over in the loading dock from exiting the game against Texas A&M in the tournament,” Johnson said. “So we weren’t even thinking about ACC tournament or, you know, what’s upcoming. I think that sting of the tournament was still kind of there.”
Senior guard Kenny Williams, like Guy, said that the Tar Heels have moved on and taken their lessons from the loss that cut what they believed to be a deep tournament run short.
“We know what happened here. And we know that we have some history now,” Williams said. “And we’ve just used that as motivation in practice and in the preseason. Coach definitely hasn’t let us forget it.
“But we use it as fuel and motivation to get back there and not let it happen again in that same situation.”
UNC and Virginia get their chance to exorcise their demons in the Spectrum Center in March as the ACC Tournament will return there March 12 to 16.
The Bryce is right
No one on the NC State basketball roster has more experience with head coach Kevin Keatts than C.J. Bryce. The junior transfer was a two-year starter for Keatts at UNCW, and this season now eligible to play for NC State.
Bryce started all 35 games his sophomore year for the Seahawks that ended with a Colonial Athletic Conference tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. He averaged 17 points and five rebounds a game that season and likes the way Keatts’ system is run with ACC-caliber athletes.
“Having more length at the guard position, and more physicality, it’s great with what we are trying to,” Bryce said.
Just like the system, Bryce doesn’t notice a change in the head coach as he prepares for his second season in Raleigh.
“He’s the same guy. That’s something I look forward to because we’ve had the same success together,” Bryce said.
Different set of leaders for Blue Devils
In recent years, the number of Duke upperclassmen has went down with the influx of one-and-done players, and with that has meant a decrease in upperclassmen that see significant minutes. Two of those players, juniors Jack White and Javin DeLaurier have taken the reigns as leaders despite not having major roles on the team in the past, but Krzyzewski commends the pair for their leadership so far this preseason.
“I like the fact that they are emerging as much as they are now without being able to say that they started every game last year,” Krzyzewski said. “They’ve really came on.”
White said that despite his lack of in-game experience, his time with the program watching players like Matt Jones, Amile Jefferson and Grayson Allen helped him develop his leadership style.
“I draw back from past years,” White said. “Those guys are a great example and we really soaked in what they did for us when we were underclassmen. … These freshman feel like upperclassmen themselves at times.”
Krzyzewski said that both will be a part of the regular rotation for the Blue Devils this season, with DeLaurier starting alongside Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett.
Force from up North
Many on Tobacco Road believe that the ACC Player of the Year will come from the like of Duke or UNC, but high-scoring Ky Bowman from Boston College and Syracuse’s Tyus Battle want their game to do the talking for their case as the best player in the league.
Both put their names in the NBA Draft and opted to come back for their junior years to teams that will be in need of their scoring and intangibles in 2018-2019. The pair are the top two returning scorers in the conference from a year ago with Battle averaging 19.2 points per game and Bowman at 17.6 a game.
Bowman, a Havelock native, was back in his home state on Wednesday and said that with fellow guard Jerome Robinson being drafted in the first round of this past year’s draft means the importance of him to control games for the Eagles is paramount.
“I say it’s same the still me. I just have to look at someone else now,” Bowman said. “When teams are really keying in on me, who can I kick it out for the 3 or where can I make another play for another person. It’s important for me to help other guys change their mindset.”
Through the draft process, Bowman learned that the defensive areas of his game in one-on-one situations is where he needs work.
“Everyone can score in the NBA, it’s more of a defensive standpoint. They want to see you defend 1-5,” Bowman said. “It wasn’t like I had to do it, but I saw where it would help my team last year because we didn’t have as many players playing that role.”
For the Cuse, Battle is one of five starters back as he is coming off a second-team all-ACC season in 2017-2018.
“I guess I will just prove it on the court,” Battle said. “That’s all you can do. You have to prove it with your play. I’m confident with this team, and what I can do.”
